Concierge/Club Level Information - Part III (October 2010)

[amandaw]

Our upcoming trip will be our first CL stay. I've been reading this thread & the WL thread. Some people say for CL to still do online check-in, others say it's best NOT to do it if staying on CL. So, does it really make a difference? If so, which is better? Thank you!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Our upcoming trip will be our first CL stay. I've been reading this thread & the WL thread. Some people say for CL to still do online check-in, others say it's best NOT to do it if staying on CL. So, does it really make a difference? If so, which is better? Thank you!

During our Club Level stays at the Contemporary and Boardwalk Inn since online check-in had started we never used it because we always checked-in at the Club Level lounge of our resort.

 

[Tess]

Our upcoming trip will be our first CL stay. I've been reading this thread & the WL thread. Some people say for CL to still do online check-in, others say it's best NOT to do it if staying on CL. So, does it really make a difference? If so, which is better? Thank you!

Based upon reports of others, if you opt for online check-in, you will not have the private check-in at the CL. You will, instead, pick up your documents at the regular online check-in queue in the main lobby of your resort. I would opt for the personal service and private check-in for which you have paid in booking CL.

 

[KerryCM]

Based upon reports of others, if you opt for online check-in, you will not have the private check-in at the CL. You will, instead, pick up your documents at the regular online check-in queue in the main lobby of your resort. I would opt for the personal service and private check-in for which you have paid in booking CL.

While the majority of our stays are at the BWI, I have done on line check in and have still had the private checkin. It really isn't necessary, but sometimes it makes the trip seem closer!!!! You just don't go to the online checkin desk. Let bell services know you are a CL guest and you will be taken to private checkin.

 

[Tess]

While the majority of our stays are at the BWI, I have done on line check in and have still had the private checkin. It really isn't necessary, but sometimes it makes the trip seem closer!!!! You just don't go to the online checkin desk. Let bell services know you are a CL guest and you will be taken to private checkin.

I guess I should have clarified, others have had to follow the procedure I set forth when staying at the Polynesian. We have not opted for online check-in based upon that information. It looks as if amandaw is staying at WL--should have looked at her signature before answering.

 

[bluejasmine]

Based upon reports of others, if you opt for online check-in, you will not have the private check-in at the CL. You will, instead, pick up your documents at the regular online check-in queue in the main lobby of your resort. I would opt for the personal service and private check-in for which you have paid in booking CL.

I know when we get the paper work that the Poly IPO sends us right before coming it states not to do online check in..Just show the paper to the guard and he will give us something else we show to conceirge kiosk out front or resort. Thats what we did last yr and were wisked right to the Hawaii LH..

 

[sfbank]

KerryCM-Have a good trip! Say hi to the family!!

 

[2girlsmom]

We will be staying first 2 nights at ASMu, then moving over to WL club level, so will be taking a bus to MK and boat over to WL or waiting until after AK for the day and taking the bus over from the park. Either way, not ME, not a car. So who would I tell that we need to be checked in CL? Where do I need to go when we get there to check in? Also, we leave in 55 days, check in at WL in 57 days. Still haven't heard from IPO at all. We had already made our ADR's for dining before we changed the reservation to club level, is there any reason to email them? If I wanted to request a bunk bed room, would I do that with the IPO office?

 

[AKL LOVER]

We will be staying first 2 nights at ASMu, then moving over to WL club level, so will be taking a bus to MK and boat over to WL or waiting until after AK for the day and taking the bus over from the park. Either way, not ME, not a car. So who would I tell that we need to be checked in CL? Where do I need to go when we get there to check in? Also, we leave in 55 days, check in at WL in 57 days. Still haven't heard from IPO at all. We had already made our ADR's for dining before we changed the reservation to club level, is there any reason to email them? If I wanted to request a bunk bed room, would I do that with the IPO office?

I would tell a CM greeting at the door of WL that you are a CL guest that needs to check in. That's what IPO told us to do in case someone wasn't there from CL to greet us when we got off ME. I would at least email them to give an approximate arrival time and give them your room request to attach to your reservation. Also, I emailed AKL IPO to have them add a room request onto my reservation and they were very nice about taking care of it for me.

