Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[GADisneyDad14]

Like any neurotic planner, I've been listening to podcasts and YouTube videos to help prepare for my family's first time to Disney World and our first stay at the Poly (CL Theme Park View AAHHH EXCITED) and one of the podcasts (Main Street Magic) just did their trip report on Poly CL and kind of ripped it apart. They slammed the cast members, the service, the availability of food, the food offerings themselves, the lack of seating at 7am (she said people were sitting on the floor eating), the fact that drinks weren't readily available and the overall lack of value for the money spent.

I've read mostly good things, in this forum in particular, from repeat stays with consistent reviews but I'm not sure how recent those stays were, so this is kind of worrying me - has anyone seen issues with what they mentioned as far as service issues (she mentioned she sat at a table and watched cast members asking other guests what they wanted to drink and not asking her), going at 5pm and having to stand because there are no seats available, having to ask for soda, and water, overcooked and under seasoned "dinner" items and "bad" breakfast items?? They basically said, save your money, and bring your own bagels, beer and wine - it's the same thing as Club Level at Poly and they would not recommend it. Has anything started to slip?? Is this the case?? Give it to me straight guys (even though I want to secretly be reassured ) are we walking into a bad CL experience?

We just spent a week at Poly CL. We’ve had a few trips there per year since 2013 or 2014, and we’ve stayed at all of the others over that time as well.

With nearly every CL, with the exception of maybe WL, AKL, and maybe GF RPC, spend enough time in the lounges and you will inevitably find a moment where things get crowded and tables are hard to come by. Is it like that all of the time? No. Does it happen? Yes. At Poly, breakfasts can be busy, but it tends to ebb and flow. In the evenings - especially if the pool is closed for storms - you’ll see the lounge crowd swell. There are other moments over the course of the day where the lounge is just about the most peaceful place in all of WDW with arguably the best view of any lounge. If I’m not mistaken Poly CL has the largest guest room count of the other CLs, so you have that as well.

But I could say the same thing for many others as well. BWI CL is nearly universally praised around here, but the one time we stayed there (Feb 2018) we experienced quite crowded lounge conditions over a few services - one evening we couldn’t find a spot at all and DW and I walked back to our rooms somewhat put out at the whole thing. I know it’s not like that all of the time, we just happened to hit a bad moment.

I personally love Poly CL. Does it have flaws like they all do, yup. Most of it is what you make of it and what you want our of a CL and/or resort experience.

I can’t speak for podcast reviews of resorts - not my cup of tea to watch them. I find people on sites like this more knowledgeable and more of a similar mindset to WDW resort expectations, or at least they provide enough info for me to be able to judge if I might see things the same way.

Plus at the end of the day it’s all so subjective anyway. It may or may not suit you, but hard to really know until you experience it personally.

Anyways, happy to answer any questions about Poly CL or our recent stay. You must have picked Poly and Poly CL initially for a reason. Unless you’ve come to the conclusion that Poly just isn’t the resort for you, I’d stay the course.

 

[TJA]

Yes there is one YC Club Level room without a balcony, room 5163. It has a bank of windows on the side with a dormer room section. It is / was a victim of roof architecture.

Dave

View attachment 421719

Very interesting info!

I was the one who just had that room last weekend (I posted pics in this thread on page 1206).
We didn't mind not having a balcony, but I'll admit I was surprised when we walked in the room. Nowadays we don't use a balcony like we used to when the kids were younger, so we were fine without it. It helped that the view was pretty darn good for Standard!

 

[TJA]

Does the dormer room section make the room feel smaller?

I just stayed in that room last weekend. The room actually felt more spacious to us in the daybed and corner area versus the room we had a few weeks ago that did have a balcony. I posted a review and pics on page 1206 in this thread, but here is a pic of the inside of the room. It has another set of windows above where you see our luggage.

 

[trishadono]

Continuation of Review of Royal Palm Club at Grand Floridian

One of the first things that occurred to me when we got to RPC was that I had not seen many pictures of the actual lounge area. During our week (July 13 - 20), the lounge was very crowded which made getting pictures of the food layout really awkward / difficult. So, I popped into the lounge area one evening around midnight and during a few quieter afternoons to grab some pics of the empty space.

The RPC lounge occupies space on three separate floors. As you walk into the front entrance of the GF, just look down the length of the lobby and up to your left...you will see the lounge area on floors 3, 4, and 5. One day I went up to the 5th floor and stood on the right side of the building (opposite the lounge area, sort of over the grand staircase). Here is the picture I took from there of the third, fourth and fifth floors. You will see the CL check-in desks on floor 3, the main food lounge on floor 4, and additional seating on floor 5:

View attachment 421742


The rest of the pictures in this post are from the 3rd floor. We found this floor to be a hidden gem. It was almost always empty and had a few nice large game tables. If you were there the same week as us, you probably saw me, my husband, and our two teenagers playing "Banana-grams" in this space every day during the afternoon thunderstorms!

