Can you get room upgrades if you do online check in?

[Joe Ryan]

A lot of good info here. I may ask for an upgrade, but expect a deer in headlights type of look back at me...lol Goin in early April

 

[Dug720]

A lot of good info here. I may ask for an upgrade, but expect a deer in headlights type of look back at me...lol Goin in early April

Again, best to ask with "Is there anything in X category available and how much would it cost to upgrade?" from the start. Again, it's not pixie dust if you ask for it.

 

[ngl]

We are DVC so not sure if this applies to others but we always do online check in. We live about 1.5 hrs from WDW so we typically drive over directly to a park, spend the whole day there, do online check in, and arrive 9pm or later to the resort. In the fall, we went for a long weekend (3 nights) and checked in online to our Copper Creek 2 bedroom villa. Got to the resort about 9:30pm and could not figure out the room number from what my app was showing. We have stayed at Copper Creek previously (home resort is BLT) and could not figure out which way to go so we asked at the desk. We were upgraded to a CC cabin!!! No idea why but we loved it!

 

[beldred]

FWIW, my TA has an opinion about online check in, in general. If you are flying, she says not to hit the online check in button until you are at your gate and about to board the plane. She says that if for any reason it looks like your flight might be delayed or there is a snafu in your traveling and you might not arrive at all the night of your check in, Disney has more flexibility to extend "grace" if you haven't started the check in process online.

Your TA is completely wrong, sorry. Whether or not you've done online check in has no effect on whether or not the resort can/will adjust things for you in a last minute situation.

To the OP, as others have said, doing online check in won't affect your chances of a free upgrade. Rooms are assigned 5-7 days before your arrival for the most part. If you are planning on putting room requests in, make sure you do online check-in at minimum a week before your trip. (If you called in your room requests, DON'T put any on your check-in or your previous requests will be removed.) Plus, putting your estimated arrival time really helps you. 75% of the time, my room is ready within 45 mins of the time I told them we'd be there, even when it's early. They do use that info when assigning rooms.
WDW Resorts are not like other hotels at all. Mainly because WDW operates at 85%-90% capacity, which is unheard of at a regular hotel. (DVC is even higher, more like 95-98% capacity). When WDW upgrades people, it's not usually just to "be nice", though that does happen on rare occasion. The upgrade because they need to - they've oversold lower priced rooms (happens a lot during the cheer/dance/sports events, there is a problem with a block or rooms or areas of the hotel, or there is a specific problem with YOUR room. Cheap rooms are usually full, so when they have to move someone it's usually an upgrade. So not only do they solve their problem, they get a happy customer who got "pixie dust" upgraded and tells all their friends how magical Disney is. And maybe they LOVE the upgraded room and next trip, they book it.
In 20 years of going to WDW, I have received 1 upgrade. But that's okay, because I book the room category I'm happy with. My clients have been luckier than me. LOL But regardless, my first advice to them is book where you want to stay. If a certain room type will make your trip magical, book it!! Don't hope for pixie dust and be disappointed. Make your own magic.

 

[ExtraMagic]

The one time I got an upgrade I had checked in online months in advance and got the “room is ready text” while we were driving. I checked the resort map to see that we were in a Savanna View room rather than a Standard View!! So fun!

 

[mdoc]

My assumption has always been that upgrades are for the convenience of the resort and are given when the room you booked isn't available for whatever reason. My first trip to WDW was in 1972 (Poly) and we've gone many dozens of times since then, staying onsite for all but one short trip. In all those trips, we've been upgraded exactly zero times. So based on my experience, I will do whatever is most convenient for me in terms of online or in person check-in, because the likelihood of an upgrade isn't high enough to affect what I do.

 

[loves to dive]

I always do on line check in but 9 out of 10 times, I also go to the front desk because my room is not ready when I arrive. I go just to let them know I'm on property. Through the years, I've had a few upgrades, never asked for them. Once I got upgraded to CL at CR, didn't really want it and didn't really use it. When I get upgrades its usually from a standard view to something different. I always just book a standard view room. I've had upgrades to the little wedding pavilion view at YC, to a room right on the BW at YC, to water view (pool) at BW, etc. I've never asked for one, just said I'm here and will take whatever room you have that's available first. I don't think I've ever been upgraded at a value or moderate but the only upgrades for those are usually preferred. I have been put in sections that were close to the front - like mighty ducks at movies or whatever section it is right across the parking lot at Pop. I recently was moved from a 1st floor room at CSR Ranchos to a 3rd floor water view room Casitas. I really don't think view matters in the moderates since they have outside hallways and I don't keep my curtains open. The person at the front desk said she felt better putting on something other than the 1st floor since I was a single woman.

