Disney's Club Level (CL) Information & Questions

[beccasmom]

We’re staying two nights at the CR Atrium club level in October. I received a phone call within a few days of booking and a mailer about 3 weeks after that. When I made a room request, I received a prompt reply. I’ve been pleased with the response.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Jot me down as one who was never contacted, upcoming Poly stay. But, I’ve never had a prob reaching out to DSS myself. I include my res# in my emails, just made my room and dining allergy requests yesterday.

 

[Mika02]

Boardwalk always gets my vote


Same here. We don't unpack. I hate packing to begin with so I'm sure not going to unpack at a hotel to only have to pack up again before I go home. Once a trip is enough for me. So we do split stays on most trips. Our next one will be 3 resorts, over 5 nights. Lots call that crazy but it works for us. Technically, it's 4 over 6 nights since we land at 11:00 and are staying at the airport that night and heading to Disney the next morning.

If I'm traveling with someone who isn't used to how I travel I try to limit my moves. But I don't think your splits are too crazy. I have done 2 hotels in 3 days so definitely get it. Lol

We are also in NJ! And I LOVE split stays!!!! I love the change of atmosphere!!!! It’s something to look forward to!

As far as the AP goes, my DH always says you have to do at least 2 trips a year to make AP worth it. Definitely wouldn’t waste the money for only one more trip. Good luck deciding!

I agree sometimes an Atmosphere change makes the trip the one thing I learned from my 1st Disney Split stay is also move up a level so Value to Moderate or Moderate to Deluxe never backwards.

Yup we won't be doing Disney for a few years after this unlike everyone else I'm avoiding Galaxy's Edge lol.

 

[gottalovepluto]

..Yup we won't be doing Disney for a few years after this unlike everyone else I'm avoiding Galaxy's Edge lol.

Same thinking over on the Disneyland board... I’m beginning to think a bit after SWGE opens might be a perfect time to go!

 

[roxysmum123]

Does anyone know if you receive an email in advance from the Club Level at the resort you will be staying at ? Thanks for any replies !

In 6 club level stays, we have never received any communication in advance from DSS or from the IPO. I've always had to be the one to reach out to them, which is kinda annoying and makes me feel a little less valued however I've always gotten good service when I've had to do so. DSS this trip has been fantastic, I've been really happy with them.

 

[Lovinallthingsdisney]

In looking at APs it really might be worth it for me. Subtract the cost of MM, then restaurant discounts. We always eat at Ohanas (usually breakfast and dinner), CM (my 11yo favorite place in the world) and yachtsman steakhouse. Also Narcooses. Wdw website states APs get a 10% discount at these restaurants. That right there may pay the difference of the AP pass. Hmmm. Something to think about.

I had been on the fence about buying an AP, but then realized I could get 20% off a purse I had my eye on (yes, I realize I have issues!). Applied my four day tickets toward it in October. We had a May trip already planned so I knew that pretty much would justify the price. I ended up booking a 6 day January trip PLUS another 8 day fall trip to get “one more”trip in before the AP expires. I have “saved” much more than the cost of the AP...but have spent more for two “extra” trips....all because of a purse. Lol. I was able to use an AP room discount for the upcoming trip and having MM included is a great saver since I purchase every trip.

 

[WildMouser]

You're welcome! I'm happy to help people out anytime!
Yes, there were Nesquik chocolate milks in the fridge as well as several canned beer options. Mimosas are offered daily, there are many Cast Members walking around and all you have to do is ask so they can go into the back room and make it for you. I don't drink so I'm not positive on the specific beer offerings but there were 3 or 4 beers on tap, several wine offerings, and beers in the little fridge. Just be aware that a Cast Member has to serve all alcoholic beverages for you. I hope you have an excellent trip!

Thank you so much! DS and I are so pleased. We all have special morning beverages now! Can't wait to try to mimosa. Never been offered one before at WL CL.

 

[lambdabeta]

Hi! I just want to ask this question since the subject of getting an AP was brought up. I have a Magic Your Way package (room with tickets). It is Poly CL for the week after Thanksgiving. Can I convert the tickets to an AP without losing my room? Has anyone done this? I spoke to a CM and she said I had to have a RO reservation first and then drop this reservation because it is a package. There are no rooms available for my stay and I have my heart set on staying Poly since I have never been there and won't be back for awhile. TIA for any information.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hi! I just want to ask this question since the subject of getting an AP was brought up. I have a Magic Your Way package (room with tickets). It is Poly CL for the week after Thanksgiving. Can I convert the tickets to an AP without losing my room? Has anyone done this? I spoke to a CM and she said I had to have a RO reservation first and then drop this reservation because it is a package. There are no rooms available for my stay and I have my heart set on staying Poly since I have never been there and won't be back for awhile. TIA for any information.

