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

[DLo]

Since we pretty much go every year, you'd think it would be easy to talk him into it. Maybe someday....

We live just a mile or two south of 92, between Bells Ferry and Canton Rd. We moved here from Chicago about 5 years ago and we love it!

I can't keep myself from giggling just a little bit every time I drive by the Big Chicken. I love when you hear directions like "Just two miles east of the Big Chicken".

We used to live near Sprayberry high school off sandy plains rd. My in laws live off bells ferry. We moved to the other side of town - suwanee for my husbands job. We loved the Marietta area!

 

[MissLiz]

Wow! Look at all the Marietta-area people coming out! Nice!

We just finally bought a house in Feb, so we are here for a while. We were renting until we really decided where we wanted to be. It's nice to feel settled and we love the area that we are in.

 

[ead79]

Wow, I can't believe how many Marietta folks there are here!

We live near Hwy 92 over in Kell High School district. I grew up in Walton High School district, where my parents still live.

DLo, my life-long best friend moved from Marietta to Suwanee a couple of years ago, and she really likes it out there. She says it's a really friendly little town. Now her commute is another story, LOL.

 

[MissLiz]

Hey there! We did the DDP with CL at YC last January, we had booked water view regular room and were upgraded at check in. We found that the food offerings in the CL are more like finger foods, meant to supplement. WE personally did not care for the DDP, in our opinion you felat a little forced to eat big even if you'd rather share an entree. Our girls are now 12 & 14 so they are concidered adults by Disney but still want to share entrees, which works better for us.

As for "giving up control of your ADRS", you don't have to let the IPOI make your ressies. In our case this time , I'll just say that the IPO at BC has been less than helpful and leave it at that. Not a bit of extra effort, I have actually tweaked all of mine myself since they cannot even be bothered to return emails, send out itineraries after they book your ADRs, or return phone calls. I have all of the ADRs I wanted now, but had to do the calling myself. When we stayed CL at the YC that time, the CMs there didn't seem to put themselves out then either. I'm glad taht the AKL ones seem better, I actually booked an extra night there this trip just to check it out.

We will eat at the same restaurants either on the DDP or off. For just the food, for us, it comes out about even until I start adding in our snacks (and we DO snack). If we know that there are nibbles at the resort, then maybe we won't snack as much at the parks.

I'm still up in the air about ADRs. It would be nice to just give someone else our requests and see what they get without having to stress out myself. I guess I could try the ones that are most important to us and then leave the rest up to IPO.

Thanks for the info and I'm so sorry you had a bad experience. That just stinks.

 

[MissLiz]

ead79--you aren't too far from us. We are in the Sprayberry district, but I think we are closer to Kell and I wouldn't be surprised if we get rezoned to Kell by the time DD7 is in hs.

 

[billfatora]

I just don't get it with them. In my conversations with them they admitted that they had nothing to let them know that we were coming, but you'd think after that they'd email/fax wahtever to make sure they had our requests. Nothing. I have spoken on the phone with both Terri and Xio, but no follow up from tehm whatsoever. I received an emai lfrom Terri after I spoke with her to make sure they had my ADR requests, she said she was emailing the itinerary right then. It never arrived, I spoke with them again about getting a hard copy, oh we sent it out, still nothing. Finally Xio did email it to me, but The ADRs weren't right. I finally gave up after about 5 phone calls, realized that they were not going to keep checking, and just booked them myself.

WOW !
I don't get it ? ! ?
I have spoken to Terri on the phone a few times now, and to Xio (by the way, is "Xio" a male or a female ? ) by e-mail, more times then I can remember.... They have been on top of things from the very beginning; which, for me, was over 4 months ago (even though we don't arrive until 11/28/09) which is when I first notified them that we were booked B.C./C.L..
I have stayed "Club Level" many times over the years now, and at various Resorts: The B.C., The Y.C., The G.F., and, at my favorite resort, The C.R. several times; and I must tell you that I have never had a single problem or complaint, and - so far - this trip is no exception. The thread kinda' shocks me because things have been so good for me....
I'm so very sorry to hear that others are having problems because you are paying for the service - but more importantly - the great service that you can (and should) receive can certainly make a great vacation ... a fantastic vacation .
So sorry....

 

[DLo]

ead79 -We love Suwanee. I cried when we left Marietta but now love our neighborhood over here. I will say though that traffic on certain roads is horrible but it is like that everywhere in metro Atlanta it seems.

rcraw45425 - i hope things get better before your trip. It can only get better at this point .

 

[rcraw45425]

WOW !
I don't get it ? ! ?
I have spoken to Terri on the phone a few times now, and to Xio (by the way, is "Xio" a male or a female ? ) by e-mail, more times then I can remember.... They have been on top of things from the very beginning; which, for me, was over 4 months ago (even though we don't arrive until 11/28/09) which is when I first notified them that we were booked B.C./C.L..
I have stayed "Club Level" many times over the years now, and at various Resorts: The B.C., The Y.C., The G.F., and, at my favorite resort, The C.R. several times; and I must tell you that I have never had a single problem or complaint, and - so far - this trip is no exception. The thread kinda' shocks me because things have been so good for me....
I'm so very sorry to hear that others are having problems because you are paying for the service - but more importantly - the great service that you can (and should) receive can certainly make a great vacation ... a fantastic vacation .
So sorry....

Xio is a woman

ead79 -We love Suwanee. I cried when we left Marietta but now love our neighborhood over here. I will say though that traffic on certain roads is horrible but it is like that everywhere in metro Atlanta it seems.

rcraw45425 - i hope things get better before your trip. It can only get better at this point .

