My positive Boardwalk Inn CL review & my very negative Beach Club CL review

[padawans]

Lol, well 4 hours in total We checked in--we were running a little late to get to our lunch reservation--get alllllllllll the way to the room that was in the back corner of nowhere, open our chipped paint door. There's a dresser drawer on the floor, towels and soap in the tub, garbage in the bathroom garbage can, and the jesters on the bedspread were staring at me. I couldn't stop thinking about the jesters. We didn't have time to mess around so we just dropped our stuff and went to HS. I was silent and he knew I was having a panic attack about the room and the resort. I had switched back and forth between there and CSR and I'm like--we should have went with CSR. I didn't enjoy my lunch--all I was thinking about were that the jesters were going to stare at me when I would sleep So, we play in HS, get back to the resort to change into our California Grill clothes, and I send him back to the room and told him I have business to attend to. I went to the front desk with my camera phone and they told me they were full and couldn't move me--I said--oh well that's great, because I'd like to go to CSR if available. I had to go thru 3 unfriendly, eye rolling people before they had a van ready for us to go I called Dave and said, "pack'er up! we're going to Coronado" It was 100% amazing there--they gave us free drink coupons for our engagement too!--we were so happy and sooooo glad we didn't sleep with the jesters. Now that they're gone (new bedspreads) I'm wondering if I should give it another try... but I doubt it.

I guess we have similar tastes. We spent 1 night at CSR before moving to poly, and we really enjoyed it. If I can't afford a deluxe( hope that never happens)this would be where I stay. The room at pofq was very worn and stained. I know they have been refurbed recently so hopefully they are better. The pool area did not pass the sniff test with my kids. The slides are designed for little kids. The csr has a great pool(probably better than the poly), and better suited for kids over the age of 7.

 

[Jungle Cruiser]

The only club level we have stayed at is at the GF. At Sugar Loaf there used to be a cart to put dirty dishes on, now the cast members clear. I was told the cart was gone since people piled the dishes such that it was harder to clear the cart than it is for them to do table by table. If they clear too quickly, people grumble they weren't done and if they clear too slowly people complain it's a mess.

Just be happy you are able to go to WDW, stay in a deluxe resort and stay concierge level!!!

 

[TJA]

Beach Club concierge is the bomb! We love it. I let them know that my four year old LOVES milk and and one CM disappeared in the back, he came back with a gallon of milk. It was just the little things like that, so sweet, such attention to detail.

See, we had great experiences at BC CL too -- I really think it depends on which CM's are working, hate to say but I think it's true. It can make or break a CL experience, and OP was unlucky with the CM's there. I can't even begin to list all of the exceptional things the CM's did for us at BC, but they definitely left us feeling like we can't wait to go back. I'm just happy OP was able to switch back to where they feel most comfortable -- that is what matters.

 

[sfbank]

Jungle Cruiser-I agree with you. We are lucky to get to stay Club Level at our favorite resort, the BW every year. I was taught growing up you pick up after yourself. I don't care if I am on vacation, I am not going to leave a mess for someone at a table I used to clean up, when I can walk the dishes to the table in the lounge where the dirty dishes go. I hope they don't take the table away because one thing that did go away was the trash can by the coffee. I looked all over for it when I wanted to throw something away. I am sorry. I am a germaphobe myself, so I am not about to hand a chewed piece of gum to a cast member in a wrapped up napkin to throw away. That is disgusting. Just like the guy on the plane who went ahead and proceeded to chew and then was going to hand his cup of chew spit to the flight attendant. I don't know what happened to the trash can but they need something there for people to discard things if they need to. Hope the table doesn't go next

 

[lovesdumbo]

the Contemporary, Boardwalk Inn and Polynesian their Club Level lounges have a specifc table for dirty plates and etc. So the guests aren't forced to leave them on the tables.

AKL CL had a spot to put your dirty dishes when I was there in 5/09 & 1/10.

I hope they don't take the table away because one thing that did go away was the trash can by the coffee.

