View Full Version : GF concierge ?s

04-05-2007, 10:34 AM
We are staying at GF concierge in the main building during Thanksgiving, we've never done concierge before, we always stay at WL. Can someone tell me all about it. Should we get refillable mugs, or are there drinks out all day? Should we still get the dining plan since they have breakfast there, and snacks throught the day. I have lots more questions, but this is a start. Thank You.

04-05-2007, 11:07 AM
Well unless you are the sort that NEEDS something more than water to drink after midnight, there is pretty much no reason to get the mugs when staying on the concierge floor, there are always drinks on hand.

I don't really think the concierge level is a good substitute for the dining plan, as some people see it. Most people would still probably be able to save money by adding the dining plan even when staying concierge. Unless you plan on almost no table service meals when you are at Disney and living on appetizers for your time there, you will still be able to get value from the dining plan. It's only one counter service meal, one snack (which you can use for water or something) and one table service meal per day. Also, Disney food prices are so inflated that as long as you use all of your table services and most of your counter services, you will still save money (most table services will run about $30-$40 if you got appetizer, entree, and dessert just on their own). While you could concievably go back to your hotel instead of eating in the parks or getting water or something in the parks, it is kind of an uncessary hassle that isn't always worth it. Also, the afternoon selections aren't quite substantial enough for dinner every night (sometimes we weren't that hungry and they were great, other times, we wanted a full meal), so you will probably still want a few table services and if you plan on doing a character breakfast you will want to use one for that. The best plan might be saving up your table services and using them at a signature dining restaurant like California Grill, Jiko, or Citricos (where even though you are using 2 credits you get your money's worth). That way, you aren't really obligated to eat at a table service every night if you don't want to, and only use them for a great meal. It's important to understand that you can't really see the concierge level as ever being "worth it" in a purely financial sense of the term. You really can't fill yourself up on the concierge offerings and if you are wedded to the three full meals a day system of eating then you might run into problems because the concierge food (except for the continental breakfast) is comprised entirely of snacks and appetizers. You will probably save a little money on food because you can cut back on food you eat in the parks and the universally overpriced breakfasts at Disney, but not enough to cover the difference in price. You probably won't be wasting your money on the dining plan if you add it.

I found when we stayed on concierge level at the Yacht Club (before the dining plan happened), except for one character breakfast we never paid for breakfast. We would just grab something and head into the parks, which also meant we could sleep in a little. Usually in the parks we would need some beverage and we would usually have lunch. Then we would return to our hotel in the afternoon relax and get a snack/drink in the lounge and then either return to the parks or go to dinner somewhere (we ate at a table service restaurant 4 out of our 6 nights) and then we would usually bring a little dessert back to our rooms to end the day. Granted at the time, priority seatings weren't nearly as hard to get (except for fireworks time at California Grill and other really difficult things) I think we made most of our priority seatings when we arrived at Disney (oftentimes we would make our decision that afternoon based on how we were feeling). On our two preplanned priority seating nights, however, we simply incorporated that into our plans and it wasn't a big deal. What is nice, particularly when you are at Disney and you need to keep your energy up, you can use the concierge level to have small meals throughout the day to keep you going without weighing you down combined with a small counter service lunch in the park and then when you are done you can have a nice dinner. It prevents what my family calls "low blood sugar moments" where after a while without food crankiness sets in. Based on how much we spent on other food throughout the park and resort we would definitely save money if we were able to use the dining plan, but you should look into how much you spend on food when you go to Disney.