Is there any advantage having concierge make PS??

[lisareniff]

I'm starting to plan our our trip and wondered if there was any advantage to having the concierge staff make our PS's for us. We will be staying AKL concierge over Pres. Weekend (I know it is a ways away!). I'm interested in PS's at CRT, CP, Chef Mickey's, Jiko, Boma's, Rose and Crown, Le Cellier, and Kona. We are also considering HDDR but I should make that PS now.

Does the concierge get better seating when they reserve?

Can I trust them to get the hard PS's?? CRT?

Thanks.

 

[Sazzo'sMommy]

I'm wondering the same thing!

I started the 90 day mark today and I made my own first PS for CM's, but I emailed the GF IPO for CRT for tomorrow!

Someone, please, tell us!

 

[Eeyore1954]

I don't know about better seats ... but they probably can snag hard-to-get PS, like CRT, thus saving you time calling each day trying to get one yourself. They can note any requests you have about seating, but it doesn't guarantee the restaurant will be able to accommodate your request.

Making PS through the concierge is somewhat easier... if you have an email address for them, you can just send them a note and you're done. Lots easier than running up your phone bill calling 407-WDW-DINE.

 

[nordtrjr]

Well, I can't say from experience (yet) if there is an advantage but I've seen many posts that claim there is an advantage. I'll also be at AKL conciererge in Feb '05 and I've alrady been in contact with them about some of our "must do" arrangements.

I've seen claims that you tend to get better seats and they can "work magic" with those hard to get PS's (like CRT or illuminations cruises) if you work through the concierge. For me the real benefit is that I'll be out of the country at our "90 day" mark and since I'll have already made my requests with the concierge staff well ahead of that then they just take care of everything for me without me having to make all those phone calls.

The AKL concierge staff has been very helpful to me already (even though our trip is still a while away). As we all know there are no "guarantees" but I feel as though I'm in good hands.

 

[JESW]

Our last trip in June I called only two weeks before our trip and concierge was able to get every one of my ps's, including CRT. (We were on a waiting list and they called a week before we left to let us know we got it.)

I like being able to call with my list and have them do all the work. I got all the times I wanted too. We did Whispering Canyon, Coral Reef, Sci-Fi, Kona Cafe, 'Ohana, CRT, Le Cellier and Teppanyaki.

We split our stay between the Polynesian and the Boardwalk and I dealt with the Boardwalk area concierge staff. I got e-mails confirming our ps's.

Jill

 

[AspiringCindy]

This is the first year I have given up my POWER and allowed concierge to make all the arrangements! Lucky too...we were able to get CRT for a party of 9 at a reasonable morning hour!

 

[turnlisa]

Just a word of caution -- when you get your list of confirmed reservations back from the concierage staff, double-check it! Last year I did this and noticed that they had booked us for 2 dinners on my DS's birthday instead of a breakfast and a dinner. I brought this to their attention and they said no problem and fixed it.

Well, then about 30 days from the mark, I wanted another change, contacted them and received another list. The 2 dinners had not been changed to a dinner and a breakfast but the extra dinner eliminated. The breakfast was for Chef Mickey's and by this time there was no way we were getting it. I wouldn't have been so upset but it was my DS's birthday and these were the only places he had requested. Eventually we worked it out so that we had dinner at Chef Mickey's and breakfast at Whispering Canyons but this was only after I called Disney Dining myself.

All of this being said, I am going to try concierage booking most of my PSs again this year. The rest of our plans were very smooth and we received great service. I just know to double-check for peace of mind!

 

[ducklite]

I agree you do need to check anything they book for you--times, dates, party sizes, etc.

BUT, we've found that we often get the best seats in the house, and seem to wait a little less when "concierge" is written next to our name on the computer screen.

Anne

 

[lisareniff]

Thanks everyone!

Ok, I think I will let go and let them do their magic. It will be real nice if they can get CRT for us. ...and if it gets us a little bit better seat once in a while, all the better!

Do you think they can help me decide what do do for my DD's birthday meal? (HDDR, CM or R&C) or are they better at just doing what you ask?

turnlisa - thanks for the heads-up! BTW -are you a lisa too? Have you noticed how many lisa's there are on these boards??

nordtrjr - Maybe we will see you! We will be at AKL Con. Feb. 16th-20th. We are very excited. We had dinner there last Thanksgiving (1st trip) and felt we had to stay there next trip. It sounds like it is not too early to email them about birthday possibilities and the HDDR. I want to make sure my DD has a nice day.

 

[sherry8253]

Just a word of caution. I know that many people have all sorts of wonderful things to say about AKL concierge. Unfortunately, I do not but I won't go into all of the reasons. I did not have luck with them getting hard to get reservations. We wanted to go on an illuminations cruise and we said any of the 9 nights we were there was fine. I called each day to see if they snagged a cruise only to find out they had not. For the eve of night 7, I started calling myself. I snagged one on my 2nd attempt. When I called the concierge to ask them if they had booked a cruise for us so that we didnt end up with a double cruise, they indicated they had not been able to do so. So, in this case it was a good thing that I had booked the cruise myself. I wish you good luck on the concierge getting you everything you want.

 

[Mary Ellen]

We asked the AKL Concierge to book an Illuminations/Speciality cruise for us, as we were to be on an Alaskan cruise at the 90 day point. I wasn't counting on cell phone service being available (and there wasn't). She acted somewhat put out - and we didn't end up with a ressie.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

Tara in IPO with the Poly Concierge didn't make reservations for our last 3 days. Only after I had a CM check on our remaining days did he realize her inefficiency. Luckily, we were there during a slow period and Luc booked all of our remaining PSs.

Lori

 

[lisareniff]

Yikes! now I'm not so sure. I thought it would be fun to try CRT with our two girls but I don't know if I'm up for the pressure of phoning exactly at 7am with the right sequence of button pushes down. Maybe it is easier for them to do the dining PS's??

 

[BCV23]

I like doing my own and we usually have great seats and short wait times. It's fun to do for me and I don't think it takes any more time to call DD than it does to call or e-mail your list to IP. Plus if I want noon but the time slots are 11:50 or 12:10, I like to choose. But that's just me.

For CRT, I would use concierge help.

I do appreciate that concierge will print out a copy of our PSs at check-in. Some of the concierge staff will do that without being asked. The front desk can do it as well but some CMs don't seem to know how. I had one very nice young woman at BC print them out one by one in the manner you get your reservation for Hoop dee Doo. Took a long time.....

 

[dizcrazy]

I would use concierges for CRT.

The other restaurants are easy to get good ps's for, so I would start out just asking for CRT and let them know you REALLY want CRT.

When we stayed at the Poly, I asked about concierges getting better times and tables and they said:

Poly concierges only have special concierge tables at the Poly, like, at O'Hana's.

We found we DID get better tables at certain places - I think because the concierges knew the restaurants and would add notes like "CRT- would like a window seat."