Concierge/Club Level Information- Part IV, July 2012

[mickeyluv'r]

Hello!

We are contemplating a club level stay at BC for May and had a few questions.

First, (and I asked this on the BC thread too) does club level book up generally? Second, anyone know what beers they have available and when? And lastly, has anyone with food allergies stayed club level recently?

Again, read back a few posts. Question #2was recently answered. The query was about YC. You can request beer any time after noon until 10pm- more or less. You are also free to use the fridege in your room. You could probably even request a beer in the am to stow for later.

As to you first question, it could fill up. There will probably be CL of some kind availabel some place- esp if you are flexible among the three Disney deluxes in that area: BC/YC/Bwk. If you want a certain room category though, you may want to book as soon as you are able. I can tell you many times when we've stayed CL it was full for the night.

Generally speaking, WDW is great with allergies. You'll probably do better at TS places, where the chef will come to your table. If your son's allergies are along the lines of easy to avoid foods- like strawberries- simply staying away from them may be easy enough. If they are more along the lines of your wheat allergy- i.e. an ingerdient that is common in many foods- then most certainly let the CL staff know. Usually they will have it noted on all your ADR's. (so long as they know about all yoru ADR's) If you arrive at any ADR, and STAFF doesn't mention the food allergies, tell them.

As for CL food itself, experiences do vary slightly. If again, you know certain foods are okay for you, that's often the quickest route. Staff may also offer you prepacked allergy free items- esp for things like brownies, cookies. Then again, it's possible you will be slightly left to fend for yourself. My CL allergy exp, was at GF, which went above and beyond. There the chef came to talk to the person with the allergy, and went so far as to prep specific foods, at a secific time. That may only be true at GF though. It took time to talk to the chef, and we were held to getting the breakfast food delivered rather early- i.e. when the food was prepped at 6:45am.

Also, being a DIS vet, having read a tragic post about food allegies- I'm also going to avise you to always carry your emergency meds at WDW. It might also be smart to bring along a box of something like safe granola bars to have on hand.

Last, DO look on the DISabilities section of the DIS- lots of good info there.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

My DH, DS5, DD3 and I will be staying at the BC in august and staying CL for the first time. I was thinking about my dining reservations and that leads to my question. How do you plan your ADRs? I know there is food the the lounge...do you forgo the ADRs and just eat in the lounge grabbing snacks in the park or do you still make reservations? I am having a hard time trying to organize and plan our trip food wise so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

When we stayed at the BC CL this past August we did plan lunch ADRs on most days. The snacks during the day are home made potato chips, nuts, Swedish fish and snacks like that. Plus soda, iced tea, lemonade, coffee and tea. So we would eat lunch out and come back in the evenings for snacks. From 5-7pm they would serve about 2 to 3 hot appetizers like bacon rolled scallops, spinach triangles (Spanakopita), etc and cheese and crackers plus the chips. Plus drinks as before with wine and beer. Then later that night they put out desserts. We enjoy the CL especially the convenience. Enjoy your stay.

 

[Hollymom1229]

DH and I are staying AKL-CL in December for the our tenth wedding anniversary. There are a few things for sure we want to do including Chef's Table at V&A, the Sunrise Safari, MVMCP, and a couple of other signature meals. Seeing as our trip is still more than 10 months out I was thinking I should contact IPO in May. But my big question is are they good at securing hard to get reservations like the Chef's Table? Do they only arrange ADR's or will they also get us set up with Sunrise Safari and MVMCP? Basically I have a lot of questions about what is reasonable to ask them to do, and what I should still be doing for myself.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

DH and I are staying AKL-CL in December for the our tenth wedding anniversary. There are a few things for sure we want to do including Chef's Table at V&A, the Sunrise Safari, MVMCP, and a couple of other signature meals. Seeing as our trip is still more than 10 months out I was thinking I should contact IPO in May. But my big question is are they good at securing hard to get reservations like the Chef's Table? Do they only arrange ADR's or will they also get us set up with Sunrise Safari and MVMCP? Basically I have a lot of questions about what is reasonable to ask them to do, and what I should still be doing for myself.

In my experince, yes. They are good at getting reservations, so long as you are able to submit your request in advance of the 180 day mark. Chef's Table is not available on Wednesdays or Saturdays - according to allearsnet.

