Just back- Food @ Concierge - IMHO...

[nasmith]

Lori- I totally agree with you- that was probably the part I loved best too- being able to escape to the lounge while the boys napped (Hubbie and son) and have a cup of coffee! I too met some great people!! Jill

 

[Cinderella37]

One of the best benefits of oncierge is the itinerary planning. I don't have the time nor the patience to call and make priority seatings, tee times for my fiance, etc. Also, at the BWI, the Concierge Deluxe room is much larger than a standard room with a lovely Boardwalk view. The staff is wonderful and accommodates us with special requests. They get hard to get priority seatings at a moment's notice if we change our mind about a restaurant.

The lounge is also an added bonus. My fiance is an early riser (I am not) and he likes the convenience of walking a few feet down the hall to get coffee in the morning and a light breakfast. The other food offerings are wonderful for snacks during the day or at night. I love concierge service and think it is totally worth the extra money.

 

[BCV23]

Jill, don't you love early December! It's been years since we've been able to go at that time of the year but we loved it when our children were very small.

The small red trays have always been at Polynesian concierge in our limited experience. That's what I use.

Glad you enjoyed your stay and I enjoyed reading your review!

 

[SnowWitch]

Before we became DVC members we enjoyed the concierge levels at several of the resorts and we saw this many times over. We never really used the food portion with the exception being breakfast because it was quick. And have to agree totally about going back to the resort at certain times takes to much time away from the parks.

 

[twinmomplus2]

There were many a day That I may have wanted to run to the lounge in my jammies. But never would have. If it's not socialy acceptable to go to the Mara in your jammies. than why would it be so in the Kilamanjaro club?
I can not see how people could see the lounge as a replacement for dinner?
Telling your kids to forget dinner and wait for the desserts?
I will say the cost of the room does not justify the extra expense. That is not what I believe it was designed for. It's acess to the other perks such as relaxing in the lounge, itinerary planning etc...
My take on club level is a little differant, I stay AKL club level at the end of my week park hopping, When I get there Iam in the lounge quite abit, Because the whole point for us is to relax and enjoy the resort. I would not stay club level if I was not going to be around that would seem silly to me... But thats just me. If you are there soley for the food, trust me take the extra 200 per night and buy lots of room service. To each his own. I could care less what people are eating, bringing back to thier rooms whatever. I am on vacation. Let the staff worry about it. When it's enough I am sure they will attend to any thing that is a problem.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Just one question... how does the concierge lounge get that busy? I mean I realize it was Christmas... but why do they have THAT many rooms at concierge level to let it get that crowded? Do they have TONS of rooms at concierge level? I would have thought it wasn't that many to keep this type of crowding from happening? I mean the whole point of the lounge is to "lounge"- not stand around hoping for a seat/table with long lines and such. That doesn't sound very relaxing to me at all!

 

[tnkrbell]

oridgianlly posted by Tinky:Maybe this is a totally different topic but I'm curious....
What are everyone's opinions on folks going to the lounges in their jammies?

I am a total Polynesian fan and we stay there more often than not but I'm sorry folks.... I dont want to see everyone in their jammies at breakfast time. Sorry and I will probably get flamed for this one.

Curious to hear a different perspective.


Well i can see not wanting people going barefoot,and in boxers,nightgown ect... to the lounge!!lol When I say in my pjs I mean lounge pants and shoes (and of coarse a shirt!!)
And if that offends people well let me tell you I have seen people in what they feel is appropriate attire that I found waaaaay more offending!!!! lol

 

[susy]

I haven't (yet) stayed concierge, but had the opportunity to see what all the fuss was about when my inlaws stayed concierge at the WL over Thanksgiving. The food offerings looked fine enough and after staying for five nights it would be a lot easier to go down to a lounge for breakfast and snacks than going to roaring forks every five minutes.

