Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[mickeyluv'r]

I feel like the Poly CL is very polarizing. From reading the boards over the years, you either love it or hate it, there is no in between. We have stayed club level at BC YC and Poly and LOVE the poly. The offerings are a little different because of the theming, more Asian inspired I would say, but you can't beat the location. Also, there's nothing more convenient than laying by the pool and being right next to the Hawaii building for a quick beer refill and snack. I truly feel transported when I'm at the Poly between the smells, the landscaping, tiki torches. It's a total vibe.

I think we're somewhat in the middle. I like the vibe, and the new decor is much improved. In the past though, the old Poly rooms were too dark, IMO. Not only was the decor dark, but our room had limited natural light. I generally enjoy having a balcony that is sunny at least part of the day.

Generally, I really like the trend of white bedding. White= looks clean.

We're also big fans of the layout of the Contemporary, even if the theming is not as much fun as Poly. A big plus of the Poly is the volcano pool!

Then again, I (used to) really enjoy the whimsical decorations at all the WDW hotel rooms, like hidden Mickeys in the shower curtains and Chip/Dale in the wall mural. Those are reasons to choose a WDW hotel over a bland offsite hotel. The Grand Floridian used to have - get this- White Rabbitt themed toiletries. They were "White Rabbit" brand and so adorable! That was such an amazing touch!

I'd stay more often at Poly the price was the same as the other deluxe CL's.

 

[kylenne]

So this has to be the most creative “towel critter” that housekeeping has ever left us. I gave my wife a little scare and the a laugh when we came into the room tonight.

View attachment 733297
Close up of the face:

View attachment 733296

Looks like my sleep paralysis demon.

 

[bookbabe626]

While I don't think the bungalows are worth the asking price, and do not cook when visiting WDW, we greatly appreciate having a full fridge and a real dining space (table) in our hotel room whenever we have one.

It is nice to open the fridge and just have space for a pizza box, a bottle of milk, and a freezer to freeze cold packs. Over the summer we lucked out and got a suite at the Swan Reserve. It still only had the mini-fridge and no microwave, but the extra space was fantastic. Everyone had plenty of space and outlets to charge their devices. We also loved having a large table in the room. It is just nice when everyone has room to sit while we discuss our next move.

One thing I loved about the prior Contemporary rooms was the glass desk/shelves. When we return to our room, we always seem to have lots of stuff we wish to quickly put down somewhere: bags, jackets, maybe a drink or some food. Over the summer we stayed at a hotel that had a wall of wall hooks and it was brilliant!

We also always appreciate having access to silverware, a microwave and coffee mugs in case we need them.

My response was mainly directed at the OP, whose "long weekend, small family, mostly park time" trip really wouldn't make the bungalow worth it, especially if they were hoping for the type of experience CL provides. A bungalow (or any DVC) versus CL is an apples and oranges comparison. There's a perfect time and a perfect trip for both, I just didn't think this was a bungalow type of trip for the OP.

I agree, it's nice to have a table and a fridge, but those didn't seem to be a priority for the OP. We like having them too, thus the reason we book a lot of DVC 1 bdrm villas when we aren't CL. There's a lot more cost effective ways to get a table and fridge than a bungalow. And, if I was throwing that kind of cash around, I'd still rather have a Tonga suite or a CC cabin at WL instead of a Poly bungalow. (Or the fabulous 2 bdrm CL suite at YC we got pixie dusted into a few trips ago. Wow, that was a nice suite.) No idea why the bungalows are kind of meh for me, but they are. Weird, I know, but I don't know if I'd stay in one unless someone else was paying.

 

[Eastern]

I feel like the Poly CL is very polarizing. From reading the boards over the years, you either love it or hate it, there is no in between. We have stayed club level at BC YC and Poly and LOVE the poly. The offerings are a little different because of the theming, more Asian inspired I would say, but you can't beat the location. Also, there's nothing more convenient than laying by the pool and being right next to the Hawaii building for a quick beer refill and snack. I truly feel transported when I'm at the Poly between the smells, the landscaping, tiki torches. It's a total vibe.

I didn't hate it but was disappointed, for ex, that one night the only 'hot' option was two varieties of sushi. This was 2015 so maybe different now but the asian-inspired stuff didn't wow me. My mother went a few years later and she had the same complaint, but she also didn't like having to walk between buildings to get to the monorail (her favorite is CR).

I think that the good thing about Poly is if you can't get CL or don't like it, they do have several other good food/drink options on premises.

