Disney's Club Level (CL) Information & Questions

We are staying at the Poly CL and my daughter has tree nut allergies(Epipen type) and I wanted to know how they deal with allergies. It’s the cross-contamination that worries us the most. Our plan was to eat breakfast at the lounge, but now I am worried she might not have safe food. Does anyone have recent experience at the Poly CL with allergies?
Thanks!
 
I found the CL CMs actual knowledge of NYE resort and CL events pretty lacking. No one ever mentioned a reserved CL section on the beach. No one mentioned extended CL offering hours on 12/31. CMs didn't seem to know basic scheduling information, such as the early fireworks were at 6:30PM both nights. I felt like I knew far more about what was going on than some CMs.(emphasis added)*

This could be the theme of the Disboards! I'm commenting only because when you book club level, you might expect a higher level of service. And while you may be greeted throughout your stay by name, and you may have a CM spill a little pixie dust on you, that is true no matter what level resort you stay in. It has long been a frustration of mine that WDW CMs are friendly enough but simply, inexplicably, ill-informed or misadvised. Years ago at the Wilderness Lodge, we simply could not get the correct answer about whether the boats were running in the rain. Last summer at Sugar Loaf, finding out whether the Monorail was running was nearly impossible. (It was down a LOT that trip. And I wondered why they couldn't alert the CMs at SL (there's always one in front of the computer). In all of our club level stays, we've never had a CM tell us to text if we needed help with a FP (learned that from EasyWDW). In two stays at AKL, we didn't know there was a set of stairs right next to the lounge that was more convenient for our room. But for learning that here (hat tip TgrlvsPooh), we would have stupidly walked to the elevators each time.

In other words, I have abandoned expecting any CM anywhere to know anything. If I need to know something either before, during or after my trip, I swear on Alabama's next 5 national championships (one of which we'll win Monday night), I come here first. And that's fine. At least there's a place to come. But admittedly, you
should be able ask a club level CM a question and get a correct answer. I'm elaborating on your point only because about once a month some one will post and wonder if club level is worth it. And the answers usually come down to: food/booze; extra room to spread out to, additional/special service. And to the extent anyone is motivated by the last one, they shouldn't expect it to include knowledgable CMs. Nice yes. But they still won't know what time the 3:00 parade is.

That said, we've had some amazing CMs assist us and bless our family. I reckon we all have or else we wouldn't continue to pay boatloads of cash to stay club level. But like the guy who only has 2 national championships, we always thought we were more knowledgable about what was going on.

Roll Tide!

*Since you spend more days/nights in Disney resorts than most cast members who work there, can we really be surprised that you know more? Hardly. I'm not sure, but you might qualify for a Florida Resident rate now. You should check.
 
I'm in your same boat, I don't understand the resizing thing. I have a bunch of pics from our Oct. trip if you want me to email them to you. They now post the menus for the whole week so I have pics of all of those, along with the alcohol selection. If you have any other questions please let me know. I'll be looking forward to your posts since we will be staying there later in the month for my DD 9th birthday.

Pics from Animal Kingdom Lodge CL?!
 
I would say they booked this 5 or 6 months in advance.

I've also noted the military discounts are harder to find this year. However, even this year I found that availability changes. It's always worth keeping an eye out and calling.

It can see it shifting as people's plans change ( the military never changes anyone's plans ever
) but this year unless you jumped on it the first few days the reservations were open, it was slim pickings. Even last year 5 or 6 months out depending on the seasonal surges and things happening could be way too late for a variety selection to be left.
 



This could be the theme of the Disboards! I'm commenting only because when you book club level, you might expect a higher level of service. And while you may be greeted throughout your stay by name, and you may have a CM spill a little pixie dust on you, that is true no matter what level resort you stay in. It has long been a frustration of mine that WDW CMs are friendly enough but simply, inexplicably, ill-informed or misadvised.

In other words, I have abandoned expecting any CM anywhere to know anything.


*Since you spend more days/nights in Disney resorts than most cast members who work there, can we really be surprised that you know more? Hardly. I'm not sure, but you might qualify for a Florida Resident rate now. You should check.

