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

[west&east]

Thank you for the speedy reply CanyonGirl. I thought I remembered that they couldn't accept tips but wasn't sure...

 

[Canyon girl]

You're welcome, west&east! Just lucky I happened to be showing DH something at the time. Have a wonderful rest of your trip!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Hi everyone,
My family and I checked out of WDW today and are now in Clearwater Beach, however I wanted to give a quick Contemporary Atrium Club update. The Cast Members were as great like they were in the past and had no problems getting my mom's request for a half a grapefruit in the mornings with breakfast.

Also when it comes to just the Contemporary they have no plans to reduce to food sizes of hot foods from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM. I asked several of their Club Level Cast Members and I also asked my friend who works in the Contemporary kitchen making the foods for the 12th and 14th floors. Plus each time before it was to be taken away it was always being replaced within a few minutes of items running low or when it was all gone.

Finally just like in previous vacations once again there were a few guests that left their dirty dishes on the tables, when they couldn't walk a few feet and place them on the tray with all the other dirty dishes. However what else is there to say about that?

 

[mmmears]

CR Fan -- thanks for the update. I agree, it's really, really sad when people don't have the courtesy to pick up after themselves...

We noticed this, too, at AKL, the Poly, and the GF.

Oddly enough, we couldn't figure out where to bus our plates to at the BC this summer so we asked the CMs in the lounge. They told us to just leave them on the tables and they would clean them up for us. Didn't feel good about it, but there was nowhere to put them. Hopefully this has changed with the new lounge expansion/remodel.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

You're welcome mmmears.

 

[nathanyell]

We were happy and surprised to see a big Le Crueset pot of oatmeal out this morning. It was not served Sat or Sun morning. The oatmeal was good and served with brown sugar, raisins, and dried cranberries on the side.

Karen,

That sounds awesome!! Hope that is served when I get there.

24 days!!!

Brian

 

[mdrob214]

So far, I am impressed with Poly IPO. I posted this a couple days ago in the Poly thread but thought I'd share here:

Just got in touch with IPO. We are 11 days from our ADR window. I sent an email and they replied in less than 15 minutes. I was impressed! (I sent an email to Macy's the other day and their CS never did get back to me.)

I was initially disappointed that they didn't contact me when I made the reservation back in Sep, but all is well! I figure I'll get the info to them in the next couple days, then call them with a CC# for a couple dinner show ressies.

 

[mmmears]

So far, I am impressed with Poly IPO. I posted this a couple days ago in the Poly thread but thought I'd share here:

Just got in touch with IPO. We are 11 days from our ADR window. I sent an email and they replied in less than 15 minutes. I was impressed! (I sent an email to Macy's the other day and their CS never did get back to me.)

I was initially disappointed that they didn't contact me when I made the reservation back in Sep, but all is well! I figure I'll get the info to them in the next couple days, then call them with a CC# for a couple dinner show ressies.

Glad you are happy!!! I have made lots of CL reservations and rarely have I been contacted first. Once I call or email IPO, I feel like I am in good hands. Hope all your planning goes well...

 

[kaffinito]

We will be leaving for WDW in a few days (Saturday!) and I'm looking forward to staying CL for the first time as an adult. We did it a lot when I was a kid, but I haven't done it as a grown-up yet.

DH doesn't get the whole concept of CL yet - he still thinks we need to pack snacks for the room.

Looking forward to the Innkeepers Club!

 

[mmmears]

We will be leaving for WDW in a few days (Saturday!) and I'm looking forward to staying CL for the first time as an adult. We did it a lot when I was a kid, but I haven't done it as a grown-up yet.

DH doesn't get the whole concept of CL yet - he still thinks we need to pack snacks for the room.

Looking forward to the Innkeepers Club!

Have a wonderful time!!! I hope you and your DH love it there!!!

 

[west&east]

I previously posted a few other tidbits about our trip. Here are a few more. First off, I must say that for my family CLUB LEVEL ROCKS! It is just soooo nice to have a quick but good breakfast in the morning right down the hall from your room. (I think this gives a slight edge to WL over AKL when we had to go up the elevator to get to the club.) The evening appetizers were perfect for those nights that we were in the hotel, especially when we had a big lunch and just needed some noshes. They had chicken skewerers, venison meatballs, awesome scallops, some marinated mussels, some kind of soup one night, etc. The dessert time (8-10pm) was also really great for an end of night treat for the kids, and a liquor for us. We never saw people hoarding food or behaving badly in the lounge.

