Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[2vets]

trishadono's GF posts aren't helping my gut go with Poly!!!!

 

[jbb4me]

I did a bunch of posts end of January . Just go back a few dozen pages . My trip was 1/13-20

Thank you!! Look forward to reading as you always have such comprehensive reviews!!

 

[Surgie2]

In January we stopped in and toured the Poly CL and they also showed us a room in the Hawaii building. We loved the grounds and the vibe at the Poly. The lounge is beautiful and we were there just as they were getting out the afternoon spread and it all looked appetizing. I thought the room was fine...it was spacious, clean and in keeping with the Poly theme. I didn't expect it to be modern so I was not disappointed in how it looked. That said, it is just amazing what Disney is able to charge and what people (ourselves included!) are willing to pay for a room at any of the deluxe resorts. I know it is about location, location, location and that is why we are doing it.

For our family, the Poly CL will work best for our multi-generation trip next year. My husband and I also toured the GF but did not see a room there. It is such a beautiful resort but the price was significantly more. I think if we would decide to spend beyond what we already are, we would look at a Poly suite. I can't imagine being disappointed in a stay at either resort. But I totally understand the angst over choosing the "right" place!

 

[Ewoks]

Can someone help me locate some recent reviews about AKL CL? I am terrible with the search function on this site. We are considering staying there in July and I'm hoping to better understand if CL is worth it/how it ranks against some of the other CLs. Thanks in advance!!

Oops - edited to add that I found Ewoks helpful post! But if anyone has any additional tips on AKL CL that they want to share, I'd be extremely grateful!!

I posted some AKL photos from my trip in March back on page 406 of this thread if you wanna take a look.

It was our first stay at AKL CL and, out of all our CL trips at the different deluxe resorts, AKL is my second favorite CL. It's really wonderful. It's usually a bit lower priced than some of the other CLs too, since the resort itself is out of the way and secluded and the rooms are a little smaller. It's well worth the price though.

The food is top notch and so are the CMs. The rooms themselves are nice and comfortable, although I'll be the first to admit they're overdue for a refurb. But still, they're lovely rooms that are decorated beautifully. All CL rooms with the exception of suites are on the 4th floor. The lounge is on the 6th. That's really the only thing I disliked about AKL, not being on the same floor as the lounge. It's not that big of a deal though. The resort is so beautiful and there's so much to see and take in that I never minded the walk to the elevators.

All CL rooms have a guaranteed savanna view.

And now I wanna be back at AKL!!! If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask. I could gush about AKL CL alllllll day.

 

[trishadono]

trishadono's GF posts aren't helping my gut go with Poly!!!!

Well check @GADisneyDad14 posts last summer.

He had a nice visit then and ours in July was lovely too

Poly has that nice view from the lounge but less quantity of food in the lounge.

I will go back to both someday , CR, wl too.

AKL was great but I kept looking for my castle. We r just big time MK park people but I would go back there again as well.

Epcot area is my least experienced but there is time to correct that.

 

[grannyminnie]

Trish, I have, as always, enjoyed your TR! The food pics are fun and you give a good description of your location. I love SL...have not gotten to stay there every time but I agree that it is friendly and relaxed. (However, if I could afford RPC, I'd be happy to stay there too!) Truth be told, SL is high for us now and we are (relatively) happy staying at the WL and boating over to visit the GF. During non-park times, that's where you can find my sister and me. Like you, we are MK people, and I "need" to see the castle too. The one time recently we stayed the EPCOT side, tho it was just for one night, I was chomping at the bits to get over to the monorail area!

 

[trishadono]

Trish, I have, as always, enjoyed your TR! The food pics are fun and you give a good description of your location. I love SL...have not gotten to stay there every time but I agree that it is friendly and relaxed. (However, if I could afford RPC, I'd be happy to stay there too!) Truth be told, SL is high for us now and we are (relatively) happy staying at the WL and boating over to visit the GF. During non-park times, that's where you can find my sister and me. Like you, we are MK people, and I "need" to see the castle too. The one time recently we stayed the EPCOT side, tho it was just for one night, I was chomping at the bits to get over to the monorail area!

I was so happy to get sl for the same price as my Polg cl price by stacking an Expedia coupon on a Disney sale.

I think we all keep going back because the resorts and the ability to have so many options is more fun than the parks

 

[disnmooner2013]

We are thinking about staying at AKL CL; but have a few questions. What floor is the lounge on (5 or 6) are there any regular club level rooms with SAvannah view by the lounge?

 

[trishadono]

We are thinking about staying at AKL CL; but have a few questions. What floor is the lounge on (5 or 6) are there any regular club level rooms with SAvannah view by the lounge?

