Jambo House pool closure??

[melissa723]

Just phoned MS. MS researched it and said that they "thought" that letters went out to DVC members regarding the Jambo pool closure directly from the resort.
I expressed my disappointment that I have not been notified yet. I also e mailed DVC. Hopefully, I will get a response.
Hopefully, someone at MS will follow up with Animal Kingdom Resort and begin notifying members immediately who have reservations made. In our case, we are traveling in October; lots of luck trying to make a change now! Almost impossible, getting any availability in October anywhere with popularity of F&W combined with Toy Story Land opening end of June.

Did you just email MS via the DVC site?

 

[jerseygal]

Did you just email MS via the DVC site?

Yes, I did. Encourage others who are DVC members to do the same to also alert them that notification has not been received!

 

[Marionnette]

I had a 2-night stay in a Kidani 1-bedroom reserved for Sept. I just canceled and re-booked for SSR. The plan had been to arrive very early in the AM of the first night and then spend the first full day relaxing at one of the pools since we will all be too tired to do the parks. It doesn't sound as if it will now be possible to relax at the Samawati Springs pool with all of the Jambo guests heading there.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I read somewhere that a cast member said they were "re-imagining" the pool area. Whatever that means. I also read that people believe they don't contact DVC members because we can easily take a Disney vacation whenever we feel like it. We're going from November 11th-18th and were lucky enough to snag CL, so it's impossible for us to reschedule to a different week since you need to book exactly at the 11-month window for even a shot at getting one of those rooms. That's also not taking into account plane tickets, work schedules, and life in general. Kidani is fine to use, if the crowds are at a minimum, but it's the fact that they chose not to make their members aware of this impending inconvenience that bothers me the most.

I'd guess that for one it means adding Cabanas. Oh joy.

Second - I was realizing in April that it still is "old school" with deeper depth areas like a whole 5' or something. So my other guess is they are going to fill in a bit and make it more shallow. I don't recall what they've been going to - maybe no deeper than 3'6" or is it 4' that they've been doing?

 

[cmarsh31]

I had a 2-night stay in a Kidani 1-bedroom reserved for Sept. I just canceled and re-booked for SSR. The plan had been to arrive very early in the AM of the first night and then spend the first full day relaxing at one of the pools since we will all be too tired to do the parks. It doesn't sound as if it will now be possible to relax at the Samawati Springs pool with all of the Jambo guests heading there.

We did the same - canceled the illusive Value Studio at Jambo and got a standard SSR. Had a lovely chat with DVC yesterday (I emailed on Sunday). She said they were able to add a 3rd waitlist to our list... not sure it'll make a difference for November, but I'm glad I got something else. We're only going for 4 days and planned on some quick pool time in the evening or afternoon. Crowded Kidani was not appealing.

 

[famgel]

I guess everything works out for a reason! Jambo or Kidani wasn’t available my week in December!

 

[keishashadow]

Exactly. It's not that the Kidani pool is that far, but there are nearly 2,000 rooms between Jambo and Kidani. That's a lot of people for one pool.

I'm just surprised that it's going to take them THREE full months to do this refurb? Not sure what's involved in a pool refurb but I just envision draining it, power washing it, etc. I suppose they could be resurfacing the whole thing but even for that it seems like an awful long time.

Ugh that is a ton of potential people vying for space at what seems to be a very small pool area @ Kidani. We always have stayed @ Jambo but have wandered over to use the pool’s features for GD a few times.

We booked late this year and settled for Kidani first week in December. Took a bit to piece together the days we needed as it was. Nothing more than 2 days even @ SSR in a studio when i checked earlier today.

Wish i had heard this earlier. Glad OP posted before I bought airfare as I’m considering cancelling entirely. relaxing at the pool is an important part of all our visits.

Notices should have been sent out to those with confirmed reservations ASAP after they decided to renovate.

 

[kristenrice]

Guess that is an advantage to a SPLIT STAY! Chances are both pools will not be on a refurb schedule.

Well, we have a split stay too, but we would have done 3 days at AKV and 4 days at OKW if I would have known the pool was going to be out of commission at AKV. Now, we are set to arrive late Friday night (like midnight!) and have Saturday and Sunday in the parks before checking out of OKW on Monday.