For the first time, I asked the club level concierge for help with two requests. The first was help in finding a Stitch as Yoda figure. My son had lost the light saber to his. We asked about this on the morning of our last day. That evening, we first were told that the item was sold out. I then got a voice mail from the front desk stating they had actually located the item but it would be the next morning before we could get it. I told the concierge desk to tell them, 'thanks but no thanks' since we would be leaving very early the next morning. My husband actually went out to Downtown Disney and found the toy. When he got back, we got a call stating our item was here! So now we had two. DH went to speak to the club level concierge but was basically forced to accept it, which was a bit frustrating but not the biggest deal.

The second request was for the Santa hat with Mickey ears. We saw it at the WL store one night and should have bought it right then. The next night, they were sold out. The CL concierge, Rob, was great. He contacted the merchandising manager who located one at Fort Wilderness and had it delivered that same night.

Our room 7042 was great for us- bunk beds and beautiful view of the castle in the distance. Our room seemed to shake during Wishes, and we had a great view of much of the fireworks.

Let me know if y'all have any questions. Wishing everybody out there a Happy New Year and a 2010 full of Disney magic!

 

[scanne]

Hi everyone! Currently I have ressies for Sugar Loaf for July 6 - 15th (might change it to the 8th to the 15th). DH and I have been going over cost, plus we're thinking of adding the DDP. Will we really need the DDP? I mean, if we plan on grabbing breakfast in the lounge most mornings (I do want to do 2 character breakfasts), and appetizers a few nights (there are 4-5 restaurants that are on our 'must-do' list), will we be able to snack in the lounge and then grab counter service if we're still hungry? What do most of the "concierge regulars" do in terms of the dining plan? I love the idea of concierge, but don't want to spend $$$ on the DDP if it's going to be a waste.

Thanks for your thoughts!!!

 

[Leafsgirl36]

Hi everyone! Currently I have ressies for Sugar Loaf for July 6 - 15th (might change it to the 8th to the 15th). DH and I have been going over cost, plus we're thinking of adding the DDP. Will we really need the DDP? I mean, if we plan on grabbing breakfast in the lounge most mornings (I do want to do 2 character breakfasts), and appetizers a few nights (there are 4-5 restaurants that are on our 'must-do' list), will we be able to snack in the lounge and then grab counter service if we're still hungry? What do most of the "concierge regulars" do in terms of the dining plan? I love the idea of concierge, but don't want to spend $$$ on the DDP if it's going to be a waste.

Thanks for your thoughts!!!

My husband and I are going the first week in February and we are doing Chef Mickeys twice, once for breakfast and once for supper and we are doing Sci Fi once. When I added up the cost of the dining plan compared to what we would probably spend on food with out the plan it was much cheaper to not purchase the plan.

We aren't huge eaters so we figured the breakfast from the CL lounge would be sufficient and if we were still hungry in the evening we could just grab something from the cafe downstairs.

 

[scanne]

Leafsgirl36,

Thanks for your response! I am re-thinking "my" reasons for the DDP and I think I plan to eat at certain restaurants BECAUSE I am thinking that I "have" to because of the DDP.

I'm going to re-work my plans and I think I'll stick to with concierge and NOT do the DDP.

I'd still love to hear what others have to say as well!

Thanks so much!!!

 

[mmmears]

Hi everyone! Currently I have ressies for Sugar Loaf for July 6 - 15th (might change it to the 8th to the 15th). DH and I have been going over cost, plus we're thinking of adding the DDP. Will we really need the DDP? I mean, if we plan on grabbing breakfast in the lounge most mornings (I do want to do 2 character breakfasts), and appetizers a few nights (there are 4-5 restaurants that are on our 'must-do' list), will we be able to snack in the lounge and then grab counter service if we're still hungry? What do most of the "concierge regulars" do in terms of the dining plan? I love the idea of concierge, but don't want to spend $$$ on the DDP if it's going to be a waste.

