Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[mickeynut1]

Trouble. Maker.

I am 120 odd days out from my trip and just dying for WL CL info.

The days will go fast! Enjoy the planning. Hope you have a great trip .

Who? Me??

 

[mtemm]

Thanks so much for the YC CL offerings! Any problems with construction noise?

 

[ErinsMommy]

couple of quick questions:

1. how long before a trip does the check in online option appear?
2. we're staying at Poly - do I even need to bother since we've already put in our request for a top floor away from the lounge - and also have Touring Plans doing the same.

 

[wilkeliza]

couple of quick questions:

1. how long before a trip does the check in online option appear?
2. we're staying at Poly - do I even need to bother since we've already put in our request for a top floor away from the lounge - and also have Touring Plans doing the same.

I believe it is 60 days. I would do online check in because our most recent experience not doing online was a 30 minute check in with NO ONE IN LINE. It was the absolute slowest check in I have ever experience with them needing to reput in everything including our addresses even though they already had all that information in the system.

 

[wilkeliza]

Uhm - currently at the CR staying at Tower CL but the CM have already left and I had to take care of something so I did it downstairs. As I am waiting to get assistance this "kid" walks right by me and my girls with his pants literally hanging below his butt cheeks. I was so shocked to see this at the CR and the fact that my 8 year old said "mom look at his pants" ... I did say "Jesus Christ pull your pants up my kids don't need to see all that". Super friendly CM I then stepped up to apologized and we are starting to take care of what we need to take care of. Then this kids (now mind you he looked about 17/18 so i use the term "kid" loosely here).
The here comes this raging lady asking me how dare I "curse" at her son and I told her for one I didn't curse and two he needs to put his pants where they belong. She then accused me of having used the words "****". she starts muttering for me to not dare say anything to her child and then this went back and forth a bit until i told the CM I would like security to get her away from me and my kids.

Now excuse me! Did I dream this? Am I dilutional to not ever have expected anything like this at the CR? Is this what it's coming to? I know it's not directly CL related but since I am staying CL I wanted to post here.

Unfortunately I would say if he had undies on then he is wearing what his family deemed acceptable (IDK if Disney's policy directly calls out undies showing) and for me personally it is a let someone else handle it situation. Sorry you experienced that though. I never have been a fan of lets show everyone our under garments style from either boys or girls but it seems to be popular still especially with some boys (especially those from parents who would yell at someone for correcting their child).

 

[lala5176]

We are headed to Contemporary resort Atrium club level for 4 nights then headed over to Polynesian. We have stayed at Poly before so got that covered but any specific room requests I should ask for at CR? Also anything special I should know about the lounge, food etc.. I'm excited to try a new resort but the rest of my family is on the fence about it. CR doesn't seem to appeal to them so much. Help me change their mind before I change plains AGAIN!!!
Thanks!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

couple of quick questions:

1. how long before a trip does the check in online option appear?
2. we're staying at Poly - do I even need to bother since we've already put in our request for a top floor away from the lounge - and also have Touring Plans doing the same.

#1 is 60 days as @wilkeliza indicated.

#2 - I'm really 50/50 on whether the whole online check-in thing when staying CL is really necessary, but I have been doing it for the past year or so. I do it more to get the payment method situated so I don't have to mess with (aka, be reminded of) my balance when I arrive. But I'll still tell anyone who will listen that I'm checking-in CL. At Poly, you're usually walked back to Hawaii and do "check-in" at the CL CM desks, even if you've already technically done online check-in. A good CM will go over the lounge hours, maybe give you some CL paperwork, give the kids a bucket toy, print out your itinerary, other pleasantries.

When I do online check-in, I do NOT mess with the room request options. I rely on what I've already submitted to DSS to be noted on my reservation.

That's my take, hope that helps!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We are headed to Contemporary resort Atrium club level for 4 nights then headed over to Polynesian. We have stayed at Poly before so got that covered but any specific room requests I should ask for at CR? Also anything special I should know about the lounge, food etc.. I'm excited to try a new resort but the rest of my family is on the fence about it. CR doesn't seem to appeal to them so much. Help me change their mind before I change plains AGAIN!!!
Thanks!

Fun split! Of the MK CLs, Poly and CR CLs are my favorites, so nice choices!