When did this happen? It was there when I was just there 8/17-8/29.

 

[brunette8706]

It just an theme thing with me. I can appreicate how spectacular the detail is there, but I like light, bright, airy, open spaces such as Grand Floridian, Yacht and Beach. I want lots of water around me and lots of places to walk. I do prefer Yacht Club over Beach.

I don't care for BW because I always feel like I have stepped into a circus when I stay there.

That is what's so great about going to Disney, lots of choices and wouldn't life be dull if we were all alike.

*
Hi Sammie! I see what you are saying. Some people don't like the "darkness" of the resort. To me it's exotic and I do love it, but I understand completely what you are saying. I too, also like BRIGHT, AIRY, and CHEERY! I also, like the fact of having to do things around the resort such as the Yacht Club! That resort is awesome, the theming, the resort, the pool (SAB), the rooms are beautifully furnished! Wish they connected to the monorail someway though, that would be great! I also love how it faces the bay and it seems like you are right in the middle of NanTucket! LOVE IT!

I'm not sure I would like the clown pool though...

 

[sfbank]

Lovesdumbo-we were there the end of July/1st of Aug. Maybe there were enough complaints they put it back. Nascargirl and I will investigate in Oct on our girls trip-lol!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I hope they don't take the table away because one thing that did go away was the trash can by the coffee. I looked all over for it when I wanted to throw something away.

Just like lovesdumbo my family and I were at the BWI CL from 8/17/11 - 8/31/11 and then 9/1/11 - 9/4/11, well they also had a trash can to the left just before you see the Cast Members desk inside the Innkeeper's Club lounge.

 

[sfbank]

Considering you post 50+ times a day everyone knows when your family is there. The trash can may have been there when you were, I am just saying when we were there it wasn't. Obviously, otherwise they wouldn't have been asking us to hand them things to throw away. I just started walking over and throwing things away behind the desk. I am not going to argue back & forth and fight about whether a trash can was in a concierge lounge in a resort or not. When we were there, comments were made by other guests asking where it was. Glad to hear it is back in its rightful place

 

[brunette8706]

Just like lovesdumbo my family and I were at the BWI CL from 8/17/11 - 8/31/11 and then 9/1/11 - 9/4/11, well they also had a trash can to the left just before you see the Cast Members desk inside the Innkeeper's Club lounge.

*
WOW, you were there for over 2 weeks!???? Consider yourself lucky to have a dad that pays for those vacations!! I know it gets very expensive to stay at CL.

Brunette

 

[toodycat]

CR Resort Fan 4 Life---I never pictured myself staying at the Beach Club for a bunch of reasons, so I'm less interested in your review of that than I am in your new love for the BWI which I have heard mixed things about. Can you give me some info? A couple we are pretty close to love BWI and think of it as their go-to resort at WDW. However, I was just wondering about access to CL. I understand if you stay in the cottages that you have to walk outside your building to get to the CL. Is that true? Approximately how large is the club lounge? (I may be wrong, but one of the things that didn't appeal to me about the BC is that the CL looked much smaller and more easily crowded than those at AKL and GF.) Also, you said your room was above the bakery. Are most CL rooms at BWI above the bakery or other stores? Does it get noisy? My son is very sensitive to loud noises, so one of the things keeping us away from the BWI was the fear that you would hear too much noise from the boardwalk area itself .Thanks!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

CR Resort Fan 4 Life---I never pictured myself staying at the Beach Club for a bunch of reasons, so I'm less interested in your review of that than I am in your new love for the BWI which I have heard mixed things about. Can you give me some info? A couple we are pretty close to love BWI and think of it as their go-to resort at WDW. However, I was just wondering about access to CL. I understand if you stay in the cottages that you have to walk outside your building to get to the CL. Is that true? Approximately how large is the club lounge? (I may be wrong, but one of the things that didn't appeal to me about the BC is that the CL looked much smaller and more easily crowded than those at AKL and GF.) Also, you said your room was above the bakery. Are most CL rooms at BWI above the bakery or other stores? Does it get noisy? My son is very sensitive to loud noises, so one of the things keeping us away from the BWI was the fear that you would hear too much noise from the boardwalk area itself .Thanks!

