Disney's Club Level (CL) Information & Questions

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

Not AngiTN but we checked out of our deluxe room this morning and no dispensers. Still the individual bottles. We still bring our own things but I always take some home for display in the main floor bathroom.

Thanks!!! Lol we like to save some for home also!!

 

[tinabina919]

We are here. I've got on custom Red Queen ears and a not so happy fairy tale shirt from universal last year
This place is overrun with bloggers and such

Got to say love the new fireworks show
Poor Ms Incredible had a float malfunction during the parade and had to get towed

Yea pretty sure you were in their live stream

The projections on the castle during the fireworks looked amazing. Loved it.

 

[AngiTN]

They are awesome. Lots of changes

I also saw my photo on the Food Blogs review of Cruella's party. I was getting food. Lol

 

[Nikki0401]

If guests require explicit wording about what is or is not proper deportment via a welcome document, then all is lost. The welcome documents also don't mention anything sitting on tables, grabbing food servings with bare hands, and getting drunk...behaviors we saw this week.

All the best!

I was just thinking the same thing, we just left our split BC, Poly Club stay. I was reading through this thread and thinking of all the stuff that we saw that should be included in the list

 

[Nadine and Fred]

They are awesome. Lots of changes

I also saw my photo on the Food Blogs review of Cruella's party. I was getting food. Lol

How was the Cruella event? We have reservations for next month?

 

[AngiTN]

How was the Cruella event? We have reservations for next month?

I really enjoyed it. I had many glasses of white wine. The food was tasty. I didn't try to get in line for Cruella till late. By then she was roaming and fun
My suggestion is get your wrist band on the way in. Have that out of the way. Show back up at 9:30 to grab a table. We sat on the rail and watched the early parade.
Secret though we got lazy and stayed there for both parades. We only went out for fireworks

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

Continuation of Review of Grand Floridian - Royal Palm Club

Last week, I posted a bunch of pictures of our July 13 - 20 trip and now I'm back with my thoughts on the RPC experience. Here is the "good" and the "not-so-good".

Let's get "the not-so-good" out of the way first!

* No Bathroom in the Lounge - I didn't realize how much we would miss this until we didn't have it. Every other CL we've visited has had a bathroom in the lounge area. We really enjoy stopping at the lounge in the afternoon after touring the parks. Honestly, most of the time we just wanted to wash our hands before eating. Having to go back to our room which was down two longer hallways wasn't terrible, but it wasn't convenient either.

* Mizner's Construction - we found the construction a bit loud at times. It sort of detracted from the overall relaxing charm of the RPC lounge. Thankfully, the construction wasn't constant, but I would say we definitely heard it at multiple points during the week.

* The Hot Appetizers - I honestly hate that this is an item on my not-great list. But, we found the evening hot appetizers a little un-inspired. We were there for a full week and only missed one evening of appetizers. Most nights featured a meat skewer of some type. They tasted pretty good, but multiple nights of meat skewers (just with a different nightly seasoning) gets a little tired. There were meatballs alongside the skewers on a few nights, but they tasted a little dry to us. I wonder if my expectations were a little too high? Honestly, I think my disappointment stems from the fact that we stayed BWI CL over Christmas week and the evening appetizers were outstanding. They were way more plentiful, fresh, varied, and inspired than RPC in my opinion.

* Not Enough Tables for Four - There are very few four-tops on the 4th floor. Most tables are two-tops. It was a very crowded week and most days we had a very hard time getting a table for my family of four. One time we even found an empty four-top but there were no chairs. Families had pulled the chairs up to two-tops and had squeezed in their families at the smaller tables. It was frustrating and I dreaded entering the lounge at busier times knowing I'd have a hard time getting a table.

* Understaffed - as I said, we seemed to be there during a very busy week. And, don't get me wrong, the CMs at RPC are out-of-this-world. But, there weren't enough of them. Unlike at other CLs we've been to, they didn't seem to clear the tables until you were totally done eating. And, since we were squished at a two-top on more than one occasion, it made for a cluttery and dish-filled table. Often, we'd get to the lounge and find an empty table that was completely full of dishes. So, we'd have to wait for a CM to bus it...which didn't always happen quickly. There was no place to bring your empty dishes otherwise I would have done it myself. IMO, if you can't keep up with clearing the tables, you should provide a place for people to stack dirty dishes.

* The Dog - I posted about this one in a thread on the restaurant board a few weeks ago should you care to read it. There was a very-obvious-non-service-dog in the lounge barking like mad on a few occasions. I did speak to a CM on staff about it and she did acknowledge that they heard the dog all the way down on the third floor. Bottom line, GF staff is not asking the two questions that the ADA permits them to ask.

