The Resorts Gal Guide to Staying Club Level at Disney World
Are you feeling the urge to splurge on your next Walt Disney World vacation? How does waking up each morning at your leisure and stumbling down the hall to a lounge offering a variety of freshly prepared and continental breakfast items sound? Sure, the parks are waiting, but you’ll get there when you get there. Right now, it’s time to see what’s available in the lounge and enjoy a cappuccino from that fancy coffee machine. If you were at home, you would have been up hours ago, doing the same old monotonous routine you do five days a week for most of the year. This is your vacation. You worked hard for it and plan to savor every minute, especially enjoying the offerings at your club-level accommodations.
If this sounds remotely like something you would enjoy or, at the very least, piques your interest, keep reading. We will discuss everything you need to know about staying club-level at Walt Disney World. As for my experience, we have been regulars at the Stone Harbor Club of Disney’s Beach Club for over ten years. We’ve also stayed at the Kamehameha Club at Disney’s Polynesian and the Chronos Club at Disney’s Coronado Springs. With about eight club-level stays, I have found each offering consistent, even with the different lounges. The only uniqueness is the setting, and a few food items in the evenings are geared toward the resort’s theme. Let’s take a closer look.
What is Club Level?
While drafting this article, I felt the urge to say, “I want to be honest with you about club level.” I don’t use the word “honest” often because everything I write on this website is based on my experience, which I paid out-of-pocket to do. But the truth is that our club-level stays were expensive. Before I started this website, I was in real estate for nearly 18 years. Back then, club level was my favorite splurge. I lived to work and worked to live. My phone never left my side, and many of my days were spent putting out fires. If my phone rang or someone sent a text, I immediately responded. Staying club level was a week-long vacation where I didn’t have to worry about anything. It was a luxury. The luxury was convenience.
Club level is a convenience, more than anything. It’s not something I would define as a luxury, like having a butler at your hotel or extravagant in-room amenities. But luxury is subjective to how you define it. So, as we discuss the benefits, keep that idea in your mind. When you foot the bill for club level, you might lump a lot of expectations on top of it. And as with most things in life, our experiences don’t always live up to what we expect.
So what is club level at Walt Disney World? It’s a dedicated floor or building at each deluxe resort hotel (and one moderate resort) with a lounge offering multiple services throughout the day. Those services include morning coffee, continental breakfast, snacks, evening hors d’oeuvres, and desserts with cordials. Wine and beer selections are also available. You will also have access to a dedicated concierge staff who can provide information about the parks, make dining reservations, and answer basic questions. (By dedicated concierge staff, I’m not referring to the cast members who work in the lounge. Each lounge usually has 2-3 staff members available. Often, these cast members are at a desk outside the lounge area.)
Regarding accommodations, unless you reserve an upgraded suite, the rooms are the same as the rest of the hotel. Upgrades include suites and special room views like a water view, theme park view, or fireworks view, depending on the hotel. These upgrades will cost more than a regular club-level room. You can expect standard club-level rooms to cost significantly more than regular room types.
The Club Level Experience at Disney World
Before we discuss whether the club level is worth it, I wanted to walk you through the entire experience. As club level guests, you should have the same experience no matter which resort you choose.
Before your vacation, you might have access to personal assistance via Disney Signature Services. This service is only available to select resort guests, including those who book a club level room. In the past, we often received a card or email acknowledging that we had access to Signature Services. When we initially inquired about this offering, we were told they could reserve our dining or help us with tickets, but there were no advantages. We didn’t receive any communication about this benefit on our more recent visits.
We recommend using an authorized Disney Travel agent if these services are important to you. They can handle your room accommodations and make your dining reservations. We have used Firefly Travels for many years and let them manage our travel plans.
Upon arrival at your resort (when things are working correctly), the guard at the gate will alert someone that you’ve arrived. A Disney cast member should greet you at the hotel’s entrance. When the Magical Express service was available, a hotel manager always greeted us when we exited the bus. Unfortunately, we have not had those same experiences in recent years. If no one greets you, you’ll want to visit the check-in area, and they will have someone escort you to the club level. You’ll need someone to provide initial access to the lounge. After that first visit, you’ll receive key access to the floor or building via your MagicBand, My Disney Experience app, or Keys to the World card.
When you reach the club level, concierge staff will greet you. They usually offer a welcome drink, beverages, cookies, and other pre-packaged snacks. If you’ve been traveling all day, this always comes across as a welcome gesture and begins to set the pace for the week. They also provide a welcome letter. This welcome letter is very important. It contains a list of the services offered each day throughout your stay, a dress code for the lounge, and other tips for making the most of your time. Below is an example of a welcome letter we received while staying at the King Kamehameha Club. I always take a photo of it with my phone to reference the service times throughout the week.
