Useful Concierge Information

[rmoore7]

Greetings,
As usual I procrastinated, and now that I checked for La Nouba tickets on the official site I'm underwhelmed. Does the concierge get a special block of tickets for guests, or do they just phone La Nouba at the time of the request and get the best available...just like I would. Bottom line; can they get me better seats? thanks

 

[ang38]

I don't think they can. But what seats are available? We just went and sat section 205 cat one and they were great! Though I thought they were considered cat 2 three months ago The front section seats aren't worth the money imo since you sit with your head up and crane your neck most of the time. We had a lot of action take place right in front of us.

Greetings,
As usual I procrastinated, and now that I checked for La Nouba tickets on the official site I'm underwhelmed. Does the concierge get a special block of tickets for guests, or do they just phone La Nouba at the time of the request and get the best available...just like I would. Bottom line; can they get me better seats? thanks

 

[SplashMtnCrew]

Thank you everyone....we finally decided on the basic ddp last night We will do HDD oop and will be trying some restaurants we've never been to at other resorts. One ts and one cs a day with the CL snacks and etc. should be fine. The DS12 will be two weeks away from his 13th bday while we are there, and he's just now starting to eat us out of house and home, so hopefully we won't have to buy to many extra snacks for him along the way

 

[teacher5]

Here is what we thought of them:
Contemporary: Love the club area room! Very spacious and a great view of the castle! Also really liked the room we stayed in with very modern features and very spacious. The club level workers were just ok...didn't go out of their way to make my stay special. Barely said hi. Food was always plentiful and tasty. This was one of our favorite places to stay!

Yacht club: Least favorite stay...First of all, I paid for lagoon view and could only see the water if I craned my neck on the balcony. Secondly, it didn't have a daybed. When I called to see what could be done (another room perhaps) I was told they were booked and I could have a rollaway brought up. I agreed to the rollaway but when one was brought it had no sheets on it at all and the worker spoke no English! The only spot for the rollaway was in front of the balcony so we couldn't access it without climbing over the rollaway! The club level workers did not have anything to do with our checkin procedure, didn't even say hi as we entered for the first time, and the club level meeting room was jam packed with people. Way too small of a room for that amount of people. Needless to say, I wasn't going to pay over 500. a night and not be happy. After calling and politely complaining and letting them know I would rather stay in a standard room then remain in that room, they found a better room club level room with a daybed and a direct view of the lagoon, but I never was happy with the club level services. This hotel's club level was not worth it for me.

Next hotel was the AKL. LOVED IT! The club level workers helped to check us in and were very helpful explaining things to make my stay more enjoyable. The club food was delicious although many people were taking plates piled high with food! The area was very spacious! Our room (4411) had a great view of the savannah. We loved watching the animals throughout the day. The room had bunkbeds! The only negatives were having to go up several floors to get to the club area and our bathroom was very dark. Small complaints but overall, we really loved our stay here including the Sunrise Safari. We will definately return here. Was worth every penny!

Last hotel was the Boardwalk in a garden suite. The club level workers were very friendly here, probably the most friendly of all. The club level worker came to our room to help us check in and give us our keys. When we accessed the lounge, the workers always said a nice greeting (Good night! Sweet dreams!). We loved the large rooms with a very nice bathroom upstairs and a second bathroom for the girls (10,13). Garden out front was pretty with the white picket fence. It was a quiet area next to the quiet pool and hot tub. Negatives: Club lounge is very far from our room and the girls said the pull out sofabed was not very comfy. The pool was a bit crowded but we enjoyed the surrey bike ride and the quick walk to Epcot.

If anyone has any questions, please ask!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Contemporary: Love the club area room! Very spacious and a great view of the castle! Also really liked the room we stayed in with very modern features and very spacious. The club level workers were just ok...didn't go out of their way to make my stay special. Barely said hi. Food was always plentiful and tasty. This was one of our favorite places to stay!

Do you remember the types of food they were serving at 5:00 PM? Since they use to get them from the Concourse Steakhouse I don't know if they have changed now that they have opened The Wave, so any information you can tell me would be great.

Besides that sorry that the Cast Members did not do anything special or barley said hello. Each time my family and I have stayed on the Atrium Club they always said hello and made our stays up there very special.

 

[teacher5]

As far as the food goes, we only had it in the AM and in the evening when the desserts were there. We arrived after 8 PM and then were in the parks all day with an ADR for dinner at 1900 Park Fare. The next morning we checked out.

 

[teacher5]

As far as the CR club level workers, they always seemed like they were helping someone when we walked by. By that I mean someone was sitting down in front of their desk.

