I’m back from my trip, and plan to write up a trip report, but before I do that, I have to get another trip on the books! Priorities!!
I think I’ve read on here that people have been able to pay to have club level lounge access without staying in a club room? Is that accurate? And if so, which resorts and how much was it for the access? Thanks!
You can do it at WL, subject to availability. I think it is, or was, $99 a night and you do it at the front desk.
I haven’t heard of it elsewhere.
Hope you had a great trip, how did the extra FPP work out?
Would love to know this, too! I have my CLFP trip coming up beginning 1/1. Do you have one booked, too, @Wahoohokie?
Thanks! That’s definitely one I’m interested in.
The trip was awesome. Had some hiccups, of course, but overall was amazing. Having those CL FPP was key. It took so much stress out of everything. Not to mention, once there, the club folks were more than happy to throw in extra FPs for “lesser” attractions like KRR, EtwB, MS, PoC, etc… And the ability to fill up a to-go coffee cup with wine as I headed out to the parks each day was super nice!!
Yes, we have CL FPP booked 12/27-31 with a stay at Gran Destino.
Oh wow, that seems great. Did they ask you if you wanted extra FPP, or how did you know they would get them for you?
Did you have trouble getting to the parks early after visiting the lounge in the morning? I really want to take advantage for breakfast, but not sure it opens early enough to be able to eat first.
I had CL FPs for HM and my family decided they didn’t want to ride it again, so I went to the club the night before to see if I could get it changed to EtwB. They let me keep HM and just added EtwB that were good anytime that following day. That prompted me to ask if they could help me out with PoC. I had FPs for 3 of us, but was going to try to get it as a 4th for the other 2 in the group. They added 2 anytimes for PoC.
We didn’t end up getting to see EtwB because it was down when we were in the area, so I asked them to move it to our next MK day, which they did. We also didn’t get to go to MS because the boys were having so much fun at the exit to TT, and our next day at EP we only had 2 FPs, but because of other plans, couldn’t fit in a 3rd FP that didn’t overlap, so they gave us anytimes for MS. They were just very accommodating. I’m sure if I was asking for SDD or FoP the conversations may not have gone the same (and I didn’t want to push it!), but it was no big deal with these littler attractions. I should also add this was at 2 different clubs (Gran Destino and BWI), so I think this is probably how they handle things universally.
We mostly did late nights because I wanted to see all the fireworks and all the Christmas decorations. You can make breakfast as fast or slow as you want though. Most mornings I just grabbed a cup of coffee and croissant. Took less than five minutes and I could eat/drink it on the go. They had hot options that required silverware and time, but I generally didn’t opt for those.
Thank you! Sounds great. I am not sure I will ever be able to go back to non CL after this.
And that is the boat where I find myself. We bit the bullet and are signing DVC paperwork next week. We went with AKL because of the CL. I don’t anticipate wanting to stay at AKL the whole trip every trip, but I do anticipate wanting lounge access for most, if not all, of most trips. Hence the question that started this thread. Spending a few days each trip at AKL would allow us to get CL FPs, and then, assuming the ability to pay for lounge access, we could stay at other resorts (using fewer points per night) and just utilize the lounge. I don’t think we really need more than 1 day of CL FP at each park (and potentially could go without at EP depending on the length of the trip). So according to my Disney math, this is the cheapest way to get what I want out of CL!
Congrats on DVC! That is wonderful.
Welcome to the Happy AKL DVC family!
Congrats and welcome to DVC!
The club level DVC rooms are very popular, mainly due to the fact there are very few of them. And it’s the only DVC resort that has them, so everyone who wants CL makes AKL their home resort.
You may need to “walk” your reservation to get one, especially studios. That said, they do pop up as available more often than the value rooms.
I’m not sure that you can add CL access to DVC rooms at WL though. I think it applies only to regular resort rooms. Maybe someone else knows?
I am definitely anticipating this. We need a 2 bedroom, and since they all seem to be lock-offs, they will be as scarce as the studios. We don’t intend to go back until late April 2021 (my 40th birthday!!), so I have 5 - 6 months to get it all figured out. How early do you recommend starting to walk?
I was thinking last night that with the full kitchen it’s probably fine if we don’t have CL access. I don’t really like the idea of cooking and dishes on vacation, but we can find some grab-and-go type stuff to keep it at a minimum. We mostly utilized the lounge for breakfast and alcohol anyway, so we can have everything we need delivered and just do it on our own. Unless the access is available, then I’m back to being lazy on vacation!!!