Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[NicoleLarson]

I know! I’m loving them. I’m hoping he gets to Animal Kingdom Lodge soon.

I just thought I would post it here in case someone was eagerly awaiting the review like I am awaiting the Animal Kingdom Lodge review.

I've been hoping he does one for AKL soon too! At this point, that's where we're booked for April, although not sure if that will be our final spot. I've enjoyed reading the other ones - made me really want to try Poly CL...

Given I'm not Josh, but I'll be there the end of Feb so let me know if you have questions about anything.

 

[IceQueen182]

ah - ok thank you for clarifying. didn't realize about the bushes in front of rooms. Still I like the patio idea for our family. We just took a Disney cruise beginning of December and my 3 year old decided to climb on the table of the veranda to get a "better look". So for now, no balconies for us! Patio it is!

I just wanted to put in a plug for the first floor GV CL rooms at the Poly. We have requested a room in the middle of the building, facing the Oasis pool, on the first floor for our last two Poly stays and I can't imagine staying anywhere else. It was awesome while my 2 year old napped to be able to sit on the patio and watch my DH and DD play in the pool. My DD also liked looking for little lizards in the yard off of the patio. At night, DH and I would sit on the patio and enjoy the music playing at the pool while having our desserts and cordials. It was lovely! (We took turns going from the patio, to the main entrance of the Hawaii building, and up to the lounge to bring snacks back at night, since our hotel room door was squeaky and we were afraid to wake the kids!).

Our most recent stay was late Nov./ early Dec. so after the tree fell, and we still thought the foliage was nice. Check out Touring Plans for views from particular rooms. Have a wonderful time!!

 

[gwynne]

I've seen people being shuttled around in golf carts, I wonder if that's a possibility.

I would think the guests would need to be able to easily transfer themselves into and out of the golf cart, and then be able to walk into and around the spa for their appointment.

 

[dalmatian7]

We did chat, but I waited until we were towards the end of the line. I didn’t want to be “that guy” and he was obviously busy.

What I really wanted to do is buy him a beer at Nomad Lounge after the ride and grill him about crowd calendars, but I let it slide.

I used to use his calendars a ton when I first started going to WDW, but he sadly doesn’t do them anymore (for valid reasons).

I wish they did ride photos on NRJ because we ended up being on the same boat - that would have been a keeper!

Why doesn't he do them anymore? Too much time? I used a year old one to base my 2017 trip off of. His little touring tips are the best. Also, his writing style always makes me chuckle.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Why doesn't he do them anymore? Too much time? I used a year old one to base my 2017 trip off of. His little touring tips are the best. Also, his writing style always makes me chuckle.

From what he’s posted on his site and board - and someone can probably explain it more eloquently than me - it has to do with Disney changing the way they release calendar and crowd information. Evidently, they don’t release information in a timely enough manner to make his crowd calenders - at least the way he used to do them - viable.

 

[Disneytam]

Lol, yeah, he’s been making the rounds of the CLs lately.

There’s a recent post about Poly CL too and he did CR Atrium a month or so ago.

Curious to see what he has to say about SL.

I'm really waiting for him to do a review on the BWI CL!

 

[Eastern]

I'm really waiting for him to do a review on the BWI CL!

I hope he does them all. I love him trying to 'find value' at CL. He's funny.

 

[Disneytam]

I hope he does them all. I love him trying to 'find value' at CL. He's funny.

Yeah that's kind of a lost cause!! We've done a lot of them but I always keep coming back to the BWI CL. 53 days and counting,yeah!!

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Given we are a very small percent of CL guests but it seems like the vast majority us say no. For those that have said but it's worth it so you can do Navi and FOP. I wonder if you've actually rode Navi? Its not bad ride but if I spent an extra $200 to ride it for my family of 4, I would want a refund.

I think the most disappointing aspect of this proposal is that you HAVE to sign up for 3 nights. I'd like to do one day and see if I saw any value in it. I wonder if it'll be for people with existing reservations starting Friday, or only new bookings?

 

[Lehuaann]

I think the most disappointing aspect of this proposal is that you HAVE to sign up for 3 nights. I'd like to do one day and see if I saw any value in it. I wonder if it'll be for people with existing reservations starting Friday, or only new bookings?

I just spoke with Signature Services and the official details will be out later this week...

 

[Dashzap]

I think the most disappointing aspect of this proposal is that you HAVE to sign up for 3 nights. I'd like to do one day and see if I saw any value in it. I wonder if it'll be for people with existing reservations starting Friday, or only new bookings?

If you have an existing CL res, call Disney Signature Services if you want to add it (starting Friday).

 

[Dan Murphy]

Expanded information........

http://wdwnt.com/blog/2018/01/confi...e-show-viewing-new-theme-park-extra-offering/

 

[ZZUB]

Re: EasyWDW's review of GF Sugar Loaf: for what it's worth, his review of the lounge is pretty consistent with our experience last summer. The food was really good; the atmosphere really middling. We're not club level experts, but we thought the food there at most presentations was superior to AKL and WL. Indeed, b'fast and apps at SL was hands down the best. I think he says the CM experience was about 75% good. I didn't consider that question so specifically, but I think our experience with the club level CMs was probably around that. We had one CM in particular who was amazingly attentive, and most others went out of their way to assist.

One night during apps, we watched some yahoo stick his chip in the artichoke dip and then (GASP!) double dip. I was on a CM faster than Nick Saban on a . . . sorry, I'll skip any football talk. The CM replaced the bowl immediately. And then she hovered about to make sure there weren't any additional dip infractions.

We had no trouble getting food replaced either. If a tray was empty, there was almost always a CM in the neighborhood only too happy to replenish. In a week's time, I don't think we ever saw them run out of food during any meal presentation. But, they actually start breaking down the food before the end of the presentation time, so if you're looking for desserts at 9:55, they're likely gone.

We don't drink, and they only have beer/wine out later in the day, but we noticed several people asking for booze beginning at b'fast and the CMs seemed only too happy to get them what they wanted.

As for room noise, we were off the lobby on the 4th floor and heard nothing unless we were in the foyer of our room or the bathroom. It may have been our room location, we were on the end rather than the middle.

We really liked SL (if that makes us the red necked rubes of club level guests, well then Roll Tide!). For us, the atmosphere of the lounge is less important than the food quality and convenience. For my money, however, if the WL club lounge had food more on par with SL, we'd move in there. For us, the atmosphere at WL is pretty sweet and every (literally, every!) CM we dealt with on that floor was superior (if still less knowledgeable than most posters here). But we try not to talk much about WL because we're selfishly trying to keep it our family secret. Now that there's only 20 some odd rooms, it's too hard to book.

 

[Maxie86]

I think the most disappointing aspect of this proposal is that you HAVE to sign up for 3 nights. I'd like to do one day and see if I saw any value in it. I wonder if it'll be for people with existing reservations starting Friday, or only new bookings?

I think the most disappointing aspect of this proposal is that you used to get it for free with the texting service. I will not pay for three extra FP's..that comes to $16.67 a ride...or put another way it's $66.68 per ride for a family of four.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Funny how things change/evolve. If I remember correctly, last year at this time we were in the “gap period” where they had taken away the IPOs with no announcement of a substitute. This year we get to buy more FPs! Seems like always something going on each new year.

Somewhat related, I did this research for another thread but I’ll share here since I think it’s kind of interesting (which I guess makes me a nerd, but whatever)...

There are approximately 700 CL rooms on property. That’s an approximate number given you have suites and other room types with “CL access” - but should be a good enough number for discussion purposes.

For context, there are approximately 30,000+ rooms on WDW property.

This FP thing will certainly get a lot of attention, but it’s a pretty tiny audience of eligible folks, relatively speaking.

 

[AmongMadPeople]

Hello! I'm staying Atrium Club Level at Contemporary soon. I haven't stayed Club since they made changes with the IPO, and have some questions. I haven't been contacted by Signature Services, maybe that's the standard now. I want more info about the new Fastpass up-charge, but wasn't sure if it was worth contacting them now or waiting. Do I get put on a list of upcoming reservations so I can automatically be emailed details when it's officially released? Not sure what the standard is nowadays.

 

[notfrostyjosh]

We did chat, but I waited until we were towards the end of the line. I didn’t want to be “that guy” and he was obviously busy.

What I really wanted to do is buy him a beer at Nomad Lounge after the ride and grill him about crowd calendars, but I let it slide.

Next time

 

[Scooter2376]

I think the most disappointing aspect of this proposal is that you used to get it for free with the texting service. I will not pay for three extra FP's..that comes to $16.67 a ride...or put another way it's $66.68 per ride for a family of four.

But wasn’t the text service just the same thing you can get with the app, i.e., additional FPs one at a time, subject to same day availability, once you’ve used your normal three? This is potentially three additional FPs that you can book far in advance and that can be used in a different park than your first three. It still may not be worth the cost, but it is something more than has been previously offered.

We arrive to the Poly CL on Sunday, so it will be interesting to see if it’s offered to us. I doubt we would take advantage of it since it wouldn’t give us the ability to book the additional FPs more than a couple of days in advance at this point. As others have said, I’d be more willing to give it a try if it didn’t have the three day minimum.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hello! I'm staying Atrium Club Level at Contemporary soon. I haven't stayed Club since they made changes with the IPO, and have some questions. I haven't been contacted by Signature Services, maybe that's the standard now. I want more info about the new Fastpass up-charge, but wasn't sure if it was worth contacting them now or waiting. Do I get put on a list of upcoming reservations so I can automatically be emailed details when it's officially released? Not sure what the standard is nowadays.

Some people get contacted by DSS, some don’t (for no apparent reason). Their outreach has generally been in the form of a direct phone call or post card. Sometimes I get both, sometimes just one, sometimes none.

But you don’t need to wait for them, you can reach out to DSS any time:

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

I reached out via e-mail to ask about the new FP thing and received a phone call response (could be wrong but my bet is they don’t have quality info yet or they don’t want stuff in writing at the moment until launched).

As to when to reach out on the new FP upcharge thing, I think we’re all about to figure that one out together.

Have a great trip, I love Atrium Club.

 

[TristiK]

We just booked our first ever club level stay at the BC - June 1-10. I'm incredibly excited! Going back and reading the thread now, but if anyone has tips/things I should be aware of, please share!!