Poly Let Down

[antnyh]

Well my family loved the Poly club level so much the last time we went we had to stay there again this year. The resort is great, but the main reason we stay there was the spread in the lounge last time. They have cut sooooo far back on their snack offerings it seemed we ate more in the parks and the other resorts than we did at our own. I just wanted to post this and see if anyone else has noticed a big change in the last couple of years.

BTW - we still had a great time and are already planning next year's trip!!!!

:mickey:

[Catzle]

Yes, we were there in May and also noticed a lot of the normal stuff was gone. Like yogurt for breakfast, PB&J sandwhiches for the kids at lunch/snack time. There were a couple of other things also. They don't do the fruit cut outs anymore, while you couldn't eat them they were nice to look at. The thing is the price has risen so much it's hard to believe what they have cut out. Now we love the Poly and always will but not sure we will stay club level again. It's not worth the extra $1,600 you pay for a week.

[antnyh]

At least we are not alone then. I agree that the extra $1600 is not worth it anymore. Is this happening at all club levels?

[Polynesian Dweller]

It has little to do with cutting out. Its actually do to the few people who have been wrecking it for everyone else.

First, Disney had to cut back on the individual bottled water. Why, and we have this from the CMs and managers by the way (yes they know us that well), people packed so many bottles when they were leaving that the costs were going through the roof. They would observe people coming in and emptying a dozen or more of the bottles into a a bag.

Same thing with the individual boxed cereal. They had to switch to cereal dispensers because of the amount that was leaving with people. This is then followed with the individual yogurt packages. It just became way too expensive, and we are talking tons of these things not just one or two. What we have been told is that when they can come up with a reasonable alternative, such as the cereal dispensers, they will do so.

Other changes are likely due to Disney's attempting to cut down wastage. They are definitely dedicated to be coming a green organization and cut fruit just for decoration is one of those wastage things.

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . Its actually do to the few people who have been wrecking it for everyone else . . .

1) Greed is such a wonderful thing.
2) I see this on-the-road a lot.
3) People who are not familiar with Concierge/Club Floors go nuts.
4) So much for moderation.

[Catzle]

That's fine if they don't want to do individual things but how about buying yogurt in bulk and putting it out in big bowls that way it won't leave in your bag but those who enjoy yogurt for breakfast can still have it. I saw nothing wrong with them going to the cereal dispensers or the water as I bring my own case of water with me and and the kids like getting it out of the dispensers. I think the biggest thing is that the price has gone up so much and they keep cutting things out. Like I said before we love the Poly and like club level but the prices are getting out of hand for what they are cutting.

[Ian]

Well ... you can't say it "... has little to do with cutting out ... "

Regardless of why they made the changes, it's not like they reduced the price to go along with the reduced offerings.

I don't care if it's due to thievery or whatever. They've cut down on what you get significantly yet they still charge you the same amount. That's "cutting out" as far as I'm concerned.

And one more reason why I think "Club Level" at Disney resorts is one of the biggest wastes of money ever. We did it once, had one of the worst experiences we've ever had, and would never waste a nickel to do it again.

[mel646]

Yes, alot of it is about greed, Disney's. It all comes down to the bottom line. I'm sure they would have made the changes even if people were not carrying out water and cereal. It has nothing to do with being green or waste. It has to do with $$$. I LOVE DW and we go every year. As others have said ,I will not pay the extra price for Club Level again.

[antnyh]

Thanks for all the replies. I just couldn't believe how much it changed in two years!! We absolutely loved it last time. It is funny that you mentioned all the greedy people. While we were there, after EMH at MK, we came back and intentionally didn't buy any drinks in the park due to staying club level. We get back and get the kids in the room and head down the hall to grab a couple of Cokes. We get there and not only is all the fruit gone, BUT ALL THE DRINKS ARE TOO!! We thought they had begun closing the concierge down at night. The next day we overheard a CM giving a tour and he mentioned that the lounge was opened all night. That caught our attention. I butted into the conversation and made mention of what happened to us the previous night. The CM just smiled and said that a family came in and cleaned out the fridge!!!!:mad: Can you believe that? Absolutely uncalled for. OK....count to three....one, two, three....I am fine now. I'll get off my soapbox.

