Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[Crazyhorse]

Great review. I have to say that all that Magic Band nonsense would have really pushed my buttons...in a negative way

 

[amuse-bouche]

I completely agree with @GADisneyDad14 , while I absolutely understand that the HA rooms are a necessity for some, they are a huge downgrade for those who don't need the HA features and enjoy the typical Disney Deluxe Resort room layout. Not only do you get just one sink, but the sink area is located inside the rest of the bathroom instead of being separated from the toilet/shower area by a door. If more than one person is staying in the room, this completely changes how that space is used. I'm sure that a lot of people are not nearly as picky as I am about hotel rooms, but for me getting an HA room really dampened my trip. Like @GADisneyDad14 , I just wanted to get settled after a long day of traveling and didn't want to make a fuss about the room when it happened to us, but I regretted not asking to move and in the future I will absolutely go right back to the front desk to request reassignment.

 

[Wood Nymph]

The HA room and MagicBand issues - while of course relatively small in the grand scheme of things - did impact our stay. With one exception I don't think we've ever asked to move rooms once one is assigned, but I think if I were to ever get a HA room again at AKL, I would ask to move. DW says she definitely would as 3 days of sharing a sink with me was not her idea of vacation.

We were given a HA room for two nights at the BC and I hated the bathroom layout except for the walk in shower. I loved it.

 

[atkinstogram]

We booked the "Savanna View - King Bed - Club Level Access" room category. We did not submit any room requests.

For those unfamiliar with AKL, CL rooms can either be on the Zebra Trail or Kudu Trail. Our room was on the Kudu Trail around the red star below. For reference the CL lounge is on the 6th floor around the yellow star. The lounge overlooks the beautiful main lobby.

Out of curiosity, do you know how many King Savannah CL rooms there are? I've had a look at the touringplans room finder, but it seems like there may be very very few of them.. There's only me and my boyfriend going, so we like the extra floor space of only having one bed, but on the UK site I wasn't able to book a King specific, so I'm wondering if I should just resign myself to likely having 2 Queens*.

Ultimately, we'll be staying at what I think is the most beautiful hotel in property, so I'm not going to gripe!

*there's a joke in there somewhere..

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Out of curiosity, do you know how many King Savannah CL rooms there are? I've had a look at the touringplans room finder, but it seems like there may be very very few of them.. There's only me and my boyfriend going, so we like the extra floor space of only having one bed, but on the UK site I wasn't able to book a King specific, so I'm wondering if I should just resign myself to likely having 2 Queens*.

Ultimately, we'll be staying at what I think is the most beautiful hotel in property, so I'm not going to gripe!

*there's a joke in there somewhere..

Ha!

Unfortunately I don’t know about the kings. Anything I thought I knew about AKL has been scrambled by the renovations. Hopefully some of the AKL pros can jump in and assist.

 

[atkinstogram]

Ha!

Unfortunately I don’t know about the kings. Anything I thought I knew about AKL has been scrambled by the renovations. Hopefully some of the AKL pros can jump in and assist.

Yea, I thought I had it figured out too. Now, not so much...

 

[GADisneyDad14]

One thing I forgot to mention is that our AKL room was on the third floor. I “thought” all the CL rooms were on the fourth floor, but I guess I was mistaken? Or maybe the King booking category can be anywhere?

 

[vinotinto]

We have been greeted out front for prior AKL stays, but not this time. Checked in down at the front desk and they walked us up / handed us off to CL CMs. Our experiences with the desk CMs at AKL have always been quite positive and my impression is there are several 'regulars' who care greatly about the guest experience, but not in an over the top way.

We had significant MagicBand issues this trip. We normally have a band or two that won't work on a room door at the beginning of each trip - a quick visit to a CM and all is cleared up, no big deal. Our issues this trip migrated around on a daily basis. First wouldn't work for the room.... then it wouldn't work for charging.... then it wouldn't work in the elevator to get to the lounge.... one time DW couldn't get in the park. It was like they'd fix one problem and another problem would pop up... and I'll be honest, it became annoying. While the epitome of an inconsequential problem that really isn't that be a deal, being locked out from being able to get up to the lounge and having to wait at the very long front desk line wasn't all that fun.

We only received turn-down service one night. We also returned around 4:45pm one day to find our room being serviced (kinda late in my book). I am starting to sound really whiny here, I know , but when we got in the room we saw what had to be the worst housekeeping job we've had at WDW. Disheveled towels on the racks, the bed sloppily made, pretty sure the floor had not been swept. It just didn't have that freshly made-up room feeling.

As mentioned above, breakfast at AKL CL is amazing, in my humble opinion. We'd stay here for the CL breakfast alone. Tons of options, abundant variety.