Thanks y'all. Luckily, we're not newbies, we make at least one trip a year, so I know enough to make my own ADRs, keep checking back, etc. If this was our first trip though, I shudder to think how our experience would be. I've held off booking CL in the past, not so much because of the cost, but I just didn't think we needed it to have a good trip, but with the rising cost of snack foods & drinks, and the convenience of not having to pack our own sodas and water, I'm thinking it'll be worth it. Plus, DH and the girls enjoy a small "something sweet" in the evening and younger DD likes to have something for breakfast, so I believe we will appreciate it.

 

[mmmears]

rcraw -- on the good side, I have nothing but praise for the CM's at the desks and in the lounge at the Beach Club. We really enjoyed the snacks and the services up there! So I think it's their IPO that's the weakest link -- it's all uphill from there.

 

[MrsNesbitt]

I am staying CL at the BWI in about 45 days. They have not contacted me and I have not contacted them, how crazy is that? Should I contact them? Do I need to contact them? I made all the ADRs and have all the tickets for the parks and events. What else could they help with?

 

[mmmears]

I am staying CL at the BWI in about 45 days. They have not contacted me and I have not contacted them, how crazy is that? Should I contact them? Do I need to contact them? I made all the ADRs and have all the tickets for the parks and events. What else could they help with?

Room requests, ADRs, recreation reservations... they are also helpful if you have questions or need some advice since you don't have to wait on hold forever like on the regular line...

We stayed in CL several times without using the IPO office at all. There's no "need" to use them if you don't want to. Now I ask them to make all my ADRs and reservations for me.

Hope this helps!

 

[mouskagirlie]

THat could be the problem. What got to me was the impression they gave that my stuff didn't matter. IT was like pulling teeth (southern term) to get any infor from them as to what services they could provide for me. After reading about the faxed forms I was a little surprised at the apathetic response I received . I'd say "well, what can you do for me?" and their response would be "oh, we can make your dining reservations, resreation reservations, stuff like that " not CAN we do anything for you?"

I had to laugh at the 'pulling teeth' comment. I use that one all the time (although I'm a northerner)... Yikes about your experience with IPO Although I did consider it I do think I am way too much of a nervous nellie to hand my adr's over to anyone. It would drive me nuts (no matter which IPO staff it was) to wait to hear from them on securing my adr's.

 

[wdwluver]

subscribing!

 

[mmmears]

Is anyone else on this board staying at WDW CL with dates that correspond with the 10/27 ADR booking date?

We're staying in March, so our ADR date is 10/27, along with TONS of other people.

Anyone else worried about being able to get "anything" in that timeframe? I'm envisioning IPO offices being overwhelmed, the Disney dining computers crashing... and general chaos.

 

[annakate27]

Is anyone else on this board staying at WDW CL with dates that correspond with the 10/27 ADR booking date?

We're staying in March, so our ADR date is 10/27, along with TONS of other people.

Anyone else worried about being able to get "anything" in that timeframe? I'm envisioning IPO offices being overwhelmed, the Disney dining computers crashing... and general chaos.

I have been wondering the same thing. We are thinking about going back in April for DD birthday so we would be in the same boat. Hoping everything goes ok!

 

[byrd328]

Hi All

Just back from AKL club level. The resort was amazing! When we arrived we were escorted up to club level for check in. The food selection was ok and very minimal. Things were not replenished and they wouldn't offer anything before they put it away, even if they saw you walking up. We used it mostly for drinks and breakfast. The hot dish every night was some type of meat stuffed pastry or another. I'm not so sure I would stay club level again, it didn't have that exclusive feel and the food selection wasn't that great. I would have prefered to pay for the deluxe dining. Our rooms were cleaned well everyday and we did get turndown service.

We did the sunrise safari which was excellent and the breakfast was equally as good. It was highlight of our trip...

 

[PKWallaby]

Hi All

Just back from AKL club level. The resort was amazing! When we arrived we were escorted up to club level for check in. The food selection was ok and very minimal. Things were not replenished and they wouldn't offer anything before they put it away, even if they saw you walking up. We used it mostly for drinks and breakfast. The hot dish every night was some type of meat stuffed pastry or another. I'm not so sure I would stay club level again, it didn't have that exclusive feel and the food selection wasn't that great. I would have prefered to pay for the deluxe dining. Our rooms were cleaned well everyday and we did get turndown service.

We did the sunrise safari which was excellent and the breakfast was equally as good. It was highlight of our trip...

Glad to hear you enjoyed the resort and safari...we are contemplating a couple nights AKL concierge in February...would love to see some photos of room, view and anything else you deem important

 

[byrd328]

Glad to hear you enjoyed the resort and safari...we are contemplating a couple nights AKL concierge in February...would love to see some photos of room, view and anything else you deem important

I will post some pics later tonight or tomorrow..Let me know if you have any other questions...

We did come home with a nasty flu like bug that seems to be goin around despite my constant hand washing and sanitizing. There were several sick children and adults on our flight home also...so load up on the vitamin C and make sure you stay hydrated and rested...

 

[mmmears]

Byrd,

Thanks for your review of AKL CL. I'm sorry you didn't find it to your liking. My family and I love the lounge, the food up there, the espresso machine, and the extra service we get. I guess it's just not for everyone... We were just there in August and they were still putting out plenty of food -- I hope they aren't cutting back...

Glad to hear that you liked the Sunrise Safari, though. AKL is an amazing resort, isn't it?

 

[supersuperwendy]

ADR question...

We are staying 2 nights/ 3 days at Jambo CL. On the third day we move to Kidani to meet up with friends. We won't be starting our dining plan until that day. Would the IPO team still book ADRs for me even they only start the day I check out of CL?