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

[chimo2u]

Beach Club, Feb 2011 had hard boiled eggs with sprigs of dill

 

[minniesbiggiestfan]

I am torn so maybe you can help me. I'm booked for September at the grand Floridian club level but with the construction and possible monorail slow downs I'm starting to reconsider the CR CL. Haven't been there in over 25 yrs. the reason I wanted to go bk to gf was that they truly spoiled us rotten with special desserts extra soaps in bathroom ect and I am looking for that agin with two kids birthdays in the week we are there. So can you pls help me. It's also an oblivious $1200 more to stay at the Gf even with free dining.

Thanks in advance

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I am torn so maybe you can help me. I'm booked for September at the grand Floridian club level but with the construction and possible monorail slow downs I'm starting to reconsider the CR CL. Haven't been there in over 25 yrs. the reason I wanted to go bk to gf was that they truly spoiled us rotten with special desserts extra soaps in bathroom ect and I am looking for that agin with two kids birthdays in the week we are there. So can you pls help me. It's also an oblivious $1200 more to stay at the Gf even with free dining.

Thanks in advance

With the exception of the walkway to the Magic Kingdom, even if you switched to the Contemporary any Monorail slow downs will still be effected over there.

 

[baler31]

Yesterday I decide to ditch the dxdp and go with CL and TIW. This is our first time trying CL at WDW. How are my choices?.. see ticker. I know its a lot of moving around, but we will be in mco 16 days.

What can expect at each resort?

How is the food?

Do any of the resorts have hardboiled eggs or meats in the morning?

I am going to try to read through the whole thread when I get a chance.

Thanks for any advice.

In the past GF CL breakfasts have included sliced meats such as ham and turkey, smoked salmon, and herring. HTH.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Quick question- what type of free dining do you get if you're booked CL? Reg dining or deluxe?
We currently have AKL CL booked w/a PIN code & I am trying to compare discounts in case free dining will be offered. Just seeing which would be better. I know have will have the lounge for food, but we also get ADRs at signature restaurants.

I know your question's been answered, but I just wanted to add that in general, when booking a Deluxe or Villa, a room discount is usually more advantageous than FD.

Is the Club level worth it?? Going late Sept. with nephew. The club level will be 300$ more... Do you get early and late check in with it?? Just wondering what the true perks are besides snacks all day. Nephew is 16 not sure how much in room for this trip.

Thanks for input

Very subjective, but once DH tried it, there's no going back for us. This is what we value:

~Separate check-in on the CL floor which is usually expedited and more relaxing.

~Being greeted by a CL runner upon arrival (most of the time).

~Though I rarely use it, the services of the Itinerary Planning Office prior to arrival. It's really nice having a POC pre-arrival to ask questions to or make reservations for activities.

~We love the breakfast, appetizers, desserts and drinks. We usually don't partake in the snacks, but it's nice sometimes to just grab a drink and sit in the lounge and take a break. We love having a lounge to relax in. Some of them offer great views of fireworks or the EWP...

~Keyed/restricted CL floor access.

~When staying non-CL and you have any problems and you need to call the front desk, you're actually calling a call center in another part of FL. We love that when staying CL, you actually can call the CL desk and speak to a CL CM right down the hall or on the CL floor or you can go to them and resolve any room, etc... problems. For us, this has come in handy several times.

Yesterday I decide to ditch the dxdp and go with CL and TIW. This is our first time trying CL at WDW. How are my choices?.. see ticker. I know its a lot of moving around, but we will be in mco 16 days.

What can expect at each resort?

How is the food?

Do any of the resorts have hardboiled eggs or meats in the morning?

I am going to try to read through the whole thread when I get a chance.

Thanks for any advice.

Yes, the Regatta Club does have sliced hardboiled eggs. Can't wait to read your review of your tri-CL-split!

I am torn so maybe you can help me. I'm booked for September at the grand Floridian club level but with the construction and possible monorail slow downs I'm starting to reconsider the CR CL. Haven't been there in over 25 yrs. the reason I wanted to go bk to gf was that they truly spoiled us rotten with special desserts extra soaps in bathroom ect and I am looking for that agin with two kids birthdays in the week we are there. So can you pls help me. It's also an oblivious $1200 more to stay at the Gf even with free dining.

Thanks in advance

I had RPC booked for the summer and switched to Atrium Club for the same reason. There are Atrium Club photos posted on the first page by me and CRRF4L. It's great having the walkway, especially coming back from the MK at night. There are also buses and boats.

