Disney's Club Level (CL) Information & Questions

[TigrLvsPooh]

Itinerary Planning Office

Phone 407-938-4755

Fax 407-938-6507

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

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

If they aren't answering your emails I would call them.

 

[NicoleLarson]

Just thought I would add this tidbit to the AKL CL debacle. So I have a DVC studio room (non-cl) booked for January 7-9. I got a call 2 days ago saying they needed to speak with me about my stay. So I call them back and they tell me that the CL lounge will be under construction and I might hear some noise since I could be in one of the rooms below. End of story or so I thought. I just got off the phone because they called me back to let me know my room will be under construction. I found that super odd because there's no way they've done room assignments this early. So I don't know if this is in any way related to the AKL CL construction but the standard view rooms would be below the current lounge and that's what I had booked. I dont see anything about refurbing the DVC rooms so I can only guess that it does have something to do with the CL lounge. BTW I got upgraded to a 1 bedroom at OKW and $100/ night resort credit so it didn't turn out so bad.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Just thought I would add this tidbit to the AKL CL debacle. So I have a DVC studio room (non-cl) booked for January 7-9. I got a call 2 days ago saying they needed to speak with me about my stay. So I call them back and they tell me that the CL lounge will be under construction and I might hear some noise since I could be in one of the rooms below. End of story or so I thought. I just got off the phone because they called me back to let me know my room will be under construction. I found that super odd because there's no way they've done room assignments this early. So I don't know if this is in any way related to the AKL CL construction but the standard view rooms would be below the current lounge and that's what I had booked. I dont see anything about refurbing the DVC rooms so I can only guess that it does have something to do with the CL lounge. BTW I got upgraded to a 1 bedroom at OKW and $100/ night resort credit so it didn't turn out so bad.

I bet they decided to pull the rooms from inventory because the noise was going to be too much. Plus they sometimes need access for equipment down certain hallways and have to close them off to guests. I think you got a good deal, I love OKW!

 

[trishadono]

Hey guys. I need some advise. I figured I'd try here first before starting a new thread. My husband surprised me with a Club Level trip for just the two of us for my 30th birthday & he was wise enough to know to let me plan (obsess over) it. We're DVC members and have never stayed Club Level- we're renting our points and then booking on cash. Every time I think I'm set on a resort I find another reason against it. We will be there for F&WF and we definitely want to take advantage of all the offerings. So I was thinking an Epcot resort makes sense. BWI is my absolute favorite resort but it's booked for the week I want- minus the little cottage, which I love, but don't like the idea of being so far from the "concierge room". I hear very mixed reviews on BC & YC club level and I don't really love those resorts anyway. Plus, I'm afraid I'll be sad looking across the water at my number 1, BWI. So then I thought about a monorail resort since they'll still be somewhat convenient to Epcot. I've never stayed GF but I have stayed at Poly & CR. I was leaning towards GF, but I don't know if it's worth the extra expense. Poly would be romantic & CR is fun, so here I am totally stuck. I know I will not get the dream answer I'm looking for since a lot of it has to do with preference, I guess I'm just looking for personal experiences, how you would chose, & why. SO...

BWI Garden Cottage
GF Main Building room
GF Outer Building room
CR Tower room
Poly room

Which would you choose & why? Or would you go with another? Why?

Thanks!!

Gf main is more romantic, gf outer great for pool time, cr mkv is amazing, poly CL views and location to beach is my favorite. BWI only CL I haven't tried.

For food experience gf wins hands down. For views I greatly prefer CR and poly.

The BWI cottages I did see in November and it was too far for most to enjoy the CL lounge. I did stay in a suite at cr in the garden building and that was better(if someone curious). The Cr GV suites work because when you get off monorail you just take elevator up to lounge first, then when done you can go to your room.

Loved them all!! Each has strengths and weaknesses. If you will be at the resort a lot pick gf. If want to be more in parks then cr/poly. Eat breakfast and do applies at 5-7. We do 5 hit MK and back before desserts gone at 10. At least one night be in lounge for fireworks

 

[Benchley]

Thank you. It's the same one I have been trying. I'll give it one more go and if I still don't get a reply I'll ring them!

