Conference koolit::disney

    I have never used the Concierge floor (never knew anything about it 
    until I read your note!).  It doesn't sound worth it to me, somehow.
    Have you asked if you can get a small fridge at the Contemporary?  If
    so, you can buy cereal and milk to take care of the 2-year-old.  You
    can also snacks on hand that don't require refrigeration.  I certainly
    understand the concern about waking up others, but it seems like
    chances are almost equal to having that happen anyway.  (Getting
    dressed and going out can cause as much or more commotion as having a
    bowl of cereal in the room.)
    
    I haven't thought this all the way through, because I'm terribly busy
    right now, but wanted to reply.  There are many notes in this file
    comparing "packages" of all sorts.
    
    I'd compare the cost of the food 'n fun for everyone but the toddler
    with the concierge.  Will is cost $900 for food 'n fun?  Will you use
    the additional services of the food 'n fun card?  Do you enjoy a
    sit-down meal more than snacking?
    
    I'd go for the Contemporary, have snacks for the toddler on hand, and
    have one big meal a day, probably at lunch.
    
    
    Susan

We stayed at the Buena Vista Palace. Someone had messed up & the people staying
in the room we were supposed to get decided to stay longer. That was the hotel's
claim, anyway. Instead they offered us a 9th (I think) floor room on the
concierge level. It was very nice having them make all our reservations for us
and the seats were typically very good. We got in to see everything/eat
everywhere we wanted, all with no advance reservations on our part. It's also
handy when you purchase things you want shipped home - we'd drop them off at the
concierge desk and they all got packed/mailed for us. While I'm not much of a
drinker, I did enjoy the evening cocktail hour - the food/spirits were excellent
and we met people I'd probably never have had a chance to bump into anywhere
else (eg real world travelers who had a ton of fascinating stories to tell).
On the other hand, $900 is a *big* chunk of change. You don't say how long
you're staying there. I think I could convince myself that considering the
zillion dollars I'd be spending on such a vacation anyway and the fact that we
only go down once every 5 or 10 years, it'd be worth, oh, $100 a day to get that
additional level of "wonderfulness." My wife's informed me that we're going
there for our 10th anniversary and she has eyes on staying at the GF.
Considering how much time one spends in one's room and the goal of an
ultimately hassle-free stay, I'd prefer to spend some extra bucks for concierge
service at some other on-site hotel than stay at the GF. We still have 3 years
to see who convinces who. Trace-who'll-stay-at-the-GF-concierge-level-if-they-
have-one-and-Digital-stock-hits-100-by-1998 :-)

						Trace

    My husband and I stayed at various accomodations for several years when
    we went to WDW when we lived in Houston.  After our second child was
    born, we started insisting on staying in suites, timeshares, etc.  Then
    we stayed in a private home and then we bought one and have a property
    manager rent it for us.  It's the way the Europeans vacation, and you
    still have a conceirge service to arrange bookings at discounted rates
    for dinners, character breakfasts, etc.  Mail me if you are interested.
    
    Maureen

    I've used concierge floors in many Sheraton hotels including the
    Dolphin at WDW, but the $900 price tag is too much unless you're
    burning 2 weeks of vacation time.  I was always upgraded either free or
    at a small charge.  I like the special attention, and, if I was the one
    that hit the 100M power ball lottery, I'd never stay any other way. 
    Save the money.  You won't regret it. 

My wife and I go down to WDW at least once per year (no kids, other than
myself).  We always stay on the Concierge Level of our hotel if at all
possible, in the following order: GF, YC, Contemporary.

There is no question that the Concierge service is not "worth it" on a strict
economic basis.  The value of having the concierge make reservations for you,
rather than dialing yourself and being on hold for 2 minutes, or having some
food available which you could also buy in a store, etc., is a lot less than
the extra you pay.  And, if you are planning "full days" (out by 8:00, back
after Illuminations or MK fireworks), then you aren't there to enjoy most of it.

However, there is no doubt that having those amenities "free" (i.e., not being
paid for as used) is very relaxing and enjoyable.  

So, the real question is the value of the $900 and the sense of joy, if any,
that you will get from the extra level of feeling more pampered and special
than normal for WDW (which is pretty high to start with).

One other note: we have never had a refrigerator in our room.  Most of the
rooms now have minibars; we regularly take their stuff out and put any stuff
we want in.  However, I have never had a refrigerator as a "normal feature"
of the Concierge level.  This may be recent or maybe we missed it (we only
stayed at the Concierge of the Contemporary once and it was awhile ago).  But,
this may be something you could get in any level room.

    
    We had the Concierge floor at the Grand Floridian during our honeymoon.
    
    I agree, price-wise, it is not "worth it."  Neither was the Grand Plan.
    
    But...  for once-in-a-lifetime type of trips, it was really really
    nice.  An personal elevator (serviced just your floor), afternoon
    tea and pastries in your floor's lobby, walking to your own floor's
    conceirge's to have them make reservations for you (rather than
    fighting everyone down in the main lobby)....
    
