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?