Changed Poly ressie to CL - questions and some disappointment

[wdwfun!]

We decided to change our Poly ressie to CL and since we are less than 60 days away, nearly all of our dining and FP selections were done prior to the change. As suggested here, after a few days I emailed the IPO instead of waiting to get an e-mail from them. I had one change to our dining plans i wanted to see if they could help with and we are arriving the day after my wife's birthday so I wanted some ideas from them on having something in the room (card, balloons, cookies,etc...) on our arrival day to celebrate her birthday. The response I received was a link to order flowers/gifts on line and a request to call them with my credit card info or they would not look dining reservations (I had already done the online check in with my card info) . So I called the number they provided and actually spoke to the CM who sent the e-mail. She was less enthusiastic and simply said she would put my dining request in my file. I asked again for suggestions about my wife's birthday and I gave her some more details of what I was thinking (just something small but Disney oriented). No response other than the link she sent and they could leave a card. Truthfully i was less than thrilled and wonder whether anyone or any computer is really checking on my dining request. I guess I expected too much. The CM clearly didn't share my enthusiasm for my upcoming CL stay at the Poly. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had any other suggestion as to what the IPO can help me with or what I should request to make our CL vacation more magical. Also I was wondering about water bottles in the lounge. Are there water bottles available to take with you as you head to the parks in the morning or do I need to buy water elsewhere?
Thanks

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I'm sorry your first IPO encounter wasn't that magical. I'm assuming this is your first CL stay? In my experience the IPO can be really hit or miss depending on the person. The same will translate over to the CL CMs you encounter at the resort. Some are great, some will just be average. Some you might leave wondering if they were even trained how to do their job. ;-)

The standard IPO answer about an in-room celebration is to point you to Disney Floral & Gifts (which I've done BTW if you need any tips). IPO can't really help with much else but they can make a note that you're celebrating something on your reservation (and maybe you'll get a little pixie dust, but no guaranties).

It's normal for IPO to need your personal verification of your credit card in order for them to make reservations on your behalf. It's a security thing, despite the redundancy of already giving your info to Disney (heck knows I've had to enter my Amex number what seems like hundreds of times on Disney's website).

I tend to not use/need IPO for anything pre-arrival except for making room requests or adding any notes to my reservation. I used them once to make my dining reservations but found I just prefer to do it myself.

Ways to make your trip more magical.... what view category did you book? Depending on your view that will impact room requests (eg, third floor, close to lounge).

No water bottles in the lounge, but they will refill containers if you ask. I usually buy a 24-pack of Dasani at the store in the lobby, it's pretty cheap for Disney standards. Like $6.99 or something?

Been to Poly CL a bunch of times over the last few years, happy to answer any questions!

Also despite any negative tone above, we very much enjoy Poly CL. It has its flaws, but overall it's our favorite spot hands down.

 

[rwdavis2]

The CMs working CL generally can't do anything more than what you can do yourself.

 

[Disneytam]

I just sent an e-mail to the Poly IPO to see about doing something special for a family member that will soon be honeymooning at the Poly CL. They were helpful with giving me links to a store at DS that might have what I was looking for but when I asked for a bottle of champagne being put in the room they told me that I couldn't due that because they would have to be in the room to sign for it and to show ID. Huh?? Is this something new? I had a bottle of champagne and flutes sent to the room when they were staying at a moderate and that was no problem at all a year or so ago. I plan on looking into it further.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Welcome to CL, meaning "club level" and NOT "concierge". Honestly, this is exactly why we don't stay CL anymore. The staff are of absolutely no help. In fact, the last time I tried to go through IPO to help me schedule dining and recreation, they seemed to come up with every excuse not to help me. For example, the last time I asked IPO for help, we were staying at GF. I asked them to please schedule my DS on the GF pirate cruise on a particular day. The response I got was, it doesn't run on the day I requested. No alternate days were given and no information regarding the other children's cruises that might be running on the day I requested was given. It was basically, it's not run that day, period. End of story, no further help given. They did the same with a restaurant reservation I was hoping to get. First give us your CC number (ok, I understand that) and then we'll check. I ended up getting the reservation by checking myself AND researched the info to get him on another kids' cruise over at YC. IPO was an absolute waste of time. We don't eat enough in the lounge to justify the CL cost so now we save our CL money and use it on stocking our own fridge, ordering room service, etc. And I make my own reservations. If you want true concierge service from Disney, you need to book a "concierge" (and that is the word they use!) stateroom on DCL. The service on the ships is remarkable and blows WDW "club" level out of the water.

 

[wdwfun!]

Does anyone know if they have some kind of computer program checking for the dining we want or should we continue to check? I guess I feel a little bit better that others haven't received better service. This is our first time booking CL but we were fortunate to get an upgrade to CL several years ago. So we know what the lounge offers for the most part but not what the IPO can do...which is apparently very little.

 

[lawboysam]

Does anyone know if they have some kind of computer program checking for the dining we want or should we continue to check?

Touring Plans has a Reservation Finder: https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/reservation-finder

Good luck!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Does anyone know if they have some kind of computer program checking for the dining we want or should we continue to check? I guess I feel a little bit better that others haven't received better service. This is our first time booking CL but we were fortunate to get an upgrade to CL several years ago. So we know what the lounge offers for the most part but not what the IPO can do...which is apparently very little.

No one truly knows what's up behind the scenes I guess but I'd be assuming anything they do for reservation follow-up is far more manual/human generated than automatic. Who knows how often they check, when they check, or if they are even checking. I've read reports in the past of people being contacted if they do secure a reservation later on so I guess it does happen, but I wouldn't bank on it. I'd take matters into your own hands if I were you.

 

[wdwfun!]

I was afraid that was what you would say. I am using the touring plan app too. Thanks for everyone's help. I will not bother with the IPO anymore.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

BTW, there's no harm in calling back (at maybe a different time of day) to check in to see if they've found a reservation. There ARE some good CMs and maybe you'll have better luck than the bad egg you had on the first call. Hope you enjoy tour trip.