I get why some people don't like CR or Atrium Club, but it holds a soft spot in our travel hearts. Granted you can have dud CL CMs everywhere, but we have generally had some of the best CM experiences at CR/Atrium Club. It's the only resort I've truly had pixie dust moments and the only Disney resort I've been recognized as a repeat guest. To me there is more of a guest service vibe here than the other resorts I've stayed. Obviously your mileage may vary, but for whatever reason we just really love the feeling there.

So Atrium Club room requests... which view do you have, TPV or Standard (Bay Lake)? That will impact advice. To get your bearings, here's a decent map of of the floor. I prefer to not be on the Chef Mickey's side, mainly for noise that tends to drift up. It's not BAD, but enough that I do make it a focus on my requests. If you have a TPV room, an ODD numbered room will face the MK from your bed, like the pic below.

Happy to answer any specific questions... hope you have a great trip!






This pic was technically taken from the Tower Club lounge one floor above the Atrium Club lounge, but this will be your view from the lounge. This view is so much more breathtaking in person, IMHO.



And a little fireworks view too....

 

[mrsap]

Fun split! Of the MK CLs, Poly and CR CLs are my favorites, so nice choices!

I get why some people don't like CR or Atrium Club, but it holds a soft spot in our travel hearts. Granted you can have dud CL CMs everywhere, but we have generally had some of the best CM experiences at CR/Atrium Club. It's the only resort I've truly had pixie dust moments and the only Disney resort I've been recognized as a repeat guest. To me there is more of a guest service vibe here than the other resorts I've stayed. Obviously your mileage may vary, but for whatever reason we just really love the feeling there.

So Atrium Club room requests... which view do you have, TPV or Standard (Bay Lake)? That will impact advice. To get your bearings, here's a decent map of of the floor. I prefer to not be on the Chef Mickey's side, mainly for noise that tends to drift up. It's not BAD, but enough that I do make it a focus on my requests. If you have a TPV room, an ODD numbered room will face the MK from your bed, like the pic below.

Happy to answer any specific questions... hope you have a great trip!

View attachment 236192


View attachment 236193

This pic was technically taken from the Tower Club lounge one floor above the Atrium Club lounge, but this will be your view from the lounge. This view is so much more breathtaking in person, IMHO.

View attachment 236194

And a little fireworks view too....
View attachment 236195

BEAUTIFUL pictures!!!!!

 

[TempleOT]

Beers curr

Anyone know what kind of beer is at the BC lounge? We got hooked on longboards at the poly last year.

ently at BC CL: longboard lager, Stella Artois, Heineken...DH can't remember the fourth cause it was something he doesn't care about, lol

 

[jods]

Beers curr

ently at BC CL: longboard lager, Stella Artois, Heineken...DH can't remember the fourth cause it was something he doesn't care about, lol

Thank you! I see a lot of Stella in my future!

 

[DG25]

Very very disappointed inGF RPC. First the lack of service and the lack of answers from DSS, worthless. Then the lack of understanding reasonable accommodations, I spent quiet a while asking for exactly what we needed, willing to pay more to get what we needed if it meant a room that cost more so be it.

Arrived at GF on time 6:55 am. Was not greeted immediately but I was greeted before I enter the lobby but family already went in. We were taken to 3rd floor. Was told room was not ready, okay it was 7am and I had ask them to get its put definitely by 1pm. That was all we got, nothing about the club, nothing about the hotel, nothing else, just that rooms are assigned as soon as possible to check in so it should be ready soon and they go in order. Strange never heard that.

We ate some and took off to the parks. By 12 we were so tired we went back, 12:30 room not ready but any minute. 1:30 room not ready but any minute. I asked are you telling me if they go in order that no maid has made up any rooms at all all day. They said we are working on it. As we sat in RPC for more than an hour, we saw/heard family after family get a huge sit down and go over ever detail of the hotel, every question about anything answered, we go come back later and maybe a room will be done.

Another is it ready at 2:30 with another no. By this time I was very mad, they had not congratulated us on our wedding, they had not giving happy birthday or congratulation to our graduate. We had not been giving a grand hello this is our hotel. And we still had no room.

At 2:45 we get a text room ready. No we had asked specifically for a room close to elevator and away from lobby so dog could get out and potty easy. We get room 45 something, on 5th floor, smack in the middle of the opposite side of where an elevator is and right above the lobby. We were told ALL rooms have daybeds and was assured we would have one. Well no day bed.

