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

[tink76]

Hi, we will be staying at WL CL in September/October. I have done all my ADR's myself. Is there any reason I should pass these on to IPO? I have read some of you talk about itineraries etc. thanks!

 

[cyndisun]

Hi, we will be staying at WL CL in September/October. I have done all my ADR's myself. Is there any reason I should pass these on to IPO? I have read some of you talk about itineraries etc. thanks!

We called and gave them the reservation #'s for the ADR's we booked ourselves. That way they are linked to your room reservation and when you get to CL they can print out an itinerary for you that includes all activities.

As far as I know, it is really just a convenience for you. But I like having that itinerary to go off of since I tend to lose track of days on vacation.

 

[WendyisDarling]

Contrary to what people might think, I am not an especially picky person (I can count the number of times on one hand, with fingers and a thumb left over, that I've complained about a hotel stay), and I don't think the complaints I've read--the ones I'm worried about anyway--could in any way, shape or form be construed as, "complaining for the sake of complaining," at least not in my book.

Again, for those who say I don't deserve to post or ask questions since I have not yet been to Disney, I came into this with the idea that was the point of these boards, which I only visited because I was planning a trip. Perhaps I misunderstood and will refrain from making future comments.

I will say that if someone who was going to give me almost $4,500, and wanted some reassurance of what they could expect for that money, I would do more than send them a form letter. Sorry if that makes me, in some people's eyes, "someone who can never be made happy."

EDITED TO NOTE: Though I've tried to put every post into context, just in case this wasn't clear ... I am not in the least offended or hurt by anything anyone said and firmly believe that everyone is entitled to their opinion, including of me and my expectations/concerns. I would be the first to admit I'm letting this trip drive me crazy, partly because it was/is very, very expensive and something I really want to do "right" both for my son and my family as a whole. My husband is a workaholic who takes a vacation, maybe, every 4-5 years. We've been married 12 and this will be our fourth real non-business-related trip and the first since our son (who will be almost 4) was born. I don't expect "special" treatment for these or any other reasons--nor should anyone feel sorry; we travel a lot with work--but I do want to feel confident I'm getting what I paid for.

I completely understand. I remember planning our first on-site stay. Poly LVCL. Nothing but my AAA discount, so it was a lot of $ and I had read so much that I wanted the trip to be "just right".
I have to admit I did have a few let downs. I had the perfect image in my mind.

I really think you will love the Poly and staying in the Hawaii building.

Coopersmom, as far as I am concerned, you are in the right place to ask questions.

I feel terrible my report of recent stay has caused so much anxiety for a few. Most of my post praises the Poly CL experience. The food offerings aren't why we stay CL, but enjoy the convenience. I felt it fair to report what I saw and I do stand by everything I wrote. I have no reason to misrepresent the lounge. I only wrote about things because I know so many (all) of us want to know every detail. And I did include lots of detail. My intent was not to vent at all. I was just reporting and gave an opinion The focus somehow just went to the food. I thought my abundance of towel animals was pretty cool.

I didn't make complaint while there because it really didn't bother me that much. It bugged me but it didn't have any real affect on our vacation. In fact, some of it even became a family joke. So much of reg. life for me is spent dealing with problems, if not a big deal I prefer to go without the conflict while at WDW.

I wouldn't let the food in the lounge cause any worry. There are so many other positives. They did always seem to have plenty of Sangria (I think SeaSpray mentioned this) from 5-7. It's not so bad to grab your kiddo a pb&j (I always saw plenty out from 5-7) ask for his/her chocolate milk and relax while you have a couple cups of Sangria in the lounge staring out those marvelous windows at the beach and Castle -- you can't get that at that the Ritz.

 

[TheNewMrsB]

Just to add my (unrequested) 2 cents...

