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

[NicoleLarson]

My boys would be in heaven with that trip!!!!!!

I'm excited to checkout AOA, it's just one night before heading to the YC, but that should give me a decent idea of what it's like. Then I can finally say I've stayed at every resort! Well, not the villas at the GF. Darn Disney keeps adding more resorts to my list!

What section are you staying in? We stayed there two nights last week before heading to AKL CL. We stayed in lion king and my kids loved the theming but the beds are rock hard.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

What section are you staying in? We stayed there two nights last week before heading to AKL CL. We stayed in lion king and my kids loved the theming but the beds are rock hard.

I'm alone, so doing Little Mermaid. I won't be there until that evening so it will just be a quick little taste of what AOA is like.
Then I move to YC the next morning, just for the weekend. Then I'm off to Portofino for 4 nights for a TA thing.

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[NicoleLarson]

I'm alone, so doing Little Mermaid. I won't be there until that evening so it will just be a quick little taste of what AOA is like.
Then I move to YC the next morning, just for the weekend. Then I'm off to Portofino for 4 nights for a TA thing.

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Sounds great. Oh and don't worry about the long walk to LM that you hear about. You can park really close and I would say it's a max 10 min. walk from the bus stop. When I saw how close it was I was shocked that so many people complain. Pretty sure some of the hallways at BW are longer!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Sounds great. Oh and don't worry about the long walk to LM that you hear about. You can park really close and I would say it's a max 10 min. walk from the bus stop. When I saw how close it was I was shocked that so many people complain. Pretty sure some of the hallways at BW are longer!

Yeah I don't worry about that stuff. Walking and WDW go hand in hand.

 

[pixarmom]

I'm alone, so doing Little Mermaid. I won't be there until that evening so it will just be a quick little taste of what AOA is like.
Then I move to YC the next morning, just for the weekend. Then I'm off to Portofino for 4 nights for a TA thing.

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This AoA talk is making me consider adding a night there at the beginning of our trip in January. I'm waiting to find out if the Illuminations Dessert Party will be available for booking in January (currently not available yet - any info on that?) If so, the best night for us would be the night before we're currently planning to arrive, so it might all work out.

Sounds great. Oh and don't worry about the long walk to LM that you hear about. You can park really close and I would say it's a max 10 min. walk from the bus stop. When I saw how close it was I was shocked that so many people complain. Pretty sure some of the hallways at BW are longer!

So funny you say this! When we stayed at ASMu last month, the kids and I were laughing about what has been described as a "long" walk to the Broadway section. We loved our room tucked away from the busy front area of the resort, and it didn't seem like a long walk to us at all - not even in the August heat.

 

[bama belle]

I'm alone, so doing Little Mermaid. I won't be there until that evening so it will just be a quick little taste of what AOA is like. Then I move to YC the next morning, just for the weekend. Then I'm off to Portofino for 4 nights for a TA thing. Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

We stayed in LM for one night before our week at BC CL last summer. It was so much fun just walking around and checking out the amazing theming of the resort, especially the Cars section at night. The food court and gift shop were great too! While walking in the parks doesn't bother me, for some reason that walk from LM through the rest of the resort killed my legs and feet!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

This AoA talk is making me consider adding a night there at the beginning of our trip in January. I'm waiting to find out if the Illuminations Dessert Party will be available for booking in January (currently not available yet - any info on that?) If so, the best night for us would be the night before we're currently planning to arrive, so it might all work out.



So funny you say this! When we stayed at ASMu last month, the kids and I were laughing about what has been described as a "long" walk to the Broadway section. We loved our room tucked away from the busy front area of the resort, and it didn't seem like a long walk to us at all - not even in the August heat.

We almost always stay at a value our first night. We commonly take late flights and it makes zero sense to arrive to a club level room late at night and pay all that money when the lounge and stuff are closed. Pop has always been my favorite but I'm looking forward to trying AOA to compare.