If we stayed concierge, this is how I see us using the food offerings (in particular). First of all, let me say that we are not big eaters. We have to share at WDW or lots of food will be going in the garbage.


we would do:
Breakfast in the lounge
Sit-down lunch at the parks
we usually break after lunch, so we would be around for tea, etc.
and we usually return to the parks around 5:30 or so. We would probably eat the evening offerings and head to the park. I can't imagine us being hungry enough to go to another sit-down meal after eating an appetizer sized "meal". We would, of course, eat any desert that might be left over after we returned that evening.

We usually eat one big meal a day at WDW and breakfast in our room and a counter service meal (which we split). The bottom line for me is:The convenience would be what I am paying for, rather than the actual food itself.

 

[CRCrazy]

We have stayed concierge level at both AKL and the Poly, and a big factor has been the food offerings - not the dinner, but the breakfasts!

We are a family of five, and the difference between a GV concierge and a regular GV Poly room was about $50/night, using the AP rates. It was even less of a difference at the AKL, about $35 difference between deluxe savannah (needed for a family of five) and the concierge level.

While the AKL's Sunrise Safari was the impetus for our first concierge stay, the price differential made it well worth our while to remain at the concierge level on subsequent trips.

My girls LOVE fresh fruit, juice, milk and hot oatmeal for breakfast, and it would cost almost $10 dollars per person to obtain what they eat at the Mara ($2 - juice, $1.50 milk, $3 oatmeal, $3-4 fruit bowl) In addition, they do not drink soda, so the refillable mugs are no help to them. Just eating breakfast, we have recouped the additional cost of concierge, and the atmosphere of eating in the lounge is so much nicer than at the food courts.

While I certainly would not rush home from a park to be able to participate in the evening offerings, we are often enjoying the resort at that time of day. For example, we had PS for Jiko one night, so we headed up to the lounge for appetizers and a glass of wine before our PS, saving us the cost of both of these downstairs - as well as giving us the opportunity to try out different things that we probably wouldn't have tried at $7-8/plate for appetizers. We did skip dinner several nights on our last trip - we ate a big lunch at around 2-3 pm, and so weren't hungry for a real dinner - the lounges offerings were just enough to keep us satisfied!

When we were at the Poly in November, they did still have the bottled waters out and available later in the day, and they encouraged us to take some to put in the refrigerator in our rooms for another time! We didn't really need to do this, as the AKL concierge had given us larger bottles of Dasani when we checked out there as a farewell gift. The bottles just weren't out in the early mornings at breakfast time when people were headed to the parks, I guess.

I have never, and would never, go to the lounges in my pj's - just not my style. As long as kids were appropriately covered though, I guess it didn't bother me. What did bother me, was the parents letting the kid's free for all through the food. I saw kids taking bites out of fruit, etc, then putting it back, at both lounges. In this day and age, with all the funky bugs around, kids need to learn about food safety and sanitation!

 

[luvsTink]

Tnkrbll..I am with you. We are going on our first trip to the world (not concierge....but I am curious and this thread has been helpful) and I see no problem with what people wear to a food court/vip lounge/continental bkfst, etc. Of course, a bustier and thong would probably raise my eyebrow....jammie pants or sweats I think are ok. I personally love that some people are comfortable enough with themselves to not always have to "present". As said, I will not be concierge, in fact we will be taking up 2 rooms at the new POP. I will guarantee that around 6:30 am you will find me at the food court in my sweats, all blurry eyed, looking for caffeine! And about that caffeine, reading this thread has made me think that confierge may be worth it to have consistent access to good coffee! still can't believe that most places serve nescafe!


Anne

 

[Sally Bradley]

I seriously thought about concierge on our recent trip (just back Dec 16-23 at GF and AKL). But the whole pt of the trip was to do a big blow-out. We had PS every morning for a different character breakfast and ps's every nite for a character or major dinner. We skipped lunch, as we weren't hungry after the huge breakfast. I decided in the end with all those huge meals, and the fact that I make my own ps and other show ressies that there really was no pt spending the extra money for concierge. Didn't miss it at all...we did more on this trip than if we had stayed concierge!

