You know what I think? I think the service and situation has been generally crappy because of the low in tourism since 9/11. There has been a dearth of money pouring into the system, but the cyclical downturn of Disney in general (and possibly the cast members' attitudes, sorry to say) is by no means a no-brainer.
When we stayed concierge in March of 2000, it wasn't really comparable to the Grand Floridian at Christmastime, but some of the stuff Steve is noticing...wasn't going on back then. The lounge was actually pretty O.K, temperature wise, and the staff of two people (a rather nice older lady and a young guy) were genuinely nice and made it feel like they wanted to be there.
For now, I wouldn't stay concierge out of my own wallet at the Yacht or Beach clubs even if I hadn't read the complaints. My big issue when it comes to staying at a hotel in Disney is the room. I don't usually spend time there, but my overall attitude on the vacation stems...um, in part...from my time in the place where most of my dollar expenditure (ya, i probably sound like alan greenspan at this point) is allocated (and where i sleep).
Waking up with a feeling of "i could've stayed somewhere else" rather than "i like where I am", well, is not cool. The concierge rooms at the Yacht and Beach Clubs...don't do it for me. The regular Beach Club rooms, IMHO, need a once-or-twice over as it is, and then they had to go and keep 'em the same for Concierge guests.
Personally, the general offering of services at the Concierge Levels should be up to Grand Floridian standards all the time, just within the individual theme of the hotel they're at. They can't say "well because this hotel costs less we have to have a lesser concierge level". Maybe someone from the Yacht Club is gonna read this and...well...we'll see what they end up doing as time passes.
JC