One More AKL Refugee!!

[SB in KY]

I guess this is what I get for being so smug....we had a standard club level room booked at AKL for 8/2 - 8/5. I had been in contact with the concierge staff several times, always being assured "No, Kilamanjaro guests are not being moved, you will be fine" and felt free to share that advice with others on this board ...but this AM a mere 24 hours before we leave for WDW I got the dreaded "CALL"....

First a Guest services lady, nice but really clueless, so when I said "Well are you sure we need to move because just last week the concierge people assured me we would not be moved" and she very honestly replied that all she was doing was calling people on her list and she transferred me to a slightly more knowledgeable person....bottom line we would probably have to move, but we could wait and see. I told him the only places we were interested in moving to were CR and BWI club levels....he says he will check and make sure we have to move and call me back.

He just called back and we have been moved to CR Atrium Club (14th Floor) Theme Park view. Oh my gosh...I am so happy I could bust!! The CR tower is my DH's absolute favorite place on earth. We got bumped to 14th floor years ago on an anniversary trip and it was so cool!! Too bad it is just for a few nights!

We booked this as a weekend stay between 2 DVC weeks (we leave tomorrow for BCV and will go to OKW after the CR for 5 nights there). We booked AKL Club as a treat for DD who really wanted to do the Sunrise Safari again. They are letting us keep our SSafari reservations even though we had (got) to move to the CR and even offered to transport us to the AKL (I declined since we will have a car).

I know I am supposed to rant and rave about how this is ruining our entire vacation because we had to move.... but I am just too darn excited!!!

I LOVE Disney!!!

 

[DisneyJimbo]

Yet another example of wonderful Disney customer service!

Have a great trip!!!

 

[Marilyn Mc]

:. I told him the only places we were interested in moving to were CR and BWI club levels....he says he will check and make sure we have to move and call me back.

Good thinking! That is exactly what I did. I told them the only other places I care to stay at are monorail resorts and Disney accomodated me. Have a great stay and post a report when you return!

 

[marlower]

Wow! I can't believe they called with just 24hrs to spare, I am so glad that it all worked out for you! Have fun!

 

[racinjunkie]

I guess this is what I get for being so smug....we had a standard club level room booked at AKL for 8/2 - 8/5. I had been in contact with the concierge staff several times, always being assured "No, Kilamanjaro guests are not being moved, you will be fine" and felt free to share that advice with others on this board ...but this AM a mere 24 hours before we leave for WDW I got the dreaded "CALL"....

Now this is worrisome! We are due to check in on 8/4 and haven't been called. What happened to them calling in chronological order I have already prepped my kids and told my TA that we must have 3 beds so wherever she can make that work we will try to be tolerant but... I'm getting very concerned. I wonder if this is why my ME docs haven't arrived... off to email my TA again.

 

[LilGMom]

Congrats on them taking care of you to your liking. Enjoy your CR stay!

 

[lvloopingbag]

I think the Atrium Club is on the 12th floor and the Tower Club is on the 14th floor. They have the same food and drinks now though.......

 

[marlower]

Now this is worrisome! We are due to check in on 8/4 and haven't been called. What happened to them calling in chronological order I have already prepped my kids and told my TA that we must have 3 beds so wherever she can make that work we will try to be tolerant but... I'm getting very concerned. I wonder if this is why my ME docs haven't arrived... off to email my TA again.

I just received another call from Disney Travel regarding my ressie. After being told that I could stay on July 3rd, then receiving a call two weeks later saying I had no option, I had to move, I decided to send an email to Disney communications just asking for the truth, what exactly is going on. Todays phone call was in response to that email, I talked to a very lovely CM that explained to me that due to the construction at this point they will need to move everyone out except for some in concierge and the suites up til Sept 1st. She was so kind and I told her that I am absolutely satisfied with my move to WL but that all I really wanted to know was the truth. If I were you, I would call again just to be reassured, it sounds like your room may be one of the ones that is not affected The CM also mentioned that they need to move people now so that they don't have to "walk" them on arrival, you would get less of a choice at that time. I am grateful that I was moved when I was,( I have an arrival date of Aug 14th )and that Disney followed up on my email--that is very impressive to me! Good luck to you and to the others that feel they are in limbo right now.

 

[WDWBetsy]

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[raven69david]

Wow. I can't believe the room they gave you at CR. That's an awesome view. I wonder how much your DVC relationship had to do with them offering you that upgrade?! In any case, i'm very happy you got that room. I don't think anyone's gotten anything greater than a CR Garden View room. Hopefully others will have as much success in getting something greater than expected.

 

[racinjunkie]

Count me in as a Refugee. My TA has been calling and has been being old we don't have to move but I got really nervous with the OP being moved with a check in date 2 days before mine, I thought they were way past us by now. So I called AKL and the CM there said that was the first he'd heard of it and he'd been working for 6 straight days. So I went back through the old threads on this issue and found a number someone had listed to guest services 407-939-7919. She took my reservation number, confirmed who I was and what room I was registered for and then said "are you just calling to check on what your TA did?" I said no I've been reading about relocations from AKL and I wanted to see if I would have to move, she said hold on and came back and said I do have to move.