The rooms r on the 4th floor the lounge on 6th.

When the hotel first opened floors 5 and 6 had slightly larger rooms called deluxe. They turned these 5/6 floor rooms to DVc. 5th floor dvc only and 6th is dvc cl rooms . The floor is small so not many and they book up by owners fast.

 

[mickeynut1]

I'd really like to stay somewhere where we have good accessibility to parks as well as other hotels with great restaurants, plus a great view of fireworks... I have always loved Poly, with the quick walk to TTC, the monorail to GF and CR and MK

I think the Poly is a perfect fit for everything here .

So I wouldn't pick any CL purely on food reviews. You have to consider the whole experience. Food selections change and tastes are different. I would stay at any one of those resorts again and expect a somewhat different experience.

I agree, everyone's opinion/experience is different so I wouldn't base my decision on food reviews only. We haven't tried CL at the Poly yet, but we love the Poly as it's our favorite resort overall. If you like the convenience of the Poly for getting to MK and Epcot, I'd stick with what you have booked .

 

[Ewoks]

Food reports are definitely not the only thing to base your resort decision on, but I will say that, in terms of our Poly experience, the mediocre food was honestly one of the lower reasons on our list of why we didn't enjoy it. Since we were in Tonga we had the option to avoid the Hawaii lounge most of the time and we quickly learned to do that. We just found that whole CL building to be the opposite of relaxing. It was always busy and hectic. We were very glad our room wasn't in that building.

Part of the additional cost of staying CL is the food and drink offerings, so whether or not you'll be happy with what's being offered in the lounge is definitely something to take into serious consideration. Seeing how the other CLs on property have really stepped up their food offerings, it was really disappointing to see the lack thereof at Poly. Just my two cents here.

 

[Surgie2]

Since we were in Tonga we had the option to avoid the Hawaii lounge most of the time and we quickly learned to do that.

Did you find the food offerings in Tonga to be the same (mediocre) quality of Hawaii but you enjoyed the quiet atmosphere more? Or was the food actually better in Tonga? Right now we have 3 Poly CL rooms booked in Hawaii but are considering just keeping one Hawaii room and the rest of the family (our kids and grandkids) will stay in a Tonga suite. But I was concerned that they might have to get over to Hawaii for better food selection. What do you think?

 

[Ewoks]

Did you find the food offerings in Tonga to be the same (mediocre) quality of Hawaii but you enjoyed the quiet atmosphere more? Or was the food actually better in Tonga? Right now we have 3 Poly CL rooms booked in Hawaii but are considering just keeping one Hawaii room and the rest of the family (our kids and grandkids) will stay in a Tonga suite. But I was concerned that they might have to get over to Hawaii for better food selection. What do you think?

Well Tonga has a different setup. The lounge itself has very little food-wise, mostly little things like granola, fruit, etc. no hot food. BUT they do give you a small room service menu with breakfast and all-day options on it. Everything on that menu is free. You just mark what you want and give it to the CM at the desk and they'll order it for you.

The food from the Tonga menu is good. It's not like, life-changing, but let's be real: everything tastes better when it's delivered to your room for free!

If you're staying more than a few days I'm sure the Tonga menu could easily get boring since it doesn't change, so supplementing with Hawaii offerings would likely be a must.

 

[Eastern]

Did you find the food offerings in Tonga to be the same (mediocre) quality of Hawaii but you enjoyed the quiet atmosphere more? Or was the food actually better in Tonga? Right now we have 3 Poly CL rooms booked in Hawaii but are considering just keeping one Hawaii room and the rest of the family (our kids and grandkids) will stay in a Tonga suite. But I was concerned that they might have to get over to Hawaii for better food selection. What do you think?

I liked Tonga because the food setup was steps away from our room. It was so convenient.

The food isn't better, it's just that they do not have hot selections in the evening, in Tonga. You must go to Hawaii for that. Otherwise, Tonga will have a beer and wine setup, with cheese, crackers, fruits and dips.

The new room service menu is a great idea to make up for that.

 

[Surgie2]

The food from the Tonga menu is good. It's not like, life-changing, but let's be real: everything tastes better when it's delivered to your room for free

Thanks for this info. I'm sure they can make do with the repetitiveness of the menu if we switch them over there. But "free"?? Lol!!

 

[jbb4me]

I posted some AKL photos from my trip in March back on page 406 of this thread if you wanna take a look.

It was our first stay at AKL CL and, out of all our CL trips at the different deluxe resorts, AKL is my second favorite CL. It's really wonderful. It's usually a bit lower priced than some of the other CLs too, since the resort itself is out of the way and secluded and the rooms are a little smaller. It's well worth the price though.

