Disney's Club Level (CL) Information & Questions

Can anyone tell me if it's better to walk from Poly (Hawaii) to TTC for Epcot or should we ride the monorail to TTC? There are 6 of us, two 4 year olds and my mom uses a mobility scooter, if any of that would change your mind.
 
KrazeeK120 said:
I'm back with some final thoughts on my Club Level experience.

I contacted DSS with 1 room request - to face toward the castle. I was granted this request. My room was right in the middle of the hall and I watched Wishes from my balcony all but my last night, when I went to the park for the final show. Unfortunately, our checkout day was the first day of the new show, so I haven't seen it yet. However, they were testing one night around midnight and I saw some of the fireworks, and they were doing a run-through of the projections around 6:30, so I stopped packing for a few minutes to watch. My husband had brought binoculars, hoping for a glimpse of the new show and he was pretty excited to have seen a little of it.

The CMs in the lounge were a little hit and miss. I didn't have any negative experiences (and my husband reports they were very accommodating with all of his alcohol requests!), but most of them weren't super friendly and mostly kept to themselves. I looked forward to chatting with the CL CMs, and there were only a few who seemed to want to talk to me. I have a toddler (18 months), so my husband and I had to go to the lounge separately for dessert when he was sleeping and it would have been nice to have someone to chat with. YMMV.

The food was pretty good. It wasn't necessarily items I would have chosen at a quick service restaurant, but I certainly didn't go hungry.

The lounge setup is great. I love that it overlooks the lobby and you can hear the lobby music playing while enjoying your food! There is also a children's area with small tables/chairs, a TV always tuned to Disney Jr., and coloring pages and crayons. My son was pretty happy to see some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while he was there!

I was very surprised at the emptiness of the lounge. There were usually a couple of other people there, but it was really very empty most of the time. It was nice that my son had some space to explore and not bother other guests.

I am very glad we chose to stay CL for this trip. It was so nice to just take our son down the hall for 2 meals each day and not worry about juggling him and trays of food. In fact, we also did 3 ADRs, so we only ended up doing QS twice on our whole trip (we were there 5 days). After the first day, my son really seemed to recognize where he was going and loved when we told him it was time to eat. For people who are rope drop to close type tourists, I don't really think that CL offers a lot of benefit. But for us, we came back by dinner all but 1 day and made extensive use of the lounge. We've found that our son does best sticking to his normal bedtime, so that meant early touring for us. It was great to have a place to relax and unwind at the end of the day.

I'm not sure if CL is in our future again, both from a budgetary and a logistical perspective. We kind of went all out for our son's first trip. I wanted it to be really special for him and as easy as was possible for us as parents. However, I wouldn't hesitate to stay WL CL again.

Please do let me know if you have any questions about the place...I'd be happy to help! I don't know what to do with myself at the moment now that I don't have a Disney trip in the works!!
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the updates (and happy mother's day!) Your review almost makes me want to level up from cat mom to "real" mom... at least that way I'll have an excuse to sit in the children's area and not look like a wierdo. (I usually sat in the tables nearby because I'd much rather watch Tsum Tsum Kingdom than, say, CNN.)

Regarding CL CMs, I usually prefer to be left alone, but most of the girls working there were about my age, so sparking up conversation came easy. On our check-in day (and throughout our stay) the CM who greeted us basically stayed talking with us for hours on end and it was pretty sweet. However, there was one CM manning the alcohol who always gave me a super hard time/was super snarky every time I went to get beer/wine. The first time, he made me wait there till one of the managers could double-check my license?? (I look like a very tired 12-year-old, but still...) He kept carding me every time I went and it got to the point where I dreaded getting a drink... :sad2:

You're totally right about the food. We lucked out last time and got a full Super Bowl spread, complete with wings and subs, but evening offerings the following night were a bit "meh."
 


GADisneyDad14 said:
OT but for those of you who asked about the Tomorrowland Terrace/Garden Viewing Dessert Party. DO IT. Great experience, in my humble opinion.

Since I can hide behind internet anonymity I don't mind saying this. I was a bit weepy watching from Poly last night. I flat out :sad: at times watching from the MK tonight. Having proper volume and really being able to hear/feel the music made it a more powerful experience. That part is missing from the Poly viewing experience, but the low volume was a problem during Wishes too (but since I knew the story (and the words) it wasn't that big a deal to me).