The only thing they offered so far is a 1BR at SSR with a refund of $500 to $1000. I told her I'd have my TA call and negotiate for me, so I emailed my TA and reminded her of our needs and gave her the phone number.

I'll let you all know what happens.

 

[SB in KY]

I think the Atrium Club is on the 12th floor and the Tower Club is on the 14th floor. They have the same food and drinks now though.......

Actually that is how it used to be, but now that rennovations are complete, Atrium Club is on 14 and Tower Club is 12...actually I really don't care...12 would be fine with me. There are only a few regular rooms on 14, most are suites and 12 is all regular rooms. The food offerings are the same now and since the AKL concierge has already made all our ressies I really don't need the concierge to do anything special for us.

The reason they moved us to a club floor was because we had a club level room booked at AKL. When I told the CM on the phone that we were only interested in moving to CR or BWI club levels he told me that they would absolutely find us another club level room someplace and offered Poly at first (but we have been there/done that and were pretty underwhelmed both times) he had to go check with "revenue Management" before he could offer us anything else....which apparently he did because he called back 10 minutes later with the CR offer.

There are happy campers at our house tonight!!

I emailed the AKL concierge staff to make sure they kept our Sunrise Safari reservation but I have not gotten a response yet

 

[SB in KY]

Wow. I can't believe the room they gave you at CR. That's an awesome view. I wonder how much your DVC relationship had to do with them offering you that upgrade?! In any case, i'm very happy you got that room. I don't think anyone's gotten anything greater than a CR Garden View room. Hopefully others will have as much success in getting something greater than expected.

I really don't think DVC had anything to do with this one...we are staying on points at BCV and OKW but this 3 days in the middle was a cash reservation (not enough points available for us to stay DVC over the weekend)

 

[jaycns]

Wow. I can't believe the room they gave you at CR. That's an awesome view. I wonder how much your DVC relationship had to do with them offering you that upgrade?! In any case, i'm very happy you got that room. I don't think anyone's gotten anything greater than a CR Garden View room. Hopefully others will have as much success in getting something greater than expected.

I don't think of it as an upgrade really. Disney had to move them. They were concierge guests at AKL anything less then concierge somewhere else would have been a downgrade. Just what I think.

 

[spayne]

Well, count me in as another refugee. I got the call this afternoon. Our dates are Aug.1-4 and we had standard club level. She told me they are moving everyone but the resturants will be open. I asked for Poly but they were booked so I said Contemporary would be OK. We got Atrium Club theme park view (although it doesn't say this view on my ressie.) I also got taxi vouchers to go to the Sunrise Safari and the Jiko wine dinner we are going to on Aug. 2- the whole point of this trip. I was really looking forward to just going up to my room after the wine dinner. My husband is excited to stay at the Contemporary as we have never stayed there before. Good luck to everyone who is being moved. Stand firm and just ask nicely for what you want- Sue

 

[racinjunkie]

All we could get was the Yacht Club, I know it's more expensive but it's not what we wanted, and it's an Epcot resort and we're not even going to Epcot this trip. Someone tell me they love YC, please, and why. I'm off to look at some pics and look to see if there's a YC thread...

 

[SharonLowe]

Actually that is how it used to be, but now that rennovations are complete, Atrium Club is on 14 and Tower Club is 12...actually I really don't care...12 would be fine with me. There are only a few regular rooms on 14, most are suites and 12 is all regular rooms. The food offerings are the same now and since the AKL concierge has already made all our ressies I really don't need the concierge to do anything special for us.

We were there in June - had a Tower Suite - Tower is definitely 14 and Atrium is 12. No big deal if they are guaranteeing MK view. Yes, they do have the same offerings. The only difference now is that on 14, you can ask for any snacks and beverages anytime they are open and they will get them for you.

 

[Kimberle]

We stayed on the 14th floor a couple of years ago. It is DIVINE! Warning, the birds poop all over the place. Buy a balloon and tie it to the rail when you check in. It helps keep them away.

The VIEW alone is worth every penny!

 

[lvloopingbag]

When we stayed there in December it was Tower Club on the 14th floor and then Atrium Club on the 12th floor. The only difference was the decor (14th floor just had a soft goods rehab and the 12th floor had the total renovation), the size of the balconies (14th floor has huge balconies while the 12th has regular balconies), and the number of rooms (14th floor has less rooms so it is a bit quieter up there).

 

[iloverags2]

All we could get was the Yacht Club, I know it's more expensive but it's not what we wanted, and it's an Epcot resort and we're not even going to Epcot this trip. Someone tell me they love YC, please, and why. I'm off to look at some pics and look to see if there's a YC thread...

First off to the OP...so excited for your move to CR! Sounds like a great trade-off.

As for Yacht Club, we love this resort and have stayed here five times. If you are a pool family, you will definitely love it. Not only is the pool awesome with its sand bottom, mini lazy river, and awesome slide, but it is quite large and never feels overly crowded. The view at YC is also spectacular with the lake just steps away and the Boardwalk across the way. The stroll over to the Boardwalk is relaxing and there is much to see over there. We have never been disappointed with YC...hopefully you won't be either.