For what its worth, heres what I would do...
At this point you cant cancel because of monetary penalties, besides, who wants to cancel, your excited to go to Disney !!
But I would call the resort and complain, you booked a Disney Monorail Resort, as they advertise it, you pay a premium for that service and it wont be functioning for almost 50% of the time you are there because of a planned work activity (not an unplanned breakdown), how are they going to compensate you for not delivering all the "paid for" services. You know they are not going to change the construction schedule, progress has to happen. I would let them know how dissapointed I am as a paying customer who was not notified by them of this work activity, because it does impact your planning and overall experience. I would expect some type of discount off the daily room fee. When they decline, demand to talk to a manager, and keep going up. Disney really is a good customer service business and I bet if you position yourself right and be professional and courteous (no yelling and screaming) you should get something back........just a thought
I'm not sure about a standard room agreement but when you purchase DVC at AKV, if specifically states that there is no guarantee there will be animals on the savanna.
^ This.
When you make a reservation, it's in the terms and conditions that, at any time and for any reason, an amenity or service may be changed, limited, added, or removed. The change in the monorail service falls under this catagory.
And as it was stated earlier, part of the price of staying at the hotel isn't just the monorail, it's the resort itself, it's location, and ALL of the services. The reason these resorts are so expensive is because of the monorail, the full-service, high-desirability dining options, the closeness to the most desired park, the views of said park, even the historical value of the hotel (the Poly was where John Lennon signed the paperwork to end The Beatles...). It's the same reason a hotel that overlooks the animals on the savanna is expensive, the same reason the hotel with the view of MGM is so expensive, the same reason the one in walking distance to EPCOT is so expensive... Because what the hotel offers on a whole, even if one part of it isn't functioning as you'd like.
Wear and tear, damage, and general need requires that the monorail will have to be repaired at some point. The nature of the service is that it's not like a bus on a road where you can just re-route around construction, it means that if work has to be done, the service has to be haulted, sometimes suddenly and with little-to-no notice. If Disney was saying that the monorail was completely closed, they were offering no substitutions and in no way changing their transportation options, and the change was going to be in effect indefinately, then I'd understand why people would be upset. But Disney has worked to accomidate, the best way that the situation allows, the change in transportation and in a month, you'll never know it had to happen.
But in all honesty, Disney doesn't discounted park tickets when a Mountain goes down for repair, scheduled or otherwise, nor do they give refunds to people who come into the park to find out they can't get onto Soarin, nor do they discount vacation packages when there's a change in a show. When Fantasmic! and the night parade were closed within weeks of my trip, I didn't get my money back despite the fact that people who were there a week after I was got to see both shows and paid just the same amount of money I did. When Splash Mtn is closed, it's closed. Tickets aren't cheaper, they don't open up Splash Hill, they don't let you ride another ride twice, it's just not there as an option. They shouldn't need to give money or discounts simply because this time it's a monorail issue considering that other options have been made available and, by all accounts, have been handling the issue just fine.
I'm sure it's a hassle, but it's not the ruining of a vacation. Most of us Disney commoners who stay at just values or mods and are limited to only a bus can attest to this.
