Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[bookluvingbabe]

It is interesting (heartening?) to hear that others have had issues with indifferent/cranky CMs who preferred to to chat with other CMs or other guests instead of helping you.

We definitely ran into that at the CL BC this past summer. I ended up sending a long list of issues to Guest Services by the end of the trip. The irony is that the one immediate problem when we arrived--a tub full of hair--did not even make the list as that was the one thing that was taken care of with only TWO phone calls and quick and sincere apologies. (They sent someone to clean the entire bathroom again...)

So we are going into this summer's trip to CL BC and RPC at the GF with much lowered expectations.

(And why are we not only going back to CL BC but doubling down on a RPC stay at the GF? A) My son thought the Club Level was the BEST thing ever. B) Magical deals are hard to resist. C) I'm out of my mind.)

Need to finish all my IPO paperwork --not sure if I can give up dining reservation control but I'm contemplating it!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Hmmmm. Will you change your hotel?

Honestly I don't know a lot about what they're doing over there. What do you think?

 

[Disneytam]

The lounge does look very small and that worries me a bit. What time of year did you go?

The lounge is small but in our five stays I have never walked in and not found a place to sit. Breakfast starts at 7:00 (coffee at 6:30) and since we are early risers we are in the lounge by 7:30 for breakfast. On our last trip we had the great luck of having room #4235 right across from the lounge so on a few mornings I would walk over and get a cup of tea and bring it back to my room to enjoy while my son got up and got ready. Nothing says Disney vacation than sipping tea on my balcony watching the boardwalk wake up! Lunch time snacks the lounge was almost always empty and we would often go in and grab a drink or two to put in our fridge for the late night or bring down to the pool. To save money and not waste the CL offerings we almost always come back to the resort around five to freshen up and have apps. and a drink or two in the lounge before we head to dinner. We go in Feb. every year, sometimes the first week and sometimes the last week so it also works to come back and put on long pants and a jacket as the nights in the parks can get down right chilly. Again we have never had a problem getting a seat in the lounge for apps. and drinks.

I would ask for a room inside the Innkeepers door. All the rooms are pretty close to the lounge once you go inside the secure door. We had room #4213 once that even though it was the farthest down the hall from the lounge was really nice due to being right across the hallway from the "secret" staircase down to the quite pool. Very nice to just walk across the hall and down the stairs to the pool, which was almost always empty mid afternoon.

The unknown to us is all the new rooms being added to the CL on the fourth floor. I have no interest in staying in any of those rooms but it is by request only so I know I might end up in one of them. I have also always requested boardwalk view and only once had a garden view which they switched me to a boardwalk view room after two days when they had an opening. They are changing things so that you will be able to book boardwalk view later in the year but the cost is $100 a night more and only about $20 a night less than the deluxe rooms which are all boardwalk view. We are planning a trip in Dec. with two family members and are booking a deluxe room to make sure we receive a boardwalk view.

Sorry to write a book but I am sure you will have a great trip. When are you planning on going?

 

[Lilysmom]

We just got back Wednesday from our first club level experience. We were at the Wilderness Lodge and had the unfortunate timing to be part of the temporary relocation of their club level. The Old Faithful Club has been closed, half of the resort is closed, they have taken away the window view on the seventh floor, moved the food and beverages onto two tables on the balcony, and the only seating area right now is on the north side of the balcony. It is a temporary location until they can move into the vice presidential suite. That will be temporary until they completely remodel the two honeymoon suites on the north side of the lodge, turning them into the new Old Faithful Club. They expect this to take about eleven months. They also said that there will no longer be any seating on the balcony area overlooking the lobby. The lounge will have a MK view instead. It will be a big change for club level.

The food is coming from the Artist Point kitchen and it was very good. The club level staff were fantastic and I learned a lot about the remodeling and construction plans for the WL. But I was extremely disappointed to have the view of Bay Lake blocked off and inaccesible. I was looking forward to that.

I'll post a few pictures later. It has been a busy week.

Sue just wondering if you felt like it was "worth it" with all of the construction going on and the temporary relocation of OFC. I'm booked there for 6/21 for a week and I'm wondering if we should switch to Boardwalk CL instead. We've stayed CL at WL many times before but I know when they make upgrades and changes there's a possibility of feeling "short changed" for lack of better terminology. Did they still have all of the standard offerings with the relocation or were they having to modify them because of it? I'm less worried about the noise and more worried about the general atmosphere.

 

[Ruth B]

Honestly I don't know a lot about what they're doing over there. What do you think?

The AKL thread has a lot of info- from reading it is a soft refurb that seems only to affect certain floors.
No one has posted info on stays since the work has began. Some people are moving booking, others not.
Hopefully it won't impact on you- would love to hear your view on AKL club!!

