Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[barbliny]

I know PPO breakfasts are coveted for obvious reasons. But are they worth it for CL guests, considering we already have breakfast in the lounge? TIA!!!

I personally love hot breakfasts on vacation. Club level breakfasts are more continental, with primarily cold foods (for the most part - I think GF does Mickey waffles sometimes and BWI omelettes on a couple of days?? Someone who has actually stayed there is better equipped with that info!). They usually have hard-boiled eggs, and hot oatmeal - and rotating proteins like turkey, salmon, salami.

Our park style is to do every morning EMH - on those days we will grab a small breakfast in the lounge and go on our way to ropedrop. We'll tour for a couple of hours and grab breakfast towards the end of service, treating it more like brunch. AK - Tusker House at 10:40-ish to try and catch breakfast and the change-over to lunch or Boma around the same time at AKL. MK - Crystal Palace around 10:30, this next trip we'll be going to Trails End. Epcot - Sunshine Terrace breakfast platter after a ride on Soarin' - we'll usually just share one between two of us.

Club level afternoon snacks are harder to treat like a meal, so having a late breakfast on some days works wonderfully for us when we do CL. When we stayed Poly CL they had rotating chicken or shrimp lettuce wraps, but WL CL was strictly snack food.

Personally, PPO breakfasts have really lost their allure - Crystal Palace PPO was a family tradition until the new opening procedures this year, we really miss it!!
MK - now everyone can get onto Main St around 7:45. Only if I can get a PPO at BOG will I do it - we'll split one breakfast platter and get a second beverage since it's so darn expensive for what it is - and get to ride 7DMT a couple of times before everyone else can and be at the beginning of the standby line for PP.
AK - now that Pandora is open, you're really behind the crowds if you have a PPO breakfast - they will always get to Pandora before you since they let them in and on the ride before published opening time now.
Epcot - Akersheus has merit if you want princesses and first shot at FEA.
HS - I'm not really interested in the food there and if I ropedrop on EMH morning I can get done all 3 headliners in the first hour. PPO breakfast may have some merit once Toy Story Land is open, but I think it may be the same situation as AK and Pandora now.

 

[Simba's Girl]

Now that my kiddos are older we really like sleeping and with that sleeping later than when we had littles. Which means not being awake every day at 5:30-6am and raring to go and later mornings which makes the continental style breakfasts perfect for us to grab and go.

We only have 1 TS breakfast planned for our next trip, after the 10K and it is late enough that it'll serve as a "brunch".

That said, I personally LOVE breakfast foods, it's my favorite meal of the day.

 

[PackYourPixieDust]

Sounds like you'll have a fun Janurary! ... I think CL will be great for you. There's a little kids area in the lounge for your little one and if you need a break, my kids LOVE simbas cubhouse. There's also tons of activities around the resort to do, like cookie and cake decorating, art projects, bead activities, animal watching.

He will love akl at that age. Do it because when older it won't be as fun.

I did AKL cl this past January and loved it.

Too many trips? Look at my signature I have oct, nov, dec and Jan booked lol. That's what ap's are for!

You can do it. My DD and I fly solo a lot with DH traveling for work. I would never hesitate to take a trip with just her and I. Especially WDW, it is so kid friendly and everyone is helpful. Just keep in mind that you can manage whatever luggage/stroller/bags you take by yourself, although DD has loved rolling a small suitcase since she was 3 and this year was super helpful in getting things through the airport (she's 6 now).

You guys did a good job. I'm more excited now!!

As far as luggage and a stroller- I think I'll just rent one. That will be easier. Then I will check a bag and actually use the luggage service for once!

Excited! But up next Yacht Club in November!! AP's are dangerous!

 

[Rachel GB]

As with most questions that ask whether something is "worth it," the answer is - it depends. What is (or are) the attraction(s) you want to get a jump on by having a PPO breakfast?

I will say that breakfast at Garden Grill when Joy and Sadness first started meeting at Epcot was totally worth it for us. The movie had just come out and my DD was crazy about it. We left GG in time to be the first in line; within minutes of the line opening, the wait was over an hour. For us, the cost of that breakfast was worth an hour (or more) saved (and the food was really good, too!). If it's something like BoG/7DMT, I would say I'd rather just skip BoG breakfast, arrive early for regular rope drop, and wait about half an hour for the ride (or FP it and skip the standby line). (Caveat: If you have Beauty and the Beast fans in your family, then you have to go to BoG at least once, whether it's for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Dinner is my favorite - mostly because there's steak, you get to meet the Beast, and it seems a little quieter, but also because there's wine. )

@beesly , thank you for your reply!!! Your Garden Grill PPO sounds like it worked out for you perfectly!
I have an 8:20 a.m. BOG ADR on one of our MK days, and am trying to decide if we want/need it, but I also have a non-PPO BOG ADR for our other MK day. We do plan on being rope droppers, too!

