The Sunrise Student
aka Sunshine
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2008
I’ll take you through my planning process/experiences, the trip itself, all the way to the post disney trip depression...
About me (and my BF) I got the nickname Sunshine from a fellow DISer and it stuck. I have stayed at a few of the resorts on property, some deluxe, some moderate however this is my first time staying at AKL and my very first CLUB LEVEL stay.
My BF and I are what people call "Park Commandos", we always get to the parks before rope drop and when we come to WDW for Star Wars Weekends (SWW) we even are crazy enough to get in line for celebrity autographs at 3 - 4 am in the weeee hours of the morning. So with our types of schedules we never thought club level would be worth our money, however since we are staying for 12 days / 11 nights we figured this would be the trip to try it and see.
In addition we are members of the 501st, the crazy world wide Star Wars costuming group that volunteers to march in the SWW Disney Parades at Disney Hollywood Studios (DHS). This year will be our 1st time marching in the SWW Disney Parades and we are very excited about that as well. So when I call this my bucket list trip report I am check off a lot of cool stuff on that list!
Making the Room Only Reservations I was so excited and so nervous about making sure we got the room we wanted that I didn't even wait until packages were available, I found out from a fellow DISer that I could call and make a room reservation then switch it over to a package when those came available. I booked just a room reservation for a Standard AKL Club Level room (which comes with a savanna view) in June of 2014 for the end of May 2015. WARNING for anyone that does this the sticker price is a shocker! And they required first night’s deposit and the deposit doesn't transfer to the new reservation when it becomes a package, you do however get it refunded. The CM I spoke with on the phone while making this reservations was so nice, and was very very adamant about telling me to call back and switch this reservation to a package, and keep checking for discounts to lower this rate. I mean this CM was awesome about it, joked with him for a while, it was a magical phone call.
Switching to a Package By July I was on pins and needles waiting for the packages to open up, finally July 30th 2014 they did! I canceled my original Room Only Reservation and rebooked as a package deal - 12 days/ 11 nights end of May 2015 AKL Standard Club Level Room with two 10 Day Park Hoppers and Memory Maker included! I put a new deposit in place for the new reservation and they refunded me the original deposit (took 3 business days to process).
AKL IPO Staff Rough start - I received my planning packet and for the first time in my life instead of making my own ressies I was going to let someone do it it for me. I filled out the packet to the best of my ability, even put in for two safaris only offered to club level guests. I emailed my packet in to the IPO and then two days later I get another email telling me “As soon as you are able to submit your dining requests to us we will go ahead and add them to your travel plan. We are booking for May 3rd today, so your booking dates are coming up fast.” HOLY SMOKES, What happened to the original package I submitted?! Luckily I had saved it and resent it with a message letting them know it was the second time I sent it in. In addition I had already gotten emails back from one of the IPO staff who has been working the originally submitted packet. At this point I was begging people on the DISboards to please tell me what about CL is better than a non CL deluxe room, because at this time I was not impressed and wasn’t feeling my extra money spent on the CL was worth it.
It took a while but in the end I had a IPO Staff team lead/manager emailing, apologizing for the confusion. We had a few frank email conversations back and forth and I told him from this point forward if there was a sensitive reservation (like the SWW character meals) I would be making them myself, however as a courtesy I would email the IPO staff to let them know I had done so. At that time he admitted those types of events are normally known to the guests before IPO staff hears about them…. power of the web I am sure…. however this still shocked the hell out of me, I truly thought as my travel guides they would know what Disney has to offer and be able to make suggestions. When they became available I did end up making my own SWW character meal reservations, and sent the courteous emailed to the IPO office letting them know I had done so and when they were so they could have it straight in their records as well.
Discount Time Disney announced their spring discount rates and boy was I happy because this time they even included club level rooms, something they don’t always do I noted over the years of watching the discounts. I called to have them discount applied to my existing package reservations. The CM applied the discount and when the numbers came in she spoke out, you’re gonna love me... I was ecstatic and the discount saved nearly 1,700 dollars on the trip! Magical phone call number two!
Change of Plan Originally we had planned to drive our own vehicle down due to trying to tote costumes and gear for the parade, however what costumes we are to wear for this event changed and we no longer need to drive, so we are flying and getting a rental car. We made our flight reservations and will arrive at MCO at 7:40 am! Even with picking up our own luggage, picking up the rental car and the half hour drive to the resort we figure we will be at AKL around 9:30 in the morning… Originally we were not going to arrive until after noon. We also have our first safari and dinner at Jinkos booked 3 pm that afternoon. Very excited about the early arrival and hoping to be able to enjoy the resort even if we can’t get into our rooms until later. Time to email the IPO Staff and let them know of the travel and schedule change.
Reply from the IPO Staff was just what I hoped for… “We strive to meet each of our Kilimanjaro Club Guests immediately upon arrival between 9 am and 8 PM. When you arrive, identify yourself to any Cast Member. A Concierge Host or Hostess will escort you to the Kilimanjaro Club reception desk to check in. If you arrive outside the hours of 9 AM to 8 PM, please proceed to the Front Desk where our Front Desk Cast Members will be happy to assist you with check in.”
I have read on the boards that some DISers have found this is not always the case at club level resorts, in fact the variance is astounding to me. Anyhow, since they just put it in writing I am going to be a stinker and hold them to it. I’ll be sure to let everyone know how that goes. We are arriving after 9 am so we should be all set to get the normal greeting from the Concierge host/hostess.