Here was my view from the Garden Viewing area. Had tons of room. I would do this version over the Tomorrowland Terrace version in a heartbeat. Still shocked how good this show is.
View attachment 237168
Click to expand...

Can you tell me what the difference is between the two different Dessert Viewing parties/areas?? Thanks for all of your awesome pictures! :sunny:
 


GADisneyDad - that afternoon snack photo shows that the Poly has really stepped up what they are offering. Last time we were there (a few years ago) it was basically goldfish and pretzels. You're making me want to try the Poly again! We love the rooms, the views, the location and the theming, but the CL food way back then was a letdown.

GoGoBeans said:
Spectacular! Now I'll admit that after this review I went to book but no availability for our summer trip. Dang it.
Click to expand...

Keep checking - don't give up yet. I checked online a few times and was able to book the dessert party last week (for early June.)
 
eeyore81 said:
Can anyone tell me if it's better to walk from Poly (Hawaii) to TTC for Epcot or should we ride the monorail to TTC? There are 6 of us, two 4 year olds and my mom uses a mobility scooter, if any of that would change your mind.
Click to expand...

For us from the Hawaii building is was much easier walking to TTC then to go to the monorail to get to TTC. It truly does depend on the children. Will they be in strollers? Do they easily tire? It is a beautiful walk and we did it every time. Enjoy your trip.
 
GADisneyDad14 said:
As far as afternoon snacks... same as in Feb and MUCH IMPROVED over prior years. It's like night/day for Poly CL regulars who haven't been this year.

Sliced veggies, make your own trail mix...
View attachment 237291

Lettuce wraps with lots of toppings/sauces. I was told they switch between chicken/shrimp every day. This was chicken. Sorry pics are far away, I was in a rush.
View attachment 237292

Those "house made" chips with sauces, goldfish, chocolate chip cookies.
View attachment 237293


Someone else said the same thing but I'm 'pretty' certain what has been indicated so far is that Hallowishes will be the same show as in the past. Will be interesting to see if they incorporate any of the new lasers/lights though.



Breakfast was the relatively standard CL type food you tend to see at most of them. I'd say same as prior trips, give or take. Let me get my photos in order and I'll post an update.
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Thanks so much for the snack pictures. They definitely updated their afternoon snacks from last summer. I appreciate all the pictures.
 
Not sure HOW this happened but I'm having a Grand Year:worship:

. Maybe it is payback for dd graduating and moving 6 hours away this summer:sad:

Dd and I stayed at the Grand in Sl in March , dh and I are staying at the Grand std Labor Day, I'm treating my Mom to the Grand RPC in Dec and then since I am footing Dd's portion of her summer Cali vacation for her grad gift I decided to show up for end when her and bf are going to DL :rolleyes1

So why not, The Grand Cailifornian pv cl it is :woohoo:

I will get pix and do a DL vs WDW comparison when I get back. I did that last year after my DLH cl trip. It is so hard to get current info on dl! I hope it helps someone:goodvibes

Oh yes we are crazy, flying out at night on 6/15 and coming home on Sun 6/18. Dd will have their alone time too since they there 6/17-20. I just thought dh deserved a trip to DL with his Disney loving dd before she settled down and is a Mom herself someday. :thumbsup2

If anyone has some GCH cl info to share :confused3please PM me.

Oh and my dh, ds and I were heading out to Mother's Day brunch and dd walks in. Boy was I surprised ! Her college is almost 4 hours away. My last MD with both kids living at home and I got to be with them both:love:
 
trishadono said:
Not sure HOW this happened but I'm having a Grand Year:worship:

. Maybe it is payback for dd graduating and moving 6 hours away this summer:sad:

Dd and I stayed at the Grand in Sl in March , dh and I are staying at the Grand std Labor Day, I'm treating my Mom to the Grand RPC in Dec and then since I am footing Dd's portion of her summer Cali vacation for her grad gift I decided to show up for end when her and bf are going to DL :rolleyes1

So why not, The Grand Cailifornian pv cl it is :woohoo:

I will get pix and do a DL vs WDW comparison when I get back. I did that last year after my DLH cl trip. It is so hard to get current info on dl! I hope it helps someone:goodvibes

Oh yes we are crazy, flying out at night on 6/15 and coming home on Sun 6/18. Dd will have their alone time too since they there 6/17-20. I just thought dh deserved a trip to DL with his Disney loving dd before she settled down and is a Mom herself someday. :thumbsup2

If anyone has some GCH cl info to share :confused3please PM me.

