Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[trishadono]

I haven’t stayed at BWI CL yet, but my experience with all CL is that you can request a glass any time the club is open. You may have to take it in a go cup, like the disposable coffee cup from your room, though I think CR once gave me a plastic cup.

Wow, I sound like a total boozehound.

I have been putting drinks in coffee cups for years. Now that they don’t look in our bags the small water bottles are good to throw in the purse/bag for late nights like mnsshp’s.

When need the booze. Up at 6a for coffee so we can see to buy genie+. Then need devices to have time.gov ready for VQ and quick fingers to snag ILL’s . It’s a lot of work! Supposed to be vacation???

Then run around all day, up late for one more before thing bed, repeat.

I don’t need like this at home lol. It’s boring there.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Agree!!


One of the reasons I like GF RPC (only been staying there since 2021, I think? Whenever they opened the walkway) is because they put out big bowls of berries! Pic from 2022 below. I wonder if they made adjustments after someone said something? Hope they are doing the same upon reopening. I agree, the fruit situation at CR is ridiculous, that weird practically minced fruit. Eugh. The pics of breakfast at WL have been tempting, largely bc of the fruit!

I’ve been doing this intermittent fasting thing and may not be eating breakfast any time soon - fruit in the afternoon would be amazing, I guess I can always put a small bowl in my room fridge. I wish I could stomach the transportation situation of GDT!

The GF stay I referenced was before 2020. My most recent CR stay was less than a year ago. All the CL's are a bit variable over time. In some ways, I wish they were a tad more consistent, but with an allowance for seasonal produce.

Here at home we've been enjoying all the seasonal produce this time of year: fresh corn, peaches, tomatoes, eggplant. We have a lovely produce stand that sells big boxes of seconds for next to nothing, and what they call seconds is just the produce left at the end of the day. Most of it is nearly perfect. Only the peaches are truly seconds, but we get a t-shirt bag of peaches for just $5! Since they are already very ripe, we cut them up and cook them on the stove for a few minutes. It is very simple, but delicious, and the compote easily keeps for a week. Or it would, but it never lasts that long.

I've long thought, WDW should have a restaurant that specializes in showcasing seasonal produce. Disney's Riviera resort would be the perfect location.

 

[2vets]

I don’t need like this at home lol. It’s boring there.

Omg, same, girl.

 

[2vets]

The GF stay I referenced was before 2020. My most recent CR stay was less than a year ago. All the CL's are a bit variable over time. In some ways, I wish they were a tad more consistent, but with an allowance for seasonal produce.

Here at home we've been enjoying all the seasonal produce this time of year: fresh corn, peaches, tomatoes, eggplant. We have a lovely produce stand that sells big boxes of seconds for next to nothing, and what they call seconds is just the produce left at the end of the day. Most of it is nearly perfect. Only the peaches are truly seconds, but we get a t-shirt bag of peaches for just $5! Since they are already very ripe, we cut them up and cook them on the stove for a few minutes. It is very simple, but delicious, and the compote easily keeps for a week. Or it would, but it never lasts that long.

I've long thought, WDW should have a restaurant that specializes in showcasing seasonal produce. Disney's Riviera resort would be the perfect location.

I’ve been happy to see some fresh salads, YC CL had a nice one in Nov! But agree!!!

 

[kandb]

I’m currently at BWI and will be around for 2 more nights so I think I’ll get the full rotation of food. I’ll make a full post of the offerings at the end of our trip but so far we’ve had the following:

Night One:
Crudite, Waldorf salad, citrus quinoa salad, Beefy mac, Chicken and coleslaw bao buns, Ratatouille over polenta, Apple glazed pork belly over rice, and a full charcuterie spread

Night Two:
Caesar salad, Pearled cous cous salad, Shredded chicken sliders, Impossible enchiladas, Chicken Alfredo, Braised short rib over mashed potatoes

They’ve had polenta and grits at breakfast which are my absolute favorite things. I’m also a pastry fiend and they had “raspberry danish” which was actually apple danish and was the most amazing thing I’ve ever eaten. If we hadn’t been rushing off to a park I probably would have been the person to take the entire tray.

Thank you so much! If you could post the day they served the short ribs and potatoes, I would soooo appreciate it. I will figure on being in the lounge for that day. We leave in a week! Hope your vaca was great!

 

[KrazeeK120]

Some YC menus from this last week.

 

[PinkerTish]

Thank you so much! If you could post the day they served the short ribs and potatoes, I would soooo appreciate it. I will figure on being in the lounge for that day. We leave in a week! Hope your vaca was great!

That was yesterday (8/5). Tonight (8/6) they had meatball sliders, shrimp over polenta, mushroom and rice, and mac & cheese.