I personally love hot breakfasts on vacation. Club level breakfasts are more continental, with primarily cold foods (for the most part - I think GF does Mickey waffles sometimes and BWI omelettes on a couple of days?? Someone who has actually stayed there is better equipped with that info!). They usually have hard-boiled eggs, and hot oatmeal - and rotating proteins like turkey, salmon, salami.

Our park style is to do every morning EMH - on those days we will grab a small breakfast in the lounge and go on our way to ropedrop. We'll tour for a couple of hours and grab breakfast towards the end of service, treating it more like brunch. AK - Tusker House at 10:40-ish to try and catch breakfast and the change-over to lunch or Boma around the same time at AKL. MK - Crystal Palace around 10:30, this next trip we'll be going to Trails End. Epcot - Sunshine Terrace breakfast platter after a ride on Soarin' - we'll usually just share one between two of us.

Club level afternoon snacks are harder to treat like a meal, so having a late breakfast on some days works wonderfully for us when we do CL. When we stayed Poly CL they had rotating chicken or shrimp lettuce wraps, but WL CL was strictly snack food.

Personally, PPO breakfasts have really lost their allure - Crystal Palace PPO was a family tradition until the new opening procedures this year, we really miss it!!
MK - now everyone can get onto Main St around 7:45. Only if I can get a PPO at BOG will I do it - we'll split one breakfast platter and get a second beverage since it's so darn expensive for what it is - and get to ride 7DMT a couple of times before everyone else can and be at the beginning of the standby line for PP.
AK - now that Pandora is open, you're really behind the crowds if you have a PPO breakfast - they will always get to Pandora before you since they let them in and on the ride before published opening time now.
Epcot - Akersheus has merit if you want princesses and first shot at FEA.
HS - I'm not really interested in the food there and if I ropedrop on EMH morning I can get done all 3 headliners in the first hour. PPO breakfast may have some merit once Toy Story Land is open, but I think it may be the same situation as AK and Pandora now.

@barbliny , THANK YOU for your detailed reply! Your park style sounds great. We are doing the dining plan, so we aren't trying to make meals out of CL offerings (except for breakfast). As for your comments on MK PPO breakfasts, I have an 8:20 a.m. BOG ADR on one of our MK days, and am trying to decide if we want/need it, but I also have a non-PPO BOG ADR for our other MK day. I'm actively looking for a PPO Akershus breakfast, also, so it's great to know you think that's a good strategy for early riding on FEA! Thanks again!

Now that my kiddos are older we really like sleeping and with that sleeping later than when we had littles. Which means not being awake every day at 5:30-6am and raring to go and later mornings which makes the continental style breakfasts perfect for us to grab and go.

We only have 1 TS breakfast planned for our next trip, after the 10K and it is late enough that it'll serve as a "brunch".

That said, I personally LOVE breakfast foods, it's my favorite meal of the day.

@Simba's Girl , thanks for your input! Breakfast foods are my favorite, too!

 

[trishadono]

You guys did a good job. I'm more excited now!!

As far as luggage and a stroller- I think I'll just rent one. That will be easier. Then I will check a bag and actually use the luggage service for once!

Excited! But up next Yacht Club in November!! AP's are dangerous!

I actually went to a store and tried folding them down . I found one that was easy and smaller than mine at home. Also I looked for sale ones.

It wasn't too hard too find a reasonably priced ,smallish and easy foldable one. I did that because for years it was my Disney stroller. That is way cheaper if you plan one using it 2 or more times. I would gate check the stroller and checked my bags( pre ME).

Now mine are in the 20's but I still roll my eyes at the people with these huge strollers that they can't manage.

Oh and even though at home they stopped strollers somewhat young at Disney kids really need it with all that walking, I think I brought until youngest was 6.

 

[Venym]

Has anyone had Disney Signature Services book their Fastpasses? They were wonderful for my dining reservations so I wanted to have them do my fast pass reservations.

 

[trishadono]

Has anyone had Disney Signature Services book their Fastpasses? They were wonderful for my dining reservations so I wanted to have them do my fast pass reservations.

Nope. I do mine, first I book then I tweak them. The reservation system pops up random times and to get back to back times I have to play with it to get what I want . I just don't see dss doing that.

Although if they do do it for you let us know.

 

[mrsap]

Has anyone had Disney Signature Services book their Fastpasses? They were wonderful for my dining reservations so I wanted to have them do my fast pass reservations.

No! I am so overly anxious the mornings of my booking window, I wouldn’t be able to give up control! But some people do have success!! If they did a good job with your ADR’s, and you were happy, then go for it!