 

[PinkPixel]

The time one time I received an upgrade was due to an error in the online room listing two queen beds when I booked a 1 bedroom suite (it was a king only), and they did not have the regular room available when I asked to downgrade because we had our two kids and needed the two beds. They upgraded us to a two-bedroom and called to ask if that was ok. We were thrilled, it totally spoiled us though.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We have been granted a few room upgrades. Most were small, like pool view instead of standard view (was a $10 upgrade at the time). In some cases, we had requested to be near an elevator, but the upgraded view was at the FAR end of a very long hallway.

In some cases, we did online check-in. In some cases, we did in-person check-in. Most were very short stays.

In other cases we have asked if a different room was available, and what it would cost to upgrade. Sometimes CM had nothing to offer, other times we were able to pay the difference, other times we declined.

My advice is if you are planning to ask about paying for an upgrade, do a bit of homework first, so you know what the other room is supposed to cost. If you booked with a discount, sometimes the upgrade rate reverts to full rack rate.

 

[Once.Upon.A.Time]

We got upgraded at CSR to a one bedroom suite. It was a four night stay. We asked if there were any upgrades and they upgraded us.

 

[val1234]

Just stayed at Rivera for a week. Inquired about an upgrade based on the fact we had friends that had received pixi-dust at another property. They looked at us like we were crazy. We were told, "We are always sold out and upgrades are not available here". This is a very nice property. We had a one-bedroom with kitchen etc. An enjoyable stay except the gondolas were on maintenance the entire time we were there and we missed that convenience and the reason we opted to stay here. Note: We were on a Disney Cruise and DH had a torn ACL using a knee cart with walking boot etc. the folks on the ship were amazing and upgraded us to a larger room which was GREAT. We so appreciated!!!

We were upgraded on a cash stay at Rivera from a 2bedroom villa to a 3 bed grand villa! So yes Rivera does upgrade…

 

[SkyGuy]

We were upgraded on a cash stay at Rivera from a 2bedroom villa to a 3 bed grand villa! So yes Rivera does upgrade…

Yep - we were upgraded from a deluxe studio to a 2-bed at the Riviera back in 2021 on a cash stay. I was even using my Disney Visa Rewards to pay for the stay (as in I had paid to reserve the room with the rewards) - not that the person assigning the room would have been able to make that distinction.

 

[Mle8308]

A lot of "good" upgrades were happening during the time shortly after the pandemic, due to Disney wanting to keep rooms empty for a day or two after each check out.

 

[VAtink]

Been going for about 20 years now regularly and have never received an upgrade.

I hear you, we started going in 1986, and it wasn't until 2017 that we finally got an upgrade! Only took 31 years and probably 40ish trips. Haven't had an upgrade since then either. Of course our next trip we finally splurged and are staying in suites, so guess it'll be another upgrade-less trip!

 

[Spotthecat]

I've never even thought of checking in online for a hotel room. How do you get your key??

 

[dansdad]

I've never even thought of checking in online for a hotel room. How do you get your key??

Your Magic Band or your smart phone is your room key.

 

[beldred]

I've never even thought of checking in online for a hotel room. How do you get your key??

That depends on the hotel. Many have digital keys now that you use with the hotel's app. I've used one at Hilton and it was quite easy. At Disney, you can use the Magic Mobile part of the app or any Magicband or card media linked to your account. If you don't have any of that, you stop by the front desk for a key card.

 

[SharonZ]

I've been upgraded a few times, and it has always been for a short stay - 1, 2 or 3 days. I never make room requests, never ask for an upgrade, always do online check-in. If you want to do online check-in, do it. Don't base it on whether it would decrease your chance for an upgrade.

 

[kylenne]

I've never once asked for an upgrade. I just book the category I want and put in my room requests via Touring Plans, always do online check in because I prefer being able to go straight to my room when I get to the resort, if it's ready (and only a couple of times it hasn't been, despite always flying in on the first plane of the day). For my 40th birthday solo trip back in 2021 I had a split stay at GF/YC, for the GF part I booked outer building TPV and when I got my room ready text while at MCO it said I was in the main building in a deluxe king room. My TA did have them note on the reservation that it was a birthday celebration but I don't think that had anything to do with it. CL had still not reopened but it was some amazing pixie dust I'll never forget. Ironically the room they upgraded me to was what my partner and I had originally booked but had to cancel.

 

[moonshadow]

We once had a 1 bedroom villa at Copper Creek. Upon check-in it was upgraded to a 2 bedroom (which we didn't need lol. I honestly believe it was not pixie dust. Just Disney only having that room available for us. It still was appreciated though!