Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[mickeynut1]

Just wanted to say thank you for all of your help and advice on the Beach Club CL. I can't wait!

Hope you have a great trip .

Just wanted to say thanks for all for the comments above on my GF RPC review, much appreciated! I will always love CL and our Disney trips in general - we're hooked - and I'm secretly sitting here thinking how great it will be take DD to GF for all the princess stuff when she's older, despite a few stuffy CM's!

I think taking your DD to the GF is a great idea!

This is me exactly lol! I keep going back and forth between RPC and SL and my rational mind says SL is the better choice but I know I would just keep wishing I was in the main building and I'd almost rather not stay there at all if I can't be there

I say go with RPC .

We did CR CL December 2014 and really enjoyed it. If it weren't for the lousy pool setup (IMHO), we'd probably like CR just as much as Poly. We very much enjoyed CL and the view from the lounge, thought the desk CM's were just OK (like a lot of places), food CM's were great. DD got a Disney stomach bug on this trip and we had excellent CM service and just an overall pleasant experience. We stayed in a TPV room but I would have been content in a LV room given the wonderful park view from the lounge. My only small gripe is that I was on the Chef Mickey's side - wish I had requested the other side of the building (didn't realize that at the time).

This was our view from the room - we were the second to last room on the south side.
View attachment 154769

This was either from the room or lounge, I can't remember. It's the Christmas Party fireworks so this was part of the 180 degree show, not normal Wishes.
View attachment 154770

Glad you had a good CR CL experience. Love the pics, thanks for posting .

Our stay at the BWI at Christmas exceeded my expectations as we encountered CMs who went above and beyond and as others have said, the little touches made all the difference.

It seems BWI CL gets a lot of positive reviews like this .

Just returned from our stay at GF SL. It was wonderful!! Food was delicious, great staff. Nice lounge.

Glad you had a nice time and enjoyed the GF .

Just grab a soda or two earlier in the day and pop them in your room frig. We do this frequently.

 

[MrToadfan]

I think everyone that stays starting in March should report at the different club levels and that will be what you can expect from this point on.

We are single digits today from Regatta stay. I will report back as to what we experience. It is so weird to be going into a CL stay feeling like you're possibly about to walk the plank with these cutbacks. We've had great CL experiences in the past. I'm really afraid that we may be disappointed this time, and we've simply spent too much on this to be disappointed in our experience!

 

[Dreamin192]

Ok decision made. We went with 5 days GF SL and 4 days BC CL. I'm excited as this will be our first CL stay and first time at either of those resorts. I think this is the first time I have felt like I don't need to keep checking to see what else has opened up, woohoo!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

As if I haven't given Disney enough of my money in the last week, I just booked a two night stay at BWI CL for mid April. DW and I are running the Star Wars 1/2 marathon. I had been putting off booking anything and had kinda just planned we'd take whatever value or moderate was available given the short trip. But alas, was just searching for rooms at the Epcot resorts and BWI CL popped up, so couldn't help myself. I need to study up on BWI quick, I know absolutely nothing about it! A rare adult only trip!

 

[ToyStory3]

Golden Corral.... ROTFL. I have seen this every time I've stayed CL and I always just shake my head. The best was last week at RPC.... A woman told the CM she'd need a tray and a carafe for coffee. The CM brought them out from the back and said guest preceded to load up the tray with MOUNTAINS of food and filled the carafe with coffee - enough for like 10 people. I guess maybe that's accepted CL behavior since the CM gave it to her, but I was shocked. Your fellow family really can't get out of bed to come to the lounge themselves?? (Sorry if this was anyone on this board....)

When we stayed at the BCR CL they mentioned to us several times that we were welcome to take a tray of food or drinks to our room if we preferred. We often took breakfast back to the room when the kids were still getting ready. Many people do that.

 

[pas130]

I am happy to say that I received an email from GF IPO yesterday. It was the generic one, but I don't always get one. So seeing the Mickey mail in my inbox made me smile. I know I will miss CL for my quick April trip at BC, but I plan on being at Epcot a lot so that will keep me happy

 

[mickeynut1]

We are single digits today from Regatta stay. I will report back as to what we experience. It is so weird to be going into a CL stay feeling like you're possibly about to walk the plank with these cutbacks. We've had great CL experiences in the past. I'm really afraid that we may be disappointed this time, and we've simply spent too much on this to be disappointed in our experience!