 

[GoGoBeans]

OT question for @mrsap. My I ask when you got that magnet for your AP in your avatar? We received ours a month ago, and it was the Mickey head in a red circle, on a yellow background. I was hoping for the one you have.

 

[mrsap]

OT question for @mrsap. My I ask when you got that magnet for your AP in your avatar? We received ours a month ago, and it was the Mickey head in a red circle, on a yellow background. I was hoping for the one you have.

Hey! I actually did a google search and found the image! I believe you can have it made! Do a search, I believe Etsy makes them! Good luck!

 

[JennLTX]

As with most questions that ask whether something is "worth it," the answer is - it depends. What is (or are) the attraction(s) you want to get a jump on by having a PPO breakfast?

I will say that breakfast at Garden Grill when Joy and Sadness first started meeting at Epcot was totally worth it for us. The movie had just come out and my DD was crazy about it. We left GG in time to be the first in line; within minutes of the line opening, the wait was over an hour. For us, the cost of that breakfast was worth an hour (or more) saved (and the food was really good, too!).

We had a PPO Garden Grill breakfast on our last trip, and got to ride Soarin' before the park even opened. There were only enough people to fill our row (B 1, of course!), and it was AWESOME. Can't recommend it highly enough, and the food really was terrific!

 

[msk]

We have just gotten our first Club level reservation at WL. I have read a few pages back, but 609 pages is long! I did see page one with the new updated info - Thanks!

I was still wondering several things.

1. I already have my ADR's but would like to have an earlier BOG. Can they help me do that?
2. We will be there in Feb, do they have a "menu/list" of food offerings at the lounge?
3. One of my grandchildren has food allergies, how do I find out which foods he can eat at the lounge?

 

[dansdad]

We have just gotten our first Club level reservation at WL. I have read a few pages back, but 609 pages is long! I did see page one with the new updated info - Thanks!

I was still wondering several things.

1. I already have my ADR's but would like to have an earlier BOG. Can they help me do that?
2. We will be there in Feb, do they have a "menu/list" of food offerings at the lounge?
3. One of my grandchildren has food allergies, how do I find out which foods he can eat at the lounge?

1. Yes.
2. No.
3. Let them know what food allergies he has and they will make sure there's food for him. Most of the time you will hear directly from the CL Chef.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Has anyone had Disney Signature Services book their Fastpasses? They were wonderful for my dining reservations so I wanted to have them do my fast pass reservations.

No. I have a week long trip and was up at 4am Pacific Time to book my FPs. I have no regrets about not waiting for the concierge to do it because stuff was getting snagged as I was booking. The DSS team has not been reported to have any special access to FPs. If specific times and highly in demand rides aren't on your list I'd let them do it but if you're particular those extra couple hours between when the window opens and when their office opens could make or break your FP plans.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Booking dining reservations- Anyone have any issue with the concierge booking? Are there some reservations I should just do on my own? I usually wake up at 5 am (central time zone) 180 days before and it sounds great to have them do it. Do they get first dibs? Are they prompt?

Also, how far in advance should I get the ball rolling? Tuesday is our 180 days and I just booked yesterday. Can I send them my dining requests on Monday or do I need to get them in earlier?

(staying at poly CL)

I would let them book anything that wasn't super in demand. Those you should snag yourself. DSS booked all of mine because I was somewhere over the Pacific when my ADR window opened up. They got everything I wanted (including BOG, but it was an hour earlier than I preferred). My conclusion was I'd totally use them again but I'd book the in demand stuff myself.
ETA: you can send them your list anytime. I would do it ASAP so they can get it into their scheduling calendar. Do you have a credit card on file with them? If not you need to call DSS to put one on file so they can book your ADRs and they can only do that over the phone.

 

[SL6827]

So does anyone have a opinion of which resort has the best food options in the lounge now a days? Just curious. I think I used to read bad reviews of the food at the Poly lounge because Disney knew people would still book CL there regardless, but at other resorts, they had to step up the offerings a little more than at others.

 

[MaggiesMomNJ]

Hi all! We got very lucky with discounts and have a split stay in February at GF for six nights ( regular room) followed by three nights at the animal Kingdom Lodge which we originally grabbed at 35% off under the visa promotion for a savannah view ...(for us it was the same price as the Por preferred room rack rate)... we ended up getting a pin code and were able to upgrade to the concierge floor savannah view .

I did see the one post at the beginning of the thread but can anyone tell me how close these rooms are to the quick service restaurant/main lobby ? other tips? It is just me and my husband . Thx!

 

[cgh]

We have just gotten our first Club level reservation at WL. I have read a few pages back, but 609 pages is long! I did see page one with the new updated info - Thanks!

I was still wondering several things.