If you also like the small salads I’ve been very impressed. Tonight they had two: strawberry and cucumber with balsamic dressing and melon, tomato, mozzarella with a citrus dressing (which was phenomenal).

 

[focusondisney]

Some YC menus from this last week.

Those are the same items they’ve had for at a year now. Haven’t seen anything change since they reopened. Luckily they’re all good.

 

[LSK]

I am torn between a Deluxe CL room at BWI for July 2024 when my daughter turns 21 and an Executive Suite at the Swan. My husband and 17 year old son will travel with us to celebrate and the kids prefer not to share a bed, which both options allow. The Swan gives us a bit more space and 2 bathrooms, but isn't CL. I've never stayed CL at BWI and really want to and the convenience of drinks and snacks is very appealing. If Disney comes out with a discount for 2024 like they did this summer, this will be a no brainer.

I can see us eating most breakfasts in the lounge and we tend to have a bigger sit down lunch and rest in the afternoons so we can go back out in the evenings, which would allow for several evening appetizers. For the price difference, I could stock the Swan room with some very nice snacks, drinks, and breakfast items and still come out ahead.

I guess I'm looking for some reassurance from a biased crowd that CL is a good idea for my travel party, despite the $3280 price difference for the week. My head is telling me Swan, my heart is telling me BWI. Would you book both and hope for discounts? Or do you think there is enough value and convenience to justify the price difference?

 

[trishadono]

I am torn between a Deluxe CL room at BWI for July 2024 when my daughter turns 21 and an Executive Suite at the Swan. My husband and 17 year old son will travel with us to celebrate and the kids prefer not to share a bed, which both options allow. The Swan gives us a bit more space and 2 bathrooms, but isn't CL. I've never stayed CL at BWI and really want to and the convenience of drinks and snacks is very appealing. If Disney comes out with a discount for 2024 like they did this summer, this will be a no brainer.

I can see us eating most breakfasts in the lounge and we tend to have a bigger sit down lunch and rest in the afternoons so we can go back out in the evenings, which would allow for several evening appetizers. For the price difference, I could stock the Swan room with some very nice snacks, drinks, and breakfast items and still come out ahead.

I guess I'm looking for some reassurance from a biased crowd that CL is a good idea for my travel party, despite the $3280 price difference for the week. My head is telling me Swan, my heart is telling me BWI. Would you book both and hope for discounts? Or do you think there is enough value and convenience to justify the price difference?

For that price difference I would stick with the space and extra bathrooms. However it is a long way until next July so keep checking and maybe you will get a nice discount and could move to BWI later. I would book that Swan for now since it fits what you are looking for.

I have stayed in the deluxe room 2 times post covid and have it booked this November. I really like the extra space even with just 2 people. The view is so nice all day long.

 

[baler31]

I am torn between a Deluxe CL room at BWI for July 2024 when my daughter turns 21 and an Executive Suite at the Swan. My husband and 17 year old son will travel with us to celebrate and the kids prefer not to share a bed, which both options allow. The Swan gives us a bit more space and 2 bathrooms, but isn't CL. I've never stayed CL at BWI and really want to and the convenience of drinks and snacks is very appealing. If Disney comes out with a discount for 2024 like they did this summer, this will be a no brainer.

I can see us eating most breakfasts in the lounge and we tend to have a bigger sit down lunch and rest in the afternoons so we can go back out in the evenings, which would allow for several evening appetizers. For the price difference, I could stock the Swan room with some very nice snacks, drinks, and breakfast items and still come out ahead.

I guess I'm looking for some reassurance from a biased crowd that CL is a good idea for my travel party, despite the $3280 price difference for the week. My head is telling me Swan, my heart is telling me BWI. Would you book both and hope for discounts? Or do you think there is enough value and convenience to justify the price difference?

Don't know your exact executive suite config as there are different ones but we take the suite and add on two connecting room frequently for our group (me, DH, DD, DDSO, DS) everyone has there own room, bathroom etc. and we have a big living area to relax in. You still get the location and we just order room service at times or since we have status with Marriott the restaurant breakfast is included for 2. The bar is very nice for drinks.

We were very frequent club level guests up until about 2018 and I would never say never but the experience has been so diminished over the years that we simply don't enjoy it as we once did. It does not help that CM's that we knew for years have left or retired. Once we started staying in the suites at Swan/Dolphin we have found it hard to go back as we were booking 3 club level rooms or a suite for our group and the return on that investment was just not there.

All that said I would at least try the Swan so you can make an informed decision on your next trip.

 

[dalmatian7]

These lost and found posts have me thinking about my first onsite stay. My DH and I were WL CL for our honeymoon in 2006. First morning, DH loses his cell phone out of his pocket on Space Mountain. We had it back the next day. I remember asking him that morning, "do you really need to take your cell phone with you?' (I think he responded it was to know the time) as I left my flip phone in the room and wore a watch. Simpler times folks. I would love for my Disney vacation to not involve my cell phone except for a camera.

