Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[GoGoBeans]

OT but for those of you who asked about the Tomorrowland Terrace/Garden Viewing Dessert Party. DO IT. Great experience, in my humble opinion.

Since I can hide behind internet anonymity I don't mind saying this. I was a bit weepy watching from Poly last night. I flat out at times watching from the MK tonight. Having proper volume and really being able to hear/feel the music made it a more powerful experience. That part is missing from the Poly viewing experience, but the low volume was a problem during Wishes too (but since I knew the story (and the words) it wasn't that big a deal to me).

Here was my view from the Garden Viewing area. Had tons of room. I would do this version over the Tomorrowland Terrace version in a heartbeat. Still shocked how good this show is.
View attachment 237168

Spectacular! Now I'll admit that after this review I went to book but no availability for our summer trip. Dang it.

 

[pandv_2000]

I had no problem with CL and being GF. All my ADR's were noted but the lounge did not know that. I just spoke to the CM's and the chef and they prepared food for me without the gluten.
So one night there was a dish that had something on it which had gluten. The chef went ahead and prepared me the dish without it. He also brought me out GF donuts (4 of them!) and continued to do so the rest of the evenings I was in the lounge.
They were extremely nice and helpful. Always asking what else I would like.
Have a great time!

Thank you. I have e-mailed DSS and they have noted the gluten free request on all of our meals for us so we will just speak to the CMs once we get there regarding the lounge offerings

 

[jbb4me]

Congratulations on a great trip and all that pixie dust!! Sounds amazing.
We will be at the CR atrium club next month and was wondering what the breakfast offerings were? Making sure I can get some protein and won't need to take shakes or bars with me. TIA

Thanks! I think I used up every last ounce of pixie dust I had with that one upgrade! Re: morning offerings, I don't recall very many protein options. It was carb heavy. But they did have hard boiled eggs each morning and smoked salmon for bagels. They also had both plain and flavored yogurt with granola to add in. Hope that helps!

Dang, I missed your post yesterday. Wow, NICE UPGRADE! Just to warn you, you are spoiled for life. Nothing is ever going to compare to Tower!

I know, right?! That's what I kept saying to DH while we were there. We have several other trips planned this year, some CL and some not, and I'm pretty sure they were sending me a message that I need to just go ahead and splurge on the others (still working on that with DH!). Also, I did laugh when the EWP started our first night - you were so right about how LOUD it is!! I was terrified it would wake up DS2 but thankfully it didn't (and neither did the fireworks they tested at 1:30 am!). Such an amazing view. I could have spent our whole trip on the patios!!

Drinks

Don't be mad - I forgot to get pics of the alcohol!! I can't believe my oversight. But they had about 4 different kinds of beer in the fridge, along with 2 on draft (and chilled glasses too!).


Coffee


Tea (available all day)


Assorted beverages


Wider view of coffee and different assorted beverages


Refrigerated beverages

I'll come back later with some additional thoughts. And I'm happy to answer any questions! We stayed 5 nights. We ate breakfast and evening apps 4 times each, had afternoon snack once, and I hit the desserts every night.

I am so envious of the Perrier and refrigerated glasses!! Might be a reason to look into staying WL CL for our trip in February!!!

 

[Alura21]

Hey all!

So I just booked myself a club leval room for Animal Kingdom Lodge for september. I haven't gotten an email or call from IPO. Do they still contact you beforehand?

 

[disneybeautyfnp]

Hi! Hubbie and I are staying CL at AKL 10/9-10/14 this fall. This thread has me so excited about this trip. This is our first on-site stay at WDW. I have a few question though. How long does it take to travel to the parks from AKL? What is the best way to travel? Should I rely on Uber? We have bought a Deluxe Dining Plan but now after seeing all the wonderful pictures of the food in CL I am considering cancelling. What would ya'll suggest (yes I am Southern, from South GA, so I speak fluent Southern )?

 

[lala5176]

Thanks! I think I used up every last ounce of pixie dust I had with that one upgrade! Re: morning offerings, I don't recall very many protein options. It was carb heavy. But they did have hard boiled eggs each morning and smoked salmon for bagels. They also had both plain and flavored yogurt with granola to add in. Hope that helps!
Thank you! That does help!


