Just Back - Did NOT like Yacht Club...Moved to Poly

[I-Bike]

We just booked the Poly for this November. How did you like it?

 

[FigmentFinder]

Do you have twins and an older stepson by chance?

 

[grafxgirl]

We went to the Captain's Grille twice for breakfast. It was just fine. The bigger issue was lack of a counter service eatery.

We lived, we learned. We're Magic Kingdom resort folk.

Hurricane Hanna's, Beach Club Marketplace and Ale & Compass Lounge are counter service areas.

 

[Planogirl]

That's a lot of diapers.

I think that it's important to remember that the Disney deluxe hotels are not luxury hotels. You are paying for location, location, location. The Loews hotels are definitely nicer but that what that chain is all about.

 

[grafxgirl]

We were at the YC for 11 days in May and found although it was a beautiful resort and wonderful pool we knew we wouldn't be back. It was awesome to walk to Epcot in the evening for supper but the buses were awful!! One night we came home from DTD and we were stacked 7 across in the aisles! I felt it was dangerous if we ever had a collision. We stayed CL and found that there was always housekeeping carts in the hallways. We were constantly navigating our way around them and they are quite large. Our room was okay: much smaller than the GF where we stayed the year before. The CL lounge was also quite small and much of the time we were unable to acquire a table to seat and enjoy our breakfast. But its Disney and we still had an awesome vacation, but I think we will be going back to The Grand.

We love the Epcot resorts! If we find the bus is crowded and we don't want to be on it, we just get off at one of the previous stops and walk the rest of the way around the scenic boardwalk, stop in at a few shops or grab a snack along the way. Of course, we have two kids DD6 and DS3 who are very active and enjoy the exercise, as well as the two of us.

We've stayed at other resorts, and have waited 30-45 minutes for a bus. We've never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus to arrive at one of the Epcot resorts. We also like the idea of using the boats for a slow paced, relaxing trip. We absolutely love being able to walk to/from Epcot and HWS.

 

[RabbitFood]

I've never liked having to share the bus with all those resorts, either.
The Epcot resorts are perfect for something like a Food and Wine weekend, but can be annoying otherwise, if you're relying on Disney transportation.

We've had fire alarms at Disney resorts too, but were also always given a slip of paper with an apology/explanation afterwards.

 

[ckent]

We just booked the Poly for this November. How did you like it?

We loved it. The rooms are very large. Request Tokelau. Rooms are largest there, all have balconies or patios, and it's very centrally located.

 

[diz74]

"We had 3 awesome nights at the Royal Pacific at Universal. Anyone who has ever stayed at a Loewe's Hotel, knows Disney could do some more homework." (original post)



Just curious, in what ways would you say the Lowe's Hotels are better than Disney? ( This is not meant as a flame or to provoke a debate, I am genuinely interested. DH and I always talk about tacking a few extra days onto our Disney trips and stay at Universal, but we have yet to do so.

Sorry you had such a disappointing stay at the YC, but glad that your stay at the Poly was better! Poly is one of my favorites!

 

[Mimi1965]

diz74-I ALWAYS feel WDW are pricier than comparable other Hotels.
You are paying to STAY ON SITE-Period!

I've stayed at a couple other hotels in Orlando that were nicer and cheaper

 

[Bonnie40]

"We had 3 awesome nights at the Royal Pacific at Universal. Anyone who has ever stayed at a Loewe's Hotel, knows Disney could do some more homework." (original post)



Just curious, in what ways would you say the Lowe's Hotels are better than Disney? ( This is not meant as a flame or to provoke a debate, I am genuinely interested. DH and I always talk about tacking a few extra days onto our Disney trips and stay at Universal, but we have yet to do so.

Sorry you had such a disappointing stay at the YC, but glad that your stay at the Poly was better! Poly is one of my favorites!

Not the OP here (Hey Clark Kent!), but thought I'd give you my thoughts on the Universal resorts vs Disney resorts.

It is well worth staying at one of the Universal properties....they are usually more affordable than the Disney deluxe resorts and the theming is as nice or nicer than Disney. We have wonderful memories of strolling along the walkway from RPR to CityWalk to the parks. With FOTL available to resort guests as well, it can't be beat!

Try it....you'll love it!

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

diz74-I ALWAYS feel WDW are pricier than comparable other Hotels.
You are paying to STAY ON SITE-Period!

I've stayed at a couple other hotels in Orlando that were nicer and cheaper

Yeah, but then you're not on property.

 

[minniebeth]

As far as the Universal resorts go, they are like any other resort/hotel chain...your experience can be hit or miss. We've stayed at Royal Pacific and while I loved the resort and location and experience of US/IOA, we had a less than stellar room and problems with maintainance and housekeeping. We had some restaurant issues and felt management was very poor in responding to our issues.