[Polynesian Dweller]

Yes, alot of it is about greed, Disney's. It all comes down to the bottom line. I'm sure they would have made the changes even if people were not carrying out water and cereal. It has nothing to do with being green or waste. It has to do with $$$. I LOVE DW and we go every year. As others have said ,I will not pay the extra price for Club Level again.
No they would not have made the changes without the excess that people were taking. The manager, and we have had several talks with them about it, really didn't want to do stop doing this. But the costs were to the point that they were intolerable. It was documented, that people were taking the entire bin of water bottles and sodas (that's several dozen if you've been in concierge and seen the bin) and dumping them in bags to take home in their cars.

And here's the interesting point about wastage that people don't know about. If you take a bottle of water or a can of coke to your room and don't open it before you leave, it MUST be disposed of rather than re-used. As soon as it is taken from the fridge or bin it cannot be used again even when not opened. That's health law folks. And, the lounge manager indicated that this wastage alone was amounting to a case of 24 per day every day of the week.

If you could have been talking with her, like I did, when she was having to make this decision you would have seen how distressed she was about it. She didn't want to take away a service people wanted but she simply couldn't budget for it anymore. There was no 'greed' in her reaction.

[Polynesian Dweller]

The CM just smiled and said that a family came in and cleaned out the fridge!!!!:mad: Can you believe that? Absolutely uncalled for. OK....count to three....one, two, three....I am fine now. I'll get off my soapbox.
Yep, that's the kind of problem they have been seeing and eventually they end up with no choice but to remove the service. There is an 80/20 rule in almost everything. In this case, its the 20% who are abusing the services of club level that ruin it for the 80% of us who respect the other guests rights to have the same service.

[TammiMcMan]

I've seen the downsizing and reduction of the little things over the past 10 years. At one time, chefs from the resort restaurants would come to the concierge lounge in the evenings and actually cook food. I'm not sure if the chef at the Poly still comes down, but the GF stopped it many years ago.

We won't see prices come down anytime soon though, because somehow they're able to keep the club levels filled up. I'm not exactly sure how, because even the level of service provided has dropped over the years. The resorts used to have dedicated IPO departments and now they share. I've seen many complaints about guests not getting return e-mails promptly.

I feel badly about it, because I have loved our experiences on the club level in the past. Now when people ask for opinions, I try to be completely honest and let them know what they'll most likely get for their money.

[Polynesian Dweller]

At one time, chefs from the resort restaurants would come to the concierge lounge in the evenings and actually cook food. I'm not sure if the chef at the Poly still comes down, but the GF stopped it many years ago.

Not sure how frequent it is, but we ran into the chef during our stay in Poly club level in October.

[mouseketeer mom]

We are having our first non club level at the Poly this August. We used a bounce back code that was irresistable on a MK view instead. We no where's near took advantage of the offerings in the past. We love the lounge but for the $$$$$ it is getting so very hard to justify staying there! It is a small fortune. We used the lounge mostly for breakfast in the past, and to grab a cookie or some gummy sharks on our way back in the afternoon. Certainly not worth loads of $$$.

[Toodle]

We stopped staying club level a couple of years ago. The last time we stayed club level several familes brought muliple family members from other floors/resorts to both breakfast and the evening snacks. One family had about ten or twelve kids with them and, believe me, they did a number on whatever was there.So, rather than particpate in that, we just stopped staying club level while at Disney. We have even stopped staying at Deluxe resorts very often - we do not feel it is worth the extra money, and believe me, there are just as many unruly kids at the Deluxe resorts as there are any of the resorts - the amount you spend on a room doesn't not equate to children who are well behaved.

[Sneaky Pete]

there are MANY ways to address the issue without eliminating some of the best perks. If the honor code won't work, they should be able to come up with another way to make sure people get only their fair amount of food and drinks.

Also, why cut the perks WITHOUT cutting the prices? Disney is now offering less for the same high amounts. People like me wouldn't know about this significant and disappointing change if we hadn't read it here. Disney should at least prominently disclose this policy change if they have not done so.

[TammiMcMan]

Disney should at least prominently disclose this policy change if they have not done so.Well technically it's not a "policy" change. They've always advertised a club lounge with snacks available. It's just the definition of snacks and what they choose to offer that's diminishing.

I do know that instead of bulk servings at the GF, they now individually plate their evening appetizers. Not sure if this has cut down on waste or not.

[Tinkerfreak]

I think that when club level guests check in they should be politely reminded that the club lounge is for guests staying club level only. We also witnessed people bringing family members from non club level rooms up to the lounge for food and drinks.
We noticed a decline in the service a few years ago. We did not stay club level last year because of this. We used to love the AKL club level but on our last club level stay they had moved all the club level rooms down to the 4th floor to make room for DVC rooms and we found we were just so far away from the lounge we did not utilize it as much as we used to. We did miss sitting in the lounge but did not miss the food. We spent the money we saved by not staying club level and ordered room service for breakfast a few times.

