Convince me to stay concierge?

[Mr. Baloo]

OK, not looking for a fight here, and Lord knows I like to live large while on vacation as we have spent money on several all-inclusive vacations where the resort was very plush. But for a vacation where you do not spend much time in the resort, What was it that made the expense worth it for you.

Thanks for your replies.

 

[Bob P]

Hi,

If you do a search you'll find many threads on this topic. Here is a recent one:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1611171&referrerid=&highlight=concierge

 

[micmacmissy]

Here's what made the decision for us to do concierge:

Party of 5 adults, and 4 kids aged 9, 7, 3, and 1. So easy to grab a quick breakfast right there, and bring it to our room on trays without wasting 1 1/2 at a sit down restaurant with 9 people. This enabled us to get out the door early in the morning and hit the parks.

Easy access to milk, fruit, cereal, snacks, etc, for two little kids in the afternoon. Enough food to feed them an early dinner so they wouldn't be starving at the restaurant.

Now the kids are older--our next visit will NOT be concierge. They were of NO help with planning, reservations, etc. (Our visit was GF Sugar Loaf.)

 

[minniesota]

I got every ADR I wanted without spending a minute on the phone. We got an Illuminations cruise and a Wishes cruise without getting up at an ungodly hour. Got a fantastic castle vew room. Had food and beverages available to us at virtually all hours we were awake! Had someone running interference for us at the restaurant and marina when our schedules got out of whack. Had the best service and friendliest CMs we came in contact with all week. Felt pampered at a theme park! My husband was happy as a clam! Painless and priceless!

 

[kimberh]

I'm interested too. especially in AKL Concierge

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

We chose to stay CL with a little one because we didnt want to fight the crowds at breakfast, we always had snacks on hand and milk, the latte machine was worth the cost alone. They are fantastic. My husband enjoyed all kinds of African wine every evening. The sunrise safari was our anniversary treat and you can only book this if staying CL at AKL. I found the money to be well spent and we are staying CL again this year at WL. It makes it a bit more magical in my mind. Another plus is having them make your ADR's. One email took care of everything not hours on the phone. They also arranged our anniversary surprise and my sisters birthday cake. I loved every minute of staying CL.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

My parents and I always stay Club Level because we think it makes our time at WDW more relaxing.

 

[frdeb1999]

We always stay club level. The breakfast is a great thing to not have to rush through. You can take it back to your room even. They have so many options during day and evening as far as food if your like my family in most cases we don't even bother eating supper as there is so much to choose from. The service is beyond wonderful and all you have to do is call and they make it happen. Have never been turned down and it's wonderful not to have to do it yourself. If your kids are like mine and love soda, water, juice and snacks....it speaks for itself. So much easier to do this then buy there or bring with you. Call me spoiled....but I work too hard all year not to splurge and be spoiled when vacation hits!! We love it!

 

[klmall]

You mention that you are not resort people but depending upon when you go or which resort you choose to stay at you might be surprised. Last October, we found ourselves spending more time at the WL itself especially because of the Old Faithful Club lounge areas and offerings. We really enjoyed the late afternoon refreshments (wine, beer, snacks) and in the AM it's nice to have extra space to spread out in when someone is getting ready back in the room.

We're especially looking forward to the refuge of the CR's Atrium Club when we go down this December. When the parks get crowded or we become exhausted we'll have the extra concierge services to help us out without doing it all ourselves. Yes, we're spoiling ourselves but it will make our vacation much smoother.

 

[micmacmissy]

I got every ADR I wanted without spending a minute on the phone. We got an Illuminations cruise and a Wishes cruise without getting up at an ungodly hour. Got a fantastic castle vew room. Had food and beverages available to us at virtually all hours we were awake! Had someone running interference for us at the restaurant and marina when our schedules got out of whack. Had the best service and friendliest CMs we came in contact with all week. Felt pampered at a theme park! My husband was happy as a clam! Painless and priceless!

Wondering where you stayed? The concierge staff at GF could not be bothered... we asked for one special request (Disney ears with kids names in the rooms prior to check in) and they couldn't even manage that, despite my calling 2 weeks prior and giving them my credit card #. The customer service at GF was lacking, at best.

 

[Markstudy]

I was thinking about trying it for the 1st time on next trip.
But I'm not sure if its a good deal for me?

I plan everything way in advance, and have my ADR's, shows, and seats way in advance.... so I don't see myself taking advantage of last minute planning that people mention?

We get too much food on the dining plan. I'm thinking about doning the delux dining plan next and that will be way too much food.

