Virgin Refurb AKL Drama! Advice?

[Chessie!]

Hi,

Last year me, my fiance and my Mum booked the trip of a lifetie to WDW AKL to celebrate my Uni graduation.

Everything is booked our ADRs, hire car, and flights. Last week we recieved our wrning that the final payment was due. Then 5 mins later we recieved a letter saying that they were closing Jambo House pool complex during our stay. We were gutted. This trip has been planned for over a year. I check the rebubs regularly and AKL never came up.

So we got in contact and they said it as Disney's fault and there was nothing they could do. We got back and said that our holiday is no longer worth the huge amount we payed for. Now they are saying that they might move us, but we have no choice over where we are moved too, and if we don't like it our AKL room is forfeit.

They even told us not to contact ABTA as we dont have claim to be unhappy. We think we do. We also contacted Disney, and they are getting back in touch.

Virgin even were rude enough to say that if we fought this we would lose any choice of room in the new hotel they would shove us in.

Has anyone had a similar eperience or got any advice?

Normally we stay off property but this really was a once in a lifetime trip and it no longer seems to be!

Help!

Thank you!

 

[saintrob]

I can't help with Virgin holidays as I'd assume you have to check their terms and conditions of booking. The same happened to us with AKL during the last refurb but we'd booked through Disney. They informed us of building work and were quite happy to move us - we had to pay if we wanted to move to a hotel of better quality.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Try contacting Disney direct. Some people have had luck doing it. There have been a few threads on this as both CSR and AKL are closing their pools later this year for refurbishment.

 

[zavandor]

At AKL there si another pool at the Kidani side. It will be crowded for sure, but maybe it would suffice. It's 5 minute walk or there is a shuttle between the two buildings.
I would not risk of being put in an hotel I don't like, AKL is great even without one of the pools.
There's a chance they might give you a water park ticket, they did for other lenghty pool refurbs.

 

[mumsy1955]

At AKL there si another pool at the Kidani side. It will be crowded for sure, but maybe it would suffice. It's 5 minute walk or there is a shuttle between the two buildings.
I would not risk of being put in an hotel I don't like, AKL is great even without one of the pools.
There's a chance they might give you a water park ticket, they did for other lenghty pool refurbs.

We are booked for November.Just wondering how long it takes to refurb a swimming pool? Surely if they start work in August it should be finished by November

 

[zavandor]

It's not a refurb, it's reimmagineering. There is some speculation they might add (paid for) cabanas. I've read it will go through the end of the year. Dumb move if you ask me, why not start in January when it's often too cold to swim?

 

[mumsy1955]

It's not a refurb, it's reimmagineering. There is some speculation they might add (paid for) cabanas. I've read it will go through the end of the year. Dumb move if you ask me, why not start in January when it's often too cold to swim?

that's a shame,but although it's a disappointment we have our daughters wedding to look forward to on the 8th November at S wan and,dolphin beach and MVMCP on the 9th,so trying to stay positive,and will more than likely be out at the parks during the day.Agree it's a dumb move!!!

 

[Jon84]

We are due to stay at AKL End of November and are in the process of trying to move hotels. - We have a Pool View room booked and have been offered £400 reduction as there won't be a pool to look at. I've Stayed at Beach Club during room refurbs and not noticed anything at all when they were working on Club Level above us.

They are doing two pieces of work:

1. Pool Refurb which starts 4 Sept till Mid December. - They are trying to say to use the Kidani Village Pool but that'll be so busy! It sounds like US guests are being given Water Park passes, but that useless for UK guests as it's already included in the Ultimate Ticket.
2. Individual Room renovations, they are starting top down on Floor 5 Mid August 2018 and work goes into 2019. So unless you are staying Club Level or a Jambo Villa, you likely won't even notice the work is happening.

Virgin Holidays are correct that it's not their fault Disney sprung this on everyone. Only Disney have the power to move you in this situation, and if they do move you, you'll have no choice at all.

Your contact with Disney direct probably won't change anything, you've booked with VH and everything needs to go through them in theory.

VH told us they have a list of guests asking to be moved and are awaiting a response from Disney (who must be very busy with this situation). They will only move like for like, so you could end up at any other Deluxe Hotel.

I'll post back here when we hear more

 

[Jon84]

Been told today that even though they said we should hear back in 5 working days (today), it's likely the end of the week till Disney respond.

Also, they said that you'll likely see a change on your MDE account, before Virgin are even notified of the change.

 

[Jon84]

MDE shows my booking as 'Canceled' so someone at Disney is doing something!

 

[4evryoung]

Kidani village at AKL is a Disney Vacation Club resort. (DVC is a separate entity and not part of the Disney Resorts set-up.) Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House resort guests should not assume they will be allowed to use the Kidani pool. Annual DVC membership fees pay for the up-keep of the Kidani pool and Disney Resorts do not contribute. So, it is most unlikely that normal resort guests staying at Jambo will be allowed access to that pool. The reality is that guests at Jambo will not have pool access unless they utilise the water parks or are given access to another (non-DVC) Disney Resort.

