Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[MinMou]

I just got off the phone with the IPO for Yacht & Beach Club. He told me they did away with the CL greeters. He said there might be a regular greeter there to greet all guests, but all they'll do for us is swipe us to get up to 5th floor at BC, not escort us like before. But he also said that's not guaranteed and if no one is there we are to go to the regular check in desk to have our bands activated to use the elevator to go up. So that kind of sucks. I guess I'm spoiled, I liked having someone greet us & bring us to CL.

Pretend you never spoke to this IPO, especially if there is a long line at check in. When you arrive, let the greeter know that you are a CL guest, and that you will wait for the CL greeter. Speak in a foreign accent, and make some grammatical mistakes. If you can, read this from a piece of paper. If they tell you to move or get in line, look confused and apologetic, but don't move. Just repeat that you were told to wait for the CL greeter, until someone does the right thing.

 

[mickeynut1]

The current estimate for the opening of the new OFC lounge is still most likely early 2017, however, Mike is still hopeful for a Christmastime opening. Of course, all the other construction will be on-going through much of 2017.

I may just have to get back to WL CL after the new lounge opens. WL CL was our first CL stay and we loved it! Not only is the WL a beautiful resort, but all of the CMs are very friendly and welcoming .

 

[KerryCM]

My husband and I were at the BC in February and when we got off the ME bus I approached a Cast Member outside and let them know we're were staying club level, they showed me to the front desk! Now we had just been there the previous Sept. and were escorted upstairs. We will be at the BWI in December and the Beach Club in January. I will be curious to see how it goes

 

[AquaDame]

I may just have to get back to WL CL after the new lounge opens. WL CL was our first CL stay and we loved it! Not only is the WL a beautiful resort, but all of the CMs are very friendly and welcoming .

I want to stay here sometime too, but my husband says it would be like living in the French Quarter but choosing POFQ since we live in the PacNW! It does look an awful lot like home, but I LIKE that decor and natural parks, darn it! This is the same family that kept commenting that Alaska is too much like Oregon... they are not seeing the trees for the forest. Ok rant over....

 

[mickeyluv'r]

For those of you who have stayed on the CR CL floors: I am looking at a standard size room for our stay with an MK view. I am trying to decide whether to book the Atrium or the Tower Club. We will be one couple with a preschooler. Would the Atrium level be more kid-friendly? (I know that almost everything at Disney is kid-friendly, but it's worth asking.) From what I read, the CL on the Tower level is used less, because most of the rooms on that level are the large suites. Is that a reason to book a Tower Club room instead?

For those of you who are have stayed or will stay there, what criteria did you use to pick which floor to book?

1. Most likely, only the atrium level will be available for your dates. I think there are only two or three standard-ish rooms on the top floor, and at least one of them faces Bay Lake, not MK.
2. Probably. There are more guests in Atrium level.
3. There are less rooms on the Tower level, period. That's why the lounge sees less foot traffic. It was also my impression, speculation, but my impression, that the Tower level is often/(primarily?) used by business travelers who are at CR for conventions.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Trying to figure out when to book. We are over 550 days out from our planned trip, and I've been told that getting a room only reservation at 499 days prior to your leave date is not a place holder for your room, if you plan to get a package later on. The person.

I'm not sure why you'd want to book so far out. No benefit. Hold it a bit longer, and earn a little interest.
1. If you want a discount, then reserving before it comes out means you are less likely to get one. discounts only apply to vacant rooms. you also have to cancel what you booked previously, which ties up the funds you'd be using as a deposit.
2. Not sure, but CL is DDP is WAY too much food. There have been times when we had to book a package to get the discounted rate.
3. Yes.
4. All of the above. I daresay, most WDW visitors don't know what CL is. Even if they do, they try to book the least expensive room, or don't consider CL to be a good value for the added cost, or they REALLY want bacon platters for breakfast. While CL sometimes gets fully booked, it is often the last category to fill. Charging a premium price and last minute vacancy kind of go hand in hand.

We often book it on short notice. If you REALLY want a specific room view on a major holiday, then maybe book without a discount.

