Upgrade At Kidani

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

What days are you going? I’m surprised you couldn’t find 3 days consecutive at one of those resorts.

It’s a long story of a booked and canceled cruise, and an attempt to make the most of a less than ideal situation. I booked the first half at a very early date...and my third day at the last minute.

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

...or better, what time of year. Don’t want too much info.

We are traveling in early May.

 

[sndral]

I rented through David’s, and they told me that although I can’t “upgrade” the reservation, I can request a partial savannah view for a standard room. Although not guaranteed, there is always a chance we could snag a partial view.

Most of the partial savanna views are at Jambo House and you are at Kidani - but you can have the owner you rented the standard view from put that request in.
You could ask to not move from the standard view villa to the savanna view that last night - but I doubt it would work. Last Dec. we had a 1 br. booked at AKL Jambo for 2 nights followed by a 2 bedroom lock off for 6 nights. Since the 2 br. lock off is a 1 br. + a studio w/ the connecting door unlocked I asked if they were moving us to a different 1 br. from the one we were in as if they weren’t I didn’t want to have to pack up only to move right back in to the same 1 br.. They would not tell me, so we dutifully packed up and stowed our gear at Bell services, but sure enough when we finally got our room notification we were right back in the same 1 Br. we’d been in plus the new to us studio next door.

True. This is unfortunately unavoidable at this point. We will be changing rooms three times on this trip. We are staying AKL-Kidani, cabins at FW, and BRV. I am trying to make sure we have plans for the hours our rooms will be unavailable from 11-4 on switch days (these are our park days).

Will you have a car to transfer your own luggage? If not Bell Services will do it for you. Many times your room/villa will be ready before 4 pm - not always. It’s actually pretty easy to leave from resort A, spend several hours in a park, then go to resort B. With MDE you may get a text telling you your room/villa number while you are in your park and can go straight to your room/villa w/out having to stop by the front desk at resort B.

 

[Lakegirl]

What days are you going? I’m surprised you couldn’t find 3 days consecutive at one of those resorts.

I had switched to OKW at 7 month mark in August for a 2 bedroom and then at 6 months decided to try to change to Kidani and there were not 3 consecutive nights. Jambo from 7 months had nothing. Not sure what is going on as late August (all before SGE was announced) should not be that busy, but I really do believe it is getting harder and harder to switch at 7-6 month range.

 

[ThinkBelieveDream&Dare]

Oh well, at least I know this up front. No reason to get my hopes up for a move, and then be disappointed. This is our first trip to Disney, so I am learning.

Oh my goodness.... Your first Disney trip!!!!! Obviously having to move rooms will be a teeny bit inconvenient, but I'm sure you will have such a wonderful time creating memories that it really won't be so bad

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

Most of the partial savanna views are at Jambo House and you are at Kidani - but you can have the owner you rented the standard view from put that request in.
You could ask to not move from the standard view villa to the savanna view that last night - but I doubt it would work. Last Dec. we had a 1 br. booked at AKL Jambo for 2 nights followed by a 2 bedroom lock off for 6 nights. Since the 2 br. lock off is a 1 br. + a studio w/ the connecting door unlocked I asked if they were moving us to a different 1 br. from the one we were in as if they weren’t I didn’t want to have to pack up only to move right back in to the same 1 br.. They would not tell me, so we dutifully packed up and stowed our gear at Bell services, but sure enough when we finally got our room notification we were right back in the same 1 Br. we’d been in plus the new to us studio next door.

Will you have a car to transfer your own luggage? If not Bell Services will do it for you. Many times your room/villa will be ready before 4 pm - not always. It’s actually pretty easy to leave from resort A, spend several hours in a park, then go to resort B. With MDE you may get a text telling you your room/villa number while you are in your park and can go straight to your room/villa w/out having to stop by the front desk at resort B.

We are just going to request bell services to transfer luggage. We are car-free this trip, but we plan to rent an occasional Uber. I’m hoping for quick check-ins, but we are planning park days on transfer days to minimize the problems of waiting for a room.

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

Oh my goodness.... Your first Disney trip!!!!! Obviously having to move rooms will be a teeny bit inconvenient, but I'm sure you will have such a wonderful time creating memories that it really won't be so bad

Awe, I’m hoping so! I think the family will be so happy to be there they will not care about about transfers.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We are just going to request bell services to transfer luggage. We are car-free this trip, but we plan to rent an occasional Uber. I’m hoping for quick check-ins, but we are planning park days on transfer days to minimize the problems of waiting for a room.

You need to be aware that your luggage might not show up at your next resort until sometime after 4PM or 5PM.

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

You need to be aware that your luggage might not show up at your next resort until sometime after 4PM or 5PM.

Good to know. I guess we should bring a change of clothes with us on park day. We each have a small backpack, so it shouldn’t be a huge problem.

 

[Madame]

Good to know. I guess we should bring a change of clothes with us on park day. We each have a small backpack, so it shouldn’t be a huge problem.

Honestly, I would just get a cab to your next resort & drop your own cases with BS. We moved 3x on our NYE trip & this worked well (except for when the cabbie was pulled over for speeding, but I’m thinking that isn’t typical lol!).

Sometimes you luck out & the room is ready early, but probably around 3/4:00. We got up, cabbed over, dropped our bags, hopped a bus for RD. We wanted to leave the park early one day & swim so I could access our suits without carrying them all day. Just a thought.

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

Honestly, I would just get a cab to your next resort & drop your own cases with BS. We moved 3x on our NYE trip & this worked well (except for when the cabbie was pulled over for speeding, but I’m thinking that isn’t typical lol!).

Sometimes you luck out & the room is ready early, but probably around 3/4:00. We got up, cabbed over, dropped our bags, hopped a bus for RD. We wanted to leave the park early one day & swim so I could access our suits without carrying them all day. Just a thought.

Thank you for the tip! This does sound doable. I have to consider early morning ADR’s versus moving luggage.

 

[the_grinch]

i had the same thing with one of my stay at kidani(on my points) i called the hotel direct and worked it out with the manager (he was very very helpful) never hurts to call the kidani direct and ask if you could work something out.

 

[Deb & Bill]

i had the same thing with one of my stay at kidani(on my points) i called the hotel direct and worked it out with the manager (he was very very helpful) never hurts to call the kidani direct and ask if you could work something out.

However, since the OP is not the owner of the points, what you did is not recommended for her. It could cause grief for the owner.

 

[the_grinch]

in my experience Disney has one of, if not the best customer service .they would know op is not the owner but still may(i think would) try to work with them and not have to get the owner involved at all (could be wrong but if op tells them he is the renter what harm could there be) just my 2 cents

 

[Deb & Bill]

in my experience Disney has one of, if not the best customer service .they would know op is not the owner but still may(i think would) try to work with them and not have to get the owner involved at all (could be wrong but if op tells them he is the renter what harm could there be) just my 2 cents

Because lots of time the CMs working the front desk really don't understand how the points systems work.