After the welcome, you’ll have immediate access to the lounge if it’s open. We have found that the lounge at the Polynesian and Gran Destino Tower remains open all day. However, during our stays at the Beach Club, the lounge sometimes closes between services. This will likely vary depending on which lounge you choose.
Most lounges offer a view or an outdoor balcony. We had an incredible view of Seven Seas Lagoon, the Electrical Water Pageant, and Magic Kingdom’s evening fireworks from the Polynesian lounge. You can also expect decent views of the fireworks from both lounges at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
Club Level Services and Menus
Regarding services, you’ll want to know a few things ahead of time. From my observations, two types of guests stay club level: those who will take advantage of every single offering and those who come and go when it suits them. As my niece once reminded me, the food in the lounge is not free. You pay for it with the cost of the room. You will find a large crowd at the beginning of each service. The lounges are busy, and guests often like to partake in the freshest food that comes out first. Naturally, the food items are replenished throughout the service. But it can be more hit-and-miss as the clock winds down.
Every club level offers the same services throughout the day. Food options vary by lounge, but we’re not talking about elevated food items. Items are pretty standard across the board. Most of the food in the lounge feels like a catering experience similar to something you might get at a wedding or event. Here are a few examples.
Breakfast: This service is a mix of continental items like coffee, juice, pastries, baked goods, and fruit. A few hot offerings are available, such as oatmeal, quiche, and sausage links. Occasionally, we also see smoked salmon and charcuterie options during breakfast. Most breakfast items will remain the same throughout the week, with a few nuances here and there. Here is an example of a plate I prepared for breakfast one morning.
Afternoon Refreshments or Snacks: The lounge’s slowest time is between breakfast and dinner. During this time, most lounges offer a few snack mixes and access to beverages. Typically, Uncrustables are available for children (or anyone who wants them). If you don’t see something, ask a cast member in the lounge. If it’s available, they will fulfill your request.
About Beverages: Most lounges have a fridge where guests can grab sodas at their leisure. Several dispensers offer filtered water, juice, and tea throughout the day. All the lounges have a specialty coffee machine that makes various coffee on the spot. Depending on the lounge, beer and wine are available or available upon request. So, if it’s 1:00 p.m. and you would like to take a beer to the pool, a cast member can provide you with a beer and a disposable cup since glass bottles are not permitted at the pool. My main point is that if something is not readily available, you might need to request it. You paid for these things.
Hors d’oeuvres Hour: The lounge will be crowded as it gets close to 5:00 p.m. I’ve never been to a lounge that wasn’t crowded at the beginning of dinner service. The idea of dinner service is to serve as an appetizer before a late meal. I do not know your eating habits, but we have always been able to make complete meals at the lounge. Two to three hot items are typically offered, along with a small “chef’s special” item that varies each evening. Other items include salads, pasta, crudites, charcuterie, cheese, and separate children’s sections. (Again, if you have picky eaters, Uncrustables are almost always available by request.)
Desserts and Cordials: This service typically begins at 8:00 p.m. and includes a variety of small-bite desserts like cupcakes, brownies, cookies, and other offerings. We’ve seen warm pies and even create-your-own ice cream sundaes from time to time. Evening cordials are also made available. I believe these liqueurs are often mixed with other drinks or coffees. Here is an example of a dessert plate I brought back to my room one evening while we stayed at the Chronos Club.
We have photos of each of the lounge’s food offerings and detailed accounts of our stays in the following articles:
Tips for Making the Most of the Lounge
If you want to take advantage of the lounge during your stay, I have a few tips based on our experiences.
- Plan to have breakfast in the lounge for most mornings of your trip. When we stay at the club level, we always reserve one special breakfast at a table service restaurant because we enjoy dining out. But the rest of the week, we enjoy breakfast in the lounge.
- Don’t overdo dining reservations! You’ll want to think about this. We had an eight-night trip at the Stone Harbor Club a while back. I reserved four or five table-service restaurants for the week. This was way too much, and thankfully, I realized it early on in our trip and was able to cancel a few without penalty.
- Figure out a plan to take advantage of the lounge and the parks. If you stay at Disney’s Beach Club and spend the entire day at Magic Kingdom, you won’t be near the lounge. Often, we like to visit the parks, return for dinner in the lounge, and then wait until dessert service. I usually grab a couple of drinks and prepare dessert plates to leave in our room’s fridge. We cover them with a napkin. That way, if we get back after the lounge has closed, we still have a late-night snack to enjoy in our room.
