Mini Yacht Club Review - 7 night stay in March

[ColoradoDisney]

Mini Yacht Club Review
- 7 Nights in March 2014
- Booked Standard Room
- 2 Adults, 11 year old and 14 year old

Overall Rating: B+
Room: B+
Food/Restaurants: B
Pool: A+
Location: A
Value: B- (compared to other WDW on site hotels)
Transportation: A

Highlights
-The Pool Complex is plain awesome
-Location is great. I would have given it an A+ but Beach Club is just a tiny bit closer to EPCOT.
-Excellent Housekeeping
-Best Transportation Experience we've had at Disney.

Lowlights
-Not the best value on Disney Property. I think Wilderness Lodge is more bang for the buck.
-The lobby is a bit underwhelming to me. Not bad but not as grand as WL, AKL, and other deluxe resorts.
-I didn't like the food restaurant options at the hotel. They should at least have a coffee cart. All the sit down places were always booked when I asked about getting a table but whenever I walked by, there were always empty tables.

The Y&B club is by far the best hotel option in the EPCOT/Boardwalk area. We enjoyed our week at the hotel. We did not have a rental car. We were completely dependent on Disney Transportation. I must say, that our transportation experience this trip was fantastic from Magical Express to Park Transportation. There were several different convention groups coming/going from the hotel. It is a bit odd to be in my bathing suit heading to the pool and passing people in business suits.

We have stayed at PO, POP, CBR, WL, Poly and Ft Wilderness. My wife says the YC is her favorite thus far. I stay prefer the WL. I miss the dramatic lobby and more pronounced theme. However, I will say the transportation was a much better at YC than WL.

The actual room itself was nice. No specific complaints. Good water pressure for the shower. The day bed was a nice touch. The size was ok but I would not call it large.

If anyone has questions about YC, i would be happy to answer. Feel free to comment and ask in this thread.

 

[mickeynut1]

Thanks for your mini review. I'm glad you had a nice stay and enjoyed the YC. We've never stayed at the YC, but have stayed at the BC and while we had a nice stay and liked the resort, we also prefer the WL to the BC/YC.

 

[jenjersnap]

I am with your wife...YC is in my top 2 resorts. . The lounge in the lobby serves coffee. I used my refillable mug there every morning. I am actually pretty shocked you couldn't walk into Captain's Grille. Thanks for the review!

 

[Mousemommy1]

Great review!! We loved our YC stay last year, and are trying BC this year.

We were so worried about the transportation to MK and AK based on some reviews here but we found it to be great!!

WL does remain our favorite, but for location and convenience, I really don't think you can beat the Epcot resorts. Being able to walk to two parks is amazing.

If they could figure out a way to drop WL on the Epcot loop, that would be Disney perfection!

 

[kjcs618]

Thanks for the mini review. My family of 5 stayed at Beach Club last year. Absolutely Loved it. For me, Nothing beats the Epcot resorts location. Actually was going to stay at Polynesian this year, but with all the construction, had to decide on someplace else. Yacht Club is definitely not 'settling'. Can't wait!

 

[mslhb]

Thanks for the review! This was very helpful. We love the WL and choose it since we spend a lot of days at the MK. When my DD gets older I want to switch to an EPCOT resort and have my eye on the YC. I really like having a full balcony so we would likely choose it over the BC.

 

[nickc50]

I'm with you WL is my favorite, but the room is to small for a deluxe that's why were going to YC in July. I was there many yrs. ago and liked it. I would say if you could make the WL rooms the size of the YC rooms that would be perfect.

 

[ColoradoDisney]

I should have been more clear regarding the coffee cart comment. As stated, they did sell coffee in the lobby bar. I was thinking of coffee cart that would make espresso, lattes, etc.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

So you never stayed at the BC? We usually stay at the BC but decided to stay at the YC to save a lot of money. The discount was sold out at the BC. So we will be at the YC this summer. Wondering if you could compare?

Thanks for the review.

 

[ColoradoDisney]

As requested, I am going to compare YC and BC. To be completely fair, we only stayed at YC and we never have stayed at BC.

I am not sure everyone realizes that YC and BC are physically connected. They were built at the same time. It is my understanding that the rooms are pretty much the same in size. They do not share check in desks or lobbies. However, the lobbies are similar in size. The large swimming complex is shared by the two resorts.

Differences:
-Themes. Nautical vs. Beach Resort.
-Gift shop at BC has a snack bar with a limited meal plus the store sells some basic grocery items. It is within easy walking distance. We purchased milk for cereal and a few other grocery items during our stay.
-TC is closer to the lighthouse dock where you get disney boat transportation to Hollywood Studios and EPCOT.
-BC is closer to EPCOT. Depending on your room location it could be much closer to EPCOT or it could be only slightly better than YC.
-When we were at YC, there was more convention people staying. This resulted in more people in formal attire in the lobby and elevators. If you are shy about sharing an elevator with someone in a business suit while your in your bathing suit, this might be a big deal. We didn't care.

We selected TC because it was $500 cheaper for a 7 night stay over BC. For us, there was not a $500 value in staying at BC vs YC. If they were the same price, I would pick BC as it is closer to EPCOT and I prefer to have the snack counter/gift shop closer to my room.

Both hotels are beautiful properties. It is arguable that the properties could be considered the same place. Reminds me Port Orleans Riverside with the Bayou and Mansion theme buildings.