I have a close friend that works for a major food company in logistics. She interviewed with Disney two years ago. While she didn't get an offer, one of the deciding factors she had to look at herself was that they are very behind in their logistics. Like light years behind what she was used to working with in a multi-national company. So while Disney is at the front on their parks, movies, etc, their supply logistics (which I am sure affects information transfer) is woefully lacking.
 
@GADisneyDad14 - thoroughly enjoyed your Poly review and pics!! There really is no place like Poly CL during special holiday MK shows! That CL seating area on the beach looks larger than the one on July 4. Did you think that too, or did it feel about the same? Did you happen to notice if they allowed people to view from the Hawaii grass? ;) How about the crowds at Poly - about the same or different than July 4?

I agree about the nightly offerings now. While they do a nice job presenting each individual plate, in the end most people just want to eat and are not concerned about the presentation. I saw a lot of parents pull their smaller kids aside to combine the individual items onto one bigger plate I'm sure to make it easier to walk with. Heck, I actually did this myself because I didn't want any meatballs to roll off the little plates :laughing:.

Looks like a great time - thanks for posting!
 


I have to agree that military room availability seems down. I have never had a problem getting a CL Room (even a few months out - not talking busy times like Summer/Christmas/holiday weekends).
When I called this past weekend Incoukd barely get a CL Room at all! Had to be extremely creative to get done what I needed done.


As for the food being on small plates...
I bet it is to deter people from taking a lot! Some people (like myself) would never pick up 5 little plates of shrimp. I would however not hesitate to load a plate up with 5 shrimp from a larger bowl. Does that make sense? Obviously lots of people don’t mind to take a lot but they bank on people like me who’d be too embarrassed to take more than 2
 
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GADisneyDad14, Thank you for the wonderful review and photos of the Poly club level! It looks amazing and we are very much looking forward to our first Poly CL stay in early April! In fact, it will be our first ever Poly stay period. We were at Disney end of December - so same time as you - (and this is going to sound ridiculous coming from someone who lives in the Northeast) and it was pretty cold for Florida the night of December 30 for the MK fireworks! We wound up getting lucky and by some miracle picked up someone's last minute dining cancellation at CG for 5:50pm. Had I packed appropriate outdoor clothing for everyone we definitely would have gone to MK to view them but I didn't want my little guy to freeze! The 6:30 fireworks show was pretty incredible - even my husband agreed. We also did the O'hana breakfast with Lilo and Stitch - that's when my 8 year old DD fell instantly in love with the Poly. She has been asking if we can stay there one day - so this will be a pretty big surprise for her when I let her know. :-)

I have two questions - one is regarding room requests at Poly - it seems like most request a balcony - but I'm wondering about ground floor rooms? We booked a garden view cl room and wondering if all the ground floor rooms have convenient access to the pool or not necessarily? I'm not familiar with Poly so any advice here would be appreciated.

My next question is unrelated and was asked of me - but when I think about it, I'm really not sure of the answer. This family is also going that same week in April (kids off from school here) but will be changing rooms within AKL. First club level then moving to a dvc room (not sure if they are moving to Jambo house or Kidani Village or whether that affects the answer- so apologies for the missing information). Since they will be in club level for the first part of their stay will they still have access to the club lounge for the full day they checkout of the club room and move to new room? I know when we were checking out of Beach Club this past summer we were still able to access the lounge that day up until our departure - however we were leaving for the airport, not checking into another non-club level room. Does it make a difference? In other words does that still apply to guests not leaving the resort that day and transferring to a non club level room (DVC room) within same property or will the magic band wipe out access to club level for that day once they check into new room? TIA!
 
This could be the theme of the Disboards! I'm commenting only because when you book club level, you might expect a higher level of service. And while you may be greeted throughout your stay by name, and you may have a CM spill a little pixie dust on you, that is true no matter what level resort you stay in. It has long been a frustration of mine that WDW CMs are friendly enough but simply, inexplicably, ill-informed or misadvised. Years ago at the Wilderness Lodge, we simply could not get the correct answer about whether the boats were running in the rain. Last summer at Sugar Loaf, finding out whether the Monorail was running was nearly impossible. (It was down a LOT that trip. And I wondered why they couldn't alert the CMs at SL (there's always one in front of the computer). In all of our club level stays, we've never had a CM tell us to text if we needed help with a FP (learned that from EasyWDW). In two stays at AKL, we didn't know there was a set of stairs right next to the lounge that was more convenient for our room. But for learning that here (hat tip TgrlvsPooh), we would have stupidly walked to the elevators each time.

