Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[Gryhndmom]

I like this line. Very much agree.

And if I might add, it also sometimes may rarely be as good as you read about too.

I’ve had situations where I let these boards/this thread build my expectations perhaps a bit “too much” in my head. It’s only natural to read the glowing reviews and start to think... “wow, this is going to be so awesome/magical/special” and then you go and it’s fine and all, just maybe not up to built-up-expectations. (For us, it was RPC that fell into this category)

Totally agree with this! After experiencing British Airways first class to London and then the Waldorf Astoria CL we find ourselves comparing both of those to other airlines and CL and realize our reviews are somewhat jaded now

 

[Ashley Marie]

How would you prepare yourself after reading negative reviews about a CL that you are booked to stay during your upcoming trip???

I recently have read some not-so-positive review about Poly’s CL here on Dis as well as on TripAdvisor’s. It will be my family’s first time staying at Poly CL and it is a lot of $$$$. I won’t get my expectation high but just hope that my family will have a good time there.

I considered others’ experiences, but ultimately, what’s the best fit for someone else might not be the best fit for my particular trip.

I recently asked for opinions on Poly vs. GF club level and the responses were super helpful because they gave me an idea of which food offerings would be best for my husband and I on our stay. However, even though almost everyone said they preferred the food at GF vs. Poly club level, I still think I’ll try to book Poly on our next family trip with the kids because I think that might be a better fit for us in that scenario.

 

[mickeynut1]

@mickeynut1 - Welcome back! You had been MIA from the CL thread and I totally forgot you were actually THERE! It sounds like your enjoyed yourself at BWI.

Thanks!

I was actually supposed to be there late May, but some things came up that I had to reschedule last minute. Availability was slim, so I was glad to find what I had for just 2 weeks later. I totally enjoyed BWI CL and will definitely be booking a future trip back there .

 

[SL6827]

It seems to me that I have read over and over that the CL with the best food is at the Boardwalk. But that is just me. But I have wonder about the Poly CL. I have wondered if they have to "try as hard" since they have such a huge following of people who will stay there. I don't know.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I remember booking F&W events during early booking last year via DSS as a CL perk, anyone planning on trying this tomorrow? I emailed them asking if they were offering it again and they replied back they'll be able to assist with booking food and wine events starting Jun 14 (early booking opens tomorrow). I plan to call tomorrow afternoon just in case they are offering this hidden perk again but was wondering if anyone else was planning to try?

 

[jods]

How would you prepare yourself after reading negative reviews about a CL that you are booked to stay during your upcoming trip???

I recently have read some not-so-positive review about Poly’s CL here on Dis as well as on TripAdvisor’s. It will be my family’s first time staying at Poly CL and it is a lot of $$$$. I won’t get my expectation high but just hope that my family will have a good time there.

I really wouldn't pay attention to reviews honestly. We love poly cl. Last yr we stayed BC cl. We hated it. Even my kids didn't like it. We had horrible service and felt the cms were cold. Wouldn't you know a fellow disser was there the same time. They had the complete opposite experience then us. We couldn't even get a beer, they had great service. I actually wanted to switch resorts but dh was too lazy too move. Reviews are all subjective. Go in with an open mind and have fun!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I really wouldn't pay attention to reviews honestly. We love poly cl. Last yr we stayed BC cl. We hated it. Even my kids didn't like it. We had horrible service and felt the cms were cold. Wouldn't you know a fellow disser was there the same time. They had the complete opposite experience then us. We couldn't even get a beer, they had great service. I actually wanted to switch resorts but dh was too lazy too move. Reviews are all subjective. Go in with an open mind and have fun!

I remember you two posting from last year. It was like night and day!

 

[jods]

I remember you two posting from last year. It was like night and day!

Haha, I know! I was so jealous of their experience! It's really insanity. I never wrote about this but my 2 boys went to grab sodas in the lounge. They had bathing suits (dry, we were getting ready for the pool) and tshirts on . Yds said an older woman yelled at him and told him bathing suits weren't appropriate for the lounge. He said there were workers right there who heard it. I didn't believe it at first but ods confirmed. The poor kid qas afraid of the lounge the rest of the week. I didn't know this until the end of the week. I thought he was just being lazy by asking us to go and thought ods was just being nice by always offering to get him stuff. I know technically bathing suits aren't allowed, but I saw tons of people in them and his was dry, could have been shorts. I wish he told me right away so I could have addressed it. Oh, he had shoes on too.

