AKL Kidani Village ehh :(

[Nick Garrick]

So just finished my first stay at AKL Kidani Village. Didn’t know to ask for a Sunset Savannah room so we got a back room overlooking some deers, mules & pigs. Lol
This was for my 50th bday - management doesn’t really seem to know what the left hand is doing vs the right hand. Sanaa was great. Some staff who overlook the animals were fantastic. Just not a great stay for the cost, but now I know. Just ask for the damn Sunset Savannah if staying here for the first time!!!!!

 

[JIMINYCR]

Thats why guests must do their research of the resorts they choose and see what the better buildings and rooms are. Every resort has areas that are better than others. What things did they do that made you post a negative on management? Its on you to ask for a better room assignment if youre displeased with what you were given. Weve had no problems getting a change to a different room whenever weve had an issue, even during buzier times. Management isnt to blame for you not doing your pre trip prep planning to know what you were getting into and not asking for a better room.

 

[Nick Garrick]

Thats why guests must do their research of the resorts they choose and see what the better buildings and rooms are. Every resort has areas that are better than others. What things did they do that made you post a negative on management? Its on you to ask for a better room assignment if youre displeased with what you were given. Weve had no problems getting a change to a different room whenever weve had an issue, even during buzier times. Management isnt to blame for you not doing your pre trip prep planning to know what you were getting into and not asking for a better room.

Well let’s see where to start?
1. We arrived on Tuesday & stayed til Sat this past week for my 50th bday. It was VERY dead during the week, we went down on Wed to see if we could pay - yes we did say PAY for an upgrade - we were told - nope nothing available - sorry.
then my father injured his foot in the park on Tuesday plus already has arthritis in both knees. We had to walk .35 miles thru the resort to get our room in the Pumba section - but no room available closer to the lobby etc. even after we told them we would, again I say it, PAY for an upgrade.
2. got the bill on Sat morning - found weird charges on the bill. Decided to go down to discuss - now Friday & Sat the Lodge MUCH busier - ran into a couple with suitcases - talk to them, asked if they were leaving too - nope they didn’t like their room view & were getting a new room. Sayyyy whattt?
so my guns are loaded so to speak
3. They don’t KNOW what the extras charges are for - and then they ask me - I guess you want the $140 credited back to you? No let Mickey keep it to buy shoes for Minnie....
4. Then told about room changing - well this CM said why didn’t they change the room due to the view & my fathers difficulties? Why didn’t they offer you a complimentary wheelchair to get thru the resort? Ummm Because I didn’t know they had them & why the heck didn’t they offer that to begin with on Wed?
5. Bellhop service - was told Sat by CM to contact bellhop service 10min before leaving to help with luggage to the car. Ok
Call - “I’m sorry we don’t have those services available” I went off. I’m sorry why would the CM at the front desk say you do???
I used un-Disney like words I’m sorry.
Bell hop came - think he was a manager - he & I had a good conversation going to the car.
Everything I had a complaint about - he didn’t understand why changes weren’t made, why we not accommodated since it was during the quiet time of the week.
Soooo never again. I’ll stick to Mods & values but Deluxe aren’t worth it IMO
AP member here & yeah I pulled that out during the arguments which made me feel bad. LOL
I’ll go back to Sanaa, & see the CMs I did make friends with but prob won’t recommend AKL to my friends in the future.

 

[Nick Garrick]

I would think the other couple was able to change rooms because people had checked out for the week on Saturday morning and were probably checking their bags with the bellman until a room was ready later in the day. I learned the hard way many times using Amex platinum hotels that you rarely get the upgrade you want, especially when you want it the most like a birthday, honeymoon etc The only way I’ve been able to get the view I want without the dread of not getting an upgrade/preferred anything, is to pay in advance for the exact type of room I really want.

I hear ya
But I’m just saying that this particular stay at a Deluxe just didn’t seem to go well & at times, it seemed like management didn’t really seem to know what the left hand was doing compared to the right hand. Lol
But like I said, I’ll stick to Mods & Values for now.
and I do give WDW the benefit of the doubt on numerous occasions (prob more than I should actually) but this time... it just didn’t gel right.

