Justifying cost of conceirge level-BC

[minniemmom]

We're trying to decide if Conceirge would be worth the money for us. We have a standard room booked with DU at AP rate. Conceirge was quoted to be $150 more/per night. We're travelling with myself, DH, DS's-13 & 15, and DS's friend-15. We stayed at Dolphin Club Level this past Christmas/NY and was not impressed at all. We usually only spend time in the hotel for breakfast. Do those of you who are on Conceirge Level really return to the hotel for all or most of the offerings? Is it really that great at the BC? Please let me know how it is worth it for you. Thanks for your help!

 

[sparp5]

We are staying at the BC conceirge in Nov. The reason we choose the conceirge is for convenience. It will be my 3 DS (9, 12 and 15) and my husband and me. I like the convenience of being able to catch breakfast there in the morning (we do plan one breakfast at the Kona Cafe in the Poly) not having to fight the crowds at a sit down restaurant that my sons probably won't eat at anyway is wasted time to me. The other reason is at night with the snacks and cordials. It will be great to come back have a glass of wine and dessert - again I don't have to stop anywhere to get the kids a snack. We probably will be at the parks most of the time so I don't think we will get a chance to take advantage of the other offerings. The last thing is Amy the planner for the YC and BC is awesome. She's worth the money alone. She's taking care of a gift basket for the boys on arrival and each day after the parks a surprise will be left for each boy. She also handle all you PS and I hear sometimes they are able to get the hard to get ones like CRT and the fireworks cruise.

It's probably not worth the extra money unless you going to use the services. We been to disney 3 times in the past three years and conceirge was the only thing we havn't tried so we thought we try it out this time.

Good luck deciding.

 

[dtuleya]

I know for our next trip we will be booking concierge. We were offered it at checkin at the WL and turned it down. On Thanksgiving Day we had to pass through the concierge floor and realized what we were missing. It would have only been another $35/night to upgrade from a courtyard view. If you are unsure you could always ask at checkin and see if they do something similar at the BC.

I think it depends on how many people are in your party. $150/night more for two people is alot harder to swallow than if you have 4 people who will be eating. I try to figure out how much your food budget is and if you think it is going to help keep those costs down.

 

[>>^..^<<]

Yours is such a common question - justifying the extra cost of concierge or is it worth it.

You will not eat/drink enough food to cover the extra cost unless you partake of every daily & evening offering.

You have to decide if the convenience of having it available is worth it.

Do you like the idea of a separate exclusive check in area? or a CM who will make all your advance arrangements for you?

Do you like the idea that there is somewhere to go and relax while you are waiting for others in your party to have a shower, get dressed ect.?

Do you like the idea of being on an exclusive floor that requires a key card to access?

Do you think it would be nice to have your room freshened up in the evening with fresh towels, your beds turned down, chocolate, full ice bucket.. waiting for you when you arrive home?

If you enjoy convenience and luxury then concierge is worth every penny - if you are just thinking about breakfast - then it is probably not.

A earlier poster mentioned upgrading at WL for 35.00 per night.

I am not knocking WL - this is a gorgeous hotel - but there seems to be even different levels of concierge services between hotels - Poly, GF, BWI, BC, YC & AKL seem to be on a different level from that at WL, GF-SC & CR.

I have never heard of anyone upgrading locally to concierge at AKL, BC, YC, GF, BWI or Poly for anything but the full daily concierge charge which is at least 100+++++ a night.

Also when you upgrade locally you miss the whole experience of the advance itinerary planners - to my experience you have better tables, with little to no waiting at restaurants. It is really a treat and they are able to book "hard to get" things such as illuminations cruises, CRT , V&A... etc...

Good Luck deciding,

>>^..^<<

 

[LvsTnk]

Just wanted others reading this thread to be aware not all concierge is the same on property. You may not have a separate check in area, your room may not be on a keyed floor, your ice bucket may not be filled every night, and some planning offices are definately better than others.

