Concierge/Club Level Information- Part IV, July 2012

[Miss Potts]

I never thought about using the mugs for drink from the lounge! Duh!!! I love disboards... Always teaching me something!

 

[mickeynut1]

The CLs at the YC/BC do lack what the others have.

Only the AKL CL, in my opinion, rates lower, and that is because the CL rooms are 2 floors BELOW the lounge. Really? I was there for the grand opening of the AKL lounge, and for the first 3 years. Stayed there at least 12 times, in all levels of CL rooms and suites.
The deluxe rooms, which were on the 5th floor and ONE floor below, and the true CL rooms were taken away from the CL guests and turned in DVC. Sad move from Disney. They could have kept those for the CL guest, IMO. They had many more food options, every night they had a different chef from Jiko's or Boma preparing a special hot dish.
I write this from doing tons of research for a major Disney publication until my cancer. But, take what I write with a grain of salt.

Have a magical day everyone.

I have read that about CL at BC/YC, which always makes me decide against trying either one. I know everyone's opinion is different and no one will know if a particular CL is for them until they try it for themselves, but it's hard to bite the bullet when reading things like that, especially when rates are getting so crazy .

AKL CL is another CL we want to try, but what you posted is what keeps me from going there, too . We've stayed pool view and savanna view and love the resort, but having the lounge on a different floor (which can be quite a hike to the lounge) isn't too appealing. But AKL CL does get rave reviews. I agree with you that Disney messed up with converting CL rooms to DVC on the CL floor.

mickeynut1~ I do love reading your posts. You offer some of the best advice on all of these threads.

Awww that is so sweet of you to say.....thank you so much . I'm not an expert by any means, but I try to (and hope I do) help others with my experiences.

Question for you about the deluxe queen rooms you posted about above. Do those accommodate 4 people? There are only 4 of us and we do fine in a regular room, but more space is always nice . I've never considered them because I thought they only accommodated 3.

 

[Lulu'sMom]

The deluxe QUEEN rooms in the RPC accommodate 4 people. It's the Deluxe KING RPCs that only accomodate 3.

And as for the AKL CL, yes I know the suites are located on the end of the "fingers", that is the choice of those that book. But, I am talking about regular CLers.
And......these deluxe rooms on the 5th floor also were large enough for FIVE.
This put the AKL CL on the same playing field as RPC and the Poly, at that time.

Thought I would expand on that as alot of DISers do not remember the original floor plan of CL at AKL.

 

[lomillerin]

We are headed to YC Club level on June 18th and reading some of the posts about it not being as good as others concerns me. Anyone with positive remarks? We have stayed at BWI club level and loved it but wanted to try something different. We also thought the pool looked nice.

 

[AliceIn]

We are headed to YC Club level on June 18th and reading some of the posts about it not being as good as others concerns me. Anyone with positive remarks? We have stayed at BWI club level and loved it but wanted to try something different. We also thought the pool looked nice.

Check out the BC/YC thread, there are lots of fans on there:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3108911

 

[polyfor4]

Another hypothetical CL question: If you had to choose between BWI CL (which we love) and Poly CL (we love Poly, but have not stayed CL there yet), which would you choose and why?

I have only stayed at Poly CL so I'm biased but the view from the lounge makes it a clear winner! It's more expensive though and if your family doesn't like the different food offerings, it may not seem like as good of a value. Since you love the poly though I'm sure you would only love the lounge that much more. Wishes piped in and a straight on view of the castle, how could you not love it??

 

[mickeynut1]

The deluxe QUEEN rooms in the RPC accommodate 4 people. It's the Deluxe KING RPCs that only accomodate 3.

Thanks for clarifying .

 

[Lulu'sMom]

One of the first rules of rating a concierge or a club level, is the we had to simply look at the club level ITSELF. NOT he resort.
That can be very difficult.
For example, we looked at the service level from the CMs, food service from all aspects, IPO services, lounge ratings-this entails all kinds of different levels of ratings, and last but not least rooms, which entails the location, ie, floor location, building location, room size and layout, mousekeeping, etc.

We could not rate the CLs for resort amenties, only the CL amenties and services.

That's where people get confused when they ask for opinions on the CLs.
And there are some not so great CLs that are in some great resorts.
That is why people give them rave reviews.

There should be a happy medium and take into consideration the CL as well as the resort. It's your decision as it's your vacation.

 

[Ofinn]

Mickeynut I think Poly is much better than WL. Now is it 75.00-100 dollars a night better? Hmm. I used to think so, but I'm not so sure anymore.

My kids prefer cruising(the ultimate club level) over WDW. Our last 4 trips to WDW have been combined with a cruise. If cost was not a factor I would be at Poly CL every trip. I have found WL to be a nice compromise.

Lulu's mom Thanks for the imput on AKL. I picked it because it is the cheapest club level. The other club levels are out of the budget for this trip. I'm going to give it a try. I'll let you know what I think. We are staying at BW cl after the cruise.