1. I already have my ADR's but would like to have an earlier BOG. Can they help me do that?
2. We will be there in Feb, do they have a "menu/list" of food offerings at the lounge?
3. One of my grandchildren has food allergies, how do I find out which foods he can eat at the lounge?

My son has severe food allergies (dairy, egg, sesame, peanut, tree nut) At the Grand Floridian (sugarloaf), when we arrived, they contacted a chef who came and talked to me. Every time we were there, we would need to talk to a chef though they wrote the allergies down and had a heads up for the week. With those set of allergies, they immediately gave me a whole box of enjoy life cookies that I could give him over the week. At breakfast, the first day the chef came and they did mickey waffles which were safe. (with dairy and egg there's never anything safe at breakfast). Each morning a CM would call for my son's waffles. For fruit, I'd ask a CM to bring it from the back. The evening chef offered allergy tenders and fries so we did that one night.

Breakfast was the only time we were routinely in the lounge for a set amount of time. When I talked to the first morning chef he said he was there all week so that made it easier.

All meals leave extra time. For breakfast, I'd try to get ready quickly and head down 10 minutes before the others to get the ball rolling. Be patient. Disney chefs are great with allergies but they take extra time to get things done. So worth it to make sure my son is safe. (he was in an ambulance 3 times this summer due to allergies, including 1 hospital admittance. I carry 4-6 epi, inhalers and prednisilione on me);

 

[GADisneyDad14]

My husband has to go to europe for work each January, last year my mom and I took my son to DW for 3 nights. (To save on me having to solo parent in the COLD. (The precious year I was stuck in the snow in the driveway) so I said forget that, especially before he starts real school.) Soooo long story to tell you I booked our January trip for just the 2 of us at AKL CL!!! We decided for a solo trip CL would be easier because I have access to breakfast and milk easily. I have food allergies so eating is always more work for me anyway. I still have to decide if I want to deal with a buffet with just he and I. The price with the discount that came out was great too. The only major concern is that we are already going to DW at the end of January for a family trip. (We have AP's this year which we started during last January's impromptu trip.) The escape solo parenting trip is the 10th ish for 3 nights and the family trip is the 27th for a week. So - everyone talk me into the solo parenting trip please. My son is 4- will be 4.5 then. He travels well and often. I envision an AK half day and a MK half day (we get over crowds so this is typical for us) and then a lot of time hanging at the resort/room looking at the animals. (We are spend a lot of time in the room people.) Long post. Talk me into it please!!

Sorry for the late response to your post. I have done WDW solo with DS ages 4-7 several times over the last few years. If I’m being totally honest, our solo trips are more fun!

CL is GREAT when it’s solo with the kids. Honestly I don’t think I would want to stay non-CL... that little extra convenience factor (especially for breakfast) really helps a lot.

Our solo trips are a bit more fun now at 6-7 than they were at 4-5, mainly due to stamina, energy, height, etc. But DS has always been a great traveler so going to WDW has been a breeze to some extent.

And as far as number of trips.... I’m in the @trishadono camp.... you can never have too many!

Sounds like you'll have a fun Janurary! When I just have the kids by myself, I sometimes think that it's easier. The main reason why is because I'm not worried about why my DH wants to do or where he wants to eat, etc. I go at my pace. I think CL will be great for you.

This exactly. We enjoy our family trips, don’t get me wrong, but my trips with just the kids tend to have a different flow, we sometimes get more accomplished, we seem to enjoy the parks more, we can be more flexible. It’s hard to explain or put into words here for sure.

 

[msk]

My son has severe food allergies (dairy, egg, sesame, peanut, tree nut) At the Grand Floridian (sugarloaf), when we arrived, they contacted a chef who came and talked to me. Every time we were there, we would need to talk to a chef though they wrote the allergies down and had a heads up for the week. With those set of allergies, they immediately gave me a whole box of enjoy life cookies that I could give him over the week. At breakfast, the first day the chef came and they did mickey waffles which were safe. (with dairy and egg there's never anything safe at breakfast). Each morning a CM would call for my son's waffles. For fruit, I'd ask a CM to bring it from the back. The evening chef offered allergy tenders and fries so we did that one night.

Breakfast was the only time we were routinely in the lounge for a set amount of time. When I talked to the first morning chef he said he was there all week so that made it easier.

All meals leave extra time. For breakfast, I'd try to get ready quickly and head down 10 minutes before the others to get the ball rolling. Be patient. Disney chefs are great with allergies but they take extra time to get things done. So worth it to make sure my son is safe. (he was in an ambulance 3 times this summer due to allergies, including 1 hospital admittance. I carry 4-6 epi, inhalers and prednisilione on me);

Thanks - My grandson is allergic to eggs, flax and hazelnuts. It is nice to know that they will take such good care of him! - Thanks again!!!