AKL my experience

TenThousandVolts said:
I am sure if you had better customer service your opinion would be different overall. I bet the novelty of the savannah view would not have worn off so fast if you had that good feeling you get when you check-in to a place and you are treated like kings and queens everyday. I am sorry they dropped the ball so many times with your family.
I agree with your wife- that was ridiculous of them to ask you to check out and be 'homeless' until check-in time. Glad they let your BIL stay put.

Anyway- I am glad your trip was good overall. Better luck next time (I predict Wildeness Lodge ;) )

I don't really think they had bad customer service. Room requests are never guaranteed for any reason. For anyone. Ever. Disney is very clear about that. I think AKL did everything they could during a crowded busy time when probably every room was booked. Actually I think they went above and beyond because by letting them stay in their room while another was being prepped for them, they probably were keeping another family from checking in on time.

Of course AKL doesn't have straws. Neither does AK or any zoo worth it's salt. That is for the protection of the animals. I found the best way to deal with that was to buy bottled drinks or buy a plastic "fun straw" which doubles as a souvenier.

I also don't think the novelty of seeing the animals doesn't wear off for most people. But to each their own.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your stay and I hope you have a better time next time. SSR looks fantastic! :goodvibes
 
Sorry to hear you had such a difficult time. We too suffered from incompetent service on several occasions during our stay at AKL - so much so that we'll not be back. The views of the animals are great but, as you astutely pointed out, there is so much else to do at WDW it becomes secondary and certainly isn't worth being subjected to abysmal service issues throughout a very expensive concierge stay.

I disagree completely with the poster who said your problems were due to the fact you didn't understand how things work. Clearly you knew it was a request only but, given that you were assured special accomodation due to traveling with a handicapped individual, of course you would expect proper follow through by WDW on that.

And to the poster who doesn't think you had bad customer service, reread the original post. Even if you believe the improper accomodations on the first day were not a botch by WDW, certainly not arranging for the room change discussed on Day 1 and asking the OP to vacate their accomodations for 5 or 6 hours mid-trip is just stupidity and bad service. They should have been far more on the ball with rectifying the issues since it was a total no brainer.

I can really sympathize since what we dealt with was a lot of similar caliber issues which, although they were worked out eventually, required far too much time and effort on our part to keep resteering cast members back in the correct & logical direction. We found their complete lack or organization and internal communication beyond frustrating as it basically required us to coordinate all their staff in order to resolve the problems.

For me, it's not worth risking the time, $$, and aggravation to try AKL again. We'll stick to Wilderness Lodge, Boardwalk, and other proven hotels.
 
MartDM said:
Sorry to hear you had such a difficult time. We too suffered from incompetent service on several occasions during our stay at AKL - so much so that we'll not be back. The views of the animals are great but, as you astutely pointed out, there is so much else to do at WDW it becomes secondary and certainly isn't worth being subjected to abysmal service issues throughout a very expensive concierge stay.

I disagree completely with the poster who said your problems were due to the fact you didn't understand how things work. Clearly you knew it was a request only but, given that you were assured special accomodation due to traveling with a handicapped individual, of course you would expect proper follow through by WDW on that.

And to the poster who doesn't think you had bad customer service, reread the original post. Even if you believe the improper accomodations on the first day were not a botch by WDW, certainly not arranging for the room change discussed on Day 1 and asking the OP to vacate their accomodations for 5 or 6 hours mid-trip is just stupidity and bad service. They should have been far more on the ball with rectifying the issues since it was a total no brainer.

I can really sympathize since what we dealt with was a lot of similar caliber issues which, although they were worked out eventually, required far too much time and effort on our part to keep resteering cast members back in the correct & logical direction. We found their complete lack or organization and internal communication beyond frustrating as it basically required us to coordinate all their staff in order to resolve the problems.

For me, it's not worth risking the time, $$, and aggravation to try AKL again. We'll stick to Wilderness Lodge, Boardwalk, and other proven hotels.

The problem with Disney taking all the blame is that I have seen many occasions from working in reservations at my company,where people never even make the initial request thinking that they did and then blow up when they get to the hotel. And I am not saying this is what happened with the OP. So looking at Disney's side there are people who did put the requests in (which are not guaranteed ever and then there are the people who did not put them in but thought they did. Even medical cases are not usually guaranteed bc there could be more medical conditions that for example need a room close to the lobby than there are those rooms that would be considered "close". If there is nothing on the record than all they can do is try to rectify the situation the best they can and it is not always fair for them to take the blame in every case.

I had a call from a mother the other day that was calling for her daughter. She was furious bc the hotel I work for offers a honeymoon package which needs to be noted on the record and proof of marriage needs to be shown at check in. She called screaming at me bc it was not on the record and bc her daughter did not bring her marriage certificate bc we did not tell her she needed that to get the package when she got to the hotel. Well of course looking over the record, the booking was made online, where they had the opportunity to add the package on for free, and where it told them they needed proof of marriage. Even after this she still blamed us.

I am not saying this is what happened with the OP but bc there are people that do things like that ALL THE TIME, I think Disney worked accordingly as they should have bc it is not fair to always assume it is their mistake. Though I will say they did make an error with the DP not being on the cards, but that is very easy to rectify and it has happened to me before and they were very apologetic about it and it only took 2 minutes to take care of it at the front desk. And honestly, these problems that were mentioned by the OP, they can happen anywhere, not just at Disney. And I feel bad that it may keep the OP away from AKL bc it is such a great resort, and the problems that occured there would have been likely to happen at any other Disney resort they would have stayed at, it was ust an unfortunate situation.
 
I don't really think they had bad customer service. Room requests are never guaranteed for any reason. For anyone. Ever. Disney is very clear about that. I think AKL did everything they could during a crowded busy time when probably every room was booked. Actually I think they went above and beyond because by letting them stay in their room while another was being prepped for them, they probably were keeping another family from checking in on time.

Well said, I agree with you. I was surprised that they were allowed to keep their room for the day, if the resort was full that could have caused another guest to have to wait for their room.
We all have different ideas of what we want in a resort, I guess that is why Disney has so many to chose from. A few years ago we had a bad experience at the Poly and we have chosen not to go back, at least for now, we have since stayed at CR, AKL & SSR and right now AKL is our favorite. Hopefully your next trip will go better and you kind find a resort that you enjoy! :sunny: :sunny:
 


We did eat at Boma and we all really enjoyed the food and the staff there was top notch. We didn't eat at Jiko. My brother-in-law as well as the rest of my family had a great trip I was just pointing out a few of the low points with the CS that I didn't expect from Disney. MartDM from your post I know you probably got exactly the point I was trying to make.

To the poster that suggested that I call to make sure of my requests you are probably right that I should have, and in retrospect I now know that I should have. As I said in my post I didn't think I had to since it was Disney. They are the ones that sell legendary service. I just expected what I requested and paid for. And as far as someone suggesting that they don't honor requests because they have only so many rooms near the lobby isn't that why you make advanced reservations in the first place, so you can go when what you want is available? I am telling you that I would have switched resort choices or even postponed my vacation plans to a later date to have my request filled. Anyone that travels or lives with a person with special needs will understand that.

Again I want to say I had a great time the CS experience I had could not ruin WDW for me and my family, it was just a dull spot on an otherwise wonderful trip.
 

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