What services would it take to get you to stay on the Concierge level?

[durangojim]

And no fair saying a free upgrade. We're talking about what Disney could do to entice people to stay on the concierge level for the same price they currently charge. I've stayed on a concierge level once at the BC. It was nice, but made me realize there is no way I'd pay to stay there.
The one thing that would make me stay there is this:

Being able to arrive on my trip with no ADRs and just telling the concierge that I wanted to go to a restaurant the day of or the next day. If I could do that and not have to plan the whole trip to accommodate dining reservations, it would be worth it to stay there to me.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

Being able to arrive on my trip with no ADRs and just telling the concierge that I wanted to go to a restaurant the day of or the next day. If I could do that and not have to plan the whole trip to accommodate dining reservations, it would be worth it to stay there to me.

If your concierge is half way decent, you can already do this.


Jimmy Thick-Remember to tip them...

 

[SleepingMonk]

Unlimited FastPass similar to the Universal system for resort guests.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

Unlimited FastPass similar to the Universal system for resort guests.

I could go for that.


Jimmy Thick-Not another one...

 

[menamechris]

If your concierge is half way decent, you can already do this.

When I have stayed concierge they could not make last minute ADRs unless it was available to anyone with access to the reservation system. And it is my understanding that none of them can.

 

[SleepingMonk]

Sorta kinda true.

If you get a very good CM they will go the extra mile and work the phones for you in addition to pulling some strings when available.

We've stayed club level many times and only had one CM do this.

 

[durangojim]

If your concierge is half way decent, you can already do this.


Jimmy Thick-Remember to tip them...

Really? From what I've experienced and read, the concierge's at Disney have no pull at the restaurants at all.

 

[Master Yoda]

I really can not see anything that they could add to concierge for it to be worth what they charge for it. Concierge service seems to start around $200 per night and I can not think of a single thing that they could offer that would justify me shelling out that much extra per night. Extra services that I can already do myself is not that big of a selling point for me. Even if concierge had some magic access to a secret stash of tables (which they do not) it would not be worth the extra cash. If I do not get a table at Le Cellier or Ohana it is not that big of a deal as I am just as happy with Beirgarten or WCC. Unlimited fastpass, while it would be nice, is again, not that big of a deal to me. I do not find myself waiting excessively with the current system.

 

[Lucky]

Getting me a better job, so I could afford it.

 

[Zummi Gummi]

Being able to arrive with no ADR's at all and get in to every restaurant I wanted, at the time I wanted to eat, would be a start.

Other things that come to mind for me...

-reserved seating or viewing for the nighttime shows and parades

-transportation to and from the parks so you don't have to fight the crowds at the buses. They could send one of those nifty little DVC vans to come get me at park close.

 

[sublimesting]

A chocolate mint on my pillow.

Or a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

When I have stayed concierge they could not make last minute ADRs unless it was available to anyone with access to the reservation system. And it is my understanding that none of them can.

Iam at a loss on this one. I usually do my due diligence and make multiple ADR's for each day of my visit, but if I feel the ADR's I already made are not what I crave, I call my concierge to get what I want. I have never had them not get what I desire.


Jimmy Thick-High roller?

 

[menamechris]

Iam at a loss on this one. I usually do my due diligence and make multiple ADR's for each day of my visit, but if I feel the ADR's I already made are not what I crave, I call my concierge to get what I want. I have never had them not get what I desire.

Read above. Concierge has no pull at the restaurants. If your concierge got a reservation for you - thats because you could have gotten on-line and done it yourself through the reservation system or calling. As someone else said, if they magically get an impossible reservation for you (i.e. Le Cellier, CA Grille, or 'Ohana last minute) its because they checked continuously throughout the day for a cancellation or maybe have a personal contact at a certain restaurant. But this is not the norm...

 

[CaptainShortty]

Read above. Concierge has no pull at the restaurants. If your concierge got a reservation for you - thats because you could have gotten on-line and done it yourself through the reservation system or calling. As someone else said, if they magically get an impossible reservation for you (i.e. Le Cellier, CA Grille, or 'Ohana last minute) its because they checked continuously throughout the day for a cancellation or maybe have a personal contact at a certain restaurant. But this is not the norm...

CMs don't have any pull in the restaurants over other people as it was already stated. For those of you that may have gotten the "impossible" reservation, you may have gotten lucky and got a CM that 1, went above and beyond and continued to check the system all day for you or 2, happened to be a CM that knew someone/used to work at that restaurant and made a call to that friend to help get you some pull in the reservation. The later does happen but not very often.

As far as paying for concierge, that personal bus thing would be nice. I'd also like it if you could choose from certain "additional experiences" such as La Nouba, backstage tours, golf, spa treatments, etc. Almost similar to what the platinum plan is. Maybe you get 2 per person during your stay and discounts on any additional ones you care to book. That would make it worth it.