 

[Ricguz]

Those are the same items they’ve had for at a year now. Haven’t seen anything change since they reopened. Luckily they’re all good.

Same 3 day rotation when we were there for 11 days in December 2022. All was very good and CM’s were great. Even when the Expresso machine was down, they offered to warm milk in the back for the coffee. Club Guests were polite and waited their turn and plenty of food. Never ran low. Great experience at YC.

 

[Lucys dad]

We are just back from Poly CL. While we always will love Poly and always have a great time at WDW, we did not love CL this time. Overcrowded, inexperienced and sometimes downright rude staff. Many requests were met with almost hostility or annoyance. Running out of so many things with answers like “we don’t have anyone to go get more Coke” (for 2 days). I felt anxious the whole time and it was very chaotic and overcrowded many days. I didn’t witness a lot of bad guest behavior but certainly had my share of bad CM behavior/attitude. Sadly, we’ll never stay Poly CL again.

Totally opposite for me. CM’s great, even in the face of having to deal with certifiable idiots.

 

[Lucys dad]

One of my big CL pet peeves is wine related, too. Nothing drives me crazier than when I go to pour a nice glass and the person who used it before me took it all except a small sip. Rather than leave the practically empty bottle out on the counter for it to be seen or alert a CM, they put the near empty bottle away for the next unsuspecting guest.

It makes me irrationally angry.

Thankfully; that’s a criminal offence in Scotland

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I am torn between a Deluxe CL room at BWI for July 2024 when my daughter turns 21 and an Executive Suite at the Swan. My husband and 17 year old son will travel with us to celebrate and the kids prefer not to share a bed, which both options allow. The Swan gives us a bit more space and 2 bathrooms, but isn't CL. I've never stayed CL at BWI and really want to and the convenience of drinks and snacks is very appealing. If Disney comes out with a discount for 2024 like they did this summer, this will be a no brainer.

I can see us eating most breakfasts in the lounge and we tend to have a bigger sit down lunch and rest in the afternoons so we can go back out in the evenings, which would allow for several evening appetizers. For the price difference, I could stock the Swan room with some very nice snacks, drinks, and breakfast items and still come out ahead.

I guess I'm looking for some reassurance from a biased crowd that CL is a good idea for my travel party, despite the $3280 price difference for the week. My head is telling me Swan, my heart is telling me BWI. Would you book both and hope for discounts? Or do you think there is enough value and convenience to justify the price difference?

You could try a split stay. That's what we've done when we weren't sure. I can't say I've technically done a suite at Swan, but we had a nice Swan corner room, plus we've had bigger suite rooms at both Dolphin and Swan Reserve.

A plus of the Marriott properties is that you can get room service, and you can have it delivered before 7am, or at least we did at SR. That was great. (and normally we're not big on room service.) The WDW CL's don't open until 7am, which is a bit of a pain if you are trying to take advantage of the early morning entry, esp at AK. Though if you are more inclined to start your days a little later it is not as much of an issue.

When we didn't get room service, we got breakfast at the grab and go place at Swan and it was very good. The people working there were really nice, and worked hard to serve everyone quickly. The one at Dolphin is also nice.

A plus of them being close is that transferring would be easy. You'll also get to enjoy two different pools.

Odds are high there will be some discount offered next summer for both choices. We've stayed CL many times, but we also really like the Swan, SR and Dolphin. (though we prefer SR and Swan slightly over Dolphin.)

Of the CL's, BWI was one of our least favorite ones in the past, but part of it was we had the furthest room possible from everything except a stairwell that only went to the quiet pool. I am a bit curious to see new rooms/lounge, so hopefully our next visit will be a better room location.

 

[jods]

You could try a split stay. That's what we've done when we weren't sure. I can't say I've technically done a suite at Swan, but we had a nice Swan corner room, plus we've had bigger suite rooms at both Dolphin and Swan Reserve.

A plus of the Marriott properties is that you can get room service, and you can have it delivered before 7am, or at least we did at SR. That was great. (and normally we're not big on room service.) The WDW CL's don't open until 7am, which is a bit of a pain if you are trying to take advantage of the early morning entry, esp at AK. Though if you are more inclined to start your days a little later it is not as much of an issue.

When we didn't get room service, we got breakfast at the grab and go place at Swan and it was very good. The people working there were really nice, and worked hard to serve everyone quickly. The one at Dolphin is also nice.

A plus of them being close is that transferring would be easy. You'll also get to enjoy two different pools.

Odds are high there will be some discount offered next summer for both choices. We've stayed CL many times, but we also really like the Swan, SR and Dolphin. (though we prefer SR and Swan slightly over Dolphin.)

