Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[GADisneyDad14]

Has anyone used Minnie Van transportation to and from the airport? It is different than park transportation because you can't book it on the app - you have to call Signature Services. When I called today to book it, I asked what the customary tip would be and the CM said that no tip is required. I followed that up with asking if we would still be allowed to tip and she said it is a non-tip position. Does anyone have any input regarding this?

I have not used the airport service since it recently came back but did several times pre-Covid, and use them frequently around property. I'm not sure how the position is technically classified but they most definitely accept tips. I think it's like things like VIP tours and such - Disney will tell you no tip is expected/required, but most guests probably do tip.

BTW, I loved the airport service.. yes totally splurgy and hard to justify, but just so convenient.

Obviously tipping is a personal thing, but I tend to tip generously as I've found the MV drivers to be some of the best CMs you'll run into over your trip.

 

[kylenne]

@kylenne I had the poly lake view studio for 5/1-3. 885 a night. With AP poly TPV cl was 863 so I booked that. However I saw gf LV non cl was only 554. So dd and I will eat at Citricos instead. We really love the new rooms at gf!

Amazing how quickly we change our minds with a little $$ back.

DVC being excluded from the offer is no shock but still painful. Honestly we are strongly considering moving to the Poly hotel side pool/marina view even with the construction. I can only get a civilian discount this time because my AP lapsed last year, so every little bit helps. Have a placeholder Pool/Marina rezzie just in case. I wanted to try a split with Chronos Club but was overruled. I swear I will never get there. But I don't mind because this trip is all about gf because she has not been since our 2018 trip and does not get to go nearly as often as I do so I really want to prioritize her preferences.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I'm jealous of all of you getting the Poly CL discount!! I've been waiting for Poly to finally offer discounts and it couldn't be a more perfect time than over July 4! But the CL discount will not show up for me, no matter which date variation I try. I'm tempted to book a non-CL room there just to have the discount, but I know we'd be sad not being CL at Poly over July 4. So just to have something booked, I snagged the WL CL and am trying to get excited just in case the Poly CL and/or RPC never show up for me with a discount. We've stayed at BWI and YC lots of times lately, so we are due for a monorail resort this time. We haven't stayed at WL since pre-renovation there. Can we now see fireworks from WL? How would the July 3/4 show be from WL? We are used to being at the Poly for July 3/4, so I know everything else will probably pale in comparison. But if the show is visible from WL, we would be happy (I think)

Yes, you can see the MK fireworks from WL. Always have been able to actually. They just never "advertised it" as fireworks view. Now they do. They even pipe in the music down on the patio near Geyser Point. Though that's not the best of views, there are obstructions. You are better seeing it from up high in the lounge area.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

My family of 4 is doing a splurge trip in February - it is our first time back in 3 years (pre-covid) and we have all kinds of celebrations going on this trip! Since it is a splurge trip, I went ahead and booked the Minnie Van today to take us to and from MCO (i'm feeling like I need to justify this but just cant LOL).

Has anyone used Minnie Van transportation to and from the airport? It is different than park transportation because you can't book it on the app - you have to call Signature Services. When I called today to book it, I asked what the customary tip would be and the CM said that no tip is required. I followed that up with asking if we would still be allowed to tip and she said it is a non-tip position. Does anyone have any input regarding this?

By "non tip position" they mean it isn't officially a job category that receives tips like waitstaff or housekeeping and it's a position that doesn't claim tips. I mean, when you get really official with tips you are supposed to claim them and then get taxed on them, yadda yadda yadda. Vast majority of folks who work for tips do not claim 100% of their tips, just enough to "make it look good" but you always have those who are by the book (I'm married to one who would be like that)
They are supposed to be considered part of your wages and that's probably why Disney says they are not a tipped position. Makes them follow the correct legal line.

