Changes to AKV concierge lounge

[DonDiegoDeLaVega]

I have a 1 bedroom CL booked for Oct 11 for a few days...then on to Kidani for a few more. I booked this 11 months ago and was so excited based on all previous reviews. Sounds like "no food...no views...no booze...we took your points and now you lose". If the services have diminished maybe give a few points back per day(haha not gonna happen). I will give a report when i get there for those interested. On the upside when i did book i used the Concierge Services and they got me... Lunch with Imagineer...Evening Safari...Nighttime Wishes Cruise....Keys to the Kingdom Tour...Dinner in Italy...Lunch at 50's Prime Time...all of these on the dates and times i requested for the week.
That in itself made it worth it to me.

 

[disneynutz]

I wonder how long Disney thinks that they can continue to raise prices while reducing offerings?

Looks like their recent deals have attracted enough people that they aren't worried about repeat Guests.

That's the business model that Six Flags uses.

 

[Inkmahm]

Hold the phone..
No more Bailey's, or no more Amarula?

I would imagine if Bailey's is gone, the Amarula went with it.. This is truly a crisis.

MG

No more Amarula would be sad. I loved it so much at AKV that we found it at home at a local store so I could enjoy it here.

 

[Tozzie]

I have a 1 bedroom CL booked for Oct 11 for a few days...then on to Kidani for a few more. I booked this 11 months ago and was so excited based on all previous reviews. Sounds like "no food...no views...no booze...we took your points and now you lose". If the services have diminished maybe give a few points back per day(haha not gonna happen). I will give a report when i get there for those interested. On the upside when i did book i used the Concierge Services and they got me... Lunch with Imagineer...Evening Safari...Nighttime Wishes Cruise....Keys to the Kingdom Tour...Dinner in Italy...Lunch at 50's Prime Time...all of these on the dates and times i requested for the week.
That in itself made it worth it to me.

The problem is the lounge isn't exclusive to DVC and is run by the resort and may not have had a say in what was taken away.

 

[LisaS]

The problem is the lounge isn't exclusive to DVC and is run by the resort and may not have had a say in what was taken away.

In the case of AKV/AKL, I believe the lounge is owned by DVC and the hotel pays a fee to AKV/DVC based on the number of hotel guests using the lounge. But if other WDW hotels are scaling back on what they offer in their Concierge lounges, I imagine AKV would do the same.

 

[dclfun]

They DID still have Amarula, and Kahlua ( I think I spelled that wrong), and a few other cordials. The only one missing was Baileys- I didn't ask about it on either evening that we were in the lounge. Who knows- maybe the bottle had already been polished off and not replaced. I also noted that there were only/mostly cookies, small brownies, and one kind of tart which is a change from the past when there were more things to sample. Remember, there is still a very nice breakfast, that wonderful cappucino/ espresso machine, and other perks with concierge. It's really only the evening offerings that have changed. If you are satisfied with sampling the two appetizers and having wine/beer and cheese/dips then you won't be disappointed. Not everyone is even in the lounge for the wine/cheese ( as it's now called) as it's during normal dinner hours. I certainly wouldn't return from a park just to drop in unless I were turning in for the night or getting ready to head back out after an afternoon rest or swim. I just wanted to share the changes and didn't mean to inadvertently turn anyone off from booking concierge. I'll still be interested to see if the other lounges are now only listing wine/cheese as being served in the evenings vs. something more extensive or if the changes only pertain to AKL.---Kathy

 

[bjakmom]

I have stayed CL at AKL twice and loved it both times - this June with AKV. The only comment I have is that DNeph and I were both shocked at the amount of food people were taking in the evening. Of course I was explaining to him that we have to share the offerings and that they weren't meant to be a meal (he is a growing, hungry 11 yo boy, after all) and that he could take a few pieces of each and go back later for a few more once the plates were replenished. So of course he had to point out to me that most people were literally piling their plates with mini ribs, meatballs, chicken sticks, tarts, etc. (several times we had to wait for them to bring more of something as people in front of us emptied the serving plates while others were still behind them in line). Perhaps guests have once again caused a wonderful offering to be reevaluated - maybe they decided that offering dinner-type foods only encouraged people to make a full dinner out of them instead of treating them like the samplings they were meant to be. Just a thought we already had many months ago in light of the sad news about the CL offerings. I too will miss the Bailey's - hopefully it was a rare thing - I remember it not being there on one night of our stay, too!!