 

[nickys]

Yikes, that doesn’t sound good. But a couple of comments:

I’m assuming you booked through Disney, not DVC.

I don’t know if you had a studio or larger, but an upgrade would only be to a larger Villa. Savannah view is the best there is. So saying you’d pay for an upgrade may have confused whoever you spoke to.

But there’s a bigger problem at Kidani with studios; there are no dedicated studios, as in “stand-alone” - they’re all part of a 2-bedroom lock-off villa. So if they had people booked in a 2-bed lock-off arriving during your stay they wouldn’t be able to move you. It’s something like a game of Tetris, even more so than at a non DVC resort.

And having a car at Kidani is such a huge advantage with those long hallways, because you can park near the elevator nearest to your room.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Well let’s see where to start?
1. We arrived on Tuesday & stayed til Sat this past week for my 50th bday. It was VERY dead during the week, we went down on Wed to see if we could pay - yes we did say PAY for an upgrade - we were told - nope nothing available - sorry.
then my father injured his foot in the park on Tuesday plus already has arthritis in both knees. We had to walk .35 miles thru the resort to get our room in the Pumba section - but no room available closer to the lobby etc. even after we told them we would, again I say it, PAY for an upgrade.
2. got the bill on Sat morning - found weird charges on the bill. Decided to go down to discuss - now Friday & Sat the Lodge MUCH busier - ran into a couple with suitcases - talk to them, asked if they were leaving too - nope they didn’t like their room view & were getting a new room. Sayyyy whattt?
so my guns are loaded so to speak
3. They don’t KNOW what the extras charges are for - and then they ask me - I guess you want the $140 credited back to you? No let Mickey keep it to buy shoes for Minnie....
4. Then told about room changing - well this CM said why didn’t they change the room due to the view & my fathers difficulties? Why didn’t they offer you a complimentary wheelchair to get thru the resort? Ummm Because I didn’t know they had them & why the heck didn’t they offer that to begin with on Wed?
5. Bellhop service - was told Sat by CM to contact bellhop service 10min before leaving to help with luggage to the car. Ok
Call - “I’m sorry we don’t have those services available” I went off. I’m sorry why would the CM at the front desk say you do???
I used un-Disney like words I’m sorry.
Bell hop came - think he was a manager - he & I had a good conversation going to the car.
Everything I had a complaint about - he didn’t understand why changes weren’t made, why we not accommodated since it was during the quiet time of the week.
Soooo never again. I’ll stick to Mods & values but Deluxe aren’t worth it IMO
AP member here & yeah I pulled that out during the arguments which made me feel bad. LOL
I’ll go back to Sanaa, & see the CMs I did make friends with but prob won’t recommend AKL to my friends in the future.

Did you pay for a Savannah view? I am confused what you would pay to upgrade, fair or not the rooms overlooking one Savannah are the same price as another looking at a different one. There are ways to get what you want, but you have to be willing there are tradeoffs,(room might not be ready when you arrive so you have to wait).
Is it possible you got an animal view when paying for standard? Some standard do view the Savannah you are talking about, in which case you would have been lucky getting that.

 

[Nick Garrick]

Did you pay for a Savannah view? I am confused what you would pay to upgrade, fair or not the rooms overlooking one Savannah are the same price as another looking at a different one. There are ways to get what you want, but you have to be willing there are tradeoffs,(room might not be ready when you arrive so you have to wait).
Is it possible you got an animal view when paying for standard? Some standard do view the Savannah you are talking about, in which case you would have been lucky getting that.

If you want the best Savannah view - you must ask for Sunset Savannah - that is where you will see what AKL advertises - zebras, giraffes ostriches wildebeast etc
Not all Savannah views are created equal as I have learned.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

If you want the best Savannah view - you must ask for Sunset Savannah - that is where you will see what AKL advertises - zebras, giraffes ostriches wildebeast etc
Not all Savannah views are created equal as I have learned.

Well aware, stayed there in November and it was a nice stay. I would not write off management necessarily, I think changing rooms at any property is harder now due to covid. Even on a none busy time. I think the worst I'd getting conflicting advice from staff though and you are right to be upset by this. If you ever have it another chance, the best is to simply request close to the lobby.