Some options other than the pool depending upon what you are into:
sports: golf, mini-golf, fishing, marathon, bowling, ESPN Club, WWS/ESPN Zone, etc We are doing the Splitsville Member night on Wednesday
shopping: DTD, area outlet malls, large scale malls
drinking: Jellyrolls, Raglan Road, monorail tour of resorts, walking tour of resorts in the Boardwalk area It's just me and the kids who are 13 and 15...probably not the best idea
movies: DTD 24 screen theater some with meals served by waiters
night clubbing: Jellyrolls, Atlantic Dance, Raglan Road, Citywalk
resort tours: monorail tour of resorts, Boardwalk around the lake tour of resorts, horse drawn tour of FWC, AKL/AKV
offsite: Gaylord Palms Resort, Citywalk, swamp tour No car
eating: Formal GF 5* Chef's Table @ V&As I'm planning on giving the girls a taste of Jiko and perhaps the Yachtsman as well. V&A's is a little too much even for me. I thought about California Grill, but the only time I could get was 9:50pm and that is WAY too late

I decided to get tickets to MNSSHP so we will use those to go to the MK on a "non-park" day and we are going to HDDR the night before so we will be sleeping in that day anyways. On Wednesday, before we do the DVC member event at Splitsville, we might get a mani/pedi at the SSR spa or maybe do a horseback ride over at Ft Wilderness.

 

[apathetic]

That Kidani pool is small compared to Jambo. And Jambo is usually pretty busy. Glad we aren't staying there during this. I would demand free water park admission to offset the loss. Because swimming during this time will not be magical.

 

[kristenrice]

I would demand free water park admission to offset the loss. Because swimming during this time will not be magical.

If it were only a few days, that might be worth asking for...but since they are going to have the pool closed for MONTHS, I doubt they are going to be compensating that many guests.

 

[melissa723]

I'd guess that for one it means adding Cabanas. Oh joy.

Second - I was realizing in April that it still is "old school" with deeper depth areas like a whole 5' or something. So my other guess is they are going to fill in a bit and make it more shallow. I don't recall what they've been going to - maybe no deeper than 3'6" or is it 4' that they've been doing?

Never even thought about the cabanas. You’re probably right.

 

[larissawbb]

That Kidani pool is small compared to Jambo. And Jambo is usually pretty busy. Glad we aren't staying there during this. I would demand free water park admission to offset the loss. Because swimming during this time will not be magical.

They won’t do anything. The attitude is like too bad, so sad, not. I’m booked Kidani end of September through first week of October and I learned about the pool closure here. The pool at kidani won’t hold that many people during a very hot time of year.

 

[CMNJ]

That Kidani pool is small compared to Jambo. And Jambo is usually pretty busy. Glad we aren't staying there during this. I would demand free water park admission to offset the loss. Because swimming during this time will not be magical.

If it were only a few days, that might be worth asking for...but since they are going to have the pool closed for MONTHS, I doubt they are going to be compensating that many guests.

So not to contradict but they did give water park access to people staying at the Poly when the volcano pool was closed for refurbishment (during the DVC construction) and WL during the main pool closure in 2014. Of course these were CRO cash bookings not DVC. We stayed at WL and they actually were giving $50 credit per night or water park access for everyone who asked. I read about it on Disboards which is how I knew to ask and we got $200 room credit.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

If it were only a few days, that might be worth asking for...but since they are going to have the pool closed for MONTHS, I doubt they are going to be compensating that many guests.

I thought I read on the resorts board that some had gotten something if not moved - and I thought at least one was a DVC booking but maybe not - I was skimming. Can't hurt to call or send an email and inquire about if you can either be moved or get something like Water Park access. It may not happen but it definitely won't if you don't ask!

We were looking like we'd have a Kidani stay during this time but a waitlist came thru before I saw this announcement. I'm happy that we'll have that stay some other time.

 

[kristenrice]

So not to contradict but they did give water park access to people staying at the Poly when the volcano pool was closed for refurbishment (during the DVC construction) and WL during the main pool closure in 2014. Of course these were CRO cash bookings not DVC. We stayed at WL and they actually were giving $50 credit per night or water park access for everyone who asked. I read about it on Disboards which is how I knew to ask and we got $200 room credit.

