Disney's Club Level (CL) Information & Questions

[mickeyluv'r]

I'm sure this has been asked so many times, but do you guys get the dining plan if you are staying club level. We booked at the Wilderness Lodge for September, and it seems like a lot of food included.

thanks!

Yes it is a lot of food! Generally, we don't do both. A few times in the past, WDW has offered discounts/packages where it was a good deal to get both, even though we didn't need all of it. If the right deal was offered, I'd do it again. Value is always a bit subjective.

I need to preface this by saying the DDP has changed multiple times. So I'm comparing apples to oranges here.

[In the past, pairing CL+DDP made sense with a large group: multiple rooms, mix of early risers/night owls. The lounges were super places to meet up each day/night. Pre-paid meals were a mixed bag, as past DDP was a bit cumbersome.]

It matters how you like to eat and drink. For us, regular DDP + CL is WAY too much food, and food/drinking took too much of our vacation time.

A plus of the DDP is the flexibility to combine credits for room service or signature dining, but under current pricing it isn't a good deal at all to do either, if you think about DDP from a cost perspective.

We also felt that combining buffets and CL was especially gluttonous. Non-buffets were better. Also a big change this year is that DDP now includes alcohol.

 

[Meghan4]

How much of a discount have they given on CL rooms in the past? I know discounts for September do not come out until next month.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

Quick note, here now, at BC. Gotta say the concierges at CL here are not particularly warm or friendly...
I was a tiny bit disappointed, but love our room, and love everything else about our trip. And the general staff are super nice.
Shout out to Monty Ray, the admiral?, Commodore? Greeter at BC. Great gentleman

 

[TristiK]

Quick note, here now, at BC. Gotta say the concierges at CL here are not particularly warm or friendly...
I was a tiny bit disappointed, but love our room, and live everything else about our trip. And the general staff are super nice.
Shout out to Monty Ray, the admiral?, Commodore? Greeter at BC. Great gentleman

I'm a little nervous about this - we're at BC CL in June. We love the resort, but I've heard some not great things about the CL staff. I'll be interested in hearing all about your stay though!

 

[psac]

This picture is so cute! Was it taken from your balcony?

Thanks! Sorry for the late reply. No, it was taken from the observation area outside. We can see a lot of animals from our balcony in the afternoons, but they still look far in pictures. For up closes, the observation area is much better! From about 3-7 it seems like there’s always a lot of animals out.

 

[jods]

Quick note, here now, at BC. Gotta say the concierges at CL here are not particularly warm or friendly...
I was a tiny bit disappointed, but love our room, and live everything else about our trip. And the general staff are super nice.
Shout out to Monty Ray, the admiral?, Commodore? Greeter at BC. Great gentleman

I thought the same when we stayed there last summer. It was horrible. We were ignored multiple times. Definitely not that friendly. The food was really good though.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

I'm a little nervous about this - we're at BC CL in June. We love the resort, but I've heard some not great things about the CL staff. I'll be interested in hearing all about your stay though!

I will do a short synopsis when we get home... I kept hoping that day 2 staff would be warmer, nicer, friendlier... Not so much.

 

[Meghan4]

I've just returned from a fabulous club stay at Wilderness lodge. They met me at the door of the hotel which was wonderful and brought us straight to the lounge. We never went to the front desk. The coffee was great, they had a cappuccino maker in the lounge and Kuerig's in the room. Artisan's point makes all of the food offerings, the oatmeal each morning was so good! They put water in our room each day that we could take into the parks. In fact, they asked how many bottles we wanted each day. Lots of fresh fruit that was also good for taking into the parks. I loved the daily plans that were printed out and in our rooms when we returned each day. Wine and beer were offered all day. Very nice liqueurs and deserts at night. I loved finding my park purchases in my room rather than at the desk. To top everything off we had a perfect view of the castle. It was nice to see it first thing in the morning and last thing at night! My 8 yo granddaughter told everyone how much she was going to miss the concierge when she got home. I'm so missing them now!

My family and I will be there this September! My kids 12, 9, 7 & 5 are going to love it. Thanks for all of the info!

 

[lambdabeta]

I'm sure this has been asked so many times, but do you guys get the dining plan if you are staying club level. We booked at the Wilderness Lodge for September, and it seems like a lot of food included.

thanks!

Hi! I know several people have answered this question before but no one has told you about free dining. If you are going in Sept that is one of the times Disney offers free dining. There is a thread on the dining board that is the 2018 Free dining watch. My DH and I are staying CL Poly Nov 26 -Dec 4th. Last year our check in date fell during free dining. We are going to try to get free dining this year. It may cost us a little more because ticket prices and room rates have increased but it will still be less than the dining plan for our stay. My DH and I have decided that if we can't get free dining we won't do the dining plan because it will be cheaper to use the CL food and supplement with whatever meals we decide.