Yes, baring some intervention from guest services, what the CM described is generally correct. Do you 'need' to get an AP right now, or can you wait to upgrade your package tickets when you are there?

If there was room only availability for your dates right now I'd say cancel the package, book the room only, and buy the AP. But if there isn't room only availability, I'd probably just sit tight.

Room only reservations and package reservations are fundamentally two different things in Disney-speak and moving between the two usually does involve cancelling one and booking the other. You can try calling and pleading your case - since in theory there is a room available for your dates, just under different booking types - but that's probably a low success rate venture and would require folks up the line to get involved.

 

[mickeynut1]

I had been on the fence about buying an AP, but then realized I could get 20% off a purse I had my eye on (yes, I realize I have issues!).

I guess I have issues too then, as I had that same thought about a purse (among many other things) before my June trip when I was debating whether or not to upgrade my 3 day hopper to an AP . I knew I had another trip in Oct, so figuring that trip along with the merchandise and dining discounts, it made sense for me to upgrade .

Hi! I just want to ask this question since the subject of getting an AP was brought up. I have a Magic Your Way package (room with tickets). It is Poly CL for the week after Thanksgiving. Can I convert the tickets to an AP without losing my room? Has anyone done this? I spoke to a CM and she said I had to have a RO reservation first and then drop this reservation because it is a package. There are no rooms available for my stay and I have my heart set on staying Poly since I have never been there and won't be back for awhile. TIA for any information.

The CM is correct. If you bought an AP now, you would have to change to a RO reservation as you can't have an AP as part of a room + tickets package. However, you can upgrade your tickets to an AP once you get there .

 

[PPFlight75]

Hi! I just want to ask this question since the subject of getting an AP was brought up. I have a Magic Your Way package (room with tickets). It is Poly CL for the week after Thanksgiving. Can I convert the tickets to an AP without losing my room? Has anyone done this? I spoke to a CM and she said I had to have a RO reservation first and then drop this reservation because it is a package. There are no rooms available for my stay and I have my heart set on staying Poly since I have never been there and won't be back for awhile. TIA for any information.

Do you need the AP before your trip? If not, I find it easier just to wait until we get there and upgrade at GR. I let my AP lapse so needed to upgrade my tickets to AP this last trip. It only took about 15 minutes to complete the process.

 

[lambdabeta]

Yes, baring some intervention from guest services, what the CM described is generally correct. Do you 'need' to get an AP right now, or can you wait to upgrade your package tickets when you are there?

If there was room only availability for your dates right now I'd say cancel the package, book the room only, and buy the AP. But if there isn't room only availability, I'd probably just sit tight.

Room only reservations and package reservations are fundamentally two different things in Disney-speak and moving between the two usually does involve cancelling one and booking the other. You can try calling and pleading your case - since in theory there is a room available for your dates, just under different booking types - but that's probably a low success rate venture.

Thanks for the information.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

I had been on the fence about buying an AP, but then realized I could get 20% off a purse I had my eye on (yes, I realize I have issues!). Applied my four day tickets toward it in October. We had a May trip already planned so I knew that pretty much would justify the price. I ended up booking a 6 day January trip PLUS another 8 day fall trip to get “one more”trip in before the AP expires. I have “saved” much more than the cost of the AP...but have spent more for two “extra” trips....all because of a purse. Lol. I was able to use an AP room discount for the upcoming trip and having MM included is a great saver since I purchase every trip.

I, too was a "bag lady". There are 12 step meetings for that, lol!!!

 

[Disneytam]

I haven't been able to keep up with this thread for about a week now! I'm trying to catch up and one thing I noticed was discussion about the amount of food and whether it was a meal (dinner) or not. As someone who has been staying CL for about 15 years now (most often at AKL but branching out the last 3-4 years!), I want to chime in that about 5 years ago (give or take a year), AKL-CL tried to change the 5-7pm description to "wine and cheese" and at check-in you would be informed that they were reducing the variety of appetizers offered and that you should not plan to make a meal out of it!! I don't remember how long that phase lasted (it was for several of our stays though). I know they got a lot of flack (not from us! lol) Shortly after that trial ended, they put the chef in the Lounge from 5-7pm!

There are many guests who use the Lounge offerings as appetizers before their ADRs at a WDW restaurant, and there are others of us who are quite satisfied to use the 5-7pm food service as dinner. I say, whatever works for you and your family!