My main focus the last few weeks has been on our December trip. I really want Christmas to be special for the kids since it's our first time not being home. Also my Mom is house hunting down in Florida so I'm going to spend an extra week after our trip down there with her touring a few 55+ communities. She is very interested in The Villages. I told her as soon as the boys finish high school I'm coming down to move in!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

We stayed in LM for one night before our week at BC CL last summer. It was so much fun just walking around and checking out the amazing theming of the resort, especially the Cars section at night. The food court and gift shop were great too! While walking in the parks doesn't bother me, for some reason that walk from LM through the rest of the resort killed my legs and feet!

I did something crazy to my foot on our last trip. DS and I came out of the Country Bear Jamboree and the sky was dark green and looked like it was about to storm really bad! So I grabbed his hand and we booked it to the monorail as fast as we could without running. I had flip flops on which weren't very thick or supportive and ever since then I've had this sore place on my heel that feels like a bruise. And it's been almost a month! I love the walking but I agree sometimes the pain can really be brutal. I need to wear sneakers more, but I always feel like my feet are so sweaty and confined. Someone needs to develop a flip flop that has a sneaker sole!

 

[pixarmom]

We almost always stay at a value our first night. We commonly take late flights and it makes zero sense to arrive to a club level room late at night and pay all that money when the lounge and stuff are closed. Pop has always been my favorite but I'm looking forward to trying AOA to compare.

My main focus the last few weeks has been on our December trip. I really want Christmas to be special for the kids since it's our first time not being home. Also my Mom is house hunting down in Florida so I'm going to spend an extra week after our trip down there with her touring a few 55+ communities. She is very interested in The Villages. I told her as soon as the boys finish high school I'm coming down to move in!

This is where I just learned a huge lesson - we've been booking mods for our late night arrivals or extra night before we start our deluxe stay. Not having stayed value in 20 years, I made some assumptions about them and booked mods for that purpose instead. From now on, if I'm just traveling with the kids on arrival night, it's values for us!

Good luck with the house hunting! My parents have a home in SW Florida, and they winter there, which is part of my excuse for frequent WDW visits. What are your Dec dates? When I was a teenager, we spent the holidays at WDW - one of our Poly stays in the 80s - and we all loved it.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

This is where I just learned a huge lesson - we've been booking mods for our late night arrivals or extra night before we start our deluxe stay. Not having stayed value in 20 years, I made some assumptions about them and booked mods for that purpose instead. From now on, if I'm just traveling with the kids on arrival night, it's values for us!

Good luck with the house hunting! My parents have a home in SW Florida, and they winter there, which is part of my excuse for frequent WDW visits. What are your Dec dates? When I was a teenager, we spent the holidays at WDW - one of our Poly stays in the 80s - and we all loved it.

Our family will be at WL CL december 18-26. Then Mom is flying down the 26th and I will meet her at the airport and head to The Villages. We have a tour scheduled there over that first weekend and Mom is considering staying about a month or so to get a feel for it. I have a feeling she is going to love what they offer there.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Can the CL CMs also assist with changing FP+? One of the things I really like about the FP+ system is the ability to change!

Yes. We only asked once. In our case, I missed my FP. (We changed hotels. I sent everyone ahead, while I took care of transferring luggage. ) The CM was great!

I wonder if that is really all that helpful, because this summer we did the lines at the kiosk to get more fastpasses at MK and HS. And it was pretty quick (no more than 7-10 minutes at the most) not much trouble or anything of that nature so the texting thing is neat, but not a huge benefit in my eyes (unless they could help with hard to get FPs).

You are welcome! I probably shouldn't give all this away, but...

We were able to text the CM with our next FP request the moment we scanned our magic bands. DH was great! As soon as our bands were scanned, he hit send. As the week wore on, and we got better at creating smart requests, we often had our next FP while we were still in the queue! In a manner of speaking- we had our next FP BEFORE we'd finished using the last.

Guests can't use a kiosk until AFTER they exit the ride, locate a kiosk, walk to the kiosk, stand in line, etc. Using the kiosks is longer than just the kiosk line: it is the sum of the parts. Add afternoon temps in the upper 90's while we were there!

