Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[Megan138]

BWI is now my favorite CL because I could actually make meals out of all of their food services, I actually ended up eating almost all of my meals there during this stay and it was glorious.

This is so great to hear - I really appreciate everyone's comments! It's getting me even more excited for this trip which I didn't think was possible!

 

[mickeynut1]

That's what I'm most excited about. Just being able to check in to see the offerings in the lounge and having a nice place outside the room to relax. Thanks!

It's a great place to relax and spend some downtime, you will love it!

 

[jods]

Thanks so much - my younger two kids are on the picky side (mac & cheese, chicken fingers, etc.). Did you think there was enough that appealed to kids at dinner? Worst case we can pick up a quick service somewhere for them if they can't find anything but from what I've seen so far they can at least pick some light items.



Thanks for the feedback. We did a lot of character meals when we were on the dining plan the past two meals so right now I don't have any in our plan, however we also like taking breaks in the park to eat and relax so I'm trying to decide on that. Our 180 days is tomorrow - usually I'd have everything ready to go but since we just booked this week I haven't planned anything yet but with the lounge I'm not as worried.



That's what I'm most excited about. Just being able to check in to see the offerings in the lounge and having a nice place outside the room to relax. Thanks!



Thanks for all the detailed information! We usually try to rope drop (or close to it) and I"m thinking in August we especially will because of the heat so I like the idea of doing a sit down for lunch at the park before we come back to BWI in the afternoon to rest and do the pool. Then have dinner at the lounge and go back out. We will have park hoppers and I want to make the most of being close to Epcot and Hollywood Studios in the evenings.

My kids are older but my 15yo used to be very picky. He always found something, whether it was bread/cheese etc.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Okay. That was my experience, so not 24/7. I get up really early and like to be able to go somewhere quiet and away from the room so I don’t bother my traveling partners. I liked that about YC CL and am glad to be able to go to the lounge at AKL in a couple of weeks. I retired at the end of December, but I can’t shake my 5:00 am rise and shine!

Haha. I used to have to get up 4-4:30A. I got over that pretty quick when I retired.

 

[Megan138]

My kids are older but my 15yo used to be very picky. He always found something, whether it was bread/cheese etc.

Oh yeah. They’d definitely be happy with that. Thanks!

 

[Sarahslay]

Oh yeah. They’d definitely be happy with that. Thanks!

When I was at BWI the chef making dinner asked me if I liked dipping bread in cheese sauce, I said yes (because who doesn't love dairy with bread lol), and he scooped up a big bowl full of the cheese sauce that went with the scallops for me to dip bread in. They had three different types of bread so I just piled them high on a plate, and there was a bunch of cheese, fruits and veggies, and every night there were numerous thing that my DD9 would have loved (she wasn't with me, but she's on the picky side and could live off grilled cheese, nuggets, and pizza). The lounge at AKL wold have been a no-go, but BWI was the most appealing with great sandwiches, snacks, cookies, and candy with all the other great food options from breakfast to dinner.

 

[Megan138]

When I was at BWI the chef making dinner asked me if I liked dipping bread in cheese sauce, I said yes (because who doesn't love dairy with bread lol), and he scooped up a big bowl full of the cheese sauce that went with the scallops for me to dip bread in. They had three different types of bread so I just piled them high on a plate, and there was a bunch of cheese, fruits and veggies, and every night there were numerous thing that my DD9 would have loved (she wasn't with me, but she's on the picky side and could live off grilled cheese, nuggets, and pizza). The lounge at AKL wold have been a no-go, but BWI was the most appealing with great sandwiches, snacks, cookies, and candy with all the other great food options from breakfast to dinner.

Yes! Thanks so much for this - I’m glad you thought your daughter would like it. That’s helpful for my two youngest (soon to be 9 and 5) since they would also live off pizza and nuggets if given the chance. It also sounds like the chefs are great!

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

I’ve got an upcoming stay at BWI and found out some really terrible news today.........

Service is very bad

The food is gross

The resort is rundown

The wood floors make creeky sounds sometimes

The other guests are typically wild















Now hopefully I have the place to myself

................

 

[Katodu]

Omg!! lol!!

 

[White Rose]

When is the WL club level rooms opening again? I can’t wait to see pictures!