Thanks for your thoughts!!!

For my family, the DDP is too much food when added to the CL offerings. We grab a little bite to eat in the morning, have a good, solid lunch in the parks, then return to the afternoon snacks and to play in the pool. For dinner, we sometimes go out, sometimes we're really not all that hungry because of the big lunch. Then we have some snacks in the lounge and maybe a bit of dessert at night.

Some people can eat a ton in the lounge then go out for a big meal. We prefer to snack in the lounge and supplement if we get hungry. Like you, we have some "must-do's" that are sit-down meals. We just try not to go near the lounge on those days so we'll have room for our dinner! I find that it's much cheaper for us to pay out-of-pocket for those meals.

It really depends on what and how much you like to eat when on vacation!

 

[SevenSeasLagoon5]

Hello!

I posted over on the Poly thread but then wondered if this might be a better place?

I know they recently changed the booking categories at the Poly CL. There used to just be LVC and GVC. Now, on the lagoon side, you can book Lagoon view or Theme Park view in Hawaii.

Does anyone know which room in Hawaii are now Theme Park vs. Lagoon view?

TIA!

 

[Belinderella]

We have stayed at GF before but never CL, just never saw the need. This time we thought we might be spending more time at the resort and booked SL. I have not gotten good responses from IPO via email so I thinK I am going to call and see how that goes. I have asked about the extras you can get by staying CL and other than them booking dining ressies (which I put into their hands and they have really messed up, my itenerary shows everything booked for Mar 2009), I am getting no details...help...please

 

[mmmears]

We have stayed at GF before but never CL, just never saw the need. This time we thought we might be spending more time at the resort and booked SL. I have not gotten good responses from IPO via email so I thinK I am going to call and see how that goes. I have asked about the extras you can get by staying CL and other than them booking dining ressies (which I put into their hands and they have really messed up, my itenerary shows everything booked for Mar 2009), I am getting no details...help...please

Definitely give them a call in the morning. I always call and get pretty good customer service. I found that the GF/CR IPO office is rather hit and miss -- but there are some really good CMs there. Hopefully you can talk to one of them and get it all straightened out. Even if your itinerary shows 2009, your ADRs are probably 2010, but I would want them to fix it...

Extras include -- booking ADRs, booking other recreation things (like the WDE at AK) or tours, nightly turndown, concierge staff when you are there, snacks and drinks during the day... The IPO office should be able to answer any questions you have about the hotel or special events as well.

Hope this helps. Give them a call in the morning and tell them you need to get this straightened out. March is a busy time and you don't want to go without your ADRs all taken care of.

 

[aussietravellers]

We have not stayed on Club level (concierge level) before. My mother stayed at Beach Club once whilst we were at AKL and we went and visited her and I thought there were peanut butter sandwiches for the children.

We are thinking about staying at BC and or AKL concierge on our upcoming trip, but as we do have a life threatening peanut allergy in the group (that is an airbourne allergy)

I am just wondering if anybody remembers if they have peanut butter sandwiches out for the children or bowls of peanuts out for guests to eat or if there are a lot of peanut products available at AKL and BC concierge? I am not worried about may contains, really just about actual peanuts and peanut butter.

Thank you so much.

 

[RachelTori]

We have not stayed on Club level (concierge level) before. My mother stayed at Beach Club once whilst we were at AKL and we went and visited her and I thought there were peanut butter sandwiches for the children.

We are thinking about staying at BC and or AKL concierge on our upcoming trip, but as we do have a life threatening peanut allergy in the group (that is an airbourne allergy)

I am just wondering if anybody remembers if they have peanut butter sandwiches out for the children or bowls of peanuts out for guests to eat or if there are a lot of peanut products available at AKL and BC concierge? I am not worried about may contains, really just about actual peanuts and peanut butter.

Thank you so much.

The sandwiches are Crustables - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I think in the manufacturing process, the peanut butter is actually "sealed" inside the sandwich so not actually exposed until someone takes a bite. AKL does have spiced nuts though which sit out a good portion of the day.

HTHs!