Partial Closure - Animal Kingdom Lodge [Merged Threads]

[mprewitt]

According to a reliable source, Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge at Walt Disney World will be essentially closed for guests from now until Sept 1, 2007.

[Figaro0826]

I called for reservations for August 24th , 2 nights, Disney said there are no available due to construction.

So I booked Wilderness Lodge instead...

[Figment!]

Throughout June Disney has been relocating Guests on the 4th floor of the hotel (that are in trails currently under construction) to Saratoga Springs due to noise concerns.

At this time, there does not appear to be a confirmation of a whole resort closure.

It seems a little suspect that they would close the whole resort for a trail by trail conversion of only two floors.

[Tinkermom]

I have also read that AKL is closing until 9/1. There are several disney sites with stories of people who are booked at AKL between now and 9/1 being offered other accomodations. If this is true I think this information should be put on Intercot's homepage.

[mprewitt]

At this time, there does not appear to be a confirmation of a whole resort closure.

It seems a little suspect that they would close the whole resort for a trail by trail conversion of only two floors.

I agree. I wonder if this is mis-information.

[LottaLubes]

I think it's true...no matter what dates I enter on disney.com, AKL is unavailable. I can't believe it would be sold out for every night this summer.

[Carol]

If this is true I think this information should be put on Intercot's homepage.

Hi Lisa -

When/if the news comes from Disney we'll put the details on the front page. Until then it's considered a rumor.

[DisneyDudet]

I would think that with the number of members going this summer, and staying at AKL, we would have members coming on to tell us about this. If they are indeed calling those who are staying to move them, I'm sure we'd hear something from those people.

Not saying that they aren't displacing more people due to noise or space, but a whole resort seems a little much. There are other places at the resort to stay other than the floors being affected. They now have limited number of rooms available, which will sell out easier than if all rooms were available at one time.

I'm sure Figment will let us know ASAP!

Keep your eyes open for more info!!

[Tinkermom]

Hi Lisa -

When/if the news comes from Disney we'll put the details on the front page. Until then it's considered a rumor.

Hi Carol!

I know we can all count on Intercot to get us the info we need! I sure hope we hear soon if this is true or just a rumor...

The main reason I am interested is there is some speculation out there that when the next phase starts there could be some more AKL closures starting in early '08. We are hoping to book AKL villas for February '08. I will be watching to see how this all plays out.

[TooGoofy]

We are due to arrive at AKL on July 9...and have not gotten a call yet. If the entire resort were going to be closed, I think they would have told us by now. I have heard of many people being asked to move to a different resort (SSR, etc), but we have not been contacted. Therefore I would take this with a grain (or an entire truckload) of salt.

[tyandskyesmom]

We are arriving for a three night stay there in about 14 hours and have not been contacted but MJ about any closure f the whole resort so I think this is a bit of inaccurate information.

I'll report back on what we see and hear next week sometime!

[mprewitt]

The site that originally posted the information has made a revision.

[TammiMcMan]

I've edited the title of this thread to lessen any confusion. According to guests who have reservations there, some have been called and offered another resort, while others have not. It seems to be based on the locations of the rooms that have been booked. I've also heard from someone who just returned from the AKL and they reported the resort is in fact still up and running, with guests being checked in. They also stated that the construction was barely noticeable to them.

[Tink1]

We have not been notified of any "official news" about this yet either way. At this point I must remain in the "this is a rumor" camp. Being a Saturday, I find it odd to hear any decision was made today (the upper ups don't normally work weekends)

There has been some guest relocation going on in the past few weeks, as everyone has been aware of. There will be more to come. I cannot say however that they are closing the resort. (Guest relocations actually happen often for many reasons; maintenance and upkeep, overbooking conventions, VIP security reasons etc.)

As soon as we hear anything Intercot, always, is the first place we put it.

Nanc

[DawnSS]

It's true. I got the call this am that we have to switch. All 17 of us were scheduled the first week in August. We had the choice of Saratoga Springs and Wilderness Lodge Bay Lake view and then we found out they were both completely booked. So, we are ending up at the Boardwalk in the Villa's. They look very nice...2 bedrooms, kitchen, etc. so it should be much nicer ammenities. I was so looking forward to AKL though. Maybe next time.

Dawn

[StillSimbaGirl]

Take heart - although AKL is very nice - you really can't beat that Epcot location - except MAYBE - by a monorail hotel. Boardwalk is by far a better location than Saratoga Springs...and somewhat better than WL (given that WL doesn't have monorail access).

[Figment!]

The following is an official statement released by the Disney Vacation Club regarding the progress of the Villas and the project's effects on the Lodge:

July 3, 2007

Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas opened to Disney Vacation Club Members yesterday. We are pleased that our Members are happy with the new accommodations. There is construction occurring at the resort to complete the conversion of the fifth and sixth floors to Vacation Homes.

In an effort to accelerate the construction timeline and potentially complete this effort earlier than planned, portions of the resort will be temporarily closing. As a result of the accelerated timeline, we are working with Guests who have existing Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge reservations to assist them in selecting alternate accommodations for their upcoming visit. This does not affect all Guests staying at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.

The care and safety of the animals at the resort is at the forefront of planning the construction. No animals have been adversely affected by the construction and we are proactively managing their care.

[BugeyedMuggy]

Not to sound petty but I'm disappointed to hear Disney is more worried about the VCM than the already reserved guest they had to relocate. I have res. for late Sept. & have booked many of my ADR's around my lodging. These I cannot change at this late date. I picked this hotel and alot of my plans are around this location. The SSR would not be acceptable to me. To cancel my trip I also have paid for air fare & Disney trip ins.(which I will not be refunded) I realize some things are beyond their control but to accelerate their plans & ruin other's does not in my mind justify the end result. I hope our trip is not effected as it will tarnish my respect for Disney & their many commercials about your dream can come true. I hope all the people relocated still had a magical time.

[Roo Girl]

This is concerning- we're due to arrive at AKL (in the DVC units) starting Aug 8th. I haven't heard anything about a relocation but they did warn me when I made the reservation that there may be construction noise. I assume I'll be at the parks so its Hakuna Mattata!!

Looking forward to it- I hope we aren't staying in a "ghost town" resort!

[TammiMcMan]

BugeyedMuggy, I think it comes as a suprise to most of us when we see Disney acting like a corporation. What we're seeing is business 101. The AKL is not one of the resorts that you normally had a problem getting into to. I don't think they helped themselves by creating so few lower priced standard rooms. I imagine the financials for this resort, were not the best. They were constantly giving out free upgrades on existing reservations, so they could re-open standard rooms back into inventory.

Now compare that, to DVC, which is money in the bank. My guess is that they have a waiting list of people ready to purchase and if those rooms are not ready soon, people may take their money elsewhere.

I agree that the human factor for those who painstakingly plan their vacations, is what suffers the most. The fact that they've been proactive and pretty flexible with alternatives does show me that they are trying. I know guests who refused SSR and are instead staying at the BW, the GF and the Poly. In my opinion, nothing would be comparable to the AKL, but it's an effort at least. You brought up a good point about the ADR's. Does anyone know if that's being addressed, if they have CM's setup to help those affected guests with making new dining plans?