I've also had pretty good luck requesting ADR's under 180 days- but they can't get you something that is already booked in full. It may help your plight if you are staying onsite and are able to take advantage of the 180+. Maybe be flexible and say you'd like it towards the end of you stay - or any night it is available.

They do all of the above, though I've technically never tried any of the exact three you list. The IPO's send out a request form email, it lists, "dining recreation, tours or other planning help you and your family may need."

 

[mom_of_2]

Thank you all for your advice. I have another question. I read somewhere that if you stay club level, IPO has strollers available for CL guests. Is this true? If so I would be very happy, if not renting one would not be a problem.

 

[karmacats]

Hi everyone,

DH and I will be staying at AKL CL in April. It's our first time CL anywhere, and we're really excited.

I had a couple of questions about evenings in the Lounge.

The email we got from IPO said the concierge desk operates until 10 pm and desserts/cordials end at 10 pm. Can we still use the lounge after 10 pm, or do they lock it up or shut it down so we can't get in? I'm a real night person, and I'm wondering if I can go read or hang out in the lounge after we get back from the parks.

Also, if we do have lounge access past 10 p.m., is there any food or drinks there? I know the desserts get put away at 10, but do they keep any basic snacks like chips out? Do we have access to the fridge with the yogurts and drinks (I've seen pix of this online, so I'm assuming AKL has one)? Since I'm usually up 'til 3 a.m., I tend to indulge in a little midnight snack, especially on vacation.

Thanks! And sorry if this has been asked before - I tried doing a search but didn't find anything, but I'm new here and not an expert searcher.

Robin

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Hey Lounge Lizards

Have you guys seen this new club level at CSR yet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWzDNLBOHGo


I didn't even know it existed!!! I called CRO to price out rooms and this popped up and I grabbed it! I'm so excited to try something new!!!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Hi everyone,

DH and I will be staying at AKL CL in April. It's our first time CL anywhere, and we're really excited.


Thanks! And sorry if this has been asked before - I tried doing a search but didn't find anything, but I'm new here and not an expert searcher.

Robin

I've only been to AKL once a few years back. The set up at AKL is such that you will be able to sit there at all hours. Some lounges do have doors that can be locked, but not AKL. As I recall, AKL was one of the lounges that has a drink cooler with soft drinks that's out all night. They fill it in the evening, but do not restock it overnight. It probably won't be empty, but may be out of your first choice.

For food, they do not leave chips out. The one thing CL's DO tend to leave out 24hours a day is a fruit basket. I don't recall seeing one at AKL, but I have seen then at most resorts, so I think they do as well. (Again, that differs at other resorts.) During peak hours, the fuit basket has (delicious) apples, basic sunkist oranges, and bananas. The bananas are the first to go.

AKL was the one resort that put yogurt in it's cooler during the DAY when I was there. Again, that could have changed since my stay- and/or they may not stock it at night.

We also tend to be night owls. After EMH, most WDW dining is closed. Your best bet is simply to think ahead and stash something in your room's fridge during the day. Exceptions: limited room service, GF's QS open 24 hrs, Dolphin has something open, BWK's clubs, DTD, pizza delivery until 1am at most resorts, but that's about it. We also typically bring one small thing with us when we travel, like granola bars. It might be worthwhile to go that route too for your first night if you have a late arrival.

One other heads up- staff leaves at 10pm. How quickly they clean up varies from person to person, and day to day- but don't arrive at 9:59pm planning to see a full array of desserts. Some staff members make an effort to leave food out as long as possible- especially if it's been slow. Or there may be little left at 9:40. Usually there's just one or two people on duty. I'm sure they are eager to go home, and it is their job to leave the lounge clean. I don't say this to be snarky, just trying to help you plan. If we are in the lounge late, we leave it clean.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Thank you all for your advice. I have another question. I read somewhere that if you stay club level, IPO has strollers available for CL guests. Is this true? If so I would be very happy, if not renting one would not be a problem.

I can't say it isn't true, but I've never heard of it. Certainly you could ask. If you don't want to rent one onsite or bring one, I can think of two possibilites. There are several offsite places that rent them. That way you'd have it outside the parks, they cost less, they are good quality, and they are not those huge ones.

