Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[JodyLynC]

Why wouldn't you leave them at the poolside patio? Or is that not like a cabana rental where you have CM service?

I don't think the service is as "hands on" as the cabanas a GF and Cont.

 

[FidFam]

We're thinking about doing a last second long weekend at Poly next weekend. I haven't had a full chance to go thru this thread but the jump from a standard view to the club level is about $150/night for where we are looking at booking. Since it's a short three night stay we thought it would be fun to indulge. Curious if folks think it's worth the added expense for a quick/short stay with our two kids, 7 and 4 - we typically stay at BC (not CL) but the last minute flights next week were just too good to pass up.

 

[luvindisneyworld]

Help with BC. We have our stay planned in Oct already. 3 adults in a standard view room, only thing available at BC when we booked with our TA. We can upgrade to standard view Concierge for 150.00 per night total. I am a bit worried about standard view for one and also about the balconies. I did not know about balconies until we were already booked. Ive not been on here in forever.. We love BCV and have stayed there many times but have never stayed in the Hotel part. So would you upgrade for 150.00 per night and also would our request come closer to being met if we book concierge about having a balcony? Please help reassure me about the standard view rooms. Any photos or any input would be greatly appreciated... We have to make a decision by Monday.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We're thinking about doing a last second long weekend at Poly next weekend. I haven't had a full chance to go thru this thread but the jump from a standard view to the club level is about $150/night for where we are looking at booking. Since it's a short three night stay we thought it would be fun to indulge. Curious if folks think it's worth the added expense for a quick/short stay with our two kids, 7 and 4 - we typically stay at BC (not CL) but the last minute flights next week were just too good to pass up.

Your responses may be a bit one sided on this particular thread. Admittedly I'm a big Poly CL fan so you might not get a two sided view from me either.

Our kids are 7 and 3 and we find CL at Poly adds a significant "convenience factor" that makes it well worth it for us, no matter the length of stay. "Convenience" for us comes in several forms... the location of the Hawaii longhouse itself (steps to both pools), the awesome lounge and view, the food/beverage offerings - especially breakfast, not having to deal with Capt Cooks, the usually awesome CMs, etc, etc.

Unless y'all are total park commandos in the parks from sun up to sun down (and therefore not really around to take advantage of things like breakfast, other offerings, etc), I'd vote CL. The price difference isn't really outrageous either.

FWIW, here are some links to some of my reports from a couple of trips earlier this year, they are pic heavy:

Poly CL - Feb 2017

Poly CL - May 2017 Food

Poly CL - May 2017 Room

Hope this helps, and feel free to ask any questions.

Have fun!

 

[FidFam]

Your responses may be a bit one sided on this particular thread. Admittedly I'm a big Poly CL fan so you might not get a two sided view from me either.

I just needed someone (besides my wife) to convince me, it wouldn't be very hard and I knew I'd get the right kind of answer in this thread

 

[Simba's Girl]

Help with BC. We have our stay planned in Oct already. 3 adults in a standard view room, only thing available at BC when we booked with our TA. We can upgrade to standard view Concierge for 150.00 per night total. I am a bit worried about standard view for one and also about the balconies. I did not know about balconies until we were already booked. Ive not been on here in forever.. We love BCV and have stayed there many times but have never stayed in the Hotel part. So would you upgrade for 150.00 per night and also would our request come closer to being met if we book concierge about having a balcony? Please help reassure me about the standard view rooms. Any photos or any input would be greatly appreciated... We have to make a decision by Monday.

Personally, I would upgrade for $150 more/ night but that's just me. We like to make the most of the lounge offerings and love the additional space the lounges offer.

As for your specific BC questions-I would ask over in the YC/BC thread.

 

[jods]

Help with BC. We have our stay planned in Oct already. 3 adults in a standard view room, only thing available at BC when we booked with our TA. We can upgrade to standard view Concierge for 150.00 per night total. I am a bit worried about standard view for one and also about the balconies. I did not know about balconies until we were already booked. Ive not been on here in forever.. We love BCV and have stayed there many times but have never stayed in the Hotel part. So would you upgrade for 150.00 per night and also would our request come closer to being met if we book concierge about having a balcony? Please help reassure me about the standard view rooms. Any photos or any input would be greatly appreciated... We have to make a decision by Monday.

Yes I would lol. We actually started with a regular standard view room and upgraded to club level. We stayed poly club last year and I was missing it months and months before our trip so I switched to club level.

