Ranking the Club Levels

[Jonfw2]

AKL

BC

Suddenly, AKL CL has surged into the lead…

 

[kimmar067]

Suddenly, AKL CL has surged into the lead…

....like I said before, the views are pretty darned great too....

 

[Tigger's ally]

Thank you! I am definitely considering.

The best thing about the Wilderness Lodge IMO is the quiet solitude. The monorail resorts draw people into them all day and night so they have a crowded busy feel. WL not so much. To me it has the best lobby on the premises and it also has my favorite bar (Territory Lounge is a small hidden gem). Like the PP said, the boat situation is great. Does not share busses either. The tree cover pretty much drowns out any noise other than wildlife and boat horns. Another favorite thing for me is entering the lobby and just listening to the music.....

 

[KrzyKtty101]

We were considering doing CL for our next trip, but when we made our reservations a few months ago, the Poly and Beach Club resorts Club levels weren't open yet. Now I'm not sure we will bother when they do open up.

 

[Jonfw2]

Folks, I appreciate the amazing input here (and keep it coming!), but I think I've decided...

It's going to be AKL.

What ultimately got me was twofold: the food and the possibility that the early morning safari might be back.

Feel free to agree or disagree. I welcome it!

 

[DLgal]

We have stayed at the following, and I will rank them accordingly:

1. Beach Club
2. Contemporary
3. Wilderness Lodge
4. Boardwalk Inn

In more detail:
1. BC is our hands down favorite resort and CL. The laid back casual vibe is great. Last stay they had SO much food we hardly ever ate in the parks. We seriously had full on dinner there every night. Lots of hot food options. Loved the ice cream freezer full of treats. Love the Stornalaong Bay special cocktail. Loved the breakfast options. The lounge is so nice and spacious after the remodel and the cast members were always friendly.

2. Contemporary: wins for best lounge view. Food was high end and very, very good! I feel like it came from CA grill. We were in the Tower Club. Self serve Champagne available every night. Loved that! Great warm cookies in the afternoon and amazing homemade potato chips with ranch dip...ate our weight in these every afternoon. Staff was unobtrusive, which we prefer actually. Easy to get to and from lounge since the CL floor is compact here (compared to others).

3. WL: great atmosphere, but miss having an actual lounge. Seating is in the hallway, basically. Not a huge fan of the heavy foods here (lots of chili, soup, and stews). Not the best food selections although they seemed to have good beers when we were there. CL Staff were the best here, though...hands down. They would always greet us by name, which I am always amazed by.

4. BWI: this one was a free upgrade from a heavily discounted standard room. I wouldn't pay for it, personally. I know people love it, but I got a weird vibe here. I also didn't love the food. It was heavily Mediterranean inspired , which isn't my favorite cuisine. Everything had feta cheese in it, it seemed. This was back in 2011 when Cat Cora restaurant was there, though, so that has likely changed by now. I really hated the weird access point through the little office to get to the CL area. It was strange and convoluted. I hated the decor up there also, but again, that has probably changed since 2011. It was SO unbelievably quiet in this lounge at all times, I felt bad talking. It felt like a library. This was my least favorite Deluxe resort and least favorite CL overall. I have no desire to ever stay here again.

Now, I know you didn't ask about Disneyland, but if you want the absolute BEST CL experience Disney has to offer, the Grand Californian gets that award. Absolutely mind blowing Club level lounge, staff, and food offerings. The pinnacle of Disney CL. Worth the splurge. I'm actually considering adding it onto our stay at check in on Friday as a surprise to my family if its available.

 

[chimo2u]

just curious as to what the attraction of WL is in general. For me, it’s always been inconvenient in that if I want to stay that close to MK, why not stay at a monorail resort.