TO BE CONTINUED....
About me (and my BF) I got the nickname Sunshine from a fellow DISer and it stuck. I have stayed at a few of the resorts on property, some deluxe, some moderate however this is my first time staying at AKL and my very first CLUB LEVEL stay.
My BF and I are what people call "Park Commandos", we always get to the parks before rope drop and when we come to WDW for Star Wars Weekends (SWW) we even are crazy enough to get in line for celebrity autographs at 3 - 4 am in the weeee hours of the morning. So with our types of schedules we never thought club level would be worth our money, however since we are staying for 12 days / 11 nights we figured this would be the trip to try it and see.
In addition we are members of the 501st, the crazy world wide Star Wars costuming group that volunteers to march in the SWW Disney Parades at Disney Hollywood Studios (DHS). This year will be our 1st time marching in the SWW Disney Parades and we are very excited about that as well. So when I call this my bucket list trip report I am check off a lot of cool stuff on that list!
Making the Room Only Reservations I was so excited and so nervous about making sure we got the room we wanted that I didn't even wait until packages were available, I found out from a fellow DISer that I could call and make a room reservation then switch it over to a package when those came available. I booked just a room reservation for a Standard AKL Club Level room (which comes with a savanna view) in June of 2014 for the end of May 2015. WARNING for anyone that does this the sticker price is a shocker! And they required first night’s deposit and the deposit doesn't transfer to the new reservation when it becomes a package, you do however get it refunded. The CM I spoke with on the phone while making this reservations was so nice, and was very very adamant about telling me to call back and switch this reservation to a package, and keep checking for discounts to lower this rate. I mean this CM was awesome about it, joked with him for a while, it was a magical phone call.
Switching to a Package By July I was on pins and needles waiting for the packages to open up, finally July 30th 2014 they did! I canceled my original Room Only Reservation and rebooked as a package deal - 12 days/ 11 nights end of May 2015 AKL Standard Club Level Room with two 10 Day Park Hoppers and Memory Maker included! I put a new deposit in place for the new reservation and they refunded me the original deposit (took 3 business days to process).
AKL IPO Staff Rough start - I received my planning packet and for the first time in my life instead of making my own ressies I was going to let someone do it it for me. I filled out the packet to the best of my ability, even put in for two safaris only offered to club level guests. I emailed my packet in to the IPO and then two days later I get another email telling me “As soon as you are able to submit your dining requests to us we will go ahead and add them to your travel plan. We are booking for May 3rd today, so your booking dates are coming up fast.” HOLY SMOKES, What happened to the original package I submitted?! Luckily I had saved it and resent it with a message letting them know it was the second time I sent it in. In addition I had already gotten emails back from one of the IPO staff who has been working the originally submitted packet. At this point I was begging people on the DISboards to please tell me what about CL is better than a non CL deluxe room, because at this time I was not impressed and wasn’t feeling my extra money spent on the CL was worth it.
It took a while but in the end I had a IPO Staff team lead/manager emailing, apologizing for the confusion. We had a few frank email conversations back and forth and I told him from this point forward if there was a sensitive reservation (like the SWW character meals) I would be making them myself, however as a courtesy I would email the IPO staff to let them know I had done so. At that time he admitted those types of events are normally known to the guests before IPO staff hears about them…. power of the web I am sure…. however this still shocked the hell out of me, I truly thought as my travel guides they would know what Disney has to offer and be able to make suggestions. When they became available I did end up making my own SWW character meal reservations, and sent the courteous emailed to the IPO office letting them know I had done so and when they were so they could have it straight in their records as well.
Discount Time Disney announced their spring discount rates and boy was I happy because this time they even included club level rooms, something they don’t always do I noted over the years of watching the discounts. I called to have them discount applied to my existing package reservations. The CM applied the discount and when the numbers came in she spoke out, you’re gonna love me... I was ecstatic and the discount saved nearly 1,700 dollars on the trip! Magical phone call number two!
Change of Plan Originally we had planned to drive our own vehicle down due to trying to tote costumes and gear for the parade, however what costumes we are to wear for this event changed and we no longer need to drive, so we are flying and getting a rental car. We made our flight reservations and will arrive at MCO at 7:40 am! Even with picking up our own luggage, picking up the rental car and the half hour drive to the resort we figure we will be at AKL around 9:30 in the morning… Originally we were not going to arrive until after noon. We also have our first safari and dinner at Jinkos booked 3 pm that afternoon. Very excited about the early arrival and hoping to be able to enjoy the resort even if we can’t get into our rooms until later. Time to email the IPO Staff and let them know of the travel and schedule change.
Reply from the IPO Staff was just what I hoped for… “We strive to meet each of our Kilimanjaro Club Guests immediately upon arrival between 9 am and 8 PM. When you arrive, identify yourself to any Cast Member. A Concierge Host or Hostess will escort you to the Kilimanjaro Club reception desk to check in. If you arrive outside the hours of 9 AM to 8 PM, please proceed to the Front Desk where our Front Desk Cast Members will be happy to assist you with check in.”
I have read on the boards that some DISers have found this is not always the case at club level resorts, in fact the variance is astounding to me. Anyhow, since they just put it in writing I am going to be a stinker and hold them to it. I’ll be sure to let everyone know how that goes. We are arriving after 9 am so we should be all set to get the normal greeting from the Concierge host/hostess.
TO BE CONTINUED....
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cause you know we are gonna melt!
I'll try again later! 
