Club level with kids

[Jrpbabe2003]

Which club level is best with kids (1 and 4)?We have stayed at all of deluxe resorts, but never club level. We plan to be at the resort a lot for naps and resting. Which one has the best food for kids (and adults, since we have to eat too). Also, does the lounge stay open for coffee, water bottles etc even when it is not during food times (like 4 to 5)?

 

[Mousemommy1]

We have done CL with kids at WL, BC and YC.

Our kids favorite was WL. They loved overlooking the lobby and the food selection.

Unfortunately, they don't stay open late night (at least they didn't when we stayed there in 2012). I think all of the lounges close during changeover.

 

[tiger4me2]

The club level at the BWI is open all day, mostly just drinks or snacks out until serving time. But you can go in to watch TV or just relax.

 

[TJA]

Which club level is best with kids (1 and 4)?We have stayed at all of deluxe resorts, but never club level. We plan to be at the resort a lot for naps and resting. Which one has the best food for kids (and adults, since we have to eat too). Also, does the lounge stay open for coffee, water bottles etc even when it is not during food times (like 4 to 5)?

A few thoughts come to mind:
(1) You mention being at the resort a lot for naps/resting. If it were me (and I have been in that situation in the past when my kids were younger), I'd look at a resort with easy transportation with a stroller and young kids. Since you've stayed at all of the deluxes, you probably already have a good idea which resorts will fit the bill.
(2) Having said that, Poly would be my choice for your situation. You can easily get to MK and Epcot simply by rolling your stroller on and off the monorail. Easy to get back and forth between those 2 parks and Poly. Staying in Hawaii (CL) gives you an amazing view of Wishes. If you can swing it, book a lagoon or theme park view and while your kids nap in the room, you can sit on the balcony/patio with a drink while having one of the best views in WDW.
(3) As far as food for kids, the 4 year old would probably like the turkey corn dogs out most nights, PB&J, lots of fruit (pineapple, berries, melons), cheese, crackers, veggies. Not sure what the 1 year old will be eating at the time of your trip.
(4) Poly lounge stays open all the time, even when it's a non-food time.
(5) As far as adult food, I posted pictures of each night's offerings in the CL thread from our trip a couple weeks ago.
(6) Breakfast is pretty standard in all the lounges and you wouldn't have any problems finding food you guys like (cereal, bagels, muffins, Danish, some/most have oatmeal, yogurt, juices.....some have hard boiled eggs and meats (Poly does not).
(7) Lunch time has small snacks like goldfish, gummies, etc. Nothing major, just snacks.

 

[casey5457]

We've stayed Poly CL (and we're booked to stay there again in November) with two 5 year olds and it was great! Super easy access to the lounge and we love the laid back atmosphere. We didn't do naps, but probably will this time because we'll have a 3 year old with us. I can't wait!

 

[happymommy]

If money were no object (yeah, in a perfect world...) I'd say GF main building for convenience and service.
I've only done AKL club level, and the food offered was amazing. We spent quite a bit of time at the resort that trip, and many nights the appetizers were dinner!
I've visited with my friend BWI club level the last two trips (she was club, I wasn't but we popped in a couple of times). I wasn't impressed with either the staff or the evening appetizers at all. Totally not worth it to me.
I've heard the Poly club level has great food. Not sure when all the construction will be done!
Beach Club may be worth looking into! Easy transport from DHS by boat and walk to Epcot. Their club lounge was just redone and expanded, plus you have Stormalong Bay.

 

[Jrpbabe2003]

Thanks everyone. Thinking we may go poly. Would love to see how everything looks now after the construction.

 

[mmmears]

The nice thing about the Poly lounge is that the entrance to the Hawaii building (and the lounge) is right by the swimming pools. So it's very convenient to cover-up and go in there and grab a drink and a snack and take it out the pool with you. SL at the GF is also great for this... Other ones just aren't as convenient.

 

[jperrot1]

A few thoughts come to mind:
(1) You mention being at the resort a lot for naps/resting. If it were me (and I have been in that situation in the past when my kids were younger), I'd look at a resort with easy transportation with a stroller and young kids. Since you've stayed at all of the deluxes, you probably already have a good idea which resorts will fit the bill.
(2) Having said that, Poly would be my choice for your situation. You can easily get to MK and Epcot simply by rolling your stroller on and off the monorail. Easy to get back and forth between those 2 parks and Poly. Staying in Hawaii (CL) gives you an amazing view of Wishes. If you can swing it, book a lagoon or theme park view and while your kids nap in the room, you can sit on the balcony/patio with a drink while having one of the best views in WDW.
(3) As far as food for kids, the 4 year old would probably like the turkey corn dogs out most nights, PB&J, lots of fruit (pineapple, berries, melons), cheese, crackers, veggies. Not sure what the 1 year old will be eating at the time of your trip.
(4) Poly lounge stays open all the time, even when it's a non-food time.
(5) As far as adult food, I posted pictures of each night's offerings in the CL thread from our trip a couple weeks ago.
(6) Breakfast is pretty standard in all the lounges and you wouldn't have any problems finding food you guys like (cereal, bagels, muffins, Danish, some/most have oatmeal, yogurt, juices.....some have hard boiled eggs and meats (Poly does not).
(7) Lunch time has small snacks like goldfish, gummies, etc. Nothing major, just snacks.