    ...these things are nice (and appropriate) for those special vacations
    that come up from time to time.  
    
    Certainly they are not for the average trip (we all go to Disney more
    than once, right? :^)).
    
    - Sean who liked it once at least.

After the quick replies and effort you kind people took to answer my note, I
certainly am overdue on an acknowledgement.  After looking over your Notes
replies, and from others who mailed me input privately, we decided, with mixed
feelings, to go with the Contemporary-Garden view.  My conclusion was that 
    Concierge offered valuable non-cash advantages that I could appreciate
    very much, but it was good to make the decision, in any case, and move on 
    with great anticipation, even with the mixed feelings.
                                                
Now a wrinkle. 
    WDW made an error in our new phone reservation - their favor - which
was discovered when we called the next day to pay for the package.
Reservations dept. acknowledges an error occured somewhere - the total they charged us doesn't
match any combination of their offers, yet they left it to us to escalate in 
writing, which I have yet to do.  In the meantime, I've spent a lot of time
and effort making contingency plans in case they stand firm.  Although they
never contacted us again,  yesterday we received our WDW reservation
confirmation.  It was marked  "modified".  It's the same price we were
originally quoted, it reinstates part of the package that was lost, but about
$500 remains unresolved, with me under stress for lack of closure on these
plans.  
                               
I believe they may offer a concierge free for all the trouble, which is quite
ironic given my original note.  If they Don't offer that, are there any
non-obvious upgrades I can ask for to come to mutually agreeable closure?  
Obvious would be: suite upgrade, longer stay, 3 meals.   I don't want to be a
jerk, but I feel they do owe us something, so I want to be prepared for that
conversation.   

Again, thank you in advance.  I was so impressed with the original responses;
it helped us a lot to make that initial decision.  I learned a lot along the
way regarding pricing, which I will insert in the appropriate note and hope it
helps you with your own plans.  Regards.       
                                        
P.S.  The reservation phone experience can be frustrating because "there is
nothing I can do", but they are extremely polite & helpful in providing
escalation information.

Ouch!  $500 difference?  Sounds like someone was asleep at the proverbial
switch.  There is no concierge level at the Contemporary, but there are
suites.  

I'd consider asking for the extra night or two, or, an upgrade to a tower
room instead of the garden wing.

Do you know if the reservations person made a mistake in keying something in
or just misread something to you?

Bill A.

    "Do you know if the reservations person made a mistake in keying
    something in..."
    
    We agree on this much, the reservation department erred; perhaps I 
    wasn't clear that the amount they quoted me, and the amount in their 
    system agrees.  The reason why they had to acknowledge an error was because
    the amount did not match a total for any room or package combination that
    they offer, yet the exact amount I was quoting was there.   By the way,
    I think this was an isolated incident.  I read through the notes, and
    talked to a lot of DW veterans recently, and rarely did I hear any
    stories of phone reservation problems.  I learned a good lesson,
    however.  The next time I negotiate anything sizeable on the phone, and 
    including this resolution, I'm going to inform, then record the final 
    order/price using my 2-way answering machine recording option, beeps and 
    all.  
        
    Thanks,
    Heidi

    We just returned from our vacation.  We spent seven nights on property,
    split between the Contemporary, and Yacht.  WDW gave
    us an upgrade to the tower in the Contemporary, plus an concierge upgrade 
    in the Yacht.    I will write a trip report in the appropriate 
    note.  Re: closure on our concierge experience, the (Yacht concierge) room
    is quite small. I found this service helpful in terms of breakfast and 
    reservations, but would stay at Polynesian Concierge over Yacht
    Concierge.  Overall, the Contemporary tower was our favorite, and if it 
    had a Stormalong bay, we would never stay anywhere else.  Thank you again 
    for your input.  It was very valuable. 
                                             

    Just returned from Disney and
    five nights at the Grand Floridian.
    
    I thougth the concierge service was
    worth it..yes, it's expensive and you
    probably wouldn't do it every time at
    Disney.  But, for a special trip, it's
    quite wonderful.
    
    Starting at 6 a.m., they serve some kind
    of food until 10 p.m.  I think there's
    only one hour in the day when you can't
    get some thing to eat up there.
    
    There's breakfast from 6-10; snacks throughout
    the afternoon; from 5-7 free wine, cheese, crudites;
    from 8-10 desserts and cordials (good ones too).
    We took full advantage of it; of course, we don't
    have kids and didn't care if we spent every waking
    hour at some Disney sight.  
    
    Plus, it was 90+ every day..very hot..so we spent
    most afternoons lounging around, had the wine and
    cheese, then went out for a late dinner..topped
    off by some dessert and a cordial or two...it was
    great!!!
    
    But expensive...our room was $400 a night, and not
    for a big room at that..nice view, though.