Construction at AKL?

[Babsy]

Oh no. They told me that we wouldn't be affected at all and we are staying in a pool view room. Now I'm back to being horrified.

Did they switch you to the GF? And are you paying the difference? Because the GF is not in our budget right now or I'd just switch. Immediately.
Thanks, Babsy. And thanks for posting this.

They allowed us to get the same discount, but the price is substantially higher for the GF. We weren't happy about it, but we decided to pay the extra to be sure to not have construction noise during our trip. It is adding about $1400 to the cost of our trip. I am not happy, but what can you do? Like my DH said, over the cost of the trip if that makes the difference between enjoying it or being miserable, then it is worth it. We did have the option of moving to POFQ for significantly less money, but I had my heart set on deluxe for this trip. (I would have settled for CSR or CR GW, but neither one was available.)

It is my own fault, really. I knew about this last week but I thought "If they haven't notified me, they probably don't expect it to impact my stay".. Then i received the dreaded email last night and called. They didn't inform me until 6 days before my visit. Ugh! Very little warning!

I don't know who to believe regarding the impact on pool view rooms. We decided that if some people are suggesting that it will/could cause issues then we want to move to be safe. I have stayed with construction that "shouldn't have any impact on your stay" and been VERY much disturbed by the noise. I do not want to repeat the experience.

You might go and be just fine. I wish that I knew what too tell you. I just wanted you to know what we were told and what we decided.

Good luck!

 

[Miffy]

They allowed us to get the same discount, but the price is substantially higher for the GF. We weren't happy about it, but we decided to pay the extra to be sure to not have construction noise during our trip. It is adding about $1400 to the cost of our trip. I am not happy, but what can you do? Like my DH said, over the cost of the trip if that makes the difference between enjoying it or being miserable, then it is worth it. We did have the option of moving to POFQ for significantly less money, but I had my heart set on deluxe for this trip. (I would have settled for CSR or CR GW, but neither one was available.)

It is my own fault, really. I knew about this last week but I thought "If they haven't notified me, they probably don't expect it to impact my stay".. Then i received the dreaded email last night and called. They didn't inform me until 6 days before my visit. Ugh! Very little warning!

I don't know who to believe regarding the impact on pool view rooms. We decided that if some people are suggesting that it will/could cause issues then we want to move to be safe. I have stayed with construction that "shouldn't have any impact on your stay" and been VERY much disturbed by the noise. I do not want to repeat the experience.

You might go and be just fine. I wish that I knew what too tell you. I just wanted you to know what we were told and what we decided.

Good luck!

Babsy! Thank you so much for your detailed and thoughtful response.

After I saw your post, I called guest services back (it's not the main res line, but the Outbound Sales line--because I foolishly booked through Orbitz) and they flat-out told me that they wouldn't move me and that if I wanted to change resorts, I was welcome to make my own reservation. Not an exact quote there, but that was the gist of it.

The woman I spoke with said that if AKL felt it would impact our stay, that they would've called to move us, and since they hadn't, then it wouldn't impact our stay. This, of course, doesn't explain why they sent an email that was basically a warning to expect noise.

Here I was thinking it outrageous that they waited until 12 days before our check-in before telling us--but they waited until a mere 6 days before your check-in before telling you! That's beyond outrageous.

I have a PIN (or whatever they call them now) that's still active for our dates, I was surprised to see. And I checked the GF--since of course it's gorgeous there and what the heck--but it's $2,000 more than our current booking, which I had a hard time coming to grips with. And that room may not be available anymore by the time DH gets home tonight and we can discuss it. $2,000 is not the kind of thing one wants to make a snap decision about. YC was available (CL) for also about the same price, but for that much $, I'd prefer the GF, I think. I was really hoping for the CR tower, but CR is completely, totally booked for my dates--not available anywhere at all. Believe me, I checked!

I've spent so much time today thinking about this, researching other places to stay, etc. I'm pretty annoyed with WDW. But I still love them!