As you get off the (very slow hydraulic) elevators onto the 3rd floor, you will immediately be facing the two CL check-in desks:

View attachment 421745


Behind the desks, right next to the elevator bank and staircase to the fourth floor, you will find a nice water station that is out all day:
View attachment 421746


If you are sitting at the check-in desks and you look to your left, you will find a nice comfy seating area:
View attachment 421747


Beyond the seating area and against the windows are the wonderful game tables I mentioned earlier. You can see the pool view out the window:
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There is also a beautiful patio that you can enjoy. It looks out over the Poly:
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There is also an identical patio on the other side of the 3rd floor (by the hotel front entrance).

So, that's the basic gist of the 3rd floor...we thought the ambiance in this area was quiet, pretty, bright and calming.

I'll be back with some 4th floor pictures after I make dinner!

I am like a child when at RPC, I wander all the floors and explore.

I like the 5th floor. The views are amazing! My mom loved that large outdoor balcony. She would sit out there for hours.

Thx for the pix!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

With nearly every CL, with the exception of maybe WL, AKL, and maybe GF RPC, spend enough time in the lounges and you will inevitably find a moment where things get crowded and tables are hard to come by. Is it like that all of the time? No. Does it happen? Yes.

We call it "WDW rush hour."

If you think about it, well, most days 3 of the 4 parks open at 9am, so a significant portion of folks aim to arrive roughly about 9am. The same thing also happens at all the WDW food courts.

The other CL rush hour runs roughly 5pm to about 6:15pm, because people want first dibs on the evening appetizers.

Mid-day, the CL's don't have much food and folks tend to be off using FP, so those hours also tend to be quiet.

 

[Sweetpeamd]

Quick question about the Tower Club at the Contemporary - do people tend to wear casual park clothes in the lounge in the evenings or do they tend to dress up a little? We typically don't bring nicer clothes to wear to the lounge for other resorts but we haven't stayed at the Tower Club before.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Quick question about the Tower Club at the Contemporary - do people tend to wear casual park clothes in the lounge in the evenings or do they tend to dress up a little? We typically don't bring nicer clothes to wear to the lounge for other resorts but we haven't stayed at the Tower Club before.

No need for any different dress at Tower Club than any other resort or CL lounge. Park clothes and such are fine. Just because it’s often quieter up there and serves a much smaller number of guests (unless each suite is packed to the gills), it’s not ‘need-to-dress-up’ fancy or anything other than a normal CL lounge.

Hope you enjoy your stay there.

 

[Sweetpeamd]

No need for any different dress at Tower Club than any other resort or CL lounge. Park clothes and such are fine. Just because it’s often quieter up there and serves a much smaller number of guests (unless each suite is packed to the gills), it’s not ‘need-to-dress-up’ fancy or anything other than a normal CL lounge.

Hope you enjoy your stay there.

Thank you so much for the quick reply! We’re looking forward to our stay.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Quick question about the Tower Club at the Contemporary - do people tend to wear casual park clothes in the lounge in the evenings or do they tend to dress up a little?

If anything, you'll actually see fewer folks up there than you would on Atrium level. You might have it nearly to yourself at times.

I should add, that floor is mostly suites, and CR is a convention hotel. It is entirely possible you'll be sharing the floor with some folks who are there for work/convention. So, yes, it is possible some folks will be dressed for work events. We've also seen folks sipping wine before dinner at Cali Grill or GF.

In my limited experience there, I suspect most folks staying in the large suites bring food to the table in their room over eating in the lounge. I would!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

@CT Disney - I was just catching up on recent posts. Your RPC photos are beautiful, thank you for taking the time to share.

 

[fairygagamother]

Like any neurotic planner, I've been listening to podcasts and YouTube videos to help prepare for my family's first time to Disney World and our first stay at the Poly (CL Theme Park View AAHHH EXCITED) and one of the podcasts (Main Street Magic) just did their trip report on Poly CL and kind of ripped it apart. They slammed the cast members, the service, the availability of food, the food offerings themselves, the lack of seating at 7am (she said people were sitting on the floor eating), the fact that drinks weren't readily available and the overall lack of value for the money spent.