 

[Luv2trav]

Checked into Poly theme park view cl today. Check in was a little crazy because no one directed me to Hawaii building and front desk kept saying my magic bands were messed up. Finally manager came to help cast member and walked me over to Hawaii building and I was checked in 3 mins?? Lol. Not sure what happened but it wasn't a big deal. Got all the request that I wanted and everything has been perfect. They even helped me retrieve my pillow that I left behind at Beach Club Villa. Love the view. So happy we upgraded.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Just a quick post about my CL check in experience. When we got off the DME bus yesterday we were the last ones of a huge group of people. Probably 20+ people got off the bus at the same time. So needless to say we did not get a greeter. The iPad lady was mobbed. Since I knew where Sugar Loaf was I decided to go straight there. When we arrived there was a man at the desk and we told him we had just arrived. He asked if we had our room number and I said yes. So he pointed at the elevators. We didn't get a packet, a lounge time sheet, nothing. I don't like this procedure. If they can't have an adequate number of iPad CMs waiting for the bus then at least the CMs in SL should be prepared to welcome guests.
This morning I came down and told them I needed a welcome sheet for the text number and lounge times he apologized and gave me one. But I guess I won't get the chocolate.

 

[mickeynut1]

Checked into Poly theme park view cl today. Check in was a little crazy because no one directed me to Hawaii building and front desk kept saying my magic bands were messed up. Finally manager came to help cast member and walked me over to Hawaii building and I was checked in 3 mins?? Lol. Not sure what happened but it wasn't a big deal. Got all the request that I wanted and everything has been perfect. They even helped me retrieve my pillow that I left behind at Beach Club Villa. Love the view. So happy we upgraded.

Sorry about the little glitch with check in, but glad everything worked out well once you were escorted to the Hawaii building! Glad all of your requests were met. Hope you have a great time and enjoy Poly CL .

 

[pas130]

Just a quick post about my CL check in experience. When we got off the DME bus yesterday we were the last ones of a huge group of people. Probably 20+ people got off the bus at the same time. So needless to say we did not get a greeter. The iPad lady was mobbed. Since I knew where Sugar Loaf was I decided to go straight there. When we arrived there was a man at the desk and we told him we had just arrived. He asked if we had our room number and I said yes. So he pointed at the elevators. We didn't get a packet, a lounge time sheet, nothing. I don't like this procedure. If they can't have an adequate number of iPad CMs waiting for the bus then at least the CMs in SL should be prepared to welcome guests.
This morning I came down and told them I needed a welcome sheet for the text number and lounge times he apologized and gave me one. But I guess I won't get the chocolate.

Sorry to hear this Erika. They should have given you your packet or something. I know the feeling not being greeted (except our experience was in RPC) it's disheartening.

 

[thisismyusername]

Just a quick post about my CL check in experience. When we got off the DME bus yesterday we were the last ones of a huge group of people. Probably 20+ people got off the bus at the same time. So needless to say we did not get a greeter. The iPad lady was mobbed. Since I knew where Sugar Loaf was I decided to go straight there. When we arrived there was a man at the desk and we told him we had just arrived. He asked if we had our room number and I said yes. So he pointed at the elevators. We didn't get a packet, a lounge time sheet, nothing. I don't like this procedure. If they can't have an adequate number of iPad CMs waiting for the bus then at least the CMs in SL should be prepared to welcome guests.
This morning I came down and told them I needed a welcome sheet for the text number and lounge times he apologized and gave me one. But I guess I won't get the chocolate.

We checked in at Sugarloaf last week, and there were only two families going to SL when we got off the bus: Us, and our friends. We got a greeter (Denny--who we've had 3x in the past and love), and our friends did not. We were upset because we had convinced them to stay SL with us and had told them how special they were going to feel with the personalized check in, and nada. We didn't realize that they didn't get a greeter until after we had already been whisked away, but I do know that they said something at the desk about how impersonal the check in procedure was when we had stayed at Disney so many times and knew the ropes and received a greeter, and they received nothing but an escort to the main desk in the main building. FWIW, they were given 3 extra FPes for the day as compensation, which did make them happy, but I agree: The expectation is there that you receive concierge level service from the moment you step onto Disney property, and when they fail to plan accordingly, it does bring down the experience and devalues it a bit.