This happened many years ago at the RPC in the GF as well. Imagine our surprise when we checked in to be told we would be able to " enjoy wine and cheese" during the 5 to 7 pm time period! This was our third stay at the GF and I was really shocked and upset about this. The price certainly hadn't been lowered at all. They weren't kidding either they basically set out a plate of cheese and a basket of crackers and that was it. There was a positive to this though. On our next trip we booked the BWI CL and fell in love. We have been staying there ever since.

 

[ColoradoMom12]

We stayed in the Hawaii building at the Polynesian last Saturday through Wednesday. We have mixed feelings about it. The lounge was wonderful! We loved the different choices each evening, and the CMs we met there were very friendly. They had cereal available with the coffee starting at 6, which we appreciated as early risers. My daughter enjoyed the desserts and lemonade a lot!! We had a few issues, which were no turn down service, not even a knock letting us know they were outside (we gladly would have taken the chocolate!). This was a minor disappointment. I asked someone if it had been discontinued, and I was told the housekeeping was just very busy and they would try to get to our room. Finally they did on our last night, but the service was poor. A wrapper of some kind (not ours) was left in the bathroom by the sink. We tend to go to bed quite early (9-ish) and found Hawaii much noisier at night than our previous stay in Rarotonga. I'm not sure where the sound was coming from, it seemed possibly to be from the pool area.

The big issue we had was a very unfriendly CM when our MagicBands weren’t working to access the building. We had been in and out many times when suddenly, one afternoon after returning from Epcot, our bands turned red when we tried to enter from outside. My DD and I each tried several times to no avail. I tried waving to someone inside but was ignored. Just as we were leaving to go to the main desk, another guest turned up and opened the door. Immediately upon entering we were met by a very grumpy CM (the "door guard" my DD called him) who informed me that the Hawaii building is for guests with a concierge level stay, and we would have to leave. I was taken aback. I told him we were staying in that building and our bands had stopped working. He asked us what our room number was. I told him. He asked for our name. I told him this also. He told us we had to sit down so they could look us up and "take care of this situation". My DD was extremely worn out and wanted nothing more than to go to our room. I told him we were just going to head up to our room and could get our MagicBands fixed later. He said that before he could let us do that, we would have to take a seat and get the situation clarified. So he took us to a desk where a CM recognized us as she had checked us in two days prior. This still didn’t satisfy the door guard, and he made her enter some information to look us up. While she did so, he asked me if we had just been following other guests in. I felt like some kind of criminal at this point. I told him we had been entering with no issues, which the other CM at the desk said was true. I asked why our MagicBands would suddenly develop this problem, but he didn’t have an answer for me and didn’t seem interesting in providing one. As soon as the CM at the desk had our information on the screen, he told us we could go. It was absolutely ridiculous that we had to go through this. Even my DD picked up on something and later asked me, “what was that all about with the door guard?" I asked someone at the main front desk later about the MagicBands not working, and she suggested it might be a battery issue. Aside from the bands flashing green a few times trying to enter our room (does anyone know why that happens? Trying too fast to open the door maybe?), we had no problems with them.

This really put a sour taste in my mouth. As soon as we are home, I will email the manager, whose contact information was on a paper in our room upon arrival. I am not feeling good about returning to the Polynesian club level.

 

[mrsap]

We stayed in the Hawaii building at the Polynesian last Saturday through Wednesday. We have mixed feelings about it. The lounge was wonderful! We loved the different choices each evening, and the CMs we met there were very friendly. They had cereal available with the coffee starting at 6, which we appreciated as early risers. My daughter enjoyed the desserts and lemonade a lot!! We had a few issues, which were no turn down service, not even a knock letting us know they were outside (we gladly would have taken the chocolate!). This was a minor disappointment. I asked someone if it had been discontinued, and I was told the housekeeping was just very busy and they would try to get to our room. Finally they did on our last night, but the service was poor. A wrapper of some kind (not ours) was left in the bathroom by the sink. We tend to go to bed quite early (9-ish) and found Hawaii much noisier at night than our previous stay in Rarotonga. I'm not sure where the sound was coming from, it seemed possibly to be from the pool area.

