Guide to Club Level or Concierge Lounges at Disney World
Is Club Level at Walt Disney World worth the money? This guide answers that, with reviews of the best concierge lounges in hotels, VIP services, pros & cons, and more. We also have an update on Club Level, and what the experience is like now. (Updated December 28, 2023.)
Without question, the biggest benefit of Club Level at Walt Disney World is the lounges. We used to have mixed thoughts on these, but have endeavored to stay at every Club Level resort as our recent experiences have been much more favorable. It seems Disney is stepping up its game to better compete with real world luxury hotels. Here are our Club Level Lounge reviews thus far–click each to see lounge & food photos, plus full commentary about each:
- Atrium Club Level in Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Chronos Club Level in Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs Resort
- Kilimanjaro Club Level in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- King Kamehameha Club Level in Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
- Old Faithful Club Level in Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Stone Harbor Club Level in Disney’s Beach Club Resort
These Club Level Lounges each serve coffee, continental breakfast, light afternoon snacks, hors d’oeuvres at dinner time, and dessert & cordials late at night. In our opinion, the lounge is the main reason to book a Club Level resort stay at Walt Disney World, with the food quality and lounge atmosphere being the most important factors to consider. We cover these things in meticulous detail in each of our reviews.
In terms of basics, all Deluxe Resorts at Walt Disney World have at least one Club Level offering. Disney’s Contemporary Resort has 2, but they’re essentially (in our view) interchangeable. Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort also used to have two, but that’s no longer the case. It remains to be seen whether that changes again in 2024 once the resort reimagining is finished. We suspect not.
Disney Villa Resorts, more colloquially known as Disney Vacation Club Resorts, do not have Club Levels. However, most Deluxe Villas are also Deluxe Resorts–examples of this would be the Boulder Ridge Villas or Copper Creek Villas (Deluxe Villas, as the names suggest) at Wilderness Lodge (Deluxe Resort). The only exceptions to this are Disney’s Riviera Resort, Saratoga Springs, and Old Key West.
Finally, none of the Value Resorts have Club Level; only one of the Moderate Resorts have a Club Level, Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs Resort. Because it’s at a Moderate Resort, Chronos Club at Gran Destino is the cheapest Club Level offering at Walt Disney World.
Confused yet? All you really need to know is that in addition to the above list of Club Levels, there’s also the following that we have not yet reviewed:
- Innkeeper’s Club at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
- Tower Club at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Royal Palm Club at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort
- Regatta Club at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
One of the first things to understand about Club Level at Walt Disney World is that it’s not the same as concierge or executive levels at upper echelon chained-brand hotels. If you’re accustomed to the treatment you receive at Park Hyatt, Conrad, Four Seasons, or other real-world luxury hotels that are comparably priced to Disney Deluxes, you’re in for disappointment.
Those brands are renowned for unparalleled attention to detail, guest service, anticipating needs, and going above and beyond to deliver a superlative stay. They’ll book difficult dining reservations, assist with planning, and help make the experience memorable and stress-free. There are myriad ways this is accomplished at real-world hotels, but the salient point is that if you’re expecting Four Seasons or Park Hyatt concierge quality from Disney…don’t.
You really need to use a third-party Authorized Disney Vacation Planner for that type of service and even then, it’s not the same since they’re third party intermediaries. Here’s the Authorized Disney Vacation Planner that we recommend!
For Club Level stays at Walt Disney World, you will usually receive an email from Concierge Resort Cast Members prior to your trip to introduce themselves and assist with an itinerary. Whether you actually receive this correspondence is hit or miss, and it’s often sent out after dining and other reservation windows have already opened–and the most coveted options are booked up.
If you want or need this type of concierge planning assistance, relying upon the Concierge Resort Cast Members at Walt Disney World would not be our recommended course of action. At best, they’re going to spend a couple of hours providing boilerplate advice and perhaps reserve you whatever’s readily available in terms of ADRs at their convenience. They can also help a bit upon arrival at the in-person desk, but by then, it’s usually too late. (These Cast Members do not have priority access to dining reservations or anything else.)
In short, Club Level is not about superlative service or planning prowess at Walt Disney World. To be sure, there are great, long-tenured Cast Members working at the Club Level Lounges. We’ve generally found them to be personable; if you’re looking for friendly faces to greet you in the Club Level Lounges, they are perfect.