Sally

 

[PamNC]

we've stayed in concierge twice. Once at YC and once at BC. Now, I must admit we were upgraded both times free of charge. Miracle, huh? Anyway, the only time we used the lounge as our "restaurant" was for breakfast - and that wasn't every single day. We still wanted to get out and enjoy breakfast at other places. So, obviously, I totally agree with your post! We did use the lounge for a quick snack in the evening IF we had the munchies. We liked being able to grab a water as well. Other than that, I would HATE going to the lounge for every single meal and not enjoying the wonderful dining options WDW has to offer. Plus, it isn't really relaxing to me. We would get our breakfast and bring it back to the room and eat on the balcony.

But, I guess different strokes for different folks.

By the way, I don't think I'd feel comfortable being pajama-clad. LOL

PamNC

 

[LvsTnk]

People really wear those pajama pants alot now! We saw them lot's this trip even in the parks. I guess it's me but I never allow my kids out of the room in those.

As for the line ups, I have seen them almost every trip at the Polynesain during the 4th of July or spring break, so could be the time of year. I just will not wait in a line when we have dinner plans already, so most nights just skipped it. I do feel that the planning and better views (paid for) are definatlely worth it for us. We also liked being able to get bottled water on our way to the parks but that is out in all the lounges now.

At the AKL and BWI the planning CM's are excellent, and still like the better view available with the deluxe room at the BWI. Never really saw any lines at either.

Bottom line is we just love the extra's besides the food that concierge has to offer, I definately would not base my decision to stay at that level solely on that.

 

[Sally Bradley]

I think I might be able to explain the pajama pants thing. My DD is a member of both competitive dance and gymnastics teams.

About 2 yrs ago, the older (teenaged) members of both teams starting wearing pj pants over their workout leotards to and from the gym...that was generally accompanied by various flipflops or even slipon bedroom slippers. Of course, the kids fashion required that the elastic on the top of the pj bottoms be folded over at least once or twice. The younger kids caught on...and now among the kids on our teams, the fashion is de rigeur. I guess I've become used to it.

But I wouldnt be caught dead outside my house (or WDW room) with pj's on...and my daughter knows I find it unacceptable.

 

[DisneyMim]

nasmith, I agree with you, could not have said it better myself. What we noticed at the Poly during our last stay was that although they always had plenty of food out it was the same things all the time and the biggest thing we noticed was the lack of kid's stuff. They used to have those wrapped peanut butter and jelly uncrustables out, but now they are opened and cut into havles. They quite obviously, to me anyway, don't want people grabbing handfuls and taking them with them. They are meant for eating in the lounge. We also noticed tons of kids whining and crying they were hungry and parents yelling at them to just get something. Well, there wasn't a heck of a lot for the kids and it's so obvious that this is the way the staff wants it now. The concierge has always been for pre-dinner snacks, not for a meal. If you are staying concierge so you don't have to pay for meals, IMHO this is not what concierge is meant for. I think it has BECOME that over the years, but I think they are trying to go back to how it was always meant to be.

 

[Wendi]

The whole key to this jammie thing is "Tastefully Covered". We don't see anything wrong with the pj pants, shirt and shoes of some sort. After all, Most people I know consider their Longhouse or Building "HOME" for the week that they are there. I can completely understand NOT wanting to see someone in revealing, nasty or barely anything jammies, but I see kids and adults dressed in less at Wal-mart. Concierge does NOT mean Formal Attire, it does mean you need clothes on. What about the people that come in with Bathing Suits on???????????Is that as bad or worse than jammies? I saw a guy in a speedo in the lounge and personally he did NOT need to be wearing a speedo.
What about the woman who is wearing a 2 piece and really shouldn't be? So where do we draw the line? My daughter went down last January in her jammies with a bathrobe and slippers on to get a Bananna. We saw about 6 others doing the same. What about the Grandpa that needs to bring himself and Grandma a cup of Coffee to the room before they get dressed........you mean they have to get completely dressed to get coffee? There is such a fine line with what some think is proper. I think if it was a BIG deal they would state at check-in that NO JAMMIES, ROBES, BATHING SUITS, ETC. may be worn in the lounge. THEY DON'T.
If someone comes in offensive, ask a castmember to inform them to COVER UP a little. So for anyone at the Poly Concierge last January if you saw a little girl with long brownish/blond hair in a bathrobe..........Sorry, we told her it was fine. I hope I am not upsetting anyone with this post, but lets think for a minute and not judge the person "Tastefully Dressed" whether it's in jammies or street clothes. Let's worry about the speedo guys. If it wasn't for a little girl in her jammies last year we wouldn't have seen the cutest pair of jammies and found out that we could get them in DTD. We did get them too.

