Have you been "Bitten" by the Concierge "Bug"? aka The LIZARD LOUNGE!

[cajunfan]

Good afternoon all!

Hey BT...I noticed in your signature that you have both GFRPC AND Nantucket Suite...couldn't decide, so you are doing both! I LOVE it!

Debbie, thanks for redoing the lounge...it is fabulous....let me know if you need any help getting things moved about behind those lovely drapes .....

I can't justify going for a quick trip at Christmas right now (airfare AND kennel fees), so I have to settle for another trip next summer. (have to use the ap's before July 29, 2005). I am thinking about the Contemporary (my dh wants to stay there, and I loved the monorail). I will probably book a regular garden room. I am thinking about concierge there, but not sure that I would be happy with concierge light on the 12th floor. Oh well, something for me to plan!

I will leave out afternoon refreshments!

Lynn

 

[Alysa]

Okay, here I go, I guess I am going to book a GF Concierge Deluxe Guestroom... Does anyone have any advice for me about which room I should ask for? Ohhh! How thrilling and nerve-wracking! Are there ever any times when these room rates are reduced? Can you get CAA discounts or anything?

Just bumping!

 

[steveanddonna]

Wow! I just finished reading the entire 119 pages and feel like I've been to the best movie I've seen in a long time. Such wonderful characters, adventure, romance, trials and tribulations, heart-warming relationships and so much laughter.

I LOVE it! What a charming way to describe our humble thread!

I've been missing the thread so much, too busy to really sit down and savor the posts. Friends and family have been suffering many mishaps, misfortunes over the last few weeks and it has kept me busy with babysitting, errand-running, etc. I'm almost willing to let DH book that September weekend trip - I could use a little diversion!

GoofyJoofy and GoofysMuse so glad your trip was terrific - hope we'll be hearing more about it.

KerryCM - glad to see you back and doing well. Hope the recuperation continues along as it has so far.

Welcome to all the new Lizards - hope this becomes a home away from home away from Disney for you as it has for me.

Oh yes - who had Lasik surgery recently? Remember reading a post a week or so ago. PM me if you had this surgery - I have some ??? for you!

 

[samnbilly]

steveanddonna-I PM'd you.

 

[mickeygirl18976]

Thank you GoofyJoofy and inthemood. You are awsome.

Can I ask another quick question: How do you plan these things out keeping weather in mind? I have a list of things I want to do but our day's are depending on how the weather is going to be.

 

[steveanddonna]

Whoa! BIG scare! I just called CRO to check availability of discounts again for our Oct. trip. (No luck BTW ) In chatting w/the CM, she noticed that our Dec. ressie had a per night rate that didn't match the total, (only the view and not the room category show on the confirmation, so we had no way of noting this, since the rate on the conf. was what we were quoted for LVC) so we went over the reservation. Turns out that the original CM gave us the postcard rate for LVC, but didn't book LVC, just standard lagoon view. Those of you who are familiar w/captainconcierge know that this would NEVER fly. The wonderful CM today, Carlotta, checked availability again, and the room was available, but not with the discount. Since my deposit was in the amount of the LVC rate quoted, she called Guest Services, and after half an hour of them trying to figure out how to bypass the system, she called me back - ta da! got our original ressie with the discounted rate. Whew! I think from now on I will check my ressies even after the confirmation arrives, just to be safe!

Mickeygirl - we plan our itinerary with flexibility in mind - we have an idea of what park on what day so we can make PSs, but we don't adhere to it religiously. One of the nice things about staying concierge is that if you have to change your plans due to weather (flip which day you go to which park or whatever) the concierge staff can usually change your PS's in a matter of minutes (except for a few tough-to-get ressies) and it's so much more convenient than going to the GCH and standing in line. You just have to kind of plan with perfect weather in mind, and be flexible when it doesn't turn out that way!

 

[mickeygirl18976]

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! steveanddonna


I will get the hang of this CL stuff!!!!! So now I just have to finalize my plans and get ahold of our IPO.
I feel better now.

 

[#1hockeymom]

I totally concur with SteveandDonna with the PS ressies. I probably make at the most two a day, usually just one, with some days of no reservations at all. Every day when we REALLY know where we'll be, we change and add reservations! I have never had a problem getting last minute reservations *crossing fingers* and have even managed to snag Cindy's for breakfast at two weeks out! *THANK YOU AKL IPO!* concierge adds a calmness to everything! (I can see the commercial now; "Go concierge, it is like prozac for your vacation!")

I am glad everyone likes the new view(s)! Did I mention the characters will come in every three hours, too! Please stay safe, everyone in or about to go to Florida in the next few days!

Debbie

 

[GoofyJoofy]

Originally posted by mickeygirl18976
Thank you GoofyJoofy and inthemood. You are awsome.