Read through this thread for tons of info!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Sorry I don't think I was clear. I meant that people were taking alcoholic drinks actually into the water with them which I've never seen before. I've got no problem with drinks at the pool!!!

I've seen this pretty much every visit. I'm guessing you don't spend much time near the hot tub? I've also seen it at many non-WDW hotels. They serve drinks poolside, people take them in the pool. I'm sure at least one of the big hotel chains advertises folks drinking cocktails while in the pool.

The big no-no is glass anywhere on the pool deck.

When folks take drinks out of the lounge, especially to the pool, they aren't allowed to take any glass. Typically, CM's offer paper cups.

 

[mickeynut1]

I want to stay here sometime too, but my husband says it would be like living in the French Quarter but choosing POFQ since we live in the PacNW! It does look an awful lot like home, but I LIKE that decor and natural parks, darn it! This is the same family that kept commenting that Alaska is too much like Oregon... they are not seeing the trees for the forest. Ok rant over....

I know what you mean and I'm with you...lol. Even if a resort is themed in a way that resembles where I live, I wouldn't mind staying there if I liked that atmosphere. I hope you can stay at the WL one day, even if it for just a night or two, just to experience it as it is a beautiful resort. And who knows, maybe your DH will feel differently by actually staying there .

 

[gioiamama]

I want to stay here sometime too, but my husband says it would be like living in the French Quarter but choosing POFQ since we live in the PacNW! It does look an awful lot like home, but I LIKE that decor and natural parks, darn it! This is the same family that kept commenting that Alaska is too much like Oregon... they are not seeing the trees for the forest. Ok rant over....

Exactly how I feel about staying at Poly -- coming from Hawaii!

 

[HockeyMomR]

My husband and I were at the BC in February and when we got off the ME bus I approached a Cast Member outside and let them know we're were staying club level, they showed me to the front desk! Now we had just been there the previous Sept. and were escorted upstairs. We will be at the BWI in December and the Beach Club in January. I will be curious to see how it goes

Ugh. Not cool. We like to be greeted and escorted up to the lovely 5th floor. We check-in to BC CL a week from today. Excited!! We are transferring after 4 nights at GF. Will post about our check-in experience. Hoping for that warm welcome!

 

[Wheelwatcher]

Pretend you never spoke to this IPO, especially if there is a long line at check in. When you arrive, let the greeter know that you are a CL guest, and that you will wait for the CL greeter. Speak in a foreign accent, and make some grammatical mistakes. If you can, read this from a piece of paper. If they tell you to move or get in line, look confused and apologetic, but don't move. Just repeat that you were told to wait for the CL greeter, until someone does the right thing.

You, MinMou, are a genius! LOL

 

[DalmatianDad]

1st post on these boards!

19 day until our trip! We are staying at the Poly CL 8/29 - 9/2 . First time at Poly and first time CL! We are super excited.

Used to be a Florida resident and have had family members working Disney. I really miss being able to just wake up on a Saturday and saying "Oh lets go to Disney for a few hours". Going from 30+ visits a year down to 1 week a year has been really tough. My Disney withdrawal is very real. We typically did weekend or day trips and wouldn't stay at the resorts, if we did it was always a moderate resort. Cramming all these special occasions (Wife's birthday, Daughter starting kindergarten the week we get back, and just actually time off work) is more than enough to justify a resort and room upgrade from the typical!

Wanted to say thank you to the posters here for supplying all of this great info. I did not read all 288 pages but i read a bit of them.

Any tips about Poly or CL in general i should know about beyond what was shared in the opening post of this thread?

Are the fences still up at the beach?

 

[mickeynut1]

1st post on these boards!

19 day until our trip! We are staying at the Poly CL 8/29 - 9/2 . First time at Poly and first time CL! We are super excited.

