Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[eeyore81]

I can't remember the room number because we did not take it but I believe it was in the 4200s in Kudo side. I know my parents have had a bunk bed room on the Zebra trail. So there are at least 2 club level bunk bed rooms.

 

[pld5]

We arrive at BWI tomorrow morning! Looking forward to being back after our stay there in 2015 and hope that Lorenzo is still there. I will report back on food offerings when I return next week.

 

[mickeynut1]

Hi, all! We are staying at GF main building club level in October. It's our first stay at this resort and the first at club level. We chose a room with a "theme park view," but now I'm concerned that we won't have a great view. I've seen reviews that some views are obstructed by a tree and that some views aren't very direct. At $1400 a night I want to make sure we are getting what we are paying for. Any advice here is much appreciated!

I can't help with TPV, but I wanted to say you're in for a treat! The GF is a beautiful resort and RPC is amazing. The lounge is spacious with gorgeous views of the grounds and the CL CMs are great. Hope you have a great anniversary trip .

We arrive at BWI tomorrow morning! Looking forward to being back after our stay there in 2015 and hope that Lorenzo is still there. I will report back on food offerings when I return next week.

Have a great trip .

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Interesting pics over on the WL thread that appear to show the new 7th floor CL "gate" that will control access from the DVC side of that floor. Here's a link to the post.

Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE and VILLAS Information and Questions Thread

 

[WildernessBride]

Hi All, I am a total newbie to the CL. My family and I are staying at AKL club level for two nights and then off to the Poly for 10 more (not club level). My question is, should I be concerned that no one has contacted me from AKL CL and we are at the 26 day to arrival mark? I have read that concierge would contact you at the 30 day mark. Is this important? Sorry if this is a dumb question!

 

[Maxie86]

Hi All, I am a total newbie to the CL. My family and I are staying at AKL club level for two nights and then off to the Poly for 10 more (not club level). My question is, should I be concerned that no one has contacted me from AKL CL and we are at the 26 day to arrival mark? I have read that concierge would contact you at the 30 day mark. Is this important? Sorry if this is a dumb question!

Not a dumb question at all. It is hit or miss if they contact you first. I have had at least two and sometimes more CL stays a year and have rarely been contacted first. They can help you with room requests, ADR's or answer any questions you have about your stay. If you don't need any help with anything there is no need to talk to them. Sorry I don't have the new phone number or email address, but it has been posted numerous times on this thread, someone will be along with the answer if you ask. A word of warning...it is hard to go back to a non CL room once you stay CL.

 

[WildernessBride]

A word of warning...it is hard to go back to a non CL room once you stay CL.

That is what I am worried about LOL

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hi All, I am a total newbie to the CL. My family and I are staying at AKL club level for two nights and then off to the Poly for 10 more (not club level). My question is, should I be concerned that no one has contacted me from AKL CL and we are at the 26 day to arrival mark? I have read that concierge would contact you at the 30 day mark. Is this important? Sorry if this is a dumb question!

Hi there! Sounds like a fun trip and it's coming up quickly. You've come to the right place for CL help!

With a club level reservation, you have access to a service called Disney Signature Services (DSS) who can provide pre-arrival concierge-like services such as ADR booking, adding room requests to your reservation, booking water park cabanas, fireworks cruises, etc, etc. DSS is a centralized service that handles all CL guests across all the resorts. You can access DSS CMs via phone or e-mail:

(407) 939-7777
disney.signature.services@disneyworld.com

If you e-mail, include your AKL reservation number in the e-mail.

Not sure where you read that a concierge would contact you at the 30 day mark but that's not accurate. DSS will often reach out to guests to introduce themselves and offer their services, but as @Maxie86 noted, some people never hear from them - so experiences can be a bit inconsistent. I've had/have a handful of CL reservations in 2017 and I've recieved a phone call on some but not all of them, so go figure! Others report receiving a post-card mailer about DSS while others have reported receiving e-mails. DSS is a new service that took over for "IPO" which you may see referenced around here. Depending on when you made your reservation you may have been in that "gap" period between the two late last year/early this year.

I suspect with your trip coming up, you don't really need DSS for anything but absolutely reach out to them if you do! Many folks will use DSS to note room requests - especially at a place like AKL, which you may want to do if you haven't already.

