Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[NYCgrrl]

at the same time places like CR, GF, and even Poly have been on more of an upward swing.

The CL food here was never to my liking and helped facilitate our move to BWI. Any article on what’s now available or should I just do a search? TIA!

 

[Minnie1222]

Unfortunately, husband & I have tested + for Covid, so we’re ending our vacation & heading home early. The staff was accommodating about our early check out & we will only be charged for the 2 nights we were here (room only reservation). Luckily we have very mild symptoms at this point. I’m a retired RN & neurotic about testing or we wouldn’t have even known. I’m very disappointed but we’d rather get home in case we get sicker.

Wishing you both a speedy recovery.

 

[NicoleLarson]

Wondering if this thread can help me make a decision. Didn't know whether to post here or DVC AKV thread but here goes:

- Currently have 7 nights in an AKV Concierge studio. I had MS split the reservation into 3 and 4 nights. We tend to like doing split stays and were thinking that 7 nights may be too much so we split it.

- 7 month is coming up in a few days for the first 3 night reservation. Looking at what's available, many of the rooms at the other resorts are not too far off points wise from the Concierge. Something like BWV which we like to stay in would save some points but moving to Poly or GFV (which we also love) would be about the same points and no lounge!

So a couple of questions...

1) Is 7 nights too much for our first foray into the world of Disney lounges? Does it severely prohibit park time if you're trying to use it at max value?

2) Assuming 7 month availability is the same for the 3 night and 4 night reservation...which one maximizes the lounge use? Meaning when you get there...check out day...all that. I feel like you guys have all the tricks and tips down for that.

3) This is the week preceding Easter...if I'm set on split staying is it a bad idea to wait for the later reservation closer to Easter? Will the 7 month availability be worse than earlier in the week for the three night res? What I'm afraid of is if I wait till the second res and nothing is available then I'm stuck in the concierge the whole time (and yes I know how that sounds very first world problem lol).

Not really sure which way to take this and only have a few days to make a plan!

So I'm a little confused what you are asking. Is your main question should you stay 7 days in an AKL DVC or do a split stay with a different DVC resort. It's honestly a personal decision, you asked the CL thread so we're going to tell you to do all 7 days. If you ask the DVC board you'll probably get more people say to split but most of them just want the nights you give up. AKL CL is incredibly difficult to get so there's a lot of competition for these rooms.
I don't think that you can make a bad decision here. All DVC resorts are nice, so go with what feels right for you and your family. As Dave said, you'll have access to the lounge from 6am on check in to 10pm on check out day. Have a great trip!

 

[TheDailyMoo]

So I'm a little confused what you are asking. Is your main question should you stay 7 days in an AKL DVC or do a split stay with a different DVC resort. It's honestly a personal decision, you asked the CL thread so we're going to tell you to do all 7 days. If you ask the DVC board you'll probably get more people say to split but most of them just want the nights you give up. AKL CL is incredibly difficult to get so there's a lot of competition for these rooms.
I don't think that you can make a bad decision here. All DVC resorts are nice, so go with what feels right for you and your family. As Dave said, you'll have access to the lounge from 6am on check in to 10pm on check out day. Have a great trip!

Thank you! And yes a little of everything. So I did drop the first three nights today (I hope someone here was able to snag them!) and switched it to Boulder Ridge. Wilderness Lodge is one of the few we haven't ever stayed at and kinda felt like let's just do it already! That way we can go heavy on MK from there and then really hit the other three parks from AK. BLT was also open and I thought about rolling the dice to see if we'd get one of the renovated rooms since this trip will be in April but it's just not worth spending the points to get an old room...plus wanting to stay BRV. Also you're right saving some points wasn't exactly a non factor!

 

[DisneyHardin]

I checked out of POFQ 9/4 so yesterday at 7 days I had my TA call. Both CR Resort View CL and GF RPC resort view were 40% off.

We booked a CR CL stay via Bounce Back on 9/7 and just got 35% off. Did you in-room flier say 40% off, or did they just offer than when you called?

 

[Dave006]

Did you in-room flier say 40% off, or did they just offer than when you called?