Can I ask another quick question: How do you plan these things out keeping weather in mind? I have a list of things I want to do but our day's are depending on how the weather is going to be.

mickeygirl18976 - You can ask as many questions as you need or want to.

I was not sure what you were asking until I read what steveanddonna said. It depends on what the weather is and what your plan is. For instance, we had a PS at San Angel (Mexico pavillion in Epcot) our first night. Well it started to rain, and rain heavy. We just donned our ponchos and headed to Epcot. We ate dinner, did the boat ride, then donned our ponchoes again and toured a few other countries before lining up on the bridge to watch Illuminations.

You do have to be flexilbe though. On our MGM day, Rock-n-Rollercoaster was down all day and into the evening. Not weather related but still a downer. So the kids never got there and we stayed later than we planned.
Another day we came back to our resort late in the afternoon for a swim break. By the time everyone got their bathing suites on, the lightening closed the pool.

You also have to keep an eye on how tired and warn out everyone is. Even though you want to squeeze in one more ride/attraction/show sometimes it will push one or more of you over the edge and bring on the Grumpies.

#1hockeymom - That was so funny!

Originally posted by #1hockymom
I can see the commercial now; "Go concierge, it is like prozac for your vacation!"

Hope school is going well. My DChildren start tomorrow (9/2) and DS just got glasses today! On the drive home from the optician, he said "The trees have leaves!" Since before all he saw was a green blob.

 

[ValerieK]

Originally posted by steveanddonna
Whoa! BIG scare! I just called CRO to check availability of discounts again for our Oct. trip. (No luck BTW ) In chatting w/the CM, she noticed that our Dec. ressie had a per night rate that didn't match the total, (only the view and not the room category show on the confirmation, so we had no way of noting this, since the rate on the conf. was what we were quoted for LVC) so we went over the reservation. Turns out that the original CM gave us the postcard rate for LVC, but didn't book LVC, just standard lagoon view. Those of you who are familiar w/captainconcierge know that this would NEVER fly. The wonderful CM today, Carlotta, checked availability again, and the room was available, but not with the discount. Since my deposit was in the amount of the LVC rate quoted, she called Guest Services, and after half an hour of them trying to figure out how to bypass the system, she called me back - ta da! got our original ressie with the discounted rate. Whew! I think from now on I will check my ressies even after the confirmation arrives, just to be safe![

Ok now you have me worried. We got our confirmation for our Oct trip. No where on the confirmation does it say Conceirge, it has the correct rate and we got the Itinerary Planner in the mail the same day with the correct date on it. I guess I should call to make sure.

We had GVC booked at rack rate and I have on hold a regular GV room, a LV room and LVC room. I should save the money and book the GV room, but I have convinced myself that we need to stay concierge. Our original plan was to do standard lagoon view, and with the AP rate the LVC is only $300 more. My DS would eat that much in Sushi! (Just kidding! )

I have also booked conceirge our first night at the WL in Dec. We will be arriving early in the day and going to MVMCP that evening so I want a place to hang out with DD3 if our room isn't ready. Plus we will be celebrating our Anniversary during that trip, so I thought I would splurge.

 

[steveanddonna]

ValerieK since you got your itinerary planner from concierge, I'm sure they have your booking listed that way. we had gotten the planner for Oct. but not Dec., but I never thought anything of it since I usually initiate contact anyways. I'm just glad Carlotta was so totally on the ball. Neither she nor the Guest Services manager with whom she spoke knew that the room category isn't listed on the confirmation. She did say she was going to bring that up in a meeting.

She also thought it was funny that I sounded so horrified when I said it HAD to be concierge, because my DH would flip out if it weren't. And to think I used to think primitive camping was a great vacation!

 

[samnbilly]

steveanddonna,
I PM'd you again. Hey our counters are close. I'll be at the GF from 10/23-11/1! I'll be the poor woman with a whining husband who is now an official LL. Still trying to change my ressie with no luck. Still hoping.

 

[ValerieK]

oh no. The CM is confused. I had a TA book my original ressie, but she didn't get me a AP rate, so I called and found one myself. So the TA is supposed to give me the original ressie back and I am going to cancel it and keep the LVC that I have on hold. The CM doesn't know what the TA did, but the ressie doesn't look right. And she can't find the LVC ressie for the first 2 nights of our trip. I am on hold while she talks to a supervisor.

 

[storybookmum]

....Hi, I'm Kris. We're heading to WDW in 3 months. My IL's will be with us the first four nights (we're all driving up from their condo in Fort Myers), and then the last two nights we're on our own. They wanted to go moderate for the combined stay, so we're at POR for 4 nights (a first for us). The last two nights we're AKL bound. I have Deluxe Savannah bunks reserved; I'm upgrading to CL. I don't know how/whether to tell DH; he's pretty mild, go with the flow, let's hope the stock market pays for this kind of guy, but I'm not sure I can get this one by him...perhaps a surprise is in order (not our marital style, either, though....).