The food is top notch and so are the CMs. The rooms themselves are nice and comfortable, although I'll be the first to admit they're overdue for a refurb. But still, they're lovely rooms that are decorated beautifully. All CL rooms with the exception of suites are on the 4th floor. The lounge is on the 6th. That's really the only thing I disliked about AKL, not being on the same floor as the lounge. It's not that big of a deal though. The resort is so beautiful and there's so much to see and take in that I never minded the walk to the elevators.

All CL rooms have a guaranteed savanna view.

And now I wanna be back at AKL!!! If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask. I could gush about AKL CL alllllll day.

Ewoks, thanks for the additional info! I'm excited to stay there now based on your impressions, and am 99% sure we will go ahead and book it. The rates are really outstanding for July. Is there a particular location on the 4th floor you would recommend requesting? I read that AKL has different savannah views, but wasn't sure if all CL rooms look onto the main savannah or if it's possible to be looking out on one of the smaller ones (and if doing that would greatly increase distance to lounge). And I know this isn't CL related, but did you do any animal tours while you were there that you'd recommend? So looking forward to our trip!

 

[trishadono]

Ewoks, thanks for the additional info! I'm excited to stay there now based on your impressions, and am 99% sure we will go ahead and book it. The rates are really outstanding for July. Is there a particular location on the 4th floor you would recommend requesting? I read that AKL has different savannah views, but wasn't sure if all CL rooms look onto the main savannah or if it's possible to be looking out on one of the smaller ones (and if doing that would greatly increase distance to lounge). And I know this isn't CL related, but did you do any animal tours while you were there that you'd recommend? So looking forward to our trip!

This will help I think.I made this prior to my trip. We had 4423 if you saw my room view pix.

Here are my cl posts:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/disneys-club-level-cl-information-and-questions.3414590/page-374

https://www.disboards.com/threads/j...ormation-thread.3567178/page-14#post-57054365
newest

This one has animals I could see/scroll down:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/jambo-the-newest-akl-information-thread.3567178/page-15

 

[thumper*]

Thanks to all of you helpful knowledgeable folks for all of your outstanding info. After reading Ewoks blog WDWfor2.com last night and then all of Trishadonos reviews for GF I believe you guys have me convinced to try CL for the first time for our Dec. GF stay. I can only hope a 25% discount will still be available for our dates.

Floor 4 and some of 3 have dormer rooms with the smaller balcony. Request full balcony if important.

I have been on both the courtyard and marina sides and both truly are lovely.

Our room I would say tho was probably the best. The rooms on 3 rd floor courtyard are 6312,6314,6316 are above the door and stick out a bit. I would think the 2nd floor right below us nice too. However other than that one I posted I think all decently close to lounge/elevator and views.

Trying to understand this....are you saying that all of 4'th floor and a few 3'rd floor rooms are dormers? I know we would want a higher room with a large balconey so would I request a full balcony on the 3'rd floor?

I am not an expert by any means and don't have first hand experience with this, but to my knowledge the only "bookable" King Bed CL rooms are the two on the 14th floor on this map. There are kings on 12 but not bookable. So I 'think' they will be on 14! But don't get their hopes up in case I'm wrong.

View attachment 228503

Where can I find a floor plan like this for Sl at GF?

 

[trishadono]

Thanks to all of you helpful knowledgeable folks for all of your outstanding info. After reading Ewoks blog WDWfor2.com last night and then all of Trishadonos reviews for GF I believe you guys have me convinced to try CL for the first time for our Dec. GF stay. I can only hope a 25% discount will still be available for our dates.



Trying to understand this....are you saying that all of 4'th floor and a few 3'rd floor rooms are dormers? I know we would want a higher room with a large balconey so would I request a full balcony on the 3'rd floor?

Where can I find a floor plan like this for Sl at GF?

There isn't one of those floorplans for gf like CR, rats!

If you look at pictures of the building of sl.( I just google disney sugar loaf, then look at images0. It will be easier to understand.

Look at the balconies . Too floor has dormer, the center 3rd floor are full balconies but the outer ones are dormer. 2nd floor mostly have full balconies except the area over the door./they are enclosed. 1st floor are enclosed patios.

So yes, request 3rd floor full balcony

Oh and you are welcome.

 

[chimo2u]

Wow! Time flies fast! So excited for you! Hope you get to cruise on the Fantasy soon! It's a beautiful ship ☺

Sounds perfect!

We only did a 4 night on the Dream and definitely want our next trip to be a 7 night on the Fantasy! Just have to get the timing right.

The kids are all doing great!! DS is 2, and is a mad man! A lovable mad man, but all boy nonetheless.

My oldest is going to be a teenager at end of April...what is happening!?!?!