Yep. Poly CL would be my vote. The lounge is always accessible for drinks and I can't remember a time that there wasn't some type of snack out for the kids. Stroller + monorail = AWESOMENESS! Just one thing to worry about.... you just might love CL too much where you'll want it every WDW visit LOL.

 

[baler31]

Personally, we find the food at the Poly to be the worst of all the CL offerings. Some CL's still close the lounge between services, WL comes to mind. Overall considering everything I would try GF. We prefer RPC but have stayed in SL and there are a ton of young families that stay there. It is near the pool and has great access to MK. The food at GF is amazing, our last trip we had a grouper dish that was delicious. They offer two nightly features for children (usually ham and cheese and PBJ) in addition to side items on the childrens buffet (grapes, fruit, gummies, cupcakes, goldfish, etc.) GF RPC offers a carving station on Thurs. and Sun. nights that features prime rib, rice and several sauces for the prime rib. This is not offered in SL.

The GF always has drinks and bottled water available. They also leave out several large fruit baskets around the lounge. Our most recent trip last month in RPC the food was very plentiful. I posted some photos from RPC in June of the food and lounge.

The food at BC has really improved and in April it gave GF competition. However, we found the latest round of BC CM's to be less than stellar and downright unfriendly at times. We have not tried BWI since the food improved, last time we stayed we ranked the food near the bottom of CL's but I have heard that they have improved.

 

[Linda M]

Personally, we find the food at the Poly to be the worst of all the CL offerings. Some CL's still close the lounge between services, WL comes to mind. Overall considering everything I would try GF. We prefer RPC but have stayed in SL and there are a ton of young families that stay there. It is near the pool and has great access to MK. The food at GF is amazing, our last trip we had a grouper dish that was delicious. They offer two nightly features for children (usually ham and cheese and PBJ) in addition to side items on the childrens buffet (grapes, fruit, gummies, cupcakes, goldfish, etc.) GF RPC offers a carving station on Thurs. and Sun. nights that features prime rib, rice and several sauces for the prime rib. This is not offered in SL.

The GF always has drinks and bottled water available. They also leave out several large fruit baskets around the lounge. Our most recent trip last month in RPC the food was very plentiful. I posted some photos from RPC in June of the food and lounge.

The food at BC has really improved and in April it gave GF competition. However, we found the latest round of BC CM's to be less than stellar and downright unfriendly at times. We have not tried BWI since the food improved, last time we stayed we ranked the food near the bottom of CL's but I have heard that they have improved.

I agree with you about the food being very nice at the RPC at the GF but when we were there a couple of weeks ago, over the 4th, there was no bottled water available. One of the cold drink dispensers had water in it but I the six days we were there, no bottled water.

 

[baler31]

I agree with you about the food being very nice at the RPC at the GF but when we were there a couple of weeks ago, over the 4th, there was no bottled water available. One of the cold drink dispensers had water in it but I the six days we were there, no bottled water.

We were there in June and there was bottled water in the coolers most of the time. When there was not any out we just asked and were always brought several at a time. It was Dasani. This was true on our RPC trips in Feb, April, and June. In February the cooler always had water, April it almost never did and June was better than April worse than Feb.. I don't know if it is affected by how busy the resort is and gets taken by guests faster or not but we have never had a problem getting the bottles from CM's.

We had no water at BC CL because we were told they did not have bottles and I refused to use the dispenser after it remained in use despite many people placing bottles they had just drank out of around the tap to fill.

 

[lbv7]

I've visited with my friend BWI club level the last two trips (she was club, I wasn't but we popped in a couple of times). I wasn't impressed with either the staff or the evening appetizers at all. Totally not worth it to me.

This is the first time I have read about someone complaining about food in a CL when they were not paying for CL.
Additionally, how can you judge the staff, when again you are not even staying there? If anything you should be thankful that the staff let you stay in the lounge "a couple of times" in the first place. Food and drinks are for the use of paying CL guests only.

 

[Anonomom]

We've stayed CL at the Poly (pre-renovation), CR, YC and AKL. We've liked all of the clubs but for the best combination of convenience and fun, the CR wins hands down. We loved being able to walk to the MK. The splash pad at the pool is great for toddlers and the convenience of being just an elevator ride from pretty much every resort amenity can't be beat.

AKL has a lot of benefits. The lounge is great, the food is interesting, plentiful and delicious and the resort itself has a ton to see and do. But it's a hike from nearly all CL rooms to the lounge, the rooms are very cramped and you can't easily get to any park.

Poly was nice, but I didn't love the resort. It's fairly spread out and not as convenient as the CR.

YC is amazing; I find the whole place so calming and pleasant. The CL staff there was the nicest we encountered, even if the food wasn't the best. But with such small kids, SAB would be more a liability than an asset. And you'd likely get more use out of walking to MK than to Epcot.

(FWIW, I have three kids, ages 3, 6 and 9. I've been there with the kids at pretty much all ages from 7 months to 9 years).

 

[toodycat]

I would say GF RPC or Sugarloaf. When my son was young, we stayed in Sugarloaf. It was very convenient for nap time, and the CMs did everything they could to accommodate him.