- Say yes to park-hopper tickets. If you’re in the Epcot Resorts Area, plan days at the other parks and evenings at Epcot and Hollywood Studios. (Vice-Versa for the Magic Kingdom Resorts) We LOVE visiting Animal Kingdom, returning to the resort for a break, and then walking into Epcot for a couple of hours at the end of the evening. (Don’t forget to stash that dessert plate in your room!)
- Do a split-stay! If you’re interested in club-level but can’t get over the high price tag, plan half of your stay at a club level and the other half somewhere else. We prefer to stay club-level at the end of our trip or on the nights when extended evenings are offered to deluxe resort guests.
As an example, say you have a 7-night trip planned for a Sunday through Sunday. We would spend Sunday through Wednesday at a club level to do extended evening hours on Monday and Wednesday evenings. Then, on Thursday, we would move to more budget-friendly accommodations at a value or moderate resort. We have a separate review of what it’s like to do a split stay at Disney World.
Is Club Level Worth It?
Given the cost of club level at Disney World, it’s understandable to question whether or not it’s worth it. As regular visitors who spend a good deal of time at the resort, we enjoy staying club level. If it works with our budget, then yes, we love it. But when club level isn’t our budget, we have a good time staying at the All-Star Music Resort. However, both of those trips would look very different if we were to compare them.
If you really want to have a cost analysis to determine value, you’ll need to have an idea of how many meals you’ll skip, how much you’ll save on beverages (coffee, water, tea, beer, wine), and how many snacks you’ll skip. Other than food, there are not any other areas where you’ll save, and I don’t necessarily think you’ll be able to justify the cost of food unless you drink a ton of beverages and eat nearly every meal in the lounge. A word of warning: if you do so, you will probably get burnt out quickly.
As I mentioned earlier, the value of club level (for us) is its convenience. We don’t think it necessarily commands a monetary value. If you’re reading this and have concerns about whether or not you’ll use the lounge, I would lean into that heavily. The lounge access is the meat of the sandwich when you’re staying club level.
List of Club Level Lounges at Disney World
The Royal Palm Club at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort: This club level is in the main building of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. (Grand Floridian formerly had a second club level called Sugar Loaf. At this time, that club-level offering is unavailable.)
The Atrium Club at Disney’s Contemporary Resort: Disney’s Contemporary Resort has two identical cub offerings. The Atrium Club is on the 12th floor and mainly accommodates guests who’ve reserved standard room types. View types are generally theme park view (Magic Kingdom Fireworks) and water view (a view of Bay Lake).
The Tower Club at Disney’s Contemporary Resort: This secondary club level is on the 14th floor and mainly services guests who’ve reserved upgraded suites. Both club-level lounges at Disney’s Contemporary offer evening views of Magic Kingdom’s nightly fireworks spectacular. You can also see the Electrical Water Pageant
The Old Faithful Club at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge: This popular club level is on the 7th floor of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge.
The Kamehameha Club at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort: This club level is in the Hawaii building of Disney’s Polynesian. The two-story lounge offers views of Seven Seas Lagoon. Concierge service is in a separate area on the first floor, underneath the lounge.
The Innkeepers Club at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn: This club level is on the 4th floor of Disney’s Boardwalk. It was last completely renovated in 2023.
The Regatta Club at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort: This club level is on the 5th floor of Disney’s Yacht Club. It is comparable to the Stone Harbor Club at Disney’s Beach Club, the Yacht Club’s sister resort.
The Stone Harbor Club at Disney’s Beach Club Resort: This club level is on the 5th floor of Disney’s Beach Club. It is one of our favorites because we love the location of the Beach Club and the Stormalong Bay Pool.
The Kilimanjaro Club at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge: We have not stayed at this club level yet.
The Chronos Club at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort: This club level is on the 15th floor of Gran Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.
Final Thoughts
I hope you found this overview of staying club level at Walt Disney World helpful in your planning process. We love this unique experience, which is always made even more exceptional by the cast members in the lounges. For more information about planning a Disney World vacation, you might enjoy:
- How To Create a Budget for Disney World
- Ranking the Disney Resorts from Best to Worst
- How to Use Lightning Lanes (Multi Pass and Single Pass)
- Our Disney World Dining Handbook (The Ultimate Dining Guide)
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In the Comments
What do you think about staying club level at Walt Disney World? Would you consider it? We love to hear from you and enjoy learning from your experiences. Feel free to leave your thoughts or questions in the comments section below.