Hope that helps, feel free to ask any questions!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

So excited, just booked our first CL stay! We'll be at AKL July 18-22.

We just have the standard savannah view room. Looking for information on room requests. Our kids would love the bunk beds.

I went on Tourinplans site, but when I narrowed it down by Club level-queen with bunk beds, it only showed one room. Is that correct? Didn't know if there was a better resource I should use or if anyone had personal experience.

Congrats on booking - it will be here soon!! Unfortunately I don't have any experience at AKL so can't answer your question, but wanted to echo what @KrazeeK120 said about Touring Plans. Their room info is useful to a point but falls short in being 100% accurate, particularly when you get to the level of something like bunk beds vs no bunk beds. Just take their info with a grain of salt - they could be spot on, but might not be either.

I'd keep asking here and maybe on the AKL thread and see what you find. Although it's a smaller target audience when it comes to the bunk beds so it may be hard to find totally solid info?

Other folks around here can address other aspects of room requests at AKL, such as being close to the lounge, specific views, etc.

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[ZZUB]

So excited, just booked our first CL stay! We'll be at AKL July 18-22.

We just have the standard savannah view room. Looking for information on room requests. Our kids would love the bunk beds.

I went on Tourinplans site, but when I narrowed it down by Club level-queen with bunk beds, it only showed one room. Is that correct? Didn't know if there was a better resource I should use or if anyone had personal experience.

We've stayed at AKL CL twice and both times we asked for and received bunk bed rooms. Once on Zebra and this past summer on Kudu.

I preferred Zebra b/c it was closer to the lounge and the lounge access elevators and the buses. But the animal activity on Kudu "seemed" better. Those trips were separated by 5 years, so animal activity on all savannas may be more active. If you end up on the Kudu side, you should know there is a "secret staircase" that goes from the 4th floor to the 6th floor lounge. It's roughly before the hallway to the Ostrich trail and you won't have any problem finding it.

As for bunk beds, I would alert DSS that you are very interested in bunk beds for your kids. I was told once by a IPO CM that they try to accommodate families with kids who request bunk beds. And that had me wondering, how many adult couples would ask for bunk beds? That's weird, right?

A few days before check in, I would call DSS again to remind them of your request for bunk beds. And when you check in, if they try to put you in a non BB room, see if they have another they can put you in. One time at the Polynesian, they tried to put us in a second floor, non-renovated room and we agreed to wait a few hours for a 3rd floor renovated room.

I don't know because I haven't counted them, but I feel confident that there is a good number of bunk bed rooms available. If that's the most important thing to you, however, I would make certain EVERYONE knows before you arrive. GADisneyDad frequently posts that when his family arrives at a resort he tells everyone he can find he's checking in club level. I giggle every time I read that because it creates an incredibly funny picture in my mind. And, to be honest, I plan to follow suit on our next trip. Beginning at the DME check in at MCO. Maybe even at the gate at our home airport. It'll be a game day decision.

I think his point is that he makes certain someone knows to send his family to the right check in spot. And if getting the bunk bed room for your kids is important, as it should be, then tell everyone ahead of time how essential it is.

Hope that helps.

BTW, you're going to enjoy the AKL!

 

[cwis]

We checked into AKL today. We were greeted by a CM when we walked up to the front door. We were taken up to the 6th floor to check in. I had to request a room change. The first room assignment was bunk beds and no where close to where we like. After about 5-10 minutes on the phone, the CM had us a great room. The afternoon offerings were the same as our last visit in November. We were a little late for tea but there were not any scones or cream out. I hope they are out tomorrow as they are my favorite. The hot evening offering were ridiculous. The chef was plating them one at a time. The line was backed up. There were times when the chef was not at the station so no one could get hot apps during that time. Just coming from the Poly this was a change. Although the Poly didn't have the vegetarian options that they have at AKL, the CMs at the Poly wanted you to take food and lots of it. They were plating large portions of food for people to take to the pool. I got two hot apps tonight and felt like I was asking for a dinner portion. This serving method has to change. I would encourage people to comment about it to Disney. On a different note, there were ham and cheese roll ups, apples with peanut butter and gold fish out at dinner tonight for kids. I'm glad to see a kid friendly option back. We love AKL and feel at home here. However, I hope we weren't too spoiled by the Poly.