[tikiman]

I have not noticed much of a change and I noticed a few additions the last year or so.

To start much of the stuff you can just ask for. As Polynesian Dweller said People abusing the amounts they take was the reason many things you now have to ask for. I watched a teenager take the whole plate of PB&J while there was a line of people waiting to get some and the parents said nothing.

The fruit animals are still done when Chef Dick is around and a few others that know how to do it. They were there two weeks ago. The new coffee machine and beer being served is new in the last few years and they sometimes make this great punch with wine in it for the evenings.

By the way (and I know people will argue this with me) but for many years the Concierge managers have told me that the cost for concierge is not for the food and the food is just an extra perk. If you are paying the extra to get the food than I believe it is the wrong motivation to be paying for concierge.

[Catzle]

We were there from May 3rd to the 11th and Chef Dick was there and there were no fruit cut outs, I even asked him about it and he said he wasn't doing them. Your right who would pay an extra $1,600 for food alone, but in my opinion, food is a big part of it. The ease of getting breakfast is a big reason for us we don't need hot food but like yogurt, which we did ask for, and were told they no longer have it and we asked on several mornings. They always have had beer at night but the new punch wine drink was there this time. I don't drink alcohol so these things aren't a big deal for me. We like knowing which building we are in and the pre-planning part we like. My big thing was several things we came to count on were gone but the price went up. We love love love the Poly and love the grounds and everything it has to offer just not sure we can justify $1,600 extra for a 8 night stay anymore, only time will tell.

[TammiMcMan]

By the way (and I know people will argue this with me) but for many years the Concierge managers have told me that the cost for concierge is not for the food and the food is just an extra perk.Just following this line of discussion, what do the managers feel is included in the additional cost of club level?

[tikiman]

I agree that the food is a nice perk and does help to motivate people (including me) to spend the extra. I am thankful for anything to be out there as an offering so when they get rid or change things that I like I guess I just don’t feel the need to complain but if people don’t feel it is worth the cost than it is very easy to not book concierge.

Beer is a new offering in the last few years and was only offered during Super Bowl in the past but I am really not here to argue about each thing that is or is not offered. I was just trying to pass along some info about how the Management at the resort sees the offerings in the lounge. The cost for the lounge is above and beyond the added cost of the rooms which goes to the added staff, IPO and other services. I am just posting what I am told and this is in conversations with friends there who have no reason to tell me anything but the truth. I guess I find it strange that the fruit carvings are gone in just the last few weeks. Chef Dick even told me they were going to have where they teach guests to do the carvings. Someone even sent me photos of them from their trip right after I was there but I can’t argue with what you saw.

It is still good to hear different opinions so keep them coming. I just disagree but than it really doesn’t bother me if someone wants to stay at the resort or not. There are many great WDW resorts to stay at.

[Polynesian Dweller]

To start much of the stuff you can just ask for. As Polynesian Dweller said People abusing the amounts they take was the reason many things you now have to ask for.
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By the way (and I know people will argue this with me) but for many years the Concierge managers have told me that the cost for concierge is not for the food and the food is just an extra perk. If you are paying the extra to get the food than I believe it is the wrong motivation to be paying for concierge.
I had forgotten to add that you can as for most things. For example, you can still get water, but you have to ask and then they will give you one of the large glass bottles.

And I for one will not argue with you about the extra cost of concierge not being the food. We've been hearing the same thing from the Concierge staff. Its the perks, the convenience, the view, a relaxing place for breakfast, extra service from a dedicated concierge staff and so on. At the same time, the managers tell me that once the cost of a specific food item (water for one) starts to become exhoribtantly out of line to the number of guests, they have to do something. Most often it seems to be to make you ask for the item such as the water.

One of the other perks, and we don't get there nearly as often as tikiman, but if you are friendly with them, and somewhat of a regular, they really do make you part of the Ohana. They go out of their way now to welcome us back warmly every time we show up now and even remember our last conversation. That's worth a lot.

[tikiman]

I agree and you don't even have to go alot, just be nice to the staff. They remembered us after our first visit to concierge and a friend of mine has only been a few times and they know the family very well.