I think @trishadono was booking for this week. That would explain the 40% discount vs the up to 35% for the regular BB rate.

Dave

 

[trishadono]

We booked a CR CL stay via Bounce Back on 9/7 and just got 35% off. Did you in-room flier say 40% off, or did they just offer than when you called?

I have a friend that got 40% off at Gf in August and Sept. Mine was for Sept although I think Nov early had some when I tried with AP at GF. It’s random . You just have to do the math, they don’t tell you it was 40 they just give the rate.

 

[trishadono]

We booked a CR CL stay via Bounce Back on 9/7 and just got 35% off. Did you in-room flier say 40% off, or did they just offer than when you called?

Just checked my math my CR was only 35%. That is still awesome compared to the 10% GP and AP.

Sorry for confusion.

 

[jemtx]

Just checked my math my CR was only 35%. That is still awesome compared to the 10% GP and AP.

Sorry for confusion.

Still a great deal.

 

[Willows909]

We got back last night from 5 nights at The Contemporary CL. I didn't take any pictures, but will still give a run down of our stay.

*We LOVED it and have already booked a bounce back for next year. This was our 3rd CL stay (other stays were at YC and GF).
*Although the resort doesn't have fantastic theming or grandeur like some of the other resorts, the convenience to everything and the restaurants/amenities were top notch.
*We ate breakfast every morning in the lounge and it was very hearty. They had bacon every day, which I loved. Most mornings I had bacon and oatmeal. My DH sampled more of the offerings - he really liked the cheesy potatoes.
*2 days housekeeping was just getting to our room as we got back in the afternoon, so we sat in the lounge for 20 minutes while the finished. We had a couple cookies from the afternoon offerings - they were delicious.
*We had dinner reservations most nights, but still got a couple snacks from the evening offerings. Lots of shrimp based dishes, which I really liked. It was really nice that beer and wine were self serve and they let you take a couple unopened beers to your room for the fridge there (at Yacht Club they had to take the lid off when they gave it to you, so you couldn't really save them for later).
*The staff was always really nice and did a great job of remembering things about us (ex. as we were going out, they asked where we were heading for dinner and then the next morning, that CM asked how we enjoyed California Grill).
*The only tiny problem we had was that the battery in our safe died, but I called Housekeeping and someone from maintenance was there in 10 minutes to change them out.
*We had requested a King room, but there is only one TPV CL room, so I knew our chances of getting it were slim. We had a 2 Queen room and it was fine.
*The only thing I really didn't like about the room was the bathtub/shower. I am short and Pooh shaped. The tub was very deep and had the metal lip on the top for the sliding door - It was a challenge to swing my legs up and over into the shower. The tub was also VERY slippery, so I ended up putting a hand towel in the tub when I was getting in/out to keep from slipping.
*On our Pool Day, we rented a Cabana at the Leisure pool. It was worth every penny. We spent the entire day down there. The rental included a fridge full of soft drinks/water, a huge fruit tray and a bakery box with sweet treats. We had a server that came around pretty often that we got bar drinks and a burger for lunch from.
*We ate at California Grill one night and Steakhouse 71 one night. Both were very good. We spent a hour or so at The Outer Rim for some drinks and they were great. The only thing I didn't like at The Outer Rim was that people used it as overflow seating for The Contempo Cafe and it made it hard to find seating.

Sorry for the giant wall of text. Feel free to ask any questions.

Thinking about our pool day. We are booked for CL TPV and am glad you brought up the Cabana rental. Is the Leisure pool the main pool? Is it large? How much of a walk is it from a CL room? Thanks in advance for the info!

 

[trishadono]

Thinking about our pool day. We are booked for CL TPV and am glad you brought up the Cabana rental. Is the Leisure pool the main pool? Is it large? How much of a walk is it from a CL room? Thanks in advance for the info!

The cl rooms Atrium and Tower club are in the main building. The elevators are in the center of the floor so the rooms to elevator down to 1st floor is not far, from there you walk through the lobby to the pool steps away out back. FYI there are GW suites and those rooms are in the Garden Wing and closer to pool but further from lounge,

I circled some of the cabanas. The large pool is the main pool . Hard to see in picture but the smaller pool more on top is a circle shaped pool / leisure pool. I often go back and forth between the 2. The small pool is 5 feet in the center which I love but the fountains in the main pool I enjoy as well. There are 2 hot tubs at the main pool.