The big issue we had was a very unfriendly CM when our MagicBands weren’t working to access the building. We had been in and out many times when suddenly, one afternoon after returning from Epcot, our bands turned red when we tried to enter from outside. My DD and I each tried several times to no avail. I tried waving to someone inside but was ignored. Just as we were leaving to go to the main desk, another guest turned up and opened the door. Immediately upon entering we were met by a very grumpy CM (the "door guard" my DD called him) who informed me that the Hawaii building is for guests with a concierge level stay, and we would have to leave. I was taken aback. I told him we were staying in that building and our bands had stopped working. He asked us what our room number was. I told him. He asked for our name. I told him this also. He told us we had to sit down so they could look us up and "take care of this situation". My DD was extremely worn out and wanted nothing more than to go to our room. I told him we were just going to head up to our room and could get our MagicBands fixed later. He said that before he could let us do that, we would have to take a seat and get the situation clarified. So he took us to a desk where a CM recognized us as she had checked us in two days prior. This still didn’t satisfy the door guard, and he made her enter some information to look us up. While she did so, he asked me if we had just been following other guests in. I felt like some kind of criminal at this point. I told him we had been entering with no issues, which the other CM at the desk said was true. I asked why our MagicBands would suddenly develop this problem, but he didn’t have an answer for me and didn’t seem interesting in providing one. As soon as the CM at the desk had our information on the screen, he told us we could go. It was absolutely ridiculous that we had to go through this. Even my DD picked up on something and later asked me, “what was that all about with the door guard?" I asked someone at the main front desk later about the MagicBands not working, and she suggested it might be a battery issue. Aside from the bands flashing green a few times trying to enter our room (does anyone know why that happens? Trying too fast to open the door maybe?), we had no problems with them.

This really put a sour taste in my mouth. As soon as we are home, I will email the manager, whose contact information was on a paper in our room upon arrival. I am not feeling good about returning to the Polynesian club level.

I’m sorry you had a negative experience, but just wanted you to know it happened to us multiple times over our 2 week stay too. Happened first time to my DH on our first day at BC - all our bands worked but his. He went down and had it fixed. A day later it didn’t work again. This happened 3 times during that week... then when they finally just switched out his band all together, mine stopped working!!! I’ve never spent so much time at a front desk before!! What a headache. I had to get a new band too. It happened again to him once at Poly, but was good after that. It’s defininitely a headache, but I guess they’re still working out the bugs. (That CM was totally unacceptable!)

 

[PPFlight75]

We stayed in the Hawaii building at the Polynesian last Saturday through Wednesday. We have mixed feelings about it. The lounge was wonderful! We loved the different choices each evening, and the CMs we met there were very friendly. They had cereal available with the coffee starting at 6, which we appreciated as early risers. My daughter enjoyed the desserts and lemonade a lot!! We had a few issues, which were no turn down service, not even a knock letting us know they were outside (we gladly would have taken the chocolate!). This was a minor disappointment. I asked someone if it had been discontinued, and I was told the housekeeping was just very busy and they would try to get to our room. Finally they did on our last night, but the service was poor. A wrapper of some kind (not ours) was left in the bathroom by the sink. We tend to go to bed quite early (9-ish) and found Hawaii much noisier at night than our previous stay in Rarotonga. I'm not sure where the sound was coming from, it seemed possibly to be from the pool area.

The big issue we had was a very unfriendly CM when our MagicBands weren’t working to access the building. We had been in and out many times when suddenly, one afternoon after returning from Epcot, our bands turned red when we tried to enter from outside. My DD and I each tried several times to no avail. I tried waving to someone inside but was ignored. Just as we were leaving to go to the main desk, another guest turned up and opened the door. Immediately upon entering we were met by a very grumpy CM (the "door guard" my DD called him) who informed me that the Hawaii building is for guests with a concierge level stay, and we would have to leave. I was taken aback. I told him we were staying in that building and our bands had stopped working. He asked us what our room number was. I told him. He asked for our name. I told him this also. He told us we had to sit down so they could look us up and "take care of this situation". My DD was extremely worn out and wanted nothing more than to go to our room. I told him we were just going to head up to our room and could get our MagicBands fixed later. He said that before he could let us do that, we would have to take a seat and get the situation clarified. So he took us to a desk where a CM recognized us as she had checked us in two days prior. This still didn’t satisfy the door guard, and he made her enter some information to look us up. While she did so, he asked me if we had just been following other guests in. I felt like some kind of criminal at this point. I told him we had been entering with no issues, which the other CM at the desk said was true. I asked why our MagicBands would suddenly develop this problem, but he didn’t have an answer for me and didn’t seem interesting in providing one. As soon as the CM at the desk had our information on the screen, he told us we could go. It was absolutely ridiculous that we had to go through this. Even my DD picked up on something and later asked me, “what was that all about with the door guard?" I asked someone at the main front desk later about the MagicBands not working, and she suggested it might be a battery issue. Aside from the bands flashing green a few times trying to enter our room (does anyone know why that happens? Trying too fast to open the door maybe?), we had no problems with them.