 

[gillep]

Kidani village at AKL is a Disney Vacation Club resort. (DVC is a separate entity and not part of the Disney Resorts set-up.) Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House resort guests should not assume they will be allowed to use the Kidani pool. Annual DVC membership fees pay for the up-keep of the Kidani pool and Disney Resorts do not contribute. So, it is most unlikely that normal resort guests staying at Jambo will be allowed access to that pool. The reality is that guests at Jambo will not have pool access unless they utilise the water parks or are given access to another (non-DVC) Disney Resort.

This is NOT accurate. These two resorts share amenities and guests from Jambo are always free to use the amenities at Kidani and vice versa, including the pool. This is directly from the WDW website for Jambo House (bolding mine).

Pool with Waterslide
Escape to an 11,000-square-foot pool with an exciting waterslide and gently sloping, zero-depth entry point similar to that of a natural watering hole. Surrounded by large canopy trees and Floridian palms, Uzima Pool includes a children’s wading pool and 2 whirlpool spas.

You can also cool off at Samawati Springs Pool, which offers a thrilling waterslide, 2 whirlpool spas and Uwanja Camp—an animal observation site-themed water playground with squirting Venus flytraps, a rope bridge, water cannons and more. Samawati Springs Pool is located just a short walk away at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_CA/resorts/animal-kingdom-lodge/

 

[Jon84]

Kidani village at AKL is a Disney Vacation Club resort. (DVC is a separate entity and not part of the Disney Resorts set-up.) Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House resort guests should not assume they will be allowed to use the Kidani pool. Annual DVC membership fees pay for the up-keep of the Kidani pool and Disney Resorts do not contribute. So, it is most unlikely that normal resort guests staying at Jambo will be allowed access to that pool. The reality is that guests at Jambo will not have pool access unless they utilise the water parks or are given access to another (non-DVC) Disney Resort.

Sorry but you are completely wrong there, as posted above, guests have always been able to use Kidani Village facilities.

As well as that, affected guests are specifically being told they can use Kidani Village.

Same goes for the other Hotel DVC combined hotels, no one checks the DVC/Hotel Guest Split.

 

[saintrob]

Yep, we've stayed at AKL and have had no problems using the Kidani facilities. We've also stayed at the Boardwalk, Beachclub and Grand Floridian and have been able to use the quiet pools on the DVC side. We've also done the opposite - stayed in the DVC villas using our points and been able to use the pools on the hotel side.
The only exception is staying at the Contemporary - from what I can remember we couldn't use the pool at Bay Lake Tower.

 

[Jon84]

Hi,

Last year me, my fiance and my Mum booked the trip of a lifetie to WDW AKL to celebrate my Uni graduation.

Everything is booked our ADRs, hire car, and flights. Last week we recieved our wrning that the final payment was due. Then 5 mins later we recieved a letter saying that they were closing Jambo House pool complex during our stay. We were gutted. This trip has been planned for over a year. I check the rebubs regularly and AKL never came up.

So we got in contact and they said it as Disney's fault and there was nothing they could do. We got back and said that our holiday is no longer worth the huge amount we payed for. Now they are saying that they might move us, but we have no choice over where we are moved too, and if we don't like it our AKL room is forfeit.

They even told us not to contact ABTA as we dont have claim to be unhappy. We think we do. We also contacted Disney, and they are getting back in touch.

Virgin even were rude enough to say that if we fought this we would lose any choice of room in the new hotel they would shove us in.

Has anyone had a similar eperience or got any advice?

Normally we stay off property but this really was a once in a lifetime trip and it no longer seems to be!

Help!

Thank you!

How did you get on in the end?

Had to get VH to call Disney to fix it as our booking was showing on MDE as 'Being canceled and will be removed in 48 Hours'.

Got moved to Beach Club in the end

 

[jerseygal]

How did you get on in the end?

Had to get VH to call Disney to fix it as our booking was showing on MDE as 'Being canceled and will be removed in 48 Hours'.

Got moved to Beach Club in the end

You are lucky that you are moved. DVC doing nothing for members other than saying that Jambo DVC guests can use Kidani pool.

 

[k8Davies]

They even told us not to contact ABTA as we dont have claim to be unhappy. We think we do. We also contacted Disney, and they are getting back in touch.

Virgin even were rude enough to say that if we fought this we would lose any choice of room in the new hotel they would shove us in.

Has anyone had a similar eperience or got any advice?

Okay firstly as they record all their calls get a copy of this conversation - Put in a official complaint with their head office (I'm sure the details will be somewhere on line) I would by pass the normal complaint line and try to get someone on the board email and tell them.

Then I would go to ABTA separately as even if you don't win they'll have that complaint on record.

Also you never know as these things are cumulative, so alone you might not get too far but if a lot of people are complaining about the same thing they might be inclined to take action.

I had a few problems with Virgin last year and I did have to dig my heels in before they addressed the problems.

I will keep everything crossed you get it sorted out soon.

Also congratulation on graduating, as I'm sure you worked very hard, you need this break before moving on to your next chapter

 

[mumsy1955]

It's not a refurb, it's reimmagineering. There is some speculation they might add (paid for) cabanas. I've read it will go through the end of the year. Dumb move if you ask me, why not start in January when it's often too cold to swim?

Do you think the bulk of the "noisy" work will be done by November

 

[Jon84]

Do you think the bulk of the "noisy" work will be done by November

I don’t think so. The work goes into 2019