 

[NJBILL]

Shot them an email with your reservation number and introduce yourself. .

Took this advice and sent email to Poly IPO to introduce and ask a few questions...It has been 4 days and no response...

 

[PSherman37]

I know it's hard, but I would suggest waiting a week and sending another email if you don't get a response. Right now it's one of their busiest weeks with the 4th of July and people are in a frenzy booking for the busiest week there is, Christmas to New Year's.

 

[John's Mom]

Took this advice and sent email to Poly IPO to introduce and ask a few questions...It has been 4 days and no response...

If I were you, I would call them. Last month, I emailed them and called them. They contacted me within 24 hours.

 

[akdeputydog]

Hi everyone -
Gosh this is a huge thread. I am looking for info about staying CL at AKL. We've never stayed club level anywhere so this is a new experience. We (DH, myself and DD 5yo) will be at AKL next May. Besides the Sunrise Safari benefit can you tell me what the IPO/concierge staff can do for us and what all the benefits of staying CL at AKL are?

Also - being a neurotic planner and a control freak (do those always go hand in hand) - anyway...I've read that the IPOs will make ADRs if provided the info. Has anyone had a bad experience doing this? Does it work out well? I'm most nervous/scared about turning it over to them with regards to gettign a reservation at CRT. My DD loves princesses and this would be the highlight of the trip for her so I really really want to get a ressie for her and don't know if it is something I should entrust to an IPO. Any thoughts.

Thanks in advance for any input/info.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

As far as the food goes, we only had it in the AM and in the evening when the desserts were there. We arrived after 8 PM and then were in the parks all day with an ADR for dinner at 1900 Park Fare. The next morning we checked out.

As far as the CR club level workers, they always seemed like they were helping someone when we walked by. By that I mean someone was sitting down in front of their desk.

Thanks for that information and if they were helping other guests, I guess they want to give them their full attention which I can understand.

 

[VAgal76]

Hi everyone -
Gosh this is a huge thread. I am looking for info about staying CL at AKL. We've never stayed club level anywhere so this is a new experience. We (DH, myself and DD 5yo) will be at AKL next May. Besides the Sunrise Safari benefit can you tell me what the IPO/concierge staff can do for us and what all the benefits of staying CL at AKL are?

Also - being a neurotic planner and a control freak (do those always go hand in hand) - anyway...I've read that the IPOs will make ADRs if provided the info. Has anyone had a bad experience doing this? Does it work out well? I'm most nervous/scared about turning it over to them with regards to gettign a reservation at CRT. My DD loves princesses and this would be the highlight of the trip for her so I really really want to get a ressie for her and don't know if it is something I should entrust to an IPO. Any thoughts.

Thanks in advance for any input/info.

Welcome! AKL is one of my favorites with GF following an extremely close second. If you've provided your e-mail address and booked direct you probably will get an e-mail. Respond to it with what ADRs, cruise, spa type bookings. I've never had an issue with them not booking something I wanted upon request so don't be nervous at all.

A few tips about lounge etiquette: They will ask that appropriate clothing be worn. I've seen smaller kids wear PJs to breakfast which isn't a big deal, but older teens and adults shouldn't practice that. It's ok to ask the CM in the lounge for a beer despite it not being 5 o'clock because it is somewhere. You don't have to tip lounge CMs. A smile and a gracious thank you goes a long way. If someone went above and beyond, you might want to give them a small reward and write into their manager about your experience.

A few tips about contacting the Itinerary Planning Office (AKA IPO). If you don't get an e-mail soon then please do send a quick e-mail to them with your name and dates to introduce yourself. They can find you that way. They can do some personal shopping for you to have goodies in the room. Just have something in mind and your CC# handy. I've done this several times and have never been disappointed. They may not get back to you for a few days. It really depends on what is going on. During slower times it can be record speed and during busy times it can take a few days. They can absolutely get the CRT ressie for you. Go for early morning time slot - totally worth walking down a pretty bare Main Street!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

It's ok to ask the CM in the lounge for a beer despite it not being 5 o'clock because it is somewhere.

Last December I saw a guest ask for 2 bottles of Heineken in the Polynesian Club Level lounge and it was way before 5:00 PM and the Cast Member did not mind. Plus I even asked for some Beer after 8:00 PM when they took them away and once again it was no problem.

 

[Kayli]

Took this advice and sent email to Poly IPO to introduce and ask a few questions...It has been 4 days and no response...