I know, right?! That's what I kept saying to DH while we were there. We have several other trips planned this year, some CL and some not, and I'm pretty sure they were sending me a message that I need to just go ahead and splurge on the others (still working on that with DH!). Also, I did laugh when the EWP started our first night - you were so right about how LOUD it is!! I was terrified it would wake up DS2 but thankfully it didn't (and neither did the fireworks they tested at 1:30 am!). Such an amazing view. I could have spent our whole trip on the patios!!



I am so envious of the Perrier and refrigerated glasses!! Might be a reason to look into staying WL CL for our trip in February!!!

 

[GoGoBeans]

Hey all!

So I just booked myself a club leval room for Animal Kingdom Lodge for september. I haven't gotten an email or call from IPO. Do they still contact you beforehand?

We have 3 upcoming CL stays this year and have not been contacted by DSS at all. If you need them for anything, definitely reach out.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I'm back with some final thoughts on my Club Level experience.

I contacted DSS with 1 room request - to face toward the castle. I was granted this request. My room was right in the middle of the hall and I watched Wishes from my balcony all but my last night, when I went to the park for the final show. Unfortunately, our checkout day was the first day of the new show, so I haven't seen it yet. However, they were testing one night around midnight and I saw some of the fireworks, and they were doing a run-through of the projections around 6:30, so I stopped packing for a few minutes to watch. My husband had brought binoculars, hoping for a glimpse of the new show and he was pretty excited to have seen a little of it.

The CMs in the lounge were a little hit and miss. I didn't have any negative experiences (and my husband reports they were very accommodating with all of his alcohol requests!), but most of them weren't super friendly and mostly kept to themselves. I looked forward to chatting with the CL CMs, and there were only a few who seemed to want to talk to me. I have a toddler (18 months), so my husband and I had to go to the lounge separately for dessert when he was sleeping and it would have been nice to have someone to chat with. YMMV.

The food was pretty good. It wasn't necessarily items I would have chosen at a quick service restaurant, but I certainly didn't go hungry.

The lounge setup is great. I love that it overlooks the lobby and you can hear the lobby music playing while enjoying your food! There is also a children's area with small tables/chairs, a TV always tuned to Disney Jr., and coloring pages and crayons. My son was pretty happy to see some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while he was there!

I was very surprised at the emptiness of the lounge. There were usually a couple of other people there, but it was really very empty most of the time. It was nice that my son had some space to explore and not bother other guests.

I am very glad we chose to stay CL for this trip. It was so nice to just take our son down the hall for 2 meals each day and not worry about juggling him and trays of food. In fact, we also did 3 ADRs, so we only ended up doing QS twice on our whole trip (we were there 5 days). After the first day, my son really seemed to recognize where he was going and loved when we told him it was time to eat. For people who are rope drop to close type tourists, I don't really think that CL offers a lot of benefit. But for us, we came back by dinner all but 1 day and made extensive use of the lounge. We've found that our son does best sticking to his normal bedtime, so that meant early touring for us. It was great to have a place to relax and unwind at the end of the day.

I'm not sure if CL is in our future again, both from a budgetary and a logistical perspective. We kind of went all out for our son's first trip. I wanted it to be really special for him and as easy as was possible for us as parents. However, I wouldn't hesitate to stay WL CL again.

Please do let me know if you have any questions about the place...I'd be happy to help! I don't know what to do with myself at the moment now that I don't have a Disney trip in the works!!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

@GADisneyDad14 and @beesly, thank you for the info. No suites for us, unfortunately.

@aporthole, just FYI, I noticed Tonga Toast is offered on the Poly room service dining menu. "Our famous banana-stuffed Sourdough French Toast rolled in Cinnamon Sugar served with a Strawberry Compote and your choice of Bacon, Ham, or Sausage." $15 Served 7AM-11:30AM.

I am curious to hear about the fireworks. We will be there on 20th and we plan on watching from Poly. I am also curious if they have any bubbly in Lounge. If not I can drink white wine - but a little bubbly goes a long way if you don't mind!?! Thank you so much!

Here's what they had at Poly CL this past weekend. I'm not a wine or sparkling wine drinker, not sure if this stuff is any good?