Technically once upon a time they (non-tipped wage categories) were to refuse tips but that seems to have gone away and they do accept them now. What happens once they accept them, who knows. I suspect since it's not officially a tipped wage category they do not claim them but that's purely a guess on my part. (I doubt I would, would you? LOL)

 

[mrsap]

I'm jealous of all of you getting the Poly CL discount!! I've been waiting for Poly to finally offer discounts and it couldn't be a more perfect time than over July 4! But the CL discount will not show up for me, no matter which date variation I try. I'm tempted to book a non-CL room there just to have the discount, but I know we'd be sad not being CL at Poly over July 4. So just to have something booked, I snagged the WL CL and am trying to get excited just in case the Poly CL and/or RPC never show up for me with a discount. We've stayed at BWI and YC lots of times lately, so we are due for a monorail resort this time. We haven't stayed at WL since pre-renovation there. Can we now see fireworks from WL? How would the July 3/4 show be from WL? We are used to being at the Poly for July 3/4, so I know everything else will probably pale in comparison. But if the show is visible from WL, we would be happy (I think)

You can watch fireworks from WL!! We actually didn’t feel like fighting the crowds a couple years ago on the 4th, so we hung out at the resort! It was actually a lot of fun! Kids made friends, we made friends, drinks from the bar, kids played the outside games/activities and watched a movie! Not the best view, but we didn’t feel like we missed out on anything! Enjoy it!!

 

[jods]

Years ago, precovid, our Minnie van driver refused to take our tip. My dh kept trying too and he wouldn't budge lol. My husband feels bad not tipping but when you offer several times you sometimes just have to give up lol.

 

[jods]

I am eating all the CL things tonight. I mean all of it. Plate after plate, pile it up. Post away about some guy in the lounge taking massive amounts of everything.

View attachment 730618

48 miles oh my. Great job!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Years ago, precovid, our Minnie van driver refused to take our tip. My dh kept trying too and he wouldn't budge lol. My husband feels bad not tipping but when you offer several times you sometimes just have to give up lol.

Yeah, there was an window there in the beginning where that was the protocol with cash (like it is with other WDW positions, they're supposed to refuse three times then accept/turn it into their manager, or so has always been the Internet chatter). At the time you could tip electronically in the app (since that's how Lyft is programmed) and I think there was some evolution of at first no one was sure where that money went, then it went to being pooled, then it went to being specific to the actual driver. I may not have all of that exactly right as that's a combination of my experience and what was explained to me by drivers (and this was all pre-covid, so awhile ago), but it's directionally the way things evolved in the early days of the service.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Anyone else run any of the races this weekend and stay CL? I've always enjoyed CL stays for a race weekend since water is usually so close at hand and since it sometimes means more resort time than park time, you can make better use of the CL amenities.

Most of the places I've stayed also put out things overnight to grab in the morning, which is a huge help, one less thing to think about when getting up at 2:30-3am. CR had out bottles of water, bagels, apples, bananas, and some protein/granola type balls made at CG (quinoa, oatmeal, peanut butter, honey, raisins, chocolate chips, chocolate hazelnut spread, toasted coconut).

Any reports from the other CLs?

 

[Cinderella072004]

My family of 4 is doing a splurge trip in February - it is our first time back in 3 years (pre-covid) and we have all kinds of celebrations going on this trip! Since it is a splurge trip, I went ahead and booked the Minnie Van today to take us to and from MCO (i'm feeling like I need to justify this but just cant LOL).

Has anyone used Minnie Van transportation to and from the airport? It is different than park transportation because you can't book it on the app - you have to call Signature Services. When I called today to book it, I asked what the customary tip would be and the CM said that no tip is required. I followed that up with asking if we would still be allowed to tip and she said it is a non-tip position. Does anyone have any input regarding this?

We took it from airport a few times before Covid and loved it! We tipped the driver cash .

 

[jods]

Yeah, there was an window there in the beginning where that was the protocol with cash (like it is with other WDW positions, they're supposed to refuse three times then accept/turn it into their manager, or so has always been the Internet chatter). At the time you could tip electronically in the app (since that's how Lyft is programmed) and I think there was some evolution of at first no one was sure where that money went, then it went to being pooled, then it went to being specific to the actual driver. I may not have all of that exactly right as that's a combination of my experience and what was explained to me by drivers (and this was all pre-covid, so awhile ago), but it's directionally the way things evolved in the early days of the service.

Honestly, I forgot you could even tip on the app. We always tip cash. Now I feel bad we didn't add one in. I won't tell dh, not that he rem anything anyway lol.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I'm jealous of all of you getting the Poly CL discount!! I've been waiting for Poly to finally offer discounts and it couldn't be a more perfect time than over July 4! But the CL discount will not show up for me, no matter which date variation I try. I'm tempted to book a non-CL room there just to have the discount, but I know we'd be sad not being CL at Poly over July 4. So just to have something booked, I snagged the WL CL and am trying to get excited just in case the Poly CL and/or RPC never show up for me with a discount. We've stayed at BWI and YC lots of times lately, so we are due for a monorail resort this time. We haven't stayed at WL since pre-renovation there. Can we now see fireworks from WL? How would the July 3/4 show be from WL? We are used to being at the Poly for July 3/4, so I know everything else will probably pale in comparison. But if the show is visible from WL, we would be happy (I think)

This is what the fireworks look like from a CL room facing MK. We stayed there in May 2017.

