Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[Jen81NYC]

old childless adults enjoy CL, too!

Yep, I thought that was a given based on other responses to the same question If you’re a seasoned park goer, have gone to many Disney restaurants already and focus more on relaxing at the hotels, that’s a different CL assessment But not the OP’s situation (or at least, not the bf’s situation!)

 

[dalmatian7]

Hi there,
My mom and I arrived at CR Tower club yesterday. It is so quiet compared to BC and YC and the food is excellent. I feel like photos have been posted recently so I won’t be redundant. But let me know if you have questions. We are in room 4905, so two queens with a lake view. We got a welcome call two days before our arrival. We were the only ones in the lounge for snacks around 1 pm and the only ones eating appetizers at 6 pm. The service is great so far. We do have friends staying at the Poly and were told they could come to visit our room but that they could not partake in the food.

Enjoy. I will be interested to hear about your experiences. I booked our Nov stay yesterday. CR Atrium though because DD wants to be able to see the monorail. Even though it is far away, it feels so good to have a booking!

 

[2vets]

Yep, I thought that was a given based on other responses to the same question If you’re a seasoned park goer, have gone to many Disney restaurants already and focus more on relaxing at the hotels, that’s a different CL assessment But not the OP’s situation (or at least, not the bf’s situation!)

Haha, of course. I was making a joke

 

[Lewisc]

Edited to add, if I did swan/dolphin/disney springs, do I actually need cash or a credit card to pay for stuff? Lol. If so, making BWI/gran destino look real good

Laat trip I reminded my wife, you can't use magic bands to charge in the Dolphin. She noted a guest just used a band to pay at Picabu. I looked, he used an Apple watch.

Magic bands charge back to whatever credit card you use at your resort. Phone and watches charge back to whatever credit card is in the apps wallet.

 

[trishadono]

Laat trip I reminded my wife, you can't use magic bands to charge in the Dolphin. She noted a guest just used a band to pay at Picabu. I looked, he used an Apple watch.

Magic bands charge back to whatever credit card you use at your resort. Phone and watches charge back to whatever credit card is in the apps wallet.

Thanks for the reminder!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I’m sure you’ll get lots of answers for varying reasons. That being said, we almost exclusively stay CL, BUT we are not park commandos. We are seasoned and regular park goers who take a relaxed approach and take advantage of the amenities of CL. If that is your plan, then maybe the switch to CL is right for you. If you believe you will be rope dropping (ie missing breakfast most mornings) so your bf can maximize his ride times and take advantage of lower lines or staying late and missing most evening apps and desserts, or even simply spending long days in the parks enjoying the food, then I’d consider CL to be a waste. When I travel with others and can’t control my own time as well, I do not choose to stay CL because I don’t see the value in it - value being subjective, of course; it’s still quite expensive for what is received, but hey, it’s Disney, it’s not unexpected, and we love it. I don’t think you’ll regret CL if you do chose it, but you might enjoy chosing where you’d like to spend that $1000 on food more - way more variety outside the club room.

We are somewhat the opposite; club level enables us to do more with our WDW time. I agree that CL isn't worthwhile if you don't plan to eat in the lounge, but CL helps us be a bit more commando than we can manage to do when we don't stay CL.

Arriving in the parks early is important, and CL helps us save time in the morning. CL breakfast is much quicker than going the food court, or in-park Starbucks. (The wait in the Epcot Starbucks is crazy-long!)

Most mornings we are able to catch breakfast and make it to rope drop or near rope drop. The one that is hard is AK. (I'd love if the CL's put yogurt out at 6am!)

Where we are not commandos, in that we typically take an afternoon break. The break = avoiding peak mid-day crowds, afternoon storms, and gives us a recharge to return to the parks for night touring. We love the parks at night. We catch tail end of snacks, nap/swim/change, then catch appetizers before heading out again.

 

[SkyGuy]

We are somewhat the opposite; club level enables us to do more with our WDW time. I agree that CL isn't worthwhile if you don't plan to eat in the lounge, but CL helps us be a bit more commando than we can manage to do when we don't stay CL.

Arriving in the parks early is important, and CL helps us save time in the morning. CL breakfast is much quicker than going the food court, or in-park Starbucks. (The wait in the Epcot Starbucks is crazy-long!)