As far as RPC or SL Vs. Atrium Club, the GF offers the most food of any CL throughout the day. As far as amenities, I don't recall any extras at the CR, other than the standard CL extra toiletries. They do provide the chocolates at turn-down.

But, don't forget, if you book Sugar Loaf, then you will have a pool or marina view - no construction at all. If you book RPC, you can request a non-lagoon view and not face the construction

 

[disneydreamin247]

I am torn so maybe you can help me. I'm booked for September at the grand Floridian club level but with the construction and possible monorail slow downs I'm starting to reconsider the CR CL. Haven't been there in over 25 yrs. the reason I wanted to go bk to gf was that they truly spoiled us rotten with special desserts extra soaps in bathroom ect and I am looking for that agin with two kids birthdays in the week we are there. So can you pls help me. It's also an oblivious $1200 more to stay at the Gf even with free dining.

Thanks in advance

The monorail service interruption is only through 3/17. You will be fine.

 

[Tracey868]

Does all the YC or BW Cl rooms have a balcony???

Which do you prefer??

 

[padawans]

In the past GF CL breakfasts have included sliced meats such as ham and turkey, smoked salmon, and herring. HTH.

I have seen pictures of the food offerings at GF. It does look good. Someday I'll get my Dh to try GF.

 

[padawans]

I know your question's been answered, but I just wanted to add that in general, when booking a Deluxe or Villa, a room discount is usually more advantageous than FD.


Very subjective, but once DH tried it, there's no going back for us. This is what we value:

~Separate check-in on the CL floor which is usually expedited and more relaxing.

~Being greeted by a CL runner upon arrival (most of the time).

~Though I rarely use it, the services of the Itinerary Planning Office prior to arrival. It's really nice having a POC pre-arrival to ask questions to or make reservations for activities.

~We love the breakfast, appetizers, desserts and drinks. We usually don't partake in the snacks, but it's nice sometimes to just grab a drink and sit in the lounge and take a break. We love having a lounge to relax in. Some of them offer great views of fireworks or the EWP...

~Keyed/restricted CL floor access.

~When staying non-CL and you have any problems and you need to call the front desk, you're actually calling a call center in another part of FL. We love that when staying CL, you actually can call the CL desk and speak to a CL CM right down the hall or on the CL floor or you can go to them and resolve any room, etc... problems. For us, this has come in handy several times.


Yes, the Regatta Club does have sliced hardboiled eggs. Can't wait to read your review of your tri-CL-split!


I had RPC booked for the summer and switched to Atrium Club for the same reason. There are Atrium Club photos posted on the first page by me and CRRF4L. It's great having the walkway, especially coming back from the MK at night. There are also buses and boats.

As far as RPC or SL Vs. Atrium Club, the GF offers the most food of any CL throughout the day. As far as amenities, I don't recall any extras at the CR, other than the standard CL extra toiletries. They do provide the chocolates at turn-down.

But, don't forget, if you book Sugar Loaf, then you will have a pool or marina view - no construction at all. If you book RPC, you can request a non-lagoon view and not face the construction

I'm excited to read my review too.I have booked Cl so many times, and then changed my mind. I am sticking with it this time. I jus booked a car for 16 days for 279.00I think all the moving around will be a breeze now.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Does all the YC or BW Cl rooms have a balcony???

Which do you prefer??

I would highly recommend BWI CL because of their Cast Members who are the best set of people you will ever meet and are reason enough to stay there and yes their rooms come with a balcony. Plus they are the only one of the Epcot Resorts where their Club Level lounge also has a balcony that you can watch Illuminations from.

 

[mickeynut1]

the GF offers the most food of any CL throughout the day.

I have heard this as well. The only other CL we have tried is WL, which we thought was awesome .....but I'm hoping to be able to compare RPC/SL to other CLs on future trips .

I have seen pictures of the food offerings at GF. It does look good. Someday I'll get my Dh to try GF.

GF CL is awesome . Morning offerings are especially great with meats & cheeses, along with plenty of danishes, mini muffins, etc .

I would highly recommend BWI CL because of their Cast Members who are the best set of people you will ever meet and are reason enough to stay there and yes their rooms come with a balcony.

I have read this many times about BWI CL. We are trying the CR for the first time at the end of this year and I'm hoping to give BWI a try next year .