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

I keep rethinking my CL choice of bwi because the grand floridian looks so beautiful and relaxing. But I keep seeing so many people rave about BWI! We’ve stayed at CL AKL and YC. I loved the food at YC and the location. A couple of you have said BwI is your favorite. If you’ve stayed at others why do you prefer BWI?

BWI CL is definitely one of our favorite resorts. Definitely our favorite in the EPCOT area. We do love the Poly CL and the CR CL. We usually do a split stay with the BWI and the CR or the Poly CL. Our family is not a GF fan. We don't enjoy the Sugar Loaf building and don't feel the GF has the friendliest CMs there. So we stick with what we like!!

We love the BWI CL CMs. To us the friendliest and most helpful CMs. We also love the Boardwalk area and our kids enjoy the pool. I hope that helps!

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

BWI CL is definitely one of our favorite resorts. Definitely our favorite in the EPCOT area. We do love the Poly CL and the CR CL. We usually do a split stay with the BWI and the CR or the Poly CL. Our family is not a GF fan. We don't enjoy the Sugar Loaf building and don't feel the GF has the friendliest CMs there. So we stick with what we like!!

We love the BWI CL CMs. To us the friendliest and most helpful CMs. We also love the Boardwalk area and our kids enjoy the pool. I hope that helps!

You maybe helping Katodu, but your not helping my crowd control efforts...

 

[jods]

When is the WL club level rooms opening again? I can’t wait to see pictures!

There a

When is the WL club level rooms opening again? I can’t wait to see pictures!

There are pictures on the wilderness lodge thread. I think it opens this weekend.

 

[auntfrannie]

The only thing I don't care for at BWI CL is the small size of the lounge. My mother needs a scooter and there's no way she would be able to use it in the lounge itself. That means when I make trips with her we have to stay somewhere else. Don't get me wrong, we stayed at Gran Destino CL in November and she loved the lounge but I think everything is better at BWI CL.

 

[mickeynut1]

When is the WL club level rooms opening again? I can’t wait to see pictures!

As jods posted, there are some pics on the WL thread. Someone just returned from a WL stay and posted pics of a king room. I just booked a CL king room for 3/21-3/24.

 

[AngiTN]

When is the WL club level rooms opening again? I can’t wait to see pictures!

Tonight is the first night they were available for check in, we check in tomorrow

 

[trishadono]

I’ve got an upcoming stay at BWI and found out some really terrible news today.........

Service is very bad

The food is gross

The resort is rundown

The wood floors make creeky sounds sometimes

The other guests are typically wild











Now hopefully I have the place to myself

................

I arrive Friday, can’t scare me away!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

DW and I had an enjoyable adults-only stay at AKL CL last weekend, although it wasn't without a few bumps.

First off, I am a big fan of AKL and AKL CL. We have not stayed there all that often because sometimes our trips are short'ish and we prefer other resort locations better for various reasons. But AKL is a pretty special place and I think CL there is among the best of the bunch. It remains our #1 favorite CL breakfast by far.

Our "problems" were not really CL related at all, more room related - so don't read too much into any negative tone I may have below. We are not ones to really let our actual room impact things - we're totally fine to roll with the punches - so this was a first for us.

We booked the "Savanna View - King Bed - Club Level Access" room category. We did not submit any room requests.

For those unfamiliar with AKL, CL rooms can either be on the Zebra Trail or Kudu Trail. Our room was on the Kudu Trail around the red star below. For reference the CL lounge is on the 6th floor around the yellow star. The lounge overlooks the beautiful main lobby.


A closer look at our room location. This particular room was reasonably close to the lobby (it's possible to be further away on either trail).



Our room was a handicap accessible room, a first for us in our WDW travels. First off, of course, I am very glad these rooms exist for those that need them. Anything I have to say about the room should not be misconstrued as suggesting anything otherwise.

At first we really didn't think much of the special HA features - the initial travel/arrival high made us just want to get in/unpacked/get going as we needed to get to the runD Expo. Later on we started to notice more differences and we ultimately decided we wished we had requested to be changed - but we didn't really come to that conclusion until later on and didn't feel like causing any trouble.

Our room. The HA bed was quite low to the ground (just a few inches), much lower than a normal room. The balcony door was a real door, not a sliding glass door. We missed being able to crack the door and listen to the peacefulness of the savanna. I do really like the room renovations though.






