Is reserving Disney’s club-level rooms price it?

If you’ve shopped online for Disney Resort hotel reservations, you may have seen the words “Disney Club Access” on some booking options, and you might have wondered what exactly that means.

It’s easy to tell that these bookings cost more than nonclub rooms, but it’s harder to tell exactly what Disney club access gets you … and whether it is worth it.

Fortunately, I’ve been lucky enough to try out a number of Disney club-level rooms at a few different Disney resorts over the years. Here’s all you need to know about these pricier rooms so you can decide if they’re worth the splurge for your next Disney vacation.

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At its basic level, club level at Walt Disney World means that you are in a room that gets access to a club lounge. The lounge will have food, drinks and snacks available for you at various times during the day, along with a dedicated hangout space and a concierge.

Club level is not available at every Disney resort, but you will find it at these Disney Deluxe and Moderate properties:

With a club-level room at Walt Disney World, you are not only assigned a club type of room, but you also have access to a club lounge and the hosts within that lounge. These hosts can help you fix your park reservations, troubleshoot basic tech support issues with the app, give advice on planning your day and generally make your stay more personalized and, dare we say, magical.

What are Disney club-level benefits?

When you arrive to check into your Disney club-level room, you’ll likely be personally escorted to the club lounge to complete your check-in, which will cover everything you can expect from the lounge and your various club benefits. In fact, it’s possible a Disney cast member will be waiting for you in the lobby to greet you by name if you enter via a security gate by car, as that helps them phone ahead to the club-level rooms to let them know you’ve arrived.

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The club rooms are often centrally located, so you usually won’t have to worry about being at the far end of a spread-out resort. For example, at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, staying in a club-level room means you’ll be in the atrium, close to the restaurants, monorail and, of course, the club lounge itself.

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SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY

The most tangible benefit of Disney’s club level is the club lounge, where you’ll have access to food, drinks and snacks from morning to night.

Of the options available, breakfast and evening appetizers are typically the most substantial offerings. In fact, those are the two meals you could make out of your lounge access if you feel so inclined. Be sure to leave room for dessert, as the options are consistently tasty.

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Evening treats at Disney’s Grand Floridian Club Lounge. SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY

When my kids were little years ago and I first booked the club level at the Contemporary, the agent on the phone told me I was in for a treat and that I had to make myself a plate of dessert, grab some wine from the club and retreat to my theme park-facing room for my own personal fireworks viewing party.

He was right. Having the show’s music playing in the background via my TV while enjoying my selection of snacks was every bit as much of a treat as he said it would be.

What can you expect from Disney club-level lounges?

While I’ve briefly touched on the food-and-beverage options available in Disney’s lounges, let’s break it down further so you know exactly what to expect.

On all of my most recent visits, breakfast was available from 7 to 10:30 a.m. daily, with coffee starting at 6:30 a.m.

Morning options typically include a mix of hot and cold items, such as comforting bites like fried chicken on top of biscuits and creamy grits when we stayed in the Contemporary’s club-level accommodations. Some lighter options, such as avocado toast, fruit and yogurt, cold cuts and a selection of pastries, are available as well.

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Club level at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY

This is probably a good time to mention that not every Disney club level is created equally — and like the resorts themselves, the club lounges each have their own theme, style and offerings.

For example, at the Grand Floridian, breakfast options reminded me of some of the dishes we had from the buffet at the fantastic 1900 Park Fare character breakfast a few stories down in the same building … including the fun strawberry soup. In fact, I’d say it is my favorite of the Disney club lounges I’ve visited so far.

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SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY

In the afternoon, the Disney club-level offerings typically thin out a bit. However, the fridge remains stocked, which is quite handy for grabbing a drink between treks to the parks. We’ve also been known to toss an Uncrustable or two from the fridge, along with packaged grapes and maybe a wrapped-up cookie, into our backpacks to enjoy in the parks when we don’t want to stop and eat a real meal.