 

[bookwormde]

Just remembered I forgot to thank dclfun for the heads up, I would have been sorely disappointed if I had gone to all the trouble of getting CL only to be surprised that it had changed. So thank you very much for the post.

My experience has been that the vast majority of guests (at WL) were very conservative and considerate in there “portioning” of the food, now the beer was somewhat of a different story.

bookwormde

 

[Inkmahm]

I have stayed CL at AKL twice and loved it both times - this June with AKV. The only comment I have is that DNeph and I were both shocked at the amount of food people were taking in the evening. Of course I was explaining to him that we have to share the offerings and that they weren't meant to be a meal (he is a growing, hungry 11 yo boy, after all) and that he could take a few pieces of each and go back later for a few more once the plates were replenished. So of course he had to point out to me that most people were literally piling their plates with mini ribs, meatballs, chicken sticks, tarts, etc. (several times we had to wait for them to bring more of something as people in front of us emptied the serving plates while others were still behind them in line). Perhaps guests have once again caused a wonderful offering to be reevaluated - maybe they decided that offering dinner-type foods only encouraged people to make a full dinner out of them instead of treating them like the samplings they were meant to be. Just a thought we already had many months ago in light of the sad news about the CL offerings. I too will miss the Bailey's - hopefully it was a rare thing - I remember it not being there on one night of our stay, too!!

DH and I had the same thought about people being "piggish" with the dinner offerings. We've never really been there for the actual food but we have arrived right after and have walked into the lounge to see people with HUGE plates of food. That isn't as bad as the people who took huge plates of food and then LEFT it on a messy table, wasting it. Why take so much of something you don't know if you like, or take so much that you can't eat it all? It was pretty disgusting.

 

[disneystick]

DH and I had the same thought about people being "piggish" with the dinner offerings. We've never really been there for the actual food but we have arrived right after and have walked into the lounge to see people with HUGE plates of food. That isn't as bad as the people who took huge plates of food and then LEFT it on a messy table, wasting it. Why take so much of something you don't know if you like, or take so much that you can't eat it all? It was pretty disgusting.

Some families would save/splurge to stay at CL so that they could make the meals out of the offerings. Now don't get me wrong...I don't believe in wasting food but if a perk of staying at CL is the offering...why not use it?

I have only stayed once on CLevel and that was only after saving $ for a very long time to stay at DisneyLand Grand Cal. To which we did use the CL as our main meal for breakfast and lunch. They had finger sandwiches and vegs, cheese, dip, etc for lunch. And the thought behind that was it was a extra $150 per day for us to stay on CL at the Grand C. And there was 4 of us in my family. So being that we are paying $150 per day extra we wanted to make sure we got our money's worth from the offerings to balance the benefit/cost of the CL. More of the easy back to the resort to rest/eat lunch/nap then back to the parks, vs. saving money.

We are not beer and wine drinkers so we felt we could eat what we wanted and did make breakfast and lunch our main meal at the CL. We were not the only ones doing this and there were many families that even had their dinner there. Not once did any CM ever walk up to any of us and said...OK you are getting too much food, leave some for others, or sorry your plate weighs too much...put some food back! or OH no you cannot make a meal out of the snacks for lunch or dinner....in fact, they would ask us if we got enough and was there anything else that we needed or wanted. And as soon as a tray was emptied...out came another in a blink of a eye. They knew what we were doing...eating breakfast and lunch there for our 5 day trip at DL.

And for folks coming late...IF the offerings is offered from 5-7...like everything else in life...first come, first serve and if there is a limited amount of food...early bird gets the worm. Even if Disney changes the offerings option...there will still be families that use the CL to the fullest perks and those that won't use it for a occasional drink or two. And that is where the balance in life comes in.

Wasting food - BAD! Using a perk to the fullest - Priceless!

 

[Cyndibear]

most people were literally piling their plates

Funny! When we were just there in September, with the offerings changed, the people were still "piling their plates" high. I think it was our first night there, DH was speaking with concierge and I was sitting at a table waiting for him. The concierge staff had just finished putting out the 5:00pm evening selections and I thought that a fire alarm had gone off! I never saw people run/walk as fast as they did to fill up their plates. This one guy almost knocked someone over the get to the case with the beer in it. Needless to say, if DH and I were back at the resort at the times of the food changing, we would wait at least 5-10 minutes before going to get it. By that time, the rush was over and the plates were being refilled.

