Concierge/Club Level Information - Part II (Sept 2009)

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Ok, packing is officially finished. I called Disney Florist to have a family treat tote in each kid's room. Got their name embroidered too. Since my son and his wife are managers for Pepsi, I had to tell them no Coke products!!!!

Tomorrow at this time Jim and I will be in our happy place, the Innkeeper's Club enjoyiong some quiet before our son and daughter and their families arrive.

I hope you have a great time.

 

[tiggrbaby]

Ok, packing is officially finished. I called Disney Florist to have a family treat tote in each kid's room. Got their name embroidered too. Since my son and his wife are managers for Pepsi, I had to tell them no Coke products!!!!

Tomorrow at this time Jim and I will be in our happy place, the Innkeeper's Club enjoyiong some quiet before our son and daughter and their families arrive.

Have a magical trip and post pics on your return!

 

[jackemail]

Ok, packing is officially finished. I called Disney Florist to have a family treat tote in each kid's room. Tomorrow at this time Jim and I will be in our happy place, the Innkeeper's Club enjoyiong some quiet before our son and daughter and their families arrive.

Hope you have a wonderful time at BWI! I can picture every part of the Innkeeper's Club, and want to be there NOW!!

 

[rcraw45425]

My coworker calls my "grid" my "Color Coded Matrix of Fun".

I have park hours, EMH, ADRs, flight, hotel info all on a one page sheet.

I do that on my Outlook calendar, ADR time, ADR number, park or resort. Then I sync it to my BlackBerry. I also cut and pasted all of my self made ADR email confirmations onto a Word document and saved it to my phone as well, so I had all of my ADR numbers in one place. I then compared them to the ones IPO got for me and cancelled the ones we didn't need. It's good to have everything in one place! Another thing, if you have a smart phone you can get the TouringPlans app cheap if you have a current copy of the Unofficial Guid, it's less than $5 for the entire year. I loaded it to my BlackBerry, then after she made fun of me, DD15 loaded it onto her Android phone and she and her sister used it a ton when they went park hopping without us.

 

[kittycat9]

Thanks for the IPO hours!

DW asked me last night about doing Excel or something electronic. We like the portability of our manual grid, which we also use to log all confirmation numbers. In pencil, of course! I then take it all, and make a Word file, which is organized by: flights, resort, dining, tours, park plans, fireworks info, etc. The computer file "master plan" then goes face-up into a clear file folder protector, for ease of access while travelling.


So, everything (dining, tours) can be taken care of by IPO? Nice to have one-stop shopping. While I doubt the square footage changed, I think the BC CL has been updated since we toured it in 2003. Does it get really crowded in there? Or do most take food back to their rooms?

Yes. And they were able to email us a nice spreadsheet with all the fireworks and parade schedules consolidated. This way we didn't have to flip between four different park schedules. In the end, we had everything over to IPO about 5 days prior to our 180 day mark. They reviewed our excel file, called us make with some suggestions on timing to better coordinate with fireworks or parades (of course we guessed, but they are better at that), as well as other activities we were scheduling like marina, diving, etc. Then the morning of our 180 day came, and they were able to get every single ADR we requested within 0-15min of our requested time, including Le Cellier, CRT, Chef Mickey's, California Grill - and several other signatures and slots that coordinated with wishes or other events. After the fact, they even flipped an ADR out, and got us in at Tutto right when we wanted.

When they're going through the review process, they provide you with a daily itinerary request form for your review - and once everything is finalized, you receive an official copy with your confirmation codes. It's kind of like a daily activity of events. Probably not exactly how we will want for our parks sheet, but we'll reduce it to 5x7 and keep it in the back of our parks book for ease. We have a nice system based on our last trip that works for us, but we will integrate this for certain. If nothing else, in our case - it's good just having those confirmed pieces in one location. It's very detailed, includes your special requests and any celebration information. I'm sure for most people, it's probably all they need.

I do that on my Outlook calendar, ADR time, ADR number, park or resort. Then I sync it to my BlackBerry. I also cut and pasted all of my self made ADR email confirmations onto a Word document and saved it to my phone as well, so I had all of my ADR numbers in one place. I then compared them to the ones IPO got for me and cancelled the ones we didn't need. It's good to have everything in one place! Another thing, if you have a smart phone you can get the TouringPlans app cheap if you have a current copy of the Unofficial Guid, it's less than $5 for the entire year. I loaded it to my BlackBerry, then after she made fun of me, DD15 loaded it onto her Android phone and she and her sister used it a ton when they went park hopping without us.

We have that guide, but I must have totally missed that. We have Google Android/Samsung phones. I'll have to look at the market tonight to see if I can find it.

 

[nascargirl]

KerryCM-Enjoy your stay in the most magical place on earth. We have 3 more weeks to go and seems like forever.

 

[CooperPrincesses]

WOW!! THank you for all the info on the IPO,this will be my first time using them, as we have never stayed at Disney when we visited in the past. I tried to get a dinner Res by myself and failed miserably, so I am hoping that the IPO will have better luck. I am also hoping to arrange a small cake for my DD 4th birthday. Crossing my fingers, but it sounds like this is a great service.

Thanks for all the info!!

 

[sfbank]

KerryCM-Have a great time. I agree with Nascargirl-our trip can't come soon enough. As usual we will just miss each other again!

 

[KimDis]

I have a question for all you AKL and Poly CL experts. We're doing a split stay, and I'm just wondering if you make any special room requests. For instance, for AKL, I requested to be on the Arusha Savannah, but would it have been better to request a specific trail? Are there any non-DVC rooms that are close to the lounge anymore?

How about for Poly? We have TPV CL. I haven't made any specific room requests there. I'm thinking we either want 1st or 3rd floor. Does it make a difference in the view?

Thanks!