 

[PackYourPixieDust]

Honestly I don't know a lot about what they're doing over there. What do you think?

I haven't actually heard much and I listen to a lot in Disney. It depends too. I don't like hearing construction noise of any kind because it causes me stress and often take mid-afternoon breaks in the room.

 

[Eastern]

I didn't experience any crankiness but I did find that the CMs did not seem aware of other people waiting when they were talking to another guest. Sometimes it seemed like idle chit chat, and that was aggravating.

I just returned from CR CL and I was a little disappointed in the lounge. It is small and the upholstered furniture was very low and uncomfortable to sit on. Food offerings were meager in the evening. Some things looked like they had been under heat lamps for way too long, like the ravioli, which was so hardened on the outside that I couldn't cut it with a fork. Ahi tuna on cucumber slice was was about 1/4 inch square. Just so much meh. The guests were all over the chicken nuggets in the kids' section (when they had them). I think that says a lot.

What really perplexed me were the CMs saying, "did you try the X??? It is a-maaay-zing!!" Like they were trying to sell everyone on the choices. Way too perky about the food. And they NEVER cleared the dishes until you left the lounge area. They just let them pile up. No where to put them yourself, either.

They were also serving things in jars. For ex, yogurt in the morning was not served in individual containers, but portioned into jars. It just seemed so yucky. Stuff in jars in a futuristic hotel? At night, vegetables were served in similar jars, and you had to get them out with these completely annoying wooden tongs that were very hard to use. So pick up this, jar, and then get these straight wooden tongs into it to grab out a cherry tomato. I call bs on that.

Don't get me started about the people coming into the lounge with bare feet, and the woman in Mickey pajamas in the morning.

BWI and Poly offerings were much nicer.

 

[dmetcalfrn]

Made a few changes. Please remove our July Poly trip. Please add us for Beach Club GV CL 5/30-6/4. Thank you.

 

[Disneytam]

I didn't experience any crankiness but I did find that the CMs did not seem aware of other people waiting when they were talking to another guest. Sometimes it seemed like idle chit chat, and that was aggravating.

I just returned from CR CL and I was a little disappointed in the lounge. It is small and the upholstered furniture was very low and uncomfortable to sit on. Food offerings were meager in the evening. Some things looked like they had been under heat lamps for way too long, like the ravioli, which was so hardened on the outside that I couldn't cut it with a fork. Ahi tuna on cucumber slice was was about 1/4 inch square. Just so much meh. The guests were all over the chicken nuggets in the kids' section (when they had them). I think that says a lot.

What really perplexed me were the CMs saying, "did you try the X??? It is a-maaay-zing!!" Like they were trying to sell everyone on the choices. Way too perky about the food. And they NEVER cleared the dishes until you left the lounge area. They just let them pile up. No where to put them yourself, either.

They were also serving things in jars. For ex, yogurt in the morning was not served in individual containers, but portioned into jars. It just seemed so yucky. Stuff in jars in a futuristic hotel? At night, vegetables were served in similar jars, and you had to get them out with these completely annoying wooden tongs that were very hard to use. So pick up this, jar, and then get these straight wooden tongs into it to grab out a cherry tomato. I call bs on that.

Don't get me started about the people coming into the lounge with bare feet, and the woman in Mickey pajamas in the morning.

BWI and Poly offerings were much nicer.

Thank you for the info. on the CR CL. We stayed at the CR for our honeymoon and just didn't like the whole vibe of the resort but it is the one of the two CL we have not stayed at and I had thought about it just to see what it was like. Between the recent pictures of the lounge and your review I think I can happily skip it.

 

[lala5176]

It is interesting (heartening?) to hear that others have had issues with indifferent/cranky CMs who preferred to to chat with other CMs or other guests instead of helping you.

We definitely ran into that at the CL BC this past summer. I ended up sending a long list of issues to Guest Services by the end of the trip. The irony is that the one immediate problem when we arrived--a tub full of hair--did not even make the list as that was the one thing that was taken care of with only TWO phone calls and quick and sincere apologies. (They sent someone to clean the entire bathroom again...)

So we are going into this summer's trip to CL BC and RPC at the GF with much lowered expectations.

(And why are we not only going back to CL BC but doubling down on a RPC stay at the GF? A) My son thought the Club Level was the BEST thing ever. B) Magical deals are hard to resist. C) I'm out of my mind.)

Need to finish all my IPO paperwork --not sure if I can give up dining reservation control but I'm contemplating it!