Yes when staying in the Garden Suites/Cottages you need to walk outside when going back into the main building of the Boardwalk so you can get to the lounge, since those are located across from the quiet pool on the Boardwalk Inn side.

The lounge at the Boardwalk Inn is bigger then the one at the Beach Club. Now I haven't stayed Club Level at the Animal Kingdom Lodge or Grand Floridian so I can't compare it to their lounges.

When it comes to the rooms over the Boardwalk Bakery all of those are their Deluxe Club Level Rooms. Other Club Level rooms are located over Seashore Sweets and different areas.

As for any noises from the Boardwalk if you were to get a view of it you will hear when other people are walking around there and etc, although I didn't find it that bad.

 

[MAGIC...itis!]

...Anyway here is my reviews for our Club Level stays at the Boardwalk Inn and Beach Club.
Boardwalk Inn. First things I have to thank JJ, Jackie, Anita, Lorenzo, Linda, Janice, Tiffany, Scott, Pete and Joe for being the best Club Level Cast Members WDW has. They all make us feel right at home and I consider them my family... One thing that we happen to see on a rainy night was Brian the magician that always dresses in purple, coming into the lounge and doing his act up there... Basically I have come to the conculsion that the Boardwalk Inn is now my favorite WDW Resort.
Beach Club. I am sorry to say that this part of my review will not be a good one so I appologize in advance to any Beach Club fans... So it goes without saying we are never again going to stay at the Beach Club... We were lucky enough to get the 40% Annual Pass rate and reserved the Standard Club Level Room at the Boardwalk Inn from December 8th - December 22nd, 2011.

As painful for me to say I completely agree with this... With that being said, the BC is our favorite resort. We loved our room and its location. We loved seeing Teena. We loved SAB. We loved the way they maintained the grounds. Our mousekeeper's name was Maya and she was amazing! We will be back to the BC someday, just not CL.

CRF4L, I am so glad your BWI stay was all you wanted it to be, and then some. Enjoy your next stay, especially with the nice 40% discount . I am looking forward to my first visit to BWI the same time in December as you. I'm not going CL this time, just BW view, but I'll keep an eye out for that hat. And your report has given me more reason to be excited. Thank you. PS -- I think it is so cool that Brian came up and entertained in the lounge. The Boardwalk acts are such a fave of mine.

Last December I stayed BC CL and also had a less than acceptable CL stay. It is my belief that courteous service by the CL CMs is included in the price of the CL room. Many PPs have not approved of CRF4L's word choices to explain his displeasure, and I am also finding it difficult to actually describe in writing why I felt my stay was sub-par. Nothing tangible but maybe experience, professionalism, caring are the words to express what I saw as lacking from the young CMs during my BC CL stay. Maybe apathy or being unsure of themselves could best describe what I did observe... I sure hope it is the latter. Either way, more training is definitely needed for BC CL CMs we experienced during our stay. That said, I am glad that others have had wonderful BC CL experiences. As for the CL lounge area, it worked for us. Food and drink did seem to be stocked and replenished somehow, but no CMs were ever present while we were there. I do remember empty tables with used plates on them weren't cleared very often. We bussed our own table each use because we felt more comfortable that way.

As for the BC Resort itself, I agree completely with DISMom72. BC is also still one of our favorite resorts and we'll be back... but for now, we'll save CL for another resort. BC resort and room decor, the grounds, SAB, proximity to Epcot, HS, the boardwalk evening entertainment, numerous restaurant choice, and of course, Teena, all work quite well for us. We are also fans of YC, and we look forward to adding BWI to our Epcot Resorts faves.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

PS -- I think it is so cool that Brian came up and entertained in the lounge. The Boardwalk acts are such a fave of mine.

