Concierge/Club Level Information- Part IV, July 2012

[CoolPool]

Is concierge level worth it?

My first suggestion is to read the opening posts of this thread. My second suggestion is to do a search as this question has been asked 10000 times before and answered 10000 times before. The final answer is "it depends." That is also the answer to "Is having children worth it?" And "Is there a meaning to life?" The alternative response is "sometimes."

Now tell us a little about yourself.

 

[bluejasmine]

Is concierge level worth it?

Hi

Ok it really depends on you and your familys, likes and needs in a vacation..

For us we love being in an exclusive building (Poly) no one else can get into w/o the gold KTTK, we love that Concierge will come out and meet us at the curb and escort us to our room if its ready (sometimes in a golf card sometimes walk) or the desk in CL to check in.

I love that I can slip down to lounge early in the morning grab a latte for me and mocha latte for hubby and bring it back to our room and wake DH up for the day, sit out on the balcony and then get dressed go back to lounge for breakfast.

I like that I can send park purchases back to the room (instead of resort gift shop) and it will be sitting on my bed the next day.

We like coming back for soda, beer and little munchies around 2 and taking them to the pool.

Like having hot appys and more at 5 with sangria, wine, beer then heading back to the parks and having dinner around 7/730

Like coming back to cordials and dessert that we can take out on our balcony or down to the beach to watch Wishes, or we can watch Wishes from the CL!

Like that Concierge will make my ADRs if I want, I like I can slip right to the desk if I decide to change ADRS and they will pull it up let me know whats available and change it right then and there.

Once we forgot our camera at Nine Dragons and didnt realize it until we came back from EP that night, they sent a courier to retrieve it and it was late!

I like that they will send someone to my room to load up our luggage into a golf cart and drive us to our car..

while breakfast is pretty much contenental each resort has extras like GF has deli meats and cheeses and smoked salmon cream cheese, BC had sliced eggs and more all on top of the mini cinnamon rolls, croissants, muffins, bagels, fruits cereals, and oatmeal. We will have breakfast at Sunshine Seasons and Tusker House during our trip so DH can have his bacon and eg fix but he doesnt mind the Continental either..

You can ask for yogurts, water, soda, beer and more to put into your room fridge as well..

 

[HBGdancermom]

Hi

Ok it really depends on you and your familys, likes and needs in a vacation..

For us we love being in an exclusive building (Poly) no one else can get into w/o the gold KTTK, we love that Concierge will come out and meet us at the curb and escort us to our room if its ready (sometimes in a golf card sometimes walk) or the desk in CL to check in.

I love that I can slip down to lounge early in the morning grab a latte for me and mocha latte for hubby and bring it back to our room and wake DH up for the day, sit out on the balcony and then get dressed go back to lounge for breakfast.

I like that I can send park purchases back to the room (instead of resort gift shop) and it will be sitting on my bed the next day.

We like coming back for soda, beer and little munchies around 2 and taking them to the pool.

Like having hot appys and more at 5 with sangria, wine, beer then heading back to the parks and having dinner around 7/730

Like coming back to cordials and dessert that we can take out on our balcony or down to the beach to watch Wishes, or we can watch Wishes from the CL!

Like that Concierge will make my ADRs if I want, I like I can slip right to the desk if I decide to change ADRS and they will pull it up let me know whats available and change it right then and there.

Once we forgot our camera at Nine Dragons and didnt realize it until we came back from EP that night, they sent a courier to retrieve it and it was late!

I like that they will send someone to my room to load up our luggage into a golf cart and drive us to our car..

while breakfast is pretty much contenental each resort has extras like GF has deli meats and cheeses and smoked salmon cream cheese, BC had sliced eggs and more all on top of the mini cinnamon rolls, croissants, muffins, bagels, fruits cereals, and oatmeal. We will have breakfast at Sunshine Seasons and Tusker House during our trip so DH can have his bacon and eg fix but he doesnt mind the Continental either..

You can ask for yogurts, water, soda, beer and more to put into your room fridge as well..