I made no requests for AKL CL and got the 4th floor with a great sav view last year. we were maybe 4 doors down the Kudu trail in an odd numbered room and the walk to the 6th fl elevator was very short.

 

[cmm]

What is the Animal Kingdom Wildlife Excursion that is available to club level guests at all resorts? I can't seem to find out much about it? Has anyone done it? What time of day and how much does it cost? Thanks

 

[baler31]

We have done the Widlife Discovery Safari, most recently in May, and we love it. We had a great guide and driver. Unless your kids are super into animals I would wait until they around 6 or 7 as it may be too long for younger children. There is a morning and an afternoon trip we have alway done the afternoon (it has just worked out that way) but I have heard that especially in the heat of the summer to do the morning as it is cooler with more animal activity.

There are binoculars in the jeep and you can sit or stand. They stop for fairly long periods of time to allow you to observe the animals. HTH

 

[scottmel]

What is the Animal Kingdom Wildlife Excursion that is available to club level guests at all resorts? I can't seem to find out much about it? Has anyone done it? What time of day and how much does it cost? Thanks

we did it last year in june and were very disappointed. the ad states "climate controlled vehicle".the ipo booked this for as and we asked does this mean AC. they guessed yes. imagine my surprise when the van pulls up all windows down and a dinky fan pointing on the driver. climate controlled means roof for rain. it was extremely hot. in fact when I left the van, exiting into AK park felt cooler than the bus and it was about 100 that day. I would never ever ever ever ever ever do it in summer.....

 

[irish dancer]

What is the Animal Kingdom Wildlife Excursion that is available to club level guests at all resorts? I can't seem to find out much about it? Has anyone done it? What time of day and how much does it cost? Thanks

We did this last June and liked it very much. It was very, very hot (a record breaking heat wave) but we had brought a bottle of cold water for each of us, I highly recommend that. We did the afternoon one after touring in the morning and it was a nice break. Our kids were 7, 8 and 12 and they liked it too. The guide was very knowledgable and we had lots of time for pics. The giraffe passed right in front of our truck while we were stopped.

 

[hildarumpole]

What is the Animal Kingdom Wildlife Excursion that is available to club level guests at all resorts? I can't seem to find out much about it? Has anyone done it? What time of day and how much does it cost? Thanks

We did the tour last week and loved it. I think it cost $225. The money goes toward Disney's wildlife preservation fund. Our tour was at 10:00 a.m. It was a great time, because the animals were very lively. The vehicle was air conditioned. The windows are open in order to get a better view of the animals, but the a/c still managed to keep us fairly cool in the superhot muggy 90+ degree day. The guide passed around some horns and things during the tour and was very knowledgeable about the animals. We saw a lot of details that are missed on the Kilmanjaro Safari and got some terrific photos.

 

[scottmel]

We did the tour last week and loved it. I think it cost $225. The money goes toward Disney's wildlife preservation fund. Our tour was at 10:00 a.m. It was a great time, because the animals were very lively. The vehicle was air conditioned. The windows are open in order to get a better view of the animals, but the a/c still managed to keep us fairly cool in the superhot muggy 90+ degree day. The guide passed around some horns and things during the tour and was very knowledgeable about the animals. We saw a lot of details that are missed on the Kilmanjaro Safari and got some terrific photos.

I don't think this is the wildlife excursion. it is around 50.00 a person...there is another tour that AK does that is sunise or sunset tour but wildlife excursion is 50.00 and trust me not air conditioned...

 

[hildarumpole]

I don't think this is the wildlife excursion. it is around 50.00 a person...there is another tour that AK does that is sunise or sunset tour but wildlife excursion is 50.00 and trust me not air conditioned...

There were 5 of us. My cc bill says $225, so it must be $45/person. I know we did the Wildlife Excursion, because we didn't stay at AK, but BC CL, so were not eligible for the other tours. Sorry you weren't able to enjoy the climate-controlled vehicle benefit on your tour. Maybe it was on the fritz. Our vehicle temperature was very comfortable. It was a welcome relief from the sweat-dripping heat and humidity outside.

 

[baler31]

I don't think this is the wildlife excursion. it is around 50.00 a person...there is another tour that AK does that is sunise or sunset tour but wildlife excursion is 50.00 and trust me not air conditioned...

We have been several times and fortunately all of our vehicles were air conditioned. We went most recently in May and it was 90 that day and the van while not cold was very comfortable even with the windows open. I would be upset if the van were oppressively hot also, maybe it was broken However, they should have told you and offered to reschedule or a refund.

We took the afternoon tour but if the OP is worried about heat or animal activity I have been told the morning is the better tour, it has just never worked for us, we always schedule the afternoon and have been fine.

 

[scottmel]

We have been several times and fortunately all of our vehicles were air conditioned. We went most recently in May and it was 90 that day and the van while not cold was very comfortable even with the windows open. I would be upset if the van were oppressively hot also, maybe it was broken However, they should have told you and offered to reschedule or a refund.

We took the afternoon tour but if the OP is worried about heat or animal activity I have been told the morning is the better tour, it has just never worked for us, we always schedule the afternoon and have been fine.

after we got home last year in june I wrote disney a very nice letter about the situtation and they did refund my tour money. they also were going to take the suggestion to either AC ALLLL the buses or to modify the wording on climate control. they totally agreed with me that it is misleading!!!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

A friend of ours just did the WDE in May. She too said it was oppressively hot in the "climate controlled vehicle". She was very disappointed because she had done the WDE in December and loved it.

 

[DLBDS]

What is the Animal Kingdom Wildlife Excursion that is available to club level guests at all resorts? I can't seem to find out much about it? Has anyone done it? What time of day and how much does it cost? Thanks

http://allears.net/tp/ak/wildexcursion.htm