I thought I read on the resorts board that some had gotten something if not moved - and I thought at least one was a DVC booking but maybe not - I was skimming. Can't hurt to call or send an email and inquire about if you can either be moved or get something like Water Park access. It may not happen but it definitely won't if you don't ask!

We were looking like we'd have a Kidani stay during this time but a waitlist came thru before I saw this announcement. I'm happy that we'll have that stay some other time.

Yeah, I seem to remember reading about that too, but was the closure the same length of time? I thought it was only for a few weeks, not several months. I certainly wouldn't turn down compensation, but since we aren't going to go to a water park anyways, I have no use for water park tickets. I am more disappointed in how this is going to mess with our plans for our departure day. We were planning to hang out by the pool after breakfast at Boma. We have a late (6:45pm) departure flight and now we will have to try and fight for a spot over at the Kidani pool and then go back to Jambo to catch the DME bus. It's not the end of the world, but it's just a bigger hassle.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Yeah, I seem to remember reading about that too, but was the closure the same length of time? I thought it was only for a few weeks, not several months. I certainly wouldn't turn down compensation, but since we aren't going to go to a water park anyways, I have no use for water park tickets. I am more disappointed in how this is going to mess with our plans for our departure day. We were planning to hang out by the pool after breakfast at Boma. We have a late (6:45pm) departure flight and now we will have to try and fight for a spot over at the Kidani pool and then go back to Jambo to catch the DME bus. It's not the end of the world, but it's just a bigger hassle.

It's hard to say. There may be a lot of people who will just skip the pool altogether. Hope it works out for you! Jambo is one of my favorite pools on property and the one that I will go to every visit. But I would not bother with a trek over to Kidani.

 

[rg35]

illusive Value Studio

Illusive is something that is deceptive, like an illusion.
Elusive is something that eludes you and difficult to track down.
So in this case, the room is elusive, because value studios are difficult to book. They aren't deceptive or misleading.

 

[sndral]

Illusive is something that is deceptive, like an illusion.
Elusive is something that eludes you and difficult to track down.
So in this case, the room is elusive, because value studios are difficult to book. They aren't deceptive or misleading.

Given how hard those value villas are to book, they might as well be an illusion for 90% of us
When I read how long the pool refurb was going to be I was very disappointed as it appears it will impact most of my late Nov./early Dec. visit. If I had known I would have at least stuck w/ my usual savanna view rather than the standard view I opted for as I would have chosen to avoid any chance of getting a pool under construction view.
I’ve had no notice from DVC or AKL as of today either.
I shudder to imagine what they are up to w/ 3 months of changes, making it shallow & zero entry I’m sure, because some one at Disney seems to be on a crusade to make every pool zero entry. I don’t think there’s enough room for cabanas - but who knows. I hope they aren’t taking out the kiddie pool and throwing in another of the splash zone thingies, and I really hope they don’t mess with the hot tubs. The foliage around the pool had become so lush and beautiful and after this I’m sure we’ll be back to rather spartan foliage until it grows and fills in.

 

[jerseygal]

That Kidani pool is small compared to Jambo. And Jambo is usually pretty busy. Glad we aren't staying there during this. I would demand free water park admission to offset the loss. Because swimming during this time will not be magical.

I mentioned in my conversation to MS that based upon my memory, I remember one of the pool refurbishments, maybe it was the Poly Volcano Pool, that free water park admission was offered. MS rep wasn't familiar with any water park admission ever offered. If anyone knows which refurbishment pool that was, certainly appreciate it. I e mailed MS yesterday, waiting to see what their response is.

 

[jerseygal]

Yeah, I seem to remember reading about that too, but was the closure the same length of time? I thought it was only for a few weeks, not several months. I certainly wouldn't turn down compensation, but since we aren't going to go to a water park anyways, I have no use for water park tickets. I am more disappointed in how this is going to mess with our plans for our departure day. We were planning to hang out by the pool after breakfast at Boma. We have a late (6:45pm) departure flight and now we will have to try and fight for a spot over at the Kidani pool and then go back to Jambo to catch the DME bus. It's not the end of the world, but it's just a bigger hassle.

I understand completely; our last day is typically spent hanging at our resort pool with a later flight. Hope that you enjoy anyway.