* The Waffles - these show up on my bad and good list! But, here's the bad: while the waffles were good, they just couldn't keep up with the demand for them. The waffle line was always long. The CM manning the station told me that she has asked repeatedly for a second waffle iron but they wouldn't give it to her. On our last morning there, all I wanted was a waffle to end my stay. After waiting in line with my DH and two teens for at least 15 minutes, we were informed that they had run out of batter. The CM making the waffles called down to the kitchen and assured us that more batter would be up any minute. So, we all stayed in line. Unhappily, we were in that line for another half hour before batter arrived! And, when it finally did arrive, they rationed one waffle per person. Waiting in line for 45 minutes for a small waffle was not the way I wanted our last breakfast to go. My husband finally had to get out of the line and go back to shower so we could leave in time. So, we didn't get to eat our last breakfast together as a family. It was a bummer.


THE GOOD

* The Orchestra and Band - Seriously, this was one of my favorite parts of RPC. The music added incredible ambiance to the lounge! I love that they played older music, current music and Disney favorites; a great variety! I will miss it if we stay anywhere else!

* The Bottled Water - I love that they had small bottled waters available all the time. We would grab some every time we passed through the lounge. We'd put the bottles in our fridge so we always had nice cold bottled water to take to the parks! Very nice!

* The Breakfast - It was excellent! The waffles every day were delicious. They had crepes on Thursday which were very tasty with a citrus flavor. They always had two types of egg preparation (usually deviled and hard boiled). They also had a hot egg option - mini quiche, etc. The fresh fruit was very good (blueberries, raspberries, etc). They also had a great variety of breads and danishes. This was my favorite CL breakfast of all the places we've stayed. Top notch, very good!

* The Tray for the Pool - The pool is not close to the RPC lounge so one day I requested a tray and was given one within two seconds. It was great for bringing mid-afternoon snacks and cookies down for my family.

* The Ambiance - We loved the feel of the lounge. Bright, airy, relaxing...and everyone gets a window seat! The view is beautiful from up on the fourth floor. You can see the garden pool in one direction and the Poly in the other. It was a super relaxing place to hang out! And, a great place to watch the afternoon storms roll in!

* The Chocolate Chip Cookies - OK, to be fair, this is usually my favorite part of every CL. I love eating chocolate chip cookies every day I'm staying CL (and I wonder why I gain 5 pounds every time I go to Disney!) Anyway, there were some nights that they were out of chocolate chip cookies and that was a bummer. But...the desserts at RPC were very good otherwise! A nice variety and selection of cookies, and lots of other goodies. Highlights were the mini cheesecakes and key lime tarts!

So, that about sums up my thoughts! I know the "not-so-good" list is longer than the "good" list, but overall the not-so-good things were relatively minor. We had a great week and we wouldn't hesitate to return! I think that the Poly still has my heart...I love the ambiance there and I love how you are more connected to the outdoors at the Poly resort. But, my husband is now squarely and without-doubt in the RPC corner! It is a great place to spend your time and your Disney dollars!

I will say that the other people staying RPC (as with every other lounge) did have a significant effect on our enjoyment of the lounge. We saw the worst of humanity and the best of humanity over our GF week. We also saw, once again, that money does not buy manners. I lost track at the number of kids allowed to stick their entire hands into the gummy bear and goldfish bowl. It got so bad that my teens stopped eating gummy bears all together because it was gross. I still contend that there should be a non-moving CM stationed in every CL to answer questions and to stop children (and adults!) from getting food without serving utensils...for the health and safety of everyone. It's gotten to be a big problem at all CLs. But, we also saw the best of humanity during our week! We met so many lovely people and our trip was richer because of the conversations we had with them! Many of the children were adorable and perfectly and age-appropriately behaved!

In closing, here are a few pics of one of my favorite GL things...the ambiance created by the beautiful flowers scattered throughout the resort! It really is beautiful here!!


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That stinks about the barking dog in the lounge. I didn't even know GF was a dog-friendly hotel. I like that they gave you a tray for the pool, though.

 

[Wood Nymph]

That stinks about the barking dog in the lounge. I didn't even know GF was a dog-friendly hotel. I like that they gave you a tray for the pool, though.

GF is not a dog friendly resort. The only deluxe resort that allows you to bring dogs is the Yacht Club. The barking dog mentioned in the review must have been a "service" dog. Those must be allowed by law. Whether or not this particular dog was a legitimate service dog or not is another matter.

 

[Buzzsgramma]

Both CL buildings at GF are controlled by MagicBand/room key card access. For RPC, you have to scan your MB/card on the elevator to take you up. For SL, you have to scan to enter the building.