I've read mostly good things, in this forum in particular, from repeat stays with consistent reviews but I'm not sure how recent those stays were, so this is kind of worrying me - has anyone seen issues with what they mentioned as far as service issues (she mentioned she sat at a table and watched cast members asking other guests what they wanted to drink and not asking her), going at 5pm and having to stand because there are no seats available, having to ask for soda, and water, overcooked and under seasoned "dinner" items and "bad" breakfast items?? They basically said, save your money, and bring your own bagels, beer and wine - it's the same thing as Club Level at Poly and they would not recommend it. Has anything started to slip?? Is this the case?? Give it to me straight guys (even though I want to secretly be reassured ) are we walking into a bad CL experience?

We are at Poly right now. The lounge is crowded right at 7:00 am & then again at 5:00. But if you wait just a little bit, tables will open up. There is also seating on the third floor level. The food has been replenished constantly so there’s no chance of missing anything if you wait awhile. All the CMs are friendly & helpful, unlike a few were years ago. Some of those were downright intimidating!
I was happy to see the addition of kid friendly foods as well.
The plates are mini sized, which is a little annoying. Not so much for guests, but I would think it makes more work for the CMs. Anyway, don’t let the bad reviews scare you! I think you’ll love it here!

 

[ColoradoMom12]

The lounge is crowded right at 7:00 am

That made me laugh a little bit. My daughter and I just returned from a split stay. I was there at BC every morning literally waiting for them to open the lounge, which, frustratingly, was not right at 7! I was usually only one of about two to three other guests waiting for the lounge to open, though. It probably got busy there, too, after too long, but my daughter and I prefer to eat breakfast on our balcony so we didn’t stick around to crowd watch.

I’ve observed the 5:00 rush at just about every CL with the exception of the Tower Club. It could have been there weren’t many guests staying there when we were.

 

[Simba's Girl]

That made me laugh a little bit. My daughter and I just returned from a split stay. I was there at BC every morning literally waiting for them to open the lounge, which, frustratingly, was not right at 7! I was usually only one of about two to three other guests waiting for the lounge to open, though. It probably got busy there, too, after too long,

My family had the same experience there during Marathon Weekend 2018. In fact it never really seemed crowded at BC the times we were at the lounge.

 

[Nikki0401]

That made me laugh a little bit. My daughter and I just returned from a split stay. I was there at BC every morning literally waiting for them to open the lounge, which, frustratingly, was not right at 7! I was usually only one of about two to three other guests waiting for the lounge to open, though. It probably got busy there, too, after too long, but my daughter and I prefer to eat breakfast on our balcony so we didn’t stick around to crowd watch.

I’ve observed the 5:00 rush at just about every CL with the exception of the Tower Club. It could have been there weren’t many guests staying there when we were.

Quick question, we will be staying Beach Club Club Level for the first time next week, can you get into the lounge before 7 for coffee?

 

[Wood Nymph]

Quick question, we will be staying Beach Club Club Level for the first time next week, can you get into the lounge before 7 for coffee?

We were there in February and they had coffee available before 7am.

 

[Runnsally]

That made me laugh a little bit. My daughter and I just returned from a split stay. I was there at BC every morning literally waiting for them to open the lounge, which, frustratingly, was not right at 7! I was usually only one of about two to three other guests waiting for the lounge to open, though. It probably got busy there, too, after too long, but my daughter and I prefer to eat breakfast on our balcony so we didn’t stick around to crowd watch.

I’ve observed the 5:00 rush at just about every CL with the exception of the Tower Club. It could have been there weren’t many guests staying there when we were.

How were the BC 5p offerings? Excited for a stay at the end of the month.

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

 

[mickeynut1]

Thank you so much for the quick reply! We’re looking forward to our stay.

Hope you have a great trip .

We are at Poly right now.

Love Poly CL! Hope you're having a great time .

 

[LNMom]

I was wondering about DSS too. I booked Poly CL a couple of weeks ago and have heard nothing. I know from reading on here that their service can be spotty.

I have stayed CL almost 20 times in every one except AKL, and all I have ever heard from IPO and then DSS ahead of time was one post card in the mail for one of the stays . I wouldn’t even know that they do contact anyone if not for these boards! It really doesn’t matter, and I’m sure it is just random or some computer issue, but sometimes it’s difficult not to be annoyed or take it personally after reading what some other people get . They really should get their act together and treat every reservation the same, at least have consistency within each resort, but I don’t see that ever happening.

I received a call about 4 days after I booked. It's my first time CL.

 

[tinabina919]

I’ve always felt a bit strange brining food or even drinks from the lounge back to our room, especially last trip at AKL when it involved an elevator ride.

Is it really not frowned upon??