YC Concierge & Wildlife Dis. Excursion- Thoughts?

[MPoppins]

Well, I've read some old comments but would like an updated view on YC's concierge. Any thoughts? We are strict WL fans but found an AP rate at the YC Regatta Club too good to pass up, so we're giving it a shot. Good decision? :confused:

Also, has anyone given the Wildlife Discovery Excursion a whirl? We're really interested in trying it while having the opportunity with staying at the concierge level. How many days in advance can we book? Anyone know how to contact the YC concierge?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!:mickey:

[TammiMcMan]

I'll send you a PM with information on how to contact the IPO staff there. It's been a few years since we stayed on the Regatta Club level and I wasn't overly impressed. We had a bedding situation that they didn't want to resolve for us and I had to actually call the person in IPO who helped me with the pre-planning to get it fixed. We had some better CM's that we met later on in our stay, but that sort of put a damper on things.

By comparison to some of the other club levels, the lounge is very small and it was almost impossible for our family of 5 to sit together. The balcony of the lounge overlooks the parking lot :confused:. Hopefully you don't have a standard view booked, because those rooms are on the same side as the lounge and you'll have a view of the parking lot from your room.

On the plus side, the IPO staff is one of the best that I've worked with at Disney. They have been very helpful and warm. You also can't beat the proximity to Epcot and MGM. We probably spent more time at Epcot than we ever have on vacation, because we could walk there in under 10 minutes. Having park hoppers, we'd even just run in for a snack or lunch in one of the countries. That was pretty cool.

[ChipDale2708]

Also, has anyone given the Wildlife Discovery Excursion a whirl? We're really interested in trying it while having the opportunity with staying at the concierge level. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!:mickey:

We did the Discovery Excursion a year ago and would do it again in a hearbeat! The tour I think was scheduled to be an hour, but we stayed out almost two because the animals were so active. We also went in February so it was sunny but cool. We found the three month old elephant, Nadiera, and spent a large amount of time just watching her - she was adorable! You are taken out in a different ride vehicle than the KS vehicles (looks like a mini school bus). On our tour I think there were only 8 or 9 people. Our guide took us along a few other roads than the regular safari and then parked in different alcoves for extended viewing of active animals. A curious ostrich came over and started 'knocking' on our bus window with his beak!

This tour was what I had originally imagined the Kilimanjaro Safari to be like - not the fast, bumpy ride that it is. Though this last trip we felt it had greatly improved.

As for the Regatta Club, it's been a few years but we always have had great service with them and liked the food spread. I prefer to book all of our plans myself so I didn't use their planners. The club room is small, but we usually had a water view room and just took food back w/ us and ate on our balcony. Have a great time!!

[MPoppins]

Thanks for the opinions and the information! :thumbsup: