We've been back here in North Carolina for a few days now, so I decided it was time to post a mini-review of our Beach Club stay. Our arrival day got off to a rocky start. Some bad news at home and a lost iPhone made getting into celebration mode challenging. It's hard to have a bad time at Disney or the Beach Club, so we rallied and ended up having a great trip. I got to hug Teena twice! CM outside welcomed us and walked us inside. We got Happy Anniversary buttons and a map of the resort. Magic Bands worked great. Bell Services delivered our bags within 20 minutes.
Our room was #1532, located next to the laundry room, close to the secret entrance and quiet pool. Of those, the only thing we used was the secret entrance. It was a very quiet location, which we liked. I did not like being on the first floor, as I said in a previous post. The room had 2 Queen beds plus a pull out/daybed. While I missed some of the storage space of the old setup, we enjoyed the almost silent a/c and refrigerator. The rooms are elegant and comfortable. I was glad I brought a hanging sweater shelf for the closet plus some bins to put in the little cabinet areas of the TV stand/dresser. They helped a lot in keeping my crew organized!
For some reason, we had a lot of trouble getting our toilet paper restocked. Housekeeping did a great job cleaning and left plenty of toiletries, but never any toilet paper. Two days I stole some off the carts as they were cleaning other rooms. Finally, we called Housekeeping and, 5 hours later (we were at the parks), went to the Front Desk. We got 3 rolls after about 20 minutes. That was really the only glitch we encountered.
This was our third stay at the Beach Club and I think we like it more each time. You just cannot beat the location. It's better than a Magic Kingdom area, in my opinion. I love how the resorts are all connected by the walkways and lake. Walking to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios is just incredibly convenient. We spent a few hours at the Boardwalk and saw the magicians. It was a lot of fun. Walking home after Illuminations is just the best!! StormAlong Bay was beautiful, as always. My children loved it and they went all over the pool area together.
Food & Wine was very very crowded, especially on the weekend. We arrived on a Saturday and had initially planned to eat at the booths that night. I am so glad that I thought better of that plan and made a reservation for Akershus instead!! The crowds were unbelievable!! Cast members were still talking about it days later. "Were you here on Saturday?" they'd ask.
MNSSHP was fun, but very crowded. It was raining as the party started and I don't think they got the non-ticket holders out of the park. We enjoyed it, but it was disappointing to wait in long lines for rides on a party night. Never mind characters or trick or treat trails.
Two things that I'd love to see at Beach and Yacht: a better lounge and Quick Service. Martha's Vineyard now has nightly "entertainment" in the form of one guy on a guitar playing oldies. He's fine, I guess, but its really loud and he's not exactly Yee Ha Bob. We enjoy sending our kids to the room and unwinding with a martini and quiet conversation. YC has the Ale and Compass which is tiny and the Crews Cup, which was okay. I really favor Territory Lounge at Wilderness and Victoria Falls at Animal Kingdom Lodge. One night, we tried Hurricane Hanna's. Word of warning: do not order a martini at Hurricane Hanna's! Stick the the frou frou menu or get a beer!!
For Quick Service, Marketplace is just very limited. Not bad, just no variety. We went to Boardwalk Bakery one morning and Les Halles another day. We also had two ADRs for character breakfasts.
Overall, we love Beach Club and count it as our favorite resort. Not sure when we will make it back there. My eldest will start high school next school year and her school schedule will be different from her sister's for two years. We will only have the month of July, Christmas week or Spring Break to travel. Might be a Christmas 2016 trip on the horizon for us!!
Our next visit will be at The Contemporary in January. Got a good rate and going with family. I will, of course, continue to keep in touch with the crew on this awesome thread! Thank you to Dee and everyone else who keeps up with answering questions and keeping it up to date!
Mary