Oh and my dh, ds and I were heading out to Mother's Day brunch and dd walks in. Boy was I surprised ! Her college is almost 4 hours away. My last MD with both kids living at home and I got to be with them both:love:
Click to expand...

What a nice surprise with dd walking in! Enjoy your many trips!
 
KrazeeK120 said:
I'm back with some final thoughts on my Club Level experience.

I contacted DSS with 1 room request - to face toward the castle. I was granted this request. My room was right in the middle of the hall and I watched Wishes from my balcony all but my last night, when I went to the park for the final show. Unfortunately, our checkout day was the first day of the new show, so I haven't seen it yet. However, they were testing one night around midnight and I saw some of the fireworks, and they were doing a run-through of the projections around 6:30, so I stopped packing for a few minutes to watch. My husband had brought binoculars, hoping for a glimpse of the new show and he was pretty excited to have seen a little of it.

The CMs in the lounge were a little hit and miss. I didn't have any negative experiences (and my husband reports they were very accommodating with all of his alcohol requests!), but most of them weren't super friendly and mostly kept to themselves. I looked forward to chatting with the CL CMs, and there were only a few who seemed to want to talk to me. I have a toddler (18 months), so my husband and I had to go to the lounge separately for dessert when he was sleeping and it would have been nice to have someone to chat with. YMMV.

The food was pretty good. It wasn't necessarily items I would have chosen at a quick service restaurant, but I certainly didn't go hungry.

The lounge setup is great. I love that it overlooks the lobby and you can hear the lobby music playing while enjoying your food! There is also a children's area with small tables/chairs, a TV always tuned to Disney Jr., and coloring pages and crayons. My son was pretty happy to see some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while he was there!

I was very surprised at the emptiness of the lounge. There were usually a couple of other people there, but it was really very empty most of the time. It was nice that my son had some space to explore and not bother other guests.

I am very glad we chose to stay CL for this trip. It was so nice to just take our son down the hall for 2 meals each day and not worry about juggling him and trays of food. In fact, we also did 3 ADRs, so we only ended up doing QS twice on our whole trip (we were there 5 days). After the first day, my son really seemed to recognize where he was going and loved when we told him it was time to eat. For people who are rope drop to close type tourists, I don't really think that CL offers a lot of benefit. But for us, we came back by dinner all but 1 day and made extensive use of the lounge. We've found that our son does best sticking to his normal bedtime, so that meant early touring for us. It was great to have a place to relax and unwind at the end of the day.

I'm not sure if CL is in our future again, both from a budgetary and a logistical perspective. We kind of went all out for our son's first trip. I wanted it to be really special for him and as easy as was possible for us as parents. However, I wouldn't hesitate to stay WL CL again.

Please do let me know if you have any questions about the place...I'd be happy to help! I don't know what to do with myself at the moment now that I don't have a Disney trip in the works!!
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for you review. We are so excited for your WL CL stay in Sept. I agree with keeping kids (and DH's too) on their schedule. tee he he.

I hope I can keep my head in the game and remember to take photos/notes to report back also.

Your last night of Wishes sounds amazing.

Just start planning another trip! No matter how far out it is, you can always dream.
 
jbb4me said:
We are back from our delightful stay CL at CR!! I don't know how this possibly happened, but we were upgraded from a standard view Atrium Club room to a 1 bedroom suite on the Tower Club level (Bay Lake view). I am still in shock and can't believe the amount of pixie dust that must have been required to pull that off. I had been daydreaming about the pictures @GADisneyDad14 posted a few weeks back, especially since we were traveling with a 2 year old and could have used the extra space the suite provided. But the resort appeared to have been sold out on the Tower Club level for weeks, so by some amazing luck, someone must have cancelled and we were lucky enough to be checking in on the right day. Ironically, my parents who were checking in a day later and supposed to be in a non-CL room were also upgraded to the Atrium level. [Still suspicious that my sister may have been behind this, but she denies it!]