A second potential option- I have not checked recently- but some time ago, you could BUY a stroller at WDW. They were not super nice ones, but decent, and fine for a week for a non-infant. At the end of the week, my sister sold it to another family for part of what she paid. (She went over near the stroller rental desk to find a buyer.) Like I said, that was a few years back, but I thought it was brilliant! She got a stroller for like $10 that way.

 

[mmmears]

Hi everyone,

DH and I will be staying at AKL CL in April. It's our first time CL anywhere, and we're really excited.

I had a couple of questions about evenings in the Lounge.

The email we got from IPO said the concierge desk operates until 10 pm and desserts/cordials end at 10 pm. Can we still use the lounge after 10 pm, or do they lock it up or shut it down so we can't get in? I'm a real night person, and I'm wondering if I can go read or hang out in the lounge after we get back from the parks.

Also, if we do have lounge access past 10 p.m., is there any food or drinks there? I know the desserts get put away at 10, but do they keep any basic snacks like chips out? Do we have access to the fridge with the yogurts and drinks (I've seen pix of this online, so I'm assuming AKL has one)? Since I'm usually up 'til 3 a.m., I tend to indulge in a little midnight snack, especially on vacation.

Thanks! And sorry if this has been asked before - I tried doing a search but didn't find anything, but I'm new here and not an expert searcher.

Robin

Hi -- the lounge at AKL is open -- I don't think there's a way for them to really lock it up. No snacks are left out, but sometimes there are some drinks in the little refrigerator. Typically, though, you won't be able to find anything much after they close. And definitely no food. At least that's been my experience. The espresso machine may still be working, but I didn't check it that late to find out.

Hope you enjoy AKL CL -- It's wonderful!

 

[mmmears]

DH and I are staying AKL-CL in December for the our tenth wedding anniversary. There are a few things for sure we want to do including Chef's Table at V&A, the Sunrise Safari, MVMCP, and a couple of other signature meals. Seeing as our trip is still more than 10 months out I was thinking I should contact IPO in May. But my big question is are they good at securing hard to get reservations like the Chef's Table? Do they only arrange ADR's or will they also get us set up with Sunrise Safari and MVMCP? Basically I have a lot of questions about what is reasonable to ask them to do, and what I should still be doing for myself.

Yes, they are very good at getting your dining reservations as well as other things (like SS). As long as you tell them what you want before the booking date opens, you shouldn't have any problems. Once things fill up, they can't really do anything. And IPO is the only way I know of to book the Sunrise Safari.

They can book dining, special things like SS, surfing lessons at BB, and most of the "fun" things you can book at WDW. You can also give them your room requests if you have any.

 

[letsgoreds]

Hey Lounge Lizards

Have you guys seen this new club level at CSR yet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWzDNLBOHGo


I didn't even know it existed!!! I called CRO to price out rooms and this popped up and I grabbed it! I'm so excited to try something new!!!

Is this the business lounge, near the convention hall? I didn't realize the offered food. I like CSR : )

 

[AliceIn]

Is this the business lounge, near the convention hall? I didn't realize the offered food. I like CSR : )

I think I read that the afternoon/evening food choices are only cold foods. No hot appetizers.

 

[KerryCM]

I just booked BC CL for May! We usually stay at the BW and love it, but nothing available with my cast discount or military rate. Those of you who have been recently what did you see for evening offerings? We are not big eaters, just kind of snacky is good for me. We plan on having our sit down meals at lunch, so we would only be nibbling at dinner. Thanks for any info. Cannot wait to go!!!

 

[nascargirl]

KerryCM-Did you keep the same dates or did you decide to extend it? Check with Clare she loved the BC CL. We are there 5/23-6/3.

 

[loveshak22]

I'm just concerned one won't be enough for a family of five, would it be a faux pas to ask for two? Too greedy?

I just don't want to be the 'annoying water people' to the CMs

I've seen many of families walk out with 2 bottles and it didn't look like the CM's were bothered by it at all. However, we are a small family of 3 so I haven't done it personally.


Hopefully someone on here can back me up and say it's OK.


I think for the money were plunking down for CL only asking for a couple bottles of water a day isn't a biggie. But that's just me.