Thanks for the review! I still can't quite get how they operate the hot appetizers, are the chef plating one by one all the hot offerings, or only the bites from the AKL restaurants? TIA!

 

[pangyal]

The bites are the hot offerings from the restaurants. There are two different options each evening, and they were playing them individually as well when we were there two weeks ago. It wasn't busy at all when we would go, but I didn't realize this was an intentional thing until I read it here after returning home. I hope they change it as it seems completely nonsensical to me.

 

[maria's_mommy]

Are the CL rooms AKL mostly close to the lobby or is it worth putting in a request to be close? Thanks!

 

[kayteekt]

We've stayed at AKL CL twice and both times we asked for and received bunk bed rooms. Once on Zebra and this past summer on Kudu.

I preferred Zebra b/c it was closer to the lounge and the lounge access elevators and the buses. But the animal activity on Kudu "seemed" better. Those trips were separated by 5 years, so animal activity on all savannas may be more active. If you end up on the Kudu side, you should know there is a "secret staircase" that goes from the 4th floor to the 6th floor lounge. It's roughly before the hallway to the Ostrich trail and you won't have any problem finding it.

As for bunk beds, I would alert DSS that you are very interested in bunk beds for your kids. I was told once by a IPO CM that they try to accommodate families with kids who request bunk beds. And that had me wondering, how many adult couples would ask for bunk beds? That's weird, right?

A few days before check in, I would call DSS again to remind them of your request for bunk beds. And when you check in, if they try to put you in a non BB room, see if they have another they can put you in. One time at the Polynesian, they tried to put us in a second floor, non-renovated room and we agreed to wait a few hours for a 3rd floor renovated room.

I don't know because I haven't counted them, but I feel confident that there is a good number of bunk bed rooms available. If that's the most important thing to you, however, I would make certain EVERYONE knows before you arrive. GADisneyDad frequently posts that when his family arrives at a resort he tells everyone he can find he's checking in club level. I giggle every time I read that because it creates an incredibly funny picture in my mind. And, to be honest, I plan to follow suit on our next trip. Beginning at the DME check in at MCO. Maybe even at the gate at our home airport. It'll be a game day decision.

I think his point is that he makes certain someone knows to send his family to the right check in spot. And if getting the bunk bed room for your kids is important, as it should be, then tell everyone ahead of time how essential it is.

Hope that helps.

BTW, you're going to enjoy the AKL!

Thanks so much for the very helpful pointers!

 

[Eastern]

The bites are the hot offerings from the restaurants. There are two different options each evening, and they were playing them individually as well when we were there two weeks ago. It wasn't busy at all when we would go, but I didn't realize this was an intentional thing until I read it here after returning home. I hope they change it as it seems completely nonsensical to me.

I agree that this individual plating thing doesn't make sense, unless they are just trying to slow people down in terms of eating...

I don't care if that is AKL's policy as I can just avoid that resort; my problem would be if it goes to all resorts... They (all CL's) have just upped their game in terms of food offerings and this would be a (huge) step backward.

I do not want to wait in line for a small plate. I am paying extra for CL in order to relax. Waiting for people to pour my glass of (come on, it's cheap...) wine or plate my (very small) portion of food is maddening.

I don't know how they can't make money off CL, even without gatekeeping. It is usually $100-$200 extra per room, per night. The food and drinks cannot possibly cost that much! And paying a chef to serve me is adding to the cost anyway, isn't it?

Sorry for the rant btw I just hate waiting on lines. I will always leave a venue vs waiting on any long line (unless it's something like airplane travel, where I am stuck). My time is valuable to me.

 

[cwis]

The bites are the hot offerings from the restaurants. There are two different options each evening, and they were playing them individually as well when we were there two weeks ago. It wasn't busy at all when we would go, but I didn't realize this was an intentional thing until I read it here after returning home. I hope they change it as it seems completely nonsensical to me.

I remember at the Grand Floridian last year, there was a set of differents hot offerings on rotation, as well as a few items that were there everyday (such as the corn dog nuggets).
If I get what you're saying correct, at the ALK CL, the bites are the only hot offerings from the dinner service, they are plated individually, and they change everyday. Did I get it right this time?