I have been researching a lot regarding Wilderness Lodge, because it is the Club Level we will be staying at on our next trip. The deciding factor was price for me. I originally wanted to stay at Yacht Club CL, but the rooms will be about $3,000 more expensive there. There is an amazing You Tube channel that describes the club levels in great length and Wilderness Lodge came out on top. The channel is called Here with the Ears. They actually stayed onsite every night in 2019 and have awesome reviews of the rooms and resorts. So....back to CL. I have stayed at AKL CL (usually our family favourite, the only thing that is moving me along is after 4 stays here, my family is now all adults and we really found it out of the way last time we stayed in 2017) however, as far as CL goes, it is amazing! We love it there but definitely only in a Savannah view room on the Arusha (?sp) side . I've stayed at Poly CL and it was lovely with the big picture window view, but a bit of a pain not being on the CL floor. It surprisingly wasn't a favourite of my boys. The food was very small finger sized portions. Not a very big variety either. The Beach Club CL was ok.... My son and I found it a tad impersonal, and almost moved to AKL for our trip, but because it was a small 5 day Mom and son trip in 2011, we stayed. Not sure I'd stay again. The Board Walk Inn club level got great reviews from people, it was the latest CL I stayed at in 2017. The food was lovely, but I didn't find the staff attentive at all like other's experienced. It was not my hubby's favourite resort..... With all this said, I would try YC CL if the price was better. I have decided on WL CL this time (October 2022) because 1. the rooms have all just been renovated so that will be lovely to have a fresh, newer bright room. and 2. the serenity of the resort is right up my hubby's alley. To feel like he is removed from the park in nature will help him unwind. Also the beauty of the resort, the lovely pool, and the amazing club level will only add to the ambience. I was a little bummed at first that YC pricing was keeping me priced out of booking CL....but I am beginning to get excited to try WL the more I read about it. Also the little boat to MK is quaint and just a extra touch that will make it more interesting

 

[chimo2u]

We have stayed at the following, and I will rank them accordingly:

1. Beach Club
2. Contemporary
3. Wilderness Lodge
4. Boardwalk Inn

In more detail:
1. BC is our hands down favorite resort and CL. The laid back casual vibe is great. Last stay they had SO much food we hardly ever ate in the parks. We seriously had full on dinner there every night. Lots of hot food options. Loved the ice cream freezer full of treats. Love the Stornalaong Bay special cocktail. Loved the breakfast options. The lounge is so nice and spacious after the remodel and the cast members were always friendly.

2. Contemporary: wins for best lounge view. Food was high end and very, very good! I feel like it came from CA grill. We were in the Tower Club. Self serve Champagne available every night. Loved that! Great warm cookies in the afternoon and amazing homemade potato chips with ranch dip...ate our weight in these every afternoon. Staff was unobtrusive, which we prefer actually. Easy to get to and from lounge since the CL floor is compact here (compared to others).

3. WL: great atmosphere, but miss having an actual lounge. Seating is in the hallway, basically. Not a huge fan of the heavy foods here (lots of chili, soup, and stews). Not the best food selections although they seemed to have good beers when we were there. CL Staff were the best here, though...hands down. They would always greet us by name, which I am always amazed by.

4. BWI: this one was a free upgrade from a heavily discounted standard room. I wouldn't pay for it, personally. I know people love it, but I got a weird vibe here. I also didn't love the food. It was heavily Mediterranean inspired , which isn't my favorite cuisine. Everything had feta cheese in it, it seemed. This was back in 2011 when Cat Cora restaurant was there, though, so that has likely changed by now. I really hated the weird access point through the little office to get to the CL area. It was strange and convoluted. I hated the decor up there also, but again, that has probably changed since 2011. It was SO unbelievably quiet in this lounge at all times, I felt bad talking. It felt like a library. This was my least favorite Deluxe resort and least favorite CL overall. I have no desire to ever stay here again.

Now, I know you didn't ask about Disneyland, but if you want the absolute BEST CL experience Disney has to offer, the Grand Californian gets that award. Absolutely mind blowing Club level lounge, staff, and food offerings. The pinnacle of Disney CL. Worth the splurge. I'm actually considering adding it onto our stay at check in on Friday as a surprise to my family if its available.

Is there no Lounge at WL!!!???? This might be a breaking point for me! I thought that they had redone the lounge and there was now a nice lounge area at WL???
That is so disappointing if so!! May mean re-thinking my WL choice and just paying the price for YC afterall.... Lots to think about at least I have a year to decide!

 

[Jonfw2]

This could be a game changer from Gran Destino: extended park hours are coming back but ONLY for deluxe resort guests.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Is there no Lounge at WL!!!???? This might be a breaking point for me! I thought that they had redone the lounge and there was now a nice lounge area at WL???
That is so disappointing if so!! May mean re-thinking my WL choice and just paying the price for YC afterall.... Lots to think about at least I have a year to decide!

