Concierge/Club Level Information- Part IV, July 2012

[sarmat1]

Not to sound like a lush, but can you get alcohol at any time? I know beer/wine are put out at a certain time (maybe late afternoon?), but can you ask the CM's for wine earlier, for example to take down to SAB? Also, how about the cordials put out with desserts - can you get them earlier? Staying at YC if it makes a difference which CL.

 

[Dominion]

I didn't get an email from them until later but I hot everything. I checked my cc and saw there were charges and knew they were working on them (I was concerned too.) As long as they confirmed they got your requests and cc I wouldn't worry.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I checked the credit card and saw that they were working on them and had already booked the charge for CRT. So I could stop stressing except when I saw that charge for 10 people to eat there. After I took the kiddos to school, I checked MDE online and the reservations are all there as well.

So worth it to use the IPO!!

 

[mickeynut1]

Looking for a few tips(and yes I did read the first two pages). Last night my wife booked us a week at the GF CL. This is the first time we have ever stayed at CL. I keep reading about contacting the IPO to make reservations for dining and other additional activities. My concern is everyone says do it all before the 180 day mark......since we just booked last night, we are only a month away from going. Will I still be able to book diner reservations? What are the "TO DO's" while staying at the GF CL!!??

TIA!

Yes, you can still book ADRs, but you may have to be flexible with your restaurants/times if you want any of the more popular places (although that's not to say you won't be able to get what you want).

The GF has two club levels, Royal Palm Club (RPC) which is in the main building; and Sugarloaf (SL), which is outer building CL. Which one are you staying? If you are staying RPC, it's nice to sit in the lounge listening to the band play in the lobby below. I also like heading to the lounge early in the morning and have my coffee while looking out at the courtyard pool watching the resort "wake up".

 

[francie]

hi, for anyone who's stay on bwi club level, do the rooms still have the "newly refurbished" look? I know it's been a few years now since they've been done. tia

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

I agree. We stay CL more for the lounge and having a nice place to relax other than in our room or other places around the resort. The food offerings are nice, but that's not the reason we stay CL. Plus we grab a snack/drink more often than eat a lot of the hot items offered during the 5-7 time frame.



The cookies are probably my favorite thing about the CL offerings .

That is the #1 reason we do it! It is so nice to send my boys down there to have a snack and get them out of my hair! We are use to living in a house where everyone has their own room and their own zone to relax in, so when we are cramped up in a hotel room I start to feel insane after the first day! The lounge is like having a suite, but even better because I don't even have to hear them.

TigrL. I really enjoyed your live trip report. Thanks for taking the time to write it. I'm so glad that you guys got to experience the illuminations cruise!

Thanks! We had so much fun!

I have a quick question, we are staying CL for the first time in August, just booked a week ago. So, my question is, can the CL staff help in getting ADRs that are show no availability online? I didn't know if they had any special access to availability. Thanks!

They don't have special availability but they will keep checking. I was just talking to the Poly IPO yesterday about BOG and I'm on their "keep checking" list.

I agree! I felt like I was right there along with you guys! The birthday surprise for your DS was priceless!

I'm still in shock about that surprise!

I agree! A CL stay is way cheaper than a suite or villa. I have a small child and we request a room very close to the club. That way I can put her down for a nap or the night and we can play cards and relax in the club while watching her on the monitor. It gives us a lot more space and we don't have to hide in the bathroom while she is going to sleep. (Priceless)

So true!!!!!! I remember trips where I would sit in the bathroom on my laptop during nap time. No fun at all!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

That's exactly what we usually do. We may schedule one dinner ADR but mostly go for a nice TS lunch which gives us an appreciated break in the day. I find the offerings at BWI CL to be quite substantial--both breakfast and appetizers in the late afternoon. Oh, and occasionally we'll have a late breakfast at Kouzzina--their breakfasts are best on property.

We have never done a TS lunch. My boys are all about the parks and swimming during the day and don't want to stop to eat. We typically eat CS lunch, then hot apps in the lounge, then our nice TS dinners around 7:30 or 8:00 PM. But my kids are older and stay up until midnight. When they were little we couldn't eat that late.

 

[west&east]

checking into BWI CL tomorrow (Wednesday) late afternoon and will try to post some comments asap.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Looking for a few tips(and yes I did read the first two pages). Last night my wife booked us a week at the GF CL. This is the first time we have ever stayed at CL. I keep reading about contacting the IPO to make reservations for dining and other additional activities. My concern is everyone says do it all before the 180 day mark......since we just booked last night, we are only a month away from going. Will I still be able to book diner reservations? What are the "TO DO's" while staying at the GF CL!!??