Most mornings we are able to catch breakfast and make it to rope drop or near rope drop. The one that is hard is AK. (I'd love if the CL's put yogurt out at 6am!)

Where we are not commandos, is that we typically take an afternoon break. The break = avoiding peak mid-day crowds, afternoon storms, and gives us a recharge to return to the parks for night touring. We love the parks at night. We catch tail end of snacks, nap/swim/change, then catch appetizers before heading out again.

When CL had decent afternoon snacks, I’d completely agree with this one! Now, with lots of clubs still doing mostly the prepackaged options or the cookies as the baked good option (which my family find inedible), I don’t think the afternoon break is particular economical unless that break spans the 5-7 apps. A bag of chips and a handful of starburst just doesn’t cut it like the sandwiches and soups of the past.

 

[amyspapers]

Have a great time. I’d be curious to hear if the midday offerings have expanded beyond packaged chips at all. I know trishadono had homemade chips the other week.
Also, how does the pool renovation look like it’s going?

Hi! There were deviled eggs, which were delicious, as well as vegetables, hummus, and dip. That in addition to a few packaged snacks, uncrustables, cookies, and homemade chips. So we made it work for lunch and then snacked at magic kingdom. The pool is still empty but is being worked on all day.

 

[jemtx]

Hi! There were deviled eggs, which were delicious, as well as vegetables, hummus, and dip. That in addition to a few packaged snacks, uncrustables, cookies, and homemade chips. So we made it work for lunch and then snacked at magic kingdom. The pool is still empty but is being worked on all day.

Deviled eggs? Wow, that’s new. Sounds like a nice little snack with the veggies & dips. Thanks or the info. Hope you're enjoying your stay.

 

[Figmentmommy]

The return on a CL room may never provide the monetary worth for you two, but there are other factors. I think the best approach depends on your BF and the way you anticipate the trip going. My DH is not a park commando ir a Disney guy, and staying CL (and he loves YC for access to Epcot/DHS) helps ensure he’s happy and will come back to WDW with me. He likes having easy, no-competition access to coffee and breakfast first thing in the am, and apps later in the day, an exclusive place to relax. If you think your BF will go nuts in the parks, it will not provide the value that the card would., but if not, you may find that the trip is a more enjoyable vacation for you both.

That said, what a special way to experience his first visit! With the caveat that you’ll be ruining him for the future.

This! We are staying Poly CL on our upcoming trip and arent going into it thinking we will find monetary value. This will be our first time staying CL and our first trip with our kids both being real adults and still wanting to vacation as a family. We wanted to elevate our level of vacation and happened to get our CL room on the Spring room discount. It was a tough decision to make to spend the extra money but we just couldn’t pass on Poly where we have always wanted to stay - CL is the icing on the cake. We plan to enjoy the club breakfast most days and maybe the appetizers a few times over the week and have a little more relaxing time this trip. I’m sure DH will also be thrilled with on demand coffee nearby. I do agree that we will likely be spoiled for future trips….but oh well - we‘ll deal with that problem next time!

 

[pld5]

We check into Wilderness Lodge next Thursday and I got an email from the Old Faithful Club yesterday. I'm much more of an email person than a phone call person, so I appreciated that approach. I never do requests, have no allergies and we are only celebrating being at Disney so I really didn't need the outreach beforehand, but if I did, its nice to know who and how to contact. And I had done online check in but they still asked for our planned arrival time in that email. Looking forward to being back there after 9 years.

 

[Maxie86]

Returned yesterday from one night CR tower club and 4 nights YC CL. We were pleasantly surprised how much we enjoyed Tower Club, next time I will book more days there. Was somewhat disappointed in YC. They got rid of the large plates and now have tiny plates, it was very annoying to have to make multiple trips because only one thing fit on the plate. I feel bad for the CM's who have to keep clearing tables and those that have to wash all those plates. The only thing that fits on the plates is the tiny desserts.

I got a call 2 days before from Tower Club and 5 days before from YC. I agree with pld5, I would rather get an email. If I had any questions I forget what they are when I get a phone call.

