When I have seen uncrustables at any CL they have all been the same kind, and always been PB&J. I’m actually not sure what flavor, I think grape. I have never seen the honey or just PB ones (actually I’ve never even heard of either kind myself!), and doubt you could request them. You could ask, but I would be surprised if they had the other kinds since I’ve never seen them and imagine they buy one kind in bulk.
& she told me I had too many.
I ended up just giving her 2 for each person bc she was having quite the ordeal just getting one to work. (I’m just mentioning this bc I’ve never had a CM ask to have all of my bands to check; usually our bands just link once the first one does.) Anyway, once that was all settled, she led us upstairs to the CL desks. The CMs there seemed slightly surprised we were all checked in, but maybe I misread that? One of them showed my family to the lounge, then he showed me to our room. (He was super friendly & kind; I just loved him!) Our SV room was only a few doors down from the lounge, room 5188, and it did have a daybed, which we were hoping for. I loved the clean lines of the room & thought it was just lovely. Our view was quite nice, with the flag billowing just off the right of our balcony. We were also pleasantly surprised to discover that we had a pretty great fireworks view, too! I loved that! We all really enjoyed the salmon that night! We also liked the ease of having one larger plate to serve ourselves upon rather than lots of smaller ones. The breakfast was great and snacks & desserts were enjoyed, but the ice cream freezer was an especially big hit with DS13. I think he just liked the fact that it was an option.
They say they like the Dining Plan way the best. We just agree that we both like different things. For us, it’s not just about the food offerings but also the extra space in the lounge and the freedom it gives our teens to have some other safe space to travel between. I also really appreciate the CL CMs and the service they provide. Our DD16 ended up with terrible ear pain that sent us to Centra Care to discover she had an ear infection. The CL CMs were awesome in this situation. Anyway, we’re a good example of two groups in the same family on the same trip in rooms literally side-by-side that had two totally different CL experiences. We’ll do it again; they won’t. (Although my 8 yo nephew who was with them may want to travel with us from now on bc he loved it as much as my son did!) I learned this trip that it’s not for everyone & everyone might not like it as much as we do so instead of telling them how much they’ll like it, I’ll just tell them how much we do.To each their own!
Part 2–AKL CL:
We arrived at AKL around 1:30 after spending the morning in DHS & transitioning from YC. Walking up to AKL, we were greeted by a CL CM holding up an iPad welcoming our party. She escorted us upstairs to check in, but our room wasn’t quite ready. We were told, however, (without even asking) that our room would be near my parents, which was exactly as we’d hoped. Our room was ready within the hour and was right next door to my parents’ room, which was perfect! We were on Zebra Trail and close to the lobby, as requested—only 9 doors down, in room 4425. Parents had 4423. AKL has always seemed to really try to meet requests if at all possible, and I’ve always appreciated that. I was aware that our room would still be the old style, but we like those, and were perfectly happy with it. We were a short distance from Arusha Rock and had some amazing animal views, especially around feeding time. I’ll attach a few pictures at the end; however, I apparently took them when no animals were in view.
The lounge offerings were similar to what we remembered from our one night CL stay in 2017, and we enjoyed each service. We had ADRs mixed in during the week so we weren’t there all the time, but really liked what we experienced. I personally prefer eating “samples” of this & that, so it especially works for me, but the rest of my immediate family enjoys it just as much. My kids may even enjoy it more.
I had to specify “immediate” family because I learned on this trip that CL is truly *not* for everyone. I had been sooo excited for my parents to try CL with us because of our positive experiences with it and just knew they would love it. I was so wrong. My parents are seasoned Disney travelers—DH says I got my “Disney gene” from my mom—and they have a set way of doing Disney. That way includes lots of table service. I somehow thought that even though this was how they usually do Disney, they would see the greatness of CL and the freedom of not doing so many ADRs and love it like we do...but that didn’t happen. My Daddy was not thrilled with the concept of “small plates.” He is a very fit 71 yo who is apparently way more accustomed than I realized to eating full-sized meals on regular-sized plates. Lol. It was a one-and-done in the lounge for him. He never went back & mom asked me to make last-minute ADRs while we were there. He wasn’t rude about it; my parents aren’t like that at all, but he & my mom definitely lovingly picked at me about how much I liked it. They even turned down the turn-down service. Lol. I thought I had prepared them well beforehand & had explained to them what it would be like, but...???? They know we still really love it and will do it again...and again.
We personally can’t wait to go back! I’m attaching our room view photos & CL offerings lists:
We enjoy a mix of the two ways for us, leaning way closer to the CL way.
My husband needs a full meal too. We do 1 sit down a day, even when staying CL. Cl is just snacking to him. He still enjoys it though.Thanks! And, yes, at least we could all laugh. He actually dubbed it “Crumb Level” to pick at me, but I felt kind of bad saying that here to all of you bc he meant it in a funny “we-agree-to-disagree” kind of way, not in a demeaning one. It’s just that “full meal” mentality.
Looks interesting!
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..Hi there! We just returned late yesterday from our first entirely CL trip & I wanted to say thank you for the wealth of information here that tremendously helped. We’ve been to Disney many times for many years, but only began venturing into CL territory a couple of years ago. We’d previously tried one night at AKL CL & one night at Poly CL added on to our regular trips to see what we thought. Of course, we loved it, and last week we finally had a complete CL experience. We stayed one night at YC CL, then moved to AKL CL for the rest of our trip. When we returned home, I asked DS13 what his favorite part of this trip was & he said, “Club Level!”
Part 2–AKL CL:
We arrived at AKL around 1:30 after spending the morning in DHS & transitioning from YC. Walking up to AKL, we were greeted by a CL CM holding up an iPad welcoming our party. She escorted us upstairs to check in, but our room wasn’t quite ready. We were told, however, (without even asking) that our room would be near my parents, which was exactly as we’d hoped. Our room was ready within the hour and was right next door to my parents’ room, which was perfect! We were on Zebra Trail and close to the lobby, as requested—only 9 doors down, in room 4425. Parents had 4423. AKL has always seemed to really try to meet requests if at all possible, and I’ve always appreciated that. I was aware that our room would still be the old style, but we like those, and were perfectly happy with it. We were a short distance from Arusha Rock and had some amazing animal views, especially around feeding time. I’ll attach a few pictures at the end; however, I apparently took them when no animals were in view.
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Thanks for your review of both YC CL and AKL CL. Glad you had a great time and enjoyed both resorts. I'm sorry your parents didn't enjoy AKL CL, but I hope they had a nice trip overall
I would definitely try it out! I just need to make sure I plan some Lyft/Uber funds. lol While Coronado is a great resort, all busses scares me a little. Imagine if it were on the Skyliner?
I have stayed at csr 8 times and felt the buses where fast and showed up more frequently. I think thats due to their central location.
I'm sort of in your boat. We got comped CL at the YC in May when I took my grandson and I fell in love. I've talked my daughter into CL at AKL next month and I've been singing the praises of CL in general. I never considered she might not love it quite as much as I do. That's ok, my grandson totally went for it, so I'll have one on my side for sure! She's more of a commando park type, I'm past that now and like spending time at the resort almost as much as being in the parks.Thanks! And, yes, at least we could all laugh. He actually dubbed it “Crumb Level” to pick at me, but I felt kind of bad saying that here to all of you bc he meant it in a funny “we-agree-to-disagree” kind of way, not in a demeaning one. It’s just that “full meal” mentality.