Evening apps were also abundant. They have a chef station prepping/plating (note, not necessarily cooking) two items nightly, plus the wide variety of other items normally available. While CL is almost never a true dinner substitute, definitively more meal-like here than perhaps some other places these days. We've never found the lounge to be particularly crowded - with the buzz of the lobby below and the dimming sunlight outside, evening apps here is a lovely experience.

We were at WDW for the Princess Half runD weekend races - from that perspective AKL was the perfect spot for our adults only trip. Casual, relaxing, good food/beverage - that was why we booked AKL and it fit the bill. It was also convenient enough access to the races each morning.

The HA room and MagicBand issues - while of course relatively small in the grand scheme of things - did impact our stay. With one exception I don't think we've ever asked to move rooms once one is assigned, but I think if I were to ever get a HA room again at AKL, I would ask to move. DW says she definitely would as 3 days of sharing a sink with me was not her idea of vacation.

Anyway - kind of a mixed review I guess. Still love AKL and AKL CL. We will return someday armed with our experiences from this trip.

Happy to answer any questions.

Thanks for the review! I’m curious about your MB issues. As you know, I’ve been on quite the (unsuccessful) journey to decline MBs. My family had issues with MBs too, and it appears it’s tied to having too many MBs in MDE - after a certain number, some of them get associated with opening doors, some with park entrance, some with charging, etc., instead of all MBs being able to do everything.

So, my question is, have you tried calling IT and deleting all but a few MBs? Since they can’t be declined, those of us that go frequently, have a bunch of MBs (someeven that we tried to decline) causing issues.

 

[trishadono]

We have been greeted out front for prior AKL stays, but not this time. Checked in down at the front desk and they walked us up / handed us off to CL CMs. Our experiences with the desk CMs at AKL have always been quite positive and my impression is there are several 'regulars' who care greatly about the guest experience, but not in an over the top way.

We had significant MagicBand issues this trip. We normally have a band or two that won't work on a room door at the beginning of each trip - a quick visit to a CM and all is cleared up, no big deal. Our issues this trip migrated around on a daily basis. First wouldn't work for the room.... then it wouldn't work for charging.... then it wouldn't work in the elevator to get to the lounge.... one time DW couldn't get in the park. It was like they'd fix one problem and another problem would pop up... and I'll be honest, it became annoying. While the epitome of an inconsequential problem that really isn't that be a deal, being locked out from being able to get up to the lounge and having to wait at the very long front desk line wasn't all that fun.

We only received turn-down service one night. We also returned around 4:45pm one day to find our room being serviced (kinda late in my book). I am starting to sound really whiny here, I know , but when we got in the room we saw what had to be the worst housekeeping job we've had at WDW. Disheveled towels on the racks, the bed sloppily made, pretty sure the floor had not been swept. It just didn't have that freshly made-up room feeling.

As mentioned above, breakfast at AKL CL is amazing, in my humble opinion. We'd stay here for the CL breakfast alone. Tons of options, abundant variety.

Evening apps were also abundant. They have a chef station prepping/plating (note, not necessarily cooking) two items nightly, plus the wide variety of other items normally available. While CL is almost never a true dinner substitute, definitively more meal-like here than perhaps some other places these days. We've never found the lounge to be particularly crowded - with the buzz of the lobby below and the dimming sunlight outside, evening apps here is a lovely experience.

We were at WDW for the Princess Half runD weekend races - from that perspective AKL was the perfect spot for our adults only trip. Casual, relaxing, good food/beverage - that was why we booked AKL and it fit the bill. It was also convenient enough access to the races each morning.

The HA room and MagicBand issues - while of course relatively small in the grand scheme of things - did impact our stay. With one exception I don't think we've ever asked to move rooms once one is assigned, but I think if I were to ever get a HA room again at AKL, I would ask to move. DW says she definitely would as 3 days of sharing a sink with me was not her idea of vacation.

Anyway - kind of a mixed review I guess. Still love AKL and AKL CL. We will return someday armed with our experiences from this trip.

Happy to answer any questions.

We were at wdw 2 weeks ago. DD’s bf didn’t know to bring a MB from last trip so I told them when they arrive to ask at check in, I knew they would give a band there.

Well we get up at 5:30 am to head to HS to wait for the time to join our boarding group. We were 3 rows back in the big line for RR/Tot. Yay!

Uh no! Appears bf was not able to join the BG. We dash to a CM and waited 20 full minutes to fix the problem. It said his park ticket wasn’t attached to the MB. Well how did he get in the park then? Meanwhile we watch the masses pass us and fill up all the lines for the rides. We would have been 1st!

Luckly he was able to fix the problem and we all got a BG.

We come back and at 4:15 our group finally called. We wait an hour and get to the part you get to ride and it crashes.

They actually scan our mbs and give us a fast pass for it for that night OR next day and,you skip your line and put where ride starts.

