Concierge?

[beckygeez]

This may be a really dumb question, but, what exactly does concierge mean? We have a vacation booked for 3/03 and we are staying at the Polynesian. It's our 10th anniversary and we decided to do a family vacation instead of just me and DH. We all love WDW! But, I'm wondering if the cost is worth it to do it with the concierge service or not. Exactly what do I get for concierge service and does everyone think it's worth it or not? Thanks much!!! Julie

 

[betterlatethannever]

here is a link to Deb Wills site regarding concierge

concierge

Ed

 

[Janet2k]

Julie, I thought I'd give you some info that was taken directly from the WDW website (that link is to the GF webpage):

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Concierge Service:
Some rooms offer concierge service at the Royal Palm Club and Sugar Loaf, which includes personalized front desk and guest services. Make-up mirror, turndown service, and lounge with continental breakfast, midday snacks and afternoon tea are provided by both Concierge levels. Sugar Loaf also provides a Twilight Refresher in the evening. Wine, cordials and dessert are served at the Royal Palm Club only.
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Is it worth the extra money? Yes. And no.

If you plan on asking the concierge to make a majority of your PS reservations, then it might be worth it for the convenience. However, if you like to make all your own reservations, then you really don't need the concierge.

The concierge lounge is a nice place to grab a snack in, but you cannot make a meal out of it nor is that the purpose behind the lounge's food offerings (with the possible exception of the continental breakfast offerings).

Sometimes the concierge rooms are larger than the regular guest rooms, but usually they are identical. Sometimes they have a nicer view, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they are located on an exclusive floor of the resort, and sometimes they're not.

If you really want to experience a concierge stay at least once, then by all means do so. Disney's deluxe resorts all have concierge rooms available for booking. I have stayed in concierge rooms at the GF, the CR, the YC, and the AKL. In my humble opinion, the AKL has the best concierge staff around.

 

[Janet2k]

I see that you are thinking of changing your Poly stay into a concierge one, so I thought I would post what is on the WDW website regarding the Poly resort:

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Concierge Service

Some rooms offer concierge service, which includes personalized front desk and guest services, robes, phone in bath area, data port on phone, coffeemaker (upon request), pantry service (upon request), turndown service, and lounge with continental breakfast, midday snacks, evening hors d'oeuvres, and evening cordials and dessert.
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I have heard such nice things about the Poly concierge. I also have heard that it is a very family friendly resort (I have not stayed there yet myself but plan on doing so during one of my future WDW trips). By the way, happy anniversary!

 

[beckygeez]

Thanks so much Janet2k for your help and for the anniversary wish! We usually make our own reservations so I don't think that would be much of a benefit and I'm thinking since we're at the parks most of the day, the snacks probably wouldn't be an advantage either. I'll wait and see what the price difference is and go from there. I just thought it would be nice to be spoiled! Thanks again.

 

[las3888]

Keep in mind - I'm not sure how it works at Poly, but we just stayed at the WL and were offerred concierge for an extra $35/night upon check-in. That is much cheaper than if you booked it in advance. It is really a crapshoot and not something you could count on, but I have heard others who have received similar offers, or asked about it upon check-in.

FYI...

 

[Janet2k]

Beckygeez, I want to warn you -- once you stay at the Poly in a concierge room, you will get addicted. The Dis boards are full of Poly concierge groupies!

 

[Tess]

I would beg to differ with Janet2K about the evening service, at least at Polynesian concierge.

We do our big meals at lunch for the most part and the late afternoon/evening service is just the right amount of food to carry us for the dinner hour. We go in the summer and tend to eat lighter after a day in the sun.

The afternoon snacks aren't as bountiful as, for example, BC/YC, but the evening service offers a nice variety. Further, most people at the Polynesian are filling plate after plate (with the full encouragement of the concierge lounge staff) in the evening and certainly not treating the food items as "appetizers". The offerings at Polynesian are a bit more substantial than we've had at other concierge services. I did notice this year though that the evening service was more limited than in the past, but still pretty substantial.

Now, if you are "big" eaters, then the service during the dinner hour won't be enough for you. I will say, our 14 y/o boy never went hungry.

Check out the trip reports boards for lots of details--I wrote a trip report this year "Yellow Ponchos & Rain--The Soggy Saga of our 10 Day Trip" which has by now probably fallen to page 3 or 4. Also, Tikiman has his report up and it also contains Polynesian concierge details.

Enjoy the Polynesian whatever you decide.

 

[Kimkimba]

This is our first concierge experience and we are so looking forward to it. My dd (almost 14) loves the idea of being able to go to the lounge and get snacks. My ds (4) and myself are light eaters. My dh and dd eat a lot more, but none of us are big on meat. Not vegetarians, but not fish, seafood, beef, or pork eaters (okay, my daughter, but not the rest of us). I think the lounge will be very useful for us.