Some also have far better food service than others as well as the availability of cold drinks.

Do your research on the individual services and make sure it is right for you.

Happy Planning!

 

[JayCT]

We (DW,DS 7,DS 5 and me) did concierge at the Poly last year and loved it. We found that it was worth it for us. We ate all of our breakfasts there, plus dinner four of the seven nights we were there. We had a nice meal at lunchtime at the parks and went back to the hotel and ate the concierge offerings in the evening. It was great to take the food down to the pool and eat while the kids swam. Also, they had bottled water and drinks all day, plus snacks. We are planning to do it again next year.

 

[minniemmom]

Thanks, everyone, for your responses! You all have made very valid points that I will definitely take into consideration! I'll let you know what we decide!

Thanks again!

 

[DisneyChick02]

...like another poster said, concierge across property is NOT the same at the moment. Rumor has it that there is a push to make it identical in every deluxe resort, but right now each one has its own identity for lack of a better term. For instance, I loved GF Concierge in the main building, couldn't stand Poly, thought WL was a great deal for the small upgrade fee, and absolutely fell in love with Boardwalk concierge. And again as someone else said, don't expect the small upgrade fee at WL to be seen at other resorts- its usually 100-150 additional a night. That's more the exception than the rule.

Money wise, this is how I would view it- if you have a family of 4 or 5, breakfast (and forgive me if I'm wrong b/c I'm still single and going off my friends experiences) would run you 60-120 dollars possibly on property depending on where you go and what you have. 100/night upgrade and having a light continental breakfast available to you would pay for that cost. snacks and beverages at night could cost you 1.50 per soda or more at a gift shop. or 3.00 in the mini-bar....those are included in concierge. Whenever my family and I stayed on concierge when I was younger (and its dependent on being at Disney or being off someplace in the world), the appetizers could often serve as actual dinner, particularly if you had a large lunch out. It's all in how you view it and your family's vacation style...let us know your choice!.

 

[musicmom3]

sparp5--this is the fourth or fifth time I've heard about Amy and the gifts! Do the gifts come with concierge, or do you add them on at extra costs? And who is Amy?

I have 6 nights booked at BC in a standard room for myself and 3 teens. I am now seriously considering concierege. See what you've all done to me!!!!!

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hi musicmom... Amy Jacobson is one of the concierge itinerary planners for BC/YC & BWI. There is also Lauren (who is very nice too) and a couple of more CM's.

The gifts you are hearing about are not included in concierge - they are just fun things that the concierge staff will help you with.

At AKL I had a welcome gift arranged for my DD8 which was a sorcerer mickey backpack filled with stuff.. and every night I had a safari animal beanie baby left on her pillow at turndown - I paid for everything but the concierge made sure it alll happened smoothly.

Amy has booked all my PS's and even was able to get the illuminations cruise on breathless for us.

She is also doing a princess themed welcome gift and picked up my daughter a guest of honor badge with her name on it. I think we are going to do pins as pillow gifts this year - my DD is into trading bigtime.

Amy is great.

Let me know if you have any other questions

>>^..^<<

 

[sparp5]

Musicmom:

I have been very impressed with the service I have received so far from Amy and the conceirge staff. When we changed our dates from Oct 12-19 to Nov 9-16 and our hotel from the YC to the BC I e-mailed Amy with the change and she sent me a new conceirge key and new info on the BC. From my experience she's doing everything possible to make our vacation awesome.

We are doing pins on the pillows for the boys and Amy is picking them up. We pay for them but she doing the leg work and making sure they are placed each evening for the boys. I feel so pampered and spoiled already and were still months away from our trip.

I'm sure it will be well worth the extra money went spent for the conceirge. It a personal choice because you can do alot of disney stuff with the extra 150 plus dollars a night you pay for conceirge (it actually comes out to 100.00 on the FTP)

Good luck and keep us posted.

Paula