We show up and they give ME a hard time. Nope you don’t have a FP , you must not have been with them or must have missed getting mb scanned.
REALLY??? Me ??? I think I know how this works. I made sure bf got his scanned and was right behind him, was next,

Luckily DD had a screen shot of 3 people in our boarding group. I think they would have refused me otherwise.

Disney IT just keeps getting worse!

oh I had a HA room in Hawaii but did t have any those issues. Only thing I remember is bath was wider so room a few feet shorter.

 

[trishadono]

I ha

Thanks for the review! I’m curious about your MB issues. As you know, I’ve been on quite the (unsuccessful) journey to decline MBs. My family had issues with MBs too, and it appears it’s tied to having too many MBs in MDE - after a certain number, some of them get associated with opening doors, some with park entrance, some with charging, etc., instead of all MBs being able to do everything.

So, my question is, have you tried calling IT and deleting all but a few MBs? Since they can’t be declined, those of us that go frequently, have a bunch of MBs (someeven that we tried to decline) causing issues.

I had mine cleaned out at GF by a cm. However I still have issues. I think having trips with different family members doesn’t help. Seems one of us has a problem each trip.

 

[AngiTN]

I think a majority of king rooms are HA rooms. Goes hand in hand with 1 bed having more room in the room for a wheel chair.

And not surprised they added 3rd floor rooms in some cases. At AKL it likely makes little difference since you are on a different floor no matter what

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Thanks for the review! I’m curious about your MB issues. As you know, I’ve been on quite the (unsuccessful) journey to decline MBs. My family had issues with MBs too, and it appears it’s tied to having too many MBs in MDE - after a certain number, some of them get associated with opening doors, some with park entrance, some with charging, etc., instead of all MBs being able to do everything.

So, my question is, have you tried calling IT and deleting all but a few MBs? Since they can’t be declined, those of us that go frequently, have a bunch of MBs (someeven that we tried to decline) causing issues.

I haven't gone the IT route. I'm fearful I'm close to having the do the "MDE start from scratch" thing and I don't want to!

As an aside... I did the "decline MB" option during online check-in for this trip.... and two lovely grey bands were awaiting my arrival at AKL.

 

[trishadono]

I haven't gone the IT route. I'm fearful I'm close to having the due the "MDE start from scratch" thing and I don't want to!

As an aside... I did the "decline MB" option during online check-in for this trip.... and two lovely grey bands were awaiting my arrival at AKL.

Yep, Ashley Aka Thing 1 at gf rpc (for regulars there are 3 Ashley‘s, Thing 1 2 and 3 to keep tack lol)

As i happened to walk by she complained that so many bands were showing up . This was dec. I stopped and said because you can’t decline bands you will be getting more.Disney resorts had no clue as usual.

Can decline now? Last I checked I could not, I’ll go do that now. Thx

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Can decline now? Last I checked I could not, I’ll go do that now. Thx

You can’t in the place you used to when your order MBs. But can during online check in (I think I did it in the app, if that makes a difference). I think I’ve done that twice now, and neither worked. :-(

 

[elsbit]

AKL CL is where our MB issues started, and was a pain in the butt the whole trip. I don't blame them. Then, when they tried to fix them again at a park (we had them fixed at multiple places with reoccurring issues, to include contemporary resort), the park staff duplicated one of my kids AP instead of each having their own, and that screwed stuff up even more. I'm a little nervous for upcoming trips, as this was a huge tine suck and inconvenience. I'm a nerd and have decided not to decline them so I can make a magic band Garland for my Christmas tree. I do deactivate them after each trip.

I agree AKL CL breakfast was great! We didn't have much luck with our Savannah view, which was a bummer.

 

[vinotinto]

I haven't gone the IT route. I'm fearful I'm close to having the do the "MDE start from scratch" thing and I don't want to!

As an aside... I did the "decline MB" option during online check-in for this trip.... and two lovely grey bands were awaiting my arrival at AKL.

For me, things improved when IT completely deleted a bunch of our old Magic Bands. I went through all my old ones, one by one, and marked them as "Lost" online. Then I called IT - 407-939-5277. The CM had me verify that I wanted all the "Lost" bands deleted and she deleted them while I was on the phone. It took a little bit of time, but I have not had any problems with MD accessing my account since then. I would give this a try before dealing with a complete MDE overhaul.

But, this has also made me become the "MB Decline Vigilante." I've unsuccessfully tried to decline MBs in most of my last trips, only to have the gray MBs waiting for us at check-in. Just when I thought I had done everything correctly to decline the MBs, I get the notification that my MBs have been shipped to the resort. We don't even stop by the front desk, so the gray MBs never get picked up. They automatically delete these unwanted gray MBs for only some of us, but not for all of us, so I have to call after every trip to get the remaining ones deleted. I'm aiming to only keep 3-5 in the account at any point in time.