Back to the concierges desk, who told us sorry no other room was available that was all there was. I said fine I will go down and ask a manager. Who told me there was a couch in the room giving to me. I said please show me where because no one took us to the room and I know I am blind but there was no couch in the room. They all started to fumble. They said they would work on it again. About 4 pm they found us a room 4044 and said it was an upgrade, well that was the room I told them I thought would work best but they told me over the phone no, I told them I did not mind paying for MK because it felt better, but they said no a standard room would work, so it did not feel like an upgrade to me, just a hassle.

During phone conversations and at check in I was constantly told that they had evacuation cards in Braille, well that was a lie.

Another lie was I was told over and over again that the stairs did not go to the bottom floor and I would not be allowed to use them to potty my dog, lie the stairs go to the bottom floor and you can use them.

All in all the room was great. Everyone said the view was good. Club level was okay for food, not the best but okay. One other thing we never got turn down service. So that is three services we did not get, DSS, turndown and greeting or grand tour.

Would I ever pay to stay club level at the RPC again nope. Maybe some people get the royal treatment but I did not. Even if the next day they tried to fix it and had someone go thru evacuation, I felt it was all a little two little and a lot to late.

We moved over to BRV today, never even bothered to use the lounge at RPC today it was such a bad experience. We asked for our room to be ready by 1, we got a text at 12:50 that it was ready. We asked for room 1516, we got room 1516. We were greeted with a smile, and a welcome back. In 11 days we will go to WL CL, I can already tell you that we will be treated better here.

 

[JodyLynC]

#1 is 60 days as @wilkeliza indicated.

#2 - I'm really 50/50 on whether the whole online check-in thing when staying CL is really necessary, but I have been doing it for the past year or so. I do it more to get the payment method situated so I don't have to mess with (aka, be reminded of) my balance when I arrive. But I'll still tell anyone who will listen that I'm checking-in CL. At Poly, you're usually walked back to Hawaii and do "check-in" at the CL CM desks, even if you've already technically done online check-in. A good CM will go over the lounge hours, maybe give you some CL paperwork, give the kids a bucket toy, print out your itinerary, other pleasantries.

When I do online check-in, I do NOT mess with the room request options. I rely on what I've already submitted to DSS to be noted on my reservation.

That's my take, hope that helps!

Thank you for the advice. I think I will do this myself since I have already submitted my room request via DSS.

 

[lala5176]

Fun split! Of the MK CLs, Poly and CR CLs are my favorites, so nice choices!

I get why some people don't like CR or Atrium Club, but it holds a soft spot in our travel hearts. Granted you can have dud CL CMs everywhere, but we have generally had some of the best CM experiences at CR/Atrium Club. It's the only resort I've truly had pixie dust moments and the only Disney resort I've been recognized as a repeat guest. To me there is more of a guest service vibe here than the other resorts I've stayed. Obviously your mileage may vary, but for whatever reason we just really love the feeling there.

So Atrium Club room requests... which view do you have, TPV or Standard (Bay Lake)? That will impact advice. To get your bearings, here's a decent map of of the floor. I prefer to not be on the Chef Mickey's side, mainly for noise that tends to drift up. It's not BAD, but enough that I do make it a focus on my requests. If you have a TPV room, an ODD numbered room will face the MK from your bed, like the pic below.

Happy to answer any specific questions... hope you have a great trip!

View attachment 236192


View attachment 236193

This pic was technically taken from the Tower Club lounge one floor above the Atrium Club lounge, but this will be your view from the lounge. This view is so much more breathtaking in person, IMHO.

View attachment 236194

And a little fireworks view too....
View attachment 236195

Wow, great pictures. Thank you.
We are booked in a standard view. So should we just ask for a room "Not on chef Mickeys side?" They do a character breakfast right? We are not rope drop people so noise from the restaurant would probably get on my nerves. Thanks for that tip.
So if you could stay all week at Polynesian with CL TPV or split with CR CL what would you choose?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Thank you for the advice. I think I will do this myself since I have already submitted my room request via DSS.

I should caveat that I have no idea what's technically behind the scenes in terms of what room assignors see / how they assign rooms. But I've always been worried that anything I may click during online check-in could override and/or conflict with my previously submitted requests, so I just figure why risk it. No clue if that's a valid concern though, just seems logical.