The big building on the left has a well stocked bar, a QS , showers and bathrooms.

I am one of the few that love the CR pools.

 

[Willows909]

View attachment 895190



The cl rooms Atrium and Tower club are in the main building. The elevators are in the center of the floor so the rooms to elevator down to 1st floor is not far, from there you walk through the lobby to the pool steps away out back. FYI there are GW suites and those rooms are in the Garden Wing and closer to pool but further from lounge,

I circled some of the cabanas. The large pool is the main pool . Hard to see in picture but the smaller pool more on top is a circle shaped pool / leisure pool. I often go back and forth between the 2. The small pool is 5 feet in the center which I love but the fountains in the main pool I enjoy as well. There are 2 hot tubs at the main pool.

The big building on the left has a well stocked bar, a QS , showers and bathrooms.

I am one of the few that love the CR pools.

Thank you for this. I have watched some videos, but this shows it much better! So much to learn!

 

[bookbabe626]

Okay, so for my birthday in mid-February I currently have an AKL king CL room booked. At rack rate, which is killing me. And it’s unlikely that it will have a discount available when the next batch are released due to the limited number of those rooms.

Sell me on the room.

We’ve never done CL at AKL. We’ve been moving away from CL in general, since we got DVC and an Owners Locker. Regular CL rooms we’ve had crappy luck getting good rooms with a king bed, and we never seem to make good use of the lounge due to our park touring schedule. And, we have found some of the lounges overflowing with feral kids and huge groups using it as an extension of their room. We just have bad luck in our timing, I guess. The only lounge we’ve loved has been CR Tower, but there isn’t a room available there. There is the Honeymoon Suite at Poly in the Tonga building, if I want to go big or go home. ;-)

I do love the idea of sitting on the balcony with a coffee, watching the animals out on the savanna. But I could likely get a savanna view room of some sort once the discounts come out, just not the king bed club level. I’m pretty much out of DVC points for this year, so that’s not an option.

WWYD? Is CL at AKL as good as the YouTubers say? How is the location of those king rooms? Or should I look for something else?

DH is no help at all, he’s fine with whatever and refuses to help pick. (He’d normally pick YC/BC/BCV, but Stormalong is closed then so he doesn’t care where Plan B lands us.)

 

[JBRB828]

We got back last night from 5 nights at The Contemporary CL. I didn't take any pictures, but will still give a run down of our stay.

*We LOVED it and have already booked a bounce back for next year. This was our 3rd CL stay (other stays were at YC and GF).
*Although the resort doesn't have fantastic theming or grandeur like some of the other resorts, the convenience to everything and the restaurants/amenities were top notch.
*We ate breakfast every morning in the lounge and it was very hearty. They had bacon every day, which I loved. Most mornings I had bacon and oatmeal. My DH sampled more of the offerings - he really liked the cheesy potatoes.
*2 days housekeeping was just getting to our room as we got back in the afternoon, so we sat in the lounge for 20 minutes while the finished. We had a couple cookies from the afternoon offerings - they were delicious.
*We had dinner reservations most nights, but still got a couple snacks from the evening offerings. Lots of shrimp based dishes, which I really liked. It was really nice that beer and wine were self serve and they let you take a couple unopened beers to your room for the fridge there (at Yacht Club they had to take the lid off when they gave it to you, so you couldn't really save them for later).
*The staff was always really nice and did a great job of remembering things about us (ex. as we were going out, they asked where we were heading for dinner and then the next morning, that CM asked how we enjoyed California Grill).
*The only tiny problem we had was that the battery in our safe died, but I called Housekeeping and someone from maintenance was there in 10 minutes to change them out.
*We had requested a King room, but there is only one TPV CL room, so I knew our chances of getting it were slim. We had a 2 Queen room and it was fine.
*The only thing I really didn't like about the room was the bathtub/shower. I am short and Pooh shaped. The tub was very deep and had the metal lip on the top for the sliding door - It was a challenge to swing my legs up and over into the shower. The tub was also VERY slippery, so I ended up putting a hand towel in the tub when I was getting in/out to keep from slipping.
*On our Pool Day, we rented a Cabana at the Leisure pool. It was worth every penny. We spent the entire day down there. The rental included a fridge full of soft drinks/water, a huge fruit tray and a bakery box with sweet treats. We had a server that came around pretty often that we got bar drinks and a burger for lunch from.
*We ate at California Grill one night and Steakhouse 71 one night. Both were very good. We spent a hour or so at The Outer Rim for some drinks and they were great. The only thing I didn't like at The Outer Rim was that people used it as overflow seating for The Contempo Cafe and it made it hard to find seating.

