Lets talk CL!

[lolobug]

My family of four is planning a January trip to WL. Would CL be worth it to us? My kids would eat breakfast, snacks, desserts. DH and I will take FULL advantage of the beer/wine/ alcohol. Or are we just better off shipping/ordering alcohol and snacks?
Thx!

 

[elaw]

My family of four is planning a January trip to WL. Would CL be worth it to us? My kids would eat breakfast, snacks, desserts. DH and I will take FULL advantage of the beer/wine/ alcohol. Or are we just better off shipping/ordering alcohol and snacks?
Thx!

We love the WL CL .... and really enjoy the old faithful club and it offerings. We always eat Breakfast there and since beer/wine/ alcohol can be pricey, you should get your moneys worth.

 

[Mousemommy1]

My family of four is planning a January trip to WL. Would CL be worth it to us? My kids would eat breakfast, snacks, desserts. DH and I will take FULL advantage of the beer/wine/ alcohol. Or are we just better off shipping/ordering alcohol and snacks?
Thx!

First, WL CL is absolutely We loved everything about it, the food, the lounge, the view from the lounge, our room (with a view of the castle), the CM's...everything was OUTSTANDING...

Second, when you think of CL, I don't think you can ask the question, is it worth it?? Because, if you are looking strictly at the numbers, the answer is probably no. You will never get dollar for dollar the return on your "investment" in CL. But, the intangibles are what makes us keep booking it. We really love having the IPO available to us...we still make some of our reservations but let the IPO do some...what is awesome is being able to call or email them and get a person, right away...not have to go through the automated system for answers.

We love the secured buildings/floors of CL. We love the personal attention that you get - it's just a being pampered on vacation thing. We don't spend like crazy in our normal lives so vacation is one place where we like to "live like a royal family"

We do shop a lot on vacation, we like having the stuff shipped right back to our room and not having to pick it up at the gift shop.

We love the turndown service, it's nice to have fresh clean towels at the end of the day.

It's all the little things that add up to being "worth it" for us. It's the experience. So, if those things matter to you, then I think you won't be disappointed.

 

[lolobug]

Thank you! I'm dying to stay at the Poly, DH wants WL. We've never been to WDW. We will be celebrating our daughters 5th birthday, I just think the food/atmosphere of the poly is FABULOUS!
Thoughts??

 

[mickeynut1]

My family of four is planning a January trip to WL. Would CL be worth it to us? My kids would eat breakfast, snacks, desserts. DH and I will take FULL advantage of the beer/wine/ alcohol. Or are we just better off shipping/ordering alcohol and snacks?
Thx!

Worth is subjective as it's different for everyone, but we loved WL CL and thought it was definitely worth it for our family. The food offerings are good, the lounge has plenty of seating that is arranged around the railing overlooking the lobby, and the CL CMs are awesome. We stay CL more for the lounge rather than the snacks/drinks, but the food is a nice perk. I don't use IPO as I like to make my own ADRs, but it is nice to have them there if you need anything. Only you can decide if it's worth the extra cost for CL, but if the extra cost is doable, I don't think you'd regret it. Good luck .

Thank you! I'm dying to stay at the Poly, DH wants WL. We've never been to WDW. We will be celebrating our daughters 5th birthday, I just think the food/atmosphere of the poly is FABULOUS!
Thoughts??

We haven't stayed CL at the Poly (yet) so I can't comment on that, but we have stayed at the Poly before and since it's our favorite resort, I'm really looking forward to trying CL. I have read a lot of great reviews lately and the view from the lounge is supposed to be amazing . With that said, I don't think you'd regret either CL .

 

[jaykorf001]

We just stayed CL at AKL (not WL). I just wanted to mention that the beer, wine, alcohol choices are pretty limited. They had a couple of wine choices neither of which appealed to us, limited beer options (if you like light American lagers you are good), and the alcohol was truly cordials only -- no bourbon or other options. So in that sense we did not make out so to speak. I don't know your habits but wanted to point out it is different than other concierge offerings we'd had at other hotels.

 

[Ladcassidy]

Thank you! I'm dying to stay at the Poly, DH wants WL. We've never been to WDW. We will be celebrating our daughters 5th birthday, I just think the food/atmosphere of the poly is FABULOUS!
Thoughts??

We stayed at VWL for our DD's 5th birthday last February, and she (and we) LOVED it. I'm sure CL would be great there, too.

 

[lolobug]

Thank you!

Can anyone tell me how much this would cut down on food costs?

Also, can anyone staying CL go on the morning safari that is $50/person (Private one)? I know it's offered to AKL CL patrons. Thx!

 

[Ladcassidy]

You probably will want to plan at least a few breakfast ADRs with characters (like the princesses, Disney Jr. friends, Mickey or Pooh), so you will not gain much (and may actually double pay) by staying CL and not taking full advantage of the breakfast it offers.

 

[lolobug]

You probably will want to plan at least a few breakfast ADRs with characters (like the princesses, Disney Jr. friends, Mickey or Pooh), so you will not gain much (and may actually double pay) by staying CL and not taking full advantage of the breakfast it offers.

Thanks!

 

[CaptainEO71]

Its rare to get dollar for dollar "worth" out of CL, but "worth" is different to everyone. With a larger family, you actually may come out ahead in beverages, breakfast & snacks, but for a family of 3 its doubtful.