I too would want some explanation of why the fire alarms went off. I'd be nervous unless I knew what the problem was and that it was resolved for sure. I just don't want to be sheepeople and go back to the room blindly just because they say so. Disney or not. We've been in a highrise hotel before where the fire alarms went off. We were told to ignore it by hotel staff only to find out that 1/2 hr. later, there was a problem and yes, evacuate.

I wouldn't need an apology, just information.

OP, sorry you didn't have a great experience at YC, and that you enjoyed the Poly. We've stayed at BC and while we love the location, prefer the MK resorts ourselves.

 

[ckent]

"We had 3 awesome nights at the Royal Pacific at Universal. Anyone who has ever stayed at a Loewe's Hotel, knows Disney could do some more homework." (original post)



Just curious, in what ways would you say the Lowe's Hotels are better than Disney? ( This is not meant as a flame or to provoke a debate, I am genuinely interested. DH and I always talk about tacking a few extra days onto our Disney trips and stay at Universal, but we have yet to do so.

Sorry you had such a disappointing stay at the YC, but glad that your stay at the Poly was better! Poly is one of my favorites!

They just treat you like you'd expect to be treated at a 4 star hotel. Everybody is always polite. The bellhops are great, valets are great. Everyone there seems to really enjoy their job. Housekeeping is also excellent at the Universal Resorts, where it tends to be average much of the time at Disney.

Another small thing I've noticed is upkeep. The Universal Resorts are immaculate. The Disney Resorts, while clean, tend to have many overlooked areas. You see cobwebs on the staircases as the Poly. Some of the windows were dirty at Ohana. The monorail station at the GF has a lot of chipped paint. It's not a big deal, but you don't generally see that at Universal.

 

[kinggoofy]

Well, seeing that a few post have veered towards staying at off - site hotels...

We stayed at Best Western / Lake Buena Vista on the Hotel Blvd Plaza our 1st night this year Monday Aug 2nd.

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER again. We were so disspointed in our choice that we could not wait to wake up on Tuesday morning and get outta there.

The room was old, the hotel was old, the elevators were dirty, the hallways stunk, the pool was small....AND we though about eating dinner in the resturant on the 1st floor..(I beleive its called Traders or something like that)....BUT when we saw 2 people eating dinner at 6pm and only 2 host bascially begging us to eat there....we decided to go to RFC DTD instead.

There is something about staying ON - SITE vs. Off site. I know those hotels on the Plaza Blvd offer the same transportation BUT...its just different.

The best thing about our room was the view of DTD from our balcony and trust me...NOTHING MORE.

The hotels on the Plaza Blvd. are not in the same "team photo" as the Disney Property Resorts.

You get what you pay for !!!!!!!

 

[KatMark]

We just got back from 16 nights in Orlando. We had 3 awesome nights at the Royal Pacific at Universal. Anyone who has ever stayed at a Loewe's Hotel, knows Disney could do some more homework.

Anyways, let me say up front, after tons of research, our 1st mistake was picking Yacht Club over the Beach Club. I like the look of the rooms at YC, but the atmosphere, decal and conveniences all belong to the BC.

Checking into the YC was great. A nice manager/supervisor greeted us as we got out of our limo (Happy Limo is the best BTW!!!). She brought us to the front desk. We had done on-line check-in, and everything went smoothly. She gave us our room number, and off we went. It literally took us about 7 minutes to walk to our room. When we got there, I saw the view from the balcony and told my wife not to even put the kids down. In over 25 on-site stays I have never once complained about a room, but I paid an additional $80 per night for a water view, requested one, and all we got was a view of some trees and a courtyard. I politely called the front desk and they put me in touch with a very nice woman who found us another room. This room has a much nicer view, but sadly was a corner room which is smaller, and had no daybed, and the balcony outlook was a small circle. Whatever. We took it and began our Disney vacation.

We had a box of diapers, etc shipped to the resort as we always do. I called Bell Services and they said the box was in the business center and I'd have to get it myself. So, I walked to the business center on the other side of the hotel. They charged me a $10 processing fee (they apparently do this at all convention resorts now), and would not help me bring the box to our room. In fact, wouldn't allow me to use a cart. So, I had to lug a 40 pound box all the way across the hotel. $420 a night for this???

Our 1st trip was DTD. When the bus arrived, it was standing room only, as it had already stopped at Swan and Dolphin. After packing us in, they stuffed the rest of the bus with stops at Beach Club and Boardwalk. Had a nice dinner at DTD. When leaving to go back to the resort, we waited 30 minutes for a bus, only to find it standing room only. We were exhausted, so just took a cab back. Cab dropped us off while 3 or 4 guys from valet/bell services stood there. I don't care much about this, but normally, when I've stayed at a hotel in this price range, they at least open the door and say "Welcome Back". Whatever.

Our 1st morning there we were awakened by a fire alarm at 6:30 in the morning. The entire hotel had to be evacuated for a good 15-20 minutes. Needless to say, most people with kids were lucky to have a pair of shorts on outside. They let everyone back in, with never an explanation as to what had happened or an apology.

