Disney's Club Level (CL) Information & Questions

My Club level split stay report: Grand Floridian RPC May 16-May 23 and then Boardwalk Inn Club level May 23- May 27:cloud9:

This report will be about BWI club level:

DH and myself have stayed at the BWI club level four years in a row and consider this resort our home. However, this trip was a different experience for us. First of all I want to say the CM's in the lounge are outstanding and will do anything to make your stay comfortable and great. Kudos to Lorenzo, Joe, Linda, Jackie, Sam, and JJ for doing exactly that for us. It really pains me to write this, but for us things have changed in the past year. The negatives we experienced this trip has us re-thinking whether we will stay again.

The lounge is now very crowded. Too many tables are now in the lounge and this makes getting around very difficult. Especially when there are large strollers and double strollers in the lounge. Two of our four nights I would have to say were not relaxing at all. This again has to do with the amount of tables crammed into the lounge. We found the lounge to now be very loud. :scared: Club level for us is a place to escape from the noise stimulation of the parks to relax, but this time we were unable to do this at the lounge. The food selections were good. Chef Jay did an amazing job with the entrees he prepared every night, but they mainly consisted of seafood choices. One night was surf and turf which highlighted a white fish and a steak entree with fingerling potatoes. Glad to see the soup back instead of the cheese fondue. Soup rotated between tomato bisque and clam chowder. I am trying hard not to base my review on the quality and quantity of the club level food at BWI to GF, but it is hard not too (GF hits it out of the park). On a few nights I was thankful to be staying close to Epcot so that I could get something else to eat. It saddens me to the core that the food and lounge experience has changed so much. I am thankful the staff has not changed.

The location of BWI is excellent. We enjoy walking to Hollywood Studios and to Epcot. The boardwalk itself is beautiful, especially at night. Since this was the second part of a split stay; we never had to board a bus. Our four days were spent at HS and Epcot. Our room was clean and comfortable. We opted for a deluxe club level room again and we loved the extra room it offered. We love the BWI so much, but after this stay it has us considering other options for next year. Again this stems from the food choices and the crammed seating. :rolleyes2
 
I agree the lounge has become very crowded. It is hard to find a time to relax in there with quiet time now. I wrote an email to Disney when we got back from our trip last year about the changes and needing more space or to cut back on club level rooms again. Obviously they did not listen!:(:o
 
CogsworthTN said:
My Club level split stay report: Grand Floridian RPC May 16-May 23 and then Boardwalk Inn Club level May 23- May 27:cloud9:

This report will be about BWI club level:

DH and myself have stayed at the BWI club level four years in a row and consider this resort our home. However, this trip was a different experience for us. First of all I want to say the CM's in the lounge are outstanding and will do anything to make your stay comfortable and great. Kudos to Lorenzo, Joe, Linda, Jackie, Sam, and JJ for doing exactly that for us. It really pains me to write this, but for us things have changed in the past year. The negatives we experienced this trip has us re-thinking whether we will stay again.

The lounge is now very crowded. Too many tables are now in the lounge and this makes getting around very difficult. Especially when there are large strollers and double strollers in the lounge. Two of our four nights I would have to say were not relaxing at all. This again has to do with the amount of tables crammed into the lounge. We found the lounge to now be very loud. :scared: Club level for us is a place to escape from the noise stimulation of the parks to relax, but this time we were unable to do this at the lounge. The food selections were good. Chef Jay did an amazing job with the entrees he prepared every night, but they mainly consisted of seafood choices. One night was surf and turf which highlighted a white fish and a steak entree with fingerling potatoes. Glad to see the soup back instead of the cheese fondue. Soup rotated between tomato bisque and clam chowder. I am trying hard not to base my review on the quality and quantity of the club level food at BWI to GF, but it is hard not too (GF hits it out of the park). On a few nights I was thankful to be staying close to Epcot so that I could get something else to eat. It saddens me to the core that the food and lounge experience has changed so much. I am thankful the staff has not changed.

The location of BWI is excellent. We enjoy walking to Hollywood Studios and to Epcot. The boardwalk itself is beautiful, especially at night. Since this was the second part of a split stay; we never had to board a bus. Our four days were spent at HS and Epcot. Our room was clean and comfortable. We opted for a deluxe club level room again and we loved the extra room it offered. We love the BWI so much, but after this stay it has us considering other options for next year. Again this stems from the food choices and the crammed seating. :rolleyes2
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for both of your reviews. We too believe the BWI CL to be our home. We love all the of the CMs especially Anita, Lorenzo, Joe, etc. They are in our latest video plus one of our other videos. We all just love them. I am so sorry about the crowds in the lounge. We have never seen that before. We were there for Chef Reggie and the food was absolutely delicious plus he was so friendly. We have stayed at the GF about 8 years ago - I didn't like it at all - the food was great but the CMs were so cold. Even when asking for help. I knew that I didn't need to go back but maybe we will have to try it again.

Thanks again.
 


sfbank said:
I agree the lounge has become very crowded. It is hard to find a time to relax in there with quiet time now. I wrote an email to Disney when we got back from our trip last year about the changes and needing more space or to cut back on club level rooms again. Obviously they did not listen!:(:o
Click to expand...

I am planning to do the same. We just could not believe how many tables and chairs were crammed in what once was a quaint relaxing lounge. I agree they need to remove the club level rooms outside the club level entry door.
 
CogsworthTN said:
My Club level split stay report: Grand Floridian RPC May 16-May 23 and then Boardwalk Inn Club level May 23- May 27:cloud9:

This report will be about BWI club level:

DH and myself have stayed at the BWI club level four years in a row and consider this resort our home. However, this trip was a different experience for us. First of all I want to say the CM's in the lounge are outstanding and will do anything to make your stay comfortable and great. Kudos to Lorenzo, Joe, Linda, Jackie, Sam, and JJ for doing exactly that for us. It really pains me to write this, but for us things have changed in the past year. The negatives we experienced this trip has us re-thinking whether we will stay again.

The lounge is now very crowded. Too many tables are now in the lounge and this makes getting around very difficult. Especially when there are large strollers and double strollers in the lounge. Two of our four nights I would have to say were not relaxing at all. This again has to do with the amount of tables crammed into the lounge. We found the lounge to now be very loud. :scared: Club level for us is a place to escape from the noise stimulation of the parks to relax, but this time we were unable to do this at the lounge. The food selections were good. Chef Jay did an amazing job with the entrees he prepared every night, but they mainly consisted of seafood choices. One night was surf and turf which highlighted a white fish and a steak entree with fingerling potatoes. Glad to see the soup back instead of the cheese fondue. Soup rotated between tomato bisque and clam chowder. I am trying hard not to base my review on the quality and quantity of the club level food at BWI to GF, but it is hard not too (GF hits it out of the park). On a few nights I was thankful to be staying close to Epcot so that I could get something else to eat. It saddens me to the core that the food and lounge experience has changed so much. I am thankful the staff has not changed.

The location of BWI is excellent. We enjoy walking to Hollywood Studios and to Epcot. The boardwalk itself is beautiful, especially at night. Since this was the second part of a split stay; we never had to board a bus. Our four days were spent at HS and Epcot. Our room was clean and comfortable. We opted for a deluxe club level room again and we loved the extra room it offered. We love the BWI so much, but after this stay it has us considering other options for next year. Again this stems from the food choices and the crammed seating. :rolleyes2
Click to expand...

Thanks for the great reports on GF and BWI! Sounds like you had a pretty good trip overall. :-)

I have to say, your BWI lounge crowding observations sound like our experience in Feb. My trip was just a long weekend and I chalked it up to race weekend crowds. But if I'm being honest, it was pretty darn crowded in the evenings and at least one time, maybe two, we couldn't find a seat at all. We encountered a few strollers in the lounge which really do make it hard to get around. Not to sound like a curmudgeon, but I was actually surprised they let strollers in the lounge at all. Poly has always been very good about not letting strollers in the lounge, but I guess they don't mind at BWI?

I sort of let it all slide since BWI gets so much positive praise on this board and I figured I must have just had bad timing on a crowded weekend. But a lot of what you wrote definitely resonates.

Thanks again for checking in with your trip reports!
 


So far this is what I can remember from the CL cocktail hour. There were a couple of kid friendly items each night. They kept the food refilled. Soups were all chilled and very good. We really enjoyed all of the choices.

RPC cocktail hour partial list:

Monday: beef skewers with herbs
Mushroom stuffed with fontina and sausage
Vichyssoise
Chopped Greek salad
Kids- corn dogs and uncrustables

Tuesday: Greek meatball with spinach and feta
Chicken sausage with diced peppers
Gazpacho shot with a shrimp and cucumber (spicey)
Kids- Chicken nuggets

Wednesday: pork belly with mandarin oranges
Potato and beef croquette
Shrimp with avocado and fried plantain slice
Crab and corn chowder
Kids- Mac and cheese
Crime brûlée with caramel corn prepared by chef

Thursday: crab cakes
Pulled pork and red onion on polenta
Hummus and avocado andwoth pita chip
Roasted red pepper soup
Salmon with miso glaze on rice cake
Kids: meatballs with red sauce
Uncrustables

There were also breadsticks, bread, cheeses, grapes, grilled vegetables, and broccoli slaw with cranberries.

Wines offered: Pinot noir, Cabernet, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, and sparkling white. One night they had a cocktail of Rosa regale, grand marnier, cranberry juice and perrier but it was not very popular.

Server said that they change things up frequently so this should give you an idea. Some of the items were really great.
 
CogsworthTN said:
My Club level split stay report: Grand Floridian RPC May 16-May 23 and then Boardwalk Inn Club level May 23- May 27:cloud9:

This report will be about RPC:

DH and myself were blown away with the Grand Floridian RPC. Our arrival day was a planned resort/club level day which allowed us to throughly enjoy all the RPC had to offer. We were impressed with the quality of food selections, the atmosphere and space of the lounge, and the CM's were so welcoming and friendly. The food was simply amazing and the number of choices available were mesmerizing. We loved the smoked turkey and other meat selections that were offered at breakfast. These along with the delicious frittatas allowed us to get proteins in our breakfast; which in turn gave us an awesome jump start to our day. The Mimosas helped too. :D Twice a chef prepared us Mickey waffles and all I can say is wow!

Lunch was also impressive. Daily soup rotations with meats to make small sandwiches were ample enough for us, so we decided to cancel our reservations at the Plaza in MK and go back to the resort for lunch. This was a great decision for us. A quick trip via the boat and viola' total relaxation break. Afternoon tea was a delight as well. Jam tarts, apricot and strawberry spreads. Devonshire cream, and those amazing scones. We did drink tea on our first afternoon tea, but the other times we found champagne was equally as good. :laughing:

The dinner appetizer selections blew us away every evening. So many wonderful selections and quality of the food was out of the park. We also got to experience a chef two of our evenings. She prepared creme brûlée one night and a chicken pasta dish the other. Desserts were amazing as well. the quality and assortment offered each evening were mind blowing. All I can say is what a way to end the evening.

I am so glad DH and myself got to experience this wonderful club level and I also want to thank everyone on the Disboards for your reports on this resort as well. I am wishing we can experience the RPC once again or maybe try the outer building. This was the perfect location for our split stay. We concentrated mainly on Magic Kingdom, but did have one day at the Animal Kingdom Park. Transportation was so easy and we loved the resort grounds. Simply beautiful.

To sum up the first part of our split stay...A trip of a lifetime that I will never forget. :daisy:
Click to expand...

I agree with your review and I hope to return to GF CL.

All CMs were quick to respond to any concerns and any glitches were dealt with promptly. Housekeeping was excellent. Best service we have had at Disney.
 
DisneyFansInNYC said:
Thank you so much for both of your reviews. We too believe the BWI CL to be our home. We love all the of the CMs especially Anita, Lorenzo, Joe, etc. They are in our latest video plus one of our other videos. We all just love them. I am so sorry about the crowds in the lounge. We have never seen that before. We were there for Chef Reggie and the food was absolutely delicious plus he was so friendly. We have stayed at the GF about 8 years ago - I didn't like it at all - the food was great but the CMs were so cold. Even when asking for help. I knew that I didn't need to go back but maybe we will have to try it again.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Our visit to RPC was much more recent but still the same. It simply wasn't for us. We weren't at home there. Staff and us, and the resort, just didn't click.

We do click at the BWI though. We've not had the crowds in the lounge. Nothing extreme anyway. No problem with seats and can't recall a stroller but maybe I just blocked them out

DH and DGD went out tonight to ask about the rate for the Steeplechase Suite, being noisy. They offered to give us a tour since it's empty right now. Pretty sweet suite. Said normally it is rented.

I did ask about when they are up for a remodel. They do not know. They keep hearing "next year". They do know they need a bigger lounge and when a remodel comes that is supposed to come too.
 
Does anyone have any recent experience with the Grand Floridian Royal Palm Club and food allergies. I just changed my reservation and was curious about how well they would be able to accommodate my food allergies during breakfast and with the evening appetizers. FYI, I am allergic to wheat (so gluten-free is safe) & peanuts, and dairy intolerant. Any information you have is appreciated!
:earboy2:
 
squeezle said:
Does anyone have any recent experience with the Grand Floridian Royal Palm Club and food allergies. I just changed my reservation and was curious about how well they would be able to accommodate my food allergies during breakfast and with the evening appetizers. FYI, I am allergic to wheat (so gluten-free is safe) & peanuts, and dairy intolerant. Any information you have is appreciated!
:earboy2:
Click to expand...

They have been great with my Dad's food allergies. Just reach out to DSS via email and list your allergies.
 
AngiTN said:
Our visit to RPC was much more recent but still the same. It simply wasn't for us. We weren't at home there. Staff and us, and the resort, just didn't click.

We do click at the BWI though. We've not had the crowds in the lounge. Nothing extreme anyway. No problem with seats and can't recall a stroller but maybe I just blocked them out

DH and DGD went out tonight to ask about the rate for the Steeplechase Suite, being noisy. They offered to give us a tour since it's empty right now. Pretty sweet suite. Said normally it is rented.

I did ask about when they are up for a remodel. They do not know. They keep hearing "next year". They do know they need a bigger lounge and when a remodel comes that is supposed to come too.
Click to expand...

Out of the MK resorts - GF is definitely last on our list. With the lounges of the CR, the Poly and the WL we are not interested in staying at the GF.

I always wanted to see the Steeplechase Suite but never thought to ask. We too have gone to the BWI CL at least 7 times asof last year and during busy times and have never seen it crowded. Actually we never had to wait to be seated. I do agree that the room could use a renovation but it always was quiet for us. I think I will ask to see the Steeplechase the next time we go. Is Reggie still at the BWI?
 
DisneyFansInNYC said:
Out of the MK resorts - GF is definitely last on our list. With the lounges of the CR, the Poly and the WL we are not interested in staying at the GF.

I always wanted to see the Steeplechase Suite but never thought to ask. We too have gone to the BWI CL at least 7 times asof last year and during busy times and have never seen it crowded. Actually we never had to wait to be seated. I do agree that the room could use a renovation but it always was quiet for us. I think I will ask to see the Steeplechase the next time we go. Is Reggie still at the BWI?
Click to expand...
Yes he is. He's been on vacation this week. He comes back tomorrow. Jay is still here, as is Dez. The power went out when she was cooking, poor thing. She paniced but it was fine. They've tested out a new kid, Chris. We really enjoyed him too. Everything has been great.
 
We just left from having breakfast. I spent some time thinking about the seating in the lounge. I don't think there are too many tables. There aren't that many. 4 round tables to seat more than 2. Then a few 2 seat tables scattered around. The couch and chairs take up a lot of room so maybe they should take that out or as was suggested above, ideally remove the rooms outside the inn keepers door.
 
AngiTN said:
Yes he is. He's been on vacation this week. He comes back tomorrow. Jay is still here, as is Dez. The power went out when she was cooking, poor thing. She paniced but it was fine. They've tested out a new kid, Chris. We really enjoyed him too. Everything has been great.
Click to expand...

Thanks that is great to know. We are trying to add a few days there this summer.
 
AngiTN said:
We just left from having breakfast. I spent some time thinking about the seating in the lounge. I don't think there are too many tables. There aren't that many. 4 round tables to seat more than 2. Then a few 2 seat tables scattered around. The couch and chairs take up a lot of room so maybe they should take that out or as was suggested above, ideally remove the rooms outside the inn keepers door.
Click to expand...

I agree with you 100% on removing the couch and chairs and also removing the rooms outside of the inn keepers door from having club level access. They have added more tables from our last stay in May 2017. This is what made is seem so cramped. When your family arrived you had missed the previous two nights that were super crowded. Every table was taken, two large strollers were in between tables, and it was not a comfortable place to be; and almost impossible to move around.o_O

Our heart still belongs to the BWI; home is home. We have stayed the past four years BWI club level. The CM's are always exceptional. DH and myself consider them family. We also have enjoyed getting to know the exceptional chefs the past three years; Esteban, Reddgie, and Jay.

P.S. I enjoyed meeting you. I hope your DGD had a wonderful time. We also got a tour of the Steeplechase suite. It is pretty "sweet". Hope to see you again. :daisy:
 
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