Thanks for the good luck! I can always use it! Enjoy the GF! We might be joining you!

 

[Babsy]

Yes, $2K is a LOT of money. I agree that you can't make a snap decision about it. Unfortunately, with so little notice, we really didn't have a lot of time to ponder either. It was a 30 minute wonder of "can we, should we, will we?" this morning.

Now that you mention it, we were briefly offered the YC as a possibility as well, but I think that the YC may be doing some refurb as well (Not certain, though) and I also thought that for about the same money I would rather be at the GF. I was really hoping for the CR GW to keep costs down, but no luck. I do intend to try daily in case of some unexpected pixie dust, but at this late date I don't expect anything. Again to quote DH "We have a great place to stay, everything is settled so we can relax now and just enjoy it. We will just stay at the AKL another time."

I have spent this afternoon tweaking my ADR's to reflect the fact that I am now in the MK area instead of staying in the AKL. That snowballed into changing some FP+'s. I think I finally have everything sorted out again! Phew! This last minute stuff is why I book almost a year in advance.

But, you know....
The best laid plans of mice and men..........(and Disney fans! LOL!)
..........are ALWAYS subject to change!

 

[Miffy]

Yes, $2K is a LOT of money. I agree that you can't make a snap decision about it. Unfortunately, with so little notice, we really didn't have a lot of time to ponder either. It was a 30 minute wonder of "can we, should we, will we?" this morning.

Now that you mention it, we were briefly offered the YC as a possibility as well, but I think that the YC may be doing some refurb as well (Not certain, though) and I also thought that for about the same money I would rather be at the GF. I was really hoping for the CR GW to keep costs down, but no luck. I do intend to try daily in case of some unexpected pixie dust, but at this late date I don't expect anything. Again to quote DH "We have a great place to stay, everything is settled so we can relax now and just enjoy it. We will just stay at the AKL another time."

I have spent this afternoon tweaking my ADR's to reflect the fact that I am now in the MK area instead of staying in the AKL. That snowballed into changing some FP+'s. I think I finally have everything sorted out again! Phew! This last minute stuff is why I book almost a year in advance.

But, you know....
The best laid plans of mice and men..........(and Disney fans! LOL!)
..........are ALWAYS subject to change!

If didn't have the "luxury" of another 11 whole days, we probably would already have decided as well. The room inventory changes by the minute. Things that I saw a half hour ago are no longer available, but other rooms have popped up. DH and I have to make a pre-decision decision so that if something does appear, we can grab it.

I couldn't agree with you more--for the same price, I'd much rather be at the GF. I do like the convenience of walking to Epcot and DHS, but I much prefer the Grand. It's grand!

I'll post back when we've decided, whatever our decision.

And thanks so much for sharing your info! It's quite helpful.

 

[Jetta8300]

VAfamily: I actually prefer the savannah views on the lower floors--you're right there with the animals, not looking down on them.

Update: I just spoke with someone in customer relations at WDW. They assured me that the construction was taking place in an "isolated area" and that other than the Club Level, no one else would be affected.

Can anyone verify that the Club Level area is relatively isolated from the rest of the lodge? Seeing people walk in and out with equipment doesn't bother--it's the noise I'm concerned about.

Thank you!

Club level rooms from what I've read is all of floor 6, and most of floor 5. So technically Disney is saying if you're not on the 5th or 6th floor then you won't be disrupted. However I would say from other people's responses that it's possible to be very bothered if you are below those rooms as well. Many people posting they have experienced this at other resorts and it was pretty noisy and disruptive all around, and felt like they were in a construction zone. They're probably just hoping people won't jump ship. We ended up switching to CBR. But it would be interesting to hear someone's take on it from there once the construction starts.

 

[Miffy]

Club level rooms from what I've read is all of floor 6, and most of floor 5. So technically Disney is saying if you're not on the 5th or 6th floor then you won't be disrupted. However I would say for other people's responses that it's possible to be very bothered if you are below those rooms as well. They're probably just hoping people won't jump ship.

