Getting the best use of club level

[Aaronsmom]

This trip will be our first experience with club level.. We are staying at new tower in Coronado Aug 5-11. We have been several times in late August when our son was younger but this will be first since 2011 and so much has changed!!! Due to the heat we typically rope drop then leave between 12-1 and return in the evening. I want to make the best use of CL and want to be at lounge at 5pm for dinner (ish) go to the parks and then late night snack after parks close probably at Disney springs. Planning on getting 3 days of CL fastpasses for 6-7, 7-8, 8-9 as current hours are showing 9pm close.. wondering if my plan is doable. Would we be able to eat and get to the parks to use my first fp by 7 pm?
Sound like agood plan/ bad plan. Would love advice from you lucky CL veterans!!!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

So, not much is known of what Club will really look like at CSR, as it is new there. Assumption is that it will resemble Club elsewhere, but you know what they say about assuming.

In general, CL is not a good dinner replacement and tends to serve heavy snacks/appetizers.

The best value you can get out of Club is to drink. A lot. Just on a dollar-for-dollar basis, it's where you can make up the cost fastest.

 

[saskdw]

In theory your plan is doable.

I would show-up at the CL lounge at 4:30pm and grab a table. Chances are they might start putting food out a few mins early. You should be able to be at the bus stop for 5:30ish and barring any unforseen delays be in the park by 7pm.

You'll want to eat a big breakfast in the lounge if you're really looking to get your money's worth. hopefully it's open early enough to get to rope drop.

As PP said no official information on what CL will look like at the new CSR tower. I'm expecting it will be as good or better than current WDW offerings, but that is just my expectation, I have no official info on that.

I wouldn't count on the offerings making a full meal. For us a late supper would still be required.

 

[marchingstar]

i don’t have much to add because like others have said, it’s a bit of a guessing game what the new CL will look like in CSR. but i’d love to hear all about it when you get back!

 

[TJA]

A lot of CL people do plan their FPs that exact way. Our usual plan of action is to FP earlier in the day (we're not rope-droppers though, so we get to parks when they're already busy), but when we're ready to leave the park in mid/late afternoon we always go on the app and make a FP for a favorite ride in any park with availability. And we always use the time slot of 6-7pm unless it's for a park that is somewhat far away and requires a bus, then we'll use the 6:30-7:30 time slot just for some extra cushion. We always get to the lounge right at 5pm or slightly before and eat right away. Some nights we get super full and other nights not so much. Just depends on offerings that particular night! Enjoy!

 

[smmco]

We just stayed club level at boardwalk. I think it’s impossible to get your money out of it, but it does enhance you vacation. We also spent one night at csr and I really like the look of the new tower and restaurant on the water.

 

[QueenElinor]

Your family & touring style sounds just like ours. Of course no one knows what CL is like at the new tower, but I think that CL is definitely worth it for us. We easily make it to the parks by 7, but are prepared to use Lyft just in case. Plus, you can push your FPs later- I think the latest ones are from 8:30 to 9 pm.

Here's why we like club level:

• We're not big eaters and we don't like to spend much time eating. There is nothing quicker than CL for meals, and we find that what's served for breakfast and dinner is plenty for us, and we like the variety. The kids in particular have always loved going down to the lounge when they feel like it for a snack or dessert. For us, breakfast and dinner in the lounge work out really well.
• We do like a nice TS at a park in the middle of the day when it's hot and crowded, which works great with both our schedule and the lounge schedule because their offerings at lunch are really just snacks. After that meal, we'll catch a show or two then head back to the resort, stay until after the evening apps come out then go back to the parks.
• There are 5 of us and all adults now, only one is not old enough to drink but he is a teetotaler anyway. The more people you have, the more value there is, especially if they drink.
• This next trip we're staying at BWI which has excellent evening apps- chefs from the Flying Fish come up to make them for you.
• You might not need a DS late-nite snack, they put out desserts and beverages (including adult ones) later in the evening. We are looking forward to watch EPCOT fireworks from the BWI

Regarding the CLFP, we are definitely making use of them, but ADRs get in the way of scheduling all six FP. If you're taking a break, too, it makes it pretty tough to do all of that.

Basically one can have Club Level Fastpasses, ADRs or mid-afternoon breaks, but maybe not all three at the same time. For us, it's an easy choice.

 

[AngiTN]

IF, big IF on purpose, CSR is like all the other CL lounges here's how we do it. The old CSR Business Class was NOT so no clue on what the new CSR offering will be
Breakfast in the lounge about 7:00
Lunch in the parks, usually TS
Back the resort for swim/break/nap, etc. Maybe hit the lounge for a snack during the afternoon service. This is their lightest offering of the day.
Clean up and be ready for dinner in the lounge at 5:00. What is offered in all the lounges (we've done every resort but BC) is dinner for us. Soups, numerous small plates which are exactly like Tapas. Heck, we have Tapas restaurants in town which are people go to for meals. If they are meals, why wouldn't this be a meal? Anyway, I digress. We go there at 5:00 when they open to eat and head back to the parks for the night.
We do not regularly return to the resort for the dessert offerings. We are not dessert people so they hold little appeal to us. We've done each at least once to say we've tried them.
We always more than get our money out of it, between replacing both breakfast and dinner plus beer and wine. And cokes for DH. I did figuring on our next trip in June. It's $800 to stay CL at YC over a room on a Mod. For 3 of us for a week. We would spend that for breakfast and dinner easily.

I don't do the paid CL FP though, so I can't comment on how to work those in. I don't do them because they are in control of booking and moving them, not me. That is too inconvenient for me. I move FP around too much for that to ever work for my touring style.