Do unscrupulous hitch hikers ‘tag along’ at times? Possible, but not all that common, generally speaking. It would be the exception, not the norm.

Lounge crowding (in my opinion) comes from the fact that all of the CLs (not just GF) are sized at a point that is preciously on that really fine line of adequate facilities vs the # of guests/rooms they serve. Throw some large groups in the mix that all come at the exact same time... or bad weather outside that pushes people to “hang around” in the lounge or all hit evening apps at once... it creates a situation where the lounge may be maxed out (you could say this about most of the CLs).

I haven’t been to RPC since 2016, but did not encounter any crowded lounge conditions over our stay (in fact, it was quite delightful). But from reports, I’m sure it happens at times. I have been unable to find seats at SL on rare occasion (most recent trip there was last fall), to me, that lounge has more consistent “busy” moments at times.

But things ebb and flow all day, not unlike park crowds to some extent. Sometimes you have trips where your timing just happens to work in your favor every time you step foot in the lounge... sometimes you just happen to arrive at a crowded point in any given service.

For me, it’s not really anything I worry about for any given CL stay.

I can adjust to crowds...but not people taking advantage of a situation...I thank you for your complete answer tho..

 

[gottalovepluto]

That stinks about the barking dog in the lounge. I didn't even know GF was a dog-friendly hotel. I like that they gave you a tray for the pool, though.

To add to @Wood Nymph even at the dog friendly YC, non-service dogs are only allowed in certain places and they are absolutely not allowed in the CL lounge.

 

[Tazza]

Hi! I’ve been searching this thread for over 30 minutes and haven’t found a definite answer, so I apologize if already answered! We have 2 nights (2rooms) at CSR CL (Chronos) reserved during the week after Christmas. The CM on the phone told me CSR was not eligible for DSS and not eligible for purchasing the extra FPPs. Does anyone have direct experience with this? I can call sometime this week, but I’m wondering if anyone has previous knowledge. Thanks! °o°

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hi! I’ve been searching this thread for over 30 minutes and haven’t found a definite answer, so I apologize if already answered! We have 2 nights (2rooms) at CSR CL (Chronos) reserved during the week after Christmas. The CM on the phone told me CSR was not eligible for DSS and not eligible for purchasing the extra FPPs. Does anyone have direct experience with this? I can call sometime this week, but I’m wondering if anyone has previous knowledge. Thanks! °o°

The CM is incorrect. The Gran Destino Tower CL rooms qualify for all CL amenities, including access to DSS and being able to purchase the extra FP program.

 

[Tazza]

The CM is incorrect. The Gran Destino Tower CL rooms qualify for all CL amenities, including access to DSS and being able to purchase the extra FP program.

Well, that’s good to hear. Interesting, she seemed very adamant. I wonder why they are telling guests this!

 

[Dave006]

I can call sometime this week, but I’m wondering if anyone has previous knowledge. Thanks! °o°

With your 2 nights at The Gran Destino Tower CL you qualify for 3 days of the purchased extra CL Fastpass offering and all other DSS offerings.

Just call DSS at 407-939-7777 or via email at disney.signature.services@disneyworld.com they are available seven days a week from 9 to 5 Eastern Time.

Dave

 

[Dave006]

Well, that’s good to hear. Interesting, she seemed very adamant. I wonder why they are telling guests this!

It would not be the first or last time anyone got bad information for a CM.

Dave

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Well, that’s good to hear. Interesting, she seemed very adamant. I wonder why they are telling guests this!

CSR used to have (still has?) a ‘business class’ booking category that was in some ways “CL light”. It did not qualify for DSS or any other “real” CL benefits such as the extra FP program. My guess is that’s probably the root of the CM info, but just improperly applied to the new Tower CL room category.

 

[trishadono]

Well, that’s good to hear. Interesting, she seemed very adamant. I wonder why they are telling guests this!

I booked my extra cl fp’s for my CSR cl stay for 10/10-14.

So yes, you can.

 

[Tazza]

I booked my extra cl fp’s for my CSR cl stay for 10/10-14.

So yes, you can.

Thanks! Love hearing the first hand report before I call in.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

We just booked a pre-cruise night at Contemporary Atrium Club Level for our Fantasy New Year's cruise. How is the Atrium Club over Christmas week?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thanks! Love hearing the first hand report before I call in.

1. Make sure you’re calling DSS using the info above.
2. If the CM says no just say thanks, hang up and call again. When they’re adamant like you encountered it’s a lot easier to just call back and find a CM who knows what’s what.