 

[Nick Garrick]

Well aware, stayed there in November and it was a nice stay. I would not write off management necessarily, I think changing rooms at any property is harder now due to covid. Even on a none busy time. I think the worst I'd getting conflicting advice from staff though and you are right to be upset by this. If you ever have it another chance, the best is to simply request close to the lobby.

I think that would be the best for the future - however it was a place I wanted to stay, now that I did - it’s marked off the old bucket list. I will go back to visit, but highly unlikely I’ll ever stay there again. Mods & values it is!!!! LOL

 

[nickys]

If you want the best Savannah view - you must ask for Sunset Savannah - that is where you will see what AKL advertises - zebras, giraffes ostriches wildebeast etc
Not all Savannah views are created equal as I have learned.

Certain animals have to be kept separate from others. Those red river hogs look sweet, especially the piglets, but they have sharp teeth and are quite vicious ; they have a tendency to nip the giraffes’ “ankles”. Which is why they’re kept on the Pembe Savannah, away from the giraffes.
And obviously a request is never guaranteed anyway.

 

[NelleBelle]

As to the wheelchair issue, it could very well be that they were out of them and that's why they didn't "offer" you one. Courtesy wheelchairs have been hit-or-miss for us in the past when we've taken the grandparents and they've sporadically needed one. One resort had them, one stated they no longer had them at all, and one resort didn't have any available. Last stay we went, my MIL had a very hard time walking (she has sever scoliosis and rheumatoid arthritis) and SSR didn't have any. So we ended up having to call a mobility company to have a wheelchair dropped off.

I think if you'd been staying in Jambo House instead of Kidnani, you likely would've been able to change rooms to a different savannah, if you requested it and they had it available. But being that Kidnani is the DVC side, like @nickys stated, it's quite a different system to work out studio availability over there (which when we've looked for availability at AKL, has been quite difficult to find availability).

Sorry your 50th turned out to be a bust.

 

[WondersOfLife]

I'm gonna be blunt. It sounds more like a bit of poor planning on your part than theirs. A lot of the complaints were not the resorts fault, like running into people's suitcases. Also, you can't complain about the room view/location if you didn't request that stuff upon your original booking... That's not their fault either. And they're not required to give you upgrades and special services. You can ask, for sure, but that doesn't mean it's guaranteed/should be expected. With the arthritis/foot injury thing, ya'll probably could have found a solution for that as well. If the arthritis on both sides was already an issue, then why didn't he have a wheelchair to begin with that could have been brought back to him from the room or taken to the park?

I'm sure there were a COUPLE of things that Disney could have done better. But from what I'm gathering, these sound like Karen complaints to me...

 

[larryz]

Management isnt to blame for you not doing your pre trip prep planning to know what you were getting into and not asking for a better room.

Nothing says "Customer Service" like playing hide-and-seek with hotel amenities...

 

[larryz]

AP member here & yeah I pulled that out during the arguments which made me feel bad. LOL

Welcome to the ranks of "Annual Passhol(d)ers Anonymous."

 

[Nick Garrick]

I'm gonna be blunt. It sounds more like a bit of poor planning on your part than theirs. A lot of the complaints were not the resorts fault, like running into people's suitcases. Also, you can't complain about the room view/location if you didn't request that stuff upon your original booking... That's not their fault either. And they're not required to give you upgrades and special services. You can ask, for sure, but that doesn't mean it's guaranteed/should be expected. With the arthritis/foot injury thing, ya'll probably could have found a solution for that as well. If the arthritis on both sides was already an issue, then why didn't he have a wheelchair to begin with that could have been brought back to him from the room or taken to the park?

I'm sure there were a COUPLE of things that Disney could have done better. But from what I'm gathering, these sound like Karen complaints to me...

No
I love Disney
This was a BIG fail on their part - esp when their staff doesn’t know what their other staff is telling guests
I will ALWAYS call them out when I feel they failed and they did IMO
Your view maybe different & you weren’t there
But when I think they fail, I am going to call them out & warn people to be explicit about what they want for a certain venue etc.
I do not believe in WDW being the perfect entity like a lot people do but I still enjoy going & always will!

