EXPIRED: Part ONE of 2015 CLUB LEVEL (CL) INFORMATION and HELP Thread DO NOT POST HERE!!!

[TigrLvsPooh]

What??? You are staying in Royal Palm Club, right? Umm... We stay there multiple times per year and we are always greeted by someone and escorted to our room. There must be some mistake. We have never had to go to the front desk. BTW, if you don't know Abdul who works in RPC, get to know him! He is awesome!

No, this is for my Kidani stay next week. Sorry I should have specified.

 

[pixarmom]

I like the straight-to-room idea, even for CL. I'd love to just head up to the lounge and/or our room. I checked in on-line for our upcoming CL stays at WL and BC, and will report back regarding our check-in - hoping for straight to lounge/room!

 

[Dispro1]

No, this is for my Kidani stay next week. Sorry I should have specified.

I'm just not very observant, or I would've noticed your countdown to kidani. I've been going to Disney for a very long time, like you, but I am new to these boards. I'm still trying to figure it out! But I love this club level thread.

 

[Suzanne74]

Do the lounges stay open past 10pm to just relax in? We have 5 in our room and one is a 5yr old who will be sleeping before the rest of us. Hoping a few of us can escape to play cards/watch tv without going to the lobby.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Do the lounges stay open past 10pm to just relax in? We have 5 in our room and one is a 5yr old who will be sleeping before the rest of us. Hoping a few of us can escape to play cards/watch tv without going to the lobby.

It depends on the resort. Some have doors that close and lock at 10:00 PM. Others only lock off the food area but the seating is open. Which resort?

 

[ClareH37]

My dates are 17-24 November, currently staying at BC CL but hoping for confirmation tomorrow my agent is able to get me a more realistic price than they originally had for WL CL (i.e. they wanted more money for WL CL than BC CL!), please hold off adding my dates/resort and hopefully I'll know for definite tomorrow whether I'm at BC CL or WL CL.

 

[pixarmom]

It depends on the resort. Some have doors that close and lock at 10:00 PM. Others only lock off the food area but the seating is open. Which resort?

Next year, we'll need to decide between BWI deluxe and WL deluxe to accommodate our party of six for Princess Half Marathon weekend. My parents will travel with us and my husband will not, so we have a different party size than usual. Since BWI closes the doors at 10pm and WL at least has the seating area open when the serving area is closed, I'll need to factor that into the analysis. On the other hand, when will we be awake after 10pm during a race weekend? I have a very long pro/con list for these two, but if the AP rate for WL is significantly lower than BWI (instead of just a little lower,) that may be the deciding factor.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Next year, we'll need to decide between BWI deluxe and WL deluxe to accommodate our party of six for Princess Half Marathon weekend. My parents will travel with us and my husband will not, so we have a different party size than usual. Since BWI closes the doors at 10pm and WL at least has the seating area open when the serving area is closed, I'll need to factor that into the analysis. On the other hand, when will we be awake after 10pm during a race weekend? I have a very long pro/con list for these two, but if the AP rate for WL is significantly lower than BWI (instead of just a little lower,) that may be the deciding factor.

I would vote BWI deluxe for a group of friends because the beds are all in the same room together. WL Deluxe is set up more for families wanting a door to close off the bedroom from the living room. Unless you've got some people in your group looking for some privacy or who snore.

 

[Suzanne74]

It depends on the resort. Some have doors that close and lock at 10:00 PM. Others only lock off the food area but the seating is open. Which resort?

Beach Club.

 

[Suzanne74]

I put in my 2 room requests with the IPO but they also told me I should do online check-in. I thought from reading here that we should only do room preferences thru IPO and not do online check-in.

Should I check in online but just not put room preferences in?

Sorry for the questions but I am just really nervous about not getting a daybed. If I knew it was not a guarantee with 5 people I would have never booked here. I just assumed all 5 person rooms could actually sleep 5 people. To pay CL rates and have a roll-in brought in with 3 adults and 2 kids seems way too cramped. Poly was really spacious and we loved their rooms/daybeds for my MIL. Fingers crossed.

 

[pixarmom]

I would vote BWI deluxe for a group of friends because the beds are all in the same room together. WL Deluxe is set up more for families wanting a door to close off the bedroom from the living room. Unless you've got some people in your group looking for some privacy or who snore.

In this case, it's my parents, my three boys and me. All three are running - our youngest will run the 5K with me and our teenagers will run the 10K and half marathon with me. So in that case, the space and view at BWI would be great. But the separate room at WL would be nice for those getting up super early for the races. Think BWI is the way to go, if the price is reasonable?

 

[Dispro1]

I

Beach Club.

We stayed at BC CL for the first time last year, so I don't have much experience there, but when we were there, they kept the lounge doors unlocked at night so you could get something to drink. Actually, they even left out a container of yogurt covered pretzels which I thought was very nice since they don't leave out any food at GF Royal Palm Club which is three times the price! I hope things haven't changed at BC because we had a great time!! I'm pretty sure we requested a daybed when we were at BC last year, and we got one. I only have two girls, so I would think your 5 people would definitely beat out someone like me. I hope you have a great trip!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

I put in my 2 room requests with the IPO but they also told me I should do online check-in. I thought from reading here that we should only do room preferences thru IPO and not do online check-in.

