Club level stay w/dine plan, does this make since?

[disneyairforceguy]

I'm staying at BWI CL and POLY CL with the plus dinning in July. Does this make since? Our last stay was at the POLY with deluxe dine and it was wonderful. After looking at the numbers, it is cheaper for us to go club level verses deluxe dine. We have stayed at SoG, AKL, and POLY, but never club so i hope that this will be a new experiance. Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Kaspar Houser]

We always stay CL and use the DXPlan.
We like the snacks at the lounge but is not a real dinner or even breakfast. They are snacks.( yes I know people use the lounge as a restaurant but that are just xxxxx )
We have de Dx Plan just for the comfort of using the points at signatured dinners.
I know there will be comments like "to much food" but that is nonsense. You do not have to eat all the food you get on your plate.
So we love CL ,we love the plan and we never regretted this way of visiting Mickey.

 

[Z28KatCar]

We are doing the dining plan and staying CL next July. We feel that CL is not meant for meals just snacks. We want to do a lot of character dining and TS meals on this trip as well.

 

[robinb]

I think it's too much food to book the Dining Plan plus Club Level. Breakfast is perfectly adequate and on par with other "Executive Level" breakfasts served in club lounges at regular hotels (like Hilton, Hyatt, Westin, etc). The evening snarks are even better than most lounges with the welcome addition of adult beverages which are not often seen in US hotels. No, it's not meant to be a full meal but it will dampen your appetite if you stay and snack too long and we ended up canceling dinner reservations a couple times after enjoying the club evening snacks because we were no longer hungry. I would really hate to have a DDP credit burning a hole in my pocket and forcing me to go and eat anyway.

 

[Kaspar Houser]

I think it's too much food to book the Dining Plan plus Club Level. Breakfast is perfectly adequate and on par with other "Executive Level" breakfasts served in club lounges at regular hotels (like Hilton, Hyatt, Westin, etc). The evening snarks are even better than most lounges with the welcome addition of adult beverages which are not often seen in US hotels. No, it's not meant to be a full meal but it will dampen your appetite if you stay and snack too long and we ended up canceling dinner reservations a couple times after enjoying the club evening snacks because we were no longer hungry. I would really hate to have a DDP credit burning a hole in my pocket and forcing me to go and eat anyway.

As said "to much food" is only a mantra in the heads of those that think they MUST eat everything that they can get into there mouths. ( or take back to their rooms in a dogie bag and heat up the food with the hair dryer ) Just eat at Victoria and Albert's. Seven courses but only small and no stuffing.

Those snacks will not damper my appetite if I eat just one or two. Of course if I would schlep ten plates to my room than yes I will loose my appetite but again no one is forcing me to do so. It is all about self control. It's just like giving my kids eats lots of sweets before dinner because they are whining and than complain I have to throw away expensive food. Again just a matter of self control.
This whole "to much food " is a non discussion. As long as you eat enough but not stuff yourself like a goose the dining plan is a big pro. There will be no waiter standing behind you with a gun,forcing you to eat all the food on you're plates and lick them clean. OP just get the plan. You know what you pay and you can order everything whiteout looking at the prices and that is a big yes.

We tried for years to get half portions for a meal and pay full but the waiters told us this was a big no. There was no way around the portion size and if they would serve smaller portions the American public would flip out. Now we just eat until we had enough and the rest goes into the dumpster bin.

 

[ClareH37]

As said "to much food" is only a mantra in the heads of those that think they MUST eat everything that they can get into there mouths. ( or take back to their rooms in a dogie bag and heat up the food with the hair dryer ) Just eat at Victoria and Albert's. Seven courses but only small and no stuffing.

Those snacks will not damper my appetite if I eat just one or two. Of course if I would schlep ten plates to my room than yes I will loose my appetite but again no one is forcing me to do so. It is all about self control. It's just like giving my kids eats lots of sweets before dinner because they are whining and than complain I have to throw away expensive food. Again just a matter of self control.
This whole "to much food " is a non discussion. As long as you eat enough but not stuff yourself like a goose the dining plan is a big pro. There will be no waiter standing behind you with a gun,forcing you to eat all the food on you're plates and lick them clean. OP just get the plan. You know what you pay and you can order everything whiteout looking at the prices and that is a big yes.

