How to make room requests and advice for requests at AKL

[calablovedisney]

Checking into Akl for 4 nights 6/27. Since I added an extra night there at the beginning (after letting Universal go this trip). I have 2 reservations, one for the 27th and then another for the next 3 nights. So my 2 questions are: I want to hopefully stay in the same room for the 4 nights, but not sure how or where to request this. And also, are there any recommendations for making any room request at AKL. I have a standard room. I think I read on here a while back that someone said they requested to have a Savannah view. Are there standard rooms that offer a partial view? I assumed a Savannah view is not possible with a standard room reservation. Any insight into that, or other request suggestions, would be great. Thanks
We are moving to POR after that for the last 6 nights, but I have a Royal Room-river view and the only request I want there is to have a top floor.

 

[earfulofmagic]

There are indeed standard rooms that offer a partial savanna view, which you can request. You can check out approximate room views through touringplans' roomfinder tool!

Could you call and perhaps have Disney cancel/rebook both of your AKL reservations, in order to consolidate? If not, you could still call and have them note on your reservation that you would like to stay in the same room all four nights since you're not technically checking out.

 

[Shanti]

Checking into Akl for 4 nights 6/27. Since I added an extra night there at the beginning (after letting Universal go this trip). I have 2 reservations, one for the 27th and then another for the next 3 nights. So my 2 questions are: I want to hopefully stay in the same room for the 4 nights, but not sure how or where to request this. And also, are there any recommendations for making any room request at AKL. I have a standard room. I think I read on here a while back that someone said they requested to have a Savannah view. Are there standard rooms that offer a partial view? I assumed a Savannah view is not possible with a standard room reservation. Any insight into that, or other request suggestions, would be great. Thanks
We are moving to POR after that for the last 6 nights, but I have a Royal Room-river view and the only request I want there is to have a top floor.

Standard rooms on the Kudu trail have views of the animals. We were in a 3rd floor Kudu trail standard view room in April, and saw giraffe, zebra, ostriches & more outside our room.

 

[Hopefully]

There are indeed standard rooms that offer a partial savanna view, which you can request. You can check out approximate room views through touringplans' roomfinder tool!

Could you call and perhaps have Disney cancel/rebook both of your AKL reservations, in order to consolidate? If not, you could still call and have them note on your reservation that you would like to stay in the same room all four nights since you're not technically checking out.

This is very dangerous advice. Do not cancel the reservations you have. A new 4 night block, without counting your just cancelled reservation as it is no yet in the system, would have to be available. You would likely end up with nothing.
Do call and asked to have it noted that you have a "continuing reservation". Then request to stay in the same room at checkin
Good Luck

 

[calablovedisney]

This is very dangerous advice. Do not cancel the reservations you have. A new 4 night block, without counting your just cancelled reservation as it is no yet in the system, would have to be available. You would likely end up with nothing.
Do call and asked to have it noted that you have a "continuing reservation". Then request to stay in the same room at checkin
Good Luck

Either way I cannot do this because I booked with Orbitz and had decided a while ago to keep the 2 since it would cost me a fee to cancel and rebook. Also I got Disney's discount and Orbitz and wouldn't risk losing that for sure.

 

[calablovedisney]

There are indeed standard rooms that offer a partial savanna view, which you can request. You can check out approximate room views through touringplans' roomfinder tool!

Could you call and perhaps have Disney cancel/rebook both of your AKL reservations, in order to consolidate? If not, you could still call and have them note on your reservation that you would like to stay in the same room all four nights since you're not technically checking out.

What is the best way to request? Do I call the resort directly? Or request through online checkin? Both?

 

[jaiminee krikit]

We stayed at AKL last summer in a standard view room. I did online check-in and only requested Kudu Trail View (I read that I had a better chance only making the one request in getting an "obstructed" savannah view). We got a wonderful view! The "obstruction" was a fence in our line of sight (right outside our balcony), but it didn't deter the animals from coming our direction, and it didn't negatively affect our view at all. I was looking to see if I have any pictures of the fenced in area, but I don't, and we took a lot of pictures from our balcony so that says a lot right there.

I've never stayed in one hotel on two reservations, so I'm not sure how to proceed there. I would at least call and have them note on both that you would like to have the same room for the duration of your stay. I've heard that works.

 

[Lothlórien]

If you call and ask for it to be noted on your reservation you would like to stay in the same room the entire visit, they will do everything they can to accommodate. This happens more often that one might think. The Cast Members who assign rooms can definitely work with this request. You could also call the hotel directly (which is a switchboard for hotels) and they will note it and if they require clarification a manager will call you back.

 

[Sue M]

Standard rooms on the Kudu trail have views of the animals. We were in a 3rd floor Kudu trail standard view room in April, and saw giraffe, zebra, ostriches & more outside our room.