Should I check in online but just not put room preferences in?

Sorry for the questions but I am just really nervous about not getting a daybed. If I knew it was not a guarantee with 5 people I would have never booked here. I just assumed all 5 person rooms could actually sleep 5 people. To pay CL rates and have a roll-in brought in with 3 adults and 2 kids seems way too cramped. Poly was really spacious and we loved their rooms/daybeds for my MIL. Fingers crossed.

I started using online check-in for all my club level stays last year. I was late to the game and resistant to try it, but I felt like it was the way of the future and I might as well get use to it. The down side is that not all the requests you might want to make are even listed under the choices. At the BC CL last March I did request a daybed with IPO and CRO but it wasn't an option listed online. We didn't get one. But we were a family of 4, so I knew the chances were very slim. But my kids hate sleeping together in the same bed. Is it now a choice you can make online? If so then I would do that. Everything I'm hearing says the online check-in requests are getting looked at first and usually coming through. Other club level stays I had in May, June, August, December, I had very good luck using the online system and getting exactly what I wanted.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Beach Club.

I haven't stayed at the BC CL since the refurb, but last March when we were there the lounge was open at night. Not sure if that has changed since then.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

In this case, it's my parents, my three boys and me. All three are running - our youngest will run the 5K with me and our teenagers will run the 10K and half marathon with me. So in that case, the space and view at BWI would be great. But the separate room at WL would be nice for those getting up super early for the races. Think BWI is the way to go, if the price is reasonable?

BWI deluxe is a bit more than WL deluxe, looking at February 2015 peak season rates were $957 compared to $1037 per night. And $857 versus $929 for regular season. $80 a night isn't much when you're gaining the Boardwalk and Epcot area. At the WL CL your parents might like the privacy of having the living room to themselves, if they don't mind sleeping on a sleeper sofa.

 

[tinkerone]

I've just found out that our flight home will be at 9:30 a.m. so we will have to take magical express at about 6:30. does anyone know what time the cl lounge opens in the morning at AKL?

 

[pixarmom]

BWI deluxe is a bit more than WL deluxe, looking at February 2015 peak season rates were $957 compared to $1037 per night. And $857 versus $929 for regular season. $80 a night isn't much when you're gaining the Boardwalk and Epcot area. At the WL CL your parents might like the privacy of having the living room to themselves, if they don't mind sleeping on a sleeper sofa.

We need a good AP discount! We'll arrive the weekend before the race, probably spend arrival night in a value, move to Poly for a few nights and then settle in at BWI or WL for the weekend. I've seen that BWI is a little more, but I agree the location advantage is just huge. Especially for us, since we spend tons of time in Epcot. On the other hand, it's possible we won't see discounts for BWI - that's what happened to us this year for Marathon Weekend. We were booked at BWI and when Disney released the discounts, BWI CL was already sold out! So we moved to Poly CL. In the end, Disney may make the decision for me!

 

[Suzanne74]

I started using online check-in for all my club level stays last year. I was late to the game and resistant to try it, but I felt like it was the way of the future and I might as well get use to it. The down side is that not all the requests you might want to make are even listed under the choices. At the BC CL last March I did request a daybed with IPO and CRO but it wasn't an option listed online. We didn't get one. But we were a family of 4, so I knew the chances were very slim. But my kids hate sleeping together in the same bed. Is it now a choice you can make online? If so then I would do that. Everything I'm hearing says the online check-in requests are getting looked at first and usually coming through. Other club level stays I had in May, June, August, December, I had very good luck using the online system and getting exactly what I wanted.

Thank you. So if I already put my requests in with IPO and they told me they added them, I am better off not doing online check-in at this point, correct? The daybed is the most important to me.

Also, we have to get our magic bands at the front desk. So I feel like online check-in won't really save us much time anyway.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

I've just found out that our flight home will be at 9:30 a.m. so we will have to take magical express at about 6:30. does anyone know what time the cl lounge opens in the morning at AKL?

All lounges open for breakfast at 7:00 AM. Coffee only at 6:30 AM.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

We need a good AP discount! We'll arrive the weekend before the race, probably spend arrival night in a value, move to Poly for a few nights and then settle in at BWI or WL for the weekend. I've seen that BWI is a little more, but I agree the location advantage is just huge. Especially for us, since we spend tons of time in Epcot. On the other hand, it's possible we won't see discounts for BWI - that's what happened to us this year for Marathon Weekend. We were booked at BWI and when Disney released the discounts, BWI CL was already sold out! So we moved to Poly CL. In the end, Disney may make the decision for me!

AP discounts aren't what they use to be that's for sure. So many resorts are blacked out, it's frustrating.