 

[focusondisney]

Help with BC. We have our stay planned in Oct already. 3 adults in a standard view room, only thing available at BC when we booked with our TA. We can upgrade to standard view Concierge for 150.00 per night total. I am a bit worried about standard view for one and also about the balconies. I did not know about balconies until we were already booked. Ive not been on here in forever.. We love BCV and have stayed there many times but have never stayed in the Hotel part. So would you upgrade for 150.00 per night and also would our request come closer to being met if we book concierge about having a balcony? Please help reassure me about the standard view rooms. Any photos or any input would be greatly appreciated... We have to make a decision by Monday.

The first page of the Y&B thread has info on the various rooms & also a link to a "view" thread with pictures of the views from different rooms. Also, lots of people who regularly post there have stayed multiple times, so you should get some help with your questions over there.

 

[KaitMM]

I was wondering about the dishes. Do they offer disposable dishes or do we bring the dishes back to the lounge?

We stayed Hawaii building CL at the Poly in December. We left the dishes from the lounge on the desk/table in our room, and housekeeping always took them at turn down service, if it was after they had already been in that morning.

 

[NicoleLarson]

We're thinking about doing a last second long weekend at Poly next weekend. I haven't had a full chance to go thru this thread but the jump from a standard view to the club level is about $150/night for where we are looking at booking. Since it's a short three night stay we thought it would be fun to indulge. Curious if folks think it's worth the added expense for a quick/short stay with our two kids, 7 and 4 - we typically stay at BC (not CL) but the last minute flights next week were just too good to pass up.

Help with BC. We have our stay planned in Oct already. 3 adults in a standard view room, only thing available at BC when we booked with our TA. We can upgrade to standard view Concierge for 150.00 per night total. I am a bit worried about standard view for one and also about the balconies. I did not know about balconies until we were already booked. Ive not been on here in forever.. We love BCV and have stayed there many times but have never stayed in the Hotel part. So would you upgrade for 150.00 per night and also would our request come closer to being met if we book concierge about having a balcony? Please help reassure me about the standard view rooms. Any photos or any input would be greatly appreciated... We have to make a decision by Monday.

Since both of you are asking the same thing, is CL "worth it" for $150 more a night? I think what it comes down to is are you going to use the lounge or not? And by use, I mean will you eat breakfast every morning and come back most nights for apps, along with consuming a couple glasses of wine/beer? If yes, then I would say its "worth it". If you don't intend on using the lounge on a fairly regular basis then probably not.

 

[sfbank]

Posted this on Boardwalk thread. Thought I would share here too.
On our way home from another great trip and stay at the Boardwalk. We were in room 4261 on the corner by Flying Fish with the big balcony. Housekeeping and turndown always excellent. Club level experience has changed a bit. We still love all the cast members but they have added so many extra rooms compared to the size of the lounge. Some evenings and one morning there was no place to sit. The noise level was definitely higher and some kids were out of control with one walking on a table at one point. Mom asked a cast member to take care of him
It was neat having a chef and for the most part the food was excellent but they took the taco bar out that DD and her friend were looking forward too and replaced it with octopus. The mac and cheese from last year gone also so the teens were disappointed. Like I said we will always stay there because we love the experience and cast members but it has definitely changed.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We stayed poly club last year and my husband was in such shock and disbelief at the number of dishes in the hallway. It made the hotel look terrible. There were dishes everywhere. We were both disgusted with it. We either leave them in the room or walked them to the lounge. We were on the 3rd floor but only maybe10 rooms down, if that. The room 2 doors closer to the lounge disgusted me to no end. From what we could tell, they would load up multiple dishes of whatever they had and then would leave stacks of mostly uneaten food in the hallway. I'm talking like 10 dishes with that evenings offerings in the hall by 1030. Why take so much if you don't even know if you like it. I'm hoping for better behavior this year at the bc.

I agree with you - we have seen dishes left in the hall with food on them. It really makes the hotel look bad. I wish that the hotel would have a definitive system in place and add that to the letter you get about the lounge when you check in or leave something in the room - explaining what to do with your dirty dishes. The Poly is unique - most of the other CL lounges do not have a place to put dirty dishes. I wish they did.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Posted this on Boardwalk thread. Thought I would share here too.
On our way home from another great trip and stay at the Boardwalk. We were in room 4261 on the corner by Flying Fish with the big balcony. Housekeeping and turndown always excellent. Club level experience has changed a bit. We still love all the cast members but they have added so many extra rooms compared to the size of the lounge. Some evenings and one morning there was no place to sit. The noise level was definitely higher and some kids were out of control with one walking on a table at one point. Mom asked a cast member to take care of him
It was neat having a chef and for the most part the food was excellent but they took the taco bar out that DD and her friend were looking forward too and replaced it with octopus. The mac and cheese from last year gone also so the teens were disappointed. Like I said we will always stay there because we love the experience and cast members but it has definitely changed.