I agree, this is the way I look at it too but quite often when I'm talking with friends they don't quite understand that the dining plan is only too much food if you feel you must eat absolutely everything to make it pay.

Whilst I enjoy CL I also enjoy dining at Disney. For my upcoming trip I will barely make use of the lounge, I am using my TIW card this time. I personally couldn't get 'full' on the evening lounge offerings as party style food/nibbles aren't my preference but everyone of course has different tastes and choices.

 

[Kaspar Houser]

I agree, this is the way I look at it too but quite often when I'm talking with friends they don't quite understand that the dining plan is only too much food if you feel you must eat absolutely everything to make it pay.

Whilst I enjoy CL I also enjoy dining at Disney. For my upcoming trip I will barely make use of the lounge, I am using my TIW card this time. I personally couldn't get 'full' on the evening lounge offerings as party style food/nibbles aren't my preference but everyone of course has different tastes and choices.

I fully agree. We use the lounge only for one or two nibbles. Seven o clock AM you can find me at the pool whit a cup of coffee, a slice of toast,the newspaper and the ducks in the swimming pool.
As for the evening offerings we take just one or two snacks (we like the salmon things) and then go out to dine late. Mostly half past ten.

On of the main reasons we book at the SL is the fact that is a a "closed" building and not everyone just can walk in. We stayed at POR and we got so many junk at our room from outside solicitors we decided never again. You got to be totally out of tour mind to bang on peoples doors to ask if they would like to order Chinese food at ten PM.

 

[Mousemommy1]

I think that "too much food" is absolutely a valid statement, depending on your family. For us, it was too much food. We did DDP (plus, not deluxe) and CL in July and we could not keep up with all the food!

We did not "hoarde" CL treats and bring them back to our room, but on the nights that we ate the evening apps, we were so stuffed that we couldn't possibly eat another meal. Plus, we wasted soooooo much food. Rarely do we ever get/eat dessert...we just don't. So to "have" to get it eat with lunch and dinner was kind of ridiculous...and no, there is no waiter sitting there forcing you to eat it, and we would often just decline but really...we were paying for a lot of food we didn't even eat. We left an 11 day trip with 12 unused quick service credits!

So, the "too much food" argument, for my family is about wastefulness, and paying for only what we "use". We used to love the DDP, so it's not our first rodeo...but for us, the CL provides the eating experience that my family is more used to. Our next trip, we are going to forego the DDP and just do CL instead.

 

[Kaspar Houser]

I think that "too much food" is absolutely a valid statement, depending on your family. For us, it was too much food. We did DDP (plus, not deluxe) and CL in July and we could not keep up with all the food!

We did not "hoarde" CL treats and bring them back to our room, but on the nights that we ate the evening apps, we were so stuffed that we couldn't possibly eat another meal. Plus, we wasted soooooo much food. Rarely do we ever get/eat dessert...we just don't. So to "have" to get it eat with lunch and dinner was kind of ridiculous...and no, there is no waiter sitting there forcing you to eat it, and we would often just decline but really...we were paying for a lot of food we didn't even eat. We left an 11 day trip with 12 unused quick service credits!

So, the "too much food" argument, for my family is about wastefulness, and paying for only what we "use". We used to love the DDP, so it's not our first rodeo...but for us, the CL provides the eating experience that my family is more used to. Our next trip, we are going to forego the DDP and just do CL instead.

So you are planning to use CL as a restaurant instead of just a snack possibility?

 

[i_heart_the_mouse]

So you are planning to use CL as a restaurant instead of just a snack possibility?

CL plus the DDP would be way too much food for my family too. Trust me, we do not use it as a restaurant. We just don't each that much food. We are snackers by nature.

Usually we go the lounge for breakfast. Then maybe popcorn or ice cream (it's vacation!) at whatever park we are in around 10:30. Around 2:30 or so we are ready for a real meal, so we have food from CS by the pool. Then at 6ish after showers, we stop at the lounge for a plate of aps before we head out for our evening plans. DH may get 2 plates if he likes the hot aps that evening because he won't eat hot and cold food on the same plate but the rest of us take 1 plate. Most often we end the day in WSC so we grab a few snacks there like egg rolls or nachos to split or something. We end the day with a dessert in the lounge.