No one in the hotel was very friendly. Only a few even said "Hello". We knew after the 2nd night, it wasn't for us. Sadly, everything on the monorail was booked. On the 4th night, we came back and there was a message on our voicemail warning us not to take a shower that morning (a bit too late), as there was something wrong with the water.

On the 5th night, we stopped by every monorail hotel until finally the Poly told us they could take us. We had stayed at the Poly once a few years ago and weren't impressed, but this time, they won us over. The room was MUCH larger than that of the YC, the service was friendlier, buses were better, food was better, CM's were awesome.

Very much a bummer. We had really been looking forward to staying in the Epcot area, but found it's not for us. As for Stormalong Bay, eh, it's really big, but I'll take the pool at WL any day.

Thanks for your detailed and honest review of your experience at the YC. The YC has never held any interest for us, but then most of the deluxes don't hold appeal to us because the prices are outrageous for what really are not "deluxe" resorts...but "location" resorts. I am glad you were able to get switched to the Poly (our favorite of the two we have stayed at in the past).

 

[piglet1234]

you are scaring me with the YC.. We usually stay at the Poly, and now I am a bit concerned about our upcoming Yacht Club stay....

 

[MarieA]

We almost always stay at BCV (our home resort) and love the Epcot area. Before we bought our DVC we stayed at the Contemporary and loved the convenience of the monorail. Our last trip (May 2010) we stayed at Bay Lake Tower and while we loved the area I found that I missed the Epcot resort area. My DH and I prefer Epcot and DHS to the Magic Kingdom. I find the atmosphere at the YC to be a bit stuffy at times but the staff there has always been friendly.

I have to agree with you with regard to the bus situation at the YC and BC resorts. The buses to Magic Kingdom are fine but everytime we've gone to Downtown Disney we've waited at least 30 - 45 minutes. We've waited as long as 1 hr. for a bus at Downtown Disney to return to the BC. We usually won't go to Downtown Disney if we don't have a car. The buses are always crowded because they are servicing 5 resorts.

As far as the fire alarm - once it goes off everyone must evacuate the building. We had an issue while staying the Boston area - the fire alarm was pulled twice, once at 2:30 am and again at 3:30 am (in the dead of winter). We had to evacuate both times in our pajamas even though it was 20 degrees outside and there was snow on the ground. We later found out that some kids were playing pranks and were the reason for the fire alarm.

I'm glad you switched to the Poly and were able to enjoy the rest of your vacation.

 

[kinggoofy]

you are scaring me with the YC.. We usually stay at the Poly, and now I am a bit concerned about our upcoming Yacht Club stay....

Read the "good" post on here. We just returned and were there the same time as the OP...we had no issues. You will be fine.

Remember...when someone writes about a bad experience that they had, it seems to multiply like rabbits and the negatives are like the energizer bunny...they keep going and going and going and going.

People nowadays are infatuated with negatives.

You will be fine. !!!! Go and enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[maxiesmom]

Spending 420 a nite should get help with using roller cart and in general. I would not spend 420 a nite for crappy service. Disney or not location or not THEY are providing a service.

Oh, I agree. The point is, what Disney considers a deluxe resort would not be deluxe resort any where else. Like it or not, part of the reason they charge so much and call them deluxe resorts is their location. I think people are mislead by the whole deluxe title.

 

[gogo]

Your mistake is in thinking that spending a lot of $$$ for a Disney resort mans that you will get service comparable to spending $$$ in the real world. It doesn't. A great deal of the money you spent for your room was because of the location. Disney deluxes do not compare to deluxe resorts anywhere else.

I agree that the busses at the Boardwalk area resorts stink. Too many resorts share the same busses. It would be nice if Disney divided the up a bit.

I would not be so sure about Walt "rolling over in his grave". Walt was a businessman, and not above making money hand over fist. Not to mention, that statement is so over-used for any time anything goes wrong.

Sorry you were so disappointed. I do agree with you that the Poly is a much nicer resort.

MaxiesMom or anyone:

I'm really curious about the comment that if you stay at a deluxe resort you are really paying for the location. Honestly, I would like to know if this is really true, in that Disney says this, or is this something we accept because we are just so happy to be staying on Disney property that we pay deluxe prices and accept poor service. I'm sure the valets, etc. are paid to help guests and be attentive and not just stand around talking to each other.

I really think that if we receive poor service, especially, paying the deluxe prices that it should be brought to management's attention and not just pass it off as we paid for the location Only so rude, or lacking service is acceptable. I have seen similar comments from time to time on these boards about the Deluxes not being equal to outside resorts for the same money. IMHOThe deluxes are not only being mostly about location but also about better restaurants and more elaborate pools and it just does not make sense to accept poor service at any hotel especially at the Deluxe resorts.

Now, I do understand that at Disney their Deluxe resorts may not be exactly like other deluxe hotel accommodations because you are also receiving park benefits, etc. but I still think that the service should be superior to the values or moderates.