 

[WDWKOOK]

I would love to hear the good and bad about CL at the BC.

There have been some very negative reviews in the past couple of days on the BC/YC thread and TigrLvsPooh's LTR. I know this is a very crowded time of the year, which may be partly to blame, so I'd be curious to hear about others' BC/CL experiences to get an idea if this is just a bad time of year or the status quo at the BC. My closest experience to BC/CL was YC/CL in August, which was nothing at all like what is being said about the BC.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I would love to hear the good and bad about BC/CL experiences.

There have been some very negative reviews in the past couple of days on the BC/YC thread and TigrLvsPooh's LTR. I know this is a very crowded time of the year, which may be partly to blame, so I'd be curious to hear about others' BC/CL experiences to get an idea if this is just a bad time of year or the status quo at the BC. My closest experience to BC/CL was YC/CL in August, which was nothing at all like what is being said about the BC.

I would also like to hear the same things.

However I also told myself not to regret our decision to stay Club Level over there because we need to take the good and bad and not let one bad review get us down. Plus I also remember reading some negative Club Level reviews about the Contemporary, Boardwalk Inn and Polynesian from others, however I then remember that we had great stays over there.

 

[KerryCM]

KerryCM-Have a good trip! Say hi to the family!!

I will! Cannot wait to see everyone.

 

[WDWKOOK]

I would also like to hear the same things.

However I also told myself not to regret our decision to stay Club Level over there because we need to take the good and bad and not let one bad review get us down. Plus I also remember reading some negative Club Level reviews about the Contemporary, Boardwalk Inn and Polynesian from others, however I then remember that we had great stays over there.

Unfortunately, it wasn't just one review, it was a couple of TRs that others replied to and said they had similar bad experiences at the BC.

You're right that there are good and bad reviews out there on ALL WDW resorts, but I'm hoping that the recent ones about the BC are due to the heavy spring break crowds.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Unfortunately, it wasn't just one review, it was a couple of TRs that others replied to and said they had similar bad experiences at the BC.

You're right that there are good and bad reviews out there on ALL WDW resorts, but I'm hoping that the recent ones about the BC are due to the heavy spring break crowds.

At least in that one review you mentioned the problems seemed to be rude guests not following the rules of the lounge and etc, so I would rather have that then have problems with the Cast Members.

 

[jackemail]

I will! Cannot wait to see everyone.

Hope you have a wonderful time with the BWI folks--love them all.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I will! Cannot wait to see everyone.

I hope you have a great time.

 

[MickeyT]

I would love to hear the good and bad about CL at the BC.

There have been some very negative reviews in the past couple of days on the BC/YC thread and TigrLvsPooh's LTR. I know this is a very crowded time of the year, which may be partly to blame, so I'd be curious to hear about others' BC/CL experiences to get an idea if this is just a bad time of year or the status quo at the BC. My closest experience to BC/CL was YC/CL in August, which was nothing at all like what is being said about the BC.

We stayed at BC Cl the last week of July in 2010. Six nights. We were in the room right across the hall from the lounge, to the right when you get off the elevator. We had a wonderful week. There were a couple times we couldn't find a seat but it was when we arrived in the morning @ 8:30. What I consider peak times. We just went back to the room and enjoyed. We requested the large water bottles a couple times and these request were promptly met.

We did see a few people standing and sitting in the hallway before the lounge opened a few times in the afternoon. But I must say they (we) were very orderly and polite once the lounge opened. The cast members were in and out and busy but would smile and speak. We weren't there many nights for the evening offerings but when we were they didn't run out of food.

One thing that bothered me was the availability of a place to put your dirty dishes. There was no counter or tray drop off for your things when you did finish. I would set mine on the wall/counter as you went out the door or find a cast member and hand it to them. It is like you are expected to leave your things on the table. That's fine as long as there are CM's available to clear but there were many times they were busy replacing food or attending to someones request.