Thanks, Wendi

 

[wdwfan]

Originally posted by tnkrbell
WARNING!!! Anyone going to be at the beach club concierge from teh 10-14th you may see and my DD pajama clad getting coffee and donuts!!!ol
I will be the one in the tink pjs!!!! (Im not kidding!!)

This made me laugh because it brought back the memory of our Yacht Club concierge stay and the one woman who everyday wore her concierge bathrobe into the lounge in the morning! She was the only one and I just found it so odd at the time that she never got that "I feel kind of strange" kind of feeling Oh well, you do see it all at WDW!

We enjoyed concierge and there is no way you can eat and justify the cost difference. We got snacks whenever we felt like one, which was nice, but went to fabulous restaruants every night like California Grill, Yachtsman's Steakhouse, Narcoosee's, etc. It is a great experience!

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by Wendi
The whole key to this jammie thing is "Tastefully Covered". We don't see anything wrong with the pj pants, shirt and shoes of some sort. After all, Most people I know consider their Longhouse or Building "HOME" for the week that they are there. I can completely understand NOT wanting to see someone in revealing, nasty or barely anything jammies, but I see kids and adults dressed in less at Wal-mart. Concierge does NOT mean Formal Attire, it does mean you need clothes on. What about the people that come in with Bathing Suits on???????????Is that as bad or worse than jammies? I saw a guy in a speedo in the lounge and personally he did NOT need to be wearing a speedo.
What about the woman who is wearing a 2 piece and really shouldn't be? So where do we draw the line? My daughter went down last January in her jammies with a bathrobe and slippers on to get a Bananna. We saw about 6 others doing the same. What about the Grandpa that needs to bring himself and Grandma a cup of Coffee to the room before they get dressed........you mean they have to get completely dressed to get coffee? There is such a fine line with what some think is proper. I think if it was a BIG deal they would state at check-in that NO JAMMIES, ROBES, BATHING SUITS, ETC. may be worn in the lounge. THEY DON'T.
If someone comes in offensive, ask a castmember to inform them to COVER UP a little. So for anyone at the Poly Concierge last January if you saw a little girl with long brownish/blond hair in a bathrobe..........Sorry, we told her it was fine. I hope I am not upsetting anyone with this post, but lets think for a minute and not judge the person "Tastefully Dressed" whether it's in jammies or street clothes. Let's worry about the speedo guys. If it wasn't for a little girl in her jammies last year we wouldn't have seen the cutest pair of jammies and found out that we could get them in DTD. We did get them too.

Thanks, Wendi

I don't think they would ever have a sign stating no robes or jammies because they expect people to use their common sense. I guess they should also put a sign up telling people not to spit in the food, not to take an entire platter, and so on. I can see a small child in lounge pants but not an adult. If they are made to sleep in then leave them in the room. No one says concierge is formal attire but I think anyone that goes to a public area should wear appropriate clothing. Anyone with common sense should realize that jammies are NOT appropriate attire for a public place. Would you go to Captain Cooks in your jammies too? It is the same thing.

 

[Cinderella37]

Actually, at the BWI the sheet with a listing of the food offerings that is given to Guests states that wearing swimwear is prohibited (without a proper cover-up) and shoes must be worn at all times in the lounge.

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by Cinderella37
Actually, at the BWI the sheet with a listing of the food offerings that is given to Guests states that wearing swimwear is prohibited (without a proper cover-up) and shoes must be worn at all times in the lounge.

Well that is good to know. Obviously too many people came to concierge dressed inappropriately and they took action. I guess that when too many people come dressed in their jammies then that too will be added to the list.