We do not hoard, we do not stuff ourselves. We just don't eat that much food in one sitting. I also find that the DDP would barely save us money even if we ordered every last entitlement. Once you start not using full credits or even just skipping drinks or desserts, the plan is a sure loser money wise. Why would I prepay for something I know I'm not going to eat?

I have seen many lounge hogs. I think it's annoying and rude. But just because the DDP doesn't fit with our CL habits doesn't mean I'm one of them.

 

[TJA]

I'm staying at BWI CL and POLY CL with the plus dinning in July. Does this make since? Our last stay was at the POLY with deluxe dine and it was wonderful. After looking at the numbers, it is cheaper for us to go club level verses deluxe dine. We have stayed at SoG, AKL, and POLY, but never club so i hope that this will be a new experiance. Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Each family is different on their views, so it may take your family experiencing the options to see what works for you. For us, we either do the dining plan or else stay CL (we don't combine both options anymore). If we stay CL, we use the lounge for breakfast most days and it's adequate for us, and very convenient for the obvious reasons. Then we plan our main meal in the mid-afternoon at a sit-down restaurant. Then if we are back at the hotel for the dinner hour, we find the lounge offerings are quite filling for our family due to the fact that we've recently had a large meal a few hours earlier.

Some restaurants only serve breakfast or dinner, so in that case we alter our schedule accordingly -- we'll make the dinner ADR's for later at night and we'll stop in the lounge beforehand for adult beverages and the kids will nibble on cheese and/or veggies.

Mostly all nights, we enjoy a few dessert offerings in the lounge as well. My kids also love the option of picking out DVD's to watch in the room before bed.

It works quite well for our family. Good luck!

 

[Mousemommy1]

So you are planning to use CL as a restaurant instead of just a snack possibility?

Not quite.

I assure you, we did not eat anymore than any other person when we did eat in the lounge, so no need to alert the lounge police.

What I was saying is that we are a family of snackers (not everyone has the same eating habits -- shocking but true) and the snacks provided were often enough to keep us satisfied.

To ease your mind, we are still booking 5 TS meals for our 11 day stay, because sometimes, we do want more...but to have all of the food available between the lounge and the DDP was just too much. If we happened to be at the resort and snacked in the lounge, we did not need to eat at the park and vice versa..

Hope your sitting, two nights ago, DH and I each ate a bagel for dinner, while our girls ate some soup and cheese!!! I wasn't aware that was committing some kind of crime!

The assumptions made on these boards amaze me sometimes.

 

[Kaspar Houser]

Not quite.

I assure you, we did not eat anymore than any other person when we did eat in the lounge, so no need to alert the lounge police.

What I was saying is that we are a family of snackers (not everyone has the same eating habits -- shocking but true) and the snacks provided were often enough to keep us satisfied.

To ease your mind, we are still booking 5 TS meals for our 11 day stay, because sometimes, we do want more...but to have all of the food available between the lounge and the DDP was just too much. If we happened to be at the resort and snacked in the lounge, we did not need to eat at the park and vice versa..

Hope your sitting, two nights ago, DH and I each ate a bagel for dinner, while our girls ate some soup and cheese!!! I wasn't aware that was committing some kind of crime!

The assumptions made on these boards amaze me sometimes.

I was just asking and I do not understand why you get into the defend modus.
I have no idea why you mention the the lounge police unless you feel you are doing something that is not right.

 

[Mousemommy1]

I was just asking and I do not understand why you get into the defend modus.
I have no idea why you mention the the lounge police unless you feel you are doing something that is not right.

Obviously tones aren't detected in boards like this, but that was sarcasm (my kind of humor). Hey- I made myself laugh. I did feel the need to answer though since you outlined so clearly what you thought was the improper use of the lounge and then asked if I was planning to do that.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

I think you have to try it once, before you will know what works best for your family.
We have stayed CL with the regular dining plan and it worked out fine. We ate breakfast in the lounge, used a snack credit in the park, counter service for lunch, lounge for appetizers, table service for dinner, adult drinks in the lounge, where our kids seems to have room for more dessert.
If I had to pick just one, I would pick CL. When we don't have dining plan, we eat more counter service meals & share at table service meals. We are a family of 5 and Disney has always let us share, without any problems.
Good luck and enjoy!

