So we've been home for a little over a week now and I wanted to come report back on our Jack Skellington cake from AKL.
About 7 weeks before our planned dinner at Jiko I called AKL Private Dining to discuss ordering a cake. I spoke with Jennifer who provided me with her email so I could send her pictures of what I was looking for and a description. What I wanted was fairly simple - Marble cake, chocolate fudge filling. Since there was just two of us, I wanted the smallest cake possible. I would have liked smooth buttercream but fondant would be okay if necessary. I sent my request and a couple of inspiration photos.
In about three days I got confirmation that the pastry team could do my design. They had to use fondant and the smallest cake would be 10 inches. The cost would be $109. I was okay with everything so I emailed Jennifer back saying I wanted to move forward.
Having ordered cakes from Disney before, I know communication is usually sketchy so when I didn't hear back I really didn't think much of it. In hindsight, I should have called to confirm.
So when we arrived at Jiko for my hubby's birthday dinner, I checked us in and mentioned the cake to the hostess. She said she wasn't aware of a cake but was sure it was there.
After we finished our entrees, our waiter came over and said I had a call. The manager at the host station said he was very sorry but the cake was not there. I showed him the email conversation with Jennifer and he told me he would look into it and offered to take care of our appetizer and take a percent off our bill. Totally unnecessary (I did not blame Jiko at all!) They also brought us an amazingly creative dessert tray (Yes that is a chocolate skull! Not sure why they had one laying around! LOL)
When I got back to our room, I sent an email to guest relations and Jennfier to find out what happened. I had no expectation of getting our cake, but two days later there it was in our fridge after we got back from dinner. I am assuming it came from AKL Private Dining (no note, email or call to explain)
The cake was delicious and perfect anyway. DH loved it.
So my advice, be diligent and follow through to get confirmation. Don't feel like you're a pain - it's your money and you are paying for a service. You deserve peace of mind - lesson learned!