CL Before a Cruise...Can We Cobble Dinner and Breakfast Together?

[Little E]

Hi DIS friends!

I am a WDW vet, and we have always stayed on property for our WDW trips. To change things up a bit, we have decided to take a Disney cruise for spring break this year. We will stay at a WDW resort the day before we board our Disney cruise, so I'm trying to decide on a place to stay.

I will be traveling with my DH, DS17, and DS14. We require 3 sleep surfaces because DS14 is a blender and no one wants to share a bed with him. Our flight arrives at MCO around 4 pm, so we'll take the Express bus to our resort and hang out at the resort that evening and probably swim, and then we transfer to the cruise the next morning.

Initially, I was planning to book the cheapest resort I could find, as we'll only be there one night, with no time in the park. We'll need to eat dinner the night we arrive and breakfast before we head to the cruise the next morning, and we plan on eating at resort restaurants. Nothing fancy, not planning on making any dinner ressies. Now I'm starting to wonder, since we need three sleep surfaces, if it makes any sense at all to book a deluxe CL? Would we be further ahead to do this with the idea that we can get both dinner and breakfast in the CL lounge, eliminating the need to go to any restaurants?

We've stayed at values, mods, and deluxe resorts before but never done CL, so I have no frame of reference. Is there enough food to cobble together a reasonable dinner and breakfast? Are we ahead of the game if we do this, or should I look for a cheaper resort that offers 3 sleep surfaces and just pay OOP for dinner and breakfast?

Any thoughts or advice would be awesome! Thank you so much!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hi DIS friends!

I am a WDW vet, and we have always stayed on property for our WDW trips. To change things up a bit, we have decided to take a Disney cruise for spring break this year. We will stay at a WDW resort the day before we board our Disney cruise, so I'm trying to decide on a place to stay.

I will be traveling with my DH, DS17, and DS14. We require 3 sleep surfaces because DS14 is a blender and no one wants to share a bed with him. Our flight arrives at MCO around 4 pm, so we'll take the Express bus to our resort and hang out at the resort that evening and probably swim, and then we transfer to the cruise the next morning.

Initially, I was planning to book the cheapest resort I could find, as we'll only be there one night, with no time in the park. We'll need to eat dinner the night we arrive and breakfast before we head to the cruise the next morning, and we plan on eating at resort restaurants. Nothing fancy, not planning on making any dinner ressies. Now I'm starting to wonder, since we need three sleep surfaces, if it makes any sense at all to book a deluxe CL? Would we be further ahead to do this with the idea that we can get both dinner and breakfast in the CL lounge, eliminating the need to go to any restaurants?

We've stayed at values, mods, and deluxe resorts before but never done CL, so I have no frame of reference. Is there enough food to cobble together a reasonable dinner and breakfast? Are we ahead of the game if we do this, or should I look for a cheaper resort that offers 3 sleep surfaces and just pay OOP for dinner and breakfast?

Any thoughts or advice would be awesome! Thank you so much!

My opinion...

Breakfast - yes... CL breakfast at all of the CL/resort options is a suitable breakfast replacement for many/most people. IMHO a slow morning around the resort, pack up, breakfast in the lounge, before heading off to the cruise sounds like a good idea.

Dinner... that's debatable. CL evening appetizers (which run from 5-7pm at all the CLs) are not really meant to be meal replacements.... more just as the name suggests...apps. Granted, there are days where it does become our dinner, but we often have a larger lunch and just aren't that hungry come dinner time, so lite bites get the job done. Also, different resort/CLs have varying types/amounts of evening offerings. Some are pretty substantial (eg, BWI and AKL have a chef making small plates), some less so. So to me, CL being suitable for your evening meal is highly variable on the resort and your own dining habits.

Note, since you arrive at 4 and are taking DME, you should be there before the end of evening apps (7pm), but you don't have a ton of room there for error or delays. May be something to keep in mind.

While this varies from group to group based on various factors (size, restaurant preferences, resort etc), with CL the "math" of equating what you may save on meals to what you pay for CL never tends to quite work out... meaning CL usually doesn't 'make sense' on paper from a pure numbers perspective. But it depends on the resort and room type as well, so not totally a one size fits all answer.

If you're going for cost efficiency, I'd probably just book your cheapest option. If you're going for something a little splurgy / new for a one night stay, investigate the CL route. There are options like Poly CL and CR CL that are great "one night" places to stay because they offer fireworks viewing from the lounge with audio.... so you can get a little "Disney fix" in during your precious few hours. Both of those (and GF too) happen to also have the biggest rooms with effectively guaranteed day beds, so you'd have your three surfaces.

Sorry.. TLDR! All just one person's opinion, of course. Happy to answer any questions.

 

[reluctantredhead]

We've stayed CL a few times, and I think it depends on whether your family is made up of light eaters, has food allergies and/or special diets, has any particular or "picky" eaters, and whether you need a full sit down-style meal. I think it may also depend on which CL resort you stay at.

H and I are light eaters, but we're also vegetarians. In fairness, we've only stayed CL (so far) at the GF (RPC) and BWI. We are pretty shy about asking for "special things" so we never asked about vegetarian food at GF. My H asked once at BWI if something was vegetarian and the wonderful chef there, Redgie, said that it wasn't, but he would be happy to make us special vegetarian versions of the "hot course" he was preparing every day of our stay! We were blown away by that, and everything he made was soooo delicious! But if you're relying on whatever CL happens to serve that night, you may or may not find things to your liking and/or to accommodate a special diet.

All that said, I would say that most of the time, as light eaters who don't necessarily need a full sit-down meal, H and I can make a meal out of the CL offerings at dinner, and we can easily make a meal 100% of the time out of the breakfast offerings. You might try reading the CL thread to see what kind of offerings are typically at the various resorts and decide as a family if they will suffice for your meals.

Good luck! I hope you have a wonderful trip.

ETA: We usually don't rely on the CL dinner hour/appetizer items for a meal, because the "always there" vegetarian items like cheese, bread, veggies, etc. get boring after eating them for several nights in a row. But if you were open to eating whatever is served, and you stay at one of the CL resorts that has a bigger spread, I think you might well be ok with using it as your "dinner" for one night's stay.

 

[marchingstar]

Note, since you arrive at 4 and are taking DME, you should be there before the end of evening apps (7pm), but you don't have a ton of room there for error or delays. May be something to keep in mind.

totally agree! i’ve been burned with arrival day plans going totally sideways because of unexpected delays at different points of our travels to the World. the difficult thing about your timing is that if anything is off and you for some reason don’t make it to your hotel until the end of the evening food service, you’ll lose most of the benefit of CL (since dinner is so much more expensive than breakfast, generally speaking).

so another option: you could consider splurging for a bit of a nicer room at a resort with nice dining options. a room at AKL plus a nice dinner at sanaa and a QS breakfast might run about the same cost as one night CL, but with a bit more flexibility in case your travel goes awry? plus, the hotel has a great pool, lots of places to watch the animals, relaxing fire places... it might be a nice start to your vacation.

 

[marchingstar]

double post

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've stayed CL a number of times and, though the evening offerings are lovely, they aren't really a meal replacement, IMHO. Personally, I would go with a mod or value with three sleep surfaces (I would do POR if your 14 year old can fit on the murphy) and just eat at the resort. I actually think you will come out ahead that way.

 

[Little E]

This is why I love the Disboards...DIS folks always give good advice! Thank you, friends! Your feedback is super helpful. @DisneyWishes14 we had a family meeting at dinner tonight, and decided to just book a night at POR-Riverside. DS14 is a tiny dude, and can easily fit on the the pull down bed. We'll save some $ by staying at a mod and eating dinner and breakfast at the resort.

Thanks so much!!

 

[KrazeeK120]

We stayed CL at WL in 2017 and did use the evening offerings as a meal replacement (and went back for late night desert!). We liked being back at the resort early because we had an 18 month old at the time. It was plenty of food for us, but I’m rather small and not what you may consider a big eater. It depends on your appetite, for sure.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

This is why I love the Disboards...DIS folks always give good advice! Thank you, friends! Your feedback is super helpful. @DisneyWishes14 we had a family meeting at dinner tonight, and decided to just book a night at POR-Riverside. DS14 is a tiny dude, and can easily fit on the the pull down bed. We'll save some $ by staying at a mod and eating dinner and breakfast at the resort.

Thanks so much!!

Awesome! It's such a lovely resort! Enjoy!