Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[GADisneyDad14]

Didn't get a pic, but beers were:

Bud Light
Kona Longboard
Kona Wailua Wheat
Angry Orchard
I-4 IPA

For wines...two reds, two whites and bubbly.











The punch....



Glasses and to go cups. Wine is self-pour here, unlike many other CLs.



Typical beverage offerings.


Sliced lemons and limes out during the day.

 

[AngiTN]

Speaking of table decor, that reminds me they put out some at BWI that had never been out before. Small cut flower vases with a rose and a sprig of green. Maybe a new trend at all lounges?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Breakfast was pretty much as it has been for roughly the last year and half, with subtle differences. Except the very last morning, see last pics below.

Fruit included pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, blackberries, and strawberries.



Plus apples and bananas....



Hard-boiled eggs and meats/cheeses were out every morning. In the past the yogurt has been in a big bowl, but at the moment it's these nice little individual servings. Plain, plain with toppings, strawberry, strawberry with toppings.



Pastries were more or less similar every morning, I think.



These "different" yogurts made an appearance our last morning.



Along with this new display (kind of looks like it came from CR).



And perhaps the biggest change the last morning - Miso Broth with Egg and Tofu. I had not seen this at Poly before. There were a lot of manager types in the lounge on this morning (including the GM). Their presence and these new additions made me wonder what was going on.


I can't say I've had Miso Broth for breakfast before - but it was very good!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Evening apps continue the "small plate" style. With a few exceptions none of the individual dishes were really repeats from prior stays, which was kind of nice. From my perspective... despite the small sizes... I still enjoy the current offerings compared to the meatball and sticky wing days from just a few years ago. I continue to think this is the best quality good I've seen come out of the lounge in my Poly travels, although it is going to fall short for many folks compared to some other CLs. Obviously totally subjective of course!

Wish I had taken better notes about what exactly these were...


The kids offerings were the same every night (except 7/4)....



Pita bread and Hawaiian sweet rolls (so good)....



Spread for the bread included Butter with Sea Salt, Red Pepper Hummus, and Baba Ganoush. These were out nightly if I'm not mistaken.



Apps generally consisted of 3-4 options each evening. All small plates. The chef isn't cooking these in the lounge but is plating them / adding toppings.



These were another night. Tuna Tataki.



Spam Musubi. Yes, I said Spam. I'll be honest, I didn't try this.




Coconut Curry Chicken....



Deviled Eggs of some sort and Peanut Edamame Noodle Salad.



The cheeses, crackers, and veggies were pretty standard each night. There used to be a time at Poly CL where the cheese/cracker tray was one of the bigger parts of the show, not so much these days.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Crab Mac 'n Cheese....



For 7/4, they had mini corn-dogs and chicken nuggets for the kids (or was it for the adults?)....



Also 7/4, a beef short rib. Tasted better than it looks. I'll be honest, I was disappointed with the offerings on 7/4. Last year they had a more elaborate / special spread for the holiday. This year was only lightly themed. I wish they'd toss the menu and just do dogs, burgers, chips, and call it a day.



This was our last night. Four small-plate options.



Octopus Salad. This one is fun for the kids.



Loco Moco. It's a rice/beef dish with an egg on top. Delicious! The dish on the right is Pork Belly, I think. Would it really kill them to put two pieces of pork belly on each little dish?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I've always liked the Poly dessert offerings. Not over the top, not too skimpy... it's just about right from my perspective.









Some nicely themed desserts for 7/4....

 

[GADisneyDad14]

This trip was us and extended family in two rooms. I had booked a TPV for us (really wanting a third floor room for a balcony/fireworks viewing) and a LV room for the other party (hoping they'd get a first floor room for easy walk out beach access with the kiddos).

For the TPV room our only request was to be on the third floor. We were assigned the second floor.

For the LV room, the requests were first floor on the lounge end of the building (recent knee replacement in this party so wanted to be as close to the lounge/main entrance as possible to minimize walking). They were assigned the second floor, third room from the end furthest from the lounge.

Doh! My room request luck meter was definitely on "low" this trip!

I know requests are never guaranteed and I'm always fully prepared to take whatever comes. You sort of have to be - that's just the way it is. I've had reasonable luck with requests in the past, but not always.

But I did ask if there were any other options. Fortunately, a third floor TPV room was available so they were able to accommodate us in that room the whole trip. For the LV room, they could only accommodate us if they moved after the first night, which we chose to do.

The CL CMs at the desk were a HUGE help though this process. I'm not a big user of the CL CMs for general Disney needs, but every once in awhile when you have an issue it sure is nice to have them handy.

So for the rooms themselves.... the TPV room was 3507.

View straight ahead...


View right...


View left...


The EWP at night.


HEA view. Current audio levels are incredibly LOUD. Frankly too loud. The speakers on the ground in front of the Hawaii are turned up past their tolerance levels and you do hear a bit of distortion. But having been here when the audio was practically non-existent, I'll take loud any day.



A great sunrise view each day.



Tiki gods were NOT HAPPY on 7/4!!! This was sometime after 8pm I think. Beaches had to be cleared. It was kind of crazy.



The special 7/4 fireworks were delayed, but were great!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

The LV Room was 1503. That's the third room on the lagoon side from the main Hawaii entrance.

This is one of the better LV rooms you can get (in my opinion) because you get a bit of a castle view between the first two bungalows. FYI, those metal gates are up for the special fireworks - those aren't normally there.



