Concierge/Club Level Information - Part III (October 2010)

[houstonmama]

We did a split stay last trip and while it was OK, I like not having to move but having 2 different experiences was AWESOME.

CR Atrium Club was AMAZING for us. We had no problems with Mousekeeping, we actually had some amazing towel animals and the day we left the Mousekeeper found DD in the CL and gave her one of the towel bears she made to take home. The staff was great and the room was clean and nice! We loved it.

I would prefer to stay in one resort but it's just so hard to pick one!! Thanks for the info about CR!!!

 

[padawans]

Hello everybody
Newbie and Disney 1st timer here!! We (DH, DD 4, DS 15 mos and myself) will be headed to Disney Dec 8-16. The Dis has been an invaluable resource for me. I didn't even know the name of the parks (well, besides MK) when I started planning!

My dilemma at the moment is which resort/resorts to choose.. I received a pin code for room only and was hoping to get y'alls advice/opinions. The resorts available for my dates and with discount are: AKL CL, Poly CL GV & MK view, CR Atrium bay view, WL CL standard room and GF Lagoon view, regular garden view or deluxe garden view (no RPC/SL available ). Because my kiddos are young we spend a lot of time in our room and resort so I'd prefer to have all my stays be CL. With that in mind....
Preliminary plan- AKL CL 8-10, GF deluxe 11-13 then CR CL 14-15

Reasoning...
AKL CL for the first 3 nights and then moving to one of the rail resorts or WL. I know AKL is far but my DD would really LOVE it and we would go to AK and HS while in that area plus great reviews.

Poly CL- negative reviews have steered me away from trying them. The views are tempting but dated rooms and cranky CMs .

CR CL-scares me too with the complaints of dirty rooms and slow mousekeeping but walking to MK sounds wonderful! The views from the lounge look fabulous but the offerings are just OK.

WL CL - looks soooo beautiful and gets good reviews but I don't know about getting on and off buses with two strollers . We'd be willing to cab it but I don't know how easy it is to get cabs? Maybe do this instead of CR?

GF- would be really wonderful but I don't have the CL option, What are my chances of getting upgraded to CL at GF? You think since its midweek it would be better than 0?? I still prefer this than poly or a longer stay at CR.

Sorry this turned into a thesis!Your advice/opinions/criticisms would be super duper and greatly appreciated! Thanks so, so much in advance

The Poly is probably the favorite resort on these boards. I would not let a few negative reviews turn you away. The Poly Cl is awesome. The rooms are huge, and the location is great. Your plans sound good, but I would probably add a an Epcot resort rather than 2 Mk resorts. I think an AKl/epcot/mk split would be a perfect triple split stay. I love split stays BTW. Just to add I have stayed at Poly 4 times and loved it. We're at Wl next trip because Poly is not available. Have a great trip. Checkout the Tikimanpages it has some great info on the Poly.

 

[tiggrbaby]

I think WL has a boat that goes to the MK where you can roll the stroller on without removing the child.

 

[nemofans]

My advice is to avoid CR. Yes, it would be easy to walk to MK. It is a nightmare getting around in that hotel w/a stroller & you have 2. When we stayed at CR CL, it was so difficult getting an elevator to go back up to our room due to a conference there. Those people would not let us in or hold the door for us b/c we had a stroller. One time there was another family also trying to get on an elevator w/a stroller too & the father just about had it. I couldn't believe the rudeness of these people. I had one woman look at me & shrug her shoulders as she let the door close when I was trying to get on w/my 1 yr old in a stroller & my 4 yr old. There was plenty of room too.
Then you have the elevator to get up to the monorail which is a pain too.
Another time, I was on the elevator going down in the morning & we stopped at each floor as convention people piled in. We were so crammed & I was stuck in the back. They were headed to the 2nd floor & when we got to the 4th floor, I tried to get out. No one budged. I said excuse me & still no one moved. I then yelled move please & then they finally made room for me to get out.
CR is the only hotel that made me so upset b/c of how difficult it was to get around w/a stroller & how rude the convention guests were.

Now, we LOVE AKL. I wouldn't recommend switching so much w/little ones. Pick one or 2 to stay at.

 

[gwynne]

I would vote for an AKL CL/WL CL split.

 

[hstrickland]

Hello All!

We're back from our trip! Had an awesome time!!! Can't say enough great things about AKL CL....just wonderful!!!

Hope everyone has a Happy 4th Holiday!
Heather

 

[nadira36]

That is true. DH and I want to stay at all of the resorts but for some reason we just can't talk ourselves into GF. It would be like the Clampetts comin' to stay.

WE've never stayed, but spent many hours there over the years and what I've determined is that it's beautiful, it's smelly (DH can barely walk in the lobby without his allergies firing up), but the vast majority of the CMs are wonderful people. Last trip we spent a large portion of time waiting int he lobby for our table to be called we had 3 kiddos who kept rolling around the floor, singing (loudly) among other things, and we found even the best dressed people around couldn't help but stop and smile and make a pleasant comment about us and our girls. It's expensive, and IMO it's one of the 'best' Disney properties, but it really is very pleasant.

However the way you feel about GF is how we feel about CR - we've spent a few less hours there than GF, but enough to have met many CMs and to have gotten a feel for the people staying there. The CMs have been much more impersonal (in general, some were really wonderful), and we don't like conventioneers or the families who take working holidays - we've seen so many parents sitting there with their devices while kids whine that they're bored and parents say just 5 more minutes. It's a limited view b/c we haven't stayed there, but it seems to us the families that stay there fight more.

 

[Sue M]

Hello All!

We're back from our trip! Had an awesome time!!! Can't say enough great things about AKL CL....just wonderful!!!

