with a family of four , and the two kids being teenagers who eat more than I do, does club level end saving money (or breaking even)? Breakfast buffet at our hotel is 25 pp…so i feel like with snacks etc (and not even counting CL as a meal other than breakfast) we’d end up breaking even. Has anyone found this to be true in reality, or is this just wishful thinking on my part? Teens eat SO MUCH.
Yes, IMO, it is possible. It depends what you are comparing it to though, and what rates you are getting for CL. IF you are comparing to a non CL room at a deluxe hotel, and you would normally eat at WDW restaurants, then it can come out okay with 4 people.
IF you are comparing it to offsite hotels w/breakfast included, then offsite costs quite a bit less. If you would normally stay at a mod or value, and/or you buy groceries/cook, then those options probably cost less.
If a CL adds roughly $160 - that's my rough idea of a decent price range- and you have 4 people that are not small children. though with small children CL can be convenient.
A factor for me is that at WDW, time= $. Eating breakfast in the CL can be a real time saver. Even if you take your time in the lounge, you are in the lounge, not walking back and forth between your room and the food court/lounge. Eating offsite also costs time. Mind, we sometimes eat offsite. Offsite food can be great quality at lower prices than WDW, but not always.
The value of CL also depends a great deal on how much you plan to eat there. If you are paring CL with nightly buffets, no. (cost f buffets is too high). If you pair CL with QS/ and non-buffets then more likely. If you only use the CL for breakfast, probably not.
To make the value more in your favor = CL breakfast, CL beverages, PLUS a PM visit every day (either appetizers or desserts or maybe both), but that = going back to the hotel, which doesn't always pair well with park touring.
Another aspect is how early you arrive (1st day) and late you stay your last day. Also, CL lounge breakfast starts at 7am. It can be tricky to eat in the CL, plus make rope drop and book BG/G+ (also at 7am). There has to be some trade-off there.
There are times when the price of CL rack rate is pretty crazy high though.
At $160 and 4 people, that's $40/day. It might help to runs some math on what you would spend on food/beverages if not staying CL vs. staying CL.