I am staying CL for the first time in October and what Blue Jasmine described is what will make it worth it to us. I know $wise all those snacks/drinks etc can be purchased separately much cheaper but for us we find value in the level of service that CL will provide.

So I agree with the PPs that it really depends on your family and what makes your vacation work for you. HTH.

 

[mickeynut1]

Is concierge level worth it?

I agree with bluejasmine that it depends. Worth is subjective as it's different for everybody, but for us, CL is worth the extra cost. We don't stay CL every trip, but when we do, we love it. We stay CL more for the lounge to have someplace to go and relax rather than in our room or other places around the resort. The food offerings are a nice perk, but our main reason for staying CL is for the lounge. With that said, everyone who stays CL does it for different reasons, so you would really have to try it for yourself to see if it's a good fit for your family .

 

[IDreamofPoly]

How do you communicate with IPO? Do you email or call?

I'm having very discouraging interactions between the GF IPO and myself. All the emails seem rushed and not thoroughly read and my questions not thoroughly answered. Wondering if I would be better off just calling instead.

Is it the same CM's that answer all emails? They don't ever sign the emails so I don't know who I am conversing with. It's unlike the call center CM's that introduce themselves from the beginning of the call.

 

[red712371]

How do you communicate with IPO? Do you email or call?

I'm having very discouraging interactions between the GF IPO and myself. All the emails seem rushed and not thoroughly read and my questions not thoroughly answered. Wondering if I would be better off just calling instead.

Is it the same CM's that answer all emails? They don't ever sign the emails so I don't know who I am conversing with. It's unlike the call center CM's that introduce themselves from the beginning of the call.

I'm sorry that you are experiencing that. I have been having good luck with them via email. By all means, call if you aren't getting the answers that you want - you are paying for their good customer service. When I called them, they were very helpful and kind. I'm curious if it is always the same people answering the emails.

 

[IDreamofPoly]

I'm sorry that you are experiencing that. I have been having good luck with them via email. By all means, call if you aren't getting the answers that you want - you are paying for their good customer service. When I called them, they were very helpful and kind. I'm curious if it is always the same people answering the emails.

All their return emails are so bizarre! They don't follow grammar rules, words are misspelled, and it seems like they don't know how to write a letter or email.

I finally emailed back and said please re-read my email because your response is lacking in context. My questions are finally answered but it feels like I'm pulling teeth to get them.

 

[gwynne]

All their return emails are so bizarre! They don't follow grammar rules, words are misspelled, and it seems like they don't know how to write a letter or email.

I finally emailed back and said please re-read my email because your response is lacking in context. My questions are finally answered but it feels like I'm pulling teeth to get them.

Have you tried calling them? Sometimes it's easier (and faster) to communicate by phone, rather than email.
I use both. If it's something that is really straightforward, I email. If it's more complicated, I call.

 

[IDreamofPoly]

Have you tried calling them? Sometimes it's easier (and faster) to communicate by phone, rather than email.
I use both. If it's something that is really straightforward, I email. If it's more complicated, I call.

Thanks for your input! I think I'm going to just call from now on. I haven't really been asking complicated questions, but the reply just seems short. For example, I asked if I could send packages ahead of time to the resort. If so, where should I send it to and what is the procedure. Their reply was "Yes you can send packages ahead of time and it will be waiting for you when you get here."

 

[trishadono]

Is concierge level worth it?

Sometimes!

I prefer to do a night or to at the end of a trip when dd and I do a mom n me trip.

Also as a family we had booked 1/1-1/5 at VGF in a 2br but the price of 1/1 was
So I booked GF SL for 1/1 and we move next day to villa.

We arrive in time for desserts on the 1st, then will have breakfast and check in and either move luggage to villa or store with bell serves. Then all day coming and going we can still use lounge until midnight on the 2nd

I love the lounges at CR and Poly and would definitely stay there again.

 

[psac]

Thanks for your input! I think I'm going to just call from now on. I haven't really been asking complicated questions, but the reply just seems short. For example, I asked if I could send packages ahead of time to the resort. If so, where should I send it to and what is the procedure. Their reply was "Yes you can send packages ahead of time and it will be waiting for you when you get here."

