JAMBO! The UN-official AKL Thread ~ UPDATED(short film/pg 8 & slideshow/pg 12) Part 3

[TheLastPrincess]

ONE DAY LEFT FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!

At this time tomorrow, we'll probably be on our way to AKL via magical express!!!!!!!!

I'M TOO EXCITED TO SLEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DznyDreamz]

Hi, my family arrives at AKL next week and I would like to go ahead a make a room request. We will have a savannah view. What should I request to keep us away from the construction as much as possible?

Thanks!

I called the resort yesterday (or was it the day before) and was on the phone for 1.25 hours trying to get this resolved!! I asked for a room away from the construction and near the lobby area. The main # transferred me to the front desk. Front desk transferred me to the "special" construction update line. I said, aren't you at the resort, can't you look out and see where the impacted areas are? No such luck. That line transferred me to someone in "Room Ops". He told me it wasn't possible to be away from the construction, that everyone will hear the sounds of it. He said they have one whole wing closed and are down to about 500 rooms (from 1300 or so). I was displeased with this since I was assured back in august that there would be "no impact to guests after 9/1/07". He then transferred me to central reservations who he said was who I would have to speak to find out about an upgrade or relocation. Reservations transferred me to Guest Services. When I explained the situation (with my frustration level fully maxed), she called over to the AKL and after about 20 mins on hold tells me that all that is being done is refurb to rooms on the 5th and 6th floors. She said that it would be during daytime hours. I explained that I paid $300 something a night for a room that I wanted to use without interruption 24/7. I said if I was offered a car that I could drive only at night, whether I was paying $5000 or $10000 would make a big difference. She said "what difference will the daytime interruptions make, wouldn't you be in the parks??". I was not pleased with this answer and said if I chose to go to my room mid-day that I shouldn't have to justify that to her or anyone. Looooong story short, she said someone named Phyllis at the front desk was arranging my room request and they would do their best to accomodate me. The guy in room ops said they could only change reservations or accomodations when we are on-site and anything pre-trip must go through reservations.

It was a very frustrating call which took far too long and far too many transfers. In the end, I am resolved to show up and see how things are. From the pictures I have seen, the impact isn't too bad with just the black drapes up, but the guy in Room Ops painted a far different picture. I will let you know by about 10:30 am tomorrow morning!!!!

Just be careful of the question you ask, you may not be prepared for their answer! I sure wasn't!!

 

[pilferk]

Request a room on Zebra Trail, near the elevator down to the pool.

The refurbs on that wing are complete, and all the DVC rooms in that section opened Sept 1.

There is some construction going on around the lobby (they're still refurbbing those rooms, though I think the "heavy lifting" is done and it's mostly decorating/finish work now), so by requesting a room near the elevator down to the pool area...you'll be about 1/2 way down Zebra trail and away from the construction (and have a convenient way to get to the pool, mara, etc).

The above is going to hold true until mid-november-ish (unless they get even FURTHER ahead of schedule) as the rooms around the lobby and on Giraffe and Ostrich trail should all be open around Dec 2nd.

Kudo trail is slated to be complete around Jan 28, 2008.

Hope that helps!

 

[G&GMom]

She said that it would be during daytime hours. I explained that I paid $300 something a night for a room that I wanted to use without interruption 24/7. I said if I was offered a car that I could drive only at night, whether I was paying $5000 or $10000 would make a big difference. She said "what difference will the daytime interruptions make, wouldn't you be in the parks??". I was not pleased with this answer and said if I chose to go to my room mid-day that I shouldn't have to justify that to her or anyone.

I've had a few phone calls similar to yours. I agree that it is frustrating to be told that it will only be loud when I am at the park. My children are 6 and 4 and we plan to be at the hotel a significant amount of time.

 

[pilferk]

I called the resort yesterday (or was it the day before) and was on the phone for 1.25 hours trying to get this resolved!! I asked for a room away from the construction and near the lobby area. The main # transferred me to the front desk. Front desk transferred me to the "special" construction update line. I said, aren't you at the resort, can't you look out and see where the impacted areas are? No such luck. That line transferred me to someone in "Room Ops". He told me it wasn't possible to be away from the construction, that everyone will hear the sounds of it. He said they have one whole wing closed and are down to about 500 rooms (from 1300 or so). I was displeased with this since I was assured back in august that there would be "no impact to guests after 9/1/07". He then transferred me to central reservations who he said was who I would have to speak to find out about an upgrade or relocation. Reservations transferred me to Guest Services. When I explained the situation (with my frustration level fully maxed), she called over to the AKL and after about 20 mins on hold tells me that all that is being done is refurb to rooms on the 5th and 6th floors. She said that it would be during daytime hours. I explained that I paid $300 something a night for a room that I wanted to use without interruption 24/7. I said if I was offered a car that I could drive only at night, whether I was paying $5000 or $10000 would make a big difference. She said "what difference will the daytime interruptions make, wouldn't you be in the parks??". I was not pleased with this answer and said if I chose to go to my room mid-day that I shouldn't have to justify that to her or anyone. Looooong story short, she said someone named Phyllis at the front desk was arranging my room request and they would do their best to accomodate me. The guy in room ops said they could only change reservations or accomodations when we are on-site and anything pre-trip must go through reservations.