In other words, I have abandoned expecting any CM anywhere to know anything. If I need to know something either before, during or after my trip, I swear on Alabama's next 5 national championships (one of which we'll win Monday night), I come here first. And that's fine. At least there's a place to come. But admittedly, you
should be able ask a club level CM a question and get a correct answer. I'm elaborating on your point only because about once a month some one will post and wonder if club level is worth it. And the answers usually come down to: food/booze; extra room to spread out to, additional/special service. And to the extent anyone is motivated by the last one, they shouldn't expect it to include knowledgable CMs. Nice yes. But they still won't know what time the 3:00 parade is.

That said, we've had some amazing CMs assist us and bless our family. I reckon we all have or else we wouldn't continue to pay boatloads of cash to stay club level. But like the guy who only has 2 national championships, we always thought we were more knowledgable about what was going on.

Roll Tide!

*Since you spend more days/nights in Disney resorts than most cast members who work there, can we really be surprised that you know more? Hardly. I'm not sure, but you might qualify for a Florida Resident rate now. You should check.
You just made me remember a conversation with a CM at the GF royal palm club. It was two years ago I think and during the check in she mentioned that the Beach pool would be closed for our stay. I had already read on the dis board's that the pool slide was closed for two days but not the pool. When I told her that she just shrugged and said "Well they never tell us anything, so that's good to know"! I did walk down that day to check and the pool was open just the slide was closed. Lesson learned check the dis board's before you leave on vacation, they generally know more than the CM do.
 
You just made me remember a conversation with a CM at the GF royal palm club. It was two years ago I think and during the check in she mentioned that the Beach pool would be closed for our stay. I had already read on the dis board's that the pool slide was closed for two days but not the pool. When I told her that she just shrugged and said "Well they never tell us anything, so that's good to know"! I did walk down that day to check and the pool was open just the slide was closed. Lesson learned check the dis board's before you leave on vacation, they generally know more than the CM do.

This isn't resort related but last year when I was traveling with my sisters, I had planned to upgrade my tickets to an AP. Did all my research and such, new exactly how much it should cost, what it entailed, etc. Went up to the ticket booth at MK and got a completely different story! Totally threw me off! Went back and forth with the CM but didn't want to waste too much time on it during a valuable 7am EMH, but later checked in here which reinforced my research and I was at least able to address it later in the trip! Invaluable advice over the years!
 
My husband and I had the same dilemma with the BWI deluxe rooms and finally requested and received a room on the fourth floor. It was room #4229 and was almost across the hall way from the lounge. We loved this room and enjoyed using the balcony, since it was just the 2 of us for most of our stay we much preferred the fourth floor over the larger balcony on the third floor. Just couldn't beat the location. Dreaming of being back there in 56 days! This brutal winter in the Northeast is really starting to wear me down Wont be in a deluxe room this time but we will be at the BWI CL for our short F&G stay so I'm a happy girl!
We stayed for our first CL stay at BWI in room 4223 and loved it. Down the hall a bit from the lounge but incredible private balcony and view of MK fireworks! It wasn't noisy either when the patio door was closed but could see the buskers on the Boardwalk when open and smell the incredible bakery smells!
 
GADisneyDad14, Thank you for the wonderful review and photos of the Poly club level! It looks amazing and we are very much looking forward to our first Poly CL stay in early April! In fact, it will be our first ever Poly stay period.

I can't comment on CL as we haven't stayed CL at the Poly, but the Poly is amazing overall....you're going to love it! Have a great trip :goodvibes.

I have two questions - one is regarding room requests at Poly - it seems like most request a balcony - but I'm wondering about ground floor rooms? We booked a garden view cl room and wondering if all the ground floor rooms have convenient access to the pool or not necessarily? I'm not familiar with Poly so any advice here would be appreciated.

GV CL rooms overlook the Oasis pool, so you should have easy access from the patio :).