The same thing happened to us at BC when we arrived. Only the hair was all over the tub but there was hairs on the toilet too!!! Of course they came right away to redo the whole bathroom but YUCK. They should really look into the housekeeping staff there.

 

[lala5176]

The lounge is small but in our five stays I have never walked in and not found a place to sit. Breakfast starts at 7:00 (coffee at 6:30) and since we are early risers we are in the lounge by 7:30 for breakfast. On our last trip we had the great luck of having room #4235 right across from the lounge so on a few mornings I would walk over and get a cup of tea and bring it back to my room to enjoy while my son got up and got ready. Nothing says Disney vacation than sipping tea on my balcony watching the boardwalk wake up! Lunch time snacks the lounge was almost always empty and we would often go in and grab a drink or two to put in our fridge for the late night or bring down to the pool. To save money and not waste the CL offerings we almost always come back to the resort around five to freshen up and have apps. and a drink or two in the lounge before we head to dinner. We go in Feb. every year, sometimes the first week and sometimes the last week so it also works to come back and put on long pants and a jacket as the nights in the parks can get down right chilly. Again we have never had a problem getting a seat in the lounge for apps. and drinks.

I would ask for a room inside the Innkeepers door. All the rooms are pretty close to the lounge once you go inside the secure door. We had room #4213 once that even though it was the farthest down the hall from the lounge was really nice due to being right across the hallway from the "secret" staircase down to the quite pool. Very nice to just walk across the hall and down the stairs to the pool, which was almost always empty mid afternoon.

The unknown to us is all the new rooms being added to the CL on the fourth floor. I have no interest in staying in any of those rooms but it is by request only so I know I might end up in one of them. I have also always requested boardwalk view and only once had a garden view which they switched me to a boardwalk view room after two days when they had an opening. They are changing things so that you will be able to book boardwalk view later in the year but the cost is $100 a night more and only about $20 a night less than the deluxe rooms which are all boardwalk view. We are planning a trip in Dec. with two family members and are booking a deluxe room to make sure we receive a boardwalk view.

Sorry to write a book but I am sure you will have a great trip. When are you planning on going?

Thanks for all the info. We are planning on going in mid June which I'm sure will be busier than February. We usually take a break in the day from parks and stop off in the lounge too before dinner. So we should ask for a room inside the innkeepers club and maybe close to the lounge.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Sue just wondering if you felt like it was "worth it" with all of the construction going on and the temporary relocation of OFC. I'm booked there for 6/21 for a week and I'm wondering if we should switch to Boardwalk CL instead. We've stayed CL at WL many times before but I know when they make upgrades and changes there's a possibility of feeling "short changed" for lack of better terminology. Did they still have all of the standard offerings with the relocation or were they having to modify them because of it? I'm less worried about the noise and more worried about the general atmosphere.

It is hard for me to answer since we had never stayed club level at the WL before, so I don't know what they used to serve. We got caught in a very new and temporary situation. They had just closed the Old Faithful Club a few days before we arrived and they plan to only be there for a few weeks before they move into the Vice Presidential suite, which they should be in when you get there.

There were less food offerings then normal when we were there. They weren't serving cobbler, for one thing, which I had really been counting on. But they did bring us the Artist Point cobbler after I complained a bit - well - a lot. I'm not sure what the situation will be like in June but I do know that the seating area that overlooks the lobby will be closed as soon as they move the lounge to the VP suite. And if your room overlooks the construction area you might hear a lot of noise.

We absolutely felt short-changed about the surprise switch. I was pretty upset about it. But the WL CL staff was wonderful to us, very friendly and helpful. We did get some compensation, which helped a lot. We had originally booked a return to WL CL next month, but with the construction and as the changes to the lounge, we decided to switch to the BC. It was a hard decision to leave the WL CL since our garden view room at the BC is only $100 less then what we were paying for the WL CL with the passholder discount. But the BC has always been one of our favorite resorts and we really like the location.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Made a few changes. Please remove our July Poly trip. Please add us for Beach Club GV CL 5/30-6/4. Thank you.

Got you moved

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

I haven't actually heard much and I listen to a lot in Disney. It depends too. I don't like hearing construction noise of any kind because it causes me stress and often take mid-afternoon breaks in the room.

Here's what the IPO said when I asked:

Dumela (Greetings) Erika,

Thank you for asking. The Disney Vacation Club rooms on the 5th floor will be going through what we call a soft goods renovation. This would be carpet, drapes, bedding and furniture. There may be some noise in specific areas between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.. The lounge does not get work done on it unit May.

