Hey everyone. We're planning a trip in early November and I was looking at packages at disneyland.com and noticed that concierge is not available for most of the month. Does anyone know if you can add concierge at check-in? And, if you can, how much it costs?

Thanks for your help! (I apologize if this has been asked previously)

Hey everyone. We're planning a trip in early November and I was looking at packages at disneyland.com and noticed that concierge is not available for most of the month. Does anyone know if you can add concierge at check-in? And, if you can, how much it costs?

Thanks for your help! (I apologize if this has been asked previously)

HI.


I called the Walt Disney Travel Company to make a reservation and wanted concierge at the DL hotel..I was told that some dates for concierge are blocked still and have not been released maybe that is the case for your Nov. dates. I made my reservation for August at the DL Hotel and I was told that I could upgrade as soon as the dates are unblocked and released. I made my reservation on Monday and was told to call back once a week to check. I was also tld to check online as well. You should call regarding your dates. Not all dates for DL Hotel concierge for 2008 have been released.

If it's not available, are you sure you want to pay extra for it?

I admit readily that I have a bad attitude about DLH concierge. They overbook. This means you're paying extra for a room you aren't getting. If it's not available, at the very least all of the concierge rooms are booked. That means no DVD player and no turndown service. The only perk left is the lounge - which will be overcrowded because they've over-sold rooms.

But. Another thought - it's possible they're not offering it at that time in order to refurb the lounge and/or rooms.

In that case at least they're being polite enough to not pretend they have it, unlike when they regularly overbook concierge, offer partial services to overbooked guests, but continue to charge full-price.

Not that I have an opinion about this or anything. ;)

Adrienne

If it's not available, are you sure you want to pay extra for it?

I admit readily that I have a bad attitude about DLH concierge. They overbook. This means you're paying extra for a room you aren't getting. If it's not available, at the very least all of the concierge rooms are booked. That means no DVD player and no turndown service. The only perk left is the lounge - which will be overcrowded because they've over-sold rooms.

But. Another thought - it's possible they're not offering it at that time in order to refurb the lounge and/or rooms.

In that case at least they're being polite enough to not pretend they have it, unlike when they regularly overbook concierge, offer partial services to overbooked guests, but continue to charge full-price.

Not that I have an opinion about this or anything. ;)

Adrienne

Actually, I was told by 2 different cast members that certain dates are still blocked and have not been released. Concierge is available at GCH and PP but not DLH for some dates. GCH always books up first.

I've stayed Concierge twice now. I've never had limited service in the lounge. They've always treated me quite well. They were very helpful and polite. They printed an itinerary for me that showed tours and priority seating I'd booked. They helped me set up priority seating (and found a restaurant that served ribs). When I lost my check-in receipt (you need for early entry) they printed me a new one. The only thing they couldn't do for me was make up a birthday button!

Although I've never stayed "on" the concierge floor, I've always had turn down service and a DVD player (including my last stay which was not concierge!).

For my last stay, the reservations CM told me they weren't offering AP discount rooms with concierge. It was full price only. At check-in, at the front desk CM's discretion we could add concierge for full price ($100 a night). I realized that my main use of the concierge would be breakfast since I like to be in the parks most of the time. For $100 a day we could buy a LOT of breakfast (and not just pastry, bagels and coffee). So I didn't even ask. I did not miss it one bit.

It wasn't concierge at the DL hotel, but we did have it at the PPH in December, with the add on rate of 40 dollars a night. Honestly, we ate a decent breakfast took lots of waters had snacks one day andn maybe got our 40 dollars worth out of it. Would I do it again, likely not. Had the upper level room, dvd player, turn down etc.. but the lounge was PACKED!!!! The second night we stopped by for the happy hour and ended up leaving as the room was packed and the line wasn't moving. I understand we are all there trying to get the most our of what we paid, but for gosh sakes fill a plate and let someone else in!!! Couldn't believe how many people were standing there loading heaping plate after heaping plate and dumping them into plastic baggies when they got back to their tables. It was quite obviously oversold!!!!!!!!

When a typical resort or business class hotel offers concierge they intend for it to be about convenience to an adult person who is on the way to something more important to do. Its about having dedicated staff ready to make reservations at restaurants for business meals and booking tours for the spouses. Its rare you see a suited guy or lady fill a backpack with water and juice on the way to that convention meeting. At Disney, it seems to be about hoarding so that the guest does not have to buy anything at the park. Walt'sbirthdaygirl has hit on a major "cultural" difference in Disney vs. other hotels' concierge lounges. I honestly believe Disney hotels would step it up a bit there if it weren't for the Viking pillage mentality that some guests bring to their concierge lounges.

I have mixed emotions about Disney concierge for this reason. I thought it was a good value for the AP4 rates but I wouldn't pay regular full price for it.

It was not ALWAYS so crowded. We have stayed concierge every visit, because one of our children needs a lot of breaks, so we would go there just to sit, relax, maybe have a soda or a snack, never to horde anything.

It used to be, you could go there and play a game, look at a magazine, they would even bring you coloring pages and crayons. They helped you with reservations, choosing a restaurant, giving direction to say , ordering flowers for your room, all sorts of things

Yes, it was worth it.