This seems such a change from the CL service as we know it for years that I feel a lot confused about all this!

 

[trishadono]

Hi, all! We are staying at GF main building club level in October. It's our first stay at this resort and the first at club level. We chose a room with a "theme park view," but now I'm concerned that we won't have a great view. I've seen reviews that some views are obstructed by a tree and that some views aren't very direct. At $1400 a night I want to make sure we are getting what we are paying for. Any advice here is much appreciated!

Not to worry. I had that room with a tree 4201. It's a Deluxe king room which was on the 2nd floor. The TPV rpc rooms are on floors 3 and 4. I guess to be safe if you see your room number is 4301 maybe a bit of the tree there.

On the gf thread I recently reposted a room number map of gf rpc building that I found on another thread.I am going to bring this with my in December when I go.

I'll try to find it for you.(above)

First digit 2 for 2nd floor, 3 for 3rd. 4 for 4th . No 5th floor TPV rooms.

I didn't book TPV because seeing fireworks isn t a priority with my mom but closer to lounge is. Really all the views are lovely.

 

[Eastern]

View attachment 241775
Not to worry. I had that room with a tree 4201. It's a Deluxe king room which was on the 2nd floor. The TPV rpc rooms are on floors 3 and 4. I guess to be safe if you see your room number is 4301 maybe a bit of the tree there.

On the gf thread I recently reposted a room number map of gf rpc building that I found on another thread.I am going to bring this with my in December when I go.

I'll try to find it for you.(above)

First digit 2 for 2nd floor, 3 for 3rd. 4 for 4th . No 5th floor TPV rooms.

I didn't book TPV because seeing fireworks isn t a priority with my mom but closer to lounge is. Really all the views are lovely.

What are those weird shaped frying pan rooms? 4323 and 4328?

Also where is the lounge in that picture?

 

[trishadono]

What are those weird shaped frying pan rooms? 4323 and 4328?

Actually a friend just stayed in one and sent me pix. They have an extra hall with the desk out there with more space. Yes I am going to request one! Also the rooms on the right have a wet bar.

4329 is a std king (upon request). Room is a little smaller but the balcony is double wide. We like the unique shape.

This is my rough draft. TPV 3 and 4 only . On right 5th floor are suites mostly.

I was so glad to find the other map with numbers because I was going to do that next lol!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hi, all! We are staying at GF main building club level in October. It's our first stay at this resort and the first at club level. We chose a room with a "theme park view," but now I'm concerned that we won't have a great view. I've seen reviews that some views are obstructed by a tree and that some views aren't very direct. At $1400 a night I want to make sure we are getting what we are paying for. Any advice here is much appreciated!

Hi there! Glad @trishadono posted the floorplan, that should help get your bearings.

FWIW, your post is exactly why I started coming around here. Once I realized I liked these expensive CL trips, I wanted to make sure I was making the best decisions possible with my vacation dollars!

Full disclosure, I have not stayed in a GF Main Building (RPC) TPV room, only a Standard View room, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Admittedly, GF RPC is the one resort where I don't feel compelled to book TPV. For one, it's obnoxiously expensive as you note, and two, I'm not necessarily a fan of the viewing angle from that location. I like the TPV rooms from places like Poly and CR better (big, expansive views of the 7 Seas Lagoon and MK) so don't mind paying up there. If I'm at RPC, I'd be perfectly happy with a standard view main building room. But, any TPV is a good view, so you can't really go wrong here!

When it comes to views, Disney is pretty legit about the view categories. If there is a tree blocking your primary view of the castle, it won't be classified as a TPV room. So when you book TPV, you should feel relatively confident you'll get what you pay for.

Here's a view looking at the RPC TPV bank of rooms. As @trishadono noted, they are the 3rd and 4th floor rooms. The ones to the far left actually have an extended balcony.



You say $1,400 a night? That smells like a rack rate that time of year? Keep an eye out for discounts when they come out for October, I would think you should be able to a bit better than that, but I'm speculating. That's a big number here, in my humble opinion.

Keep asking questions, lots of people around that can help!