The lounges are really where Club Level shines at Walt Disney World, and are the primary selling point of booking Club Level. You’ll get the most bang for your buck out of the stay if you make a point of eating multiple meals per day in the lounge. Most people will take advantage of continental breakfast, but not lunch, dinner, or late night desserts.
Breakfast is almost exclusively cold items, plus oatmeal and maybe one other hot dish. If you’re lucky, you’ll find some nice meats and cheeses that can be made into a sandwich for something substantive. Maybe an exclusive/unique item or two. It’s enough to fill you up and get you through until lunch, but it’s not exactly a luxurious spread.
The light afternoon snacks are exactly that–usually chips, hummus and pita, a variety of vegetables, and various other random things. This definitely should not be considered lunch, as there’s almost no way to make a meal of this service at any of the Club Level Lounges at Walt Disney World.
As a general rule, the evening hors d’oeuvres are the best offering, with numerous small plate dishes that are typically prepared by chefs from Signature Restaurants (Disney’s term for fine dining) located at the resort. These tend to be very good to great, and despite being ‘small plates’ and Disney deliberately avoiding the term dinner to describe this service, you could easily make a meal of them.
The quality of this service varies from resort to resort, but across the board, we think it has improved in the last couple of years. In fact, elevated hors d’oeuvres quality is one of the big reasons we’ve started revisiting all of the Club Level Lounges. If you can take advantage of breakfast (which should be a given) and dinner plus dessert service most nights of your stay, Club Level can be much easier to justify from a value for money perspective.
In addition to access to the Club Lounge, guests staying at each Club Level have access to the Concierge Resort Cast Members between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. These Cast Members are found at desks outside of the lounge or nearby, and can assist with tickets, dining, recreation, transportation, child care, and daily itinerary planning.
These Cast Members cannot get you into restaurants that are fully booked, or score Lightning Lane access for attractions that have run out of their daily allotment. However, if you call or text a Concierge Resort Cast Member while you’re in the parks and ask for help booking an ADR, they might just be able to work some magic. (No promises on that.)
When it comes to what Signature Services does not do, Walt Disney World no longer offers enhanced VIP services for Club Level guests for $50 per person per day. With paid Genie+ replacing free FastPass, it is no longer possible to buy 3 extra FastPass+ entitlements when staying Club Level.
At present, there is no comparable service offered for Genie+ or Lightning Lanes when staying Club Level. That could change, but we’re skeptical given the fundamental differences between FastPass and Genie. In any case, everything you need to know, including ride priorities, strategy for avoiding pitfalls, maximizing your time saved & ride count, and much more is covered in our Guide to Genie+ and Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World.
We do expect this to change sometime soon, as advance-booking is coming for Lightning Lanes in Spring 2024. Our guess is that Club Level guests won’t immediately have access to purchase extra Lightning Lane selections, but we’d still expect that to happen at some point in 2024. We’ll keep you posted.
Objectively, the cost of staying Club Level ranges from around +$120/night to +$375/night depending on the resort, room tier, and season. For a general rule, the more expensive the hotel and room category, the greater the added cost. However, this isn’t always true.
For instance, adding Club Level at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa would “only” be an additional $228 on New Year’s Eve. That’s Walt Disney World’s most expensive hotel on its most expensive night of the year. The surcharge for Wilderness Lodge on that same night would be $274.
This is further complicated by discounts, which can change the gap depending upon what’s excluded, available, and so forth. You rely shouldn’t rely on a resource for this to determine the price difference. You’ll see for yourself when you actually price out a room for your travel dates and can see the Club Level cost versus that of other available rooms.
With that said, the premium for staying in Chronos Club at Gran Destino is always the lowest. It can be less than $100 extra for many nights after discounts. Again, this is because Chronos Club is at a Moderate Resort, so the baseline price is lower to begin with.
Despite this, we view Chronos Club as one of the best Club Levels in all of Walt Disney World. Like Gran Destino Tower as a whole, it punches far above its weight, and offers tremendous bang for buck. In fact, if your only consideration is value for money, you can stop right here: Chronos Club is the clear winner, and the competition isn’t even close.
Assuming you cram 4 adults in the Club Level room–because nothing says posh hotel stay like 4 adults in one hotel room–you’re looking at around $25 to $50 per person per night for Club Level. If you do two meals per day (breakfast and dinner) in the Club Level Lounge, or even just breakfast plus dessert and a couple of beers when you return from the park, you’re already getting your money’s worth on the lower end of the pricing premium spectrum.