We just got back on Sunday from a 5 night stay at AKL CL and my only disappointment...no bottled water! When we got done checking in I asked for a bottle of water to take to our room and the concierege said they didn't have bottled water. I went over and looked and they just had the large beverage dispensers and plastic cups. Later I asked the gentleman that was stocking the food if they had bottled water thinking maybe the guy earlier just meant they were out and he said no.

Honestly, I was a teeny bit annoyed because when I upgraded to CL I specifically asked if one of the beverages offered was bottled water that we could grab in the morning for the parks or to grab to take back to the room. We really didn't have much opportunity to enjoy all the food over our 5 days but I figured the bottled water in the mornings would be a nice benefit...

In the end it's really no biggie but it would have been nice. And I can understand why they probably just have the pitcher of water because I'm sure tons of people would grab several bottles of water every time they were in the lounge...so it makes sense and is probably better for the environment

 

[loveshak22]

That would be amazing!!! We have always resister AKL because of the ravel time but its such a beautiful resort I figured its worth it. We are very excited as well!!! Thank you Thank you Thank you!

I took a couple of pictures but can't figure out how to insert them into my post?

We loved our stay at AKL and were glad that we upgraded to CL! We didn't get to enjoy a lot of the food because we were at the parks most of the day and were on the dxddp so were stuffed as could be most of the trip. However, we managed to make it to the lounge a few times

The lounge has 6 offerings a day with different offerings (for example, there's like a pre-breakfast time, breakfast, tea time, cocktail/dessert time) but we weren't there for all the different offerings so I can only speak to a few.

For breakfast there was fruit, cereal, milk, juices, all sorts of pastries/muffins, crossaints, yogurt, bagels, toast, coffee, and juice. There was an espresso/cappucino machine but it was broke when we were there. You could also ask for mimosas all day I believe. I'm a light breakfast eater so I think this was plenty of food for a breakfast meal.

For the snack time (I believe it was 11:30 - 3:00) there was a kiddie table with ham and cheese roll-ups, gummy bears, and I think little cheese pizzas. On the main food bar there were two smaller hot food options. I didn't try either but they were almost like pate - there was a veggie one that was mushroom and the other may have been sausage. There were 3 types of hummus, crackers, bread, olives, all types of veggies, and cheeses. I can't remember if beer was out yet because they had a small fridge around the corner by the juices and I didn't check out what was in there but it usually had milk, juice, sodas, and yogurts.

For the dessert/cocktail hour they had 3 types of wines out, an African lager, Sam Adams and Yuengling. There were cookies, fruit, and coffee. I think there were some sort of small dessert samplers but I was so full I didn't even check it out.

Those were really the only times we were in the lounge so I don't know what the tea time or the twilight options (the 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.) had to offer. I think there were definitely a lot of veggie options given what they had out. Except for breakfast I wouldn't think that the food that was out the times we were there would be enough to substitute for a meal...but we are big eaters and we didn't go during the 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. period so maybe there were hearty options at that time?

I posted another post that my only disappointment was that there wasn't bottled water. However, part of the disappointment was because I was told there would be bottled water that we could grab and take to the parks in the morning or back to our rooms after a day at the park. In the end it wasn't a big deal but it would have been nice because we drink tons of water.

All of the CM's that worked at the CL desk were so helpful and friendly!!!

 

[karmacats]

Just wanted to say thanks for the info on when the AKL lounge closes (or doesn't). I'm glad we'll be able to hang out there in the evenings. I'll keep an eye out for a fruit basket there, but we always bring snacks on vacation, so if the fruit is all gone by 10, I'll just grab a granola bar from my room.

 

[disneydee6]

I wonder if that's just at AKL because of the animals, or if they have the water beverage dispensers at all the lounges. We will be at YC, and from my understanding, they are still using glass evian bottles?

 

[MomofDisneyLoversx3]

AKL was very happy to provide sparkling or still h2o for us to take back to the room. They put it in a glass bottle w a cork and asked that we return the bottle in the am. It is part of the environmentally friendly approach they take. They have a cooler dispenser of water out from 630 am till 10pm. No one ever objected to us filling a reuseable bottle from it either. They also have 'real' glasses as opposed to plastic behind the water.