Perhaps you booked standard view but were given an upgrade to savanna view.

 

[Sue M]

What is the best way to request? Do I call the resort directly? Or request through online checkin? Both?

You can't phone the AKL directly. Just phone the reservation line and have the reservations linked as a continuing stay and add a request to stay in the same room. When you arrive stop by the front desk to check and see if they have that noted on your res, it doesn't hurt to remind them that you'd like to stay in the same room.

 

[Amanda999]

If you call and ask for it to be noted on your reservation you would like to stay in the same room the entire visit, they will do everything they can to accommodate. This happens more often that one might think. The Cast Members who assign rooms can definitely work with this request. You could also call the hotel directly (which is a switchboard for hotels) and they will note it and if they require clarification a manager will call you back.

OP: I would call Disney and ask for the 2 reservations to be linked, but be aware that the CM might refuse to talk with you about the Orbitz reservation: Orbitz is a travel agent, like any other, and thus 'owns' the reservation. Disney will only talk with the TA. What I would do: call Disney first, see if the CM will link the ressies (don't mention about Orbitz; hopefully your 1st night was booked direct with Disney?). If not, hang up and try a few more CMs. If all fail, then you have to phone Orbitz and tell them you need them to call Disney to do a room request. If you get one who balks/clueless, hang up and try again. The Orbitz person will put you on hold, or call you back, while they call Disney. I have done this more than once successfully. (But I don't use Orbitz any longer - not since the extra 15% off at Orbitz was capped at $150 or so, plus the cancel fee, and inability to modify). HTH!

 

[Shanti]

Perhaps you booked standard view but were given an upgrade to savanna view.

No, we were not upgraded. There is a subset of standard rooms that have animal views. These are on the Kudu trail. If you read up on the topic (Touring Plans, etc.), you will learn more about this.

These standard view rooms don't have sweeping views of the whole savanna, which is probably why they're classified as standard view. We were facing another part of the hotel probably about 50 yards away, with a grassy area & watering hole in between, where animals regularly came to drink & hang out. We saw animals outside our balcony every time we were there, & the view was very clear & close.

 

[earfulofmagic]

This is very dangerous advice. Do not cancel the reservations you have. A new 4 night block, without counting your just cancelled reservation as it is no yet in the system, would have to be available. You would likely end up with nothing.

Hence why I recommended calling and asking if it's possible. Pretty obvious complication that nobody wants to risk

 

[calablovedisney]

OP: I would call Disney and ask for the 2 reservations to be linked, but be aware that the CM might refuse to talk with you about the Orbitz reservation: Orbitz is a travel agent, like any other, and thus 'owns' the reservation. Disney will only talk with the TA. What I would do: call Disney first, see if the CM will link the ressies (don't mention about Orbitz; hopefully your 1st night was booked direct with Disney?). If not, hang up and try a few more CMs. If all fail, then you have to phone Orbitz and tell them you need them to call Disney to do a room request. If you get one who balks/clueless, hang up and try again. The Orbitz person will put you on hold, or call you back, while they call Disney. I have done this more than once successfully. (But I don't use Orbitz any longer - not since the extra 15% off at Orbitz was capped at $150 or so, plus the cancel fee, and inability to modify). HTH!

OP: I would call Disney and ask for the 2 reservations to be linked, but be aware that the CM might refuse to talk with you about the Orbitz reservation: Orbitz is a travel agent, like any other, and thus 'owns' the reservation. Disney will only talk with the TA. What I would do: call Disney first, see if the CM will link the ressies (don't mention about Orbitz; hopefully your 1st night was booked direct with Disney?). If not, hang up and try a few more CMs. If all fail, then you have to phone Orbitz and tell them you need them to call Disney to do a room request. If you get one who balks/clueless, hang up and try again. The Orbitz person will put you on hold, or call you back, while they call Disney. I have done this more than once successfully. (But I don't use Orbitz any longer - not since the extra 15% off at Orbitz was capped at $150 or so, plus the cancel fee, and inability to modify). HTH!

Thank you. I will try calling and also putting my request in with online check in. I did put in a request for POR a couple of years ago. I think I remember that I had an email address that I wrote to. I got on these boards for them and emailed my request. I did get it, and I did book with Orbitz then as well. It was some kind of direct email (I thought) for POR reservations-or something like that.
About booking with Orbitz though, it is sometimes still worth it. For my POR portion of the stay I saved $200, and with the combination for my 2 AKL reservations I saved $163, so a total of $363. That was definitely worth it to me. For POR, there is no cancellation fee and the cap seems to be $200, but for AKL there is a cancellation fee. So, it does depend on your resort as to whether or not it is worth it to book. I get emails from Cheaptickets all the time advertising 25%, but there cap was always $150 no matter the resort, so I don't book with them. I agree, though, you have to weigh the pros and cons!