Sorry for the giant wall of text. Feel free to ask any questions.

We always stay club level TPV and love it, in fact, we are planning to take my GD and (her mon and dad) back again next summer.
As far as the tub, yes, it is a little high. We always call Mousekeeping as soon as we arrive to get a rubber mat for the tub because, as you said, it is a little slippery. (we are in our 70's, have to be careful).

Oh, I love getting the cabana, too!! So worth it for a pool day, I just wish they had more, 3 isn't a lot for the size of the CR.

We always had breakfast in the lounge, can't beat the offerings. Sometimes if we had a later dinner reservation somewhere, we would grab a bite of the app's at 5.

Steakhouse71 is always on our list.

Glad you had a good time!

 

[trishadono]

Okay, so for my birthday in mid-February I currently have an AKL king CL room booked. At rack rate, which is killing me. And it’s unlikely that it will have a discount available when the next batch are released due to the limited number of those rooms.

Sell me on the room.

We’ve never done CL at AKL. We’ve been moving away from CL in general, since we got DVC and an Owners Locker. Regular CL rooms we’ve had crappy luck getting good rooms with a king bed, and we never seem to make good use of the lounge due to our park touring schedule. And, we have found some of the lounges overflowing with feral kids and huge groups using it as an extension of their room. We just have bad luck in our timing, I guess. The only lounge we’ve loved has been CR Tower, but there isn’t a room available there. There is the Honeymoon Suite at Poly in the Tonga building, if I want to go big or go home. ;-)

I do love the idea of sitting on the balcony with a coffee, watching the animals out on the savanna. But I could likely get a savanna view room of some sort once the discounts come out, just not the king bed club level. I’m pretty much out of DVC points for this year, so that’s not an option.

WWYD? Is CL at AKL as good as the YouTubers say? How is the location of those king rooms? Or should I look for something else?

DH is no help at all, he’s fine with whatever and refuses to help pick. (He’d normally pick YC/BC/BCV, but Stormalong is closed then so he doesn’t care where Plan B lands us.)

AKL cl rooms are on floor 4 and lounge is 6. I have had rooms that are quite the hike to the lounge.

The food can be hit or miss depending on your preferences. Overall it is pretty nice and relaxing trip.

Is the honeymoon room an available at poly? That room is 1st floor at the end of the marina, lovely views!

You get a lounge in Tonga building(suites there) plus access to the Hawaii club level as well.

 

[NicoleLarson]

Okay, so for my birthday in mid-February I currently have an AKL king CL room booked. At rack rate, which is killing me. And it’s unlikely that it will have a discount available when the next batch are released due to the limited number of those rooms.

Sell me on the room.

We’ve never done CL at AKL. We’ve been moving away from CL in general, since we got DVC and an Owners Locker. Regular CL rooms we’ve had crappy luck getting good rooms with a king bed, and we never seem to make good use of the lounge due to our park touring schedule. And, we have found some of the lounges overflowing with feral kids and huge groups using it as an extension of their room. We just have bad luck in our timing, I guess. The only lounge we’ve loved has been CR Tower, but there isn’t a room available there. There is the Honeymoon Suite at Poly in the Tonga building, if I want to go big or go home. ;-)

I do love the idea of sitting on the balcony with a coffee, watching the animals out on the savanna. But I could likely get a savanna view room of some sort once the discounts come out, just not the king bed club level. I’m pretty much out of DVC points for this year, so that’s not an option.