Not a lot of closet space in these rooms. And one robe. Curious robe placement as well.



We totally overlooked one of the biggest differences of a HA room until later - only one vanity, and almost no storage to speak of.





Pretty thin supply of toiletries here. Soap/shampoo is mounted in the shower.


But of course the view was lovely.


iPhone camera makes this look more lit than it really is, but we had frequent visitors around dusk/twilight and throughout the day.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Didn't get many lounge photos. It was a three night trip so we were out/about alot, and sometimes the lounge isn't as conducive to taking pics as others.

Did get afternoon snack pics one day:

Two soups - Butternut Squash and Mulligatawny Soup. Big Nespresso machine there on the left.


Chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, gummy bears, jelly beans...


Breads and various dips/hummus. So good.


Kettle chips, cauliflower salad...


PBJ cut ups.


Make your own trail mix with the cutest little bags.



I appreciated these larger plastic cups that were out/available all day. They also have larger to-go coffee cups too.



I didn't get pics, but beverages in the fridge included:
Coke
Diet Coke
Caffeine Free Diet Coke
Coke Zero
Spite
Pixx Xtra
Fanta Orange
Minute Maid Tomato Juice
Skim Milk
1% Milk
Whole Milk
Nesquick Chocolate Milk
I did see the fridge stocked with small Dasani bottles once during the trip, but no other time (I assume they are also available upon request, but did not ask)


Drinks in the pour yourself containers included:
Lemonade
Tea
Filtered Water
Jungle Juice (which is POG juice)

Beers are serve yourself in the evenings, upon request all other times:
I-4 IPA
Angry Orchard
Blue Moon
Mic Ultra
Stella
Tusker

It looked like 3 wine options were available, but I didn't confirm types.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We have been greeted out front for prior AKL stays, but not this time. Checked in down at the front desk and they walked us up / handed us off to CL CMs. Our experiences with the desk CMs at AKL have always been quite positive and my impression is there are several 'regulars' who care greatly about the guest experience, but not in an over the top way.

We had significant MagicBand issues this trip. We normally have a band or two that won't work on a room door at the beginning of each trip - a quick visit to a CM and all is cleared up, no big deal. Our issues this trip migrated around on a daily basis. First wouldn't work for the room.... then it wouldn't work for charging.... then it wouldn't work in the elevator to get to the lounge.... one time DW couldn't get in the park. It was like they'd fix one problem and another problem would pop up... and I'll be honest, it became annoying. While the epitome of an inconsequential problem that really isn't that be a deal, being locked out from being able to get up to the lounge and having to wait at the very long front desk line wasn't all that fun.

We only received turn-down service one night. We also returned around 4:45pm one day to find our room being serviced (kinda late in my book). I am starting to sound really whiny here, I know , but when we got in the room we saw what had to be the worst housekeeping job we've had at WDW. Disheveled towels on the racks, the bed sloppily made, pretty sure the floor had not been swept. It just didn't have that freshly made-up room feeling.

As mentioned above, breakfast at AKL CL is amazing, in my humble opinion. We'd stay here for the CL breakfast alone. Tons of options, abundant variety.

Evening apps were also abundant. They have a chef station prepping/plating (note, not necessarily cooking) two items nightly, plus the wide variety of other items normally available. While CL is almost never a true dinner substitute, definitively more meal-like here than perhaps some other places these days. We've never found the lounge to be particularly crowded - with the buzz of the lobby below and the dimming sunlight outside, evening apps here is a lovely experience.

We were at WDW for the Princess Half runD weekend races - from that perspective AKL was the perfect spot for our adults only trip. Casual, relaxing, good food/beverage - that was why we booked AKL and it fit the bill. It was also convenient enough access to the races each morning.

The HA room and MagicBand issues - while of course relatively small in the grand scheme of things - did impact our stay. With one exception I don't think we've ever asked to move rooms once one is assigned, but I think if I were to ever get a HA room again at AKL, I would ask to move. DW says she definitely would as 3 days of sharing a sink with me was not her idea of vacation.

Anyway - kind of a mixed review I guess. Still love AKL and AKL CL. We will return someday armed with our experiences from this trip.

Happy to answer any questions.