[Catzle]

Quote -"It is still good to hear different opinions so keep them coming. I just disagree but than it really doesn’t bother me if someone wants to stay at the resort or not. There are many great WDW resorts to stay at." End Quote -

I think just because some people have a hard time spending lots more money on club level doesn't mean they don't want to stay at the resort it just means $1,600 is hard to come by for some and it's getting harder to justify the cost. We love the Poly whether it is club level or not, it's the resort it's self,the grounds, the atmosphere, the people that work there, the view and all that the Poly has to offer, that's what brings us there, not the club level.

[TammiMcMan]

The cost for the lounge is above and beyond the added cost of the rooms which goes to the added staff, IPO and other services.Thanks Tikiman. It's interesting to hear that, considering they've cut back on staff. Or maybe it just appears that way because of the response time that many have been reporting over the past year or two since combining resorts. At least the rooms still have the dvd players, although they've downgraded their bathrobes and have done away with the kid sized robes and I think the slippers all together.

How we all spend our money is definitely a personal choice, with no right and no wrong way. I think that provided we are well informed consumers, then the decision to pay the extra or not, is based on our own definition of "worth".

Quite honestly, I've found my alternate luxury vacation..... Disney cruising. Talk about everyone being treated like a VIP :cloud9:. You pay through the nose for a cruise, but in my book, it's well worth it.

[tikiman]

Quote -"It is still good to hear different opinions so keep them coming. I just disagree but than it really doesn’t bother me if someone wants to stay at the resort or not. There are many great WDW resorts to stay at." End Quote -

I think just because some people have a hard time spending lots more money on club level doesn't mean they don't want to stay at the resort it just means $1,600 is hard to come by for some and it's getting harder to justify the cost. We love the Poly whether it is club level or not, it's the resort it's self,the grounds, the atmosphere, the people that work there, the view and all that the Poly has to offer, that's what brings us there, not the club level.


Good point.

Just for the record I agree that the prices at the Polynesian and most the deluxe resorts are too high. I had this conversation with a group of staff and we figured that Disney has no reason to lower or slow the rate of increase in price when there are 100 people lined up behind you to take your place if you decide not to vacation at Disney. When people stop going than they will do something.

[MicMouse]

If you are paying the extra to get the food than I believe it is the wrong motivation to be paying for concierge.

Well said, tikiman. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that most of the people complaining were only after the food.

For those of you that were unhappy, were you only unhappy with the food, or was the overall concierge experience(i.e. room location, room view, etc.) a let down?

My family and I will be staying in a Club level room in exactly one week, and although the food is a nice perk, it is not the reason we chose to stay there. We only get to Disney every few years and when we do, we like to splurge a bit. Its kind of nice to be able to go to a place that is "exclusive" -- kind of like belonging to a fancy country club for a few days. :mickey: That's how we see concierge, anyway. Its like a nice break from the reality of our everyday non-exclusive lives.

[TammiMcMan]

For those of you that were unhappy, were you only unhappy with the food, or was the overall concierge experience(i.e. room location, room view, etc.) a let down?I've never had a problem with the food offerings, although we typically stay at the GF, which continues to have an expanded offering anyway. I also have always looked at the lounge as an extension of the club level service and not it's primary function.

My concerns, when I have them, is usually with the overall customer service. It tends to be hit or miss and because I do feel my money is going towards a higher level of service, that's when I get disappointed. For example, I've called IPO to ask about special things and they've given me numbers so that I can call and arrange them myself. Um, isn't that what I'm paying Disney to do for me? Or they tell me something can't be done, but through some research, I find out that in fact it is something they offer. This isn't always the case, but enough times that it does bother me. I just wish that there was some consistency with their club level CM's and that they were all trained to a higher degree of efficiency and knowledge.

[tikiman]

I think for me and my family there are a few things that motivate us to book concierge. It use to be the staff since they became like family but even the staff is changing often. The new people we have met out there are great also. The most important thing for us is the location. The view is great, it is close to the motor launch and pools and it is a short walk to the GCH and TTC. Hanging out in the lounge is my favorite thing and often I do that without even getting any food. I think I like the lounge the least when the food is out because than the crazy and bad behavior starts. It has gotten somewhat bad the last few stays. Not sure why but I won’t start that debate. So many great memories of hanging out in the lounge late at night with people we met on vacation. A funny story was we met some people from different forums that were going to be there the same time in the Tambu Lounge. After talking a while we all figured out we were all in concierge so we said lets go relax there and get drinks for free. For us now having a child the location and lounge of the concierge building is just perfect for us. Not that I would not be happy to stay in other buildings (and I do).

[tikiman]

I've never had a problem with the food offerings, although we typically stay at the GF, which continues to have an expanded offering anyway. I also have always looked at the lounge as an extension of the club level service and not it's primary function.