Hope you have a great time!

Ok decision made. We went with 5 days GF SL and 4 days BC CL. I'm excited as this will be our first CL stay and first time at either of those resorts. I think this is the first time I have felt like I don't need to keep checking to see what else has opened up, woohoo!

I'm sure you'll have a great trip .

As if I haven't given Disney enough of my money in the last week, I just booked a two night stay at BWI CL for mid April. DW and I are running the Star Wars 1/2 marathon. I had been putting off booking anything and had kinda just planned we'd take whatever value or moderate was available given the short trip. But alas, was just searching for rooms at the Epcot resorts and BWI CL popped up, so couldn't help myself. I need to study up on BWI quick, I know absolutely nothing about it! A rare adult only trip!

Congrats on booking BWI CL. We've never stayed at BWI, but I am always reading great reviews about CL. Have a great time .

When we stayed at the BCR CL they mentioned to us several times that we were welcome to take a tray of food or drinks to our room if we preferred. We often took breakfast back to the room when the kids were still getting ready. Many people do that.

It's very convenient being able to take food/drinks back to your room .

I am happy to say that I received an email from GF IPO yesterday. It was the generic one, but I don't always get one. So seeing the Mickey mail in my inbox made me smile. I know I will miss CL for my quick April trip at BC, but I plan on being at Epcot a lot so that will keep me happy

I'm sure you'll have a great time in April, even without CL! Spring is a great time to go .

 

[Eastern]

I wouldn't say these are complaints, more just observations, but some things I wasn't so fond of....

• CMs would leave tables uncleared in the lounge for far too long. Like almost always dirty dishes on tables at all points of the day. It's not like there's an unlimited amount of tables there!
• On a related note, and sorry if I offend someone with this, but I am shocked at how people will just leave stockpiles of dishes at tables and walk out like someone will clean up after them. I guess that is a CM's job but that's just not how I was raised!
• I can't really hold this against Disney because certainly no other hotel would ever aknowledge a birthday, but we checked in on my birthday and it was never mentioned. It was supposed to be noted on my reservation but it either wasn't or the CM who checked us in didn't read it. I went down to the CL desk later in the day to ask for a birthday pin. The CM gave it to me, handed me a sharpie and said "you can probably do it better than me." We stayed once at Poly for my birthday and once for DS's birthday - both times the CM checking us in made an unsolicited big deal about our birthdays and did the buttons with our names, little Mickey's etc. Maybe I was spoiled by both of those experiences, I was just a little surprised that here I sit in the grandest of all Disney CL's, and nothing!
• Does GF not give a welcome gift like other CLs? Poly and CR both have the box of chocolates, didn't get anything at GF?
• Was disappointed that mid-day snacks never changed any day we were there. The exact same, everyday. Heck, even Poly changes up the snack mix each day! Also I wasn't there for dessert each night but the ones I did also had the exact same items - no variety at all. I found that strange compared to past CL experiences.

Thank you for your detailed report. I would like to stay RPC CL and it was interesting to read your experiences.

I want to comment on the dirty tables: this happened to us as well, at CR. The servers would just not clear the tables until people left. I asked where I could put the dirty dishes as I don't mind dropping them off if they are busy, but they told me, 'oh just leave them there we will get them'. They didn't. I ended up putting them on any available empty table. Then they got picked up! I do not enjoy sitting with a bunch of dirty dishes on the table.

Our CMs were pleasant enough but seemed very distracted. There was one guest there during our visit who seemed very interested in one of the young women CMs and he did kind of monopolize her at times. It was a problem because she was manning the wine station. I felt like I was eavesdropping on their chat whenever I needed a glass of wine. He was 'learning about wine' and I thought she treated him a bit dismissively. I think he told her he bought a bottle of Duckhorn wine and she said 'oh no you shouldn't start there, you're not ready for that, you should start with Apothic red.' So yeah, I actually got sucked in because I had to wait forever for a refill.

