Booking Disney’s Club-Level Rooms is it worth it?
If you’ve shopped online for Disney Resort hotel reservations, you may have seen the words “Disney Club Access” on some booking options, and you might have wondered what exactly that means.
It’s easy to tell that these bookings cost more than nonclub rooms, but it’s harder to tell exactly what Disney club access gets you … and whether it is worth it.
Fortunately, I’ve been lucky enough to try out a number of Disney club-level rooms at a few different Disney resorts over the years. Here’s all you need to know about these pricier rooms so you can decide if they’re worth the splurge for your next Disney vacation.
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What is the club level at Disney hotels?
At its basic level, club level at Walt Disney World means that you are in a room that gets access to a club lounge. The lounge will have food, drinks and snacks available for you at various times during the day, along with a dedicated hangout space and a concierge.
Club lounge at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
Club level is not available at every Disney resort, but you will find it at these Disney Deluxe and Moderate properties:
Club lounge at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. These hosts can help you with your park reservations, troubleshoot basic tech support issues on the app, give advice on planning your day, and generally make your stay more personalized and, dare we say, magical. These hosts can help you fix your park reservations, troubleshoot basic tech support issues with the app, give advice on planning your day and generally make your stay more personalized and, dare we say, magical.
SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
What are Disney club-level benefits?
When you arrive to check into your Disney club-level room, you’ll likely be personally escorted to the club lounge to complete your check-in, which will cover everything you can expect from the lounge and your various club benefits. In fact, it’s possible a Disney cast member will be waiting for you in the lobby to greet you by name if you enter via a security gate by car, as that helps them phone ahead to the club-level rooms to let them know you’ve arrived.
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The club rooms are often centrally located, so you usually won’t have to worry about being at the far end of a spread-out resort. The club-level rooms at Disney’s Contemporary Resort are located in the atrium and close to restaurants, the monorail, and the club lounge. If you want to, you can use your club lounge access for breakfast and evening appetizers. Evening treats in Disney’s Grand Floridian club lounge. The agent told me that I would be in for a real treat when I booked the club-level at the Contemporary. He said I should make myself some desserts, get a bottle of wine and retreat to my room facing the theme park to enjoy my personal fireworks viewing party. He was right. Having the show’s music playing in the background via my TV while enjoying my selection of snacks was every bit as much of a treat as he said it would be.
SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
What can you expect from Disney club-level lounges?
While I’ve briefly touched on the food-and-beverage options available in Disney’s lounges, let’s break it down further so you know exactly what to expect.
On all of my most recent visits, breakfast was available from 7 to 10:30 a.m. daily, with coffee starting at 6:30 a.m.
SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
Morning options typically include a mix of hot and cold items, such as comforting bites like fried chicken on top of biscuits and creamy grits when we stayed in the Contemporary’s club-level accommodations. There are also lighter options like avocado toast, fruit, yogurt, cold cut and pastries. SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
This is probably a good time to mention that not every Disney club level is created equally — and like the resorts themselves, the club lounges each have their own theme, style and offerings.
For example, at the Grand Floridian, breakfast options reminded me of some of the dishes we had from the buffet at the fantastic 1900 Park Fare character breakfast a few stories down in the same building … including the fun strawberry soup. It’s my favorite Disney club lounge so far. The fridge is always stocked with drinks and snacks, so you can grab a snack between trips to the park. We’ve also been known to toss an Uncrustable or two from the fridge, along with packaged grapes and maybe a wrapped-up cookie, into our backpacks to enjoy in the parks when we don’t want to stop and eat a real meal.
Related: The best restaurants at Disney World
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SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
I do have to say that the unlimited ice cream sandwiches — including Mickey bars — at the Grand Floridan may have been a highlight of that club’s grab-and-go offerings.
SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
But no matter which Disney club lounge you’re staying at, around 5 to 7 p.m. is when the “good” stuff comes out.
Whether you want a snack to tide you over before heading back to the parks or are aiming to put together a “dinner” with this food you’ve already paid to be able to access, you can accomplish either goal at the lounge … so long as your crew isn’t too picky. There are a handful of hot options each evening, usually from one of the hotel’s restaurant kitchens.
It’s also common to find some kid-pleasers such as nuggets, tater tots and rolls next to more adult-oriented favorites like short ribs, soy-glazed salmon and serrano-wrapped melon.
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Gran Destino club level. EDWARD PIZZARELLO/FOR ‘THE POINTS’ GUY
At Grand Floridian, we enjoyed the potato cakes with prime-rib, pineapple coconut shrimp ceviche, and salmon cakes. SUMMER HUL/THE POINTS GUIY
Adult drinks are also included. Grand Marnier, Baileys, Kahlua and Frangelico are some of the most common cordials I’ve seen on offer. Grand Marnier, Baileys, Kahlua and Frangelico are some of the most common cordials I’ve seen on offer.
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SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
Speaking of adult beverages, a fun touch at the Grand Floridian’s club lounge was this daytime mimosa bar, complete with a plastic cup option for taking the beverage to the pool.
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SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
How much does Disney’s club level cost?
Depending on the resort and time of year, expect Disney club-level rooms to cost between $500 and $1,500 per night. Gran Destino resorts are usually the least expensive, as they are the only Moderate Club-level option. The Grand Floridian and Contemporary club-level hotels are the most expensive, since they are right next to the Magic Kingdom monorail. However, I’ve also seen the price difference between the entry-level room and the club-level room be $300 to $500 per night, especially in cases such as the Grand Floridian and the Contemporary, where the main building’s rooms are just inherently pricier than the outer buildings.
When you layer club-level service on top of the rooms, the spread for nightly rates at resorts with club levels widens in a hurry. If you want the best service, convenience and magic at Disney World, a club-level hotel room may be worth the extra money. This is much like the equation with concierge-level service on a Disney cruise.
However, if “worth it” means you’re spending more in one area to save in another (aka on food and drinks), then the answer is: It depends. It’s unlikely that you will ever save any money booking a room at club level. However, you can save on other expenses by using the amenities in the room. It’s not uncommon to have to wait in line for help in the park, but I asked the concierge in our club level room if she could help. The concierge wasn’t certain if she could help, but she did try and was successful. This saved us a lot time and hassle. That kind of intangible perk is hard to put a value on but really does elevate the trip to a whole different level of service.
SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
As with all Disney resort rooms, there’s another way you can shave a little more off the out-of-pocket cost: credit card rewards.
For example, with the
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
, the miles you accrue can be used to offset any travel charge on the card or any Disney booking made within Capital One’s travel site. The
Bilt Mastercard(r)
(see rates and fees) also has a travel portal that lets you use rewards for Disney resorts.
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Club level at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. The bottom line
Summer HULL/THE POSTS GUY
If you don’t have a large budget, staying in a Disney Club-level room for a long time may not be worth it. This type of room is best reserved for shorter trips or when the price difference between the two rooms is less than $300. You should lock in the price when it is not more than $300 more expensive per night compared to the room that you would normally book. This will allow you to maximize your experience at Disney World and enjoy the extra-magical spaces and services.