However, I am guessing that your only consideration is not value for money…or you probably wouldn’t be looking at Club Level in the first place. (But if you are that rare guest looking to splurge on Club Level while squeezing as much value out of it as possible, look no further–Chronos Club is the one for you!)
It should go without saying, but the larger your party and the more meals you eat in the lounge, the better the value proposition. Add the Resort Concierge service to the mix, as well as the views and ambiance in the lounge, and it becomes pretty easy to justify Club Level.
At the other end of the spectrum, if you’re a party of 2 adults and will only do breakfast in the lounge before rope dropping the parks and staying until park closing (thus missing all subsequent food services in the lounge), it’s literally impossible to justify Club Level. In general, this is not something for “park commandos,” it’s for those wanting a more leisurely, luxurious, and pampered Walt Disney World experience.
In scenarios that don’t fall on either end of those extreme spectrums, there’s doing Club Level simply because you want to treat yo self to an excellent, once in a lifetime kind of experience. Maybe you want the best view in the house at Wilderness Lodge, or to strut around the Polynesian wearing your lei like a rockstar—a modern day Jon Bon Jovi. Sometimes it’s fun to splurge on a taste of luxury because it’s just something you flat out want to do.
Everyone makes purchases that would not pass muster if scrutinized from a value for money perspective. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. There’s no reason to feel bad about wanting what you think will be a cool or convenient experience for the sake of that experience. Anyone who claims every decision they make is 100% rational and 0% emotional is lying. If you want to stay Club Level at Walt Disney World for one of these reasons—or some other intrinsic sense of happiness—more power to you. Only you know what will make your vacation special to you!
We are a party of two adults, and we’ve made Club Level work for us. We discuss the specifics in each of those reviews above, but here’s the CliffNotes version of that: we do split stays, with the Club Level portion of our trip for 1-2 nights at the end of a trip.
If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of a split stay, see our How to Do Split Stays at Walt Disney World Hotels. As you can see there, we are huge advocates of split stays for a number of reasons. When it comes to this, we highly recommend doing the Club Level portion at the end of your trip, rather than beginning.
In part, this is because it’s really tough to go from Club Level back to normal accommodations. More importantly, we recommend this because you’ll spend the first portion of your trip racing around the parks doing everything that you want to get done, exhausting yourselves in the progress. Then at the end, you’ll have a Club Level stay to relax, rejuvenate, and actually vacation.
When we stay Club Level at Walt Disney World, we seldom leave the resort. With this in mind, our least favorite is the Atrium Club Level at Contemporary Resort. Chronos Club is normally a great value and something we really enjoy, but we don’t like hanging around Gran Destino all day, so it’s out from this perspective.
Our two favorite Club Levels at Walt Disney World are those at Beach Club and Wilderness Lodge. We love taking advantage of Stone Harbor Club during breaks from floating around the lazy river in Stormalong Bay, or sitting in a comfy overstuffed chair in Old Faithful Club while gazing down at that glorious lobby. We like to unwind and make the most of the luxurious stay while doing Club Level.
For choosing the right Club Level for you–or getting the details right on a split stay, once again Here’s the Authorized Disney Vacation Planner that we recommend. They can help you come up with a split stay “hotel plan” like this that works for your needs. Your interests are going to differ from ours, but they can listen to your family’s interests and priorities and book something customized just for you. (Plus, they get their commission from Disney, so there is no charge to you for them to book your trip and help you plan!)
The math on Club Level only works out if you’re viewing it as a luxury experience or splurge. If you’re singularly value-oriented, Club Level is never going to make sense. You could simply do grocery delivery and have snacks at your leisure in your Walt Disney World hotel room and come out way ahead in terms of savings. Of course, nothing screams “luxury hotel stay” like having groceries delivered and preparing oatmeal in your room.
Not that we’re knocking that. We’ve done grocery delivery several times and Club Level several times. Some trips we want to travel as inexpensively as possible, other times we want to splurge and treat ourselves to luxurious experience. There’s certainly a place for both styles of traveling.
One thing to reiterate here while we’re discussing a luxurious experience, is that this refers almost entirely to the Club Level Lounge, its food and atmosphere. Concierge Resort Cast Members are generally great and helpful with planning questions you might have.