My next question is unrelated and was asked of me - but when I think about it, I'm really not sure of the answer. This family is also going that same week in April (kids off from school here) but will be changing rooms within AKL. First club level then moving to a dvc room (not sure if they are moving to Jambo house or Kidani Village or whether that affects the answer- so apologies for the missing information). Since they will be in club level for the first part of their stay will they still have access to the club lounge for the full day they checkout of the club room and move to new room? I know when we were checking out of Beach Club this past summer we were still able to access the lounge that day up until our departure - however we were leaving for the airport, not checking into another non-club level room. Does it make a difference? In other words does that still apply to guests not leaving the resort that day and transferring to a non club level room (DVC room) within same property or will the magic band wipe out access to club level for that day once they check into new room? TIA!

They should have access to the lounge until midnight of the day they change rooms. With that said, DVC rooms in Jambo are on the CL floor, so if they are booked for Jambo DVC, they will have CL access with that room as well. Hopefully others will verify that or correct me if things have changed :flower3:.

yes! exactly this. This board is invaluable!!

I agree! :thumbsup2

Please add us to the Yact Club list. We are staying club level May 6 - May 12, 2018. We have never stayed here before. Any tips on resort and club level. We have a lagoon/water view.

I can't help with tips on YC CL as we've never stayed, but wanted to say I hope you have a great trip! :wizard:
 
I have two questions - one is regarding room requests at Poly - it seems like most request a balcony - but I'm wondering about ground floor rooms? We booked a garden view cl room and wondering if all the ground floor rooms have convenient access to the pool or not necessarily? I'm not familiar with Poly so any advice here would be appreciated.
I prefer 1st or third for some sort of outdoor space/seating. I do have a friend that always asks for 2nd because she prefers to sit in the lounge and not need stairs/elevator to access the lounge. So really all have a perk.

On the lagoon side you can cut across the grass but on the gv its not really possible based on the bushes in front and lots of grass. However the hall to either end/door is quick.
Rooms on 3x34 end are close to both pools, elevator and lounge. Rooms on 3x19 are super close for Oasis pool and closer if you want to walk to TTC.


My next question is unrelated and was asked of me - but when I think about it, I'm really not sure of the answer. This family is also going that same week in April (kids off from school here) but will be changing rooms within AKL. First club level then moving to a dvc room (not sure if they are moving to Jambo house or Kidani Village or whether that affects the answer- so apologies for the missing information). Since they will be in club level for the first part of their stay will they still have access to the club lounge for the full day they checkout of the club room and move to new room? I know when we were checking out of Beach Club this past summer we were still able to access the lounge that day up until our departure - however we were leaving for the airport, not checking into another non-club level room. Does it make a difference? In other words does that still apply to guests not leaving the resort that day and transferring to a non club level room (DVC room) within same property or will the magic band wipe out access to club level for that day once they check into new room? TIA!
Yes lounge access last day.

Please add us to the Yact Club list. We are staying club level May 6 - May 12, 2018. We have never stayed here before. Any tips on resort and club level. We have a lagoon/water view.
This is my post from Dec. I have a room number map that helped me and I hope helps you.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...estions-thread.3344344/page-333#post-58527194
 
Tell me more about this! Can they help find FP?

I think all of the CLs at this point have the “texting service.” It’s pretty easy, you just send a text with what you want/need and they respond.

The texts go to the CL CMs at your resort, not DSS.

In my experience, response times are in the 5-20 minute range.

They can book/cancel/modify ADRs and the same with FPs. This service used to be really helpful when making 4+ FPs, but it’s not really all that helpful now since you can so easily make additional FPs on the app.

I have used the texting service mainly to modify or cancel ADRs, especially last minute ones where I otherwise might have to call Disney Dining (which stinks to do out and about in the parks). I have also used it to request late check-out.

In my experiance, CL CMs are 50/50 on actually explaining the texting service is available.

You ‘should’ get a CL welcome sheet that will look something like the below (this is Poly CL, FYI)... the texting info and number is on the bottom (very easy to miss unless you are looking).

Hope that helps!

File Feb 23, 11 11 36 AM.jpeg
 
So did anyone see the new rumor on the board the CL guests will be offered 3 more FP per day for $50, each person! That's insane if you ask me. Would anyone use this?
 

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