My concerns, when I have them, is usually with the overall customer service. It tends to be hit or miss and because I do feel my money is going towards a higher level of service, that's when I get disappointed. For example, I've called IPO to ask about special things and they've given me numbers so that I can call and arrange them myself. Um, isn't that what I'm paying Disney to do for me? Or they tell me something can't be done, but through some research, I find out that in fact it is something they offer. This isn't always the case, but enough times that it does bother me. I just wish that there was some consistency with their club level CM's and that they were all trained to a higher degree of efficiency and knowledge.

That is definitely a problem. I don’t know what it takes to get the managers to fix the IPO problems but there are some great CMs in there that go above and beyond and others that have no clue what to do. How ever they are training them is not working and I am actually to the point where I do not rely on IPO for anything unless it is someone I know in IPO that will get the job done. I hear often about them telling people to book their own stuff and I mentioned it on this last trip. The policy is that there is NOTHING that can’t be done for the guest but lately some don’t realize that. I use to feel things would get resolved by the managers there but they change so often and lately they are not available to anyone and I see the same mistakes happening for the last few years which leads me to believe they are not trying to fix it or they don’t know how. I think the best thing people can do is complain to the resort.

[Ian]

there are MANY ways to address the issue without eliminating some of the best perks. If the honor code won't work, they should be able to come up with another way to make sure people get only their fair amount of food and drinks.Yeah, I guess the way I look at it is, when it's someone trying to take money out of their pocket they'll go 1,000 miles to prevent it from happening. Think about all the snafus with the whole "ticket tag" stuff and all that. Having to scan everyone's hands just to prevent re-use of admission media. They certainly spared no expense fixing that problem when it was affecting their bottom line.

How about just making people show a room key to get food and placing simple limits on what you can take? One drink per person, per trip, etc. It's easy ... cutting the stuff out was totally unncessary and quite obviously done to boost the bottom line on these rooms.

That being said, if people are still willing to fork over the extra cash then more power to Disney for being able to get them to do it. I have no clue what they think they're paying for, but ... maybe they've never stayed concierge at a real deluxe hotel before so they don't know what they're missing? :confused:


For those of you that were unhappy, were you only unhappy with the food, or was the overall concierge experience(i.e. room location, room view, etc.) a let down?For me the entire experience was a ridiculous let down. I couldn't for the life of me figure out where my extra money went.

Can someone who actually does pay to stay Club level tell me specifically what you get for your extra money? Because I can't figure it out ... the Disney concierges can't even get you priority access to restaurants, shows, etc. What service do they really provide??

[tikiman]

Well I think some of us have stated above what we pay the extra for. Actually concierge has gotten us tables at places that show up as full. They went into the system some different way that got us a table on 3 occasions. We have had some other special requests taken care of when we have asked concierge to do them and there is no way we would have had that done staying in a standard room. I have stayed at other concierge levels outside of Disney that I was less impressed with than the Polynesian concierge and than again a few standard level resorts out side of Disney have impressed me more.

[Toodle]

For us, it was the crowds in the lounges - it was not relaxing at all. Breakfast was the worst. It used to be that you could have a nice relaxing breakfast and then go to the park. The last time we stayed club level - two years ago, breakfast mobbed - and the noise level was crazy. We don't really ask the concierge to get us anything - we make our own reservations and don't really care whether the staff greets us by name or not, so, as others have said, we made a choice to not to stay club level anymore.

[Polynesian Dweller]

We don't really ask the concierge to get us anything - we make our own reservations and don't really care whether the staff greets us by name or not, so, as others have said, we made a choice to not to stay club level anymore.
Then it doesn't work for you and then its not worth it and that's OK. For us it works, which is also OK.

To us, the monetary value of the things one gets is not always the only measure of what the value is. The value for us is all the intangibles. We don't worry about ADRs because we email back the form to Poly Concierge and its all done for us, we know each year we will get the view and floor that we want (never a concern about which building and will it work), we do like the personalized treatment and it is nice to know the people you are dealing with, we like getting back at night and getting a drink and some cakes etc. and sitting on the balcony, we like not rushing out in the morning and having to get into a restaurant and get breakfast somewhere, we can take our time getting out, and so on. No, I'm sure we don't get the money value but it sure makes the vacation great for us. So it works for us.

That's the real point, if a customer feels they are getting something worth the money then its worth it. If the customer doesn't, well that's OK too and then don't pay for it. As tikiman says, lots of us see the value in a lot of little touches.