Related: The best restaurants at Disney World

I do have to say that the unlimited ice cream sandwiches — including Mickey bars — at the Grand Floridan may have been a highlight of that club’s grab-and-go offerings.

But no matter which Disney club lounge you’re staying at, around 5 to 7 p.m. is when the “good” stuff comes out.

Whether you want a snack to tide you over before heading back to the parks or are aiming to put together a “dinner” with this food you’ve already paid to be able to access, you can accomplish either goal at the lounge … so long as your crew isn’t too picky. There are a handful of hot options each evening, usually from one of the hotel’s restaurant kitchens.

It’s also common to find some kid-pleasers such as nuggets, tater tots and rolls next to more adult-oriented favorites like short ribs, soy-glazed salmon and serrano-wrapped melon.

At the Grand Floridian’s club, we recently loved the hearty potato cakes with prime rib, the pineapple coconut shrimp ceviche and the salmon cakes, to name a few options.

My advice for the best experience in the club lounges each evening is don’t wait until right before the plates are cleared at 7 p.m., as the selections are generally a little better stocked if you don’t wait until the last second.

After the evening snacks (or dinner, as the case may be) are finished, the lounge shifts its focus to desserts and drinks, which are available from about 8 to 10 p.m.

These options are the perfect way to unwind after a busy day at the theme parks, especially if you time your snack consumption just right to coincide with watching the fireworks from the lounge or your room, particularly if you have a theme park view.

The desserts may consist of cookies, cupcakes, tarts and cakes, among other sweet treats.

Adult beverages are included, too. In the Disney club-level lounges, you can expect a selection of a few different wines in the evening, along with a variety of bottled beers and/or a beer or two on tap. Grand Marnier, Baileys, Kahlua and Frangelico are some of the most common cordials I’ve seen on offer.

Speaking of adult beverages, a fun touch at the Grand Floridian’s club lounge was this daytime mimosa bar, complete with a plastic cup option for taking the beverage to the pool.

When you layer club-level service on top of the rooms, the spread for nightly rates at resorts with club levels widens in a hurry. To be sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck, I highly recommend using a free Disney vacation planner (such as TPG’s booking partner Mouse Counselors) since they help keep you in the loop on discounts and assist with planning other parts of your trip.

If you want as much convenience, service and magic as possible while at Disney World, it can be worth splurging for a club-level room. This is much like the equation with concierge-level service on a Disney cruise.

However, if “worth it” means you’re spending more in one area to save in another (aka on food and drinks), then the answer is: It depends. You’re unlikely to ever truly save money by booking a club-level room, but there are situations where the extra money you are spending for the club-level amenities and service can help you trim other expenses here and there.

For example, if you’re a family that’s going to make good use of the food and drinks in the lounge, then it’s not unreasonable to make up a portion of that room price difference by dining in the lounge instead of at the theme parks, where food and beverage prices are notoriously high.

Of course, ordering essentials and having them directly delivered to Disney via a grocery service is still probably cheaper, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t save some on dining expenses by staying in a club-level room.

But beyond that, there’s the extra-extra magical service you’re more likely to receive in a Disney club-level room.

On our recent stay at Grand Floridian’s club level, there was an issue with some of our booked Lightning Lanes. Typically, that means waiting in line in the parks for some help, but while seated in the club, I asked the concierge there if she might be able to help get our issue sorted. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to — but she tried and ultimately was successful, which saved us time and a lot of hassle. That kind of intangible perk is hard to put a value on but really does elevate the trip to a whole different level of service.

As with all Disney resort rooms, there’s another way you can shave a little more off the out-of-pocket cost: credit card rewards.

For example, with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, the miles you accrue can be used to offset any travel charge on the card or any Disney booking made within Capital One’s travel site. The Bilt Mastercard® (see rates and fees) also has a travel portal that lets you use rewards for Disney resorts.

See Bilt Mastercard rates and fees here.

See Bilt Mastercard rewards and benefits here.