 

[rwdavis2]

We just stayed club level at boardwalk. I think it’s impossible to get your money out of it, but it does enhance you vacation. We also spent one night at csr and I really like the look of the new tower and restaurant on the water.

This is my opinion as well after doing CL at AKL a few years ago. It's nice but won't do it again. We mainly used it for breakfast.

 

[bellebud]

We always more than get our money out of it, between replacing both breakfast and dinner plus beer and wine. And cokes for DH. I did figuring on our next trip in June. It's $800 to stay CL at YC over a room on a Mod. For 3 of us for a week. We would spend that for breakfast and dinner easily.

That's amazing!! Can you share any info about that? The lowest I see for CL Yacht Club is $627 per night (value dates only), for Sun through Thursdays, not the whole week. Then it's $672 for Fri and Sat.

Then a moderate is about $206/night in the value season, $245 for Thurs to Sat, etc.

That's about $400 difference per night. How did you manage a whole week for an $800 difference?

Please help!!! What am I doing wrong?

 

[saskdw]

IF, big IF on purpose, CSR is like all the other CL lounges here's how we do it. The old CSR Business Class was NOT so no clue on what the new CSR offering will be

The Old Business Class rooms were $40-$50 more per night than a standard room. The new tower CL is $100-$150 more per night so I expect it's actual Club Level.

 

[anomamatt]

Obviously the best value is to eat breakfast and "dinner" in the club. And desserts, of course. And yeah, drink a lot of alcohol.

My family has gotten away with doing that, but for us it requires large TS meals for lunch. Like Tiffins-ish large meal.

I usually don't view CL as a way to get value, but it's the convenience that I'm willing to pay extra for. Especially the breakfast.

 

[saskdw]

Obviously the best value is to eat breakfast and "dinner" in the club. And desserts, of course. And yeah, drink a lot of alcohol.

My family has gotten away with doing that, but for us it requires large TS meals for lunch. Like Tiffins-ish large meal.

I usually don't view CL as a way to get value, but it's the convenience that I'm willing to pay extra for. Especially the breakfast.

Yeah, no hotel presents CL as a good value. It's a luxury and convenience for those willing to pay for it.

 

[Nancyg56]

I love a CL stay and feel you can get your money’s worth but for us, it’s not just the food and beverages we are paying for. We use it for space and convenience. Meals? Not even close. Breakfast works for most of my family, but my husband staged a mutiny the last time he was with us. Do not all of us could make even a meal out of breakfast.
Dinner made from appetizers would not come close.

I am not sure if your family will be satisfied relying on the lounge for your main meals, but if not the staff will assist in finding ts to fill in.

 

[AngiTN]

That's amazing!! Can you share any info about that? The lowest I see for CL Yacht Club is $627 per night (value dates only), for Sun through Thursdays, not the whole week. Then it's $672 for Fri and Sat.

Then a moderate is about $206/night in the value season, $245 for Thurs to Sat, etc.

That's about $400 difference per night. How did you manage a whole week for an $800 difference?

Please help!!! What am I doing wrong?

It's an AP rate

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Everyone tours differently, but we’re terrible at “going back out” after dinner (whether that be at the CL lounge of whatever else we’re doing). I learned early on that whatever we planned, the mood, vibe, flow (or weather) was often different, so we’d bail on whatever FP or park plan we had originally contemplated.

So these days, we don’t pre-plan anything in the evenings (with some exceptions) and just wing it to some extent. I’m jealous of those that can stick to an evening plan!

Honestly, we don’t usually ‘plan’ our evening apps in the lounge either. If we’re around (which often happens to be more than not), great, but I don’t build a schedule specifically for it.

I concede our attitude is likely more influenced as a frequent visitor and probably doesn’t apply to others trying to max park/experience time.

Enjoy the new CL OP, whatever it turns out to be!

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We have stayed CL at Contemporary and Beach Club. Both offer similar offerings but BC is way better and bigger with more tables. We do Breakfast daily in the CL Lounge and a few dinners. We are beer drinkers so we get our value. For our upcoming stay it's $54 more to stay CL so well worth it for a family of 4. We were going to do the new Destino tower but the CM couldn't tell us if we could book the CL FP+ so we changed to AK. Your plan will work if its anything like other CL. We have no problem with breakfast and we always make dinner work a few nights with the offerings. We eat one big meal mid day so dinner isn't that important to us but we always look at the offerings in the morning for dinner and if it's not something we will like we eat at a park or Disney Springs. Having a Landry's card gets us a seat at T-Rex or Rainforest with no reservation.

Edit: I almost forgot. We always grab drinks and snacks to take to the park with us which saves $$$. I grab cookies from the lounge the night before and take them to the park the next day. And don't worry about taking too many. They always keep it full till they take the food up.

 

[Aaronsmom]

Thank you so much everyone!

fyi...I did receive a call from DSS and they are offering the purchase of additional Fastpasses

I have plenty of time to figure out which parks/FPP to get and I will be sure to report back on CL at Destino Tower!

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

Thank you so much everyone!

fyi...I did receive a call from DSS and they are offering the purchase of additional Fastpasses

I have plenty of time to figure out which parks/FPP to get and I will be sure to report back on CL at Destino Tower!

That's great news! I wish the CM would have known the info about the CL FP back when we booked. I just couldn't chance it. Have a great time!

 

[MomOTwins]

Just chiming in as another person who did not really think the snacks in the afternoon qualify as dinner; the only thing my kids wanted to eat were the crackers and cookies, and the lounge got so crowded and noisy there was nowhere for our family to sit all together and have a nice family meal. Can I suggest you go ahead and make dinner ADRs for day 2 and later in your trip, and then cancel them if you find the snacks don't work as a dinner meal for your family? We did like the convenience of the club breakfast a lot though.