Genie+
You can never spend enough
- Joined
- May 12, 2022
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There’s a very informative CL board here
Resort Thread Post in thread 'Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread'
We wanted to add one more day next trip and decided to try CL at WDW to wind down before going home. They were super helpful over there because they have alot of experience. Like most things at WDW, there are details that make them each unique and little hacks to know.
Right off the bat I learned:
Wilderness Lodge is the only CL you can add at check-in, no matter which cash room you stay (no DVC villas). Doing it that way is only $150 extra per night, which is ~50% cheaper than reserving beforehand.
Speaking of discounts - Bounceback is the way to go for CL! Most of the room offers at WDW are up to 10% off CL. Bouncebacks are up to 35%. Usually very good selection of CL inventory with deep %. Warning: makes it easy to get spoiled!
Contemporary has 2 levels. Atrium Club is 12th floor. Tower Club is 14th floor and closed off (not looking down into the A-frame, a plus for people who don’t like the noise below outside their door). Last year 2 changes were made - both lounges now serve the same exact food and bev, and when booking a regular CL resort view room you can no longer choose which CL (they now assign at checkin). The hack with that room is requesting Tower Club even though 95% of those room are Atrium. Odds are Tower won’t be available but then they’ll likely allow you access to both floors, giving you the choice of both lounges, including the much better balconies on 14th floor. They’re about 3X as deep with cushioned furniture. 12th floor is narrow with no furniture.
Many CL resorts also have what is called ‘deluxe’. No separate bedroom but they are about 50% more square footage than the typical rooms. Not all equal though. For instance, at Boardwalk the room is 50% longer with a living room at the end of an otherwise normal room, right before the balcony. At Grand Flo there’s only a few. The room isn’t much different other than non-rectangle shape giving more floor space, but with a 50% shot you’re assigned a handicapped - a dealbreaker for some families.
We ended up choosing Contemporary since we are DVC people. The CL BW view deluxe room was very attractive, as was trying a Fireworks view room at WL with adding on CL for $150. But those are both resorts we’ll be doing with DVC. And we’re more likely to book BLT on points for a whole trip over staying cash at CR. So this opportunity seemed best to try staying in the historic A-frame, something we’ve never done before and unlikely to have another chance anytime soon.
Some other stuff I learned. Grand Flo is the Queen Mother of CL. The only reason we didn’t choose is we already stay VGF often. BW’s game is strong nowadays, unlike reports 5-10 yrs ago. Poly has 2 issues - very small space where food/bev is located (tight - like people accidentally knocking plates out of each other’s hands), and reflection on the glass means the lounge is not useful for fireworks (no balcony here). Altogether there are 10 CL choices at WDW.
