Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[mickeynut1]

We always stay at the Grand Californian because we just really, really like how close it is to Disneyland and that it has an entrance directly into California Adventure. The Disneyland Hotel has larger rooms and a Trader Sam's, which make it nice, but at the end of the day we are thankful to not have to walk that far. All 3 on-property hotels, plus quite a few others, will let you walk to the parks.

The Grand Californian appeals to me as it resembles the WL (which is one of our favorites), but the DL hotel looks nice as well. Are the DL hotel rooms considerably larger than GC? What WDW resort would you say is comparable to each DL hotel (as far as room size)?

@TJA - belated thanks for the AKL review and pics. So cool to see! Are they really double beds there? Yikes!

AKL has queens, but sometimes they seem small if you're used to a king.

Y'all... I just e-mailed my TA to ask about their labor day rates. I think my DH is going to kill me if this ends up in another family WDW visit this year... but then maybe thank me after a few days at Poly CL (Poly is his favorite resort but he's not stayed CL yet...).

Those discounts really get you thinking about an extra trip....lol. Hope it works out for you .

The beds would work well for a quick trip with your DS! You could each have a bed. It was really difficult sleeping for my family of 4....they sure seemed small to us, but again could just be because of what we're used to at home.

I agree!

 

[KrazeeK120]

I have a question. Would it be frowned upon for me to take some cereal from the lounge in a snack cup in the morning for my toddler to eat later? I know such a thing is not acceptable at a buffet, but I wasn't sure if the club lounges have different etiquette. I don't want to be committing any faux pas!!

 

[Simba's Girl]

I have a question. Would it be frowned upon for me to take some cereal from the lounge in a snack cup in the morning for my toddler to eat later? I know such a thing is not acceptable at a buffet, but I wasn't sure if the club lounges have different etiquette. I don't want to be committing any faux pas!!

I don't think it's unacceptable. We often grab a few snacks to take with us but obvi. it's not a grocery store or your personal pantry. I would say use your best judgement.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I have a question. Would it be frowned upon for me to take some cereal from the lounge in a snack cup in the morning for my toddler to eat later? I know such a thing is not acceptable at a buffet, but I wasn't sure if the club lounges have different etiquette. I don't want to be committing any faux pas!!

What you're suggesting is totally legit in my opinion - we'll commonly grab things like fruit and yogurt to go and I'm sure we've probably fillled a to go cup with fruit loops a time or two. I've often had CMs encourage us to take any extra items we may need. So you're all good in my book.

 

[Bmath]

I have a question. Would it be frowned upon for me to take some cereal from the lounge in a snack cup in the morning for my toddler to eat later? I know such a thing is not acceptable at a buffet, but I wasn't sure if the club lounges have different etiquette. I don't want to be committing any faux pas!!

I don't think it's an issue at all. I took dozens of plates to my room throughout the days. We probably went through 20+ apple juices as well with my 3 kids. I saw plenty of guests eating in the lounge and doing 'take out'.

 

[JennLTX]

I have a question. Would it be frowned upon for me to take some cereal from the lounge in a snack cup in the morning for my toddler to eat later? I know such a thing is not acceptable at a buffet, but I wasn't sure if the club lounges have different etiquette. I don't want to be committing any faux pas!!

We usually took our food back to the room anyway, as did a LOT of the people at the YC CL. Taking cereal for your kiddo wouldn't be any different!

 

[KrazeeK120]

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I don't normally let my kid have fruit loops at home, so I thought it might be good to have a treat on hand in case of emergency (aka meltdown) in a park. He is normally a very easy, happy-go-lucky kid, but you never know when they may turn on you!

 

[JennLTX]

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I don't normally let my kid have fruit loops at home, so I thought it might be good to have a treat on hand in case of emergency (aka meltdown) in a park. He is normally a very easy, happy-go-lucky kid, but you never know when they may turn on you!

Meltdowns happen to the best of us. May your fruit loops prove either successful or completely unnecessary.

 

[mmmears]

The Grand Californian appeals to me as it resembles the WL (which is one of our favorites), but the DL hotel looks nice as well. Are the DL hotel rooms considerably larger than GC? What WDW resort would you say is comparable to each DL hotel (as far as room size)?