It seems to me that many of the issues which have been brought up - plates left outside of rooms, people taking too much food and leaving none for others, people leaving a mess in the lounge - is the fault of the guests, not the cast members. I'm not sure that complaining to a CM about other people and their slovenly, greedy actions would help matters (except in the case of bringing the plates in the hall to their attention). Yes, I've seen people take waaaaay more than they needed at the lounge, but that's why we go earlier if we plan to eat (99% of the time it's breakfast). Because people are the way they are. And I'm sure that there is only a certain amount of food provided to the lounge - otherwise why would anyone staying CL pay for a meal? Disney still has to make their $ (and I know they charge us enough as it is for CL but...I don't think it keeps any execs up at night, do you?).

Maybe my expectations are lower and I'm therefore more pleased with things. I don't know. I just think it's neat that there's food/drinks out and try to swing by and grab some if they're available and I'm hungry or would like a drink.

I have yet to see the sort of gross activity from other guests that has been described here, and it offends me just to read of it. But let me tell you, if I did I'd be a lot quicker to say something to the people causing the problem than the cast members.

 

[aimhi]

I've been reading this for the past few days and well wow! It's like being caught in a family fight of some sort. I would love to go back to reading thoughts and reviews without so much of whose fault it is but that is just me.

 

[Canyon girl]

I've been reading this for the past few days and well wow! It's like being caught in a family fight of some sort. I would love to go back to reading thoughts and reviews without so much of whose fault it is but that is just me.

I heartily agree with this. So...does staying CL at the WL increase the chances of being flag family? Can you sign up at the CL at checkin, or do you have to go down to the main desk and check?

 

[coopersmom]

It is my understanding that the IPO, and CL CMs on site have some type of "priority access" to the reservation system for their CL guests.

Not saying the above isn't accurate (because I didn't specifically ask the question) but I asked the IPO today about two restaurants I'd been unable to book myself for the dates/times I wanted/needed. I was told they were unavailable through them as well and the dates/times they could offer were the same as I got going through the website.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

It is my understanding that the IPO, and CL CMs on site have some type of "priority access" to the reservation system for their CL guests.

I heard that the Club Level Cast Members at the resorts might be able to get you into restaurants located where you stay at, although it might not be for the times you want. However they along with the IPO Cast Members use the same computer system for making ADR's and if a restaurant located in the parks is sold out then there is nothing they can do, but try again to get you that ADR.

 

[zoie101]

cl ipo at akl so far has been wonderful, has added a room request, made reservations I cant wait coming up soon.

 

[RachelTori]

It is my understanding that the IPO, and CL CMs on site have some type of "priority access" to the reservation system for their CL guests.

Not saying the above isn't accurate (because I didn't specifically ask the question) but I asked the IPO today about two restaurants I'd been unable to book myself for the dates/times I wanted/needed. I was told they were unavailable through them as well and the dates/times they could offer were the same as I got going through the website.

The IPO's don't have priority access. Where they DO have the advantage is at the 180-day mark (or whatever date is the earliest a guest can book a particular ADR, tour, experience). That's why, for hard-to-get reservations, it's so important for CL guests to have their requests to IPO before the actual booking window opens.

After the booking window has opened, their success is pretty much the same as yours and mine. (I hope I didn't just further confuse the issue!! )

 

[nala1128]

I heard that the Club Level Cast Members at the resorts might be able to get you into restaurants located where you stay at, although it might not be for the times you want. However they along with the IPO Cast Members use the same computer system for making ADR's and if a restaurant located in the parks is sold out then there is nothing they can do, but try again to get you that ADR.

Last May, we were at WL CL and they were in the process of doing something with the ADR system in the computers..(around the time that they started implementing the ablility to make ADRs online I think) ..I remember that the CM was telling us that they were supposed to have different access than the public would have, but at the time was frustrated because it was a new update and there were still lots of glitches being worked out. Possibly he did mean for restaurants in that specific resort.

I know that we have, at the last minute decided we wanted to eat someplace we didnt have an ADR, and the CMs at CL were always able to secure it for us once we were there!! Maybe we just got lucky????