 

[nemofans]

WDWKOOK- Well, our PIN code was for 20% off I think. At least that's what it seems like to me. It looks like we would save about the same w/free dining. If I had a higher discount, then I wouldn't think twice about free dining. I am trying to figure if we'll eat enough to save more than the discount we have now. I have a 7 yr old & 3.5 yr old too who are not big eaters. To be honest, I am hoping a higher discount is offered for fall instead of free dining.

 

[turningleaf]

Thanks to everyone who gave advice for this trip - esp CRRF4L, WDWKOOK and mickeynut1. I thought I would let you know everything turned out wonderfully. I will try to limit my comments to Club Level related things.

GF
We arrived on schedule at GF - we got a plain white parking pass and someone greeted us at the front door. Our room was not yet ready, but our CM asked us if we wanted to checkout the SL building anyway. We declined and decided to just check in at the GF lobby, it was nice to be sitting down on the sofa and listening to the piano music while checking in. So we did not get the golf cart ride. My folder contained all the events I had booked at GF, even though I booked them through the BWI IPO (As you know I switched to GF very soon before leaving so I was never able to contact them except to give my arrival time.) We decided to head to MK right away and as soon as we got on the monorail I received the text that our room was ready, so that was nice to know.

Quick question - what is the wonderful scent in the GF lobby?

Btw, At MK, it was One More Disney Day at MK and although the crowd calendar said "2", I expected it to be busy but we must have hit the afternoon lull - we walked onto Buzz Lightyear.

On our return to SL we met Janice, the wonderful CM at SL. We got room number 6421, which was on the 4th Fl but not too far from the elevators, just off the main "courtyard" rooms . It was quiet and facing the lagoon. No audible noise in spite of being beside the Ice Machine Room. I guess no one needed to use it, being at Club Level and all As WDWKOOK said, the construction doesn't affect SL at all.

From then on we only used the boat to go to MK. On our first morning the boat was empty and did not go on to Poly as usual. Instead the driver took us directly to MK so I felt like we had our own private water taxi. DH was amazed. We always managed to catch the boat right on time upon leaving MK as well. Couldn't have asked for better timing!

My DD's ADR's worked perfectly. We returned via boat from MK to do the Wonderland Tea Party, after which went swimming. Loved the waterfall and slide. Following morning did the Pirate Adventure cruise which is right outside SL building on the dock side. We could see the pirate boat from our room. This was amazing as I didn't even know this was going to happen. So we picked her up after the cruise at 11am, and she was able to have a quick snack and drink at SL on our way to the car. So glad we decided to switch to GF for this trip!

We also used the Disney luggage service for the first time. So we didn't have to load our bags into the car. We called for the bellman at 10am, he gave us a ticket and we collected our luggage at BWI after returning from HS. It was so easy.

On our last day at GF, March 2, the monorail interruptions started. A CM at the gentlemen's wear store first mentioned it to us and said it would be until the end of March. We were glad to be moving to BWI that day!

I have to say we really liked the SL lounge and their CM's. For some reason on this trip I needed more help than usual with my reservations. I had to cancel Narcoosee's last minute and change to Citrico's, and they did everything a few hours before, including changing my Mouseketeers Club reservations. Thank you Janice and Grace. Yes the lounge was quite busy. A lot of families with young children taking advantage of the snacks, but all well behaved. The food and refreshments were always plentiful and varied, constantly replenished, and the tables were always cleared right away. So in fact we never did have to wait around for a table even at peak times. One thing I noticed is that they are not too strict here about the serving times. For the evening snacks, I noticed they kept the food out up to 20 minutes or so past 7pm as long as there were people coming in and eating.

I did visit the RPC lounge. CM's were all lovely here as well. It is a more private lounge feel and quieter as well. There wasn't as much seating as I had imagined though, but I guess there is seating on other floors too? Does it ever get busy here? I hadn't realized that GF 3rd, 4th and 5th floor are all CL? Do they have regular rooms in the main building, and if so, I can't see where they would be located.

In general we felt GF lives up to its flagship reputation. We will definitely return! (if we can still afford it!)

BWI
I won't comment much on BWI since we have been there before and love it. We always love coming back here. We arrived at noon, got our yellow parking pass and were brought upstairs to check in. We got 4261 (yes it was confusingly similar to our other room). I remembered that someone had gotten this room before and although DH was not too pleased at being outside of the Innkeepers Club door, we were very happy with our balcony. I think it may be the biggest balcony facing the Boardwalk! I had requested a full balcony near the elevator, and thinking about it, that's exactly what I got. We just marveled at the view from our balcony. (Now I think I got a room last year which was two doors down, really facing the courtyard but still with a boardwalk view. And it was not CL.)