 

[BringingUpDisney]

Today is our 180 days and I got our list of ADR requests in a week ago. So far nothing today. We have no ADRs attached to our reservation and no contact from the IPO - is this typical? I had the impression that they usually get right on it...

 

[gwynne]

Today is our 180 days and I got our list of ADR requests in a week ago. So far nothing today. We have no ADRs attached to our reservation and no contact from the IPO - is this typical? I had the impression that they usually get right on it...

You might want to give them a call and check.

 

[mickeymomtx]

What is a gold key? We are staying Poly CL NEXT month!! Never done the CL thing before. Trying to learn all I can. We are planning to spend extra time at the resort, if I can calm my inner commando.

 

[west&east]

Has anyone stayed in a deluxe room at the BC? I requested a full balcony but I was wondering if I should instead request a room closest to the lounge since I know the rooms are not on the 5th floor. I just don't want the walk from the room to the lounge is a hike! Or are they pretty much spaced out evenly?

We stayed in a Deluxe Room at BC when he had 5 in our group and really appreciated the extra floor space. Our room was on the 4th floor and overlooked the quiet pool. We had a tremendous balcony and could see some of Illuminations. We didn't think the trek to the lounge was a huge factor but that is a personal preference. The first night when we asked for water for the room up at the lounge, somebody actually brought it down to the room for us.

 

[focusondisney]

Today is our 180 days and I got our list of ADR requests in a week ago. So far nothing today. We have no ADRs attached to our reservation and no contact from the IPO - is this typical? I had the impression that they usually get right on it...

Same thing happened to me last week. I kept checking my email from work & nothing. I was sooo upset. Got online as soon as I got home & made a BOG ADR. I was shocked late that night when I checked an old email account to clear it out.

There was the email from YC IPO, sent at 6:30 that morning!! All my reservation info, confirmations, IPO contact had gone thru at my primary email address. I even spoke to IPO 2 days before with my credit card info & they confirmed the correct email. I have no idea how or why they sent that 1 email to the old email. I was eventually able to link everything on the Disney site.

So if you have more than 1 email account, check them all!

 

[focusondisney]

What is a gold key? We are staying Poly CL NEXT month!! Never done the CL thing before. Trying to learn all I can. We are planning to spend extra time at the resort, if I can calm my inner commando.

The little plastic credit card like "key" that opens your hotel door. Most of them are blue, but when you stay on a club level at any resort, your room key is "gold". (Actually more yellow if you ask me! )

 

[BringingUpDisney]

Thank you everyone!

 

[goofy78]

We stayed in a Deluxe Room at BC when he had 5 in our group and really appreciated the extra floor space. Our room was on the 4th floor and overlooked the quiet pool. We had a tremendous balcony and could see some of Illuminations. We didn't think the trek to the lounge was a huge factor but that is a personal preference. The first night when we asked for water for the room up at the lounge, somebody actually brought it down to the room for us.

That room sounds great but I also requested a view of the lake. Not sure if that's a possibility but I'd rather be further away from the lounge and have a view of the lake. Thanks!

 

[west&east]

That room sounds great but I also requested a view of the lake. Not sure if that's a possibility but I'd rather be further away from the lounge and have a view of the lake. Thanks!

I don't know the various locations of the Deluxe rooms but I hope they are able to meet your request! We have enjoyed lake views on our other stays when we had regular CL rooms.
We are staying across the lake at BWI CL for the first time next week!

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

Just want to say "Thank you" to everyone's input. It really helps when try to decided where to stay. We are trying the Poly for the first time and staying CL for the first time in September. This thread has really helped out. So thank you very much everyone

 

[HBGdancermom]

One of the first rules of rating a concierge or a club level, is the we had to simply look at the club level ITSELF. NOT he resort.
That can be very difficult.
For example, we looked at the service level from the CMs, food service from all aspects, IPO services, lounge ratings-this entails all kinds of different levels of ratings, and last but not least rooms, which entails the location, ie, floor location, building location, room size and layout, mousekeeping, etc.

We could not rate the CLs for resort amenties, only the CL amenties and services.

That's where people get confused when they ask for opinions on the CLs.
And there are some not so great CLs that are in some great resorts.
That is why people give them rave reviews.

There should be a happy medium and take into consideration the CL as well as the resort. It's your decision as it's your vacation.

That makes a lot of sense! Thanks for clarifying how people rate CL vs the resort itself!

Today is our 180 days and I got our list of ADR requests in a week ago. So far nothing today. We have no ADRs attached to our reservation and no contact from the IPO - is this typical? I had the impression that they usually get right on it...

Are we supposed to here from them? I am 4 months away and I have heard nothing from ours. I have all my ADRs done so I don't really know what I need them for yet anyway.
Maybe I should give them a call to see if they have us listed? What do you think?

Thanks!