Cyndi

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We stayed in a CL studio for 10 nights in August and we did notice that the evening offerings had diminished.

I believe some nights there was ONE hot appetizer, and if you didn't move quickly there were NONE.

We do mostly signature dinners so we didn't miss the lounge offerings, we just noticed.

DH was quite disgusted by the people who "confused the lounge with a buffet", but we knew going in that there would be people like that.

 

[dclfun]

One last thought- I don't usually notice what others are taking, but agree that the appetizers or some of the evening desserts were gone and not replenished within the stated hours. The evening ( now "wine and cheese") is from 5-7 and the "desserts and cordials" were from 8-10. I was going back to my room at 9 one night and all that was left was cookies which I really don't consider as a great dessert as an adult. I was looking over the selections of cookies and didn't take any-another guest said she hoped they'd put the tarts back out as she didn't get any. I took my service dog out for her walk and came back about 9:45- still no tarts and the same guest was waiting. I will give those CM's the benefit of the doubt though. I didn't ask what had been served and if there was more, did not ask the other guest if *she* had asked, and perhaps they still put some out later. The CL CM's work very hard during the times food is served both in replenishing, cleaning up, answering questions and responding to needs. A few times I've seen them dripping with perspiration as they rushed to do a spectacular job. As to piling a plate high, when your plate is about 3 1/2 inches in diameter, putting only a few things on it will pile it high, lol. I remember when there were full dinner-size plates, larger wine glasses, larger cordial glasses, etc. It almost strikes me as rude to change the plate sizes as if it's a message that we should only take a small amount- at least give people something a bit larger than a saucer. There really shouldn't be a limit but for many it will be embarrassing or a hassle to keep having to go back through the service area. I can't imagine many guests wanting to dine on the same thing every evening anyway but if they did, they should be allowed to have what they wanted. It really isn't supposed to be a buffet meal but in the long run some guests never go to the lounge at all, some just get a glass of wine or beer and skip the food, and then some guests are hungrier or want to sample some unique items and do take more.I figure it all balances itself out, but it feels like they are sticking to a limited budget as to what is consumed and are sending out a message that guests should limit what they take. Note that I did not get this feeling at breakfast. During breakfast it appeared that having your entire meal there was the norm and expected. If anyone has stayed recently at another CL, please let us know if things have also changed at the other WDW resorts. I'm planning to stay for a few nights at WL concierge in December so I guess I'll find about that one then.---Kathy

 

[kimberh]

Well, I am highly disappointed with this news. We don't drink so the food was a big deal to us. We didn't make a meal of it, but we sure did enjoy it. I had the corner Savanna view room where you can't see anything but roof. Still thought Concierge was worth the extra points, now I will have to reconsider it. I did see many last visit making meals out of the offerings. There were some that didn't miss a time frame that it seemed to be open. Every time we walked by, they were eating. I wondered if they even went to the parks. Plates extremely high. It's was as if was their last meal.
We didn't eat at it alot. Just too busy. I did have to ask them to bring food out a few times, and they did. Just enough for us though. Gave it to me through the side door.

I am wondering if this is what happens when people don't have manners. It would be interesting to know. I think it was treated as a buffet. It is truly a shame!

 

[LIFERBABE]

One last thought- I don't usually notice what others are taking, but agree that the appetizers or some of the evening desserts were gone and not replenished within the stated hours. The evening ( now "wine and cheese") is from 5-7 and the "desserts and cordials" were from 8-10. I was going back to my room at 9 one night and all that was left was cookies which I really don't consider as a great dessert as an adult. I was looking over the selections of cookies and didn't take any-another guest said she hoped they'd put the tarts back out as she didn't get any. ........... I'm planning to stay for a few nights at WL concierge in December so I guess I'll find about that one then.---Kathy

Kathy, I agree with what you have written. The guests should not be blamed or made to feel that their greediness caused cutbacks in the offerings.

First, there are only 10 possible Villas for DVC, 1 studio looks at a wall and 1 1-bedroom does not have a tub, only a roll in shower so odds are not good of getting what I want imo. DVC members pay extra points for these villas despite the shortcomings.

The rest of Club Level guests paid extra cash for the Concierge benefits.