[antnyh]

This is some great feedback and the main reason I wanted to start this thread. I will answer tikiman's question concerning what the main disappointment was for us...the food offering for b-fast. It seems that most of us that have posted here use the concierge to make life a little bit easier in the morning. Due to the "extra" folks in the lounge...those that seem to come in by other people and are not part of the concierge building...the noise level and even the ease at which we use to be able to eat and get out has ceased. I do agree that the building location and a lot of other perks are great!! The CM's are exceptional and that alone would make me want to book concierge again, but then I remember the greedy people and the high number of people and I don't want to spend that much money for that again. Great discussion here and I appreciate all the different opinions. It is interesting to see how we all justify spending the money we do to escape the real world for a while.

:mickey:

[Goes4FastPass]

1. Just because a person doesn't feel the need to spend $1,600 to 'feel' like a VIP doesn't mean they can't afford it.

2. I'm seeing the word 'waste' alot. Maybe the waste is paying the extra flor club level.

3. How come every time the Happiest Place on Earth finds another way to give us less and charge us more the hard core fans assume the Disney Company is doing it to make the world a better place?

4. Are we really suggesting (again) consierge staff have some magical secret back door way of getting ADRs at booked up restaurants? C'mon.

[tikiman]

1. Just because a person doesn't feel the need to spend $1,600 to 'feel' like a VIP doesn't mean they can't afford it.

2. I'm seeing the word 'waste' alot. Maybe the waste is paying the extra flor club level.

3. How come every time the Happiest Place on Earth finds another way to give us less and charge us more the hard core fans assume the Disney Company is doing it to make the world a better place?

4. Are we really suggesting (again) consierge staff have some magical secret back door way of getting ADRs at booked up restaurants? C'mon.

I think only the last comment was directed at me so I will respond to that. I am not suggesting anything, I am stating the facts. I don't really have any motovation to lie and I watched the system come up as booked, they said they knew a way into the system to see if there "really was anything available" and that most concierge staff were not trained on how to do this, and they found us a table. Those are the facts and you decide what you want from them.

[DawsonAR]

I have to agree. The staff at the Poly were able to get us ADR on New Years Day at the last minute. Our plane was late and we missed our other ADR and they were able to get us a replacement ADR at O'hana's. I had tried to call WDW dining and of course it was booked. They were wonderful to us the whole trip.

[DebC]

I've over 50 trips to the Polynesian, staying every night in the same room, 3501 Hawaii.

For me, it was never about the food, it was the Ohana, the family feeling the moment you walked through the door.

What has the Polynesian Concierge staff done for me? The preplanning of activities and ADRs, they have arranged transportation to other parks /hotels on short notice, they have prepared and set up parties for us (Chef Dick & his crew), once when I'd forgotten my swimsuit, they called around and located a lplus sized womans store, then had someone take me there (Michelle).

They found an exact duplicate of my daughters curling iron one trip when her's broke (on Thanksgiving Day(Donna). They knew how important returning to our ohana was once my husband passed away and gently held our hearts as we greived there (Don & Kathy).

If I had a guest or guests visiting, they knew ahead of time and welcomed them as family (note I did pay a day fee for each guest, so no one should "assume" that people just let others in )

The trip we took after my husband passed, one of the cast members took us Christmas Tree ornament shopping thru World Showcase on his day off, because he'd come to know us and because he cared.

On request they would leave dessert in our room when we knew we would be out late.

I liked the idea of staying in a locked building, especially as a woman traveling alone. They 'd come to know me and looked out for me.


It's unfortunate that many think it's all about the food, it's not, it's about the Ohana feeling and sadly most don't understand that.

Ever take the time to sit and chat with a Cast Member or get to know the Cast Member who services your room? The people are a wealth of knowledge all things, not just Disney.

For me, it the Ohana spirit..

[Goes4FastPass]

[quote=tikiman;1662675]...they said they knew a way into the system to see if there "really was anything available" and that most concierge staff were not trained on how to do this...quote]I would never accuse you of lying nor do I think you have any reason to,

We've gotten what seemed like impossible last minute ADRs at "common people" resort concierge desks several times. In those cases the CM didn't imply they had a special method. They usualy said something like, "Cancellations happen. Congratulations."

But suggesting the the CMs on concierge/club levels have different access to ADRs than other CMs is misleading.

bytheway, if "most concierge staff were not trained on how to do this" does that mean it's likely a concierge guest would encounter a CM that didn't know the trick?