The other thing to consider about the dining plan is you are going during the food and wine festival. The snacks on the dining plan can be used at the food tables in Epcot for this. Some of the food that is considered a snack can cost $9-10. The QS meals can be converted to 3 snacks so if you plan on eating at the festival you can use the dining plan for the food. It will still be up to you but I just thought I would give you some more information to ponder.

 

[psac]

Looks like wine is self serve now! Was that only from 5-7?

Yeah for AKL CL, they keep the wine and beer out self-serve from 5-7, but during the evening desserts, they just have out the cordials for self-serve. But I saw people drinking champagne and wine at their tables tonight, so I assume you have to ask. (I already had my fill out at dinner tonight. )

 

[Meghan4]

Hi! I know several people have answered this question before but no one has told you about free dining. If you are going in Sept that is one of the times Disney offers free dining. There is a thread on the dining board that is the 2018 Free dining watch. My DH and I are staying CL Poly Nov 26 -Dec 4th. Last year our check in date fell during free dining. We are going to try to get free dining this year. It may cost us a little more because ticket prices and room rates have increased but it will still be less than the dining plan for our stay. My DH and I have decided that if we can't get free dining we won't do the dining plan because it will be cheaper to use the CL food and supplement with whatever meals we decide.

The other thing to consider about the dining plan is you are going during the food and wine festival. The snacks on the dining plan can be used at the food tables in Epcot for this. Some of the food that is considered a snack can cost $9-10. The QS meals can be converted to 3 snacks so if you plan on eating at the festival you can use the dining plan for the food. It will still be up to you but I just thought I would give you some more information to ponder.

These are all great points, and definitely something to consider!

 

[mickeynut1]

We are a family of 6. My oldest will be turning 12 on the trip, and he eats a lot! We are also more stay in the park all day kind of people, rather than stay at the resort. It's so hard to figure out what's best!

I agree, hard to figure out what to do! Good luck with your decision, hope you have a great time and enjoy the WL, it's one of our favorites .

How much of a discount have they given on CL rooms in the past? I know discounts for September do not come out until next month.

From my experience, discounts can vary anywhere from 10-30% (maybe 35% sometimes), depending on how many rooms Disney needs to fill at a particular resort. I got 20% off BWI CL for May. I'm considering upgrading to an AP, so I had a friend check AP rates for comparison and that discount was around 25% .

Quick note, here now, at BC. Gotta say the concierges at CL here are not particularly warm or friendly...
I was a tiny bit disappointed, but love our room, and love everything else about our trip. And the general staff are super nice.
Shout out to Monty Ray, the admiral?, Commodore? Greeter at BC. Great gentleman

I'm sorry about the CL CMs, but glad you are having a nice trip overall .

I will do a short synopsis when we get home... I kept hoping that day 2 staff would be warmer, nicer, friendlier... Not so much.

Looking forward to your review .

 

[firsttimemom]

While it sounds fun to be stranded in FL, it isn't all that great. It has happened to us multiple times.

First, you have to find another flight home. You can't just rebook online, you have to call the airline, along with 1,000,000 other folks that are stranded. You wait on hold forever. When you finally reach someone, they can't tell you anything. Airlines don't like to cancel flights; they wait as long as possible to tell guests they're cancelled. So you just have to make a lucky guess which flight will actually take off. If you guess wrong, you have to go through the whole process all over again. Instead of 1-2 days, you may well be stuck in FL for 3-4 days. And you are competing for space with all those other folks. A number of times, we thought we had found a flight, only to have it snatched from us while the agent was trying to book it. It is especially common when trying to nab a non-direct flight.

Second, the hotels stick it to you in the worst way. You end up paying full rack rates. (or maybe a jacked-up rate?)

Third, there's a number of additional expenses that weren't in the budget. WDW won't let you add days to a fully used ticket. In 2018, if you want to go to park, you have to buy a fresh one-day ticket with no pre-booked FP. No thanks. Plus extra food and (maybe) rental car fees.

Fourth, there's a host of un-fun things waiting for your arrival. Extra pet care costs, hired plow-person costs or coming home to a foot of ice covering your driveway. You also might miss an extra workday, which can be very stressful, depending on your circumstances. If the storm a big blizzard, there's also the possibility of storm damage.

Fifth, if you happened to park your car at the airport in an uncovered spot. It will also be covered in a foot of ice. So you arrive at your car, in the cold, in the dark, with all your luggage, but no shovel or ice scraper (at least until you can get your door open). And well, this was trip to Florida, not Canada. Most folks don't bring heavy parkas to Florida.

So while it isn't always all bad to get an extra day in FL, having experienced it, I find home-bound snow days more enjoyable. Still, we've obviously taken the risk a number of times, because it is nice to escape the drab of winter. We just know to plan for the possibility.

