Posted this on the WL thread, but repeating here! Forgot to add that we loved the mini magic bars during dessert!
We're home from spring break and don't even know where to start with our fantastic WL stay! This was our third stay at WL, but our first stay in the Old Faithful Club. Wow. We've stayed in all the CLs except for YC, and Old Faithful is our new favorite. A quick review:
Check-In. We arrived via taxi after spending a couple nights at Pop. A CM was waiting for us and already knew we had a CL reservation (not always the case at other resorts, in our experience.) He took us upstairs where CM Mike finished our check-in. This guy is great. Friendly, genuine, informative, helpful. Gave us a quick tour of the club lounge (including the very important "to go" cups!) explained operating hours and invited us to ask for anything we needed while the serving area was closed. (More on that later.) Told us our room would be ready shortly (even though it was around 9am!) and that it was overlooking the inner courtyard as requested. When our room ready notification arrived (about 15 minutes later!) Mike offered to take our luggage ticket and they called for Bell Services. He showed us to our room, checked to see the magic bands worked and said luggage should arrive shortly. About 10 minutes later, Mike calls the room to apologize the luggage hasn't arrived yet and took the initiative to check on status with Bell Services. Luggage arrives and we're on our way to MK. We're already loving this - they are really on top of things at WL CL.
Lounge. I love this lounge. I love the view into the lobby. I love the view out to the lake. I love the fact that the children's area is visible from all around the lounge but we're all spread out comfortably. Wonderful to have all that space. Truly relaxing. Everything about this lounge is comfortable and I so appreciate that the seating area is available even when the food service area is closed. Speaking of which, when Mike said we could ask for something while the food service area was closed, he meant it. Every time we asked for a soda, wine or snack, CMs were friendly, helpful and receptive. They went above-and-beyond repeatedly. For example, I asked for wine and a CM brought a glass of wine and a to-go cup with more for a refill. I asked whether I could check out a deluxe room because we might book one for our next visit and the CM (really wish I could remember his name - he was so helpful) gave me a quick tour and answered questions about the room type. We just enjoyed being there. And our oldest son declared that Keith is the best CM on property. We also love the CMs at BWI, but our teen sons are not as much into having a full conversation with CMs at this stage - so the WL CL CMs are a great fit for that right now.
Kids' area is really cute and well-located. Nice to have the crayons and coloring pages available. Our youngest son made many friends and we were fortunate to have a great group of fellow guests there during our stay.
Breakfast is just OK, but we're not really into breakfast anyway. I do prefer the hard boiled eggs and the meats/cheeses they offered at BC this weekend. Evening appetizers, however, were great. Since this was our first CL stay at WL, we can't compare it to offerings in the past. But WL offered so much food - we were very surprised. Just a bit of what I can recall . . . one hot appetizer (examples: chicken tenders, conch fritters, bacon wrapped scallops), a soup (salmon chowder, beef stew) a salad (caesar, caprese) a sandwich (egg salad on roll, turkey roll ups) cheese and crackers, fruit, veggies and dip, sourdough bread with red pepper hummus and gouda spread. We never use CL as a meal substitute, other than for breakfast, but we can't really eat much more after WL appetizers. In the future, we'll usually pair WL CL stays with TS lunches and CS dinners. It worked best when our dinner plans were for Territory Lounge or the F&G outdoor kitchen stands.
Rooms. We stayed at WL before the refurb and these rooms are such a significant improvement. It's not my favorite theme, but it's so well done that it doesn't matter. Beds are comfy and triple sheeting is clean and fresh. Appreciate the dimmer lights for the evening. I rarely comment on housekeeping, but they were great - we called late one night for extra bedding and they arrived within minutes. While I couldn't see out to the lake while sitting on the balcony, we had a beautiful view when standing and I liked the enclosed balcony while reading. Love the faux wood entry and the bathroom is clean, well-themed and very cute. Our room was incredibly close to the lounge, and that was another huge benefit.
Pool. The new splash pad is spectacular and our youngest son loves it. The pool slide is just OK, but as our oldest teen son says, we're not at Disney for the pool slide. The quiet pool looked great, and I'm hoping to spend time there during our next WL stay. It was the week before Easter, so the main pool was crowded, but that's the case everywhere. And we're not fans of the loud pool games, but again, that's everywhere and I get why all the resorts have them. I really appreciate the proximity of the pool to our room on the 7th floor - just a quick elevator ride and we're there.
Location/Transportation. There is some benefit to a more remote location, and all the other great things about WL on this trip made that apparent. It's so quiet, peaceful and remote. The quick boat ride to CR gave us access to the monorail and everything around it. On a rainy afternoon, we traveled to Poly - and actually enjoyed the journey. We used the bus sometimes, but we really loved mixing it up with boats and the monorail. Yay for Captain Carl and his pirate jokes.

We walked the path to Fort Wilderness one evening - a fun mini adventure and nostalgic to see the front of the old River Country that's now Mickey's Backyard BBQ. We're looking forward to renting sea racers during our next stay.
WL CL exceeded our expectations in so many ways - we'll be back next year!