Of the CL's, BWI was one of our least favorite ones in the past, but part of it was we had the furthest room possible from everything except a stairwell that only went to the quiet pool. I am a bit curious to see new rooms/lounge, so hopefully our next visit will be a better room location.

Ha, I know the room you're talking about. I was a little further down but used that exit a lot because it was so close.

You could try a split stay. That's what we've done when we weren't sure. I can't say I've technically done a suite at Swan, but we had a nice Swan corner room, plus we've had bigger suite rooms at both Dolphin and Swan Reserve.

A plus of the Marriott properties is that you can get room service, and you can have it delivered before 7am, or at least we did at SR. That was great. (and normally we're not big on room service.) The WDW CL's don't open until 7am, which is a bit of a pain if you are trying to take advantage of the early morning entry, esp at AK. Though if you are more inclined to start your days a little later it is not as much of an issue.

When we didn't get room service, we got breakfast at the grab and go place at Swan and it was very good. The people working there were really nice, and worked hard to serve everyone quickly. The one at Dolphin is also nice.

A plus of them being close is that transferring would be easy. You'll also get to enjoy two different pools.

Odds are high there will be some discount offered next summer for both choices. We've stayed CL many times, but we also really like the Swan, SR and Dolphin. (though we prefer SR and Swan slightly over Dolphin.)

Of the CL's, BWI was one of our least favorite ones in the past, but part of it was we had the furthest room possible from everything except a stairwell that only went to the quiet pool. I am a bit curious to see new rooms/lounge, so hopefully our next visit will be a better room location.

I actually also booked a room at the dolphin for food and wine since I got a great rate. So I'm currently between BWI and the dolphin. Bwi is leading due charging to magic bands. I don't want to be fumbling with a card as I drink around the world. When I look at pictures though the dolphin pool and pool bar look way better. Bwi is crowded and loud looking. Not relaxing. Not sure how often we will hit the pool though. Personally I'm content drinking and relaxing on the actual boardwalk. What are your honey thoughts of the 2. Bwi is non cl. My friend is deferring everything to me lol. I was about to cancel my dolphin ressie when I saw your post. I need to get a grip lol

 

[Richie248]

I have a belated milestone birthday trip in September. Originally booked 5 nights at CSR/GDT Club Level and 3 nights at WL CL. A 1 Bedroom at Riviera popped up (for a pretty good price w/ 35% AP discount) so I swapped GDT for Riviera. Finding it more relaxing to create my own CL in a Disney Villa. Keeping the WL reservation as is (for now). I was on a CL kick this year but found it to be less convenient these days. I'm an early riser so the 7am breakfast didn't line-up with my morning routine. I also found the evening food rotation at GDT getting a bit stale and uninspired. One thing I will miss from GDT is the staff! They are the best. Still have a CL at GDT for December but would love to switch to the lodge if a reasonable room opens up.

 

[TexanInTheMidwest]

Ha, I know the room you're talking about. I was a little further down but used that exit a lot because it was so close.

I actually also booked a room at the dolphin for food and wine since I got a great rate. So I'm currently between BWI and the dolphin. Bwi is leading due charging to magic bands. I don't want to be fumbling with a card as I drink around the world. When I look at pictures though the dolphin pool and pool bar look way better. Bwi is crowded and loud looking. Not relaxing. Not sure how often we will hit the pool though. Personally I'm content drinking and relaxing on the actual boardwalk. What are your honey thoughts of the 2. Bwi is non cl. My friend is deferring everything to me lol. I was about to cancel my dolphin ressie when I saw your post. I need to get a grip lol

We stayed CL at the YC in June. If you want to take advantage of the offerings you will definitely trade off park time.

For this particular trip it was fine - it was me and DH (who hadn't been since Jan 2020). We were meeting friends that had a VIP tour booked with Fireworks Viewing plus did a Fireworks Cruise. So we enjoyed leisurely breakfasts and made it back for appetizers and deserts several nights.

But personally, I missed the Dolphin. To be able to pop into the Shula's lounge for a quick nightcap (or a quick appetizer) post fireworks. And Fuel in the morning is quick and easy to do and still rope drop.

 

[jods]

We stayed CL at the YC in June. If you want to take advantage of the offerings you will definitely trade off park time.

For this particular trip it was fine - it was me and DH (who hadn't been since Jan 2020). We were meeting friends that had a VIP tour booked with Fireworks Viewing plus did a Fireworks Cruise. So we enjoyed leisurely breakfasts and made it back for appetizers and deserts several nights.

But personally, I missed the Dolphin. To be able to pop into the Shula's lounge for a quick nightcap (or a quick appetizer) post fireworks. And Fuel in the morning is quick and easy to do and still rope drop.

Go ahead and confuse me more