 

[TJA]

View attachment 731018
This is what the fireworks look like from a CL room facing MK. We stayed there in May 2017.

OH wow! That definitely is nice. I assume I'd need to make a room request for that view. It has been a very long time since we've stayed at WL CL..... I need to do more research.

Thanks, everyone!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

View attachment 731018
This is what the fireworks look like from a CL room facing MK. We stayed there in May 2017.

Not to openly question you on this, but are you sure that isn't the view from Poly? That looks like the Poly view, not WL. Or maybe you accidently attached the wrong pic?

 

[TJA]

Not to openly question you on this, but are you sure that isn't the view from Poly? That looks like the Poly view, not WL. Or maybe you accidently attached the wrong pic?

I wondered about that too - it sure does look like our normal Poly view. But, like I said, it has been a very long time since we've stayed at WL and I know a lot has changed/trees have been taken down.

 

[KrazeeK120]

Not to openly question you on this, but are you sure that isn't the view from Poly? That looks like the Poly view, not WL. Or maybe you accidently attached the wrong pic?

OMG it’s from the poly beach I totally forgot I watched fireworks from there!!!! Sometimes I get my vacations mixed up.

Ok well here is a real shot from WL. I am so, so sorry!!! (It’s still an awesome view by the way. And this is from the room, not from a public area.)

I blame parenting for my lack of intelligence.

 

[PPFlight75]

So, I wore myself out searching a million times a day for an AP discount for our Poly CL stay. That rack rate was steep!

I was able to find a discount for 2 individual days from our stay and booked those. I called to see if they could merge those 2 days with the rest of our stay so we could at least have 2 discounted days. He put me on hold and came back and told me guest relations applied the AP discount to my entire stay!!

I could not believe it and was not expect that at all! What a great surprise! We are doing a split stay with BWI which is our usual, but now I might add CL to my BWI stay too lol!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Page 2 Rescue with some CR/Tower Club offerings. Note that Tower Club and Atrium Club offerings tend to be identical, except for the evening sushi which is only offered for Tower Club. Happy to answer any questions!



Pretty standard each morning with the below. Usually they have the yogurt without the toppings like shown below, sometimes they don't. I would much rather be able to get a big scoop of blueberries vs. the mostly cheap mixed melons in the fruit cup, but CR seems intent on offering fruit this way. I don't know if it's just me or if Disney has changed providers but the texture of the hard-boiled eggs seems different, same with Poly a few weeks ago. More rubbery, if that makes sense.


Chicken Sausage Links w/ Pepper & Onions and Vegetable Quiche. The rotate, seems like every three mornings.


Bread Pudding. This rotates as well.


Avocado Toast (offered each AM). Cream Cheese, Strawberry Cream Cheese, and Whipped Butter.


Blueberry Loaf with Oats & Almonds, Apple Danish, Biscuit, Croissant, along with mixed bagels/breads.


I love, love, love the water machine. I've always resisted bringing our own water containers (just more stuff to deal with) but have changed my ways lately, it's just too convenient to be able to fill up whenever and I'm not spending as much on bottled water in the parks.


Grapes, apples, carrots, and hummus generally here all day which is nice. Greek Yogurt out in AM which is a nice alternative to the yogurt cups above which are relatively sugar heavy.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Breakfast offerings another morning....these seemed new on the rotation, or at least new to me.

Fried Chicken Biscuit with Bacon Pepper Jam (yes please!), Grits w/ Shrimp & Peach Bacon Ragu.


Tortilla Espanola


Bread spread, looks pretty similar to the day before.


This section pretty much the same this day except the Honey Yogurt has a different topping.


I missed the other mornings, one of which included the infamous Coddled Eggs. Darn.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Some evening apps....

"Kids" offerings this evening.


Roasted Chicken w/ Pasta, Mediterranean Pork (probably my favorite of the current rotation, these are solid IMO).


Bread spread...





Crudite, Cauliflower Salad w/ Pine Nuts & Raisins, Tomato Salad w/ Mozzarella & Prosciutto, Couscous & Artichoke Salad.


Sushi offerings are the same each evening.