However, concierge service at Walt Disney World is not the same as it is in real world hotel counterparts. We have stayed at Grand Club level at several Hyatt hotels, among other chains, and the difference at luxury hotels is that the service there is truly above and beyond.
Real world concierges can pull strings and make coveted bookings, quickly have tickets delivered to a hotel, etc. Walt Disney World concierges can make the same bookings available in the My Disney Experience app in lieu of you doing it. This can be a nice convenience, but it’s usually nothing you couldn’t do yourself.
Additionally and more importantly, those real world resort concierges go out of their way to make you feel special and pampered. Their service is very attentive and proactive. Disney’s service is much more reactionary; if you need help, it’s there. If not, there’s a decent chance no Concierge Resort Cast Members will interact with you after check-in.
In that regard, calling it “concierge level” or “concierge lounges” at Walt Disney World is really a misnomer. While the company itself sometimes refers to the level or lounges as concierge, those references are infrequent and often just aimed at convention guests. (Presumably due to their experience with real world concierge levels, but not Club Level? I dunno. Sometimes Disney’s verbiage is confusing and inconsistent.)
In general, this is a fundamental difference that really must be stressed for Walt Disney World first-timers who are used to real world 5-star hotels. If you pampered service is your paramount concern, you are better off booking the Four Seasons Resort Orlando.
With that said, one thing we should note here is that Disney has been improving by leaps and bounds on this front. Walt Disney World wants this audience of “whale” guests, and has lost market share to luxury hotels that have opened around Orlando. There are plenty of reasons to believe Disney is catering to more affluent guests, and improving Club Level offerings to capture this clientele certainly makes sense.
Overall, we’re generally fans of Club Level at Walt Disney World and, for us, it’s worth the money on some trips. The Club Level experience has improved in quality the last couple of years, which certainly makes it easier to justify, too. The lounge atmosphere and views are important to us, and having the services of the Resort Concierge Cast Members is a nice bonus for us.
Still, we like to mix things up. Sometimes we splurge on Club Level and almost no park time; sometimes we focus on parks and simply book a cheap hotel and do quick, inexpensive meals. It varies from trip to trip–and can even vary within trips.
Ultimately, by staying Club Level as part of a split stay during our ‘resort days’, we are able to make the most of our Club Level stays, relaxing in the lounge, eating and drinking as much as we can. From this perspective, we think Club Level works well and is a compelling option. Your vacation plans may vary, in which case the value that Club Level offers to you will differ. Either way, we hope this introduction to Club Level at Walt Disney World has proven helpful for planning your trip, and determining whether the concierge experience is right for you!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
If you’ve stayed Club Level at a Walt Disney World hotel, do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Do you think it is worth the money? Which Club Level Lounge is your favorite? Have you considered staying Club Level? Share any questions, tips, or additional thoughts you have in the comments!
Your honest review is appreciated. You go to club level because you want it! Maybe just at least once in life. When the resort was under construction, 2 adults ,2 kids : 5 and 1(celebrating actual 1st bday) we found ourselves with huge discount in July staying club level. The only way to get to Disney with my job is when it is like vacationing on the surface of the sun.
Sure maybe this was more for me, the mom, the reason vacations happen person, the cyo basketball towing, swim lesson shuffling, flag football hauling, dear Lord not another weekend kids birthday party, 18 years a teacher of young brains, planning Polynesian or bust mom. Yes, it was for me!
Did the food disappoint me? Yes, kinda. But when you travel with kids who drink and snack all the time….ALL OF THE TIME… Club level rocked. Even faced with a peanut/tree nut allergy the cast members shined. By day 2, my son had a box of safe cookies for himself to keep on hand. Fantastic! Fondly, he calls it “the snack shack” I dare to type that! My sweet little bear….there is no shack in the world like this. LOL. Nothing was ever a problem to get to accommodate his allergy.
No, we weren’t in the hotel much at all for lunch or dinner but the memories of walking to club level in our “presentable pjs” aka sweats, to play some Disney board games while watching wishes and the water parade with my kids will never be replaced. Can you just walk outside and watch it all? Yes. Yes you can. However anyone with showered pj’d kids may squint in horror with the thought of sand anywhere remotely near their family at night. The turn down service was also a slice of heaven. You prepared the beds for my family?! OMG thank you Poly! You made me feel as if I was on vacation….and when does that ever happen? Much appreciation.
For these silly little things, I appreciated club level for different reasons perhaps. Now if only we could get the Aloha pulled pork sandwich in the lounge!