I want the sunrise safari for two or three of us. DD#1 will want to go FOR SURE, and my SD will probably want to. DD#2 would want to, but I'm not taking her, and DH will be happier not, he doesn't care enough. So he and my little one can hang out in the room and we'll do the safari. I can't get it without being concierge.

The five of us eating breakfast and at least one afternoon of snacks in the lounge will help defray that extra cost...right? And DH and I can sneak off to the lounge after the girls are all sleeping (SD is turning 13) and have some grownup time....

I'm worried about losing the Savannah view. Who would ever want a pool view at AKL? What would be the point of concierge pool view????? I'd rather have what I have now in Deluxe than lose the savannah. (btw, are all the concierge rooms on the horseshoe savannah?)

Tell me more, please, about what you get with concierge. This is so out of our league it isn't funny. This'll be my 3rd trip to Disney. 1st was 2 days in 1997 when IL's treated us to 2 days at Magic Kingdom with an overnight at All-Star Sports. 2nd was 1 day in 1998 at MGM (both while visiting in Fort Myers). 3rd was 4 days in 2000 while pregnant, at All-Star Music.

This time we've got seven or eight days (may stay overnight off-site last night if we're too tired to drive home), and I thought POR was a nice upgrade until I started really looking at AKL, and talking to DH about how the girls (who still don't know we'll be at AKL at the end) would lose their minds...we had to go Deluxe Savannah for the 5 people in the room, and that seemed so expensive...now I'm talking another $85 a night....yipes. Convert that into Cdn$ and I think I've lost my mind...

Of course, I'll be continuing to try for the FR rate (we have our FL driver's licences because of the condo in Fort Myers)...but I can't count on that.....

I think I'm still on the fence, but oh, my, what a grande finale that would be.

Hey, by the way...if I'm only staying CL for the last two nights, can I still turn over my ressies to the CL people? I suppose not, hmm? I'm partway done, I have the first three days' PS already, and I GOT CRT on the first try, which was great. Tomorrow I book my DD#1's Pirate Cruise.

Please, tell me more about the perks....I tried my best, but only got through 16 pages....I'm utterly neglecting my family, and this is my last day of vacation, tomorrow it's back to work, blah, with no time off till this trip (November 22, hurry up now!).

Thank you for bearing with this epic.

Kris

 

[steveanddonna]

Thanks for the Lasik info, samnbilly. I keep making up my mind then chickening out - it's not as easy as deciding where to stay at WDW!

ValerieK I'm so glad you double-checked! I hope it all works out. The manager from Guest Services was very accommodating and helpful, and Carlotta went out of her way to straighten this out for me.

WELCOME STORYBOOKMUM!

Thanks for the fabulous redo, #1hockeymom! Breakfast goodies are on our stunning new sideboard - enjoy!

 

[minniesota]

Good morning, all! I hope Frances moves in another direction - it sounds like a big one. I have a question about IPO. How long does it take them to contact you? Do you always get a planning packet? Our stay is in 7 weeks so I'm getting a little anxious. I did e-mail GF Planning and got a quick response regarding suite location requests ("we'll do what we can, no guarantee..) and then I made a few other inquiries. It's been a week and no response. Is that standard? Thanks for the help!

And thanks for the delicious treats this morning. I love the way the morning sun is bringing out the beautiful pattern in the draperies! Please pass the croissants...

 

[johnsonet]

Minniesota - over a week is not the way AKL IPO or BWI/BC/YC IPO operates, I can tell you that!
I would email them again and be very specific with your requests and that you are waiting to hear from them. You may want to wait until Frances has passed or you may want to go ahead and email them right now.
Good luck!

 

[TammiMcMan]

minniesota, in all the times that I've stayed GF, I've never once received a pre-planning packet. If you have any arrangements that you'd like them to make, either e-mail them the information or call directly. It's disappointing that the resorts don't all follow the same standards for concierge guests. We have an upcoming stay in December at YC CL and I got a huge packet from my pre-planner Annalisa. It had the concierge questionnaire, resort information, park maps, recreation info, etc.

Tammi

 

[minniesota]

Thanks, ladies! I guess the message is not to expect much from GF IPO. I will follow up today with a phone call - I don't even have a name, just "Planning Staff" was included on the return e-mail. I'll be patient until Frances decides what to do. Do you think I can ask for a packet with maps, etc.? My kids would love drooling over them before they drift off to sleep!

 

[storybookmum]

I'm in the AKL lounge, ladies!

My nerves....please pass some chocolate, and pray as I break the news to DH, or, um, maybe don't....

Yipes!

Kris