We are probably going to do a big trip with in-laws/cousins and I am dreading befriending all these people for fear that it will just finally break MDE for us. How bad is it if I tell them I am not going to accept their "friends & family" request? Sorry, but my MDE account is more important than shared plans with the family

 

[Jax1023]

We’re at AKL cl now, the resort is beautiful, the Lounge is awesome, but man the buses are terrible in a way i could not have imagined. We waited an hour and 10 minutes for a bus home from the magic kingdom at 6 tonight’s. Missed our jiko reservation and got them to waive the fee because my kids were loosing there minds.

I always thought reports if bad buses were exaggerated but I’d seriously say don’t stay here without a car.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

We’re at AKL cl now, the resort is beautiful, the Lounge is awesome, but man the buses are terrible in a way i could not have imagined. We waited an hour and 10 minutes for a bus home from the magic kingdom at 6 tonight’s. Missed our jiko reservation and got them to waive the fee because my kids were loosing there minds.

I always thought reports if bad buses were exaggerated but I’d seriously say don’t stay here without a car.

Sorry that happened! I do think it's luck of the draw that could happen at any resort, though. When we stayed at AKL, the buses were just fine.

 

[Jax1023]

Sorry that happened! I do think it's luck of the draw that could happen at any resort, though. When we stayed at AKL, the buses were just fine.

It’s been every bus for 3 days. Leaving the parks, leaving the resort had been fine. An hour and 10 minutes is an extreme, but every other bus has been between a 30 and 45 minute wait. Maybe we just have really bad bus luck this trip. But I’ve had like 20 some odd stays at Disney resorts and I’ve never experienced this consistently long waits for buses.

 

[Sandi]

We have been greeted out front for prior AKL stays, but not this time. Checked in down at the front desk and they walked us up / handed us off to CL CMs. Our experiences with the desk CMs at AKL have always been quite positive and my impression is there are several 'regulars' who care greatly about the guest experience, but not in an over the top way.

We had significant MagicBand issues this trip. We normally have a band or two that won't work on a room door at the beginning of each trip - a quick visit to a CM and all is cleared up, no big deal. Our issues this trip migrated around on a daily basis. First wouldn't work for the room.... then it wouldn't work for charging.... then it wouldn't work in the elevator to get to the lounge.... one time DW couldn't get in the park. It was like they'd fix one problem and another problem would pop up... and I'll be honest, it became annoying. While the epitome of an inconsequential problem that really isn't that be a deal, being locked out from being able to get up to the lounge and having to wait at the very long front desk line wasn't all that fun.

We only received turn-down service one night. We also returned around 4:45pm one day to find our room being serviced (kinda late in my book). I am starting to sound really whiny here, I know , but when we got in the room we saw what had to be the worst housekeeping job we've had at WDW. Disheveled towels on the racks, the bed sloppily made, pretty sure the floor had not been swept. It just didn't have that freshly made-up room feeling.

As mentioned above, breakfast at AKL CL is amazing, in my humble opinion. We'd stay here for the CL breakfast alone. Tons of options, abundant variety.

Evening apps were also abundant. They have a chef station prepping/plating (note, not necessarily cooking) two items nightly, plus the wide variety of other items normally available. While CL is almost never a true dinner substitute, definitively more meal-like here than perhaps some other places these days. We've never found the lounge to be particularly crowded - with the buzz of the lobby below and the dimming sunlight outside, evening apps here is a lovely experience.

We were at WDW for the Princess Half runD weekend races - from that perspective AKL was the perfect spot for our adults only trip. Casual, relaxing, good food/beverage - that was why we booked AKL and it fit the bill. It was also convenient enough access to the races each morning.

The HA room and MagicBand issues - while of course relatively small in the grand scheme of things - did impact our stay. With one exception I don't think we've ever asked to move rooms once one is assigned, but I think if I were to ever get a HA room again at AKL, I would ask to move. DW says she definitely would as 3 days of sharing a sink with me was not her idea of vacation.

Anyway - kind of a mixed review I guess. Still love AKL and AKL CL. We will return someday armed with our experiences from this trip.

Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you for this thorough and helpful review. DH and I check in on 3-10 for an adults only trip and your comments and photos are really useful. I will ask to be moved should we be assigned an HA room. I agree that they are great for those who need them (and I have been one of those people after surgeries), but I’m with your wife and don’t want to share a sink on vacation!

The single robe was odd. I guess I understand it being hung low in the event someone needed to access it from a wheelchair, but why only one? I also want to have turn down service and good housekeeping. Turndown is part of the CL experience for me. (First world issues for sure, but ...)

How were the CL CMs? Were they able to help at all with your MB and other issues? My husband isn’t a huge Disney fan and is coming because I am. I need things to go swimmingly so he’ll want to return.

Thanks again for your wonderful review.