 

[JessietheNCCowgirl]

Arrived at AKL at 11:45 pm on Saturday night. We had a standard room booked for the one night and yesterday morning (around 7:30 AM) we checked into our club level room. Our room wasn’t ready but we enjoyed the morning offerings in the lounge and headed to MK. We got several things accomplished there and wanted a snack so we took the monorail over to the Poly to get a Dole whip swirl. While there I checked the MDE app to see if our new room number was listed yet. Room # was showing up (didn’t receive a room ready text) so we jumped back on monorail to get a bus from MK to AKL.
Our room is perfect! Queen beds, non-connecting with a great view on the Zebra trail.
Club level staff are so welcoming and helpful.
We definitely feel spoiled!!
Thank you @GADisneyDad14 for your spring break AKL review, it helped in my decision to upgrade to club level and I haven’t been disappointed!

We have the Sense of Africa tour booked in the morning so will report back on it.

 

[focusondisney]

Forgive me if this has been answered, but I only had time to skim through to catch up! Last year, we booked a room for my then DD18 and her bff in an outer building at GF while we were in RPC with DD13. We could have put the two girls in the room with us, but like you, we wanted the extra space! They just gave them a key card to use to get up to the RPC lounge when we checked in. If you think about it, Disney was coming out WAY AHEAD by our paying $500 a night for the extra room versus paying a nominal fee for two extra adults per night! It’s definitely not “pulling a fast one” if they are family and you could have put them in your room according to the room occupancy...and the resort knew what we were doing and had no problem with it. We booked the same rooms for this Memorial Day week too and DSS said it would be no problem to book the extra FPs for my DD and friend because they were part of my party. As it turned out, DD’s friend had to take a summer class so we ended up putting DD19 in the room with us (NEVER AGAIN). I hope this helps!

Thank you! No one else had answered, so I appreciate your help. As it turns out, we will only be overlapping our DS & DDIL for 2 nights. They will be there for 5 nights total, but they get there 3 days before we do. They will be departing before 8 am. We will only have about a day & a half together before they leave & we're doing a nice dinner one night, MK rope drop & Epcot food booths the other. So there probably is no point to adding them. But it is good to know for the future. I'll wait to see how the plans go, I might ask to add them for 1 night. Thanks again!

 

[mickeynut1]

Haha, I know! I was so jealous of their experience! It's really insanity. I never wrote about this but my 2 boys went to grab sodas in the lounge. They had bathing suits (dry, we were getting ready for the pool) and tshirts on . Yds said an older woman yelled at him and told him bathing suits weren't appropriate for the lounge. He said there were workers right there who heard it. I didn't believe it at first but ods confirmed. The poor kid qas afraid of the lounge the rest of the week. I didn't know this until the end of the week. I thought he was just being lazy by asking us to go and thought ods was just being nice by always offering to get him stuff. I know technically bathing suits aren't allowed, but I saw tons of people in them and his was dry, could have been shorts. I wish he told me right away so I could have addressed it. Oh, he had shoes on too.

I always thought bathing suits were allowed, just had to have a cover up (or t shirt for guys) . I don't see anything wrong with your DS going in there like he did, doesn't make sense for the CM to yell at him (or even approach him for that matter, as he didn't do anything wrong). On my BWI CL stay last week, there was a teenager who came into the lounge in her bikini holding her cover up! Not sure why she was carrying it and not wearing it .

Arrived at AKL at 11:45 pm on Saturday night. We had a standard room booked for the one night and yesterday morning (around 7:30 AM) we checked into our club level room. Our room wasn’t ready but we enjoyed the morning offerings in the lounge and headed to MK. We got several things accomplished there and wanted a snack so we took the monorail over to the Poly to get a Dole whip swirl. While there I checked the MDE app to see if our new room number was listed yet. Room # was showing up (didn’t receive a room ready text) so we jumped back on monorail to get a bus from MK to AKL.
Our room is perfect! Queen beds, non-connecting with a great view on the Zebra trail.
Club level staff are so welcoming and helpful.
We definitely feel spoiled!!
Thank you @GADisneyDad14 for your spring break AKL review, it helped in my decision to upgrade to club level and I haven’t been disappointed!

