club level vs dining plan

[pfalcioni]

Am I in a part of some alternate reality where Disney World "rules" are different?

Here's what I get when I read the info on the WDW site:

The exclusive Club Level Lounge offers a variety of complimentary, daily refreshments, like:

Continental breakfast
Afternoon tea with scones and jams
Hot samples from Resort restaurants
Evening wine and beer selections
Desserts and cordials​

There is nothing stating these offerings are not designed to be utilized as a light meal. The only constraints are the ones that a few people here on Dis seem to want to create. Creating your own rules is fine if you want your family to go by them (like never wearing shoes inside your house, or not allowing your kids to take more than one spring roll at a buffet) - but a little crazy if you think that strangers should understand and live by rules that only exist in your own mind. Since it's Disney's property, I'm decently certain it's up to Disney to make the rules regarding guests' conduct during their stay.

 

[waitomo]

Exactly!!!

 

[waitomo]

To be honest, I would not notice what you ate. I will say that if I am in the lounge and the appetizers are all gone, I would be offended that someone thought that I needed to lose weight anyway, so I could go without.

[/QUOTE]

That is my point exactly, that I am not noticing what other people are eating nor do I expect others to be noticing what I am eating. Perhaps my words were misinterpreted--I am not judging anyones weight, but I know from both my own and the statistics of the US, that most of us (myself included in the 60%) are not going to miss a few hundred calories. And please, I don't intend for this to lead into a weight discussion! I wrote my original comment when my previously comfy pants were feeling snug at the waist. Purely a personal observation that I would be better off with a few hundred less calories.

 

[monty]

Value is so subjective. What is worth the money to one is a tremendous waste to another. I pick and choose when we stay CL. There are times when the value is worth every penny to me. I would never spend it just for the glass of wine and chicken wing, but then the food is just one aspect of what i am paying for.

Genuine question: what makes CL a value for you if it's not the food? CL seems expensive to me for what you 'get' but maybe I'm just not 'getting' it. What else makes it worthwhile for the cost?

 

[tarak]

Genuine question: what makes CL a value for you if it's not the food? CL seems expensive to me for what you 'get' but maybe I'm just not 'getting' it. What else makes it worthwhile for the cost?

Well, for my family, the food did make it worthwhile. We'd already booked a savannah view and the upgrade to CL was about the same cost as paying OOP for one breakfast buffet at Boma. We tend to eat more for breakfast and lunch than we do for dinner. So the CL breakfast and appetizers at night was perfect - we just paid for a QS lunch when we were at one of the parks.

As for the other benefits, IPO can sometimes get reservations that you couldn't get on your own (CMs on this board have confirmed this). My husband and I got the Chef's Table at V&A for our anniversary, for example. At AKL, you have to be staying CL to take the Sunrise Safari. I've done it twice and it was fabulous each time.

When my sister was meeting us halfway through our stay, her plane got delayed so long that she wasn't going to be checking in until after the dessert hour was over. I asked the CL staff if I could get a little box to take a few things back to the room for her. They brought me a bottle of wine to take back and a nice sampler of all the desserts to try. Yes, I could have gone to the gift shop and paid for a bottle of wine and something to nosh on if I hadn't been staying CL. But to me, the service is worth the extra cost.

The first time we stayed there, I'd gotten lanyards for my daughters to start pin trading. Wayne, one of the CL staff at AKL, saw they didn't have any pins yet and gave them each one of his to get started. They got all sorts of little treats throughout the week - small wallets with animal prints on them. A small giraffe toy to take back for their brother, who hadn't come on that trip.

I've just loved my CL stays - the food is only part of it. I wasn't impressed with Poly CL. It wasn't awful, I just didn't enjoy it so much. Perhaps because of the behavior of other guests in the chow line. I have no issue with people going back for seconds or thirds. But do that. Don't take half of the food on the serving dish when there's a line of people behind you. I'm not saying it doesn't happen at other resorts. I just happened to witness it time and time again at the Poly.

 

[kathie859]

I'm with Tarak on this one.

I've stayed CL @ BWI and Poly. BWI food offerings are much more to our taste and the breakfasts were more than adequate and the appetizers in the evening could easily take the place of a meal. And Tarak, again I agree--Poly CL is less than stellar. Poly CM's should take a class from the BWI folks!

When we stay CL, we often have breakfast in the lounge and a late sit down lunch. Then we snack in the evening.

I've never felt that, as a guest, we were to limit our lounge food consumption-so I'm not clear on why the lounge food shouldn't or can't be a light meal substitute

 

[Nancyg56]

Genuine question: what makes CL a value for you if it's not the food? CL seems expensive to me for what you 'get' but maybe I'm just not 'getting' it. What else makes it worthwhile for the cost?

I have to determine what I want from any given trip. When my DGD was 4 and we all were going for the first time in many years, and the ADR timeframe was 90 days out, certain ADR's were difficult to get. We also were not sure if she would be overwhelmed or frightened. DH had not vacationed in 11 years. He had also told me that a coworker's child wanted nothing but the pool, was terrified in the parks, and he has never returned, and is still complaining about the wasted money. With all of that in mind, we decided we needed a Plan B, so that no matter what, we had our long awaited family vacation. Club Level it was. IPO obtained all of our ADR's, and we used the lounge as a before and after meeting ground. Or a place to get away while the rest of the family was getting ready for dinner.

This past Thanksgiving we booked CL at the BC because we knew the parks would be crowded for the first part of our trip. We used IPO to get our ADR's which I generally take care of, and the lounge as an extension of our resort. I admit that we did enjoy the appetizers and teh glass of wine in the afternoon, coffee and a treat at night. That alone would not make it worth it to me unless I wanted to change the dynamics of our vacation. CL does that.

Also, at that time the BC had no conventional CS restaurant, and it was a PIA to trot down to the marketplace for coffee or breakfast. Really crowded, and just not good, IMO. CL made the difference between being annoyed and not really caring at all.

I generally do not book a CL vacation, but as I said, depending on what our trip looks like, it is a consideration.

 

[Nancyg56]

I've never felt that, as a guest, we were to limit our lounge food consumption-so I'm not clear on why the lounge food shouldn't or can't be a light meal substitute

I think that as a light meal substitute, you are right. I liked that I could have an appetizer and a glass of wine before we headed out for dinner. I like a bite so this was nice, and it did mitigate the cost of meals, but I would not book it for this reason.

I honestly don't care what anyone else does, but I cannot imagine being able to use the CL offerings as a meal substitute, and I think this is what some of us are saying. I cannot see how it would be possible to replace all or most meals by booking CL, but I have read that people do this.