Also some of the online check-in request options don't even really match the realities of some resorts, so that's a second concern on the topic.

Good luck!

 

[mickeynut1]

We are headed to Contemporary resort Atrium club level for 4 nights then headed over to Polynesian. We have stayed at Poly before so got that covered but any specific room requests I should ask for at CR? Also anything special I should know about the lounge, food etc.. I'm excited to try a new resort but the rest of my family is on the fence about it. CR doesn't seem to appeal to them so much. Help me change their mind before I change plains AGAIN!!!
Thanks!

GADisneyDad answered your question, but I wanted to say I hope you have a great trip! Splitting between Poly CL and CR CL sounds like a fun time. We've never stayed at the CR as we feel the same as your family, not a lot of appeal to us. With that said, we do like trying new resorts and while we wouldn't book the CR for a week long stay, it is one we'd like to try for a few nights. I also think staying at the CR first is a good idea. Since you have stayed at the Poly, you know what to expect. If you don't really care for the CR, you know you're ending your trip with a resort you know/like. Have a great time and I hope you enjoy the CR. Hope you will report back after your stay .

 

[lala5176]

GADisneyDad answered your question, but I wanted to say I hope you have a great trip! Splitting between Poly CL and CR CL sounds like a fun time. We've never stayed at the CR as we feel the same as your family, not a lot of appeal to us. With that said, we do like trying new resorts and while we wouldn't book the CR for a week long stay, it is one we'd like to try for a few nights. I also think staying at the CR first is a good idea. Since you have stayed at the Poly, you know what to expect. If you don't really care for the CR, you know you're ending your trip with a resort you know/like. Have a great time and I hope you enjoy the CR. Hope you will report back after your stay .

Thank you. I will definitely report back when we return and yes the rest of my family can't be mad at me when ending a trip at the Polynesian. We all love it there. I actually never thought I would like it because it always seemed so dark to me when compared to GF or BC/YC but once we stayed I loved it and realized all the dark tones and theme just went together so well. Love it!! I hope we will love contemporary too.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Wow, great pictures. Thank you.
We are booked in a standard view. So should we just ask for a room "Not on chef Mickeys side?" They do a character breakfast right? We are not rope drop people so noise from the restaurant would probably get on my nerves. Thanks for that tip.
So if you could stay all week at Polynesian with CL TPV or split with CR CL what would you choose?

Sorry, this is going to be long...

Re standard view - I think this is a great view option at CR! You really get the best of both worlds... a great view of Bay Lake from your room, and you can still get the wonderful MK / 7 Seas Lagoon / Fireworks view from the lounge. Forgive the hyperbole, but I was on the Bay Lake side on my trip a few weeks ago and was really blown away. Plus you get a great view of the Electrial Water Pageant (yes, I'm a nerd).

Attached are some view pics. This was technically from the 14th floor / Tower Club, but 12th floor / Atrium Club views would be the same, just one floor down.

Chef Mickey's serves breakfast (starting at 7AM I think), brunch, and dinner. Dinner goes until pretty late - like 10+ I think. It's not crazy noisy, but just a general buzz of a busy restaurant, kids, plates clinking, etc. They sing a song every so often where everyone waives their napkin in the air.

I was in room 4826 one time, basically right above CM's. My DD was 9 months on that trip, so granted I was more plugged into outside noise than an average guest, so my comments/concern about that side could be totally biased by that one time! I wouldn't be if I had a room on the CM's side, it's more of a preference than anything else - in my opinion.

If I were in your shoes, I would request a room "on the northeast side of the floor away from Chef Mickey's, example rooms 4814-4824" or something along those lines.

To split or not to split... that is ALWAYS the question!

By default our preference has been to stay in a single spot. Check-in, unpack, move-in, have a single home base for the length of stay. It lets you slow down, relax, and take your time. The trips in my sig are a mix of full weeks and 3-4 nighters... some of our best trips have been the full weeks where we really felt we had plenty of time to relax and get to know the particular resort, CL, have a good park touring plan, have several off days, etc.

BUT, we just did a GF/CR week split and that was equally as enjoyable. The logistics of splitting were easier than I had envisioned (we went to a water park on our move/homeless day), but it does cause some level of 'disruption' to the flow of a trip. Packing cubes were our friend.