 

[righttrack]

Iam at a loss on this one. I usually do my due diligence and make multiple ADR's for each day of my visit, but if I feel the ADR's I already made are not what I crave, I call my concierge to get what I want. I have never had them not get what I desire.


Jimmy Thick-High roller?

Likewise. This is why people stay in concierge or club levels in hotels/resorts around the world. The main reason is - you like to be impulsive and you don't want to spend your time calling/checking online. You want to enjoy your vacation.

 

[AEfx]

Nothing, really.

As to restaurants/ressies, there really isn't anything they can't do for you that you can't do yourself from my understanding.

In the time it takes to communicate to the concierge what you want, you could explain the same thing to someone at WDW-DINE or to any person at a dining reservations/guest services booth in a park. /shrug

There really is nothing that they could do for me that I can come up with that would give me even a tiny desire to spend that kind of money. I think the deluxes are extermely overpriced for what they are to begin with, and adding another couple hundred bucks to save myself a phone call I can make myself isn't even remotely tempting.

 

[TP2000]

If your concierge is half way decent, you can already do this.


Jimmy Thick-Remember to tip them...

I'm not sure which Disney hotels you have been staying at in the Concierge level, but any that I have ever stayed at in Florida or California (DGC, DGF and once at Contemporary) have no ability to do anything you couldn't do by just calling the reservation line yourself. And they have always declined my tips, to the point that I stopped offering them about 7 or 8 years ago.

I have read repeatedly online that it is Disney company policy for concierges to decline tips, probably because Disney knows they aren't really providing concierge-level service. Where have you been staying exactly? :veryconfu

The "concierge" position at Disney's deluxe hotels in America is nothing more than a perky hostess who can tell you when the fireworks begin, can call the ADR phone line for you (yet provide no extra pull, and there's no special phone line for concierge staff to call routinely), and they can keep the coffee brewing and perform light housekeeping duties in the lounges.

Many of the folks in the "concierge" role in Disney's deluxe hotels, and this needs to be handled delicately, are not really the type of people who would even know what a real four or five-star hotel concierge does. They simply aren't that demographic or class of person, and they don't have the profesionalism and/or personal presentation and physical appearance to get a concierge job in any big city Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, or similar top-notch luxury hotel.

Oftentimes, the "concierge" at a Disney deluxe hotel is a pudgy twenty-something with a 15 dollar haircut in a polyester uniform wearing a big cheesy grin who thinks if they say "Have a Magical Day!" enough times that it will somehow equate to a luxury hotel experience. It doesn't.

Who is really to blame here is Disney. Their training of these extra-cost Cast Members is clearly lacking. And what it boils down to is Disney is playing a word game here with their "Concierge" product. They are not running a real concierge service, the CM is just a lounge hostess with front desk clerk skills who lets you sit in a chair while you check in and can call the dinner reservation line for you.

Disney could call these CM's Astronauts if they wanted to, but that doesn't mean they are able to pilot a rocket to the moon. Disney calls them Concierges, but Disney's version can only do about one fifth of the duties any concierge in any other big-city luxury hotel can do.

.

 

[JimJam]

i Stay On The COncierge Level Because Of Free Food & Drinks Better Service And Bigger Rooms ( Beach Club )

 

[menamechris]

Many of the folks in the "concierge" role in Disney's deluxe hotels, and this needs to be handled delicately, are not really the type of people who would even know what a real four or five-star hotel concierge does. They simply aren't that demographic or class of person, and they don't have the profesionalism and/or personal presentation and physical appearance to get a concierge job in any big city Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, or similar top-notch luxury hotel.

Oftentimes, the "concierge" at a Disney deluxe hotel is a pudgy twenty-something with a 15 dollar haircut in a polyester uniform wearing a big cheesy grin who thinks if they say "Have a Magical Day!" enough times that it will somehow equate to a luxury hotel experience. It doesn't.

Who is really to blame here is Disney. Their training of these extra-cost Cast Members is clearly lacking. And what it boils down to is Disney is playing a word game here with their "Concierge" product. They are not running a real concierge service, the CM is just a lounge hostess with front desk clerk skills who lets you sit in a chair while you check in and can call the dinner reservation line for you.

I just have some additional insight to your comments. I have a friend who got hired in a concierge role at a deluxe resort a few months ago. This cast member previously had worked as a parade dancer in one of the parks, and simply put in for a transfer. Has no experience or even worked in any hotel or hospitality position before. It apparently is as simple as applying...

 

[durangojim]

Maybe Disney should drop the "concierge" name and just call it "special" or "super" or "deluxe plus" level since there's not much that the "concierge" really does.