Seperate Check-in for Concierge at CR??????

[princess crazy]

Was wondering if anyone here knows or anyone here who has stayed concierge at the CR knows if there is a seperate check-in area for those of us staying concierge?

I've heard of this at other resorts and was wondering if they do it at the CR? BTW we are staying on the 12th floor if this makes a difference. The last time we stayed there we were booked for the regular Tower rooms and at check-in recieved a complimentary upgrade to the Tower Club concierge so we've never actually had a concierge room booked beforehand to know how this works. It's so true what others say "once you've gone concierge you won't go back" It's happened to us and this trip we could'nt fathom the thought of staying at the CR without it!! I can hardly wait! Thanks for your input!

 

[heathrow42]

Actually, it does make a difference ... there is no separate check-in for the 12th floor.

The 12th floor was basically a regular floor that was later converted into "tower club" by giving it partial concierge.. it wasn't designed to check in guests. There are a great number of rooms on the 12th floor with a limited (but wonderful!) staff.

I believe 14 can and does check in some guests. Still, you shouldn't have too much trouble checking in at the contemporary- the lines are generally not bad. Avoid checking in first thing in the morning, when everyone is checking out, and you should be fine.

That said, we too loooooove the Contemporary and the concierge. Janet, Al and Lois are just wonderful!

 

[princess crazy]

Thanks heathrow42!

Have you recently stayed concierge at the CR and if so how was it? Did they do any special things for you?? Like I said we can hardly wait!!

 

[heathrow42]

We stay at the CR concierge as often as we can -- The last time was in May. We love the Contemporary and for us, it is like a home away from home -- the staff is absolutely wonderful from the people in the food court to the bellmen to the concierge staff. I stayed at Port Orleans in July and couldn't believe the difference. It was difficult to get help with my luggage, I was given the wrong directions to my room, no one cared and no one smiled threre- ever! (That was the weird part to me... everyone at disney smiles.. most people at PO didn't)

So back to the contemporary .. the concierge staff is very knowledgable and helpful. They can help you plan your day, make dining suggestions and arrangements and answer many questions. Since you are booked in advance they may even send you a little form to fill out to help you plan your days. They love working with guests and hearing about their time in the parks.

The other perk of staying on 12 is that they have a breakfast buffet (muffins, bagels, donuts, cereal, juice, milk and coffee) which for a family of 4 can save a few bucks over 4 or 5 days. They also serve a snack in the afternoon- cookies, brownies etc.

As for special things that have happened to us everytime is special, but there are a few things that we will never forget! 14th floor and room service used to serve bay lake bannana cream pie (years ago) I was telling one of the concierge staff how much I missed it.. they sent me to the steakhouse, who found the head pastry chef! She sat down and gave me the recipe and offered to make it for us! but we were leaving that day. She gave us her card and told us to call her the next time we were down.. on the next trip we did, and before the end of our trip we got to enjoy one of our favorite desserts!

Another thing we missed was the bananna stuffed french toast that room service used to serve (yes, we love banannas!) .. again we were telling the concierge that we missed this, the next day they had found out for us that the Kona Cafe over at the Poly still serves it for breakfast!

On another trip, we got engaged and the concierge staff was in on it! Being such a disney person my fiance had to go out of his way to keep it a surprise. They wrote up a phony letter and placed it in our room, to get me to city hall where we had a 'tour' that ended at the rose garden. The concierge staff knew all about the letter and 'answered' all of my questions about the tour- lol! Then we had dinner arangements for Victoria and Alberts, I went and tried to change them to another night! Since the staff was in on it, they were able to talk me into keeping them. After getting engaged, we went to get changed for dinner we found champaign and treats in our room, as well as a vase for the roses!

So, I'm a little biased.. my advice would be to talk to the folks working at the concierge during your stay and let them help you plan your trip.

Are you going after Thanksgiving? (saw your countdown counter) if you are, don't forget your tickets for Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party!

--heather

 

[tnkrbell]

Hi!
To those of you who have stayed cR concierge before would it compare to the other concierge in Disney?

Do they serve appetisers in the evening with wine ect...??? Do they have desserts in the evening with cordial??

We were thinking of trying this on our next trip.
thanks in advance!!

 

[heathrow42]

The 14th floor has full concierge, and serves continental breakfast in the morning, and appetizers in the afternoon .. crudette, little sandwhiches, buffalo wings etc. In the evening they have desserts, beer, wine and cordials. The appetizers come from the california grill, and the desserts come from the hotel's pastry folks (they also make desserts for the concourse steakhouse). The 14th floor concierge is staffed from 7 in the morning until 10 pm.

The 12th floor (tower club) has partial concierge- breakfast in the morning, and snacks - brownies, cookies and juice in the afternoon. They do not serve alcohol. They are staffed from 7am till 4pm.

