Disney's Club Level (CL) Information & Questions

[NicoleLarson]

Also here's the posted dinner menu. We had the mealie dogs, aka mini corn dogs in addition to everything else on the Sunday menu. The lounge was VERY crowded tonight, I've never seen so many people before and it was a constant flow. And please tell me who thinks it's okay to take a whole thing of goat cheese....the whole giant hunk?! Yes, this happened.

 

[reluctantredhead]

A final few photos of some of the "Disney details" in WL room 2003 that we really liked.

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

A final few photos of some of the "Disney details" in WL room 2003 that we really liked.

LOVE WL!!! Thanks!!

 

[NicoleLarson]

Ok, I got some insight into why the desserts changed tonight. Apparently whoever made the rum cake tonight made it SUPER rummy (is that a word?) so they had to take it off the menu. It took them a bit but they brought out cake cones (aka little clouds of heaven) and freshly toasted Smores. Also as a special treat they're coming around with chocolate covered strawberries, my absolute favorite!

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

Ok, I got some insight into why the desserts changed tonight. Apparently whoever made the rum cake tonight made it SUPER rummy (is that a word?) so they had to take it off the menu. It took them a bit but they brought out cake cones (aka little clouds of heaven) and freshly toasted Smores. Also as a special treat they're coming around with chocolate covered strawberries, my absolute favorite!

Haha...........they just wanted everyone to enjoy them a bit more than usual...!!!

 

[mrsap]

Ok, I got some insight into why the desserts changed tonight. Apparently whoever made the rum cake tonight made it SUPER rummy (is that a word?) so they had to take it off the menu. It took them a bit but they brought out cake cones (aka little clouds of heaven) and freshly toasted Smores. Also as a special treat they're coming around with chocolate covered strawberries, my absolute favorite!

Wow, sounds amazing. Hope you’re having fun.

 

[iona]

The rest of the snacks....

I'm not spotting any Coke Zero in the fridge. Do you know if they'd just run out? They definitely had it the last time we stayed there but that was about 18 months ago.

ps Love the rum cake story!

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

Happy New Years everyone!

New Year ahead brings new adventures!!!

 

[mickeynut1]

Already posted this on the WL thread, but reposting here because so many on this thread were so helpful to us in planning our trip.

We just returned from an incredible trip to WDW -- 12/20-12/23 at WL, and 12/23-12/27 at BC.

This was our first stay at WL, though we've stayed at every other Deluxe before and every Mod except CBR. We loved the WL and can certainly understand why it has so many fans!

Thanks for your review and pics. Glad you had a great time and enjoyed WL CL. It's been a long time since our WL CL stay, but it's definitely on our list of CLs to return to. Enjoy planning your next trip. I hope you are able to change your BB from CR to WL .

 

[mrsap]

Happy New Years everyone!

New Year ahead brings new adventures!!!

Happy New Year to you, as well.

Happy New Year Everyone

 

[kimwoje]

Happy New Year to all! I am hoping to get some opinions from anyone who has stayed CL at Poly for 4th of July. It is our first time and wondering how it all works! Should we plan to stay at the resort that day or venture out to the parks? Was thinking Epcot if anything. What time would we need to be at the resort in order to get our seats for the fireworks? Looking for any guidance before I make our ADRs on Friday!! Thank you!

 

[TJA]

Happy New Year to all! I am hoping to get some opinions from anyone who has stayed CL at Poly for 4th of July. It is our first time and wondering how it all works! Should we plan to stay at the resort that day or venture out to the parks? Was thinking Epcot if anything. What time would we need to be at the resort in order to get our seats for the fireworks? Looking for any guidance before I make our ADRs on Friday!! Thank you!

We've stayed at Poly CL several times over July 4th. What we do is go to a park in the morning and then get back to Poly in the afternoon for some swimming time. If available, I book a cabana. We love hanging out at the resort on that day! It's very energized and fun.

As far as the CL part, if your room is on the lagoon side, just watch the show right from your balcony - it's the best spot! If you're on the garden side, then there is a reserved roped-off section on the beach for CL guests or you can watch the show from the lounge (but we personally enjoy it best outside). As far as what time the reserved beach section starts to fill, I would keep tabs on it starting during the 5-7 apps time in the lounge (you can see the reserved beach area right from the lounge). I've seen people start to gather early, but I've also seen people go in there at the last minute. The good thing about the Poly lounge is you can hang out there until whatever time you want before grabbing your seats on the beach.

Have fun! Poly is a great place for that holiday!

 

[TheFloatingBear]

You both love WL and it’s cheaper, that’s definitely tempting alone.

CR easy access to MK is awesome, transportation to MK from say Poly or GF has seemed to me to be a little more unpleasant the past couple of years, monorail issues and just getting on the monorail has been interesting IMO, and recent experiences. Not always the case but enough to notice and get a bit irritated.

Trying something new for a special occasion could be a fun way to celebrate also!

I am constantly looking at availability and if anything better, having fun is addicting!!!

I understand your love for WL as we love it too, but I think I'd stick with CR. Since the rest of your family hasn't stayed there yet, it might be fun for them to experience it. We've never stayed CR CL, but it's on our list to try (have stayed WL CL, but years ago). Whichever you decide, hope you have a great birthday trip .