I promise to post more detail and photos later, but I have nothing but amazing things to say about both club levels at CR. I'm happy to answer any questions in the meantime. I will say without a doubt that the CMs we encountered on both floors were so incredibly kind and made us feel like family (with the exception of one that I'd just like to forget about because he had a chip on his shoulder for sure!). It was an absolutely incredible trip and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either club level at CR. The resort is beautiful and so incredibly close to MK. We walked every day on the path (but for one day we narrowly avoided rain and took the monorail back). I think the resort itself is incredibly nice, especially for being one of the original facilities.

We go back in about 60 days to see what AKL CL has to offer!! I'm trying to reset my expectations so it's a clean slate and I'm not comparing everything against CR CL!! Can't wait!
Click to expand...

What an awesome upgrade! Glad you had a great time and enjoyed CR CL. Hope you have a great time at AKL CL :wizard:.

GADisneyDad14 said:
But 7/4 at Poly is totally on my wish list! Someday!
Click to expand...

Mine too! Too much going on for us this summer, but I'm considering booking over 4th of July next year. We've been a few times in the summer, but never over the 4th.....and I can't think of a better resort to stay at during that time than the Poly :goodvibes.

francie said:
Hello, does anyone know for the sure which floors the yacht club turret suites are located on? (Not sure how many there are). I've tried to research it but the answers vary from the first floor to the fourth! Thanks
Click to expand...

I don't know the answer, but I'm bumping your post as hopefully others will be able to help :flower3:.

KrazeeK120 said:
Alrighty guys, I'm home and think I have this photo thing figured out.

I realized I only took photos of the food offerings and not the lounge itself! I think I was too busy trying to keep my 18 month old from dumping the crayons all over the floor. I think there are photos of the lounge somewhere else in this thread though.

I did take a photo looking down at the lobby from the lounge.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your review and all of the great pics! The lounge overlooking the lobby is one of the many things I love about WL CL. Glad you had a great time and enjoyed WL CL :).

Alura21 said:
Hey all!

So I just booked myself a club leval room for Animal Kingdom Lodge for september. I haven't gotten an email or call from IPO. Do they still contact you beforehand?
Click to expand...

Your question has been answered, but I wanted to say I hope you have a great trip and enjoy AKL CL :wizard:.

disneybeautyfnp said:
Hi! Hubbie and I are staying CL at AKL 10/9-10/14 this fall. This thread has me so excited about this trip. This is our first on-site stay at WDW.
Click to expand...

Congrats on booking your first onsite stay! AKL is a beautiful resort. Hope you have a great trip :goodvibes.

KrazeeK120 said:
I'm back with some final thoughts on my Club Level experience.

I contacted DSS with 1 room request - to face toward the castle. I was granted this request. My room was right in the middle of the hall and I watched Wishes from my balcony all but my last night, when I went to the park for the final show. Unfortunately, our checkout day was the first day of the new show, so I haven't seen it yet. However, they were testing one night around midnight and I saw some of the fireworks, and they were doing a run-through of the projections around 6:30, so I stopped packing for a few minutes to watch. My husband had brought binoculars, hoping for a glimpse of the new show and he was pretty excited to have seen a little of it.

The CMs in the lounge were a little hit and miss. I didn't have any negative experiences (and my husband reports they were very accommodating with all of his alcohol requests!), but most of them weren't super friendly and mostly kept to themselves. I looked forward to chatting with the CL CMs, and there were only a few who seemed to want to talk to me. I have a toddler (18 months), so my husband and I had to go to the lounge separately for dessert when he was sleeping and it would have been nice to have someone to chat with. YMMV.

The food was pretty good. It wasn't necessarily items I would have chosen at a quick service restaurant, but I certainly didn't go hungry.

The lounge setup is great. I love that it overlooks the lobby and you can hear the lobby music playing while enjoying your food! There is also a children's area with small tables/chairs, a TV always tuned to Disney Jr., and coloring pages and crayons. My son was pretty happy to see some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while he was there!

I was very surprised at the emptiness of the lounge. There were usually a couple of other people there, but it was really very empty most of the time. It was nice that my son had some space to explore and not bother other guests.