We are doing our first concierge stay at the Poly in September. I read the advice to contact IPO as well and tried several times with an address from this thread. My e-mail kept getting returned. I finally posted on the resort board about it and another e-mail address was posted in that thread. When I used that e-mail, my e-mail went through right away and in 5 minutes or so I had a return e-mail stating that mine was received and someone would contact me within 24 hours.

When I woke up the next morning, I had a lovely e-mail from the IPO with a questionaire attached to help me start planning the trip.

I'm always so long-winded. Anyway, my point is you might want to make sure the e-mail was actually delivered if you have a way to check that. Maybe it was not getting to the right place.

 

[akdeputydog]

Thanks for the advice VAgal76.... I tried today to e-mail them at an address I got from this board (one of the very early postings) and it came back undeliverable... I have not received an e-mail for AKL yet so I would like to e-mail them. Does anyone out there have a good/current e-mail address for the IPO at AKL?
Thanks

 

[irish dancer]

Thanks for the advice VAgal76.... I tried today to e-mail them at an address I got from this board (one of the very early postings) and it came back undeliverable... I have not received an e-mail for AKL yet so I would like to e-mail them. Does anyone out there have a good/current e-mail address for the IPO at AKL?
Thanks

The email I've been using to plan our Oct trip is:

animal.kingdom.lodge.itinerary.planning@disneyworld.com



I've always gotten a response within 24hrs, most times the same day if I've emailed early enough. Also, I wouldn't hesitate to use them to make your ADRs, they got CRT for us so if you let them know early enought I'm sure they could get it for you too. I'm an obsessive planner too and it was hard to wait for them to let me know they got all our requests but in the end I'd do it again.

Best of luck!

 

[ang38]

If it were anywere else I would worry and do it myself, but with Don you have NO worries. He is by far one of the best IPO's out there! We stayed at 4 hotels and I used the IPO services from the CR, WL and AKL. AKL was by far the best and got everything I wanted and early. WL did very well also. CR messed all my adr's up! We did V & A and I told them I would do that one myself. Well, some-one didn't listen and booked it and canceled the one I made. Good thing I checked because it was the wrong time. They also booked me CG for the wrong day. So I would let Don do his magic for you..he is simply great!

Hi everyone -
Gosh this is a huge thread. I am looking for info about staying CL at AKL. We've never stayed club level anywhere so this is a new experience. We (DH, myself and DD 5yo) will be at AKL next May. Besides the Sunrise Safari benefit can you tell me what the IPO/concierge staff can do for us and what all the benefits of staying CL at AKL are?

Also - being a neurotic planner and a control freak (do those always go hand in hand) - anyway...I've read that the IPOs will make ADRs if provided the info. Has anyone had a bad experience doing this? Does it work out well? I'm most nervous/scared about turning it over to them with regards to gettign a reservation at CRT. My DD loves princesses and this would be the highlight of the trip for her so I really really want to get a ressie for her and don't know if it is something I should entrust to an IPO. Any thoughts.

Thanks in advance for any input/info.

 

[RachelTori]

If it were anywere else I would worry and do it myself, but with Don you have NO worries. He is by far one of the best IPO's out there! We stayed at 4 hotels and I used the IPO services from the CR, WL and AKL. AKL was by far the best and got everything I wanted and early. WL did very well also. CR messed all my adr's up! We did V & A and I told them I would do that one myself. Well, some-one didn't listen and booked it and canceled the one I made. Good thing I checked because it was the wrong time. They also booked me CG for the wrong day. So I would let Don do his magic for you..he is simply great!

Absolutely - another vote for Don and the fabulous AKL IPO - they're the best!

 

[angeleigh]

Hi everyone -
Gosh this is a huge thread. I am looking for info about staying CL at AKL. We've never stayed club level anywhere so this is a new experience. We (DH, myself and DD 5yo) will be at AKL next May. Besides the Sunrise Safari benefit can you tell me what the IPO/concierge staff can do for us and what all the benefits of staying CL at AKL are?

Also - being a neurotic planner and a control freak (do those always go hand in hand) - anyway...I've read that the IPOs will make ADRs if provided the info. Has anyone had a bad experience doing this? Does it work out well? I'm most nervous/scared about turning it over to them with regards to gettign a reservation at CRT. My DD loves princesses and this would be the highlight of the trip for her so I really really want to get a ressie for her and don't know if it is something I should entrust to an IPO. Any thoughts.

Thanks in advance for any input/info.

We are staying CL at AKL in August. We made our own dining reservations because we didn't realize that IPO would do that for us. We added two guests to our travel party after all of our ADRs were made and my dh called IPO and they were able to add the others guests to our ADRs including CRT. Our dining times were within 15 minutes of the original times we had.