WWYD? Is CL at AKL as good as the YouTubers say? How is the location of those king rooms? Or should I look for something else?

DH is no help at all, he’s fine with whatever and refuses to help pick. (He’d normally pick YC/BC/BCV, but Stormalong is closed then so he doesn’t care where Plan B lands us.)

I don't think you'll be happy with AKL CL. Maybe one day you'll get lucky and get a DVC CL room, those are nice because they're on the same floor as the lounge, literally steps away. All other rooms, As others have said, are two floors down from the lounge and AKL hallways are very long, you could potentially be a very long hike to the lounge. Because of this, people tend to hang out in the lounge longer and you may find it difficult to get a seat.

For a smaller/ quainter CL, WL is very nice, except for the occasional screaming for ketchup coming from WCC. We stayed there last month and never had any issues finding an open table. Most of the time it was just us or maybe 1 other family. It is Disney so there's likely going to be kids running around wherever you choose, CR tower and Poly Tonga might be the exception.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Thank you for this. I have watched some videos, but this shows it much better! So much to learn!

FWIW, there's a fourth cabana that's at the feature pool, it's blocked by trees in Trish's photo. I used to have a pic of the #'s of each but I can't find it at the moment. Unless things have changed I believe you book either feature pool or leisure pool when you call. Nothing wrong with the leisure pool but I like the ones in the feature pool a little better to be closer to the action. However, the leisure pool ones are far more secluded/private. The two at the feature pool (especially the one not circled in the pic) are pretty open/visible and don't offer that much privacy.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Okay, so for my birthday in mid-February I currently have an AKL king CL room booked. At rack rate, which is killing me. And it’s unlikely that it will have a discount available when the next batch are released due to the limited number of those rooms.

Sell me on the room.

We’ve never done CL at AKL. We’ve been moving away from CL in general, since we got DVC and an Owners Locker. Regular CL rooms we’ve had crappy luck getting good rooms with a king bed, and we never seem to make good use of the lounge due to our park touring schedule. And, we have found some of the lounges overflowing with feral kids and huge groups using it as an extension of their room. We just have bad luck in our timing, I guess. The only lounge we’ve loved has been CR Tower, but there isn’t a room available there. There is the Honeymoon Suite at Poly in the Tonga building, if I want to go big or go home. ;-)

I do love the idea of sitting on the balcony with a coffee, watching the animals out on the savanna. But I could likely get a savanna view room of some sort once the discounts come out, just not the king bed club level. I’m pretty much out of DVC points for this year, so that’s not an option.

WWYD? Is CL at AKL as good as the YouTubers say? How is the location of those king rooms? Or should I look for something else?

DH is no help at all, he’s fine with whatever and refuses to help pick. (He’d normally pick YC/BC/BCV, but Stormalong is closed then so he doesn’t care where Plan B lands us.)

Nothing wrong with AKL CL, IMO. But to me that Honeymoon room at Poly would be pretty intriguing. It's a GREAT room. And you'll be steps away from the new tower/new pool/new restaurant/bar. Although to talk out of the other side of my brain, I do tend to like Poly better in the warmer months vs Feb, which could be hit or miss.

Good luck deciding, not sure there's really a wrong choice!

 

[Willows909]

FWIW, there's a fourth cabana that's at the feature pool, it's blocked by trees in Trish's photo. I used to have a pic of the #'s of each but I can't find it at the moment. Unless things have changed I believe you book either feature pool or leisure pool when you call. Nothing wrong with the leisure pool but I like the ones in the feature pool a little better to be closer to the action. However, the leisure pool ones are far more secluded/private. The two at the feature pool (especially the one not circled in the pic) are pretty open/visible and don't offer that much privacy.

Thank you so much! You are all so knowledgeable and that is such a benefit to the disboard. I have reservations at CR TPV CL and it's for our 45th Anniversary, so this is very special and $$$ for us. But of course, worth it! But oh, that pool at GF....oh my. It is a pull, especially since we want a resort stay for the most part, and love pools. Sigh....

 

[Best Guest]