Which CL would you choose?

[reeddi]

My husband and I will be heading to WDW in the fall for food and wine as well as Halloween. We have stayed at the AKL CL in Jambo house before and loved it but I was thinking of choosing a different one this time. Which one would you choose and why?

Thanks
Reeddi

 

[Nancyg56]

I think it depends on where you plan to spend the most time. I like the Grand Floridian CL, I only have expereinced Sugarloaf, but I like that resort a lot, and when we stay there we spend a lot of time on the monorail visiting the resorts, and going to the MK>

If you plan to spend more time in Epcot I would plan on an Epcot Resort and I am partial to the Beach Club CL. I think the staff is wonderful, the offerings very nice, and the location cannot be beat.

I alwyas book my resort to compliment the focus of my trip, so that is where I woudl start if I was planning your trip.

 

[reeddi]

Thanks. Since we plan on doing both Food and Wine and Halloween I would guess I am looking at any BUT AKL even though we loved that one.
So we are pretty open for this trip.

 

[Nancyg56]

Thanks. Since we plan on doing both Food and Wine and Halloween I would guess I am looking at any BUT AKL even though we loved that one.
So we are pretty open for this trip.

I really enjoyed AKL CL too!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I like @Nancyg56's comment about booking based on the focus of your trip.

Since your trip sounds like it will be MK/EP centered, I'd focus on the MK monorail resorts... Poly, GF, or CR. I like these options best for splitting time between both parks. Easy to get to MK via monorail or boat (or walking in the case of CR), easy enough to get to Epcot via monorail as well.

Poly would get my vote given walkability to TTC for the Epcot monorail. This makes it easier to hop over to Epcot relatively quickly, as opposed to GF and CR where you have to take the resort monorail to the TTC then transfer (which is perfectly easy to do, just takes longer).

I really, really like Poly CL BTW. It's my favorite of the CLs we've tried.

You say Halloween - does that mean you're planning to go to a party? Leaving the MK late at night after a party, I MUCH prefer being at a MK resort. Quick/easy trip back to your resort/bed!

If I can ask you a question, what about AKL CL did you guys like? The food? Service? Just curious and it may help give some better advice on which CL may suit you best.

Although I'll also caveat, all of the CLs are roughly the same generally speaking. I'd first go with the location/resort that suits your needs and preferences first, then CL is just a bonus on top of that.

Hope that is helpful!

 

[reeddi]

We really liked the food and of course the animals. The room was very nice with a great balcony and view. I like your idea of a MK resort since we may be doing the party one night and it is still easy enough to get on the monorail to Epcot.
Thank you
Reeddi

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We really liked the food and of course the animals. The room was very nice with a great balcony and view. I like your idea of a MK resort since we may be doing the party one night and it is still easy enough to get on the monorail to Epcot.
Thank you
Reeddi

Cool! Out of the MK resort CLs, generally speaking GF has the best food offerings, followed by CR, then Poly.

While I love Poly CL, their food has historically been a step behind the other CLs. But they have the best lounge with the best view, in my humble opinion!

I've stayed at all of the MK resort CLs, happy to answer any questions. Also a ton of great knowledge on the Club Level thread.

Good luck planning!

 

[CynBeth]

We have not tried the food offerings at the few CL we have stayed just went to the lounges for bottled water as several members of my family have food allergies. We loved Poly CL the best because of the open design of the Hawaii building and the room. We also liked getting the lei and chocolate gift upon checkin and the chocolate left on our pillows every day. We ended up with a room that was both a LV and TPV so the one night we got back early could see the water pageant and Wishes from our room. The boat dock was very close. The resort is easy to walk around and is a short walk to the TTC monorail for Epcot.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

If you are doing F&W for more than a day, I would really recommend doing an EP resort as you will be just outside the WS exit and entrance (International Gateway) and it will make going to and leaving F&W super easy. You can tour WS, sample the food and simply walk back to your resort. Our favorite in the EP area is BWI CL.

Yes, Poly has access to TTC so you can monorail to EP, but it drops you off in FW, so you will still have to walk all the way to WS for F&W.

If you are only doing the Halloween party in MK and don't plan to spend a lot of other park days there, I HIGHLY recommend simply taking uber from your EP resort over to GF (and catching the monorail to MK) or CR (and just walk over). You can then bus or uber back at the end of the night.

As others have said, I would think about which area you will spend more time in (MK or EP) and choose your resort from there. In the MK area, I would do Poly (the lounge and longhouse location are really nice). In EP, I would do BWI.