However the last few times they have overbooked, and while we were never denied entrance it was too crowded to use the lounge…too crowded enjoy it. Not even a place to sit. We weren’t able to GET to the cast member for any personalized services.

I don’t think we will be utilizing the lounge again. We have always paid the full price for the upgrade, and while it is none of my business what other’s paid, it is a bit disheartening to hear someone brag to another about “only paying $40 extra for their family of 4, and getting at least twice that in food each day!”.

I suppose Disney finds they make a profit overbooking and under charging.

I am not sure if it will make a difference to them if a few people decide not to use the concierge if they are filling it this way.

It has changed from a comfortable place for quite relaxation to a pay-for food service.

Unless something changes, we won’t be staying concierge anymore. We may even consider off-site properties.

I forgot to mention the nice family next to us at breakfast on our last day, we found a table for the kids grabbed pastries and milk for them, coffee etc for the grownups and as they ate and colored (they were given pages and crayons) the lady next to us starting pulling out her "bounty" she literally had two full galloon freezer bags of uncrustables, at least another full of gold fish a full backpack of water (we did take a water or two each to the park, I will admit). We were just incredibly disappointed. I expected much better service, more space and frankly maybe a CM or two around to help, being unable to even sit down have a snack and maybe a glass of wine was a bummer.

The last person I know to stay "concierge" at the PPH, reserved a Theme Park View room. The room was not a concierge room (they're significantly bigger at the PPH) and the theme park they could see was Knott's, not DCA.

What's the point of paying for what you're not getting?

Adrienne

The last person I know to stay "concierge" at the PPH, reserved a Theme Park View room. The room was not a concierge room (they're significantly bigger at the PPH) and the theme park they could see was Knott's, not DCA.

What's the point of paying for what you're not getting?

Adrienne

Hmm maybe we didnt have a concierge room, we did have an excellent view of DCA and the DVD player but the room was the same size as the other PPH rooms I have stayed in.....

The last person I know to stay "concierge" at the PPH, reserved a Theme Park View room. The room was not a concierge room (they're significantly bigger at the PPH) and the theme park they could see was Knott's, not DCA.

What's the point of paying for what you're not getting?

Adrienne

Oh, wow, I didn't know Knott's was that close!

ha ha ha ha

I will say that our last concierge stay we could "see" Knotts as well, granted I wouldn't have realized what it was had it not been for someone who is a local pointing it out to me. I will say that our last concierge visit was the least agravating, I was IN the concierge lounge waiting for our room to be ready and the CM graciously made our keys and proceeded to tell me we were on the 3rd floor of the Wonder tower, when I said excuse me since when is the 3rd floor of the Wonder tower considered concierge he realized there 'might' be a problem and called the front desk for clarification...turns out I have a very common hispanic last name and while my first name isn't all that common there were two of us with the exact first/last names staying at the hotel checking in that day. Color me less than impressed with that little snafu but we did end up with the room on the concierge levels complete with appropriate bed configuration but it's almost become a personal challenge to just get what I'm paying for at the on property hotels.

Just MHO, but I've never really understood the appeal of paying so much more for the concierge service - on our last trip, it would have cost us in excess of $150 per day more. Even with buying countless drinks, snacks and a special treat for everyone (cookie or krispie treat for bedtime, for example), we couldn't come close to $150 a day! Especially when so many of the items on offer ARE things like Goldfish crackers and Uncrustables, as someone else mentioned, it hardly seems worth it. Id rather allocate even just a portion of that cost to treats/meals where we can choose from everything available in all of DL, rather than just what's on offer in the lounge.

I just think concierge, while a nice idea, is VERY overpriced for what you actually get in return.

Thanks for all your input. You all have given me a lot to think about. We have only booked concierge once previously and since we enjoyed the convenience, I hadn't given much thought to the ins and outs, but I would like to get my money's worth. So I will do some more comparisons, and a lot more thinking, before making a final decision.

Thanks everyone!

I think that when making your decision you have to do the value vs services you will use, if you don't need the concierge staff to assist you then all you're getting for your money is inexpensive chocolates on your pillow and your bed turned down and refreshed...a little thing people tend to not notice but I do when we are there, she has extra tolietries/towels and usually empties the waste cans. As for the lounge, we've been in there when it was just us and we've been in where it was so crowded we opted to just go back to our room. If food is your only reason for considering the upgrade, it's not worth the cost unless you plan to use the free breakfast and happy hour wine/beer/snacks as full meals and even then I don't see where it's 'worth' it if all you care about is the food aspect. We've done it several times and it's the whole situation that makes me willing to do it again. The regular guest can only make a PS for up to 8, one trip I was meeting a large group of friends and we needed PS's for 12 which actually turned into 13, as a 'regular' visitor dialing the dine line we got told sorry no can do, Concierge not only got us into a 'sold out' location but we had no problems with the size. Other trips we've decided at the very last moment to eat someplace and the staff made it happen.

In the winter it's wonderful to be able to go to the private elevator, opening into the lounge and have a warm drink and snacks before heading back to the room but if you are trying to figure out things like my family will drink x amount and eat x amount, chances are you're not going to balance the cost with the 'return'....just something to think about.