Great to hear a differing perspective, and we can absolutely see how staying Club Level would be totally worth it for you (and others) as a splurge. Thanks for offering your take on it! 🙂
We stayed Club Level at the Boardwalk last August, during a relatively inexpensive week, and it was awesome! We are 2 adults, 2 young children. We stayed for a week and had no plans to go to the parks (too hot, and our young kids prefer the pools anyway). For people traveling with young children, you cannot beat the Club Level. Young children don’t eat real meals – they snack – and the snack foods available all day long at the Club were perfect for them. Young children also don’t do well sitting in restaurants for long periods of time, and the fact that our kids could get up from the table, grab a Mickey milk and head to the couch to watch a little Disney Junior while we finished our “meal” was life-changing for us. Since we were hanging out at the pool all day anyway – this was intentionally a resort vacation, not a park vacation – we were around all day to enjoy the various offerings. The cherry on top were the lovely people on staff and the interesting conversations with other guests – many of whom stayed during that August week every year, and were like a little family. Another cherry on top was watching the Epcot and HS fireworks from the balcony off the lounge. Also, my husband and I both work, and while the kids napped, one adult could stay in the room while the other could enjoy snacks, drinks and quiet in the lounge while working on a laptop. We won’t always splurge for Club Level, but in certain scenarios, it’s totally worth it, and replaces all the hassle/expense of meals on property.
I won’t pretend it’s “worth” it from a value perspective, but not necessarily a rip off.
4 adults may not cram into 1 room, but not unusual for a family of 4.. 2 adults, 2 children.
The fact that you can easily slip out of your room and have breakfast… don’t even all have to go at the same time. That’s a value of $20-$40 just for daily breakfast for a family of 4.
No, it will NOT replace lunch and dinner for many people. But it will greatly diminish the need for snacking… saving another $20-40 per day. Maybe more (appetizers in the concierge lounge followed by a light dinner, as opposed to going for a big dinner).
Finally, beverages… bottled water, soda. And some alcohol. This can easily be another $20-$40 in value.
So it’s $200 per night, for $60-$120 in “food value” for a family of 4.
But then, the other little values of concierge…. and it might not be a great value, but not a total ripoff.
We stayed 2 nights club level at AKL, before 5 nights in a regular room at a huge discount. The discounted regular room helped us justify the expensive club room.
We arrived on a redeye, so were able to utilize the club that morning and throughout the day, the full next day, and a third morning (the day we checked out of the club room). We probably used it 5 times total, inc breakfast every day and a couple afternoon snacks. I thought the food and drinks were solid, the people were lovely, the view down into the AKL lobby was great. Totally agree that it’s doesn’t make financial sense, but the feeling of specialness was TOTALLY worth it. It was the first time we’ve stayed on property, and I think this was the nicest-possible introduction to a Disney hotel.
I wouldn’t pay for club level for a full trip, and I hear AKL has (one of?) the best clubs – so i might not bother elsewhere. But I would pay again for one or two days in a longer trip, especially if I wanted a day to lounge around AKL.
When I went to WDW for my 30th birthday, I got upgraded to Club Level at Yacht Club. It was definitely an awesome perk, and we took advantage of the breakfast, afternoon snacks, and dessert offerings. But I don’t think I would I ever pay for it. Having access to the Club Level really only gave me an excuse to overeat. I could live without it.
I also stayed club level at Paradise Pier at Disneyland. It was definitely worth it…since it was free. (Disney messed up my room rez, and gave me Club level for free).
The light breakfast with no crowds was really nice, I have to say. Since the parks weren’t open late, i sometimes came back for “dinner” and they cheese plate was excellent, along with a decent wine. Getting free sodas and water bottles whenever was a nice bonus. There were fives types of cheese, two of which were gourmet. I was surprised to read that Tom had bad cheese.
IIRC the extra charge would be been $50 a nite at that resort. At $25 each for two, it’s worth considering. Ask your Disney Travel booker, it might be worth it. But at anything more than around $25 per person- no.