Thank you so much for the report. We head to the BWI CL soon and are excited to see the new offerings. Sorry to hear about them taking out the taco night - we were looking forward to that. We never had a problem getting a seat in the lounge - so that will be interesting. They do need to enlarge that lounge though. Thanks again.

 

[Rachel GB]

First WDW trip, staying GF CL Sugarloaf end of Nov/ early Dec! So incredibly excited! I will be combing this very extensive board for great information!
On the GF CL general information post here, it gives a link to a typical GF CL welcome/informational packet. However, I'm unable to view this attachment for some reason. Any suggestions? Thank you!

 

[mickeynut1]

We're thinking about doing a last second long weekend at Poly next weekend. I haven't had a full chance to go thru this thread but the jump from a standard view to the club level is about $150/night for where we are looking at booking. Since it's a short three night stay we thought it would be fun to indulge. Curious if folks think it's worth the added expense for a quick/short stay with our two kids, 7 and 4 - we typically stay at BC (not CL) but the last minute flights next week were just too good to pass up.

Worth is subjective as it's different for everyone, but if the extra cost is doable, I'd go for CL. The food offerings/drinks are nice, but we love CL for the lounge and having another place to sit/relax other than in the room or around the resort. With that said, I think splurging on CL for a short stay is a great idea .

Our kids are 7 and 3 and we find CL at Poly adds a significant "convenience factor" that makes it well worth it for us, no matter the length of stay. "Convenience" for us comes in several forms... the location of the Hawaii longhouse itself (steps to both pools), the awesome lounge and view, the food/beverage offerings - especially breakfast, not having to deal with Capt Cooks, the usually awesome CMs, etc, etc.

Posted this on Boardwalk thread. Thought I would share here too.
On our way home from another great trip and stay at the Boardwalk. We were in room 4261 on the corner by Flying Fish with the big balcony. Housekeeping and turndown always excellent. Club level experience has changed a bit. We still love all the cast members but they have added so many extra rooms compared to the size of the lounge. Some evenings and one morning there was no place to sit. The noise level was definitely higher and some kids were out of control with one walking on a table at one point. Mom asked a cast member to take care of him
It was neat having a chef and for the most part the food was excellent but they took the taco bar out that DD and her friend were looking forward too and replaced it with octopus. The mac and cheese from last year gone also so the teens were disappointed. Like I said we will always stay there because we love the experience and cast members but it has definitely changed.

Thanks for your review. Sorry about all the changes you experienced, but hope you had a nice time overall .

First WDW trip, staying GF CL Sugarloaf end of Nov/ early Dec! So incredibly excited! I will be combing this very extensive board for great information!
On the GF CL general information post here, it gives a link to a typical GF CL welcome/informational packet. However, I'm unable to view this attachment for some reason. Any suggestions? Thank you!

The GF is a beautiful resort, you're going to love it! Don't hesitate to ask questions as there are many knowledgeable posters here that are always willing to help .

I can't answer about the link, but hopefully others will be able to help .

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I have a question regarding bags and Bell Services when you arrive early at your resort.

What shall we do with our bags? Give them to Bell Services as we arrive? Should we ask the reception first if our room is available?

Not silly at all.

1. We most trend towards carting our own luggage, but we usually have a car. We often leave them there- though only clothes, as cars get very hot.

2. You can leave them with bell services. If you have any perishable foods or medicines, they can keep them cold (refrigerated) for you.

3. You can have PO transfer your bags for you. It is free (except perhaps gratuity), and bell services will get them. You just leave them with luggage/bell services at PO. The upside of this option is you can go directly to the park, no dealing with bags. The downside of this option is that you don't have access to your stuff until late afternoon, plus the time it takes bell services to bring them to your room. If you are thinking you want say, swimsuits for a 2pm swim, you can bring them with you. I think all the parks still rent lockers. for the most part, your stuff will stay in air conditioning-type temps.

In the past, CM's greeted us by the hotel entrance, though not always. I did hear maybe this went away, but maybe it was brought back? Not sure, but the greeter can tell you if your room is ready and help you stow bags with bell services if you wish.

4. You can also always do some mix of the above. I once transferred between one of the All Stars and Cr with luggage, but we didn't have a ton of stuff. You can always bring a large backpack on the buses, but you aren't supposed to bring 'luggage'. You can use a cab, maybe the new Minnie service? When last we priced using a taxi though, we got a car for not much more. Keep in mind, getting a rental at and driving from the airport is quite a bit faster than ME. Even if we don't use it a ton in-between, having a car often makes $ sense for us, but it depends on the rate.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We're thinking about doing a last second long weekend at Poly next weekend. I haven't had a full chance to go thru this thread but the jump from a standard view to the club level is about $150/night for where we are looking at booking. Since it's a short three night stay we thought it would be fun to indulge. Curious if folks think it's worth the added expense for a quick/short stay with our two kids, 7 and 4 - we typically stay at BC (not CL) but the last minute flights next week were just too good to pass up.