There really needs to be better management from above when people are paying so many $$ for glorified snacks.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Just returned from our stay at GF SL. It was wonderful!! Food was delicious, great staff. Nice lounge. The only negative for me was a few men coming down to lounge in their bathrobes with bare feet! Is this normal club level behavior?. I wouldn't let me 7 yr old wear his pjs down that were pretty much shorts and a shirt because I thought it was disrespectful and gross. Another thing I didn't like was during the evening offering there was a women in front of me that filled up 4 to go drink cups with chicken nuggets, leaving only two left. I am assuming these were for later in the park if her kids got hungry. She turned to me and said don't worry they will fill it back up. I was ready to tell her that Golden Corral is down the street. This is not an all you can eat buffet. I felt bad taking two empanadas at a time if there were people in line behind me. rant over we really loved the grand Floridian other than those two issues!

GOLDEN CORRAL

 

[GADisneyDad14]

How about that...an IPO e-mail from BWI less than 24 hours after booking. Now we're talking! Had not rec'd any e-mail on my last two trips (GF and Poly).

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

How about that...an IPO e-mail from BWI less than 24 hours after booking. Now we're talking! Had not rec'd any e-mail on my last two trips (GF and Poly).

I've noticed that too. Usually if I'm going to get an email I get it pretty soon after booking. If I don't then I usually never do.

 

[DINKsAtDisney]

Does anyone know with the Beach Club CL if it's usual to get a regular sit down balcony (I assume it's a request-able option but could result in a Juliet Balcony too)? I'm always hesitant to stay there because I like my morning coffee on a balcony during vacation, but I really would love to stay there one of these days!

 

[Disneytam]

Got in late last night and hope to post some things in a few days after I catch up here at home. One thing that I wanted to get out there is that at both the GF RPC and the BWI CL they were very good about using the lounge on check out day. We didn't leave the BWI until 5:30 pm to go to the airport and when we came up to the lounge at about 4:45 they started bringing out the food a little early so that we could have something to eat and drink before we left to catch our plane. Not sure if this was true or not but that's what they told me and it was very sweet.

On a disturbing note though. My room at the BWI was between the Innkeeper's door and the lounge. On check out day my MB opened the Innkeepers door with no problem when we came back up to the lounge at 4:45 pm, but just to see I stopped at our "old" room and used my MB and sure enough it showed green and I opened the door with no problem. This was long after we checked out at ten that morning so just be aware of that. I felt guilty about it and didn't mention it to the CM but it's something to be aware of. I have no idea if someone else was in the room but they very well could have been and I had easy access to that room, though I just quickly closed the door and walked down to the lounge.

 

[Disneytam]

I plan on doing a comparison of the GF RPC and the BWI CL but our last trip really got me thinking of all the really cool CL things that the newbies on here missed out on. My husband and I tried making a list on the flight home last night and this is what we came up with, and please some of you veterans add to this list if you can come up with other things.

I will call this remember when.... Remember when staying CL at Disney meant free valet parking every day at any of the resorts not just the one you were staying at. Way back when we received some really nice room gifts. The GF RPC had these cookie canisters filled with raspberry shortbread cookies in your room when you arrived. The GF also had a sewing kit inside an old fashioned tin and one of the CM told me to take it home with me it was a free gift for staying with them(I still have it). At the AK CL we were given a really cool bag full of bottled water as a parting gift for staying with them, and when we stayed for my husbands 50 birthday at the AK we returned to our room to find a birthday cake, card and balloons waiting for us. That one was a big surprise! They even had party hats for the three of us, all with no extra charge. We also received some cool phone messages from Mickey and Minnie wishing us happy birthday or anniversary over the years.

Until recently staying CL at Disney hotels meant having a blinking light on your hotel phone every night letting you know what the weather would be like the next day and on the evening before check out they would let us know what to expect for weather when we returned home. A RPC CM noticed that my son loved the sugar cookies that they had for dessert so she would always make sure she kept some in the back for him if we got back from the parks late.

I remember a CM from the AKL finding out that we really wanted to see a space shuttle launch so he kept track of the one that was going to go up the time that we were staying there. It got postponed twice but he kept checking and we got to see a night time lift off because of his kindness.