It was a very frustrating call which took far too long and far too many transfers. In the end, I am resolved to show up and see how things are. From the pictures I have seen, the impact isn't too bad with just the black drapes up, but the guy in Room Ops painted a far different picture. I will let you know by about 10:30 am tomorrow morning!!!!

Just be careful of the question you ask, you may not be prepared for their answer! I sure wasn't!!

Couple things:

The people you were talking to (IMHO) either aren't "on the ground" (which would be surprising to me, too) or are painting the worst scenario possible to prospective guests so as not to "under-rate" what's going on (which isn't a smart tactic, either). A lot of what you're hearing was true 30+ days ago, but hasn't been true for the past 3-ish weeks.

The pics you've seen recently (the black drapes) and the reports coming back from recent guests (little to no noise) are representative of what I've heard from others who have recently stayed there. I know it's not easy, but try not to stress yourself out. I'm confident you're going to arrive and be pretty satisfied with what's going on there, and your experience at the resort.

I hope you have a wonderful, magical trip!

 

[kimmar067]

[...too much reading.... ]

 

[sorul82?]

We stayed at the AKL 9/2-9/4 and we never heard a thing. The only thing that bothered me was the man smoking on his balcony on the floor below us, one room over.

 

[MissLiz]

We just returned from AKL last night and we had an absolute fantastic time!

There were black drapes on the upper floors looking over the lobby and if you looked out onto the Sunset savannah, you could see the DVC building construction, but, other than that, we saw/heard NO construction at all!

Even during the day hours, we didn't hear anything in the lobby area or any other section that we happened to be in. The only time we heard anything was outside in the parking lot.....which was within sight of the new building construction.

We stressed out for about a month with the whole construction thing and it was all for nothing!

 

[Kimberle]

Hi, my family arrives at AKL next week and I would like to go ahead a make a room request. We will have a savannah view. What should I request to keep us away from the construction as much as possible?

Thanks!

We were on the Zebra trail about a month ago, 4th floor (construction is on 5th & 6th). It was wonderful, very quiet. As you look at the hotel from the lobby (or the map), try and stay to the right. The construction seems to be to the left side. (At least it was during our stay.)

Have a wonderful time.

 

[kimmar067]

Hi, my family arrives at AKL next week and I would like to go ahead a make a room request. We will have a savannah view. What should I request to keep us away from the construction as much as possible?

Thanks!

...ask for Zebra Trail....

 

[kimmar067]

I called the resort yesterday (or was it the day before) and was on the phone for 1.25 hours trying to get this resolved!! I asked for a room away from the construction and near the lobby area. The main # transferred me to the front desk. Front desk transferred me to the "special" construction update line. I said, aren't you at the resort, can't you look out and see where the impacted areas are? No such luck. That line transferred me to someone in "Room Ops". He told me it wasn't possible to be away from the construction, that everyone will hear the sounds of it. He said they have one whole wing closed and are down to about 500 rooms (from 1300 or so). I was displeased with this since I was assured back in august that there would be "no impact to guests after 9/1/07". He then transferred me to central reservations who he said was who I would have to speak to find out about an upgrade or relocation. Reservations transferred me to Guest Services. When I explained the situation (with my frustration level fully maxed), she called over to the AKL and after about 20 mins on hold tells me that all that is being done is refurb to rooms on the 5th and 6th floors. She said that it would be during daytime hours. I explained that I paid $300 something a night for a room that I wanted to use without interruption 24/7. I said if I was offered a car that I could drive only at night, whether I was paying $5000 or $10000 would make a big difference. She said "what difference will the daytime interruptions make, wouldn't you be in the parks??". I was not pleased with this answer and said if I chose to go to my room mid-day that I shouldn't have to justify that to her or anyone. Looooong story short, she said someone named Phyllis at the front desk was arranging my room request and they would do their best to accomodate me. The guy in room ops said they could only change reservations or accomodations when we are on-site and anything pre-trip must go through reservations.

It was a very frustrating call which took far too long and far too many transfers. In the end, I am resolved to show up and see how things are. From the pictures I have seen, the impact isn't too bad with just the black drapes up, but the guy in Room Ops painted a far different picture. I will let you know by about 10:30 am tomorrow morning!!!!

Just be careful of the question you ask, you may not be prepared for their answer! I sure wasn't!!

.....yikes! I sure hope that everything will work out for you....