 

[lotsohugginbear]

I don't really get the appetizer of Pepperhorn at Poly CL. It's literally a pepper stuffed with just quinoa.
No seasoning. Why? I think the Poly CL chef has lost their way. The evening apps are all over the place.
They need a menu re-vamp. Love the punch, though! Best CL drink of all the CLs.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

At Wilderness Lodge now.
Don’t keep up with things well so I may have missed this if it was mentioned but I asked about adding on CL to a standard room and the CL staff said yes, you can still do this. There may be some limitations at times but they do offer it
$149/night

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I feel like the Poly CL is very polarizing. From reading the boards over the years, you either love it or hate it, there is no in between. We have stayed club level at BC YC and Poly and LOVE the poly. The offerings are a little different because of the theming, more Asian inspired I would say, but you can't beat the location. Also, there's nothing more convenient than laying by the pool and being right next to the Hawaii building for a quick beer refill and snack. I truly feel transported when I'm at the Poly between the smells, the landscaping, tiki torches. It's a total vibe.

We just left Poly CL today, moved to WL CL
We stay CL all the time, have done them all, our favorite is BW
Our first night at Poly, while in the lounge, to watch fireworks, DH texted me and said “in all caps” we are never staying here again!
The kids were simply out of control. Not 1, not 2, not a few. All of them.
If parents would attempt to put any control over their children it wouldn’t be so bad but with so many little kids and all of them running complete circles around the adults in their groups it was simply a nightmare in the lounge. Not 1 but 2 kids threw up all over the place, one all over the window overlooking the fireworks. Because mom was shaking him like he was a cocktail shaker. In all my nights spent in a lounge CL I’ve never had kids throw up and we saw it 2 different nights over a 3 night stay.
That’s why it’s polarizing for us.
Don’t let the inmates run the asylum and it wouldn’t be so bad.

The smallest, oddest complaint, no silverware in napkins. All the other lounges we’ve been in have real napkins. All they give are cocktail napkins. Found that strange.

Food we really did like. Their location is both a boon and a curse.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I didn't hate it but was disappointed, for ex, that one night the only 'hot' option was two varieties of sushi. This was 2015 so maybe different now but the asian-inspired stuff didn't wow me. My mother went a few years later and she had the same complaint, but she also didn't like having to walk between buildings to get to the monorail (her favorite is CR).

I think that the good thing about Poly is if you can't get CL or don't like it, they do have several other good food/drink options on premises.

We just left and had the complete rotation of food. No sushi the entire time. So I’m thinking yeah, in 7 years it’s changed.

 

[trishadono]

We just left and had the complete rotation of food. No sushi the entire time. So I’m thinking yeah, in 7 years it’s changed.

I have enjoyed my wl cl stays. The seating overlooking lobby is nice! Hope dh has a good ending to your trip!

 

[trishadono]

We just left and had the complete rotation of food. No sushi the entire time. So I’m thinking yeah, in 7 years it’s changed.

I’m at our lake house aka sucky internet. Double post…..

 

[focusondisney]

We just left Poly CL today, moved to WL CL
We stay CL all the time, have done them all, our favorite is BW
Our first night at Poly, while in the lounge, to watch fireworks, DH texted me and said “in all caps” we are never staying here again!
The kids were simply out of control. Not 1, not 2, not a few. All of them.
If parents would attempt to put any control over their children it wouldn’t be so bad but with so many little kids and all of them running complete circles around the adults in their groups it was simply a nightmare in the lounge. Not 1 but 2 kids threw up all over the place, one all over the window overlooking the fireworks. Because mom was shaking him like he was a cocktail shaker. In all my nights spent in a lounge CL I’ve never had kids throw up and we saw it 2 different nights over a 3 night stay.
That’s why it’s polarizing for us.
Don’t like the inmates run the asylum and it wouldn’t be so bad.

The smallest, oddest complaint, not silverware in napkins. All the other lounges we’ve been in have real napkins. All they give are cocktail napkins. Found that strange.

Food we really did like. Their location is both a boon and a curse.

Oh my gosh! That’s absolutely disgusting. The poor CMs who have to deal with this. Thank you so much for posting about your stay. As I said, I have our first Poly stay booked for the weekend leading up to July 4th but I’m really undecided. If this is how things are on a random week in January, I can only imagine what a holiday is like.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Oh my gosh! That’s absolutely disgusting. The poor CMs who have to deal with this. Thank you so much for posting about your stay. As I said, I have our first Poly stay booked for the weekend leading up to July 4th but I’m really undecided. If this is how things are on a random week in January, I can only imagine what a holiday is like.