 

[jackson2422]

We just stayed CL and for the most part we used the lounge as a restaurant. We have 2 young kids and my wife and I aren't huge eaters. We would enjoy breakfast to start our day and then drop in for snacks when we were back at the resort. I don't think we were "lounge hogs" as one poster suggested, and even if we were, as long as there is enough food for everyone, why is it anyone's business how much food I take?

We frequently saw people taking food and drinks to their rooms, and I never thought anything of it.

 

[mickeynut1]

I think it depends on your family's eating habits and only you can decide whether the DDP + CL is too much or just right. The lounge offerings are not meant to replace meals, but if you are a light eater, the evening offerings could very well fill you up with no need for an actual meal. I'm not a big breakfast person so breakfast in the lounge is great for me. I can also make use of the evening offerings without feeling deprived of a full meal for dinner. However, my DH and two DSs (19 & 17) would in no way shape or form be able to last a week on just the CL offerings. We can't even stay at an Epcot resort because of the limited CS options as my guys need more than bagels, donuts, etc. for breakfast. My DH could probably make use of the breakfast and dinner offerings for maybe a day or two, but past that, it wouldn't be enough to fill him up, with my DSs not lasting a day without full meals. With all of that said, if you are used to actual meals and don't think snacking during the evening hours will be enough, get the DDP. If you see you didn't use all of your dining credits or felt like you ate way too much so you didn't waste the credits, you will know for next time what works for your family. We are staying CL next July and are thinking of getting APs. If we end up doing that, we will probably get the TiW card as that would most likely save us more than the DDP. But if we don't go with APs, we will do the DDP (with CL) as I know with two older teens, there will be no wasted credits. But that is a decision based on how MY family eats and what works for us, but might not work for other families. Good luck.

 

[robinb]

I was just asking and I do not understand why you get into the defend modus.
I have no idea why you mention the the lounge police unless you feel you are doing something that is not right.

People got into "defend mode" because you got into "attack mode" and started accusing people of taking 10 plates and gorging themselves at the lounge and using it as a restaurant.

We use the Tables in Wonderland card which gives us a 20% discount on most TS restaurants instead of any Disney Dining plan. That allows us to order exactly what we want, in the portions we wish and not waste food, bring back a doggie bag or eat too much just to get the value out of the DDP.

 

[Mousemommy1]

People got into "defend mode" because you got into "attack mode" and started accusing people of taking 10 plates and gorging themselves at the lounge and using it as a restaurant.

We use the Tables in Wonderland card which gives us a 20% discount on most TS restaurants instead of any Disney Dining plan. That allows us to order exactly what we want, in the portions we wish and not waste food, bring back a doggie bag or eat too much just to get the value out of the DDP.

We are actually getting the TiW card for our next trip, forgot to mention that as well. . I've done the math and it's real nice savings.

 

[chimo2u]

I'm another who thinks DLX ddp plus CL would be too much food. No, we don't have to eat all that's offered, but the very nature of having that much food included just sets me up for wastefulness.....no way I want dessert with my lunch AND dinner, and having three substantial meals would leave no room for us to enjoy a snack if we wanted to in our CL lounge.....now every trip, we have stayed CL with the Basic DDP and found that a perfect balance still some wastefulness / credits left sometimes at the end (mostly QS) if we've been too busy to use them all (for example our Discovery cove day provides food, so we lose our QS credit for that day) -- but overall, I enjoy the basic plan mixed with CL. I have two teen boys/ rather 1 young adult (20) and 1 teen (16) and they do fine with bagels, yogurt and oatmeal for breakfast....so CL works great for us! I would'nt do it any other way for our family.....except if it came down to choosing one or the other, I'd always pick CL
Lucky there's so much choice at Disney, EVERY family should be able to find a good balance or what works best for them