Advice - AKL or Old Key West

[PlutoNotPlanet]

If the refurb that is to begin in Oct is done like prior refurbs of AKV, it is not likely to be much of an issue -- prior procedure was to do 1/2 of a floor at a time, and when done do the other half, and then move to another floor and follow the same procedure.

Off-topic question though related to AKV refurb:
I assume noise or so will be under control. Specific to AKV, could animal activity close to the refurb area be affected?
Also, I heard room/floor under refurb will be taken out of the inventory months before. If I managed to book a room for late November or early December, is there any chance that I get a newly refurbished room?

 

[drusba]

Kidani is going first so for Nov and Dec, Jambo will have no refurb taking place.

As far as room availability goes, what they usually do is block out a group of rooms just before the 11 month window begins that will be out of service for any particular time during the refurb, i.e., DVC has many months ago already classified some rooms to be out of service for times in Nov and Dec and has restricted reservations to the rooms that will still be in service at the time, and any rooms expected to be returned to service during that time after being refurbed

With the refurb not starting until Oct, you can assume that the majority of rooms at Kidani will most likely not be finished by early Dec, and getting an already done room is a matter of luck.

Nevertheless, you also have another issue for late November through early Dec 2025 if you do not already have a reservation.Traditionally, the first week of Dec has been the highest DVC demand week of the year at WDW (Christmas week comes in only as second highest). Thus, particularly with some rooms out service for refurb, even finding a room open now for multiple days during that time is highly unlikely -- currently there are no rooms open at Kidani, in any room category or size, during the entire first week of Dec.

I have been in Kidani twice when rooms were being done. Neither of those times had any noticeable decrease on being able ro see animals from a savanna view room that was still open. There can be some noise factor for rooms that are directly above or directly below ones being worked on at any particular time of a day, and that may be a little more noisy this time if, as I suspect, they will be removing portions of walls to make way for pull down Murphy beds.

 

[PlutoNotPlanet]

Kidani is going first so for Nov and Dec, Jambo will have no refurb taking place.

As far as room availability goes, what they usually do is block out a group of rooms just before the 11 month window begins that will be out of service for any particular time during the refurb, i.e., DVC has many months ago already classified some rooms to be out of service for times in Nov and Dec and has restricted reservations to the rooms that will still be in service at the time, and any rooms expected to be returned to service during that time after being refurbed

With the refurb not starting until Oct, you can assume that the majority of rooms at Kidani will most likely not be finished by early Dec, and getting an already done room is a matter of luck.

Nevertheless, you also have another issue for late November through early Dec 2025 if you do not already have a reservation.Traditionally, the first week of Dec has been the highest DVC demand week of the year at WDW (Christmas week comes in only as second highest). Thus, particularly with some rooms out service for refurb, even finding a room open now for multiple days during that time is highly unlikely -- currently there are no rooms open at Kidani, in any room category or size, during the entire first week of Dec.

I have been in Kidani twice when rooms were being done. Neither of those times had any noticeable decrease on being able ro see animals from a savanna view room that was still open. There can be some noise factor for rooms that are directly above or directly below ones being worked on at any particular time of a day, and that may be a little more noisy this time if, as I suspect, they will be removing portions of walls to make way for pull down Murphy beds.

Thank you so much for the comprehensive answer! I no longer worry about staying at Kidani during the refurb months.
You are also absolutely right about availability. I have a few nights around Thanksgiving booked at Kidani and would like to extend a few days. Now I am considering a split stay at OKW/SSR, making it more relevant to this thread haha. Again, your insights are extremely helpful!