We did not have a lot of interaction with the desk attendants. They did a wonderful job of checking us in. They always spoke as we entered and left if they were not waiting on someone.

This was our second CL stay with our other being the Poly. The Poly lounge is much larger and has a better set up (service area directly behind the counter) so it was much easier for them to replenish. But we did have an 'experience'. We were ground floor facing the quiet pool. There were 2 or 3 families staying on the same hall that were letting their children run wild. The kids were on our patio looking in our room, pulling flower out of the gardens, and worst of all catching lizards and tormenting the poor creatures. I made them stop playing baseball, yes throwing them and hitting them with a stick, with the lizards. These kids were out of control for 2 days. All the while Mom was sitting in the room (door propped open) on a computer. I did talk with the staff about it and they said they would watch out for us and call security if they saw it again. The families left after our third day and the place was as peaceful as you might expect for the rest of our trip.

Now my disclaimer:
I must say I am bias toward BC but we do love other resorts. We have AKL CL booked in a few weeks so looking forward to our third CL stay. I am a firm believer that many times it is luck of the draw on atmosphere. One or two 'bad' groups could taint (not ruin) any trip. Now a bad CM, that is a whole different ballgame.....Haven't had that experience.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We stayed at BC Cl the last week of July in 2010. Six nights. We were in the room right across the hall from the lounge, to the right when you get off the elevator. We had a wonderful week. There were a couple times we couldn't find a seat but it was when we arrived in the morning @ 8:30. What I consider peak times. We just went back to the room and enjoyed. We requested the large water bottles a couple times and these request were promptly met.

We did see a few people standing and sitting in the hallway before the lounge opened a few times in the afternoon. But I must say they (we) were very orderly and polite once the lounge opened. The cast members were in and out and busy but would smile and speak. We weren't there many nights for the evening offerings but when we were they didn't run out of food.

One thing that bothered me was the availability of a place to put your dirty dishes. There was no counter or tray drop off for your things when you did finish. I would set mine on the wall/counter as you went out the door or find a cast member and hand it to them. It is like you are expected to leave your things on the table. That's fine as long as there are CM's available to clear but there were many times they were busy replacing food or attending to someones request.

We did not have a lot of interaction with the desk attendants. They did a wonderful job of checking us in. They always spoke as we entered and left if they were not waiting on someone.

This was our second CL stay with our other being the Poly. The Poly lounge is much larger and has a better set up (service area directly behind the counter) so it was much easier for them to replenish. But we did have an 'experience'. We were ground floor facing the quiet pool. There were 2 or 3 families staying on the same hall that were letting their children run wild. The kids were on our patio looking in our room, pulling flower out of the gardens, and worst of all catching lizards and tormenting the poor creatures. I made them stop playing baseball, yes throwing them and hitting them with a stick, with the lizards. These kids were out of control for 2 days. All the while Mom was sitting in the room (door propped open) on a computer. I did talk with the staff about it and they said they would watch out for us and call security if they saw it again. The families left after our third day and the place was as peaceful as you might expect for the rest of our trip.

Now my disclaimer:
I must say I am bias toward BC but we do love other resorts. We have AKL CL booked in a few weeks so looking forward to our third CL stay. I am a firm believer that many times it is luck of the draw on atmosphere. One or two 'bad' groups could taint (not ruin) any trip. Now a bad CM, that is a whole different ballgame.....Haven't had that experience.

Thanks for posting that review.

 

[WDWKOOK]

We stayed at BC Cl the last week of July in 2010. Six nights. We were in the room right across the hall from the lounge, to the right when you get off the elevator. We had a wonderful week. There were a couple times we couldn't find a seat but it was when we arrived in the morning @ 8:30. What I consider peak times. We just went back to the room and enjoyed. We requested the large water bottles a couple times and these request were promptly met.

We did see a few people standing and sitting in the hallway before the lounge opened a few times in the afternoon. But I must say they (we) were very orderly and polite once the lounge opened. The cast members were in and out and busy but would smile and speak. We weren't there many nights for the evening offerings but when we were they didn't run out of food.