We stay club level a lot. We’ve already stayed twice this year at the Yacht Club and have a F&W trip planned with club for the Grand Floridian. Over the last 3 years we have stayed at all of them with the exception of the Contemporary. (I refused to stay there out of principle. Long story, but I was trapped in a stairwell on the morning of my wedding). All clubs are not created equal. We last stayed at the Poly in October for the Halloween party. It is by far our least favorite club. The Wilderness Lodge was always our go to. The staff up there is amazing. We stayed 4 times last year and it really was like coming home. The Yacht Club is right up there though. The chef in the lounge is fantastic. She does amazing gourmet level apps. Think ceviche not hot dogs. I urge you to give it a chance at another club before passing judgement. Will it ever work out cost/benefit, no; but it works for us. Obviously we go quite a bit and are less concerned with riding rides, etc. We tend to sleep in, book some late morning fastpasses, have a lazy lunch and then head back the to hotel. We either nap or pool. Around 6 we get ready for dinner and hit the lounge for evening snacks and wine. We have a late dinner around 9 somewhere. We almost always miss the desserts, but have a light breakfast and evening apps the majority of our days. I do miss the days of pour your own wine, but so far they haven’t been stingy. I just fill guilty asking for a third glass. Hey, they are small glasses! That’s my 2 cents. Here is our ranking for your enjoyment:
Yacht Club
Wilderness Lodge
Animal Kingdom
Grand Floridian
Boardwalk
Polynesian
We stayed club level at the Contemporary for our first visit a few years back and I agree with you, the service for the price can’t be justified. We couldn’t get into our room until 3 on the dot, (presumably because there are fewer CL rooms to begin with, if someone checks out late then it can’t be turned over), and our room was rarely cleaned before the early evening, so a few times we had to hunt down the housekeeping cart to get dry towels. They also threw out my son’s swimsuit that we hung up to dry in the bathroom. They weren’t able to get us any dinner reservations and I hunted them all down myself by stalking MDE or on chat threads. The only thing they could do back then was get you a 4th FP (via text) without having to go to a machine, but you can do that now on MDE yourself.
The positives? Well, we booked with a 30% off room code that was sold out on the regular Contemporary rooms (booking on short notice) so it rendered the CL room about the same cost as rack rate for a regular room. We had 3 adults and 1 child and had breakfast and the hot appetizers and desserts almost every night, only missing the afternoon cookie service. We booked a Bayview room and could watch the Electric Water Pageant from our room and then the fireworks from the CL lounge. The view of Hallowishes from that balcony was better than in the park, IMO, and you can’t beat just going down the hall carrying your kid in his pajamas afterwards. It was also a short stay, 3 nights, so the cost didn’t seem so crazy for the convenience. If we stay at AKL again in December AND can get a 30% room offer for CL, I might do it again since I love the food there, but I’ll keep my expectations for service low.
289 BRIDGEWAY CIR
I’ll say I do agree with your post. We recently stayed club level at Paradise Pier at Disneyland. While we enjoyed the time there and having access to the snacks and food, I don’t feel it was worth the money overall. We had a rest day the second day there, so we definitely took advantage of the lounge all day to get our monies worth. After this stay we talked about doing it next time in WDW but your article sums up my feelings about splurging for concierge again. We ship a lot of snacks to the hotel beforehand and I can pretty much get better quality and exactly what I want, for a third of the price.
Thanks for the article and giving me piece of mind about my decision not to do this in WDW
We enjoyed club level at the Animal Kingdom Lodge earlier this year, booked with a special during the Flower and Garden Festival. We are in our 50s, travel without children, are not DVC members and, given that we both work FT, don’t want to cook on vacation. We looked to club level benefits as a buffer from the stress and time-suck that is generally associated with eating at WDW. We also intentionally planned down time at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, desiring to enjoy it as a resort and not just a place to crash in between going to the parks, and hoped to maximize our club level experience.
For the most part, we liked the food offered — although it was a little heavy on carbs. At breakfast, in addition to an expected cold buffet, the Animal Kingdom Lodge provided hot oatmeal and quinoa. Prior to dinner, one of Jiko’s chefs came up nightly to prepare three hot appetizers on-site. Combined with happy hour offerings, such as cut vegetables, cheese and crackers, and South African wine, we happily made that our dinner more than once. Conversely, we then selected table and counter service meals carefully, based on where we really wanted to eat rather than being solely motivated by getting something to put into our hungry stomachs.
Additionally, the club area is a nice place to quietly hang out during low use times. My husband monitored work issues when he needed to and I, an early riser, surfed the web peacefully while sipping coffee and waking up. A continuous loop of movies added to our enjoyment in the early evenings. In fact, we found that we just had to watch Big Hero 6 upon returning home, after getting sucked into it along with some other adult watchers.