The RPC at the GF was the first time I tried lamb because it was one of the food offerings one night, and every night the food was different and really much more of a meal almost at night time. Most of our stays were at least a week long and by the second day the CL CM at all the hotels knew our names and spoke to us often about how our day was going and giving us little tips on things to do. This was always a big deal to me as I am just awful about remembering names.

Remember when a taxi was always called around for you (free of charge) if you had a round of golf, a Richard Petty driving experience or an early morning tour that would be difficult to get to using Disney transportation. The CM would know ahead of time our itinerary and would always offer us a taxi voucher to get us there on time. When staying last week at the RPC I asked a CM what would be the best way to get to the MK for a 7:00AM tour. First she told me to take the express monorail because the resort one wouldn't be running yet(?) and I asked her how do I get to the TTS we don't have a car, she told me the monorail isn't very reliable anyway so I should take a taxi to the Cont. and walk over. She had to look this up on the computer first and then told me just take a cab it shouldn't cost you too much. So much for taxi vouchers. I mentioned this to a CM and was told that yes that used to be the way but they had been told to not offer taxi vouchers any longer.

On one trip I was feeling very under the weather and didn't go down to breakfast one morning and stayed in the room while my family went to the park. A dear CL CM asked about me and had chicken noodle soup and crackers brought to my room, again free of charge. The kindness that day brought tears to my eyes, and also made me feel a lot better!

This is just a couple things that I can remember that was the CL of old. I know it's not a massive difference but all the little things add up to a lot missing. Anyone else remember the good old days?

 

[eeyore81]

We first stayed at RPC about 13 years ago. The food offering were definitely meals. We were given bottles of champagne to take back to our room in the evenings. The CMs were there to do anything that we might need or anything to make our trip better. I remember finding a Disney doll with different outfits that I wanted to get my niece for Christmas. We were checking out on December 23 and driving back home 13 hours. The CMs went to the shop, bought the dolls and outfits, wrapped them in Christmas wrapping paper and then put them in a black trash bag in our car so my niece wouldn't notice. I'm not sure that something like that would happen today. We haven't been back to RPC in years. Club Level at AKL is where we stay now. We have never had anything but outstanding CMs. Other than a few disappointments with the food offerings I have no complaints about any of our stays at AKL. I remember a couple of years ago my daughter lost her Winnie the Pooh. It was a small toy we had purchased at Walmart. It was probably a year old or so. I asked the lounge CMs if she had happened to have left it up there. She had not but less than 30 minutes later the CM tracked us down at our room with a new Winnie. She gave it to my daughter and said she didn't want her not to have something soft to sleep with that night. We have always found the AKL CMs to be helpful and pleasant. Some friendlier than others but all trying to make sure we were always happy. Yes there have been some cutbacks over the years but we still find club level to be worth it and find that a bad CM is rare.

 

[saintrob]

How about that...an IPO e-mail from BWI less than 24 hours after booking. Now we're talking! Had not rec'd any e-mail on my last two trips (GF and Poly).

We loved, loved the BWI CL! The lounge was perfect and the CMs so friendly. We've stayed at the BWI many times although this was our first stay at CL. We were surprised at check in with an upgrade to the VP suite but even without this the CL experience here was superb. I'm sure you'll have a fabulous time. I can't wait to go back at Christmas.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Nobody loves CL more than I do. Talking about the past doesn't discount the present or the future.

 

[mickeynut1]

How about that...an IPO e-mail from BWI less than 24 hours after booking. Now we're talking! Had not rec'd any e-mail on my last two trips (GF and Poly).

It's always exciting getting that email from IPO .

Does anyone know with the Beach Club CL if it's usual to get a regular sit down balcony (I assume it's a request-able option but could result in a Juliet Balcony too)? I'm always hesitant to stay there because I like my morning coffee on a balcony during vacation, but I really would love to stay there one of these days!

AFAIK, a full balcony at the BC is always a request and I don't think CL is any different, but I'm not sure. Hopefully others will be able to answer for sure .

Got in late last night and hope to post some things in a few days after I catch up here at home. One thing that I wanted to get out there is that at both the GF RPC and the BWI CL they were very good about using the lounge on check out day. We didn't leave the BWI until 5:30 pm to go to the airport and when we came up to the lounge at about 4:45 they started bringing out the food a little early so that we could have something to eat and drink before we left to catch our plane. Not sure if this was true or not but that's what they told me and it was very sweet.