One thing that bothered me was the availability of a place to put your dirty dishes. There was no counter or tray drop off for your things when you did finish. I would set mine on the wall/counter as you went out the door or find a cast member and hand it to them. It is like you are expected to leave your things on the table. That's fine as long as there are CM's available to clear but there were many times they were busy replacing food or attending to someones request.

We did not have a lot of interaction with the desk attendants. They did a wonderful job of checking us in. They always spoke as we entered and left if they were not waiting on someone.

This was our second CL stay with our other being the Poly. The Poly lounge is much larger and has a better set up (service area directly behind the counter) so it was much easier for them to replenish. But we did have an 'experience'. We were ground floor facing the quiet pool. There were 2 or 3 families staying on the same hall that were letting their children run wild. The kids were on our patio looking in our room, pulling flower out of the gardens, and worst of all catching lizards and tormenting the poor creatures. I made them stop playing baseball, yes throwing them and hitting them with a stick, with the lizards. These kids were out of control for 2 days. All the while Mom was sitting in the room (door propped open) on a computer. I did talk with the staff about it and they said they would watch out for us and call security if they saw it again. The families left after our third day and the place was as peaceful as you might expect for the rest of our trip.

Now my disclaimer:
I must say I am bias toward BC but we do love other resorts. We have AKL CL booked in a few weeks so looking forward to our third CL stay. I am a firm believer that many times it is luck of the draw on atmosphere. One or two 'bad' groups could taint (not ruin) any trip. Now a bad CM, that is a whole different ballgame.....Haven't had that experience.

Thanks, Mike! Your review really helped me, especially since you stayed there about the exact same time we're booked there. We'll be in a Deluxe room so we won't actually be on the CL floor, but we will have access. It'll be our first BC stay so the negative reviews had me worried; you helped put things in perspective.

I had the same issue at the CR's Atrium Club with the dishes. They only have one small round tray to put everything on, so many guests end-up leaving their plates and garbage on the tables either because they're lazy or the tray is already full with plates. I really dislike this method, and much preferred the WL/CL because they had about 4 garbage cans just like you would find inside a McDonalds where guests can place their garbage and put their dishes on top and the CMs would constantly take away the dirty dishes. Now, I will say that the YC/CL was as you describe the BC, but their staff was excellent about quickly busing and cleaning off tables, whereas the CR was not.

And yes, I bet we could all tell stories about our CL experiences and the horrors we've witnessed

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I had the same issue at the CR's Atrium Club with the dishes. They only have one small round tray to put everything on, so many guests end-up leaving their plates and garbage on the tables either because they're lazy or the tray is already full with plates. I really dislike this method, and much preferred the WL/CL because they had about 4 garbage cans just like you would find inside a McDonalds where guests can place their garbage and put their dishes on top and the CMs would constantly take away the dirty dishes. Now, I will say that the YC/CL was as you describe the BC, but their staff was excellent about quickly busing and cleaning off tables, whereas the CR was not.

I have to agree with you that when it comes to guests not clearing their tables I have seen that more at the Atrium Club compared to the lounges at the Boardwalk Inn and Polynesian. Now I will also admit sometimes it has taken the Atrium Club Cast Members a while to actually clear those tables and there is no excuse for that. However I will also say the responsibility should be on the guests to not leave their dishes on them, so the Cast Members don't have to and it makes their jobs easier. Plus when the table next to the TV in the corner is not full of dirty plates there should be no excuse for the guests not to place them over there since they will walk past it and I will never believe that some guests don't see it, because I say that's impossible.

Now when it comes to garbage cans I remember seeing two of them in the lounge by the Coffee machine and the fridge. However at the Boardwalk Inn they only have one small garbage can which can get full very fast and needs to be changed a lot. Plus one of their Cast Members said it was a strugle for them to add it into the lounge, because the Club Level managers thought that's something guests don't want to see.