 

[jemtx]

We’re you disappointed with YC CL in general or only about the plate situation?

 

[mickeyluv'r]

When CL had decent afternoon snacks, I’d completely agree with this one! Now, with lots of clubs still doing mostly the prepackaged options or the cookies as the baked good option (which my family find inedible), I don’t think the afternoon break is particular economical unless that break spans the 5-7 apps. A bag of chips and a handful of starburst just doesn’t cut it like the sandwiches and soups of the past.

I don't really recall mid-day sandwiches. GF main CL had a little more than the rest, but I mostly recall finding homemade chips, sweets, and whole fruits as the mid-day snack offerings at most CL's WL had hummus on my most recent visit.

We have sometimes been known to call a handful of housemade chips, an orange, and scoop of M&M's 'lunch.' (or bagged chips). On my most recent stay, CR had cookies every other day, and we thought they were pretty good. By the time we return, it is usually about 3:45, so the tail end of mid-day snacks. The snacks just have to tide us over for an hour.

IMO, commando = in the parks from open to close. So we don't do that (much), but we generally aim to hit both rope drop and park close, or near park close. On Mondays and Wednesdays, that's 11pm or maybe even 1am! I absolutely LOVE riding Space Mtn and HM after midnight!

The next morning, I'm usually sipping coffee at 6:30am. For us, CL works really well. We don't waist lots of time walking back and forth to the food court for food. We get more time in the parks. To me, time is $. I'm willing to pay extra to get better use of our vacation time.

Much of WDW works that way: pay extra for less wasted time.

Mostly, I was just trying to give another perspective on the value of CL. CL is great when we want to relax in the lounge, it is also great for people who want vacation efficiency.

[OH- last- CL is also quite helpful if someone in your group has a food allergy. WDW's staff is great property-wide, but it always takes extra time to get allergen-free food. With CL, you explain your needs once, and they take care of you all week. That's a huge help, a big relief, and just makes the whole visit less stressful. ]

 

[Maxie86]

We’re you disappointed with YC CL in general or only about the plate situation?

The YC CL is not what it was pre covid or even since our December trip. The best night has been short ribs and mashed potatoes served from a large skillet so you could take whatever you wanted. Now it is preplated and they are calling it pot roast, it was one bite of pot roast and about a tablespoon of mashed potatoes The tomato and mozzarella salad is also now preplated. There were a couple of other thing preplated but I don't remember what they were since I didn't eat it I didn't pay attention. I know I am being a bad Disser I know they are supposed to be appitizers and not a meal other than breakfast, but in the past unless you were a big eater you could easily make dinner and lunch out of the offerings. The CM's were great as always as was everything else about the YC. We always stay CL and will continue to do so but are not happy with the changes. As long as they have the coffee out early in the morning I'm a happy camper.

 

[yaksack]

How far in advance does the CL contact you? We will hit our 60 day mark in April. I was wondering if I should make dining reservations or wait for CL.

 

[jods]

How far in advance does the CL contact you? We will hit our 60 day mark in April. I was wondering if I should make dining reservations or wait for CL.

I would make them myself. Adrs open at 6 or 7 (i know, i know, I should know this) but CL staff doesn't book until 9. They don't have anything extra that you can't get yourself. I have had them book golf in the past though. So much easier.

 

[Figmentmommy]

I would make them myself. Adrs open at 6 or 7 (i know, i know, I should know this) but CL staff doesn't book until 9. They don't have anything extra that you can't get yourself. I have had them book golf in the past though. So much easier.

Agreed - and dining reservations can be made
6 am online and 7 am by phone.

 

[amyspapers]

One more note about Tower Club level at CR. If prompt breakfast at 7 am is important to you, this may not be the place for you. I get the feeling the same person is delivering food to both the 12th and 14th floor and we haven’t had hot food at 7 on any of my three days. Breads, yogurt, and coffee are out by 7, but hot foods trickle in until 7:15 or 7:20. It has been okay for us, and only held us up one morning for a rope drop. But could be frustrating if you want to eat quickly and then head to the parks.

 

[amyspapers]

How far in advance does the CL contact you? We will hit our 60 day mark in April. I was wondering if I should make dining reservations or wait for CL.

We got our call only two days ahead.