Do you know how many such CL rooms there are outside the club door? We normally like the restricted access, but I noticed that quite a few people seemed to be coming from outside the Innkeepers Club, so I'm wondering exactly how many rooms are outside.

My only comment about this room is that at night there is an audible humming sound which I think is the Flying Fish AC. It didn't bother DH at all but I could def hear it. I think it may be more noticeable if you're used to a very quiet sleeping environment. But really it's only noticeable once all the boardwalk noise dies down and since you're on the Boardwalk some noise is inevitable.

The lounge was immaculate as usual, and quite empty. The CM's said they would be very busy in the coming week (this week). Even the breakfast rush did not fill it up completely. At night, we did have dinner reservations and didn't see how busy it got after 6pm. But it was pretty empty at dessert time and only really got busy near the fireworks. Not very busy, just 2 other families aside from us.

For all meals, SL had more to offer, but we were happy with the new menu at BWI. They still had the apple and caramel dippers which my DD loves. I don't think I noticed a major change except I didn't see the garlic spread, and there are more salads type food. For breakfast, although SL has a bigger variety, I prefer the hardboiled eggs at Innkeepers Club to the breakfast meats at SL. I just thing eggs are more of a breakfast food. But BWI did not have toast, only bagels and croissants. This is aside from the usual danish and muffins.

Comparing the two lounges, SL is definitely busier and BWI more intimate. But both sets of CM's are great and very friendly. I think that BWI the other guests are more likely to chat and be cordial bec of the quieter atmosphere.


So thanks to everyone's advice we had a wonderful trip. I was happy to have made use of the concierge services which I normally don't do as I book my own ADR's. Having an actual person to talk to really does make a great difference when you are changing your plans around, etc.

I will post some photos following.

 

[turningleaf]

SL room 6421

the view

the SL lounge

empty boat to MK - that's just DH in front with DD

construction photos

RPC lounge (at teatime)

children's seating area. the RPC has two TV's one for adults and one for kids.

 

[turningleaf]

Our room

left view

center and right view

small balconies above us

room from the boat dock

quick storm the morning we left and temp dropped to 60's overnight.

bounceback. we did get bounceback offers at both GF and BWI.

 

[turningleaf]

oops duplicate post

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Do you know how many such CL rooms there are outside the club door? We normally like the restricted access, but I noticed that quite a few people seemed to be coming from outside the Innkeepers Club, so I'm wondering exactly how many rooms are outside.

Besides #4261 there are two other Club Level rooms located outside of the restricted hallway and those are actually next to the room you had in that little space, so it's only a grand total of 3 rooms.

The way I figured it out is like this. Their non Club Level rooms have blue doors, however their Club Level rooms have white doors and that's how you can tell them apart if you are not staying in a room past the Innkeeper's Club Level door.

 

[turningleaf]

Besides #4261 there are two other Club Level rooms located outside of the restricted hallway and those are actually next to the room you had in that little space, so it's only a grand total of 3 rooms.

The way I figured it out is like this. Their non Club Level rooms have blue doors, however their Club Level rooms have white doors and that's how you can tell them apart if you are not staying in a room past the Innkeeper's Club Level door.

Wow I never ever noticed that! I was trying to figure out which ones those two rooms are. Are they the next two balconies on the other side of the Flying Fish sign? They are so close together I thought the door on the right might have been a bigger room.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Wow I never ever noticed that! I was trying to figure out which ones those two rooms are. Are they the next two balconies on the other side of the Flying Fish sign? They are so close together I thought the door on the right might have been a bigger room.

During my Club Level stays at the BWI I have stayed in #4223 2X, #4225 (Deluxe Room) and #3229 (Deluxe Room on the 3rd floor) so I can't say if those are the balconies by the Flying Fish sign.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Great photos! I'm missing BWI CL. My last trip with a friend we stayed at Pop for marathon weekend.

My trip in May is with just my youngest DD. I just can't justify CL for the 2 of us. I know we'll still have a great trip.

I booked a bounce back when I was at WDW in Jan for BWI CL in August but now I have to cancel it as we are going to do DL this summer instead so I can do the DL 1/2 marathon and get the Coast to Coast medal.





Anyone experience any of the DL CL services? I was thinking of booking Paradise Pier CL. Those rooms have 2 queens and daybed so seems like they will work best for my family of 5.