Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[yaksack]

I was thinking about CL, but decided the food wasn't worth it. Can someone tell me what makes it so great?

 

[mickeynut1]

I'm in the Midwest and we had snowfall up north here along with some cooler temps, I ALMOST woke up with a frown, but then realized that I hit my 1 year away mark! LOL! It's the little things right?? 1 year from today we are checking in to the Atrium Club at the Contemporary and ready to begin 10 days of awesomeness!!

The year will go fast and you will be at Disney before you know it! Enjoy the planning .

Well the AP discount for WL was just too good to pass up for our last minute trip next month. Now just to keep the surprise.

Congrats on the discount. Hope you have a great trip .

I was thinking about CL, but decided the food wasn't worth it. Can someone tell me what makes it so great?

We love CL for the lounge itself. We don't stay CL every trip but when we do, it's more for the lounge than the food. The food offerings are nice, but our main reason for staying CL is having the lounge for another place to sit and relax, rather than in the room or around the resort. Some lounges also have amazing views.

 

[pas130]

Tomorrow is the day!!!!!!!!! Check in at the BWI. I am beyond excited. Had a wonderful birthday celebration with my family yesterday, now getting ready to really celebrate!

Happy belated birthday! Enjoy your trip and say hi to @Disneytam from me too!!!

 

[pas130]

I was thinking about CL, but decided the food wasn't worth it. Can someone tell me what makes it so great?

It really isn't the food that makes it great. It's the guaranteed locations (floor or buildings depending upon the resort), the lounges (so nice to have a place outside to the room to chill), and access to some really special CMs that become like friends. It's just a little extra magic to add onto a magical trip. "Worth it" for food, not really, but it makes it feel a little more like "coming home"

 

[trishadono]

It really isn't the food that makes it great. It's the guaranteed locations (floor or buildings depending upon the resort), the lounges (so nice to have a place outside to the room to chill), and access to some really special CMs that become like friends. It's just a little extra magic to add onto a magical trip. "Worth it" for food, not really, but it makes it feel a little more like "coming home"

Ditto

 

[trishadono]

I will add for us it is time savings. DD and I can sleep in until 7-7:30.Get to the lounge by 8 and head to transportation in time for rope drop.

During the day instead of shlepping to QS to refill the mug we can get a beverage is a nice lounge closer our room.Oh wait, there's some nice snacks here so we might as well have a little something lol.

I love coffee and have mine at breakfast and afternoon.It is so nice to grab a cup at 2pm.

Time to get ready for dinner!I go to the lounge at 4p and request a wine and sip it while dd and I decide what to wear for our evenings activities.

5p we are in the lounge for our "dinner". For me it is enough . Sometimes dd will get something else later around 8 if needed.

Also it has not been mentioned recently but for time savings I book my fp+this way for cl stays.

Morning: hit rope drop and ride our favs first thing.

Lunch either at that park or head to a hotel or ds then return to our resort.

Hang at pool, shop, nap or explore other resorts mid day.

5P in the lounge then we leave for transportation around 5:30 to be in park around 6p.

FP1 5:30-6:30
FP2 6:30-7:30
FP3 7:30-8:30
This can be adjusted slightly depending on park hours.

For our January trip I was able to book some fp at 1/2 prior to park close. That was nice because i could squeeze my passes in a shorter park opening window.

Then done with last ride around 7:45 and head back to resort for desserts,a nite swim or relax at the resort and maybe watch EWP or WISHES etc (depends on resort). With akl next I assume Ill watch the animals.

We get to eat well, relax and yet do everything we want without overdoing!

If price I can get is a good sale I book it. I have enjoyed it everytime at every resort.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Sticky @pas130 's response!

In no particular order for us...

1) Reasonably guaranteed room location, building, view.
2) The lounge. A place to be while others are still sleeping, napping, getting ready. Also particularly helpful for early arrivals and late departures.
3) The only "food" part that makes our list is breakfast. Having a convenient location to grab a quick bite and not fight a quick service crowd is huge for us. My kids are young and the whole setup is just easier. Also applies to my coffee first thing in the AM or anytime of the day.
4) Simply having a convenient place with water, juice, milk, alcohol, etc. available all day is a nice luxury. Again, with kids it makes life more convenient, although I'd easily stay CL without kids as well.
5) I will use the word CONVENIENCE again. This is a huge part of it for us.
6) (Usually) wonderful CMs.

I could go on and on but those are the bigger ones.

Also FWIW.... while I don't advocate staying CL just for the food...I have been blown away by recent food offerings at BC and WL. There are solid reports from folks at BWI right now above. Some of the CLs appear to be really upping their game in terms of the quality and variety of food, particularly evening appetizers.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Just curious - I know it says CL staff aren't supposed to take tips, but do you tip them anyway??

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Just curious - I know it says CL staff aren't supposed to take tips, but do you tip them anyway??

I don't do this often but on occasion I have given gifts, like a box of candy, gift cards, etc. It's kind of awkward because there are often multiple CM's you encounter over the course of your stay and it's nearly impossible to try to be fair when it comes to this topic. I did try to offer cash to someone once who really helped us out with a HDDR reservation and he adamantly refused. I'm pretty sure accpting cash is totally against the rules for them, but they can accept gifts.

One time when I bought candy for the Poly desk CMs I bought a couple of boxes and said "hope you leave it here all day for all of you to share." Who knows what happened to it after that. ;-)

On the places I've been multiple times now - like Poly - you do start to get to know some of the CMs and I 'feel' like I should do something to give back in some way.