You might want to read the reviews of all the different concierge services for each of the deluxe hotels over at wdwig.com That might give you the best idea of how they are different.

--h

(Can you tell the contemporary is my fave, yet?)

 

[tnkrbell]

Heathrow, thanks for the info!!
Have you ever stayed at any of the other concierges??? I LOVE Yacht club concierge!! But my DD really wants to try CR! was just wondering if I can compare them or if it is all a matter of appearance??

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hi,

I am curous to why people book the 12th floor... knowing that the 14th floor concierge exisits... why not just book the full concierge?

>>^..^<<

 

[WendyinNC]

The 14th floor costs more than the 12th floor.

I have a 14th floor room booked for June 2004. It will cost $105 per night more than a 12th floor room. Every morning I wake up thinking I will call and downgrade to the 12th floor. Oh well, I guess I have a long time to decide. I was spoiled by full concierge at the Polly this summer. One factor that might help me make my decision is that I found out that the 14th floor rooms do not have day beds. I am assuming that the 12th floor rooms do have the extra bed. Does anyone know?

Thanks

 

[princess crazy]

Yep-- It's enough alone for the 12th floor!

We're staying the 12th floor because the 14th was way too much more and we're OK with just the breakfast anyway. Were usually not there in the afternoons and we always want to have a nice dinner so we would be paying for alot of things we don't really need.
WendyinNC-- yes the 12th floor does have the daybeds--our DD always sleeps in this! The only difference in the rooms that I've heard are no daybeds on the 14th and the rooms on the 14th are a little smaller due to the balconies being bigger on that floor. Other than that from what I've heard the rooms are the same.

 

[PaintedStuff]

Originally posted by WendyinNC
One factor that might help me make my decision is that I found out that the 14th floor rooms do not have day beds. I am assuming that the 12th floor rooms do have the extra bed. Does anyone know?

Yes, they do have the daybed. We'll be there in October.


Wondering if they have complimentary bottled water and cans of coke/diet coke on the 12th floor?

 

[WendyinNC]

I was wondering if the 12th floor had refigerators in the rooms and water bottles to take to the parks? I'm trying to find out what I'll be giving up when (or if) I switch from the 14th floor to the 12th floor.

Thanks

 

[heathrow42]

12 does not have complimentary water or soda bottles throughout the day, 14 does. 12 has a soda machine on the floor (i think) -- and they have Juice, milk, coffee etc at breakfast and snack time.

On either floor if you would like a refrigerator you will have to request one.

If you switch from 14 down to 12 you are giving up:
-having a CM past 4 oclock
-bigger breakfast/snack selection
-dessert/wine etc
-free soda and water bottles
-the lounge with the big tv to relax in
-a whole big chunk of change you can now spend in the parks!

14 is great, don't get me wrong I absolutely love it.. but the extra soda and muffins aren't worth it! Pick up a case of water on your way in and ask for a fridge.

Family of 4
2 bottles of water a day = 8 bottles
$2 a bottle = $16 a day
upgrading from 12 to 14 costs a lot more than $16 a day

14 is great if you really have expendable income.. but if you have to ask how much it costs, or are worrying about bottles of water it just isn't worth the extra cost. Take the extra money and have a few more sit down or character dinners, go see a show, or rent a boat for a fireworks cruise. Your kids will remember the fireworks cruise alot longer than they will the free water.

--heather

 

[princess crazy]

heathrow42--

Are you sure about the water on the 12th floor? We were there 2 years ago and got as much water as we wanted in our room on the 12th floor every morning. I also thought I read here a few days ago of someone on the 12th floor and them saying that they got water too. I hope so, that's part of the reason we went for the 12th instead of the regular Tower -- we got spoiled with all the 12th offers--It's awesome!

 

[WendyinNC]

Heather,

Thanks for your response. I did downgrade from the 14th to 12th floor. I decided I really wanted a daybed. I do plan on setting up some more sit down dinners, character meals, etc. I really fell in love with full concierge at the Polly. It certainly made the trip less stressful. However, I figure that an extra $100 per night will buy us some good room service if we need it. Traveling to WDW without DH and with our 3 kids (ages 4,5 and 8) requires a lot of extra services. But, I guess I can "rough it" on the 12th floor!

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

I really liked the 12th floor, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it, too.

 

[heathrow42]

princess crazy -- water is water.. but the bottled water in your room comes from house keeping and is different then having water from the concierge. They are even different brands. On 14 they have bottles in the lounge area, on 12 they do not.

I always thought that housekeeping charged for the bottled water in the room (as most hotels do) and so I have never used it. This may be different at the contemporary and may be different for concierge.

Even if they don't put bottled water in regular tower rooms, you couldn't possibly drink enough water to make up for the price difference between regular and 12.

--h