I am very glad we chose to stay CL for this trip. It was so nice to just take our son down the hall for 2 meals each day and not worry about juggling him and trays of food. In fact, we also did 3 ADRs, so we only ended up doing QS twice on our whole trip (we were there 5 days). After the first day, my son really seemed to recognize where he was going and loved when we told him it was time to eat. For people who are rope drop to close type tourists, I don't really think that CL offers a lot of benefit. But for us, we came back by dinner all but 1 day and made extensive use of the lounge. We've found that our son does best sticking to his normal bedtime, so that meant early touring for us. It was great to have a place to relax and unwind at the end of the day.

I'm not sure if CL is in our future again, both from a budgetary and a logistical perspective. We kind of went all out for our son's first trip. I wanted it to be really special for him and as easy as was possible for us as parents. However, I wouldn't hesitate to stay WL CL again.

Please do let me know if you have any questions about the place...I'd be happy to help! I don't know what to do with myself at the moment now that I don't have a Disney trip in the works!!
Click to expand...

Sounds like you had a magical time! Thanks for your thorough review. Now it's time to start thinking about the next trip ;).

KrazeeK120 said:
I got to the park 3 hours before Wishes (thanks to my husband who tackled bedtime alone while away from home!). I snagged a good spot on top of the train station. I met some nice girls, one of which is a CM (hostess at the Plaza). They even held my spot for me while I went to the bathroom! I talked to them for probably an hour and a half. That's the kind of CM interaction I was looking for lol. She mentioned that most of the other people up there were CMs. Which would explain why everyone was so polite and not trying to hog each other's personal space. I really had a very pleasant time! I made a quick exit to the boat dock and we left with a half full boat! No one was coming to ride! I couldnt believe it. There were hoards of people headed to the ferry, monorail, and buses, and here were 25 or so of us chilling on this huge boat. I stepped off the boat at 9:31...I looked at my phone. I even had time to go get dessert in the lounge!!! I'm so glad I went.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a great place to watch Wishes! :wizard:

eeyore81 said:
Can anyone tell me if it's better to walk from Poly (Hawaii) to TTC for Epcot or should we ride the monorail to TTC? There are 6 of us, two 4 year olds and my mom uses a mobility scooter, if any of that would change your mind.
Click to expand...

The TTC is only about a 5-7 minute walk, so I would do that as long as the kids don't mind walking. Have a great time :).
 
KrazeeK120 said:
It was such a wonderful trip. We plan on going back to Disney, probably several times. But even if we didn't, I made a lifetime of memories in just 1 trip.

I got to the park 3 hours before Wishes (thanks to my husband who tackled bedtime alone while away from home!). I snagged a good spot on top of the train station. I met some nice girls, one of which is a CM (hostess at the Plaza). They even held my spot for me while I went to the bathroom! I talked to them for probably an hour and a half. That's the kind of CM interaction I was looking for lol. She mentioned that most of the other people up there were CMs. Which would explain why everyone was so polite and not trying to hog each other's personal space. I really had a very pleasant time! I made a quick exit to the boat dock and we left with a half full boat! No one was coming to ride! I couldnt believe it. There were hoards of people headed to the ferry, monorail, and buses, and here were 25 or so of us chilling on this huge boat. I stepped off the boat at 9:31...I looked at my phone. I even had time to go get dessert in the lounge!!! I'm so glad I went.
Click to expand...

That sounds awesome. There are certainly times when the transportation benefits of the MK resorts really come in handy - especially when things "go your way" like it did for you. Back at your resort and enjoying CL desserts by 9:30 on the night of the last Wishes? That's Disney winning right there!
 
GADisneyDad14 said:
OT but for those of you who asked about the Tomorrowland Terrace/Garden Viewing Dessert Party. DO IT. Great experience, in my humble opinion.

Since I can hide behind internet anonymity I don't mind saying this. I was a bit weepy watching from Poly last night. I flat out :sad: at times watching from the MK tonight. Having proper volume and really being able to hear/feel the music made it a more powerful experience. That part is missing from the Poly viewing experience, but the low volume was a problem during Wishes too (but since I knew the story (and the words) it wasn't that big a deal to me).

Here was my view from the Garden Viewing area. Had tons of room. I would do this version over the Tomorrowland Terrace version in a heartbeat. Still shocked how good this show is.
View attachment 237168
Click to expand...
We're doing the Plaza Dessert Party on the 4th, and if possible I'm even more excited about it now!!!!! Thanks so much for the pics!!!
 
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