At your service,

Don
WALT DISNEY WORLD ® Concierge Itinerary Planner
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
Where the Spirit of Africa Comes Alive
Itinerary Planning Office
Phone 407-938-4755
Fax 407-938-6507

 

[dalmatian7]

Hi All! I haven't stayed CL in a while, but enjoy following this thread.

On the WL CL topic, this site is the first I have heard they were changing anything. We have stayed there twice (sadly not since 2008) but enjoyed it. Are they moving into the honeymoon suites that surround the lobby? The lounge was a bit crammed vs what I have seen in the other CLs but sitting along the balcony/walkway overlooking the lobby was nice. I wonder if they are not going to allow that at all now? I think a complaint of those suites was they had zero view, so it would make sense to repurpose them. I was hoping to be back there in 2017 for my decade change birthday.

The cobbler is worth asking for! I don't typically like that, but tried it one of our last nights and regretted missing it earlier. Very good.

 

[mickeynut1]

We absolutely felt short-changed about the surprise switch. I was pretty upset about it. But the WL CL staff was wonderful to us, very friendly and helpful.

Glad to hear that the WL CL staff was friendly and helpful. In our experience, the WL staff has always been great, both CL and non-CL .

On the WL CL topic, this site is the first I have heard they were changing anything.

The cobbler is worth asking for! I don't typically like that, but tried it one of our last nights and regretted missing it earlier. Very good.

I wasn't aware of anything being done, either, until I read it here. I've been reading posts about AKL starting a CL refurb sometime in May, but I haven't read anything regarding WL CL.

I agree about the cobbler .

 

[Regan117]

Here's what I was told when I inquired. We are staying in a 2-bedroom suite on January 30th.

 

[rxtiger]

Sorry this is so very late, but I promised I would post some pics from our June vacation in the Contemporary One Bedroom Suite. We were in room 4908. This was our first suite stay, but as I was afraid would happen, we are spoiled. It is only three in my family, however having a separate bathroom/shower for the teenager is AWESOME! Sorry I didn't snap too many photos, but we were too busy enjoying it! I have included the view from one of the three balconies, the entry door/wall, a view of the living room, dining room/kitchen, entertainment center, bedroom, and one of the two baths.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

I didn't experience any crankiness but I did find that the CMs did not seem aware of other people waiting when they were talking to another guest. Sometimes it seemed like idle chit chat, and that was aggravating.

I just returned from CR CL and I was a little disappointed in the lounge. It is small and the upholstered furniture was very low and uncomfortable to sit on. Food offerings were meager in the evening. Some things looked like they had been under heat lamps for way too long, like the ravioli, which was so hardened on the outside that I couldn't cut it with a fork. Ahi tuna on cucumber slice was was about 1/4 inch square. Just so much meh. The guests were all over the chicken nuggets in the kids' section (when they had them). I think that says a lot.

What really perplexed me were the CMs saying, "did you try the X??? It is a-maaay-zing!!" Like they were trying to sell everyone on the choices. Way too perky about the food. And they NEVER cleared the dishes until you left the lounge area. They just let them pile up. No where to put them yourself, either.

They were also serving things in jars. For ex, yogurt in the morning was not served in individual containers, but portioned into jars. It just seemed so yucky. Stuff in jars in a futuristic hotel? At night, vegetables were served in similar jars, and you had to get them out with these completely annoying wooden tongs that were very hard to use. So pick up this, jar, and then get these straight wooden tongs into it to grab out a cherry tomato. I call bs on that.

Don't get me started about the people coming into the lounge with bare feet, and the woman in Mickey pajamas in the morning.

BWI and Poly offerings were much nicer.

Funny - We stayed at the Poly in July and said never again.

Offerings were "eh" and it didn't compare to GF or BC from earlier in the year.

I check into the CR on Friday, so we shall see how it goes. If not well, I will be sticking with GF

 

[mickeynut1]

View attachment 146027

Here's what I was told when I inquired. We are staying in a 2-bedroom suite on January 30th.

Thanks for sharing this information on AKL .

Sorry this is so very late, but I promised I would post some pics from our June vacation in the Contemporary One Bedroom Suite. We were in room 4908. This was our first suite stay, but as I was afraid would happen, we are spoiled. It is only three in my family, however having a separate bathroom/shower for the teenager is AWESOME! Sorry I didn't snap too many photos, but we were too busy enjoying it! I have included the view from one of the three balconies, the entry door/wall, a view of the living room, dining room/kitchen, entertainment center, bedroom, and one of the two baths.

View attachment 146032 View attachment 146033 View attachment 146034 View attachment 146035 View attachment 146036 View attachment 146037 View attachment 146038 View attachment 146039 View attachment 146040 View attachment 146041

Glad you had a great stay at the CR. Thanks for sharing the suite pics .