TIA!

You can do your own dining reservations online probably easier than the IPO can do it since you are only a month out. Typically what I do is first check park hours and try to determine which park we'll be at on which day. Then I'll go into the dining reservations online and just type "Epcot dinner" and see what comes up. Usually there are plenty of things to choose from. Plus you can play around with the times and see everything on your screen at one time instead of the IPO castmember having to ask you and go back and forth. If you have any hard dinner requests (like Be Our Guest or Le Cellier) and they aren't showing any availability online, then I would give those to the IPO and see what they can do. Sometimes they'll will take your list and just keep checking every day for something to pop up.

Which CL are you doing? RPC or Sugar Loaf?

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

checking into BWI CL tomorrow (Wednesday) late afternoon and will try to post some comments asap.

Say "Hi" to Pete for me!

 

[HBGdancermom]

TigrL. I really enjoyed your live trip report. Thanks for taking the time to write it. I'm so glad that you guys got to experience the illuminations cruise!

checking into BWI CL tomorrow (Wednesday) late afternoon and will try to post some comments asap.

Yeah! Travel safe!

 

[abk96]

checking into BWI CL tomorrow (Wednesday) late afternoon and will try to post some comments asap.

Thank you, Thank you!!! And enjoy your trip.

 

[epsmith921]

This may be a stupid question and I'm not sure how to search it so here's hoping someone will be nice enough to just answer:

I see the times of the offerings in the CL lounge, but is the lounge open during other times? Is it 24 hours? Can I run in there and grab a soda before the breakfast setup at 7?

Booked for boardwalk club level in September with a toddler so wanted to find out.

It's no problem if it's 7a - 10p just wanted to check since my husband is a bit of a night owl.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

This may be a stupid question and I'm not sure how to search it so here's hoping someone will be nice enough to just answer:

I see the times of the offerings in the CL lounge, but is the lounge open during other times? Is it 24 hours? Can I run in there and grab a soda before the breakfast setup at 7?

Booked for boardwalk club level in September with a toddler so wanted to find out.

It's no problem if it's 7a - 10p just wanted to check since my husband is a bit of a night owl.

During the middle of the night some of the lounges are open for soft drinks. (I can't say every lounge is open overnight but I know BC and YC both were this past year) Water definitely goes the fastest. Usually we would check for water coming back after the parks closed (midnight or so) and usually it was all gone. That's why we started getting it in the afternoon and storing it in our room fridge for late nights.

 

[epsmith921]

Good to know. Thanks so much!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Also, I forgot to mention, the BWI CL doesn't have a fridge. Their soft drinks are just in a tub of ice and I'm pretty sure they didn't have any overnight. We were there in January. I can't say 100% but I don't remember seeing any.

 

[WDW Obsessed]

Thanks for the advice guys/gals. We will be in the Sugarloaf CL. How much does it differ from the main CL building?

 

[CoolPool]

Officially fallen into the nut bowl. For a few weeks I've been thinking what a waste it was that our vacation only started on a Monday...but our room type wasn't available for the Sunday night before at BC. So tonight I decided to think outside the box and book BWI CL for Sunday night and get the fun going early. How hard can it be to wheel our stuff over to BC on Monday....not very...and it will give us exercise too. So it's a healthy choice. Also I know the summer discount is ending and I wanted to book before it was gone. See you on the Boardwalk!

We are doing BW CL, BC w/dining and CR CL. I think I like the first 3 letters of the alphabet this trip!

 

[Ofinn]

This may be a stupid question and I'm not sure how to search it so here's hoping someone will be nice enough to just answer:

I see the times of the offerings in the CL lounge, but is the lounge open during other times? Is it 24 hours? Can I run in there and grab a soda before the breakfast setup at 7?

Booked for boardwalk club level in September with a toddler so wanted to find out.

It's no problem if it's 7a - 10p just wanted to check since my husband is a bit of a night owl.

It depends on the club level. WL is 7-10. YC and BC stay open, but I do believe they close in the morning to set up for breakfast. Poly stays open 24 hours. You can take sodas back to your room and put them in the fridge.

 

[Ofinn]

checking into BWI CL tomorrow (Wednesday) late afternoon and will try to post some comments asap.

Looking forward to your review.

 

[gwynne]

checking into BWI CL tomorrow (Wednesday) late afternoon and will try to post some comments asap.

Thank you! I am looking forward to reading your comments. Have a wonderful, relaxing vacation!