I've been reading all of this with great interest. I check into the WL in less than a month. When I booked through Orbitz, it just mentioned the main pool was closed but that the other hidden pool was open. We didn't think it was too big of a deal since we love the Lodge.
Cut to the last few weeks and I'm seeing that the hot tub and the pool bar are closed, the entire pool area will be redone with scaffolding and construction with jackhammers....that's COMPLETELY different than the pool is closed.
Also saw that folks are receiving letters from Disney about the pool construction. I've never received a letter, I only found about about how extensive this whole thing is from reading the boards, thank you all!
So, I called Disney to just ask about it. They informed me that yes that whole area would be under construction from 9am-5pm each day but that it "wouldn't affect" us. Umm, really? I then asked about the waterpark tickets I've heard about and she did inform me that they would handle that at the front desk but yes, waterpark tickets would be available. After I hung up, I called my sister (we live in separate cities and this is a sister only trip) and explained. She was disappointed but said "Well, if the construction is bad, then we can ask them to move us once we check in right?".
I've been reading the disboards all about this and then saw that some folks are being moved at no extra charge, some are getting $50. a night credit for staying at the WL, some are getting a $500. overall credit, and some are being offered to move to a different resort for a nominal charge. I think it's fantastic that those folks are being taken care of.
But what I don't get is why Disney was just upfront about how extensive the construction would be! Had I known that, I would have booked a different resort this time and probably paid more for it so that Disney would be making more $ from me to begin with. But they made it seem like it wasn't a big deal.
I've contacted Orbitz, explained the situation, they were so nice. They put me on hold and called Disney. When they came back on the line they let me know that I would receive some sort of credit but that the manager on duty wasn't there that day so I would get a call from Disney letting me know what that was. I thanked them and hung up. Two days later I hadn't heard anything. I called Orbitz again. Explained everything and asked if I should be getting a call from Disney or what. They called Disney again, they then told me "Disney will call you today by 5pm". Again, nothing.
I called Disney on Friday and explained the situation to the CM and asked to speak to guest services. They transferred me over to a wonderful CM. She was very nice and completely understood when I let her know that I would have chosen a different resort to begin with and I asked her who would be calling me back. She explained that Disney didn't really do that, they liked to take care of things on the phone right away. She let me know that Orbitz had probably called the Lodge directly instead of a different dept. She said that she couldn't do anything since Disney didn't own my reservation until 2 weeks before the trip. She told me to call Orbitz, told them what dept to call at Disney, and let them know I wanted to move to a different resort. Give them 3 to 4 choices of resorts to work with and then she let me know she completely understood my point of view. She was so nice and pleasant as was I.
Called Orbitz back, told them everything was on hold for 45 minutes. They came back and said "GF is available but you have to pay the difference in price." I explained to the rep that I wasn't going to be doing that. That Orbitz needed to call Disney back and let them know that I was more than happy to move to a number of places but I wasn't going to move to the Grand Floridian and pay a ton of extra money. Orbitz was so nice and a supervisor called Disney. She then called me back and said I would hear from Orbitz in 24-72 hours after Disney called them back.
So, I'm waiting to hear from them. If I don't hear at the end of my workday I'm calling them to check on it.
Just wanted to post this so that folks can see that Orbitz or another booking agent is more than happy to work with you on fixing this. The Disney folks I've spoken to have been great. Now, they all just need to talk to each other and figure things out.
I get that WL wants to keep people there during this, I get that Disney would want to move me to the most expensive resort on property to make more money, and I get that there are refurbishments being done to improve Disney overall.
What I don't get is why Disney just isn't upfront about how extensive those refurbishments are and also why they don't just have a plan in place knowing that some folks will not be thrilled with it affecting their stay. Like I said at the beginning, I would have booked a different resort in the first place had they just been completely honest about the construction.
Now, I'm hoping that Disney will help us out and move us somewhere and not want to charge us up the wahzoo to make that change. I've seen on here that many folks have been offered the change with no charge at all.
Sitting and waiting....
PS- Good luck to others that are going to WL during this construction. Hope it all works out for you all!
of all the guests trying to use the quiet pool. 
not very magical imo. 