Used to be a Florida resident and have had family members working Disney. I really miss being able to just wake up on a Saturday and saying "Oh lets go to Disney for a few hours". Going from 30+ visits a year down to 1 week a year has been really tough. My Disney withdrawal is very real. We typically did weekend or day trips and wouldn't stay at the resorts, if we did it was always a moderate resort. Cramming all these special occasions (Wife's birthday, Daughter starting kindergarten the week we get back, and just actually time off work) is more than enough to justify a resort and room upgrade from the typical!

Wanted to say thank you to the posters here for supplying all of this great info. I did not read all 288 pages but i read a bit of them.

Any tips about Poly or CL in general i should know about beyond what was shared in the opening post of this thread?

Are the fences still up at the beach?

Welcome to the Dis

I can't help with CL as we haven't tried CL at the Poly yet, but the Poly overall is amazing, IMO. The grounds are beautiful with great views of the lagoon and MK. It's also great being on the monorail as it's convenient getting to MK, but is also convenient for getting to the GF and CR for a variety of great dining options. Getting to Epcot is easy as it's a quick 5-7 minute walk to the TTC to catch the Epcot monorail if you didn't want to take the monorail around and change at the TTC. The Poly is an awesome resort! Hope you have a great trip .

 

[AquaDame]

1st post on these boards!

19 day until our trip! We are staying at the Poly CL 8/29 - 9/2 . First time at Poly and first time CL! We are super excited.

Used to be a Florida resident and have had family members working Disney. I really miss being able to just wake up on a Saturday and saying "Oh lets go to Disney for a few hours". Going from 30+ visits a year down to 1 week a year has been really tough. My Disney withdrawal is very real. We typically did weekend or day trips and wouldn't stay at the resorts, if we did it was always a moderate resort. Cramming all these special occasions (Wife's birthday, Daughter starting kindergarten the week we get back, and just actually time off work) is more than enough to justify a resort and room upgrade from the typical!

Wanted to say thank you to the posters here for supplying all of this great info. I did not read all 288 pages but i read a bit of them.

Any tips about Poly or CL in general i should know about beyond what was shared in the opening post of this thread?

Are the fences still up at the beach?

& congratulations on all the mile stones! Hopefully some day I will be so close to a park...

I'll leave the experts of CL to offer their tips but yes the fences are still up and are now a permanent feature.

 

[DalmatianDad]

Thanks for the welcome! For when the Poly CL experts do come in...

A KKC lounge question. My trip 8/29 is the lounge typically really busy? I know it's not the busiest time of year (FL kids are back in school) From what I've seen the view for the fireworks is great from CL lounge. Are we going to need to get to the lounge really early or will there be ample seating?

We have the terrace booked for fireworks, that's another first for us. This trip is going to be great!

 

[AquaDame]

Thanks for the welcome! For when the Poly CL experts do come in...

A KKC lounge question. My trip 8/29 is the lounge typically really busy? I know it's not the busiest time of year (FL kids are back in school) From what I've seen the view for the fireworks is great from CL lounge. Are we going to need to get to the lounge really early or will there be ample seating?

We have the terrace booked for fireworks, that's another first for us. This trip is going to be great!

Again, not an expert, but even over the 4th of July we were able to get in and out for breakfast and snacks easily. We are rope droppers so we had breakfast around 7:30am and were back for snacks around 1. The only day things were off the hook was the 4th itself - there was a HUGE line for the evening nosh that day! They up their game for it with hot dogs though, so I bet a lot of people went out of their way for that one. On the 3rd I messed up and thought the fireworks were at 10pm so we went up to the lounge at 8:50... well the fireworks were at 9! Even then we were able to sit down at a table when a very nice family offered us chairs that they were not going to use - the kids had gone to press their faces up against the glass. My only complaint about it is that the lights were way too bright.. I would have actually preferred to see the fireworks from outside I think where it is nice and dark. They did dim them a little bit but the reflection was annoying.

We did find that if the beer/wine was not out we could just knock on the door or ask someone cleaning up and they would grab us some Longboards out of the fridge.

 

[vettegirl]

I am shocked they are not escorting CL guest up to the 5th floor at the YC/BC. We are staying CL next month at the YC and I am so looking forward to stepping off that bus and getting taken upstairs.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

1st post on these boards!