 

[pixarmom]

Just a quick post about my CL check in experience. When we got off the DME bus yesterday we were the last ones of a huge group of people. Probably 20+ people got off the bus at the same time. So needless to say we did not get a greeter. The iPad lady was mobbed. Since I knew where Sugar Loaf was I decided to go straight there. When we arrived there was a man at the desk and we told him we had just arrived. He asked if we had our room number and I said yes. So he pointed at the elevators. We didn't get a packet, a lounge time sheet, nothing. I don't like this procedure. If they can't have an adequate number of iPad CMs waiting for the bus then at least the CMs in SL should be prepared to welcome guests.
This morning I came down and told them I needed a welcome sheet for the text number and lounge times he apologized and gave me one. But I guess I won't get the chocolate.

This week flew by and I didn't realize you were already on your way! I'll need to stop by your live report! Thanks for reporting this, and bummer for you and the boys. We've had mixed experiences with CL staff lately, and it's kind of crummy when you arrive and your greeter or check-in CM are crabby or blah (or in your case, too busy/absent!) That's part of the reason we're less likely to book CL right now - we prefer the straight-to-room system and not having to stop by the CL desk or interact with anyone. Our oldest mentioned that CL staff are starting to put a damper on the start to the trip, rather than make it more festive and welcoming. The exceptions are the CMs at BWI and WL - always a positive experience with those CLs. Would be nice to see more consistency.

 

[Miked0292]

So here is a question, will my MagicBand operate the elevator before we check in , because that would make things a bit easier as we are bringing a car be can just leave stuff in the car, go upstairs and figure out our room stuff then go back down and get everything from there.

 

[Luv2trav]

Just a quick post about my CL check in experience. When we got off the DME bus yesterday we were the last ones of a huge group of people. Probably 20+ people got off the bus at the same time. So needless to say we did not get a greeter. The iPad lady was mobbed. Since I knew where Sugar Loaf was I decided to go straight there. When we arrived there was a man at the desk and we told him we had just arrived. He asked if we had our room number and I said yes. So he pointed at the elevators. We didn't get a packet, a lounge time sheet, nothing. I don't like this procedure. If they can't have an adequate number of iPad CMs waiting for the bus then at least the CMs in SL should be prepared to welcome guests.
This morning I came down and told them I needed a welcome sheet for the text number and lounge times he apologized and gave me one. But I guess I won't get the chocolate.

We had similar experience yesterday here at Poly. We had to ask for leis when people behind us got them.

 

[focusondisney]

Hi! We checked out of YC this morning & I have some pictures of the new lounge. Let's see if this works.

 

[focusondisney]

Looks like it did!! Yea! That's a first for me!!

 

[rteetz]

Looks like it did!! Yea! That's a first for me!!
View attachment 140440 View attachment 140441 View attachment 140442

Looks great we will be there in early January for marathon weekend!

 

[Miked0292]

Seems like that stone should of been used in the BC CL instead of the YC CL lol

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Great pics!!!!!

 

[mmmears]

The "hit or miss" CL check-in reports on here are disturbing. I don't think that checking in CL is that big of a deal, but I do think that the least they could do is have someone send you up to the lounge to relax and wait for a concierge CM to come check you in. It's not that uncommon for more than one family to check in at the same time after all... Having said that, our absolute worst check-in was CL at the GCH (at DL) with a CM who obviously didn't want to be there, didn't want to be courteous, and didn't want to be checking us in. (looking back I should have complained, since it still bothers me that we had such a horrible check in, but at the time I just let it go). Again, this is something they could avoid considering there aren't that many CL CMs compared to the number of hotel employees overall. There are so many wonderful CMs, too. It's worth it to take the time to write about the ones who make things special!

Oh, and TgrLvsPooh, you should get your chocolate!