Hope everyone has a Happy 4th Holiday!
Heather

Great to hear, I'm very excited about our AKL CL stay in August :good vibes
Where was your room? Did you have a good location on the savanna? How far to the lounge?
This will be a little different, we stayed at BC CL last Aug, and room was on same floor as lounge.

 

[diznynut]

Originally Posted by hstrickland
Hello All!

We're back from our trip! Had an awesome time!!! Can't say enough great things about AKL CL....just wonderful!!!

Hope everyone has a Happy 4th Holiday!
Heather

Heather-
We are checking in August 5th. Glad to hear you had a great time. Can you tell us about the food offerings in the lounge? Also, did you like the H2O products and what were they? Thanks for any info on your trip.

Shondra

 

[houstonmama]

My advice is to avoid CR. Yes, it would be easy to walk to MK. It is a nightmare getting around in that hotel w/a stroller & you have 2. When we stayed at CR CL, it was so difficult getting an elevator to go back up to our room due to a conference there. Those people would not let us in or hold the door for us b/c we had a stroller. One time there was another family also trying to get on an elevator w/a stroller too & the father just about had it. I couldn't believe the rudeness of these people. I had one woman look at me & shrug her shoulders as she let the door close when I was trying to get on w/my 1 yr old in a stroller & my 4 yr old. There was plenty of room too.
Then you have the elevator to get up to the monorail which is a pain too.
Another time, I was on the elevator going down in the morning & we stopped at each floor as convention people piled in. We were so crammed & I was stuck in the back. They were headed to the 2nd floor & when we got to the 4th floor, I tried to get out. No one budged. I said excuse me & still no one moved. I then yelled move please & then they finally made room for me to get out.
CR is the only hotel that made me so upset b/c of how difficult it was to get around w/a stroller & how rude the convention guests were.

Now, we LOVE AKL. I wouldn't recommend switching so much w/little ones. Pick one or 2 to stay at.

I can't believe how rude people can be! Thanks for the info it's definitely helping me narrow things down.

So many nice resorts and it so hard to pick two! I hope that once I've been our future trips will be easier....or maybe not

 

[houstonmama]

I would vote for an AKL CL/WL CL split.

Thanks!!

 

[mana'olana]

Nadia, we are the opposite, loved CR and had great experiences with CMs there. We have been to GF for 1900 Park Fare and thought the CM were a little rude at the GF, not to mention some really snobby people there. DH and I are actually talking about staying there in October instead of the Poly.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

We'll be at the Poly in a CL TPV room that same week (December 8-15 or 9-16...haven't decided ). We've stayed CL at Poly, WL and BC. We loved Poly and WL, and BC was ok. The kids seem to like the Poly the most, especially because we have always gotten our ground floor request. The beach (with a view of the castle!!) is their backyard!! However, if you go in with the negative reviews in mind, it's bound to be kind of a ho-hum experience. I would stay where you're excited to stay. You never know when you'll be back, so you may as well do what you want.

As far as a split stay, most of our trips are splits. We really enjoy trying new-to-us resorts in combination with tried and true. However, I'd be weary to do more than one move without a car. We always have a car with us and are able to come and go as we please. We do have Disney move the bulk of our luggage, but it's definitely more convenient to arrive on our schedule rather than waiting for a bus or something (depending on where you're trasnferring to or from). I am considering a three-way monorail resort split stay, which would be fairly easy to do sans car, though.

Good luck with your choice!! As long as you go in with a positive attitude, chances are you'll enjoy yourself!

 

[hstrickland]

Great to hear, I'm very excited about our AKL CL stay in August :good vibes
Where was your room? Did you have a good location on the savanna? How far to the lounge?
This will be a little different, we stayed at BC CL last Aug, and room was on same floor as lounge.

Hi again!

Our room was on the Kudu Trail...room 4227 and 29...great view of the Savannah. It was a bit of a walk to the lounge which is on the 6th floor...my only complaint (which really isn't a complaint). On my TR I'm going to post a picture of the AKL layout and the exact location of our room. We had great views of all the animals, and they were out frequently....just awesome!! The kids loved it!

Y'all will have a fabulous time!
Heather

 

[BethA]

just booked the Poly for 4 nights the beginning of August. Loved it last year. Any word on the renovations?

 

[Ziggy]

Sorry if this has already been asked I've done a search and can't find my answer.

Am I right in believing that someone from Bell Services meets you off MME and takes you straight to the CL. If so what would be an acceptable tip? Me and DD are staying at the BWI.

 

[WsPrincess]

Sorry if this has already been asked I've done a search and can't find my answer.

Am I right in believing that someone from Bell Services meets you off MME and takes you straight to the CL. If so what would be an acceptable tip? Me and DD are staying at the BWI.

We were greeted by a CM who asked if we had anything Bell Services needed to take. One time we did so we left our stuff with Bell services and tipped $5 (3 bags and we usually shoot for $1 per bag minimum) and the CM took us to CL. The other time we did not have anything so the CM just took us up. No need to tip there since no one handled anything.

 

[Ziggy]

We were greeted by a CM who asked if we had anything Bell Services needed to take. One time we did so we left our stuff with Bell services and tipped $5 (3 bags and we usually shoot for $1 per bag minimum) and the CM took us to CL. The other time we did not have anything so the CM just took us up. No need to tip there since no one handled anything.

So you tip Bell Services when they bring it to your room. I usually tip $5 so that's no problem. Thanks

 

[WsPrincess]

So you tip Bell Services when they bring it to your room. I usually tip $5 so that's no problem. Thanks

We tipped both times, when we left it with them and then when they brought it to the room once we were in the room and ready for it! They were so nice and super fast to bring everything up

 

[BethA]

any recent Poly reports?