19 day until our trip! We are staying at the Poly CL 8/29 - 9/2 . First time at Poly and first time CL! We are super excited.

Used to be a Florida resident and have had family members working Disney. I really miss being able to just wake up on a Saturday and saying "Oh lets go to Disney for a few hours". Going from 30+ visits a year down to 1 week a year has been really tough. My Disney withdrawal is very real. We typically did weekend or day trips and wouldn't stay at the resorts, if we did it was always a moderate resort. Cramming all these special occasions (Wife's birthday, Daughter starting kindergarten the week we get back, and just actually time off work) is more than enough to justify a resort and room upgrade from the typical!

Wanted to say thank you to the posters here for supplying all of this great info. I did not read all 288 pages but i read a bit of them.

Any tips about Poly or CL in general i should know about beyond what was shared in the opening post of this thread?

Are the fences still up at the beach?

You're in for a treat. Love birthdays and special occasions at Disney. We just got back from a week at Poly CL, so I know what you mean about withdrawal. :-( People will complain about it being hot at the end of the August but I think it's as good a time to go as any. I'd be going around that same week if our schools didn't start so darn early here and with DS in Kindergarten now I've lost my flexibility in Disney planning.

I posted a bunch of pics from our trip back several pages ago (dates were 7/23-7/30). Ask away if you have any questions, happy to help!

Thanks for the welcome! For when the Poly CL experts do come in...

A KKC lounge question. My trip 8/29 is the lounge typically really busy? I know it's not the busiest time of year (FL kids are back in school) From what I've seen the view for the fireworks is great from CL lounge. Are we going to need to get to the lounge really early or will there be ample seating?

We have the terrace booked for fireworks, that's another first for us. This trip is going to be great!

"Busy" can mean different things to different people. I've stayed Poly CL during several parts of the year, some so-called "slow" seasons (Feb & Sept) and some "busy" periods (June & July). I'm pretty much of the mindset that there really isn't a slow Disney season and you can have a "slow" or "busy" feeling on any given day or even hour at any time of the year. Lounge use tends to ebb and flow during the day but I've never found it crazy/can't find a table busy. Maybe around the 5-6pm time frame at times and around Wishes, but it's not bad.

I was surprised on our first Sept & Feb trips just how many people with seemingly school age kids were at Disney. I now have a greater appreciation for how many people are either home schooled or in school systems that do the the year-round schedule thing with non-traditional schedules, etc.

As far as fireworks from the lounge, I know that's a big draw for a lot of folks but I'm actually not that big a fan. If I'm not in a theme park view room, I'd rather just walk outside of Hawaii onto the beach to watch. As a PP said, the lighting in the lounge is kind of distracting, and depending on the crowd in the lounge, you can get some folks that just don't want to be quiet for the show. I remember a particularly festive group one night a couple of years ago that could have cared less Wishes was going on. But that's why the Hawaii location is so great because it's only steps from the beach. There is plenty of seating in the lounge but not that many "front row" seats if you will. You may get some squatters in those seats early.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I am shocked they are not escorting CL guest up to the 5th floor at the YC/BC. We are staying CL next month at the YC and I am so looking forward to stepping off that bus and getting taken upstairs.

Two weeks ago at BC I told the valet we were checking in CL and he immediately told me to wait there and he'd get someone to take us up. He hustled all over the place and finally found a greeter with an iPad who walked us to the elevator and rode with us up to the 5th floor. It pretty much seemed like my prior experiences at Poly, GF, & CR - if you happen to get a greeter with an iPad there when you pull up you were good, but if not, there may be a bit of a delay. At least there appeared to still be actual greeters at BC, which Poly has now done away with completely.

 

[Viu Manent]

This is my first post here ever so forgive me if I've got it in the wrong place! We are staying club level at the YC with our kids 10/7-10/12. Our 3 year old has a severe peanut allergy. I'm wondering if there will be enough she can safely eat. I hate to be on vacation and have to keep telling her she can't have something. Would love to hear about other's experiences. TIA!