I’ll admit we may have just had some really luck with the demographics during our particular weekend. It was MKL weekend. So some kids on break but not an extended break. But mainly these were little preschool ages any way. Not so many school aged kids. Which I think is where things can either be great (if that’s what you need) or awful (If it’s not)

 

[rick1zoo2]

This trip we utilized the club lounge at WL quite a lot. We had breakfast there each morning, dinner twice, and, of course, dessert each night. We really liked the cobblers for dessert. The apple cranberry was the best followed by mixed berry and then peach. One night at dinner there was brisket, the other night pulled pork, same that is served downstairs at Whispering Canyon. The lounge never was really crowded and could always find a quiet table.

This was breakfast one morning. There was a different egg dish each day. Today there was pancakes too. Also oatmeal in that red dish.

 

[Wood Nymph]

At Wilderness Lodge now.
Don’t keep up with things well so I may have missed this if it was mentioned but I asked about adding on CL to a standard room and the CL staff said yes, you can still do this. There may be some limitations at times but they do offer it
$149/night

Thanks for the update. We had asked about the add on for CL at WL when we were staying there in August. He said that they weren't offering it back then, but they might bring it back. I'm glad to hear that the add on is available again.

 

[trishadono]

Oh my gosh! That’s absolutely disgusting. The poor CMs who have to deal with this. Thank you so much for posting about your stay. As I said, I have our first Poly stay booked for the weekend leading up to July 4th but I’m really undecided. If this is how things are on a random week in January, I can only imagine what a holiday is like.

Our NYE stay was wonderful . Honestly it’s a crap shoot. It is amazing how other guests can impact a stay. I have been lucky and I usually have the nicest people at the resorts

 

[Eastern]

We just left and had the complete rotation of food. No sushi the entire time. So I’m thinking yeah, in 7 years it’s changed.

I know it changes even from year to year, but generally, we did not like the food. Sushi was the one night, but other nights, we just did not like the particular food choices/seasonings. It was quite different from the other lounges. My mother was there right before lockdown with similar results.

 

[lotsohugginbear]

I also saw a kid throw up at Poly! (last Feb.) At breakfast, a dad with two boys was right next to
us. One boy had a whole plate of hard boiled eggs. He put a bunch in his mouth, choked and puked
onto the table. Dad said: "Don't tell your mother."
Same breakfast, an adult dropped an egg on the floor and just left it there next to his seat. This bothered me
more than the kid. Suffice it to say, I didn't eat any hard boiled eggs on this trip. I've stayed at Poly CL many, many times over the years. For whatever weird reason, I think it attracts the worst of all the guests.
It's a real shame because my kids grew up at Poly Club. This is where they learned proper club level attire
and etiquette! Crucial life lesson.
A favorite for food and quiet is Wilderness Lodge. Solid offerings at breakfast and dinner. The lounge is
very spread out. If a group is bothering you, it's easy to re-locate.

 

[cheshiregoofy22]

 

[cheshiregoofy22]

Chronos Club Breakfast yesterday. Apologies for the giant pictures!….and the scrambled eggs were restocked…. We didn’t go in the evening as we had dinner plans elsewhere. Did get beer and wine and snacks in the afternoon. At that time they had crudite (cucumbers, asparagus, snap peas, carrots) with different hummuses, Goldfish crackers and chocolate covered pretzels, trail mix, sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies. Bowls of candy and kind bars and packaged bags of baby carrots, grapes, or apple slices in the fridge, and yogurts in the fridge.

 

[SkyGuy]

Chronos Club Breakfast yesterday. Apologies for the giant pictures!….and the scrambled eggs were restocked…. We didn’t go in the evening as we had dinner plans elsewhere. Did get beer and wine and snacks in the afternoon. At that time they had crudite (cucumbers, asparagus, snap peas, carrots) with different hummuses, Goldfish crackers and chocolate covered pretzels, trail mix, sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies. Bowls of candy and kind bars and packaged bags of baby carrots, grapes, or apple slices in the fridge, and yogurts in the fridge.

I LOVED the mints they had in the bowls at the front desk and on the counters separating the seating sections. I meant to note the brand, but I forgot. If you’re still there, could you let me know what they are?