Inevitably with any CL if you stay long enough you get to the point where you're like "ok, been there, done that" and a change of scene may be welcome, particularly if you're not in love with wherever you are. So splitting does have some merit.

Also splitting a high-priced room category like Poly TPV CL has some financial benefit in that you can pair it with something not quite so expensive (like CR Atrium Standard View), if that is a concern for you.

Early on I would have never considered splitting, but now with more experience (and as my kids get older) I see myself drifting more to where splitting becomes more common, for us at least.

Ultimately if this were me, I would be perfectly content staying Poly CL TPV for a week or splitting with CR Atrium, both seem valid choices to me. Others may disagree.

Sorry for the long post, but hope it's helpful!

 

[lala5176]

Sorry, this is going to be long...

Re standard view - I think this is a great view option at CR! You really get the best of both worlds... a great view of Bay Lake from your room, and you can still get the wonderful MK / 7 Seas Lagoon / Fireworks view from the lounge. Forgive the hyperbole, but I was on the Bay Lake side on my trip a few weeks ago and was really blown away. Plus you get a great view of the Electrial Water Pageant (yes, I'm a nerd).

Attached are some view pics. This was technically from the 14th floor / Tower Club, but 12th floor / Atrium Club views would be the same, just one floor down.

Chef Mickey's serves breakfast (starting at 7AM I think), brunch, and dinner. Dinner goes until pretty late - like 10+ I think. It's not crazy noisy, but just a general buzz of a busy restaurant, kids, plates clinking, etc. They sing a song every so often where everyone waives their napkin in the air.

I was in room 4826 one time, basically right above CM's. My DD was 9 months on that trip, so granted I was more plugged into outside noise than an average guest, so my comments/concern about that side could be totally biased by that one time! I wouldn't be if I had a room on the CM's side, it's more of a preference than anything else - in my opinion.

If I were in your shoes, I would request a room "on the northeast side of the floor away from Chef Mickey's, example rooms 4814-4824" or something along those lines.

To split or not to split... that is ALWAYS the question!

By default our preference has been to stay in a single spot. Check-in, unpack, move-in, have a single home base for the length of stay. It lets you slow down, relax, and take your time. The trips in my sig are a mix of full weeks and 3-4 nighters... some of our best trips have been the full weeks where we really felt we had plenty of time to relax and get to know the particular resort, CL, have a good park touring plan, have several off days, etc.

BUT, we just did a GF/CR week split and that was equally as enjoyable. The logistics of splitting were easier than I had envisioned (we went to a water park on our move/homeless day), but it does cause some level of 'disruption' to the flow of a trip. Packing cubes were our friend.

Inevitably with any CL if you stay long enough you get to the point where you're like "ok, been there, done that" and a change of scene may be welcome, particularly if you're not in love with wherever you are. So splitting does have some merit.

Also splitting a high-priced room category like Poly TPV CL has some financial benefit in that you can pair it with something not quite so expensive (like CR Atrium Standard View), if that is a concern for you.

Early on I would have never considered splitting, but now with more experience (and as my kids get older) I see myself drifting more to where splitting becomes more common, for us at least.

Ultimately if this were me, I would be perfectly content staying Poly CL TPV for a week or splitting with CR Atrium, both seem valid choices to me. Others may disagree.

Sorry for the long post, but hope it's helpful!

Thank you again for the pictures! The view really is beautiful!
We generally like to stay put and unpack and get settled in too. I think that's why I have such a hard time committing to a split stay when I book it. I justified it to my family because we are staying 10 nights this trip and we would be at CR for four nights and Poly for six. They could settle in at Poly right?? Also CL TPV comes at a premium even with our military discount. I try to tell my kids that we don't have a money tree in the yard but they are not convinced!!
My kitchen DD are 14, 9,and 6. I think you said you had little ones... did you find it to be a hassle when going to the pool at CR being that you need to take elevators/ escalators to get there? Does that sound ridiculous? We are at Disney we will be doing tons of walking!!!
Also thank you so much for the great room location advice!!!

 

[Nikki0401]

Last year when we stayed CL at poly there was noone to greet us. We went on the regular line and I found a cm and told them we were CL. He got someone to take us over which was especially nice since it started to downpour.

That happened to us too last summer. I went to regular check in and told them we were club level and someone came right out gave a us a little tour and left us off at the club level concierge.