Concierge/club level-which and why?

[farah]

We have done a value, a moderate and now looking at a Deluxe. I have read some threads about Concierge and Club level. For those that have done CL, please help me out.
1- Which one
2- Why
3-is the extra $$ worth it.

We are a family if 4
Thanks!!

 

[Mousemommy1]

We have only stayed at 2 CL's so far at the WL and YC. We will be trying CL at GF next year.

That being said:

1- Wilderness Lodge!
2- Because everything about it was fantastic...our room, our view, the CL staff, the food. Simply top notch.
3- OK. The million dollar question..."is it worth it?"...

Short answer: I guess we think it's worth it, because we keep booking it. The only reason...because we really like it.

Long answer: We are also a family of four, two adults, two children. DH and I love several things about CL
-the extra level of that Disney service - the CM's really go above and beyond.
-knowing where our room will be...typically CL's are on a particular floor or in a particular building. These floors and buildings are secure and only accessible via CL KTTW card.
-we are not huge breakfast people so the continental breakfast provided (cereals, pastries, fruits, bagels....sometimes hard boiled eggs) are perfect for our family, and it's so convenient to go down the hall and grab something before heading out to the parks, instead of waiting in line at a quick service place
-we do enjoy access to beers, beverages, and fresh fruit for our kids. We tend to spend a good amount of time at the resort, so having that stuff right the is awesome.
-we love turndown service. Getting fresh towels at the end of the day is nice!
-we like having the extra space to hang out in, besides our room
-the hot appetizers at night often provide the perfect amount of food, because we tend to eat a bigger lunch and then snack in the evening.
-we like that with IPO, we have direct contact with people in our planning process. I love being able to call IPO with a question and get a person, not an automated system.
-we do feel pampered on CL. We do not live all luxurious in our everyday life. We have a modest home, modest cars and so we like to go all out on vacation.

Ok, so now that I've babbled, if any of those things sound good to you, than CL might be worth it to you.

One other thing to consider is the cost. It's quite a per night price hike from a regular room to CL. We booked our 2012, 2013, and upcoming 2014 CL trips all with a 40% discount. So we are paying even well below a standard room rack rate and getting CL. At that price point, it's worth it to us. I don't think we would do it without a significant discount though.

DH and I have the worth it debate after each of our stays, but always decide to book CL again because we greatly enjoy the experience. Our girls do too!

So, after that long winded response, good luck deciding!!!

 

[jperrot1]

First I'd like to suggest that since you haven't stayed at a deluxe yet, staying at deluxe club level will blow you away. It is the ultimate in pampering and as magical as you can get. Now, I have only stayed at the Poly club level, so I can't speak of the others, but from what I read all club level at Disney are very magical.

Now, upgrading to club level (with a good discount) is around $100 per night, I believe. For my wife and one son (8 years old) it is worth the upgrade in price. This is for several reasons. At the Poly you can request a building, but requests are not guaranteed. But when you book a CL room you know you will be in the Hawaii building, and it is a great location, right next to the main pool, and super close the the Ceremonial Hall (main building with monorail access). Also, the CL building is secure as a room key is needed to enter. I feel like Disney only allows the best of the best cast members to work in this building. You have your own concierge staff in the building, and there is something extremely special about these folks. They are so good at what they do it isn't funny. I have gone and asked for assistance from concierge in many different resorts and I can say I have experienced many different levels of skill. No one, NO ONE, does this job as well as the concierge in Disney club level. The club lounge is awesome! There's always something to drink or snack on. And you have a great view of the castle while sitting in the lounge.

Now there's only one thing about staying at club level I don't like. That would be that once you stay club level, you'll always want to stay club level. And, that can cost a lot of money.

 

[Dis703]

We have only done BC CL and we loved it! Mostly we loved the lounge and because we had a room practically next to it we used it all the time. I even went in there after the kids were in bed to unwind with a hot chocolate every night. We grabbed drinks on our way out and had breakfast every morning. Stopped in on the way in or out and naptime and usually there for desserts as well. I'm not a drinker but DH loved to grab a beer right there to sit on the balcony with in the evening.

As for worth that is so variable. For us we were a party of 6 so once you add up breakfast for 3 adults and 3 kids (although only partial breakfast cause of kids food allergies), drinks all day, beer at night, desserts and apps yes it was absolutely worth it for us. Our cost difference at that time was only $80 a day though and I've heard it can be more in the $150 range too.

I never used the IPO but some people like that option. Me I like the search for ADRs and stuff. And I don't get the turn down service. Not sure what the point is. But it was nice to have the CMs right there much of the day to handle little issues for us. And the staff was always really nice and helpful.

 

[farah]

Thank you for your responses. We would really love that extra magic. We are in the "thinking" phase and we would love to be in one of the monorail resorts. Thanks!!

 

[mickeynut1]

We have done a value, a moderate and now looking at a Deluxe. I have read some threads about Concierge and Club level. For those that have done CL, please help me out.
1- Which one
2- Why
3-is the extra $$ worth it.

We are a family if 4
Thanks!!

We've stayed WL CL, GF SL, and GF RPC and of the 3, GF RPC is my favorite, with WL CL running a very close second (I didn't care for GF SL). We don't stay CL every trip, but when we do, we do it mostly for the lounge. We love having someplace else to go and relax other than in our room or around the resort. The food offerings are a nice perk, but that's not our main reason for staying CL. Worth is subjective as it's different for everyone, but for us, CL is worth the extra cost as we like being pampered. I have never used IPO as I like to make my own ADRs and plan any extra things myself, but it is great to have someone there to answer questions and help with any arrangements you might want/need to make. With that said, if GF RPC is doable, I would definitely go with that; otherwise, I have read great things about Poly CL recently (which we are trying in December, along with CR CL). Good luck deciding and happy planning.