For us we only book it if there's a 35% or greater discount, and then we do use the lounge for every breakfast, we take water/soda back with us when available, then we have a big lunch, usually TS. We'll head back from the parks for the appetizer offerings in the early evening, and then go back out, just needing a snack, or spilitting a CS meal later. So for us, it does really cut down on dining costs. We're usually not back in time for the adult beverages, but if we are, we have some. Figure you're saving $6-$10 each on those alcoholic beverages (over park/resort prices) so if you're big drinkers, it will add up.

It used to be that you could take bottled water and/or soda back to the room with you to take to the parks, which for us, really saved a lot, we're big beverage drinkers. That literally saved us $20+ a day just in bottled water. This spring at WL CL they didn't have any out to take. We would fill the to-go coffee cups with ice water to take, but they're not as handy to toss in your bag for the parks. I've read on here that most CL's no longer have water bottles to give out.

We've only done CL at WL, BC & BWI. It seems most people go nuts over Poly & AKL, so we're dying to try those. With a discount of course!

 

[CaptainEO71]

Thank you!

Can anyone tell me how much this would cut down on food costs?

Also, can anyone staying CL go on the morning safari that is $50/person (Private one)? I know it's offered to AKL CL patrons. Thx!

It's ONLY if you stay at AKL CL, not any of the others. Its on our "Wish List" LOL!!

 

[lolobug]

It's ONLY if you stay at AKL CL, not any of the others. Its on our "Wish List" LOL!!

Thanks

 

[CaptainEO71]

Oh one more thing - there is a thread dedictaed just to CL on this Resorts Board.....it should be on the 1st page or so....read it & you will have every question answered. You will also see pics of the food offerings at each CL so you can get an idea of what they offer.

 

[davale4]

My family of four is planning a January trip to WL. Would CL be worth it to us? My kids would eat breakfast, snacks, desserts. DH and I will take FULL advantage of the beer/wine/ alcohol. Or are we just better off shipping/ordering alcohol and snacks?
Thx!

We always do CL at GF RPC, however, I have not heard a negative comment yet about WL. I hear it's excellent. Our first year we had the DDP and at least for our family, we could have done without. Having breakfast right down the hallway was priceless. No need for reservations at restaurants or making lines at a QS was great. The kids LOVE it.

It all depends also how much time you will spend out of the resort. We really take advantage of CL and everything the resort has to offer . Our kids most of the time say "let's go back to the hotel". So we do spend a lot of time there.

My husband works very hard during the year and Disney was not what he had in mind to relax....but CL has changed that. We get the best of both worlds. The kids get to enjoy the parks and rides and we get to enjoy being pampered at CL. It's a win/win for us and that has no price .

 

[lolobug]

What kind of beer is available? Sangria? Vodka? Thx!

 

[Pakey]

What kind of beer is available? Sangria? Vodka? Thx!

No Sangria or Vodka. You have a choice of pretty bad wines (red and white) and some American beers.

 

[lolobug]

No Sangria or Vodka. You have a choice of pretty bad wines (red and white) and some American beers.

Oh, this might change things. Can you bring vodka on plane?

 

[polyfor4]

We had our first Poly CL stay in May and I can't imagine a better CL lounge. The view is priceless, the castle seems unbelievably close and you can watch wishes in the lounge with the music piped in. Also if you know you like the poly style food, you will be in heaven with their dinner choices- sticky wings, pot stickers, ribs, beef Wellington. To die for. Poly CL is almost sickeningly expensive but by not being on the DDP we figured CL cost is $20-30 more a night than our standard poly room and that doesn't account for the alcohol. Well worth it. However I have heard great things about WL CL and its a great cozy resort for wintertime so you can't go wrong either way. Whichever you choose I highly recommend not doing both DDP and CL, too much food. We're by no means light eaters and were full after the nightly offerings. Plus so much of the CL price is the food so we felt like we got a better value and got to truly experience CL by not being on the DDP. I don't think you'll be disappointed by trying CL at either resort!

Oh and also Poly CL has a sangria type punch with alcohol that is delicious. I'm not a beer or cordials drinker so the punch and wine were great options for me.

 

[lolobug]

We had our first Poly CL stay in May and I can't imagine a better CL lounge. The view is priceless, the castle seems unbelievably close and you can watch wishes in the lounge with the music piped in. Also if you know you like the poly style food, you will be in heaven with their dinner choices- sticky wings, pot stickers, ribs, beef Wellington. To die for. Poly CL is almost sickeningly expensive but by not being on the DDP we figured CL cost is $20-30 more a night than our standard poly room and that doesn't account for the alcohol. Well worth it. However I have heard great things about WL CL and its a great cozy resort for wintertime so you can't go wrong either way. Whichever you choose I highly recommend not doing both DDP and CL, too much food. We're by no means light eaters and were full after the nightly offerings. Plus so much of the CL price is the food so we felt like we got a better value and got to truly experience CL by not being on the DDP. I don't think you'll be disappointed by trying CL at either resort!

Hi!
What did you do for a dining plan? Also, I heard there was sangria at the poly, no? Do you remember alcohol/beer options? Thx!