There was one ADR that IPO could not get us initially, but they kept checking and after two days did get it for us. So much more convenient for them to keep checking than for me to have to keep checking!!!!

 

[leane]

Coopersmom - I know the pain of wanting everything to be just perfect. I was that way with out first trip back in March. But you will give yourself an ulcer and not sleep if you don't take a deep breath! it is unfortunate that we can't guarantee our stay will be up to par, we just have to roll with the punches. Hang in there, relax a little and check out Tikiman's page instead of the DIS boards. It will make you feel better about your upcoming trip. We are going back in Oct for a do-over trip. Nothing the CM's or Disney could have done to make our trip in March better. It was COLD and I live in WI so I am use to it. And I broke my thumb while there.
Dream about sitting in the lounge with a lupa lupa (I think I have the vowels in the right order) while looking out at the castle. If you lower the expectations of the "perfect" trip, the magic that does happen will be that much greater. ( a note on some of our magic, my girls left their almost full autograph books at Akerhaus. The CM, not CL, went to the gift shop and got 2 new books free of charge for us. He then managed to talk alot of CM's into signing them for my girls, personalized. It was great. That is the kind of magic Disney can and will do for you.)

 

[KimDis]

Coopersmom - I know the pain of wanting everything to be just perfect. I was that way with out first trip back in March. But you will give yourself an ulcer and not sleep if you don't take a deep breath! it is unfortunate that we can't guarantee our stay will be up to par, we just have to roll with the punches. Hang in there, relax a little and check out Tikiman's page instead of the DIS boards. It will make you feel better about your upcoming trip. We are going back in Oct for a do-over trip. Nothing the CM's or Disney could have done to make our trip in March better. It was COLD and I live in WI so I am use to it. And I broke my thumb while there.
Dream about sitting in the lounge with a lupa lupa (I think I have the vowels in the right order) while looking out at the castle. If you lower the expectations of the "perfect" trip, the magic that does happen will be that much greater. ( a note on some of our magic, my girls left their almost full autograph books at Akerhaus. The CM, not CL, went to the gift shop and got 2 new books free of charge for us. He then managed to talk alot of CM's into signing them for my girls, personalized. It was great. That is the kind of magic Disney can and will do for you.)

oh oh oh and you HAVE just HAVE to take a stroll with your hubby at night around the resort... the background music is incredibly romantical...feels like you're in the islands.

 

[leane]

I am pretty proud of myself. I have managed to not change my resort in 3 weeks LOL. I am a terrible resort changer! I think I finally found where I wanted to be. My girls loved the hammocks and playing in the sand after our breakfast at Kona. I have however changed what we had planned for those days.
Our split is Poly 3 days BLT 7 days
Wed/Thr/Fri until noon at the Poly will be 3 generations of the "girls" Fri night we have Poly and BLT so DH and I can have 1 night alone before we drive DM to Cocoa Beach to see my brother for a few days and have a family trip.
We had originally planned 2 park days and Friday to be resort time so I can pick up DH at MCO. We have now decided to just be bums
Wed we go to the MSEP at MK and then Thur/Fri just resort time. We wanted to just enjoy the Poly and all it has to offer. I am looking forward to making sand castles on the beach and lounging around with my girls.
Starting Sunday we will hit the theme parks and MNSSHP. Possibly a bit backward in our approach but DM doesnt want to get an ECV again and this way we have family time.

Now if the next 2 months could just fly by.. I am hoping the last month of summer break and the first 2 months of school hustle and bustle help keep me occupied.

oh oh oh and you HAVE just HAVE to take a stroll with your hubby at night around the resort... the background music is incredibly romantical...feels like you're in the islands.

Kim - We sure do plan to do this before heading back to BLT for the night. I am even going to add DH to the Poly room when he arrives so that he can legitimately enjoy the CL with us. Because we have a cash and DVC stay we can pay to be at both places from what I have read. Not the best use of cash and points but it gives us a "date night" (the monorail runs until midnight that night because of MNSSHP) and still being able to enjoy the poly with DH.

