So yesterday on hearing that some CL would be reopening - the one at GDT being one of them - I emailed my TA to ask her to price my pre-Wish WDW stay at GDT Club Level. It would be 4 nights with a 3-day ticket. And to price the Poly (non-Club) for the 4th night (I have it for 3 right now - standard view).
I just looked on my own, and assuming the GDT CL is still available when she looks, that is less than $100 less than the Poly.
I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth it to lose the convenience of the Poly location for the CL (which other than breakfast in the morning - and then maybe only the coffee - I’m honestly not sure how much I’d use…especially at GDT where going back to the resort involves a bus regardless of the park) at GDT. Is CL really that worth it if getting back to the resort involves as much time as GDT would?
(And no, the other options are a bit out of my price range - even WL, the cheapest of the Deluxes.)
Thoughts?
If the FP+ extras are back I would do GDT. We loved it and snagged a room two doors down from the club lounge. Great view of HS especially. The only downside to GDT (and maybe the only one period) is the transportation side. No skyliner. No monorail. So it’s buses or Uber/Lyft for every park. That’s my only knock. Arguably the nicest rooms of any property and great food (if Toledo is open again). If no FP+ extras, I would do Poly.
Weren’t the FP+ extras for an extra fee though? That would totally counteract the small price difference. Plus we might not even have FP+ back.
I’m just not sure I’ll be willing to give up that much park time to go back during the day to make it worth it. And with it closing at 10 (assuming that stays as-was), other than AK, there’s pretty much no post-park usage if you close down the parks.
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I have stayed at both. Things I would consider:
- Eating style- are you going to be around to enjoy the CL food multiple times a day, or will you be at a park most of the time? I loved the GDT food but my DS7 did not (he liked breakfast and dessert but not much else, so I had to get him food from quick service when I had supper at CL).
- Rooms- since poly rooms will be upgraded I would put them as equal for the time being
- Pool- poly pools are better than GDT. This may not matter to you but it does to me!
- Transporation (consider that I’m talking pre-covid)- we had no issues with GDT and actually found it a bit better than the poly (except to MK). We often took uber to a park because we didn’t want to wait for a bus, but usually took a bus back.
Personally I would chose the Poly because I’d want to try the renovated rooms.
Edit- we did not do the CL FP, I did not think we’d need it since I could just refresh for more FP. It will be interesting to find out if they restart it or replace it with something else in the future.
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The transportation is the biggest thing.
I did discover the wonder of going back to the resort mid-day in February when I was in the Poly studio (granted it was primarily because I was SOAKED from a morning monsoon and wanted to change into dry clothes before Skipper Canteen dinner as Skipper is always cold). I’ll see this summer if I do any of that since I’m staying at GDT.
I feel like if I end up taking Lyft/Uber all the time it’ll basically negate the cost difference.
Initially I’d been thinking the Chronos Club would be a nice place to hang out until transportation to the port…but I could as easily book a later-ish breakfast at Poly - or even GF or Contemporary.
Yeah…unless Jacki’s numbers come back significantly less than what I found, I think I’ll stick with Poly.
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I have a hard time seeing the value of Club level if you are spending most of the day in the parks.
We did club level at Universal (HRH) last June when the parks were on limited hours. So we got breakfast before going into the parks, and when the parks closed at 6, we basically had drinks and dinner poolside through the club. It was awesome. But only really made sense because we were forced out of the parks and back to our hotel!
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I have heard incredible things about GTD Club. That was, of course, pre-pandemic and no way to know whether/how that might have changed. But my friends who stayed there had all kinds of great things to say and would do it again without question.
But if you’re not going to use the amenities, it would be a waste.
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Have you compared Davids Vacation Club villa rentals? Not sure when you are going, but we’ve used them multiple times (Poly villas & Grand Floridian villas) and have had nothing but great experiences. You get deluxe resort villa, better and bigger room, for less money. The no cancellation policy is a little disconcerting, but they gave everyone the opportunity to rebook during Covid (and trip insurance might be worth paying for). Its worth looking at pricing at the very least, and no I don’t work for them, just a happy customer.
We really enjoyed our GDT Club level as well. DS loved it - by the end of our stay, the attendants saw him coming and would go into the back room to get him chocolate milk since they didn’t have those in the fridge. But I think I would be hard pressed to say go with GDT versus Poly given those dollars. But any other time, absolutely! I can’t say enough good things about it. 
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I prefer to give a travel agent my business rather than use the risky points rental.
Poly All the way for convenience. It is also our favorite