My experience with DSS so far:

Emailed them our room requests (higher floor, early room if possible, early housekeeping because my parents nap like toddlers...) and inquired about potentially ordering one of those cute mini tier cakes I saw over on the cake thread for my mom's bday.

Requests were forwarded to WL CL, but with regards to the cake I got the gratuitous Disney Floral and Gifts link. Emailed back saying a generic Mickey cake wouldn't do and attached pictures of the mini cakes for reference. Second reply was something along the lines of *ignores cake pictures* "You can order chocolate-covered strawberries from Private Dining once you're there!" Granted, that is a good idea, but the whole point is to have something waiting there for her when we arrive...

Does anyone have any experience ordering cakes (or like, special stuff like this) through DSS? Realizing now I should probably cross-post this on the cake thread.

Btw, all their replies have been really nice and cordial. They're just clearly being told to push Disney Floral and Gifts (which is a shame, because all their offerings just seem so tacky and poorly curated, imo...)

Someone else said something similar but from my experience, you'll likely hit a dead end when it comes to arranging "something waiting there for her when we arrive." I assume you mean in-room? You'll have to move heaven/earth to get them to do this. So many variables with the room, when it's ready, etc that they tend to not want to do it by default. Your mileage may vary and you may find a CM who will be more helpful... but from my experience this one is tough.

Thanks so much for your report! We have GV booked so I was curious about the view from the lounge - We watched the live stream last night on DPB and were in awe! We were diehard Wishes followers - but we truly love the new show! I can't wait to see it from both MK and from the Poly lounge...

With regards to alcohol - I saw reports that beer was in the fridge now - is that true? Also, how are the afternoon offerings? Are they still doing the lettuce wraps?

Thanks again!

Yes, the beer situation is the same as I experienced in Feb. Beer is now out in the fridge starting at noon. This photo below was actually taken at 11:42AM to be exact. It's self-serve all day/evening, to go cups (and sliced oranges for the Blue Moon) are located just to the right of this. The Castaway Cay IPA was a new addition since Feb, for me.



As far as afternoon snacks... same as in Feb and MUCH IMPROVED over prior years. It's like night/day for Poly CL regulars who haven't been this year.

Sliced veggies, make your own trail mix...


Lettuce wraps with lots of toppings/sauces. I was told they switch between chicken/shrimp every day. This was chicken. Sorry pics are far away, I was in a rush.


Those "house made" chips with sauces, goldfish, chocolate chip cookies.

Staying CR CL for the first time next month. Can anyone tell me what types of food they serve for breakfast that might have some protein?
Thanks!!!

CR CL should have hard boiled eggs, cheeses, yogurt, sliced salmon, and various sliced meats (eg, ham, etc). The salmon and sliced meats may vary day to day in terms of type. CR CL has a plain/no sugar added yogurt that I very much appreciate/enjoy.

So looking forward to our trip. One of our Poly nights will be MNSSHP so I'm really curious what they do/instead of Hallowishes.

Someone else said the same thing but I'm 'pretty' certain what has been indicated so far is that Hallowishes will be the same show as in the past. Will be interesting to see if they incorporate any of the new lasers/lights though.

Thank you so much for the review. We were afraid of the same thing with the new show - that it wouldn't have many fireworks and that it wouldn't look that good from the Poly.

How are the breakfast offerings at the Poly? Same as last year or do they have more items? Thanks for the updates.

Breakfast was the relatively standard CL type food you tend to see at most of them. I'd say same as prior trips, give or take. Let me get my photos in order and I'll post an update.

Hey all!

So I just booked myself a club leval room for Animal Kingdom Lodge for september. I haven't gotten an email or call from IPO. Do they still contact you beforehand?

IPO is now DSS (Disney Signature Services). Their outreach to guests is somewhat inconsistent, not entirely unlike the way IPO was frankly. Feel free to reach out to them: disney.signature.services@disneyworld.com, (407) 939-7777, Include your reservation # if you e-mail or have it ready if you call.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I'm back with some final thoughts on my Club Level experience.

I contacted DSS with 1 room request - to face toward the castle. I was granted this request. My room was right in the middle of the hall and I watched Wishes from my balcony all but my last night, when I went to the park for the final show. Unfortunately, our checkout day was the first day of the new show, so I haven't seen it yet. However, they were testing one night around midnight and I saw some of the fireworks, and they were doing a run-through of the projections around 6:30, so I stopped packing for a few minutes to watch. My husband had brought binoculars, hoping for a glimpse of the new show and he was pretty excited to have seen a little of it.

The CMs in the lounge were a little hit and miss. I didn't have any negative experiences (and my husband reports they were very accommodating with all of his alcohol requests!), but most of them weren't super friendly and mostly kept to themselves. I looked forward to chatting with the CL CMs, and there were only a few who seemed to want to talk to me. I have a toddler (18 months), so my husband and I had to go to the lounge separately for dessert when he was sleeping and it would have been nice to have someone to chat with. YMMV.

The food was pretty good. It wasn't necessarily items I would have chosen at a quick service restaurant, but I certainly didn't go hungry.

The lounge setup is great. I love that it overlooks the lobby and you can hear the lobby music playing while enjoying your food! There is also a children's area with small tables/chairs, a TV always tuned to Disney Jr., and coloring pages and crayons. My son was pretty happy to see some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while he was there!

I was very surprised at the emptiness of the lounge. There were usually a couple of other people there, but it was really very empty most of the time. It was nice that my son had some space to explore and not bother other guests.

I am very glad we chose to stay CL for this trip. It was so nice to just take our son down the hall for 2 meals each day and not worry about juggling him and trays of food. In fact, we also did 3 ADRs, so we only ended up doing QS twice on our whole trip (we were there 5 days). After the first day, my son really seemed to recognize where he was going and loved when we told him it was time to eat. For people who are rope drop to close type tourists, I don't really think that CL offers a lot of benefit. But for us, we came back by dinner all but 1 day and made extensive use of the lounge. We've found that our son does best sticking to his normal bedtime, so that meant early touring for us. It was great to have a place to relax and unwind at the end of the day.

I'm not sure if CL is in our future again, both from a budgetary and a logistical perspective. We kind of went all out for our son's first trip. I wanted it to be really special for him and as easy as was possible for us as parents. However, I wouldn't hesitate to stay WL CL again.

Please do let me know if you have any questions about the place...I'd be happy to help! I don't know what to do with myself at the moment now that I don't have a Disney trip in the works!!

A lot of what you said sounds nearly identical to our November WL CL experience (especially the part about the CMs ). Your pics are awesome. Glad they are keeping up with the variety of food offerings, everything looks great.

And Perrier in the fridge? Crudets? Your comment had me BTW.

Sounds like you had a great trip and it seems like it was successful. Nice work braving MK for the last Wishes. How was that?

Thank you again.

 

[KrazeeK120]

Sounds like you had a great trip and it seems like it was successful. Nice work braving MK for the last Wishes. How was that?

It was such a wonderful trip. We plan on going back to Disney, probably several times. But even if we didn't, I made a lifetime of memories in just 1 trip.

I got to the park 3 hours before Wishes (thanks to my husband who tackled bedtime alone while away from home!). I snagged a good spot on top of the train station. I met some nice girls, one of which is a CM (hostess at the Plaza). They even held my spot for me while I went to the bathroom! I talked to them for probably an hour and a half. That's the kind of CM interaction I was looking for lol. She mentioned that most of the other people up there were CMs. Which would explain why everyone was so polite and not trying to hog each other's personal space. I really had a very pleasant time! I made a quick exit to the boat dock and we left with a half full boat! No one was coming to ride! I couldnt believe it. There were hoards of people headed to the ferry, monorail, and buses, and here were 25 or so of us chilling on this huge boat. I stepped off the boat at 9:31...I looked at my phone. I even had time to go get dessert in the lounge!!! I'm so glad I went.

 

[lala5176]

GADisneyDad14, thank you for the breakfast info at CR. Poly CL looks great. Better than 2 years ago. Looks like more afternoon options and more beer choices than I remember. Great that they are adding more value to CL. We have been staying CL for years and hoping things would perk up a bit! Looks like things are headed in the right direction

 

[beesly]

Hi! Hubbie and I are staying CL at AKL 10/9-10/14 this fall. This thread has me so excited about this trip. This is our first on-site stay at WDW. I have a few question though. How long does it take to travel to the parks from AKL? What is the best way to travel? Should I rely on Uber? We have bought a Deluxe Dining Plan but now after seeing all the wonderful pictures of the food in CL I am considering cancelling. What would ya'll suggest (yes I am Southern, from South GA, so I speak fluent Southern )?