The one fly in the ointment was that seating is grossly insufficient for the number of people given club level access. For us, this was a pretty huge fly given that, as I mentioned, we paid for club level to diminish stress and save time. It was common to be forced to vulturishly hover for a table, waiting for someone to leave, or to have a family stare at you while you ate while waiting their turn. If we wanted that type of experience, we could have saved the money and eaten at Mara. I don’t think the price differential for club level access at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is as great as the Polynesian, but it is still unacceptable. Thankfully, by timing our visits we could avoid some of this.
Overall, I really enjoyed having club level access and would do it again — but not at a $200 upcharge.
I have stayed at concierge level at Grand Floridan once and visited once. The visit was to watch the Marlins win the World Series against the Yankees. Yay! There we were in the lounge with nuts and cordials cheering on the Marlins.
We stayed there during the marathon. We had no intention of going into the parks at all. And because of that, it was more worth it than not. However, the room size was really not a lot bigger than a value resort. We used the lounge a lot as well as the hotel amenities.
If you’re going to the parks, concierge is not worth the extra money. If you want to relax at the hotel, it might be.
We were in the main building, by the way.
Club level prices filter out “riff raff” (present company excluded, of course). The lounge gives us room to spread out, especially if one of us has real-life work to do in the evening while others are sleeping.
I opted Club Level for our trip this December. Two things swayed my decision.
Location- the peace of mind of guaranteeing which longhouse we’ll stay at. Some of others are great while some less so.
My girlfriend is a night owl. Getting her up and going, even at WDW, seems daunting so being able to head to lounge in pajamas to get her breakfast and bring back to room seems ideal.
Checking in at Concierge Desk vs main desk in GCH also a slight perk.
Your points are all valid. If I visited regularly I’d think it extravagant too. Since our’s is her 1st time and my 1st since ’02 I decided to splurge.
Here’s another perk – we stayed at the Club for the Boardwalk because there are 6 person rooms! (We brought 4 of our children) and so the cost per person went down a great deal – we also got a FL resident discount. 2 of them were teenagers – and they ate the (I agree) mediocre food with glee….and even without my constant prompt of “go eat as much as possible to make up the $100 extra room rate per day.”
The big perk: our child with Celiac disease received a full complete, gluten-free meal at every snack time. He got Mickey waffles at breakfast, a hamburger on a gluten-free bun with fries at lunch, and a full meal for dinner (grilled chicken breast, potatoes and greens). They also found him gluten-free brownies, etc. for desserts.
So when the cost is $100 extra a room (not $200) the Club really paid off for our special circumstances. Not sure that applies to the Poly.
You’re right, another circumstance where it makes a lot more sense. Perhaps I should’ve written this specifically for the Polynesian. $200 (or $300, as is more often the case) extra per night is really difficult to justify in terms of the math. Once you’re in the $100 range, especially with a larger party, it begins to make a lot more sense.
Thanks for providing additional perspective! 🙂
As a family of six, the Deluxe Room at Club Level is easier to secure then trying to get two connecting rooms. The convenience of the lounge for breakfast, snacks or appetizers while on the afternoon break, or that last nightcap after a long hot day, can’t be underestimated. If traveling without the four children, I may think differently, but haven’t had that opportunity.
Agree with you, GrumpyDad4! I’ve got 4 kids, too and love having snacks available, but outside of the room. (Ever seen what 4 messy, picky eaters can do to a room? Trust me, you wouldn’t want to sleep there.) Breakfast is much better than afternoon snack quality. Coffee and dessert for tired mom, a plus. I think Poly is kinda ho-hum anyway so I wouldn’t judge all club level arrangements by the Poly presentation.
I am definitely in a tiny subset of the WDW population: Disney Vacation Club member with ownership at the Animal Kingdom villas. This gives me access to book Club Level at Jambo House using my vacation points. Have to reserve exactly 11 months in advance and be lucky enough to get in even then! That being said, we will be staying there for a week in October, 1 BR unit for less than $250 per night in annual dues. Big plus to club level vs. regular DVC stay is daily maid service. We enjoy the food: evening apps. come from Boma and Sanaa. Obviously, we’ve been to WDW many times over the years, DVC members since 1994 and vacationed there often before that. We might only go to the parks once or twice during each stay now, and simply relax the rest of the time!