This isn't about tipping but on multiple occasions I have taken note of the names of certain CMs and I make sure to write Guest Services when I get home. Who knows if that has any impact whatsoever but I figure a positive guest review is a pretty easy thing to do on my part and if it positively impacts their employment, that's great.

 

[ErinsMommy]

I don't do this often but on occasion I have given gifts, like a box of candy, gift cards, etc. It's kind of awkward because there are often multiple CM's you encounter over the course of your stay and it's nearly impossible to try to be fair when it comes to this topic. I did try to offer cash to someone once who really helped us out with a HDDR reservation and he adamantly refused. I'm pretty sure accpting cash is totally against the rules for them, but they can accept gifts.

One time when I bought candy for the Poly desk CMs I bought a couple of boxes and said "hope you leave it here all day for all of you to share." Who knows what happened to it after that. ;-)

On the places I've been multiple times now - like Poly - you do start to get to know some of the CMs and I 'feel' like I should do something to give back in some way.

This isn't about tipping but on multiple occasions I have taken note of the names of certain CMs and I make sure to write Guest Services when I get home. Who knows if that has any impact whatsoever but I figure a positive guest review is a pretty easy thing to do on my part and if it positively impacts their employment, that's great.

Thank you so much, very helpful as always! =)

 

[GADisneyDad14]

BTW, I should caveat, I don't think ANYONE should be expected to give any gifts to CL CMs - that is in no way expected when staying CL.

That is only a personal choice on my part for good service we've had from regular CMs that we have gotten to know and I have only done that a couple of times. The exception, not the norm.

 

[gwynne]

Just curious - I know it says CL staff aren't supposed to take tips, but do you tip them anyway??

No I don't tip. I do make a point of mentioning (by name) helpful CM's in correspondence with WDW.

 

[Disneytam]

I was thinking about CL, but decided the food wasn't worth it. Can someone tell me what makes it so great?

To us it's all the little things, OK and the food. We are at the BWI CL now, last night I reached into my bag and cut my finger. I walked across the hallway to the lounge and got 2 Band-Aids from a CM.Saved me a trip downstairs. Every trip I have at least one time that I need a small request granted and they always come through for me. This trip the food is wonderful as well

 

[Disneytam]

Hi Pas!! I met Deb(Bluesky) this morning before she headed home,and hope to meet Kerry. I love being able to meet all the wonderful dis members who have helped me over the years.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

To us it's all the little things, OK and the food. We are at the BWI CL now, last night I reached into my bag and cut my finger. I walked across the hallway to the lounge and got 2 Band-Aids from a CM.Saved me a trip downstairs. Every trip I have at least one time that I need a small request granted and they always come through for me. This trip the food is wonderful as well

The real question.... what did you have in your bag?

 

[Disneytam]

The real question.... what did you have in your bag?

Ha ha! My husband's darn razor! The protective cover had come off of it and that darn thing was sharp. They had to reset my magic band at the gate because the band aid covered my finger print. Only at Disney.

 

[mickeynut1]

Also FWIW.... while I don't advocate staying CL just for the food...I have been blown away by recent food offerings at BC and WL. There are solid reports from folks at BWI right now above. Some of the CLs appear to be really upping their game in terms of the quality and variety of food, particularly evening appetizers.

This is good to hear after reading quite a few not-so-great reviews of CL offerings lately.

I'm pretty sure accpting cash is totally against the rules for them, but they can accept gifts.

I've heard this as well.

 

[Twende]

Just curious - I know it says CL staff aren't supposed to take tips, but do you tip them anyway??

I was trying to figure this out also.

Also we are going to be at AKL -Jambo and I was wondering if I can get a roll away for a 6 year old? We are getting a 2 bedroom resort suite, with I was told was 1 King, 2 Queens, and a queen pull out. We will also need a crib for a 1 year old. I really do not want the sister of my new DIL to have to share the pull out with my 6 yr old granddaughter. Last time we were in a DVC villa and there was a queen pull out and a pull out chair and that worked well. But I not think the resort 2 bedroom suites (Non-DVC 2 bdrm) at Jambo have these.

 

[KerryCM]

Here at the Boardwalk and OMG the food in the lounge is to die for!!! The chef is amazing and he is all set up cooking right there. I had the pork belly on a crostini with a cranberry relish and it was yummy. My husband had the bang bang shrimp and grits, the beef short ribs in a potato cup and some of the cured meats. They also had a great cheese fondue with bread and hot spinach and artichoke dip, cheeses, veggies etc.

We arrived at 4 and were very hungry. No need to go out to eat!!

 

[Disneytam]

Here at the Boardwalk and OMG the food in the lounge is to die for!!! The chef is amazing and he is all set up cooking right there. I had the pork belly on a crostini with a cranberry relish and it was yummy. My husband had the bang bang shrimp and grits, the beef short ribs in a potato cup and some of the cured meats. They also had a great cheese fondue with bread and hot spinach and artichoke dip, cheeses, veggies etc.

We arrived at 4 and were very hungry. No need to go out to eat!!

Kerry We are sitting at the CP waiting for it to start and then off to dinner at Monsieur Paul's. I was so upset to be missing aps tonight when Jackie told me what was on the menu.Glad you got to enjoy it.S0 impressed with the upgrade on the food but we will keep it our little secret!