I guess I see why PP would describe the WL lounge that way, but I personally disagree with the description. Sure, it’s an open space on the top floor overlooking the lobby and hallways on other floors. There area seating areas along the railing and the area further in has couches / tables. More of a free-flowing space than a contained lounge. To me it is just as good of a lounge as every other CL and the setting overlooking the lobby is fantastic.

And other than GDT CL (and whatever they are up to at CR and Poly), it’s the newest CL lounge having just been relocated/totally redone a few years ago.

All opinions are valid of course and no one CL is a good match for everyone’s preferences, but I’m a big fan of WL CL.

 

[Eastern]

Folks, I appreciate the amazing input here (and keep it coming!), but I think I've decided...

It's going to be AKL.

What ultimately got me was twofold: the food and the possibility that the early morning safari might be back.

Feel free to agree or disagree. I welcome it!

The point I would make is that over on the CL thread, we usually recommend that people don't choose CL based on food as it can and does change periodically. Different items, less items, etc. I would pick preferred location first (MK vs Epcot/WS vs AKL) and theming next. Food will be at all of the lounges and the common denominator is usually, beer, wine, cheese and fruit. You will at least get those (based on past experience...) at all of the lounges. The breakfasts tend to be very similar.

 

[rick1zoo2]

We have done Club Level at several resorts - Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom, Grand Floridian, and for us, the benefits are being able to get a light breakfast in the morning, snacks here and there, but the main benefit has been to have a place to just sit and relax, especially when it's 100 degrees out and having just spent hours in a park. The Wilderness Lodge was great for that - a quick boat ride back from Magic Kingdom and within minutes having something cool to drink and a place to sit and cool off is great.

So to rank them for me would be tough - Just like each resort has things that I enjoy while I am staying at each one makes it tough to pick one winner. I guess I will have to keep trying them all to try to make up my mind as to a favorite.

But I will say I might prefer WL and AKL as they both seem to have areas that are more spread out and you can find a more private space to sit, where at the Polynesian, I always felt, especially at breakfast time, that we needed to move along to make room for others coming in. Part of that is the layout - just one long room. But having said that there is an upper level of sorts that you could go to if needed (and there is a bathroom there too).

 

[chimo2u]

I guess I see why PP would describe the WL lounge that way, but I personally disagree with the description. Sure, it’s an open space on the top floor overlooking the lobby and hallways on other floors. There area seating areas along the railing and the area further in has couches / tables. More of a free-flowing space than a contained lounge. To me it is just as good of a lounge as every other CL and the setting overlooking the lobby is fantastic.

And other than GDT CL (and whatever they are up to at CR and Poly), it’s the newest CL lounge having just been relocated/totally redone a few years ago.

All opinions are valid of course and no one CL is a good match for everyone’s preferences, but I’m a big fan of WL CL.

Thanks so much GADisneyDad14 That makes me feel much better about it! Sounds cozy and great for people watching

 

[rick1zoo2]

Thanks so much GADisneyDad14 That makes me feel much better about it! Sounds cozy and great for people watching

Two years ago we were in the WL club lounge and there was a bat flying around. Made for a bit of fun as it took a few low passes right by us. We have also seen a bird or two.

 

[penel3]

Oh, how we miss that Sunrise Safari event, too!

Our favorite is definitely AKL, when things are 'normal'. Although, I will say, we've not tried GF. We have done YC, BC, and Cont, and AKL is our favorite for food, service, and peaceful feel!

We miss the Sunrise Safari too!! Best experience ever! We would always joke that we couldn’t go on the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride at AK ever again…..it would be too disappointing since experiencing the Sunrise Safari. AKL is definitely our favorite CL, we love the staff, the food, the lounge in general. We have stayed CL at WL, AKL, BC, Poly, and BWI.

 

[TaraWasHere]

GF Club level for us hands down. We do like both the outbuilding offerings in Sugarloaf and the RPC, however, atmosphere of the RPC is far superior in my personal opinion. We've stayed CL at CR, BC, and BW, as well, but always come back to the GF RPC.

 

[act1980]

Bumping this thread