 

[jaycns]

We are still at WDW (on leg number 2 at the GF right now). We spent LOADS of time at AKL during the day (I am pregnant and couldn't hit the parks during the hottest parts of the day). It was VERY quiet. Construction did not impact our stay in the slightest. We heard construction ONE TIME for less then 15 minutes while we were in the concierge lounge. It was very muffled and had I not known about the construction, I would not have guessed that is what it was. Out by the pool, nothing. In the main lobby, nothing. On our balcony (zebra trail facing Arusha savanna), nothing. Every other time in the concierge lounge, nothing. In the arcade, nothing. Outside of Mara, nothing. Really, the construction was a complete non issue! We have been more "disturbed" by the refrubishment going on in the building across from us here at the GF. It's loud out on our balcony sometimes when they are doing whatever they are doing over there. We have seen WAY more painters, construction workers, etc here at the GF then we saw at AKL (and by no means does the rehab here at the GF impact our stay). So...I guess what I am trying to say is that while construction is going on at AKL, the actual impact was nothing on our vacation! And from personal experience (we did the Wanyama Safari), plenty of animals were still out and about and I talked with three of the animal care staff who said that of course the animals do come first, but all animals currently on the savannas seem to be doing very well with the construction and they are not thinking of moving them at this time. We saw MANY animals morning, noon and night from our balcony at AKL.


We were at AKL from 9/1-9/9. I cannot promise the same experience for anyone else, but for us it didn't impact us in the least (other then I was hoping to be able to take pictures from the 5th floor bridge over the lobby and was unable to do that).

Hope that helps with the pretrip worries!

P.S. Sitting in the concierge lounge we did see about 10 construction workers (if you add up all 9 days worth of sightings) walking from one side of the 6th floor to the other side.

 

[Tig-girl]

HERE WE GO!! SEE YOU ALL WHEN WE GET BACK!

 

[Daydreamer64]

HERE WE GO!! SEE YOU ALL WHEN WE GET BACK!

Would you please stop teasing me! I'm just kidding- I hope all of your days are great!

I'm having the hardest time keeping the trip a surprise for the boys- especially the flying part- they've never flown before.

I heard from IP- told them this was the "One and only dream trip" that we'll ever have- after this we will be back to the values I told them that we would love to have a room where we could see zebras and gar. - Both of these are the baby's favorite animals. Terry - does anyone know this person? seems really nice. Terry wrote that all of the Club level rooms are savanah view= I hope so! and that the view is one with animals currently living in it, not hiding from the construction. Since our trip isn't until January 1, 2008, I'm hoping that most of the rooms will be finished.
I've been glued to the boards reading everything that I can gt my eyes on about the AKL I don't want to miss anything-

on that note- what time and days does the resort do the story telling around the firepit? TKS

 

[kimmar067]

We are still at WDW (on leg number 2 at the GF right now). We spent LOADS of time at AKL during the day (I am pregnant and couldn't hit the parks during the hottest parts of the day). It was VERY quiet. Construction did not impact our stay in the slightest. We heard construction ONE TIME for less then 15 minutes while we were in the concierge lounge. It was very muffled and had I not known about the construction, I would not have guessed that is what it was. Out by the pool, nothing. In the main lobby, nothing. On our balcony (zebra trail facing Arusha savanna), nothing. Every other time in the concierge lounge, nothing. In the arcade, nothing. Outside of Mara, nothing. Really, the construction was a complete non issue! We have been more "disturbed" by the refrubishment going on in the building across from us here at the GF. It's loud out on our balcony sometimes when they are doing whatever they are doing over there. We have seen WAY more painters, construction workers, etc here at the GF then we saw at AKL (and by no means does the rehab here at the GF impact our stay). So...I guess what I am trying to say is that while construction is going on at AKL, the actual impact was nothing on our vacation!....

....soooo, I guess you have NOTHING to report......

 

[kimmar067]

HERE WE GO!! SEE YOU ALL WHEN WE GET BACK!

....thar she blows....headin' off into the sunset......

 

[pilferk]

on that note- what time and days does the resort do the story telling around the firepit? TKS

Unless things have changed...every day at "dusk". They put the specific time on the events list and the bulletin board, but it changes with the season. For January, figure it's going to be AROUND 6 or 6:30 PM.

 

[mkmommy]

What is the difference between a standard and deluxe concierge room?

Thanks

 

[pilferk]

What is the difference between a standard and deluxe concierge room?

Thanks

Size...and the deluxe rooms are going away.

The deluxe rooms were about 50 sq ft larger than the standard AKL rooms, and could sleep 5 (rather than 4).

The deluxe rooms were/are on the 5th and 6th floor....and are the rooms being converted into DVC accomodations. They will cease to exist once that conversion is complete. There's likely a few left, but not many.

 

[mkmommy]

So if you book a standard concierge room will it just be a standard room with access to the concierge lounge?

Thanks again for the quick response.