This really put a sour taste in my mouth. As soon as we are home, I will email the manager, whose contact information was on a paper in our room upon arrival. I am not feeling good about returning to the Polynesian club level.

I'm so sorry ColoradoMom12 that you had a not so good experience. We had a great time at Poly CL(we have magic band issues every trip it seems but I have experienced not so great CM encounters before and they sure can put a damper on your whole experience, especially if you are made to feel like you've done something wrong. That is never right and you are right to reach out the the GM of the resort. I hope they help you resolve that issue.

 

[jods]

We stayed in the Hawaii building at the Polynesian last Saturday through Wednesday. We have mixed feelings about it. The lounge was wonderful! We loved the different choices each evening, and the CMs we met there were very friendly. They had cereal available with the coffee starting at 6, which we appreciated as early risers. My daughter enjoyed the desserts and lemonade a lot!! We had a few issues, which were no turn down service, not even a knock letting us know they were outside (we gladly would have taken the chocolate!). This was a minor disappointment. I asked someone if it had been discontinued, and I was told the housekeeping was just very busy and they would try to get to our room. Finally they did on our last night, but the service was poor. A wrapper of some kind (not ours) was left in the bathroom by the sink. We tend to go to bed quite early (9-ish) and found Hawaii much noisier at night than our previous stay in Rarotonga. I'm not sure where the sound was coming from, it seemed possibly to be from the pool area.

The big issue we had was a very unfriendly CM when our MagicBands weren’t working to access the building. We had been in and out many times when suddenly, one afternoon after returning from Epcot, our bands turned red when we tried to enter from outside. My DD and I each tried several times to no avail. I tried waving to someone inside but was ignored. Just as we were leaving to go to the main desk, another guest turned up and opened the door. Immediately upon entering we were met by a very grumpy CM (the "door guard" my DD called him) who informed me that the Hawaii building is for guests with a concierge level stay, and we would have to leave. I was taken aback. I told him we were staying in that building and our bands had stopped working. He asked us what our room number was. I told him. He asked for our name. I told him this also. He told us we had to sit down so they could look us up and "take care of this situation". My DD was extremely worn out and wanted nothing more than to go to our room. I told him we were just going to head up to our room and could get our MagicBands fixed later. He said that before he could let us do that, we would have to take a seat and get the situation clarified. So he took us to a desk where a CM recognized us as she had checked us in two days prior. This still didn’t satisfy the door guard, and he made her enter some information to look us up. While she did so, he asked me if we had just been following other guests in. I felt like some kind of criminal at this point. I told him we had been entering with no issues, which the other CM at the desk said was true. I asked why our MagicBands would suddenly develop this problem, but he didn’t have an answer for me and didn’t seem interesting in providing one. As soon as the CM at the desk had our information on the screen, he told us we could go. It was absolutely ridiculous that we had to go through this. Even my DD picked up on something and later asked me, “what was that all about with the door guard?" I asked someone at the main front desk later about the MagicBands not working, and she suggested it might be a battery issue. Aside from the bands flashing green a few times trying to enter our room (does anyone know why that happens? Trying too fast to open the door maybe?), we had no problems with them.

This really put a sour taste in my mouth. As soon as we are home, I will email the manager, whose contact information was on a paper in our room upon arrival. I am not feeling good about returning to the Polynesian club level.

So sorry you encountered that. The magic bands not working wouldn't bother me so much, but the treatment you received is totally out of line. So sorry it soured tour trip.

 

[ColoradoMom12]

So sorry you encountered that. The magic bands not working wouldn't bother me so much, but the treatment you received is totally out of line. So sorry it soured tour trip.

Yes, we weren’t bothered by the non-working MagicBands (we were prepared to go back to the main front desk to get the reset or whatever), but the door guard was extremely rude. I understand they want to make sure other guests aren’t trying to sneak in, but honestly, did he really think a non-guest would try repeatedly to enter the building?! There has to be a more polite way to inquire if a guest is staying in the building and/or a guest of that building experiencing MagicBand difficulties. He didn’t even seem interested in why our bands weren’t working (not even suggesting a battery issue). I assumed when we sat down, “resolving the situation” would involve doing something to reset our bands, but it was entirely for him to confirm for himself that we were supposed to be there. He didn’t even apologize for the inconvenience. My daughter asked me if I thought the door guard felt sorry for interrupting us from going to our room. I told her I thought not.

 

[Gryhndmom]

Just getting caught up on the thread...for those looking for a discount AND are active duty or retired military, there is a great discount on rooms. DH and I used this to stay at WL CL this past Oct. I have also used the discount to stay at DL hotels and as a spouse you don’t need the military member with you.