I think the WL and GCH were designed by the same architect. Both lobbies are stunning IMHO. I think the GCH rooms are close in size (but somehow feel a tiny bit larger) than the ones at AKL. DLH rooms are larger but have no balconies.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Anybody had DSS do their ADRs recently? I'm starting to get a bit nervous about all my eggs being in the DSS basket for my ADR day next month- admittedly I don't have a choice as I'll be somewhere over the Pacific Ocean when my window opens. But I was seeing complaints on the restaurant board of people claiming to be having extra hard times getting BOG reservations for fall and I think it's psyching me out a bit... Hoping someone here has had recent success with DSS getting hard to find ADRs like BOG?

 

[ErinsMommy]

We sent DSS our "wish list" the Friday before our window opened (our window opened 3 days later on Monday) and I'm truly thankful I did because as my luck had it, the system kept erroring me out. They were great, I got an email around 9:30 with my itinerary and whatever they saw I was missing or couldn't get myself they filled in where they could. Good luck!

 

[Eastern]

I have a question. Would it be frowned upon for me to take some cereal from the lounge in a snack cup in the morning for my toddler to eat later? I know such a thing is not acceptable at a buffet, but I wasn't sure if the club lounges have different etiquette. I don't want to be committing any faux pas!!

Please do not worry about this. When I was at BWI CL there was a woman taking actual trays of food back to her room. Like complete rows of cookies. The CMs did not blink.

 

[PolyTigger]

I know this has probaly been asked, but is it worth to do online check for CL GF?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I know this has probaly been asked, but is it worth to do online check for CL GF?

I changed my ways sometime last year and started doing online check-in just for the convenience of having the payment method done, maybe getting my room number before I get there so I can research my room, etc. I do room only reservations and if I don't do online check in I have to "settle up" with the house when I check in and be reminded about the cost of my trip, which is not a fun way to start!! With online check-in that all goes on behind the scenes so I can stay in blissful ignorance.

BUT, I still play dumb when I arrive and tell whoever I can I'm checking in CL so I can go through the experience with the CL CM, get any paperwork, chit chat a bit, etc. Totally bypassing checking in with anyone seems so impersonal so I don't take advantage of that option, even if I have recieved the room # before I arrive.

I don't do any of the room request options via online check-in, I just leave those blank. Have always been concerned they would override and/or conflict with my already submitted requests (not sure if that's true or not!).

I consider doing online check-in purely optional - not really critical one way or the other.

Just my perspective, but hope that helps!

 

[PolyTigger]

Thank you for info, I have already made a request for pool view, I think I will do the same as you did. Great idea to get $$$ out of way and not have the sticker/vacation shock.

 

[mickeynut1]

I have a question. Would it be frowned upon for me to take some cereal from the lounge in a snack cup in the morning for my toddler to eat later? I know such a thing is not acceptable at a buffet, but I wasn't sure if the club lounges have different etiquette. I don't want to be committing any faux pas!!

As others have said, it's totally acceptable to take food out of the lounge. Hope you have a great trip .

I think the WL and GCH were designed by the same architect. Both lobbies are stunning IMHO. I think the GCH rooms are close in size (but somehow feel a tiny bit larger) than the ones at AKL. DLH rooms are larger but have no balconies.

Thanks! From pics I've seen, I thought the rooms might be comparable to WL/AKL, but wasn't sure. Good to know about no balconies at DLH. A balcony isn't a deal breaker, but it is nice to know ahead of time .

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

I have a question. Would it be frowned upon for me to take some cereal from the lounge in a snack cup in the morning for my toddler to eat later? I know such a thing is not acceptable at a buffet, but I wasn't sure if the club lounges have different etiquette. I don't want to be committing any faux pas!!

Actually in some of the lounges they have plastic bags and ties to take snacks to go. I know the CR and the BWI had baggies. We always take some snacks to go.

 

[PolyTigger]

How many CL visitors have Annual Passes? And use them to get discount stays.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

How many CL visitors have Annual Passes? And use them to get discount stays.

I have APs for me and DS. We're about half-way through our second year of having them. I've mostly booked with an AP room only discount since getting one, but sometimes have used the general public discount depending on availability of either for any given trip/resort. It can vary but the AP discount has tended to be 5-10% on top of the general public discount lately. But that varies by season, resort, etc.

 

[beesly]

How many CL visitors have Annual Passes? And use them to get discount stays.

I have an AP but I'm the only one in my family with one. I used it to book our first CL stay last month. I'm working on another CL stay for August, but my TA has better rates than the AP discount for Poly CL rooms for the time period I'm looking at.