The funny thing is a few days before one of the BWI CL CM's told us that sometimes the acts come up into the lounge when it's raining, although we had only seen them perform in the lobby during times like that. So to see Brain peform in the lounge was a very nice surprise. Also we saw him enter through the Cast Member only door on the 4th floor and knew right away where he was going and since there wasn't a Cast Member working at the door which leads to the lounge and CL rooms we had let him go through.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Sorry to hear about your experience at BC CL. We stayed at YC Cl back in July and thought the staff was great. When we stayed at the POLY CL back in 2010 we noticed the mad rush to the lounge at 5pm, but didn't have that same experience at YC. We were worried before our trip about the lounges being so small at YC/BC, but it was never an issue. Not that it is acceptable, but hopefully the staff at BC were just having an off day. I assume you were able to address your concerns with a manager since you left after the first night. Did he/she handle the situation to your satisfaction?

Well we didn't actually speak with a manager because once we found out 100% we were back at the Boardwalk Inn we wanted to leave as fast as possible. Now the Beach Club CL Cast Member who called for us and made the switch asked what was wrong and we told her honestly that we didn't like staying there. So I always thought us leaving just after 1 day sends a bigger message to them.

 

[MIDisFan]

Well we didn't actually speak with a manager because once we found out 100% we were back at the Boardwalk Inn we wanted to leave as fast as possible. Now the Beach Club CL Cast Member who called for us and made the switch asked what was wrong and we told her honestly that we didn't like staying there. So I always thought us leaving just after 1 day sends a bigger message to them.

They may have just assumed you preferred BWI CL if you didn't state the reasons why you didn't like staying there.

 

[Scott MC]

Pete at BWI is FANTASTIC. I love that man! I will totally agree with CR FAN that BWI CL Staff is great. (Little too chatty in some cases like I mentioned before but that is just me not preferring that....). I wish I could take SAB and put it in front of BWI! I have to ask though - Scott at BWI was the stresse out worker when we were there in 09. Is he still there? Sort of a younger guy....We stayed YC CL in 2010 and 2011 and loved it (especially barbara the older woman..she is wonderful) - Sort of the "pete" of YC CL if that makes sense...

Scott! Yes! We loved Scott. We had some lovely converstations with him and with Jackie. We actually find ourselves saying "I wish we were at BWI with Jackie and Scott," 3 weeks after coming home!

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well we didn't actually speak with a manager because once we found out 100% we were back at the Boardwalk Inn we wanted to leave as fast as possible. Now the Beach Club CL Cast Member who called for us and made the switch asked what was wrong and we told her honestly that we didn't like staying there. So I always thought us leaving just after 1 day sends a bigger message to them.

I'm pretty sure it didn't. "We don't like staying here" could be for any of a couple of hundred reasons or more: the balcony was too small, neighbors were noisy, bad view, sun came in at the wrong angle, too little/too much sun on the balcony, no pool seats, don't like the CL food choices or hours of mob scene or not being able to bus your own table (while someone else said the same thing last week because they were shocked at being expected to to that), no good seats at the pool...

Not even WDW Cast Members read minds. If you want them to know a problem exists, you have to tell them the problem.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I'm pretty sure it didn't. "We don't like staying here" could be for any of a couple of hundred reasons or more: the balcony was too small, neighbors were noisy, bad view, sun came in at the wrong angle, too little/too much sun on the balcony, no pool seats, don't like the CL food choices or hours of mob scene or not being able to bus your own table (while someone else said the same thing last week because they were shocked at being expected to to that), no good seats at the pool...

Not even WDW Cast Members read minds. If you want them to know a problem exists, you have to tell them the problem.

Well obviously I can't go back in time and tell them more. However I also think that the Beach Club CL could have asked us to be more specifc, because maybe then she could tell the other Cast Members so they can try and improve things. So that tells me they didn't care.

 

[kaytieeldr]

You can write to them. I don't even have to give you the e-mail address, because I know you know it .