What I think is most interesting here is the cost differential: staying Club Level on points is ~6 points more per night, and valuing those at $15/point means Club Level is only $90/night. Which is not bad (at all), considering it gets you Club Access *and* housekeeping.
Additionally, I clicked through to your blog post (http://www.apinchofpixiedust.com/2014/03/animalkingdomlodgeclublevel.html?m=1) and the spread in Kilimanjaro Club looks waaaaay better than what we had at the Poly.
As one final check in the “pro” column, if there’s any resort I’d just want to lounge around all day, it’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. Such a beautiful resort, and the idea of just gazing out at the animals all day sitting in a rocking chair sounds like pure bliss.
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed my blog post (thanks for the link Jacqueline!). My family loves club level, and my favorite has to be a toss up between the King Kamehameha and the Kilimanjaro. 🙂
How much is the value proposition to actually seeing Josh in person?
Scientists are still working on an appropriately negative term to quantify such an experience.
Justifying Club Level by price doesn’t work, I agree. Lunch is a throw away in the Lounge, but breakfast is a perk for me. We’ve stayed Club several times before and will do it again. It’s convenient and it makes each vacation unique. The vast majority of my trips memories are about the hotel, not the parks, so booking a “special” room gives us something to look forward to and be excited about. I don’t use the IPO (a TA will give you more personal service) but I do like the Club desk to deal with issues instead of the front desk. No real point to this comment, just that we like Club 🙂
Sometimes those ‘pointless’ comments are helpful because they provide other readers perspective (and differing opinions) when my post might skew the other direction. 🙂
We stayed club level at the Poly for the first time ever in July. My wife had an extreme discount on the room, so the value was a little different because of the price. That said I don’t disagree that it’s not worth the rack room rate, but I also don’t feel the food was as bad as described. Certainly not gourmet, but not bad for a snack. The benefit we saw in it was this, with two kids under 10 who are not great eaters we did often find that what they could get at the lounge was enough to sustain them for a meal, but not enough for my wife and I. But what we did find, was that we could grab a snack at the lounge which would tie us over long enough that we could eat dinner later and let us do walk ups to some restaurants. Our big goal for this trip was to limit our dining reservations as much as possible so we didn’t feel like we were running around constantly to get to a meal. For better or worse I think consierge helped us do that. And when we booked it I also thought we would be staying with a lot of the 1% but after being there I don’t think that was the case, it really seemed like a lot of families who were doing what we were doing either trying to eat meals there or trying to avoid so many dining reservations. Would we have done it without the discount? No. Would we do it again without the discount? Probably not. But if you have the means and are trying to avoid the dining reservation problem this is one way to do it.
Thanks for sharing–I could definitely see the piece of mind in utilizing the Club Lounge snacks to alleviating concerns about chasing ADRs. Good point there.
As for 1%ers, I’m guessing they make up a fairly small percentage of guests at any Walt Disney World hotel (and not just because they are 1% of the population!). I think the Deluxe hotels draw a lot of fans who splurge and families who save up–in addition to the wealthy. My hunch is that the Four Seasons would skew more towards the latter (but still with its share of families saving, etc.).
As a mathematician, I have to argue with your math. The statement that 1%ers may make up a fairly small percentage of guests at any WDW hotel even partly as a result of the fact that they are 1% of the population presumes that everyone has equal access.
If reality is that only 10% of the population can afford to go to WDW (this is a rhetorical # made up purely for demonstration purposes), then it is quite reasonable to assume that 1%ers would make up a fairly rich portion of that group. I know the dynamics are not that simple, but I think my point stands.
One of the often overlooked advantages to staying in a Club Level room is that, before your vacation, the hotel’s concierge will send you a form to submit all of your reservation requests.
If you do this early enough, when the reservation window opens, your requests are already in Disney’s system and will essentially be booked automatically as soon as the pre-booking window opens.
We have secured several difficult to get reservations thanks to Club Level status.
Interesting, I’ve never heard this. Do you know whether these reservation requests are actually placed in Disney’s system before the ADR/FP+ booking window otherwise opens, or if the concierge simply do like a normal travel agent would do and make the reservations as soon as the window opens?
I’ve been told by more than one Disney cast members that the concierge reservations are entered into the system before the booking window opens. While I have no way to verify that, it has worked out so well for us, it continues to be a reason for us to book club level.
Good to know–I appreciate the info!