Yeah, we've had problems with emails in the past, too. If we book club again and have any needs, we'll call in the future. We stayed at AKL Club and my wife said in email we wanted to reserve the Sunrise Safari. Their email response was "I can help you with that." No other instructions. My wife assumed that meant we now had the reservation. Nope, when we got to AKL, they didn't have anything because you can only reserve by phone since they need your credit card. Luckily they still had open spots.

 

[ninafeliz]

Just subscribing, as apparently last time I didn't have the box clicked to subscribe. I finally finished reading all of the replies on this thread, and thought I would just add my experiences. We stayed Poly CL last October but upgraded 3 weeks before the trip, and didn't get an email from the IPO. This October we booked club level initially, and I got an email within a couple of days. However, I don't need them to make any ADRs for me and a couple of other things I mentioned to them through email got just very basic replies. They did make me a cabana reservation, so that's something. I was thinking of having them make me my son's haircut appointment at the Harmony Barbershop, a Pirate's League appointment, and maybe get MNSSHP tickets, but honestly it's probably easier to just call and do all of that rather than have them try to get the times I want, and get my cc info, etc

 

[samnbilly]

Thanks for your input! I think I'm going to just call from now on. I haven't really been asking complicated questions, but the reply just seems short. For example, I asked if I could send packages ahead of time to the resort. If so, where should I send it to and what is the procedure. Their reply was "Yes you can send packages ahead of time and it will be waiting for you when you get here."

I too, feel your frustration with return e-mails from IPO. I've switched my ressie's a few times, from BC, to WL & BWI. We were just looking 4 more room & trying to get that by Epcot...anyway...a little off topic..sorry! Anyway, from a communication standpoint..the best I had to deal with was WL. They were amazing!
I'm now staying @ BWI & their return e-mails have been less than desirable, & they weren't answering my specific questions & giving me quick, sparse answers! Frustrating because I would've liked a bit of help. I wasn't asking them to book my trip.
Two things on this subject/problem:
1. My questions were answered by the amazing people with vast information on various topics on the DIS Boards!! Sometimes by PM, sometimes just by asking my question in the proper area.
2. I personally feel like some of the questions we're asking could be answered by a more organized IPO for all of the deluxe resorts.
For instance, many ppl have asked questions about sending items to a resort..wouldn't it be better to e-mail us with a link to the answer to our question? I think if they spent time working on links to the most asked questions, it would be great.
Obviously, we sometimes ask our own questions on topics not applicable to everyone. I feel if they were able to work on just those questions, we'd get more thorough answers..
I don't know.. Just a suggestion..It is very frustrating to get e-mails that are so lacking.
Any other suggestions from anyone?

 

[gwynne]

I too, feel your frustration with return e-mails from IPO. I've switched my ressie's a few times, from BC, to WL & BWI. We were just looking 4 more room & trying to get that by Epcot...anyway...a little off topic..sorry! Anyway, from a communication standpoint..the best I had to deal with was WL. They were amazing!
I'm now staying @ BWI & their return e-mails have been less than desirable, & they weren't answering my specific questions & giving me quick, sparse answers! Frustrating because I would've liked a bit of help. I wasn't asking them to book my trip.
Two things on this subject/problem:
1. My questions were answered by the amazing people with vast information on various topics on the DIS Boards!! Sometimes by PM, sometimes just by asking my question in the proper area.
2. I personally feel like some of the questions we're asking could be answered by a more organized IPO for all of the deluxe resorts.
For instance, many ppl have asked questions about sending items to a resort..wouldn't it be better to e-mail us with a link to the answer to our question? I think if they spent time working on links to the most asked questions, it would be great.
Obviously, we sometimes ask our own questions on topics not applicable to everyone. I feel if they were able to work on just those questions, we'd get more thorough answers..
I don't know.. Just a suggestion..It is very frustrating to get e-mails that are so lacking.
Any other suggestions from anyone?

My best suggestion is to call. I try to call between early afternoon EST and an hour before they close. The mornings seem to be very busy at the IPOs.

On rare occasions, I'll follow up after the call with a friendly email, thanking them for helping me with xyz issue, especially if it's a bit complicated.

 

[Mousemommy1]

My best suggestion is to call. I try to call between early afternoon EST and an hour before they close. The mornings seem to be very busy at the IPOs.

On rare occasions, I'll follow up after the call with a friendly email, thanking them for helping me with xyz issue, especially if it's a bit complicated.

I agree with this. Sometimes it is just easier to call. Then you get your issue resolved immediately instead of sitting there waiting for an email response.

 

[Maxie86]

Just wanted to update my post about not hearing from IPO first since the dark ages of snail mail, and that is with 2-3 CL stays a year for at least the last 10 years. I booked BWI over the weekend for September and got an email from IPO yesterday. Maybe they read my post. No form to fill out just an itinerary with the ADR's I booked. It said to contact them with my arrival time and any requests. I will probably email them with my arrival time so I have a better chance of having the room ready when we arrive, although most of the time we get a room right away even as early as 7 AM.

I agree with OP's that say to call them with questions. I have called them in the past and always found them very helpful. I'll try emailing them this time since there is nothing I need them to do to see what response I get. This is my first contact with the BWI, YC/BC IPO even though we have stayed several times at the YC. I am curious now to see what kind of email response I get.

 

[TJA]

Add me to the list of having difficulties communicating via email with IPO. I just posted on the WL thread. I contacted WL IPO letting them know my approx arrival time and room requests. They proceeded to send me a reply telling me they have a different arrival date than I do. They told me in 2 separate emails to call Disney reservations to verify my dates in the system. Long story short, I lost a lot of time by calling Disney reservations myself and yes the dates are indeed correct in the system. Disney CM told me that IPO can easily verify my dates in the system, which really makes me wonder why IPO didn't do that in the first place. I ended up calling IPO back and the CM said that their header is wrong but after pulling up my reservation she could see its all correct! It took her 3 seconds to check it -- wish they would've just taken those 3 seconds in the first place!

 

[gwynne]

Add me to the list of having difficulties communicating via email with IPO. I just posted on the WL thread. I contacted WL IPO letting them know my approx arrival time and room requests. They proceeded to send me a reply telling me they have a different arrival date than I do. They told me in 2 separate emails to call Disney reservations to verify my dates in the system. Long story short, I lost a lot of time by calling Disney reservations myself and yes the dates are indeed correct in the system. Disney CM told me that IPO can easily verify my dates in the system, which really makes me wonder why IPO didn't do that in the first place. I ended up calling IPO back and the CM said that their header is wrong but after pulling up my reservation she could see its all correct! It took her 3 seconds to check it -- wish they would've just taken those 3 seconds in the first place!

That must have been so frustrating! It's so much easier to call. Things that are either complicated, or really specific-like number errors/concerns-I think are nearly always best handled by phone.

It's just too easy for one party to think they understand what the issue is, when they really don't have the big picture. Instant verbal feedback corrects that.

The good thing is, they don't mind calls at all. We need to keep spreading the word.

 

[bluejasmine]

As many times as we have stayed CL I've never had them do my ADRs unless I'm changing one while at WDW.

My question is: can Poly IPO add an anniversary note to all the ADRs I made? I arrive in 2 weeks & emailed yesterday asking them if they could note each ADR. I haven't heard back yet hopefully I will tomorrow they have been so good in the past with returning emails.

Second question: have a limo coming to pick
Us up to bring us to dinner at Flying Fish, is there any reason I need to let Poly Ipo know they will be coming?

 

[goofy4prez]

As many times as we have stayed CL I've never had them do my ADRs unless I'm changing one while at WDW.

I also have never had CL do any of my ADRs either. That is about to change though this year. While I am in WDW in Nov/Dec, my 180 day window opens up for our June trip. I don't feel like being on the phone for 30 or more minutes while on vacation and with how slow the website is, I'm thinking I will have to place my trust in the IPO to make those for me.