This. That's why I'm pretty convinced we are going to jump ship.

 

[Miffy]

As promised, I'm posting with what we decided, which is to cancel AKL and book somewhere else. The somewhere else turned out to be--very surprising to me!--Saratoga Springs.

No refurb, construction, or rehab going on there, the place looks lovely, and a studio (there're only 2 adults here) was a mere $200 more than our original reservation.

I'm very happy and relieved!

Thanks, every, especially Babsy, for all your help!

 

[sndral]

Club level rooms from what I've read is all of floor 6, and most of floor 5. So technically Disney is saying if you're not on the 5th or 6th floor then you won't be disrupted. However I would say from other people's responses that it's possible to be very bothered if you are below those rooms as well. Many people posting they have experienced this at other resorts and it was pretty noisy and disruptive all around, and felt like they were in a construction zone. They're probably just hoping people won't jump ship. We ended up switching to CBR. But it would be interesting to hear someone's take on it from there once the construction starts.

DVC club level villas are located on the 6th floor (as is the club lounge.)
DVC villas in Jambo house are located on the 5th floor.
If info. posted on DIS is correct that it is the DVC villas and the club lounge that are being refurbished then only the 5th and 6th floors would have direct impact from the work. Note that some 5th floor DVC villas are pool view.
Regular club rooms (cash reservations, not DVC villas) are typically on the 4th floor, so club guests renting regular rooms would be impacted if the lounge was moved to the Presidential suite.
And perhaps some 4th floor regular rooms might hear some construction noise from the work on the 5th floor above (but maybe not - depending on what they are doing.)
I don't know the extent of the refurb. I stayed at YC when they were doing an exterior upgrade, and other than seeing scaffolding w/ guys on it it wasn't a problem. Last December they gave us a new mattress on our second night @ BWV as part of their not yet over refurb - again no problem, other than we cleared the bed/moved items out of the way before we left the villa so they could switch out the mattress.
Just like taking rides down for maintenance during slow times, WDW schedules resort maintenance during slow times when they can too. It'd be nice if they could give people a lot more notice, tho'.

 

[Jetta8300]

DVC club level villas are located on the 6th floor (as is the club lounge.)
DVC villas in Jambo house are located on the 5th floor.
If info. posted on DIS is correct that it is the DVC villas and the club lounge that are being refurbished then only the 5th and 6th floors would have direct impact from the work. Note that some 5th floor DVC villas are pool view.
Regular club rooms (cash reservations, not DVC villas) are typically on the 4th floor, so club guests renting regular rooms would be impacted if the lounge was moved to the Presidential suite.
And perhaps some 4th floor regular rooms might hear some construction noise from the work on the 5th floor above (but maybe not - depending on what they are doing.)
I don't know the extent of the refurb. I stayed at YC when they were doing an exterior upgrade, and other than seeing scaffolding w/ guys on it it wasn't a problem. Last December they gave us a new mattress on our second night @ BWV as part of their not yet over refurb - again no problem, other than we cleared the bed/moved items out of the way before we left the villa so they could switch out the mattress.
Just like taking rides down for maintenance during slow times, WDW schedules resort maintenance during slow times when they can too. It'd be nice if they could give people a lot more notice, tho'.

I probably wouldn't have moved if it was exterior remodeling, that doesn't sound too bad. However they are posting that everything in the rooms on the 5th and 6th floors are being replaced including carpets, wallpaper, curtains, and bedding. We are pretty easily annoyed by a lot of noise and we wouldn't want to be underneath where they were ripping up carpet or something... Especially since some other posters have said they were present during soft goods refurbishing and they went much earlier and later than 9 and 5. But I hope it works out well for everyone who chooses to Stay! It seems like quite a few resorts are undergoing refurbishments right now whether it's the rooms, or pools.

 

[Babsy]

As promised, I'm posting with what we decided, which is to cancel AKL and book somewhere else. The somewhere else turned out to be--very surprising to me!--Saratoga Springs.