We got off a Disney cruise last year to find out our flight was cancelled due to weather back home. Fortunately, trip insurance covered the hotel night, car rental day and meals. SWA took care of our flight change. We got to spend a day at Disney Springs hanging out w/ local friends that we didn't think we would get a chance to meet up with. So much happier to spend that day in Orlando than home in the snow.

 

[Lisann]

Hello Disboards. I have been off here for a while and really miss it. When we got back from our last trip in August 2017 my aunt's cancer had come back after 3 years of being clear and my family was her car taker since she never was married and did not have kids. It has been a tough few months. She lost her battle (at the age of 70) last month even though we tried everything. It has been tough bouncing back.

We decided to finish our Disney video from August and now I am getting excited about planning another trip. Our trip was a split stay with the Boardwalk CL and the Poly CL. It was truly a wonderful stay. Our BW CL CMs were happy to be in our video again. We love them all - Anita, Lorenzo, Steven and Joe. I am posting the video in the trip report but since it was at the CL resorts I wanted to also post it here. Here is the link to our new video - I hope you all enjoy it and it brings some happiness to your day. We definitely all need it.

Wow, you guys looked as if you had such a fun time! Almost made me cry after reading your story. I was a caretaker for a long time, so I totally get the need for some FUN! Thanks for posting.

 

[GoGoBeans]

I will do a short synopsis when we get home... I kept hoping that day 2 staff would be warmer, nicer, friendlier... Not so much.

Boo. That’s a bummer. We definitely found the lounge CMs to be friendlier than the desk CMs. Hope it gets better.

Glad you’re having a wonderful trip otherwise.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

Boo. That’s a bummer. We definitely found the lounge CMs to be friendlier than the desk CMs. Hope it gets better.

Glad you’re having a wonderful trip otherwise.

Agreed about the lounge CMs.
Much nicer!

 

[RipClutchgoneski]

I want to do something cheap for my kids when we’re staying CL at beach club in April. Any ideas what I can ask the concierge for/to do/give them???

 

[GoGoBeans]

I want to do something cheap for my kids when we’re staying CL at beach club in April. Any ideas what I can ask the concierge for/to do/give them???

Although I don’t think I fully understand what type of things you’re looking for, I wouldn’t ask the CM to do/give anything to my kids. Other than a button.

 

[psac]

Finished our trip at AKL Club. We enjoyed our trip a lot. Some general thoughts:

The rooms are really due for a refurb. The beds creaked like crazy, and weren’t the most comfortable, but weren’t quite terrible.

Very few plugs in the room, and you have to pull out the center night-table to get to the plugs behind it.

The club desk staff sometimes said hello and sometimes didn’t. The food staff were all nice though. The food choices at breakfast were all good. The apps we only did twice (because of our schedule), and the food was good, but of course exotic considering the resort. Loved the wine!

We had room 4407, which is the Arusha view room closest to the elevators on the Zebra trail side (the side closest to the pool and the Mara), but because of that the view may be the worst club view because the Arusha Rock blocks your view. But, worst is subjective. It was still a really pleasant view and you see a good amount of animals in the afternoons/early evenings. You could also see some of the animals on the other side of the Rock. Everything looks far with the un-zoomed phone pics, but things look closer with the naked eye. Definitely plan some time hanging out down by the Arusha Rock in the 4-5pm area at least once. That was definitely prime-time, and you can see how close the giraffes are!




Overall I would have no problems recommending the resort, and we would definitely stay here again!

 

[GoGoBeans]

Finished our trip at AKL Club. We enjoyed our trip a lot. Some general thoughts:

The rooms are really due for a refurb. The beds creaked like crazy, and weren’t the most comfortable, but weren’t quite terrible.

Very few plugs in the room, and you have to pull out the center night-table to get to the plugs behind it.

The club desk staff sometimes said hello and sometimes didn’t. The food staff were all nice though. The food choices at breakfast were all good. The apps we only did twice (because of our schedule), and the food was good, but of course exotic considering the resort. Loved the wine!

We had room 4407, which is the Arusha view room closest to the elevators on the Zebra trail side (the side closest to the pool and the Mara), but because of that the view may be the worst club view because the Arusha Rock blocks your view. But, worst is subjective. It was still a really pleasant view and you see a good amount of animals in the afternoons/early evenings. You could also see some of the animals on the other side of the Rock. Everything looks far with the un-zoomed phone pics, but things look closer with the naked eye. Definitely plan some time hanging out down by the Arusha Rock in the 4-5pm area at least once. That was definitely prime-time, and you can see how close the giraffes are!
View attachment 308076

View attachment 308077

Overall I would have no problems recommending the resort, and we would definitely stay here again!

Yay for an AKL trip! We had that same room in December and I totally agree with you on the view. I’d much prefer a room a little further down the hall for a better view even with a longer walk.

We also thought the food CMs were nice. Cheers to the wine!