Only advantage I see is better view (which I do really enjoy) seems that they save the higher floors for concierge, and you don't have to worry about your water view turning into a pool view (I don't call that a water view)

Can someone help explain if I'm missing something? I might do it just for the view...as I spend a lot of time looking at the view, while wife takes an hour to get ready for diner

 

[DisneyLover75]

subscribing

 

[uva185]

I usually book trips less than 30 days out. I can't commit to anything further out than that. Concierge has been the ticket to getting those hard to get reservations. One trip last January I booked 2-3 weeks out. I wanted to get reservations for 4 people to have Breakfast at Cinderellas castle between 9-10am. I emailed the concierge my request with my CC info and later that day my reservation for breakfast had been confirmed for 9:00am. Prior to requesting it through the concierge I called directly and was told there was no availability (no surprise there). The "food" offerings make a nice snack but I never made a meal out of them. It was nice quite nice to grab a drink on the way back to the room though

The most notable difference was upon check in. When we arrived out front the bellhop came to assist with my luggage and someone got our name before we entered the building, cross checked it with a list of concierge guests and quickly escorted us upstairs to the concierge level for a private check in at the concierge desk. You will sit down and go over your trip and they will make any other reservations you need at that time.

It was very nice and I would stay on the concierge level again. However if I planned trips 1 year out like many do on this board and had the time to make reservations in advance I would be less inclined to pay extra for concierge especially since I do not eat a lot of the food they provide. I do miss the free drinks through. When I don't stay on the concierge level I convince myself it is okay to practically empty the mini bar since I am not paying as much for the room. Whether or not the cost of a regular room + alcohol is less than a concierge room is debatable

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

This past August while I was on the Atrium Club floor at the Contemporary I was purchasing a one day pass that I had planned to use right away, because I was going to the Magic Kingdom with a friend. Anyway the Cast Member who I was dealing with was able to get me an after 4:00 PM convention ticket for half price, since I was purchasing this around 5:00 PM. I did not know these tickets were available so when I was told this it was surprising but in a good way. I am not saying this would happen to anyone staying on Club Level floors, but if I were to purchase the ticket in the lobby Concierge I never would have got this amazing deal.

 

[Dis Ohana]

I've only ever stayed at the Grand Californian concierge level rooms at Disneyland, but I can tell you what made me decide to book it for our upcoming DW trip.
I love having an extra room that we can go hang out at and have some coffee and a snack. Even if you're not resort people, after a long day in the parks you will probably appreciate some downtime. I've spent a lot of time with my daughter in the GCH lounge while the boys watched football in the room (we always go in Dec.), that alone was worth it!
We had breakfast in the lounge every day, for the 4 of us it was a lot of money saved. We were also able to hit the parks immediately after leaving the hotel, no stopping for food along the way. We drink a lot of water, we were able to grab individual bottles of water for our room and to take to the park every day.

The one huge advantage I see that Disney World has over any Disneyland hotel is that there is the IPO to help you make arrangements. At DLH and GCH we had no contact with anyone from the hotel until we checked in, and even then the service was pretty much nonexistant. I have received so much help from the CM's that work in IPO at WDW, especially the nice people at the AKL. Even if you make all your own ADR's, as I did, they will still help you if you need to make changes or have questions about a restaurant.

Have a wonderful vacation.

 

[minniesota]

Wondering where you stayed? The concierge staff at GF could not be bothered... we asked for one special request (Disney ears with kids names in the rooms prior to check in) and they couldn't even manage that, despite my calling 2 weeks prior and giving them my credit card #. The customer service at GF was lacking, at best.

We stayed in RPC and the IPO and on-site staff were the best we've ever encountered. Things we received and never asked for: upgraded to RPC our first night (we changed our plans and couldn't get RPC rooms through CRO but when we arrived, the CM was waiting for us outside and upon hearing we were running late for an ADR, he whisked us right up to our room and checked us in quickly. They called the restaurant and told them we'd be late and to hold our table!) We had a beautiful balloon bouquet and character card sent to the room for my sister's birthday. We added to and changed our ADRs several times and they made all the changes, with a smile. The 3rd floor CMs visited with us just to chat about Disney, the resort, etc. The lounge CMs asked us several times if they could get us anything, bring anything else out, etc.

I will tell you we went out of our way to greet all of the CMs and engage them in conversation. We always cleared our table in the lounge, placing dirty dishes on the cart. (My kids don't get a pass just because we are staying concierge.) We brought the staff a small gift from home which they really seemed to appreciate. By the end of the week, we flet as though we'd made some great new friends.

Sorry they didn't come through for you - that is disappointing, I'm sure.