I would probably stick with CR based on the CR pros you listed above. Plus the bay lake view in the CR tower is just fabulous, and then you'd have the MK/Castle view from the lounge. Sounds like a fun trip!

Love a good CL dilemma.

I can't really help but I'll relay my experience with a bigger birthday earlier this year. Circumstances aren't exactly like yours but maybe somewhat relevant. Given it was my birthday, I had kind of wanted to stay at a known entity that I knew I'd be happy with no matter what (for me, Poly or CR). But we did BWI CL, mainly to give it a try, always gets such rave reviews here, the dining options around were a better fit for our plan, etc. In retrospect, I regretted the decision to try something new on a big birthday trip and sort of wish we had stuck to what we know.

I know that doesn't exactly match your situation, but I guess my point is to go with your gut on what feels right. I usually advocate 'there will be other trips so don't stress' but birthdays are special, so we tend to put more focus on trying to make the right choice (not that that's really possible) in those circumstances.

(FWIW, my family would vote CR for room size alone, if that matters).

Happy New Year! I am resurfacing after a rather hectic December. In addition to just regular holiday blues in just missing my dad for the first Christmas without him, there's just been a lot going on - including a sink in our attic bathroom that flooded one night - woke up it raining through my kitchen light fixtures and it raining all the way down to our basement! Definitely not the end of the world, but not fun, especially as I was hosting Christmas Eve and Christmas!

Anyway, I just wanted to belatedly thank you guys for your helpful responses! We're sticking with the Contemporary! I bolded some of your reasons that factored in! With a 14yo and a 12yo, the room size and daybed will be great! The walking distance to MK was also a factor in talking my husband into leaving a day earlier so we can do MK DAH! Plus, it's really the best of both worlds as it's something that's a "known entity" for me since I've stayed there, but new and exciting for them since they haven't. I was surprised, but my husband wasn't really tempted by switching - he is really excited to try CR! We leave in a couple of weeks, but at this point it's all a surprise to the kids - and I'm going to try to keep the resort part a secret as long as I can, although they will probably figure it out when we get in line for Disney's Magical Express! They will probably will figure out our general destination when they see me packing Disney shirts...But anyway, thanks! I think writing it out and seeing your responses helped me realize what @GADisneyDad14 was saying - my gut was definitely saying stick with CR!


So with December being what it was, I realized yesterday that I hadn't ordered my magic bands or made any ADRs - lucky for me I only wanted lunches so took care of that yesterday!

ETA: Wishing everyone a healthy and magical New Year!

 

[TheFloatingBear]

I am terrified of height so I vote WL.

Catching up on this thread...I kind of am too, so it's funny that you mention it! But I'm actually more afraid of seeing other people near heights or precipices, if that makes sense, so that's one of the reasons we avoided staying there when the kids were younger, since I knew it would make me edgy to see them peering over balconies and such. Not necessarily rational but what can you do...

 

[JH0329]

First time staying club level at AKL! I am looking for your best suggestions and tips so that we can get the most our of our experience there. We will have a group of 8 . . . ages 64 to 4. TiA!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

NYE setup at the Poly. Reserved CL viewing area.

View from lounge. Last year they had champagne and hot chocolate being served on those tables, assume similar this year.


View from ground.

 

[NicoleLarson]

First time staying club level at AKL! I am looking for your best suggestions and tips so that we can get the most our of our experience there. We will have a group of 8 . . . ages 64 to 4. TiA!

What kind of tips are you looking for? We're here now if you have any questions.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

@TJA, this one is for you!!

For others, this is the lawn/grassy area in front of Hawaii.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

@Amy M
I would just then make that one ADR for Artist Point dinner, and plan the rest of your time at the resort. The time is going to fly by!
(As all Disney vacations are wont to do!)
Happy New Year!

 

[TheFloatingBear]

First time staying club level at AKL! I am looking for your best suggestions and tips so that we can get the most our of our experience there. We will have a group of 8 . . . ages 64 to 4. TiA!

AKL is beautiful and there is so much to do! I agree with @ConnecticutNonna about not doing a lot of ADRS (although also agree about keeping Artist Point!). When we have stayed CL, we tend to make a few lunch ADRs in the parks to give ourselves a place to land and re-charge mid-day. That might work well for you given your larger group/different ages. Regroup and then some might want to return to the resort earlier than others. We generally leave our evenings more open so we can take advantage of the evening appetizers and take a more relaxed approach to the evening (longer pool time, resort activities, etc) before we head out to another park. We loved the food choices at AKL, but our son is not really an adventurous eater. There was plenty for him at breakfast, but if there wasn't enough for him in the evening, we'd grab something at the QS to supplement for him and just bring it to the lounge. Anyway, lots of people like to do dinner ADRs so your group may prefer to do that, but that's just how it's evolved for us when we stay CL! If we get hungry later, we find something along the way...

Sometimes in the early morning (we're early birds), my husband would go get us some coffee and a few pastries or muffins to have on the balcony so we could watch the savannah wake up! We'd eventually go up to the lounge for breakfast, but it's pretty special to be able to watch a giraffe wake up in the morning!

There are a lot of activities, both cultural and animal related, that kids can do to earn beads. My kids loved them, especially making giraffe puzzle feeders!