View right....



View left. There are bunnies currently living in those bushes that run around every day. Pretty darn cute.



Before the family we were traveling with moved LV rooms, they had Room 2516. Second floor, third room from the end of the hallway. Second floor rooms do not have balconies. You're pretty much in front of Sunset Point on this end of the building, so that is most of your straight ahead view from here.


A similar angle...



View left....

 

[GADisneyDad14]

7/3 and 7/4 are fun days around Poly...






7/4 featured active enforcement of the main beach area and the Lava Pool to Poly guests. Wristbands were required. Although as I've witnessed on other special event nights at Poly, communication about the wristbands among the CL CMs was quite poor. The desk staff seemed to know nothing about the bands. I heard people with five in the room only get four, and no one knew how to get more. Not the end of the world but just needless confusion it seems.


They also had the traditional Poly CL viewing area - but again I found the lack of info/knowledge about this area a bit annoying. They didn't start setting up this area until late afternoon 7/4. I asked a few CL CMs if they were doing reserved viewing this year and no one had any info.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I noted this pic above:



Half way through the week the trash cans in the lounge and the dirty dish return tray were removed. I was told this was a new change because it was deemed that they were unsightly and unwelcoming to guests.

So - a very busy lounge (with a ton of beer fridge traffic)... lots of families with kids.... no trash cans. None.

The trash cans did make an appearance on 7/4 but then were removed again.

You see the byproduct of that decision in the pic above. People just pour their drinks and leave stuff sitting wherever.

I can only hope whoever made that decision reverses course sometime soon as (in my opinion) it just doesn't work here. The lounge is too busy and CMs don't have capacity to be picking up trash constantly, especially during peak times.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

But alas, all-in-all we had a very good stay at Poly CL. The resort just works extremely well for our Disney touring style - the monorail, walkability to TTC, fun pools, fun bars/restaurants. I'm a sucker for the Polynesian vibe and for special MK fireworks. CL there, while certainly not perfect, adds a nice convenience factor to make things just a bit easier.

We did experience some crowded lounge conditions at times (pretty much always have at Poly), but then there would often be times with no one around at all. It was quite lumpy. I also am starting to think that the lounge is coming close to needing a bit of a face-lift at some point. Like the resort-side rooms, it's close to time for an upgrade (in my opinion).

I mentioned CMs in my first post above. We really enjoyed seeing some familiar faces and getting to know new ones too. We've had good and bad Poly trips when it comes to CMs, but this was a good one.

It was also great to meet a few fellow DISers along the way too!

Anyways - so that's the latest from Poly CL. Happy to answer any questions.

 

[AngiTN]

It did appear to me there were fewer CL CM on duty in the Poly lounge during any given time we were there.
At BWI there were always at least 4 in the lounge, plus one at the main desk and in the mornings, another in the stand up desk.
I know I saw a mix of 1 or 2 at the desks but never saw 4 staffing the lounge. With the size of Poly, which at a glance seems like more rooms than BWI has (but that's purely my guess), there should be at least as many, if not more, no?

 

[AngiTN]

Oh, about the Spam, it's something served in restaurants in Hawaii, believe it or not. We'd find it in bento boxes quite often. Spam and Eggs was often a dish found on the menu for breakfast too. I can only assume this is a hold over to the days where the Military was commonly providing rations.

 

[DLgal]

Speaking of table decor, that reminds me they put out some at BWI that had never been out before. Small cut flower vases with a rose and a sprig of green. Maybe a new trend at all lounges?

We have had the same small green/blue glass globe vase with a single yellow flower in it at both the CR and BC lounges this week. I think it's a classy touch.

 

[DLgal]

Oh, about the Spam, it's something served in restaurants in Hawaii, believe it or not. We'd find it in bento boxes quite often. Spam and Eggs was often a dish found on the menu for breakfast too. I can only assume this is a hold over to the days where the Military was commonly providing rations.

Yep. Spam is HUGE in Hawaii and also in California among the Asian population. People buy cases of spam at Costco where I live and many restaurants feature it on breakfast menus, in particular. Loco Moco is a traditional Hawaiian breakfast dish.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Oh, about the Spam, it's something served in restaurants in Hawaii, believe it or not. We'd find it in bento boxes quite often. Spam and Eggs was often a dish found on the menu for breakfast too. I can only assume this is a hold over to the days where the Military was commonly providing rations.

Yeah, I knew about the Hawaii/spam connection/history. Still didn’t mean I wanted to try it!

 

[mickeynut1]

But alas, all-in-all we had a very good stay at Poly CL.

Thanks for your thorough review and pics. Glad you had another great Poly CL stay .

 

[DLgal]

Wanted to mention the following about our BC Deluxe CL room (1557).

No robes or slippers

No "extended" toiletry selection (no sunscreen, shaving kit, dental kit, foot scrub). We got shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, face soap and bath soap, mouthwash, solar relief gel, and a vanity kit with q tips and cotton pads.

We have a Nespresso machine in the room. It's very nice. Has three kinds of espresso pods, but does not make a "standard" cup of brewed coffee.

No ceiling fan.

The sofa bed pulls out to a double bed.

 

[Eastern]

I can’t remember if it was last year or the year before, but pretty early into cordials the Poly ran out of Baileys.

They ran out of the alcoholic POG when I was there. And it was early! And they didn't make any more. This was in Tonga.

 

[thaggie1]

Does anyone know of the recent offerings in the GF RPC lounge?