Concierge/Club Level Information- Part IV, July 2012

[loveshak22]

Originally Posted by Mousemommy1

I would just email them. I always make first contact.

Originally Posted by west&east

If you are staying AKL CL I would strongly recommend you adjust your schedule so you can do the Sunrise Safari! It is amazing. Definitely contact them in any case!

I just wanted to repost an update! I followed your advice and contacted AKL IPO. They responded within 20 minutes with a lot of helpful information!

Thanks again for the suggestion!

And west&east I'm working on my schedule adjustments now!

[west&east]

Originally Posted by loveshak22

I just wanted to repost an update! I followed your advice and contacted AKL IPO. They responded within 20 minutes with a lot of helpful information!

Thanks again for the suggestion!

And west&east I'm working on my schedule adjustments now!

Wish there was a "like" button! If you do go on the sunrise safari, make the most of it, interact with the guides, ask questions, get involved. It will be worth it.

[mickeyluv'r]

Originally Posted by polyfor4

hopefully that money can be used towards quick meals for four people for basically 4 days. 2 of the days we'll just be at the hotel and as a result will be in the lounge most of the day.

It can be a slighly touchy subject on the DIS, how much food folks take from the lounge. As in, some folks get upset if the CL lounge ran out of the their favorite dish- while sitting beside them is a family with ten helpings of said item. (especially if family #2 doesn't eat all of said item.) It alos matters if youa re a big eater or a small eater, and how picky of an eater you are. One day you may not like any of the options, another day the lounge could be empty and the offerings fantastic.


Taking advantage of CL, means for us, a pretty big shift in how we tour. In short, to get food from the lounge, you have to BE in the lounge, and more specifically in the lounge during SPECIFIC hours. That sounds very simple, but for me personally, it's a dramatic shift. Non-CL, we tend to go all day in the parks.

If you are goiing to be hanging at the Poly those days, then you most certainly can get breakfast, afternoon snacks, beverages, appetizers, and desserts. You are also allowed, by the way, to stow food in your fridge. Cold dumplings may not be your thing, but an apple or mini-cheesecake will keep just fine. Remember also that you are allowed to arrive as early as 7am, and re-enter the lounge until 10pm the day you check out - so it can bea considerably helpful supplement on arrival and departure days.

Keep in mind that the appetizers are often something like greasy fried dumplings and cheese. Pretty rich foods. I can eat a few, but too many and I start to feel ill. Same thing goes for some of the afternoon snacks- like gummy bears. You can't really make a 'lunch' of gummy bears, kettle style potato chips, and goldfish crackers. You can almost always get an apple from the lounge, but it's just a basic apple. So how much you can use the lounge to replace other meals is a bit variable. That may be especially true if you have kids.

Then again, some days at WDW, I'm happy to have an ice cream for lunch. For me, some days I'll be happpy eating mostly form the lounge, other days I need two 'real' meals. Almost always breakfast in the lounge is plenty, most our beverages (they have soft drinks in cans, coffee, teas, and paper cups), many/most snacks/desserts but we need at least ONE good, full meal outside the lounge- and one meal supplement( half a QS entree, a cup of soup, yogurt, etc.)

[polyfor4]

Originally Posted by mickeyluv'r

It can be a slighly touchy subject on the DIS, how much food folks take from the lounge. As in, some folks get upset if the CL lounge ran out of the their favorite dish- while sitting beside them is a family with ten helpings of said item. (especially if family #2 doesn't eat all of said item.) It alos matters if youa re a big eater or a small eater, and how picky of an eater you are. One day you may not like any of the options, another day the lounge could be empty and the offerings fantastic.

Taking advantage of CL, means for us, a pretty big shift in how we tour. In short, to get food from the lounge, you have to BE in the lounge, and more specifically in the lounge during SPECIFIC hours. That sounds very simple, but for me personally, it's a dramatic shift. Non-CL, we tend to go all day in the parks.

If you are goiing to be hanging at the Poly those days, then you most certainly can get breakfast, afternoon snacks, beverages, appetizers, and desserts. You are also allowed, by the way, to stow food in your fridge. Cold dumplings may not be your thing, but an apple or mini-cheesecake will keep just fine. Remember also that you are allowed to arrive as early as 7am, and re-enter the lounge until 10pm the day you check out - so it can bea considerably helpful supplement on arrival and departure days.

Keep in mind that the appetizers are often something like greasy fried dumplings and cheese. Pretty rich foods. I can eat a few, but too many and I start to feel ill. Same thing goes for some of the afternoon snacks- like gummy bears. You can't really make a 'lunch' of gummy bears, kettle style potato chips, and goldfish crackers. You can almost always get an apple from the lounge, but it's just a basic apple. So how much you can use the lounge to replace other meals is a bit variable. That may be especially true if you have kids.

Then again, some days at WDW, I'm happy to have an ice cream for lunch. For me, some days I'll be happpy eating mostly form the lounge, other days I need two 'real' meals. Almost always breakfast in the lounge is plenty, most our beverages (they have soft drinks in cans, coffee, teas, and paper cups), many/most snacks/desserts but we need at least ONE good, full meal outside the lounge- and one meal supplement( half a QS entree, a cup of soup, yogurt, etc.)

I completely understand that! We will have at least one big meal a day but haven't been without the DDP in years. It's funny because when I'm on the DDP I feel sick full the entire trip but now that I don't have it I'm worried about missing the tons of food! I just wanted to double check that its possible to have CL no dining while we still had the opportunity to book a standard room with DDP. We look forward to Disney food but I can't remember a trip where I didn't feel disgustingly full the entire time- I'd honestly like to avoid that for once! After all of the great feedback I think breakfast and the dinner appetizers will be enough to make CL worth it! We usually take an afternoon break so making it to the CL times shouldn't be a problem

[AngiTN]

Hello all. Chiming in here. Just switched our ressies for WL Courtyard View to WL Club Level. It will be our first trip to stay Club Level, or at a Deluxe for that matter. Looking very forward to it. Would love to get any tips any want to share. I haven't put in any room requests yet.

[WDWKOOK]

Originally Posted by AngiTN

Hello all. Chiming in here. Just switched our ressies for WL Courtyard View to WL Club Level. It will be our first trip to stay Club Level, or at a Deluxe for that matter. Looking very forward to it. Would love to get any tips any want to share. I haven't put in any room requests yet.

I answered your question on the WL/VWL thread

[mickeyluv'r]

Originally Posted by polyfor4

I completely understand that! We will have at least one big meal a day but haven't been without the DDP in years. It's funny because when I'm on the DDP I feel sick full the entire trip but now that I don't have it I'm worried about missing the tons of food! I just wanted to double check that its possible to have CL no dining while we still had the opportunity to book a standard room with DDP. We look forward to Disney food but I can't remember a trip where I didn't feel disgustingly full the entire time- I'd honestly like to avoid that for once! After all of the great feedback I think breakfast and the dinner appetizers will be enough to make CL worth it! We usually take an afternoon break so making it to the CL times shouldn't be a problem

I hear you. We are the same way. About 3/4 through the week my family is begging for no more buffets. (Luckily, I know that when I book.)

We often go with extended family, so DDP was a nice way to simplify how we pay for meals. Last year we did DDP and club level and we had plenty of QS and snack credits left over at the end of the trip. We were able to get packaged items to bring home, but it was far more food than we wanted. We never used the free refillable mugs.

Also, we hardly had any desserts, and were too full to eat any in the lounge. Plus, my family mostly prefers to drink water with dinner. We probably broke even using DDP last year, but just barely.

The breakfasts on club level are great. I like eating light foods such as fresh fruit, yogurt, and the yummy lattes from the miracle latte machine. Lattes are my favorite part of CL!

I like the appetizers too, but really I just sample them.

You should be fine. the only time it might make snese (but not witht he current pricing for reg DDP)is if you wanted to do room service or siganture dining. Then it mightbe worth running the numbers. With reg DDP (and no free dining ) paying for Signature dinners with meal credits is generally not a way to save money. Not for my fmaily anyhow.

[Chaoticsweetness]

This thread has helped me so much! I had booked WL CL for my sisters birthday February 13th-15th. She is a Valentine's day baby; its her 29th birthday. I booked it as a surprise, IPO has been so amazing with everything I have requested. I am so happy with everything.

[AliceIn]

Originally Posted by Chaoticsweetness

This thread has helped me so much! I had booked WL CL for my sisters birthday February 13th-15th. She is a Valentine's day baby; its her 29th birthday. I booked it as a surprise, IPO has been so amazing with everything I have requested. I am so happy with everything.

Welcome to the thread! I eagerly read it every day to see who else is going to be a first timer to CL at Disney with me!

[Jasperann]

Originally Posted by AliceIn

Welcome to the thread! I eagerly read it every day to see who else is going to be a first timer to CL at Disney with me!

I am a first timer to CL as well... really a first timer to Deluxe in general! We will be there April 29th-May 7th. I read this thread everyday, but this is the first time I've posted here. Just wanted to say hi!

[mommadjones]

Hey all! We are trying CL at AKL this August. We are doing a split stay between AKL and WL both CL. I'm familiar with WL as this will be our third CL stay there but we are new not only to CL at AKL but to AKL Period. My question is what are the offerings like? We are vegetarian and all I could find when I google is hummus and veggies. We are thinking the first few days we will basically hang around the resort how are the lunch time offerings? Thanks in advanced

[loveshak22]

Originally Posted by mommadjones

Hey all! We are trying CL at AKL this August. We are doing a split stay between AKL and WL both CL. I'm familiar with WL as this will be our third CL stay there but we are new not only to CL at AKL but to AKL Period. My question is what are the offerings like? We are vegetarian and all I could find when I google is hummus and veggies. We are thinking the first few days we will basically hang around the resort how are the lunch time offerings? Thanks in advanced

Hi mommadjones! We are first timers to CL and are staying at AKL January 29 - February 1. I'll check out the veggie options that are there and report back! I'll try to snap some pics for you as well

I contacted the IPO earlier this week, based on advice in this thread, and they have been wonderful. I've rearranged my schedule, with their help,to add the sunrise safari to our trip. Everything is set except they are still looking to modify one of my ADRs before our trip. If that works out then we'll be perfect!

I am so excited!!!

[mommadjones]

Originally Posted by loveshak22

Hi mommadjones! We are first timers to CL and are staying at AKL January 29 - February 1. I'll check out the veggie options that are there and report back! I'll try to snap some pics for you as well

I contacted the IPO earlier this week, based on advice in this thread, and they have been wonderful. I've rearranged my schedule, with their help,to add the sunrise safari to our trip. Everything is set except they are still looking to modify one of my ADRs before our trip. If that works out then we'll be perfect!

I am so excited!!!

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!

[deezeealum]

First time CL here and will be at the BC in 1 week . Question for you all... How much do you tip the turn down service as well as if you are in the parks all day and want to leave something for turn down and daily mousekeeping how do you differentiate? Envelope system??? TIA we are surprising our DDs with CL so we are soooooo excited

[loveshak22]

Originally Posted by mommadjones

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!

No problem My hubby can just look at me crazy when I take pics of food

We were concerned about travel time as well but I'd rather give up the extra 20 minutes each way to stay at what seems to be such a unique resort! Will let you know how travel time compares to other places we've stayed (WL and POFQ) too!