No one is getting to the 6th floor for free. These are guests that paid for the privilege. We stayed in a CL Studio for 6 nights in June on points. No matter what time of day we went to the lounge, there were flies circling. Never saw flies in a club level lounge before. The kids did not want to eat in the lounge because of the flies landing on their food and utensils. We started taking our food back to the villa or sometimes I would go and get enough for us to take back. So my plate was piled high, since it was myself and 3 boys under 12. I dont judge or think it's shameful, the plates are small and unless you want to make multiple trips back and forth you try to fit it all on 1 plate. So I dont play lounge police. If Boma ran out of food, would you blame the greedy patrons or hold Boma responsible for providing the meal you paid for?

If our schedule fits the lounge schedule we stop by for offerings. We did use breakfast each day, but the boys were tired of the breakfast by day 3 and opted to sleep in. I however enjoyed my bagel, juice yogurt and fruit daily.
No it's not a buffett, but it's not free either. They need to stock it like people paid for it because they did. If they give you a list of offerings and you never get what's offered, than they failed to deliver the service these guests paid for, period.

I dont like to move, especially when Dh is not with us, and it is helpful to have the daily cleanings but other than that, I would not opt to stay in CL for more than 3 days. We also had housekeeping issues in CL studio that we never experienced at the other DVC resorts despite these units being cleaned daily.

AKV is 1 of our homes and we enjoy it there but this is a cost cutting measure that has nothing to do with greedy guests. If it were, they would increase the cost of CL for cash guests and move on.

And could this have anything to do with it?

Get Luxury and Service at 40% Savings with Special Club Level Room Rates, Travel between 10/4/09 and 12/24/09.

 

[robinb]

We have a reservation for late December at AKV Concierge. I just talked to someone in Itinerary Planning at AKV about the changes. Here's the scoop.

The soups are gone.
Two appetizers per night remain. He said that one per night should be vegetarian.
The cheese, the uncrustables, etc remain unchanged.
The after dinner cordials include Courvoisier, Kahlua, Grand Marnier and Amerula (an African cordial). He said that the Baily's was being "abused" and that people would pour tumblers of it and it would go to waste because they could not finish it.
The wines include a Shiraz, a Merlot and a Chardonnay.
There are 4 beers, one of them an African one. He thinks that the Casablanca may have been replaced with something else but it's not sure.

So ... it looks like they got rid of the more "hearty" fare so people did not make a meal out of the lounge food and they got rid of the Baily's and Disaronno because of heavy pours.

Since there is nothing else available for me the week before Christmas, we'll stick with it. Our studio wasn't too much more than a regular savanna view so I'm OK with it this time. It might be the last time I will call at 11-months for it, though.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thanks, robinb! I never got to try the Bailey's and that's a disappointment. Concierge did book a Le Cellier dinner ADR for us and our friends (Meriweather and her DH) and that was very helpful. We wanted and enjoyed the Wildlife Discovery Excursion, and we would like to book it again.

Last month we were in Concierge level at a Marriott in Copenhagen Denmark. People are people, you should see the bottles of water going out with people leaving the lounge! Many people used the offerings as a meal. I imagine these things happen all over, but Disney isn't willing to accomodate it's clientele. It's not just us, it's people paying cash. Maybe they'll have more clout than we do. I hope so. I enjoy Bailey's!!!! One glass only, it's fattening (I'm sure, I really don't want to know)!!!

Bobbi

PS. I'm not sure Disney wants to get another letter from me, but I will write about the downgrading of concierge. We did have a good time...we did enjoy the wine and cheese, the fruit and yogurt. I love the potato chips, and they are the only potato chips that I really enjoy. However, I do not think that the watering down of the offerings should pass without a comment from clients.

 

[DonDiegoDeLaVega]

We have a reservation for late December at AKV Concierge. I just talked to someone in Itinerary Planning at AKV about the changes. Here's the scoop.

The soups are gone.
Two appetizers per night remain. He said that one per night should be vegetarian.
The cheese, the uncrustables, etc remain unchanged.
The after dinner cordials include Courvoisier, Kahlua, Grand Marnier and Amerula (an African cordial). He said that the Baily's was being "abused" and that people would pour tumblers of it and it would go to waste because they could not finish it.
The wines include a Shiraz, a Merlot and a Chardonnay.
There are 4 beers, one of them an African one. He thinks that the Casablanca may have been replaced with something else but it's not sure.

So ... it looks like they got rid of the more "hearty" fare so people did not make a meal out of the lounge food and they got rid of the Baily's and Disaronno because of heavy pours.

Since there is nothing else available for me the week before Christmas, we'll stick with it. Our studio wasn't too much more than a regular savanna view so I'm OK with it this time. It might be the last time I will call at 11-months for it, though.

