Disneytam
disneytam
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2008
- Messages
- 1,515
Another CL-enabler here. I have never stayed at the Poly CL but have at the RPC GF, AKL, and our favorite the BWI Innkeeper's club. Here are some of our reason's for staying club level.
> Time is everything at Disney and we are early risers even on vacation. Being able to get a cup of tea or coffee at 6:30 am and breakfast at 7:00 when most everyone else is still asleep is wonderful. Don't dismiss the cost of that breakfast or the time savings of not standing in line at a food court waiting for it. On our AK park day we do go to Boma first for breakfast to break things up a little and because it is our favorite.
> Having the help on the little things from the CM. Our last stay at BWI my sister-in-law went with us and uses a C PAC machine (hope I said that right) that needs distilled water. We don't have a car when we do Disney so I was trying to figure out what to do. Called the IPO, no problem they had 2 gallons of water in the room when we arrived. No charge.
> Snacks when we return to the hotel during the day. The BWI even has little bags so that you can make your own trail mix to take down to the pool with you. Of course the endless amount of drinks that we have during the day would really add up as well.
> Location is key. The stairwell down to the quiet pool is a nice direct route and we don't have to walk through the lobby to get there. Stop at the lounge and get a beer or two for the hubby and a soda for me before we head down to the pool. A bonus is we almost always seem to have the pool and hot tub to ourselves.
> We often book a signature for dinner but stop in for a glass of wine and apps. at the lounge before dinner. Then at dinner we skip apps. or sometimes I will have an app. for my entrée. For a typical ten day stay we will often have at least one night that we skip dinner all together and just have apps. at the hotel and then maybe pick up a snack at EPCOT in the evening.
> Desserts at night before we head to bed. The BWI lounge closes at ten but we often take a soda or two and put it in the fridge in the room for a late night drink. I have made a couple of Kahlua and milks for a night time drink as well while we sit on our balconies and watch Disney go to sleep.
> Finally having a place to come back to on the day we check out since we often have a late flight. On our last trip we didn't have the car service picking us up until 5:30 pm so we went back to the lounge about 4:30 to unwind a bit before we left. I had asked a CM to print off a boarding pass for us and when they saw what time we were flying out they asked if we would be stopping back in before we left. I said yes but thought no more of it. When they saw us back in the lounge they made a point of bringing the food out a little bit early so that we could have a last glass of wine and some apps. before we left for home. So unexpected but just one of the little things that makes us keep staying at the CL.
Add all the little things up and I think you do save real money and hassle staying CL at one or Disney's resorts. The cost savings would be even more if you had four or five guests to a room. Of course if they keep raising the prices the way they have I may have to rethink everything but for now we still enjoy it.
A bonus is that I have started pricing out stays and meals for an upcoming trip to Ireland and after paying Disney prices the past couple of years even four and five star hotels seem down right reasonable!
> Time is everything at Disney and we are early risers even on vacation. Being able to get a cup of tea or coffee at 6:30 am and breakfast at 7:00 when most everyone else is still asleep is wonderful. Don't dismiss the cost of that breakfast or the time savings of not standing in line at a food court waiting for it. On our AK park day we do go to Boma first for breakfast to break things up a little and because it is our favorite.
> Having the help on the little things from the CM. Our last stay at BWI my sister-in-law went with us and uses a C PAC machine (hope I said that right) that needs distilled water. We don't have a car when we do Disney so I was trying to figure out what to do. Called the IPO, no problem they had 2 gallons of water in the room when we arrived. No charge.
> Snacks when we return to the hotel during the day. The BWI even has little bags so that you can make your own trail mix to take down to the pool with you. Of course the endless amount of drinks that we have during the day would really add up as well.
> Location is key. The stairwell down to the quiet pool is a nice direct route and we don't have to walk through the lobby to get there. Stop at the lounge and get a beer or two for the hubby and a soda for me before we head down to the pool. A bonus is we almost always seem to have the pool and hot tub to ourselves.
> We often book a signature for dinner but stop in for a glass of wine and apps. at the lounge before dinner. Then at dinner we skip apps. or sometimes I will have an app. for my entrée. For a typical ten day stay we will often have at least one night that we skip dinner all together and just have apps. at the hotel and then maybe pick up a snack at EPCOT in the evening.
> Desserts at night before we head to bed. The BWI lounge closes at ten but we often take a soda or two and put it in the fridge in the room for a late night drink. I have made a couple of Kahlua and milks for a night time drink as well while we sit on our balconies and watch Disney go to sleep.
> Finally having a place to come back to on the day we check out since we often have a late flight. On our last trip we didn't have the car service picking us up until 5:30 pm so we went back to the lounge about 4:30 to unwind a bit before we left. I had asked a CM to print off a boarding pass for us and when they saw what time we were flying out they asked if we would be stopping back in before we left. I said yes but thought no more of it. When they saw us back in the lounge they made a point of bringing the food out a little bit early so that we could have a last glass of wine and some apps. before we left for home. So unexpected but just one of the little things that makes us keep staying at the CL.
Add all the little things up and I think you do save real money and hassle staying CL at one or Disney's resorts. The cost savings would be even more if you had four or five guests to a room. Of course if they keep raising the prices the way they have I may have to rethink everything but for now we still enjoy it.
A bonus is that I have started pricing out stays and meals for an upcoming trip to Ireland and after paying Disney prices the past couple of years even four and five star hotels seem down right reasonable!
CMs have been great so far and I even introduced myself to Irv last night. I told him he was "famous" on the boards! Ha! 
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