On a disturbing note though. My room at the BWI was between the Innkeeper's door and the lounge. On check out day my MB opened the Innkeepers door with no problem when we came back up to the lounge at 4:45 pm, but just to see I stopped at our "old" room and used my MB and sure enough it showed green and I opened the door with no problem. This was long after we checked out at ten that morning so just be aware of that. I felt guilty about it and didn't mention it to the CM but it's something to be aware of. I have no idea if someone else was in the room but they very well could have been and I had easy access to that room, though I just quickly closed the door and walked down to the lounge.

Hope you had a great time at both resorts. Glad you didn't have any trouble using the lounge at either resort after check out .

How strange your MB opened your room after you checked out. I wonder if it was just a glitch??? Regardless, that's not very secure, especially when someone could be assigned that room and could have been in there. With that said, I have read quite a few reports over the years of people checking in and going to their room, only to find another family in there .

We first stayed at RPC about 13 years ago. The food offering were definitely meals. We were given bottles of champagne to take back to our room in the evenings. The CMs were there to do anything that we might need or anything to make our trip better. I remember finding a Disney doll with different outfits that I wanted to get my niece for Christmas. We were checking out on December 23 and driving back home 13 hours. The CMs went to the shop, bought the dolls and outfits, wrapped them in Christmas wrapping paper and then put them in a black trash bag in our car so my niece wouldn't notice. I'm not sure that something like that would happen today. We haven't been back to RPC in years. Club Level at AKL is where we stay now. We have never had anything but outstanding CMs. Other than a few disappointments with the food offerings I have no complaints about any of our stays at AKL. I remember a couple of years ago my daughter lost her Winnie the Pooh. It was a small toy we had purchased at Walmart. It was probably a year old or so. I asked the lounge CMs if she had happened to have left it up there. She had not but less than 30 minutes later the CM tracked us down at our room with a new Winnie. She gave it to my daughter and said she didn't want her not to have something soft to sleep with that night. We have always found the AKL CMs to be helpful and pleasant. Some friendlier than others but all trying to make sure we were always happy. Yes there have been some cutbacks over the years but we still find club level to be worth it and find that a bad CM is rare.

I'm glad to hear such great things about AKL CL. We love AKL as we've had 2 great stays there and are hoping to try CL later this year .

 

[AliceIn]

Golden Corral.... ROTFL. I have seen this every time I've stayed CL and I always just shake my head. The best was last week at RPC.... A woman told the CM she'd need a tray and a carafe for coffee. The CM brought them out from the back and said guest preceded to load up the tray with MOUNTAINS of food and filled the carafe with coffee - enough for like 10 people. I guess maybe that's accepted CL behavior since the CM gave it to her, but I was shocked. Your fellow family really can't get out of bed to come to the lounge themselves?? (Sorry if this was anyone on this board....)

I think it's fine for people to take some food on a tray back to the room for others. Where it gets crazy is when people do silly things like take the entire tray of an item when there are people waiting in line for it. We saw this happen at the CR club level, and it was a complete head scratcher. There were several families waiting for the evening service to start, and the first family walked up with cups and plastic bags and pretty much cleared out an entire tray of appetizers before anybody else had a chance to get any. People stood there gaping. The husband and wife had two big shopping bags full of food, and then walked over and emptied two big wine bottles into large cups from the park and then left the lounge. Everybody else had to wait 10-15 minutes for more hot food to come out. I'm not exaggerating at all - it really was that bad. Between the two of them, they each had 5-6 coffee cups full of hot appetizers. They maybe left two of each item on the buffet for the 15 or so people in the lounge. As soon as they left everybody started talking about how rude and how they obviously didn't know how to behave for the situation. Everybody got a good laugh and then hoped they wouldn't be back. Thankfully, we didn't see them again!

 

[cocoabean1]

We were at the BC CL in December 2015 celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary. When we arrived back in our room on the 3rd night there were 5 Mickey balloons with happy anniversary on them, 6 chocolate covered strawberries and personalized and decorated (with glitter) 35th anniversary pins!! This truly was a "magical" vacation!!