Just came back from a trip 10/11-1016 at AK Concierge and Kidani

We loved the Club Level offerings and never felt like it wasn't enough...but we did see people taking multiples of items even after enjoying them already in the lounge area. The room itself was a 1 bedroom savanah view
(6205) and was awesome...it was our 34th anniversary and when we arrived we were given an early check-in( 1pm). The room had chocolates and two swans made of towels on the bed...DW was smiling ear to ear...then a CM came to the door and gave us a gift bag with more candy and two fragrance bottles(1 male 1 female) in carved elephants.. a photo pass discount card...

Sunday I booked a Nighttime Cruise to see the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom as a surprise to my Wife for our anniversary and it was just the two of us...the night was warm and beautiful and just a perfect way to start the week. We had the boat and captain for about 2 hours and it was decorated with a banner and balloons..came with drinks and snacks too!

On Wed we checked into Kidani(7234) with a savanah view it was even better...and the room size and layout we liked much better than Jambo house....Staff was awsome and the bus waits were less than 10 minutes to go anywhere.

We did the Evening Safari with dinner at Jiko and enjoyed the sights and Food pairings..but thought money could be better spent!
We also had "Lunch with an Imagineer" at the Bamboo Room at the Brown Derby that lasted 3 hours... it was incredible, food and all the inside stories and information it just went so fast ....You have to do this!!!!

We also did the "Keys to the Kingdom Tour"...5 hours of touring the Magic Kingdom with our guide "Claire"..who told us so much info about the history and inside stories...we got to go behind the scenes at several locations...instant access to the Jungle Cruise....and lastly we got to descend into the tunnels under the Magic Kingdom...this was a dream come true..and you get a very special pin to commemorate it.

This was our first trip Home to Animal Kingdom and all i can say is it exceeded every expectation. .....next is our second Home BLT in Feb 2010
we can't wait.... as Walt said "Fantasy and reality often overlap."and this fantasy became a reality.

Magical Wishes to you All.....

 

[bobbiwoz]

Just came back from a trip 10/11-1016 at AK Concierge and Kidani

We loved the Club Level offerings and never felt like it wasn't enough...but we did see people taking multiples of items even after enjoying them already in the lounge area. The room itself was a 1 bedroom savanah view
(6205) and was awesome...it was our 34th anniversary and when we arrived we were given an early check-in( 1pm). The room had chocolates and two swans made of towels on the bed...DW was smiling ear to ear...then a CM came to the door and gave us a gift bag with more candy and two fragrance bottles(1 male 1 female) in carved elephants.. a photo pass discount card...

Sunday I booked a Nighttime Cruise to see the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom as a surprise to my Wife for our anniversary and it was just the two of us...the night was warm and beautiful and just a perfect way to start the week. We had the boat and captain for about 2 hours and it was decorated with a banner and balloons..came with drinks and snacks too!

On Wed we checked into Kidani(7234) with a savanah view it was even better...and the room size and layout we liked much better than Jambo house....Staff was awsome and the bus waits were less than 10 minutes to go anywhere.

We did the Evening Safari with dinner at Jiko and enjoyed the sights and Food pairings..but thought money could be better spent!
We also had "Lunch with an Imagineer" at the Bamboo Room at the Brown Derby that lasted 3 hours... it was incredible, food and all the inside stories and information it just went so fast ....You have to do this!!!!

We also did the "Keys to the Kingdom Tour"...5 hours of touring the Magic Kingdom with our guide "Claire"..who told us so much info about the history and inside stories...we got to go behind the scenes at several locations...instant access to the Jungle Cruise....and lastly we got to descend into the tunnels under the Magic Kingdom...this was a dream come true..and you get a very special pin to commemorate it.

This was our first trip Home to Animal Kingdom and all i can say is it exceeded every expectation. .....next is our second Home BLT in Feb 2010
we can't wait.... as Walt said "Fantasy and reality often overlap."and this fantasy became a reality.

Magical Wishes to you All.....

What a great trip, so many "highlights!"

Bobbi

 

[sznk]

we're here at AKL CL, 6th floor villa.
the lounge offerings are similar to what they have been for quite some time, except for the 5-7pm offerings. there is only ONE warm appetizer tonight - chicken triangles. there are also pb&j's, crackers, hummas, dips, cheeses, wine, beer, etc.
we're still having fun!