 

[JIMINYCR]

Well by posting the items you were ticked off at we can address them now.
1. For future stays, even when you go to a Mod or Value and may have an issue, when you are told they can do nothing for you, its wise to ask for a supervisor or manager. Whether its Disney or another hotel I have found that the desk workers usually have no authority to offer changes or upgrades. Ive learned that dealing with the manager who has more leeway to help you works best. You may still not get what you want but it gives you better odd it will.
You still should have considered your fathers condition and planned better for his convenience. Once he was injured, you should have inquired yourself about a wheelchair.
2. Yes rooms open up as guests leave, so running into another couple who at that moment asked for another room and got it can happen... or they may have asked to discuss it with a manager.
3. Billing issues happen all the time. Thats why its wise to scan your charges to ensure they are correct. I dont know why they asked you about crediting the money back, thats a certainty of running the bill over and correcting the charges. But if it got settled then theres no issue.
4. & 5. You now were dealing with CM's who were more willing to help or maybe had more experience in guest satisfaction and would have been more accommodating. Everyone handles problems differently and the CM's you had at first were neglectful in doing things Disney. Ive had CM's add magical extras , others not. Some smile, be very outgoing and others stoic. Yes, even though they go through the same training and should all be efficient and willing to go the extra mile, youre dealing with humans who arent all the same. It would have been ideal to have delt with the better ones first but you were unlucky and got the desk workers you got. It happens. And it can also happen at a Mod or Value resort too.
I'm really sorry you had a bad experience.

 

[WondersOfLife]

No
I love Disney
This was a BIG fail on their part - esp when their staff doesn’t know what their other staff is telling guests
I will ALWAYS call them out when I feel they failed and they did IMO
Your view maybe different & you weren’t there
But when I think they fail, I am going to call them out & warn people to be explicit about what they want for a certain venue etc.
I do not believe in WDW being the perfect entity like a lot people do but I still enjoy going & always will!

Okiedokie.

 

[Raxel7851]

When we stay at the Contemporary Wings, we always request a ground floor room when making our reservation. At times we’ve checked in and been assigned an upper floor room. When we tell the CM about our initial request, they always accommodate us. Typically if you arrive before the official check in time, they find a room that’s available right then. We don’t mind waiting for the room we like. Same for POFG. AWESOME Front Desk Customer Service. There have been times early on when our room assignments weren’t quite what we wanted. But as in most everything else, we used it as a “learning” experience and never thought once to complain. You could find fault in just about everything that you encounter at WDW, but what’s the point.

 

[nickys]

When we stay at the Contemporary Wings, we always request a ground floor room when making our reservation. At times we’ve checked in and been assigned an upper floor room. When we tell the CM about our initial request, they always accommodate us. Typically if you arrive before the official check in time, they find a room that’s available right then. We don’t mind waiting for the room we like. Same for POFG. AWESOME Front Desk Customer Service. There have been times early on when our room assignments weren’t quite what we wanted. But as in most everything else, we used it as a “learning” experience and never thought once to complain. You could find fault in just about everything that you encounter at WDW, but what’s the point.

DVC resorts typically have less rooms available to move people for reasons already explained. Kid ani is a DVC resort and the floor plan layout adds to the complexity with no non-connecting studios.

 

[Zé_Carioca]

I am honestly sorry that you had a bad experience but your biggest gripe seems to have been the view/lack of room upgrade and honestly, upgrades are not as easy as people think. As others have pointed out, it depends on availability. When it comes to regular resorts, upgrades are already hard because they only have specific rooms and room types available each day depending on check-outs, availability etc. With covid it is even harder since they are not leaving all rooms available for the most part and cleaning takes longer. To add to that, as others have pointed out, this is a dvc resort, rooms availability is even trickier since not all dvc rooms are the same. To say that you were angry because they denied an upgrade to you but days later a couple got one is not really applicable because availability would have been different for them since it changes as people arrive and leave. Seems to be that expectations were too high, I get it, it was a special occasion but upgrades are not to be expected, especially with DVC during a pandemic which further limits room availability.