On our MK days, once we used our three FP, we spent the rest of our park time using one FP after another, except when we chose breaks. We had loose plans to break by 2pm, but it was hard to leave with continuous FP's.
No, the CM's can't get what isn't available, and that's a significant limit. By late afternoon, all Mt FP were gone. At Epcot, FP for Soarin' were gone by the time we used our 3FP, but we had a late start that day.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I did something crazy to my foot on our last trip. DS and I came out of the Country Bear Jamboree and the sky was dark green and looked like it was about to storm really bad! So I grabbed his hand and we booked it to the monorail as fast as we could without running. I had flip flops on which weren't very thick or supportive and ever since then I've had this sore place on my heel that feels like a bruise. And it's been almost a month! I love the walking but I agree sometimes the pain can really be brutal. I need to wear sneakers more, but I always feel like my feet are so sweaty and confined. Someone needs to develop a flip flop that has a sneaker sole!

It might be your plantar Fasciitis. One cure is wearing sneakers with special insoles. An orthopedist can help. In the meantime, it may help to roll your foot on a tennis ball (or similar). Consider also a pedicure/leg massage and elevating your foot when sitting.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

This is where I just learned a huge lesson - we've been booking mods for our late night arrivals or extra night before we start our deluxe stay. Not having stayed value in 20 years, I made some assumptions about them and booked mods for that purpose instead. From now on, if I'm just traveling with the kids on arrival night, it's values for us!

We also sometimes stay the first night in a value. Other options are offsite places, the Hyatt at MCO, reward points stays.

We've also done less-than-CL last night stays as well. If you've got a very early flight, it just makes sense to stay close to the airport.

 

[BabyFu18]

You are welcome! I probably shouldn't give all this away, but...

We were able to text the CM with our next FP request the moment we scanned our magic bands. DH was great! As soon as our bands were scanned, he hit send. As the week wore on, and we got better at creating smart requests, we often had our next FP while we were still in the queue! In a manner of speaking- we had our next FP BEFORE we'd finished using the last.

Guests can't use a kiosk until AFTER they exit the ride, locate a kiosk, walk to the kiosk, stand in line, etc. Using the kiosks is longer than just the kiosk line: it is the sum of the parts. Add afternoon temps in the upper 90's while we were there!

On our MK days, once we used our three FP, we spent the rest of our park time using one FP after another, except when we chose breaks. We had loose plans to break by 2pm, but it was hard to leave with continuous FP's.
No, the CM's can't get what isn't available, and that's a significant limit. By late afternoon, all Mt FP were gone. At Epcot, FP for Soarin' were gone by the time we used our 3FP, but we had a late start that day.

Nice info!

Making your next FastPass while in the queue to get on your ride is nice, I can see it being really nice if you make all your original three fastpasses for early in the morning, then you can just continue getting more fastpasses throughout the day back to back by text. Very nice feature for people who start early, if you start later in the day probably not gonna help much unless you get the big stuff with your initial three fastpasses and leave the less crowded rides for those text fastpasses.

I think there needs to be some serious strategizing to make the most out of your original fastpasses as well as the text to FastPass feature!

 

[ixmnrs]

Yes. We only asked once. In our case, I missed my FP. (We changed hotels. I sent everyone ahead, while I took care of transferring luggage. ) The CM was great!




You are welcome! I probably shouldn't give all this away, but...

We were able to text the CM with our next FP request the moment we scanned our magic bands. DH was great! As soon as our bands were scanned, he hit send. As the week wore on, and we got better at creating smart requests, we often had our next FP while we were still in the queue! In a manner of speaking- we had our next FP BEFORE we'd finished using the last.

Guests can't use a kiosk until AFTER they exit the ride, locate a kiosk, walk to the kiosk, stand in line, etc. Using the kiosks is longer than just the kiosk line: it is the sum of the parts. Add afternoon temps in the upper 90's while we were there!