We have the Sense of Africa tour booked in the morning so will report back on it.

Sounds like you're having a great time! I am hoping to try AKL CL later this year. Would love to hear all about your stay when you get back .

 

[JessietheNCCowgirl]

We just finished up the Sense of Africa tour and it was absolute amazing! Started off for early breakfast at Boma and then onto the animals. We went to thr barns and fed/petted the Okapi and then to the giraffe barn to feed them. Also fed the ostrich and got to watch the red river hogs. No pics yet - since it was backstage but were given a photopass that should be loaded in the next couple days. I am so impressed with AKL and am thoroughly enjoying!

 

[SL6827]

I will be at the CL at AKL for 2.5 days next week, I will try to post my opinions of the service while there. If not then, when we get back.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Called DSS to see if they were booking F&W events during early booking this year but they're not. The CM was very nice about it and offered to book for me once they got access to the events but I declined saying I wanted to pay with a gift card. She then asked me to hold for a minute and came back and offered to book the events and call me for payment but I declined saying I know I'll be able to book them myself before DSS opens Thurs morning. I felt she was really nice about the whole thing and honestly gave it her best shot at trying to help me.

 

[squeezle]

I know this question was answered, but I would make sure to let the CMs in RPC know after you check in. The waffle chef made me and DD14 gluten free Mickey waffles (3 mornings during our week)!!! We were thrilled! Most bread items are prepackaged, but these were made with a mix so make sure they are also nut and dairy free for you! Abdul (the best CM in RPC) kept the gluten free donuts coming too!! I should probably try to shed a couple of pounds before I go back in a few weeks!

That is fabulous!!! Thank you so much for your reply.

 

[gillep]

We just finished up the Sense of Africa tour and it was absolute amazing! Started off for early breakfast at Boma and then onto the animals. We went to thr barns and fed/petted the Okapi and then to the giraffe barn to feed them. Also fed the ostrich and got to watch the red river hogs. No pics yet - since it was backstage but were given a photopass that should be loaded in the next couple days. I am so impressed with AKL and am thoroughly enjoying!

I am glad you are having a great time. I really want to do this tour and am glad that you enjoyed it, I haven't seen too many reviews of it. I think I will ask my husband if he wants to do it in January when we are staying at AKL CL again. Hope the rest of your vacation is fabulous, I am certainly jealous!!!!!

 

[trishadono]

It seems to me that I have read over and over that the CL with the best food is at the Boardwalk. But that is just me. But I have wonder about the Poly CL. I have wondered if they have to "try as hard" since they have such a huge following of people

How would you prepare yourself after reading negative reviews about a CL that you are booked to stay during your upcoming trip???

I recently have read some not-so-positive review about Poly’s CL here on Dis as well as on TripAdvisor’s. It will be my family’s first time staying at Poly CL and it is a lot of $$$$. I won’t get my expectation high but just hope that my family will have a good time there.

I have ALWAYS had a great stay there with 6 stays in 4 years. I have upcoming this July and anticipate another good one.

The appetizers are not as much as a meal like some resorts but what they have is always good quality.

One look out the windows of the lounge and you will see why its a favorite of many.

 

[gottalovepluto]

So here I am eating my words about CL guests being able to book F&W stuff now! The DSS CM I talked to earlier just called me after my attempts earlier this morning and helped me booked my PFTS and a seminar for the days we're staying club level! I think that must mean club level guests can book during early booking again (just like with everything else I could only book for the days I'm staying CL)

 

[AngiTN]

I remember booking F&W events during early booking last year via DSS as a CL perk, anyone planning on trying this tomorrow? I emailed them asking if they were offering it again and they replied back they'll be able to assist with booking food and wine events starting Jun 14 (early booking opens tomorrow). I plan to call tomorrow afternoon just in case they are offering this hidden perk again but was wondering if anyone else was planning to try?

F&W is one time we never stay CL. I put our CL money in to F&W events instead. I figure we'd be way too full on F&W stuff to ever eat in the lounge

 

[JessietheNCCowgirl]

Had a minute to upload some pics from my camera to my phone.
Our room and view: