A very short WL review

[ducklite]

We were supposed to check in on Sunday, September 5th. Because of Hurricane Frances, we decided we'd play it safe and stay in our house that night instead. No hot water, but being stinky is better than risking traveling on roads with downed power lines and non-working traffic signals.

We called and explained, and were allowed to cancel without penalty. Frankly I would have not gone, even if we were charged for the night, it wasn't worth the risk of traveling.

We arrived Monday around 6:00pm. Some of the rideout crew was still on, others had been released. The place seemed rather empty, I think they had a lot of cancellations.

We got checked in and took showers, that hot shower felt sooooo good!!

We stopped at the offerings station and grabbed some cheese and wine, typical WDW CL evening fare.

DS decided to head over to Epcot for the evening, and DH and I made a PS for Artists Point. We had a very bad experience dining here before, but felt that the reputation of the restaurant deserved a second chance. We were glad we did, the food and service were both excellent.

Before we went to dinner I called housekeeping and told them if they were short handed not to bother with turndown service or any housekeeping for that matter, except I did need fresh towels. We went to dinner and when we returned they were in the room.

All in all, the WL is a nice resort, and most of the concierge CM's were wonderful. We ran in to one sourpuss as we were checking out Wednesday morning, but I guess that can happen anywhere.

We didn't care for the concierge desk set up, it felt awkward and cramped. We also didn't like that there is no actual lounge, just some tables and chairs along the balcony.

The hotel itself is beautiful, and the theming is exquisite. While I'd never say it was a bad stay, although I'd have to admit I've enjoyed several WDW resorts much more. I'm glad I did have a chance to stay there, and I might try it again some day down the road.

Anne

 

[BelleDaisy]

Glad you made it to WL safe and sound! Would you mind answering a few questions?
--We are considering putting DS in the Cubs Den and eating at Artist Point. I'm glad to hear that it was excellent..what did you have?
--We are very interested in upgrading to CL at check-in and I've read over all the posts I can find on concierge level at WL. Specifically, what did they have for the mid-day offerings? What about the warm appetizer in the evening?
--Finally, the most important question of all, how was the coffee offered in the concierge lounge? Is it the same yucky Nescafe they have everywhere else?

Thanks!

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by BelleDaisy
Glad you made it to WL safe and sound! Would you mind answering a few questions?
--We are considering putting DS in the Cubs Den and eating at Artist Point. I'm glad to hear that it was excellent..what did you have?
--We are very interested in upgrading to CL at check-in and I've read over all the posts I can find on concierge level at WL. Specifically, what did they have for the mid-day offerings? What about the warm appetizer in the evening?
--Finally, the most important question of all, how was the coffee offered in the concierge lounge? Is it the same yucky Nescafe they have everywhere else?

Thanks!

DH had the salmon--I tried a nibble and i was great. I had chicken. Not sure exactly what, we were dead tired, I can barely remember having dinner, but it was great.

We weren't there at all for midday, sorry.

There was no hot offering in the evening, I think probably because theyw ere so short handed with the hurricane.

I don't drink coffee, so can't comment on that. Dorry I'm not more helpful.

If you can get it as an inexpansive upgrade at check-inl, do so. I'm not sure I'd ever pay "full price" for WL concierge again.

Anne

Anne

 

[disneyfanatic60]

We upgraded to WL/Conc. in May. We've stayed at WL a few times and always enjoyed this resort. We had not done conceirge at this resort but had tried at Poly twice and absolutely loved it! It was $50/day to upgrade at check-in.

Honestly, I hate to even say I would not stay conceirge at WL again. I found the offerings to be scarce in comparison to Poly and redundant. Everything they did have was quite delicious but just very limited.

My biggest problem is "asking" for items such as soda, choc. milk, etc. Many, many times the CM was busy with another guest and we gave up after waiting for some time. I also miss the individual bottles of water. I enjoyed grabbing a bottle before heading to the parks or the pool. Now they just have large bottles for you to pour into individual glasses.

As far as offerings go:

Breakfast -- asst. fruits, cereals, pastries, toast, bagels, muffins, etc. Pretty much standard continental breakfast fare.

Mid-day -- asst. fruits, cookies

Evening -- Asst. cheeses, crackers, vegies and dip, and a soup of some sort. The problem I had was it was 90 degrees outside and hot soup didn't cut it. I did try some and it was delicious but would have appreciated it more on a cool evening. There was also a nice asst. of wine, etc.

Desserts -- I found this to be the most disppointing. After all the extragant desserts at Poly, the offerings were very, very limited. A cobbler, some cookies, brownies, and another small dessert.


I'm sure I'm missing a few items but this is the basics. As I said, what we did eat was wonderful and tasty. Our disappointment came in having to ask for things and no bottled water. The CM's were all friendly but I thought maybe they were a little understaffed at the time.

WL is still one of my fav resorts. I would not hestitate to stay there again but I'd save my money on the conceirge and use for extra souvenirs or a better view, etc.


Michele

 

[BelleDaisy]

Thanks you guys for your responses! I keep going back and forth about this issue...almost everything I read leads me to believe that WL concierge is less than impressive. Part of me says, "it's just $50 dollars extra per night" and then another part of me thinks that we could do a lot with that $50 per night...

disneyfanatic60, did you try the coffee???

Thanks!

 

[WDW LifeLong Fan]

Glad to hear that you fared well during Frances. As many have reported, the CM's throughout WDW did a great job.

I agree with your comments concerning the WL's concierge.

We really enjoy the WL! ..... (especially during the holidays) however, there are many concierge experiences at WDW that we prefer more.

Thanks again for sharing your trip details.