Concierge

Hello all, I have a odd sort of question. The Better Half and I are looking at WDW vacation to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We are DVC members but have always been curious about the whole concierge level experience at the resorts. We have priced out a "pay to stay" visit at Wilderness Lodge, but always come back to the question of other than the snacks etc.is the expense worth it? What do all of you considerethe benefits of a concierge stay? Any info/feedback you sage folks can provide will begreatly appreciated.

Thanx!

My sis has stayed on concierge floors in multiple resorts at Disney and actually throughout the real world. Being my sis, I've had a couple of WDW experiences with their concierge level with the bonus of not having to pay for it. I've only stayed myself at the concierge at the Portofino at Universal. Nice! You do need a larger tip allowance in your budget though.

From what I've seen it is a waste if you are open to close, plow through the parks. You miss everything the club level offers. Now if you tour the parks the way you did in your last trip report, it might be nice for your anniversary. Note, the concierge really is not a help with dining ressies that you can't do on your own. They are not like the dudes at the Ritz with connections.

There is always coffee, juices in the morning. Real coffee! Plus the one cup stuff. A decent spread of the usual stuff set out for a quick breakfast. Would be good enough for me and I could then spend my dining credits for dinner and lunch.

The common club room is OK, depends on who is in there with you. A few comfy couches and chairs, kids and adult TV. A few times I was up there you'd think it was a playground for how parents let their kids run off steam in that room. Other times, nobody. Kinda cool to look down at busy lobby and have a peaceful break from the hustle and yet quietly observe.

Now if you come back for a break in the afternoon there are hoursdouvres. The hot ones I had were good or OK, not over the top,
hit the spot and held us all over until a later dinner. They had several wines and beers. Wine choices great for me, hubby and BIL, more fussy about beers. Cheese was yummy.

At night Sis said they did the typical turn down, turn on a light, chocolate of course. Fridge did have some of the lounge staples of coke, water etc. The Fridge was a bigger deal before they were standard in most WDW rooms.

Basically if you have the extra money for the splurge and tour like you did on your last visit, you'll likely enjoy the special treat.

On my last trip we were booked at the Boardwalk and got upgraded to the concierge level. All I have to say is WOW. As far as utilizing the concierge staff for any kind of reservation making it wasn't really necessary since I had booked all our ADR's prior to our arrival. The breakfast/food services they had available was something really nice to come back to the resort to. Let's just say I never went to bed hungry during my stay ( how can you beat a little desert and a Yuengling before bed?). Our room was gigantic as well, three rooms, three bathrooms, two huge tv's all with balcony access. As a treat for a special occasion ( like a 20th anniversary ), I say go for it ( if you have the means of course ). Good luck!

We've done a few club level stays in the past....quite a few years ago but the discounts were better and the prices weren't as high so the value was better.....

When the discounts became less and the cost went up....we gave up on club level.....it's nice, but not at the cost....and like others have stated, you have to be there at the times to partake....

Our cure form the past bunches of trips, we do a grocery stop in route...load up on snacks, lunch meats and cheeses etc and purchase our own beer, wine and alcohol and set up our room like the club level lounge...easier to load our cooler with our stuff and head to the pool, same for food and snacks....we make sandwiches, bring the chips, pickles and what not and get a table at the pool and have a ball.....no extra cost for CL....ours is ready anytime we want and no guessing what it is....we bought what we wanted....

ADR's don't interest us, we do no dining plans....turn down service is a waste since we pull own the comforter as soon as we get into the room and we can buy a big bag of chocolates to spread over the bed...so for what they offer at the big rate, we can duplicate on our own for alot less....never saw and pampering while staying at CL and rooms are no bigger than regular stays...loves crave it but we find our way alot easier and cheaper....

I think its nice if you can afford it and get a nice discount on it. I've only done concierge once, at the Yacht Club, for my graduation, when we happened to come across a passholder deal where the concierge wasn't that more expensive than the water view room we were looking at.

However, as others have said, you have to be there at the certain times if you want to participate in whatever they have out (though we were able to ask for water at any time and they would give it to us).

I'd do it again if we got a good discount on it and if we were intending on spending most of our trip at the resort rather than in the parks.

I understand that. But then you have to think that is a pretty expensive $2.50 bottle of water.

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Originally Posted by HauntedGabe

I understand that. But then you have to think that is a pretty expensive $2.50 bottle of water.

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Feel the same way.....same for gummy bears and fish crackers......what CL costs, I sure can buy a tons of those.....and we're not fans of bottled water, tap dies us fine.....and those few drinks in the evening....well beers in Florida are like potato chips...can't just have one or two and we like having alot in the hot sun at the pool.....we buy at the grocery store in route and fill our cooler.....ain't going to beg for drinks at CL.....

Tons of people enjoy it and don'r mind the cost for what you get.....we liked it many years ago but demand has driven the cost up and quality down.....we're done with CL.............unless it's a free up grade.....be stupid to pass that up.....

Good info. Thanx for the insight folks. I'll drop a line on the final decision. Thanx again!

Veri