In March, I watched one of the Tree of Life awakenings on my way out of AK at 8:00 and was passing through the MK parking lot gates at 8:23, according to my photos. The ride from AKL to AK was about 5 minutes, and I think it took 10-15 minutes to get to DHS and Epcot. The AK/DHS/Epcot times don't count the time spent waiting for a bus. I don't mind waiting on buses between resorts and parks, but used uber to get between resorts (for example, AKL to the Boardwalk) and it was about $7 each way and always quick.

Personally, I wouldn't pay for a dining plan and CL on the same trip.

 

[beesly]

It's self-serve all day/evening, to go cups (and sliced oranges for the Blue Moon) are located just to the right of this. The Castaway Cay IPA was a new addition since Feb, for me.

A critical item. Thanks for such a detailed report!

 

[disnmooner2013]

In March, I watched one of the Tree of Life awakenings on my way out of AK at 8:00 and was passing through the MK parking lot gates at 8:23, according to my photos. The ride from AKL to AK was about 5 minutes, and I think it took 10-15 minutes to get to DHS and Epcot. The AK/DHS/Epcot times don't count the time spent waiting for a bus. I don't mind waiting on buses between resorts and parks, but used uber to get between resorts (for example, AKL to the Boardwalk) and it was about $7 each way and always quick.

Personally, I wouldn't pay for a dining plan and CL on the same trip.

Thanks Beesly more helpful information.

 

[NicoleLarson]

Hi! Hubbie and I are staying CL at AKL 10/9-10/14 this fall. This thread has me so excited about this trip. This is our first on-site stay at WDW. I have a few question though. How long does it take to travel to the parks from AKL? What is the best way to travel? Should I rely on Uber? We have bought a Deluxe Dining Plan but now after seeing all the wonderful pictures of the food in CL I am considering cancelling. What would ya'll suggest (yes I am Southern, from South GA, so I speak fluent Southern )?

Well as a former GA gal myself, here's my 2 cents. If you think you will take advantage of the lounge and will be there during the times they are serving then no way would I do DxDDP. DxDDP is a TON of food, it would just be complete overkill. If you've seen the AKL food, then you know it's very African influenced so I hope you like that. We do but many others dont, just wanted to make sure you know that. For travel time....It will take about 20 minutes to get to MK by bus. EP and HS, 10-15 minutes and AK about 5 minutes. If you take Uber to MK have them drop you off at CR, not TTC.

 

[disnmooner2013]

Well as a former GA gal myself, here's my 2 cents. If you think you will take advantage of the lounge and will be there during the times they are serving then no way would I do DxDDP. DxDDP is a TON of food, it would just be complete overkill. If you've seen the AKL food, then you know it's very African influenced so I hope you like that. We do but many others dont, just wanted to make sure you know that. For travel time....It will take about 20 minutes to get to MK by bus. EP and HS, 10-15 minutes and AK about 5 minutes. If you take Uber to MK have them drop you off at CR, not TTC.

This again is helpful. Never thought about having uberdop off at CR instead of TTC.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

@disneybeautyfnp I agree with @NicoleLarson, I wouldn't do both CL and a dining plan. Heck, I wouldn't do a dining plan even if I didn't stay CL, but that's just me. Some people do stay CL with a dining plan and it works fine for them so it certainly can make sense, but for us / our style it would be way overkill.

You said you're a first time on-site guest but how's your overall WDW knowledge? If you know what you're getting into with the dining plan then maybe it's OK, but if not, I'd advise against it for a first on-site trip. Then you can better prepare/budget/understand the options for future trips to see if it makes sense.

Just one perspective, but hope that is helpful.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

A critical item. Thanks for such a detailed report!

It IS critical. That beer is dreadful without an orange.

 

[beesly]

It IS critical. That beer is dreadful without an orange.

Agreed! With an orange slice, though - especially if I'm sitting by the lava pool -