CL is worthwhile if you will take advantage of what it has to offer. I'll preface my words by saying I tend to think the new FP makes last minute trips less of a good deal. I'd find it hard to justify deluxe hotel prices if I couldn't get FP for the Mk Mtns. HOWEVER, last minute- you CAN get CL deluxe hotels with Express Pass AND early entry at Universal- just throwing that out there. Since you get EP on every day of your stay, I daresay CL at US works BEST with shorter stays (so long as we arrive early and stay late)

I don't know what rates you paid, but I tend to think CL = about half our food. You get breakfast, all day soft drinks, espresso/lattes, beer/wine, afternoon minimal snacks, appetizers and desserts. If you eat at buffest, then you don't really need the CL desserts. CL works best with a la carte places where you can share entrees and skip dessert.

Even at WDW, CL works best if you will be arriving early (day 1) and staying late (last day).

You also get a little added service from CM's during your stay. They don't do a ton, but they can provide you with information in a hurry- like how to contact lost and found or what is the fastest way to get from your hotel to the water park. They can also help if you need to modify an ADR. That sort of thing. Sometimes getting that information quickly can make your day much better. Other times, we don't really use the help desk at all.

 

[gottalovepluto]

...HOWEVER, last minute- you CAN get CL deluxe hotels with Express Pass AND early entry at Universal- just throwing that out there. Since you get EP on every day of your stay, I daresay CL at US works BEST with shorter stays (so long as we arrive early and stay late)...

You're a plant from the Darkside!!!

But in all seriousness that's a really great idea for maximizing the benefits of CL on a last minute trip

 

[Rachel GB]

Worth is subjective as it's different for everyone, but if the extra cost is doable, I'd go for CL. The food offerings/drinks are nice, but we love CL for the lounge and having another place to sit/relax other than in the room or around the resort. With that said, I think splurging on CL for a short stay is a great idea .







Thanks for your review. Sorry about all the changes you experienced, but hope you had a nice time overall .



The GF is a beautiful resort, you're going to love it! Don't hesitate to ask questions as there are many knowledgeable posters here that are always willing to help .

I can't answer about the link, but hopefully others will be able to help .

Thank you for your reply! What an awesome group!

 

[cwis]

Not silly at all.

1. We most trend towards carting our own luggage, but we usually have a car. We often leave them there- though only clothes, as cars get very hot.

2. You can leave them with bell services. If you have any perishable foods or medicines, they can keep them cold (refrigerated) for you.

3. You can have PO transfer your bags for you. It is free (except perhaps gratuity), and bell services will get them. You just leave them with luggage/bell services at PO. The upside of this option is you can go directly to the park, no dealing with bags. The downside of this option is that you don't have access to your stuff until late afternoon, plus the time it takes bell services to bring them to your room. If you are thinking you want say, swimsuits for a 2pm swim, you can bring them with you. I think all the parks still rent lockers. for the most part, your stuff will stay in air conditioning-type temps.

In the past, CM's greeted us by the hotel entrance, though not always. I did hear maybe this went away, but maybe it was brought back? Not sure, but the greeter can tell you if your room is ready and help you stow bags with bell services if you wish.

4. You can also always do some mix of the above. I once transferred between one of the All Stars and Cr with luggage, but we didn't have a ton of stuff. You can always bring a large backpack on the buses, but you aren't supposed to bring 'luggage'. You can use a cab, maybe the new Minnie service? When last we priced using a taxi though, we got a car for not much more. Keep in mind, getting a rental at and driving from the airport is quite a bit faster than ME. Even if we don't use it a ton in-between, having a car often makes $ sense for us, but it depends on the rate.

Thank you for your input. We won't be going to the parks on our check-out/check-in day, however after reading some feedback on this board, we might go to Disney Springs for some shopping.

I believe we're going to plan that day while we eat our breakfast: if we decide to go to Disney Springs, we'll leave our bag at Bell Service upon leaving PORS and just take the bus to DS. If we just move resorts straight away, we'll Uber to the AKL. This way, we'll have our bags readily available if we need anything.

Thanks for the tip regarding meeting a greeter in the lobby and asking if our room is ready, though we believe at the time we'll arrive at the resort, most probably our room won't be. Plus, we're staying there for a couple days, and we'd like to have our requests fulfilled (a room with a king-size bed near the lounge), which means we expect having to wait until the afternoon as we believe most guests traveling as couples have the exact same request. Or, another option would be to take whatever room they're willing to give us, and ask for a change at a later time. (As always when planning a WDW trip, it seems that, the more you plan, the more new options comes to mind!)