No refurb, construction, or rehab going on there, the place looks lovely, and a studio (there're only 2 adults here) was a mere $200 more than our original reservation.

I'm very happy and relieved!

Thanks, every, especially Babsy, for all your help!

You are welcome!! and Congratulations! Enjoy Saratoga Springs!

(BTW, a room opened up with pool view RR in POR with our discount, so I called and grabbed it! It isn't deluxe, but at least we are now saving some money. It feels a lot better than the extra at the GF. Also, the monorail will be on reduced hours plus the GF courtyard pool is going to be closed. All in all, we decided that POR would work better for us. I hope that this is finally settled for everyone!!

 

[Miffy]

You are welcome!! and Congratulations! Enjoy Saratoga Springs!

(BTW, a room opened up with pool view RR in POR with our discount, so I called and grabbed it! It isn't deluxe, but at least we are now saving some money. It feels a lot better than the extra at the GF. Also, the monorail will be on reduced hours plus the GF courtyard pool is going to be closed. All in all, we decided that POR would work better for us. I hope that this is finally settled for everyone!!

Hi, Babsy! I feel like I know you.

The RRs in POR are beautiful. Great choice! And the money you're saving--well, I hardly need to tell you how good that is. When I looked at the extra two big bills that GF would've cost us, I couldn't justify it.

I'm quite psyched about SSR. I've never even seen it in person. Always fun to try something new. And the place just felt right while we were looking through the available resorts/rooms last night. It's so lucky for me that I had that PIN code (UOC, I guess it's called now) and that it hadn't expired. Really made my life pretty easy.

Have a wonderful, happy, magical trip!

 

[Regan117]

We aren't happy about it, but there isn't much we could do since we are on rented points. I am going to deal with it when I get there and insist they move us if it is disruptive. We have been through a soft goods refurb at a Disney resort before, and frankly it is noisy and disruptive if you are in the area they are working in, but not as big a deal if you aren't. There is still some disruption from workers, equipment, and supplies. My other concern with AKL is the fact that everything will have to go through the front of the building because the savannahs are in the back. I image a lot of construction stuff with be traveling through the lobby. I am most irritated by the fact that they sent this out via regular mail to those of us actually staying in these areas just a few weeks before starting and are apparently just now emailing everyone else. That is unacceptable IMO. They knew this was coming and there should have been some kind of advanced warning. Most of us staying DVC have NO options even if people we are renting from are willing to work with us because there isn't any DVC availability this close other than the outlying older properties.

I agree with this. It's the timing of the notification. Had I known earlier, I would have switched to the GF and changed my daily plans (dinner reservations, etc). But we will be there January 30th and I was JUST notified about this today - I received a letter in the regular mail. That's two and a half weeks before my trip, too late to change and get a comparable room to what we have at AKL. That is what makes me angry. People should have been notified sooner.

 

[Stacy9402]

We will be at AKL this coming Sunday. We booked Savanna View through hotels.com. I have not heard anything or received a letter. Should I be concerned?

 

[Miffy]

We will be at AKL this coming Sunday. We booked Savanna View through hotels.com. I have not heard anything or received a letter. Should I be concerned?

The answer to the question "should I be concerned?" is always No! But, aside from that philosophical note, is it possible you booked something in Kidani and not Jambo House? Because all the refurb is in Jambo.

If you are in Jambo, when you check in, tell them you want a low floor. All the work is being done on the 5th and 6th floors, as I understand it.

 

[Stacy9402]

The answer to the question "should I be concerned?" is always No! But, aside from that philosophical note, is it possible you booked something in Kidani and not Jambo House? Because all the refurb is in Jambo.

If you are in Jambo, when you check in, tell them you want a low floor. All the work is being done on the 5th and 6th floors, as I understand it.

We were in the Jambo house. Room #4529 - Arusha Savanna .. I did not see any construction going on while there. So I must of missed their coming and goings on other floors.