On our MK days, once we used our three FP, we spent the rest of our park time using one FP after another, except when we chose breaks. We had loose plans to break by 2pm, but it was hard to leave with continuous FP's.
No, the CM's can't get what isn't available, and that's a significant limit. By late afternoon, all Mt FP were gone. At Epcot, FP for Soarin' were gone by the time we used our 3FP, but we had a late start that day.

This was the best feature of being a CL guest (CR) and it was easy to use and helpful on many occasions on our trip!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Yes. We only asked once. In our case, I missed my FP. (We changed hotels. I sent everyone ahead, while I took care of transferring luggage. ) The CM was great! You are welcome! I probably shouldn't give all this away, but... We were able to text the CM with our next FP request the moment we scanned our magic bands. DH was great! As soon as our bands were scanned, he hit send. As the week wore on, and we got better at creating smart requests, we often had our next FP while we were still in the queue! In a manner of speaking- we had our next FP BEFORE we'd finished using the last. Guests can't use a kiosk until AFTER they exit the ride, locate a kiosk, walk to the kiosk, stand in line, etc. Using the kiosks is longer than just the kiosk line: it is the sum of the parts. Add afternoon temps in the upper 90's while we were there! On our MK days, once we used our three FP, we spent the rest of our park time using one FP after another, except when we chose breaks. We had loose plans to break by 2pm, but it was hard to leave with continuous FP's. No, the CM's can't get what isn't available, and that's a significant limit. By late afternoon, all Mt FP were gone. At Epcot, FP for Soarin' were gone by the time we used our 3FP, but we had a late start that day.

Can they do this if u are park hopping? Holding out hope for the slim chance that i might be able to get a PM Soarin FP this way.

 

[thisismyusername]

Does anyone have a good estimate of when the BC CL refurb will be complete? Any chance it might be done by the beginning of December?

 

[vettegirl]

Does anyone have a good estimate of when the BC CL refurb will be complete? Any chance it might be done by the beginning of December?

The IPO told me via email it should be done by then. I am hoping to new rooms are too.

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[thisismyusername]

The IPO told me via email it should be done by then. I am hoping to new rooms are too.

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Thanks! I am only considering one night there at the end of our trip, mainly to check it out for a longer stay next summer, but I'd really want the lounge AND the room to be finished. Does anyone know how long the BW CL lounge and room renovation took? I'm assuming it would be a similar timeframe, right?

On the same note, we had two really disappointing experiences with YC CL. Do you think that BC CL is a better experience? Our issues were mainly with the condition of our room, an unenthusiastic staff and poor housekeeping. Does the BC/YC share CL and housekeeping staff?

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Can they do this if u are park hopping? Holding out hope for the slim chance that i might be able to get a PM Soarin FP this way.

Yes, you can text ahead when hopping! The first time we planned to hop, we texted three times and got no response. We assumed the answer was no.

When I asked, staff said this was SO new, they weren't 100% sure. (I kind of like stumping staff sometimes!) They checked up the management ranks for me!, and came back with "I think you should be able to request ahead, even before you enter the second park."

The next day, it worked. So in the case of hopping, TEXTING ahead offers a HUGE advantage over in-park kiosks. I think even MDE requires you to be in a given park. I don't know.

[I tried using MDE twice this past trip. Both times, DH's text messages were ANSWERED, and provided fresh FP's, faster than I could get MDE to even LOAD to my phone! We had FP's before I could even look up wait times. We also had a few questions answered via the texting service. Janice was super fast! We barely talked to live staff because most of our needs were taken care of via texting.


The flip side of that is I would not expect to get a FP for Soarin' this way, unless it's a rather slow day, or the FP is for late in the day. I think FP for Soarin' run out early. For us, FP+ has kind of come to mean skipping Soarin'.

We'd rather ride TT. If S! is a priority, use one of your first 3FP+ for it. On the DIS, we very much need a shorthand expression for the 3pre-booked FP+...what about "3preFP"?