 

[jdd]

Not saying the above isn't accurate (because I didn't specifically ask the question) but I asked the IPO today about two restaurants I'd been unable to book myself for the dates/times I wanted/needed. I was told they were unavailable through them as well and the dates/times they could offer were the same as I got going through the website.

Not to add fuel to the fire, but we got the same response. I sent an email to IPO with two requests. One was if they had caffeine free diet coke in the lounge (caffeine brings on migraines for me) and the second was if they could change my 'Ohana ressie on 08/31. We're scheduled for 8:20, but wanted to make it a bit earlier.

The CM wrote back almost immediately saying that they don't normally stock CF Diet Coke, but would plan to have some during my stay (have to admit, was very pleased by this response). Then said that there was nothing available at 'Ohana earlier in the evening. I really don't expect them to be able to magically make a time appear, was just hoping. They said nothing about continuing to check for me, so I just plan on checking myself. It's not a problem - the online booking makes it really easy. But, it would be nice if I knew they were handling it for me.

 

[rie'smom]

Not to add fuel to the fire, but we got the same response. I sent an email to IPO with two requests. One was if they had caffeine free diet coke in the lounge (caffeine brings on migraines for me) and the second was if they could change my 'Ohana ressie on 08/31. We're scheduled for 8:20, but wanted to make it a bit earlier.

The CM wrote back almost immediately saying that they don't normally stock CF Diet Coke, but would plan to have some during my stay (have to admit, was very pleased by this response). Then said that there was nothing available at 'Ohana earlier in the evening. I really don't expect them to be able to magically make a time appear, was just hoping. They said nothing about continuing to check for me, so I just plan on checking myself. It's not a problem - the online booking makes it really easy. But, it would be nice if I knew they were handling it for me.

There was no availability for 8 at CRT last Nov. We asked the CM to keep trying because we really wanted that ADR. He called a few days before our trip to say we got it for us. From what I understand, the club level CMs get first notice of any ADR cancellations. If there is something you really want, just ask nicely if they would keep you in mind.

 

[wdwfan]

Only 10 more days until I'll be on my way to WDW and BWI CL! It looks like we'll be able to go after all. I am so excited about my decision to return to BWI CL.

I like to read all of the CL reviews, both good and bad. I look upon it as a "buyer beware" and keep it at that. I'm an easy to please person, so I know that come what may, I will have a wonderful time on my vacation!! Now if it would only hurry up and get here!

 

[nala1128]

There was no availability for 8 at CRT last Nov. We asked the CM to keep trying because we really wanted that ADR. He called a few days before our trip to say we got it for us. From what I understand, the club level CMs get first notice of any ADR cancellations. If there is something you really want, just ask nicely if they would keep you in mind.

Same thing with us, after I submitted all my requests for this trip, my DH wanted California Grill which was unavailable. The IPO told me they would keep checking for me. After less than 48 hours they got an ADR for us!

 

[DizFan321]

Hi , 10 days til first CL at CR (love the acronyms). 5 nights, really looking forward to it, however really concerned that somehow we are going to end up in one of the two worst CL rooms on the 14th floor..according to ContemporaryResort.net (4911 or 4912). Has Disney addressed the complaints about either of these rooms?

 

[DisFan331]

Only 10 more days until I'll be on my way to WDW and BWI CL! It looks like we'll be able to go after all. I am so excited about my decision to return to BWI CL.

I like to read all of the CL reviews, both good and bad. I look upon it as a "buyer beware" and keep it at that. I'm an easy to please person, so I know that come what may, I will have a wonderful time on my vacation!! Now if it would only hurry up and get here!

Glad you're able to make it!!! We will be there at the same time it looks like! We leave CT next Saturday and check in on 8/17>

I can't wait for our first BWI CL stay