Club level or dining plan?

[tarak]

This!

Although my kids do love the "snack rooms" I find the biggest benefit is in the extras. When my youngest DS had a stomach ache they offered him gingerale, crackers and a heating pad. My older two boys love borrowing the DVDs and board games during their downtime. When a tire on my jogging stroller was low on air a CM tracked down a air pump to fill it up.

These are the reasons we do CL. The food is just an added bonus.

I've stayed CL at AKL twice now and love it. Because we always book a savannah view, the price increase by going CL isn't that much, so it's worth it. We had breakfast at Boma for 8 one morning and the cost of that one meal was the same as bumping one of the rooms up to CL for the five nights we were there.

We've had similar experiences with the CL CMs going above and beyond. My kids were just starting to pin trade and didn't really understand how things worked (neither did I). One of the CMs (Wayne - who is just a lovely person) gave my son a pin to get started. When my sister's plane was delayed enough that she'd miss the dessert and cordials (which she seriously needed after spending three hours on the tarmac in Dallas), another CM bagged up a bottle of Chardonnay and a plate of desserts for all of us.

At AKL last October, there was more than one hot appetizer option (there were at least three, as best I can remember). For my kids, it's enough for dinner because they're young and just don't eat much. It was easy enough to pick up a pizza from the Mara if they wanted a bit more to snack on.

I wouldn't book the dining plan and CL unless I planned to eat at a restaurant that took two meal credits. I might do this for our next trip because we'd go to the HDDR. That and one lunch TS would probably be a wash in terms of cost and we can use the QS for those pizzas I mentioned above.

 

[mmmears]

This!

Although my kids do love the "snack rooms" I find the biggest benefit is in the extras. When my yr two boys love borrowing the DVDs and board games during their downtime. When a tire on my jogging stroller was low on air a CM tracked down a air pump to fill it up. oungest DS had a stomach ache they offered him gingerale, crackers and a heating pad. My olde

These are the reasons we do CL. The food is just an added bonus.

Same with my family.

 

[*Fantasia*]

I guess not everyone uses the CL the same way. And there is certainly nothing wrong with that. (Mind you this is at HRH if it makes any difference.) We just love the convenience of being able to eat breakfast or grab the food/snacks/bottled water on the way out to the park. And when we did a late mid-break, we would stop at the lounge and have our snacks/appetizers there and take a short nap before heading out again. And before we went to bed, the children and I would have cookies and milk. We never used the CL for anything else. The bonus for us would be if we need an aide-kit. I know they would have Tylenol, bandage ,.. etc.. if ever we needed one. Luckily my children has never gotten ill or hurt during any of our trip.

 

[louey]

We once did the deluxe dining plan and CL at CR, and it was way too much food. We never even tried the evening offerings or the desserts and only once had breakfast. I'd never do it that way again. In fact, I found the DxDP itself was too much food because I'd never order a dessert and an appetizer for both lunch and dinner in the real world. Now we do CL and pay OOP.

Deciding if CL is worth it for your family depends a lot on how you determine value. For us, especially on vacation, time is money and the more time saved the better. That's the real value in CL. Someone else makes your ADRs. You never have to wait in line for breakfast. You can grab a bottle of water in the morning, and skip standing in line for one in the park. Etc.

It is clearly stated in the description for CL that breakfast is offered as well as afternoon snacks, evening APPETIZERS (appetizers--a word derived from combining the words appetite and teasers--as in a few bites to tease your appetite) and desserts. The evening offerings are in no way supposed to serve as a "hey, let's just fill up these teeny, tiny plates 5 times and hoard a table for 2 hours and then we don't have to pay for dinner!" And yes, no matter how much one family eats, they always replenish to be fair to other guests.

But the value isn't just in how much food you can score. There are a lot of benefits in staying CL, just not all of them are monetary.

I am thinking of maybe doing club level at the Yacht Club, aside from the food and lounge what other benefits are there to staying club level We have never done this? Also we will more than likely do Dining Plan.

 

[reiella]

I am thinking of maybe doing club level at the Yacht Club, aside from the food and lounge what other benefits are there to staying club level We have never done this? Also we will more than likely do Dining Plan.

The IPO which is a big thing to folks, and just having a concierge to help manage your needs.

 

[louey]

The IPO which is a big thing to folks, and just having a concierge to help manage your needs.

I feel like a ding dong but what is IPO I cannot think of it for the life of me

 

[mmmears]

I feel like a ding dong but what is IPO I cannot think of it for the life of me

IPO stands for Itinerary Planning Office. They can make ADRs for you, as well as book other recreation at WDW.

There's a whole thread just about CL services -- you might want to check it out since there is a lot of great information there.

 

[louey]

IPO stands for Itinerary Planning Office. They can make ADRs for you, as well as book other recreation at WDW.

There's a whole thread just about CL services -- you might want to check it out since there is a lot of great information there.

Thank You I always make my dining reservations 180 days out so I wouldn't need them for that? I will look into it further thanks

 

[mmmears]

Thank You I always make my dining reservations 180 days out so I wouldn't need them for that? I will look into it further thanks

Well, they can make them for you, but then again you might want to make them yourself (I did for several trips before I trusted them to do it for me).

I guess for us what we like is the convenience of strolling in and grabbing some food for breakfast, without having to think about where to go and what to buy. And the IPO help. Honestly, it's hard for me to justify the cost...

 

[pmaurer74]

We did CL and the DDP at the WL and loved it. It was not too much food. We ate breakfast there every morning and snacks in the afternoon but I would not have wanted to eat every meal there. I requested a North facing woods view and got to see the fireworks every night. It was our first trip to Disney and it was very magical for DD to see the castle.

 

[mmmears]

Here's a link to the great CL thread -- lots of info on there regarding food and dining:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2582311