HUGE Mystery at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Jambo

[blondie511]

i am staying here at AKL Lodge, JAmbo. Yesterday at noon, a band, full African choir and dozens of Disney executives showed up in the main lobby all looking very excited. They choir sang the Lion King soundtrack and it brought tears to your eyes. There was a "welcome Jambo" sign over the bridge and people were taking pictures. I grabbed a manager and asked what is going on. He said it is a rehearsal for a huge welcome event for a certain VIP arriving Thursday at noon. It is either an A list celebrity, someone super important, or royalty. He was not at liberty to tell me more. Speaking to housekeeping and other employees since then, they are all tight lipped about who the party is. I know they will be here for seven days in the VIP suites, are paying 6 million for the staff here to cater to them and provide services. The employees say this RARELY ever happens, only with HUGE NAMES! This year they had Adam Sandler, Jennifer Lopez, and Brittney spears. The employees are leaning towards it being royalty/politics, like a President or royal family, like William and Kate type. Anyone staying here have any rumors to add, or do you know who is coming???? I will be in the parks at the "arrival time", but if I knew exactly who was coming , I might change them....thoughts????

 

[patty57]

I'm surprised that someone told you the party was spending six million. That's pretty private info for Disney employees to be spreading around. I also can't imagine how they would know that.

 

[paradesintherain]

Wow, I wish I had heard that! The Lion King soundtrack is my all-time favorite. Did you happen to get any video?

 

[Networth]

This sounds a little "off"? Most VIPs do not spend even close to 6 million in one week.

Imagine what you would have to buy at WDW to add up to 6 million maybe if your Mark Cuban or Donald Trump, but still...

Not questioning you OP, just the information you were told.

 

[AngiTN]

i am staying here at AKL Lodge, JAmbo. Yesterday at noon, a band, full African choir and dozens of Disney executives showed up in the main lobby all looking very excited. They choir sang the Lion King soundtrack and it brought tears to your eyes. There was a "welcome Jambo" sign over the bridge and people were taking pictures. I grabbed a manager and asked what is going on. He said it is a rehearsal for a huge welcome event for a certain VIP arriving Thursday at noon. It is either an A list celebrity or royalty. He was not at liberty to tell me more. Speaking to housekeeping and other employees since then, they are all tight lipped about who the party is. I know they will be here for seven days in the VIP suites, are paying 6 million for the staff here to cater to them and provide services. The employees say this RARELY ever happens, only with HUGE NAMES! This year they had Adam Sandler, Jennifer Lopez, and Brittney spears. The employees are leaning towards it being royalty/politics, like a President or royal family, like William and Kate type. Anyone staying here have any rumors to add, or do you know who is coming???? I will be in the parks at the "arrival time", but if I knew exactly who was coming , I might change them....thoughts????

This sounds a little "off"? Most VIPs do not spend even close to 6 million in one week.

Imagine what you would have to buy at WDW to add up to 6 million maybe if your Mark Cuban or Donald Trump, but still...

Not questioning you OP, just the information you were told.

Not to mention questioning the other bolded bit. During the opening of Pandora they had every actor in the movie and all the producers/writers/directors there. Way bigger names than those three. And there all at once.

 

[Dr.Mickey]

Aww, shucks...It's me. I'm so glad they are getting ready for us

 

[pitpat]

Not sure why they would mention when the VIPs were supposed to arrive either.

 

[BK2014]

There was a "welcome Jambo" sign over the bridge

Clearly, the VIP guest who is coming is Jambo. I don't know how you all missed this.

 

[Allison]

Something seems off about the story you were told. Why would a manager who really had any information disclose how much someone was spending? I don't find $6 million to be believable.

 

[AngiTN]

Something seems off about the story you were told. Why would a manager who really had any information disclose how much someone was spending? I don't find $6 million to be believable.

Unless they are staying 6 months in the big suite they have there or something, with what is it called, Platinum Dining plan

 

[Allison]

Unless they are staying 6 months in the big suite they have there or something, with what is it called, Platinum Dining plan

I'm not sure what you could do at Disney to spend nearly a million dollars a day unless you are renting out the parks every night.

 

[AngiTN]

I'm not sure what you could do at Disney to spend nearly a million dollars a day unless you are renting out the parks every night.

It would be very tough
Feed a group at V&A for dinner every night may put a dent in it but that would be hard to book, even if you had the money

 

[Skywise]

If it's royalty/elected officials it might not be. They require a LOT of extra security.

 

[BK2014]

If it's royalty/elected officials it might not be. They require a LOT of extra security.

From my experience in working the front desk of a hotel where presidents routinely stay, if it was such a person, at least part of their security detail would have been in the hotel days, if not weeks in advance. I don't know if that is the case at AKL, but they were usually pretty hard to miss.

 

[melissapealo]

If it's royalty/elected officials it might not be. They require a LOT of extra security.

View attachment 274633

Agreed. Years ago I worked front desk at a hotel and we had the former president of Taiwan as a guest while he was in town giving a speech at a university. They completely rented the hotel for 2 nights even though they only needed a handful of rooms. There was security at every entrance to the hotel and as well as throughout the halls and lobby. They also had dogs in the lobby the entire time. No idea as to what they paid but certainly no where even close to a million. That number just seems very high and can't believe a manager would risk talking about things like that.

 

[hakepb]

Is the king of Morocco switching it up and staying at AKL instead of his typical BW cottage rental?

 

[Lynne M]

I've heard tales of royal families from countries in the Middle East renting out entire floors in the GF. I've personally seen one of these (large) families dining in the GF.

Disney offers all sorts of extra-cost services that the general public never hears about. Basically, if it's not illegal and you've got the bucks, you can have just about anything you want.

Six million sounds high to me, but if you rent enough rooms, and bring enough people, and pay for enough special dining, entertainment, exclusive use of a theme park for the evening, etc, you could get there.

 

[Dakota731]

Yes usually it’s royal families from the Middle East who rent out entire floors of hotels and spend millions, but doubt I’d know one if I saw one!

 

[ZebraDomeCrazy]

I have a friend who is a CM there, and said someone booked 30 rooms!! And they also heard about the 6 million dollars.... crazy!!!

 

[kmb584]

Perhaps it's this Saudi Prince, who once dropped $20 million at Disneyland Paris?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/dispatches/2013/06/07/disney-paris-saudi-prince/2402217/

I can't even imagine spending that! Nevermind spending that because I graduated from college!