2011 Beach & Yacht Club FAQ

[Kona65]

What's your opinion? How does the YC and BC compare to the GF and WL during Christmas time? Do you get the Christmas atmosphere like you would at the other resorts? We are considering the YC or BC for the week before Christmas. Any opinions or information will be appreciated.

 

[TeenaS]

So I'm getting the sense that DH and I really should book YC if we want some peace and quiet after the parks? We stayed in a BWI Garden Suite on our first trip and loved it because it was so quiet. Our last trip was WL directly off the lobby (a bear-face room, I believe it is called) and found the noise from the lobby cacophonous.

Is the noise in the BC lobby really loud? Is that what the hustle and bustle comments mean?

It's not that noisy ... there are more people usually hanging around the BC lobby. Wherever you stay, request a room "not close to the lobby" or read further for my rooms far away from lots of foot traffic but also close to lobby.

I've found in any resort, whether it be WDW, Vegas, etc., my trip and stay is governed by who my neighbors at the resorts are. A few times we had loud people (not just the kids) and a few times late at night we had loud people outside in the hallway. I've learned if the other guests next to me are really annoying and loud (people - use your inside voices in a hotel), I call the front desk and complain. You can usually hear someone come and knock at the neighbor's door and tell them to keep in down. Normally it works. Once I actually moved my room because of the hallway traffic. My favorite area to be if you look at the BC map is the area down by 2643, 2632, etc. ... on all the floors, I love those rooms. http://www.disneyzone.net/bcresort.htm
Remember, don't look at anything on these maps except the room numbers. Pretty much everything else is wrong.

And at the YC, it's the areas near the rooms 2150, 2161, etc. on all the floors, I love those rooms. http://www.disneyzone.net/ycresort.htm

All these rooms (both resorts) are close to the lobby but not much foot traffic (therefore not very noisy in the hallways). I actually prefer the second floor at the BC but the higher floors at the YC (like 4150, 4161, etc.).

JMO!!

 

[TeenaS]

What's your opinion? How does the YC and BC compare to the GF and WL during Christmas time? Do you get the Christmas atmosphere like you would at the other resorts? We are considering the YC or BC for the week before Christmas. Any opinions or information will be appreciated.

Oh yes!!! At the BC, we have a chocolate and gingerbread working carousel in the middle of the lobby along with the normal holiday decorations. At the YC, there is a working train set up in the lobby. And you can walk around the lake and stop in and see the Boardwalk's decorations too. And of course, you get to walk into Epcot whenever you want and hear the different Christmas stories at all the countries.

 

[JanetMom]

Need help figuring out Plan C.

Since 10 months and 23 days is far too long to wait for our trip to the YC (after all I've already figured out what ADRs I want and there isn't much more I can research as I think I have read just about everything I can on BC/YC and Epcot) I need to find a way to get to the BC or YC sooner.

Plan A - CR Fan killed this plan
I stumbled across Plan A yesterday when I noticed that CR Fan has a wonderful trip planned and it would be totally convenient for his family to take me with on their trip (in spite of the fact that they don't know me and may think I'm a crazy person ) Well you can see from his post that his family valued their luggage more than me.

Plan B - Didn't happen
Plan B was to win $50M in the lottery yesterday, but that didn't happen.

So now we are on to Plan C - Moving to the BC/YC

I figure we should just cash in all of our retirement savings and go live at the BC or YC until the money runs out. This idea seems perfect, but some challenges have come up. I know that the posters on this board, especially Marlton Mom, can come up with some reasonable solutions to deal with these three challenges.

Challenge 1 - We are only in our 40's, so there isn't enough savings to go forever and in theory we could still be alive and well after the savings run out. My husband's solution is to just eat and drink so much wonderful but unhealthy food that we shorten our life span. My solution is to simply pretend that money is not a problem and ignore any thoughts of it running out.

Challenge 2 - Our dog. We have a dog so we would need to find a place for her. We could leave her with our dog walker but that would cost money and that would eat into the number of days we could stay in WDW. We could bring her to the WDW Kennel, but that costs even more than our dog walker. We like our dog so this challenge is a tricky one.

Challenge 3 - Our son. We have a 14-year old son. I figure if he is old enough to be alone at SAB he is old enough to stay home in Toronto so he can keep going to school (and look after the dog ) Our son seems to think he should come with us. So, any Florida experts have thoughts on the Orlando school system? Will a school bus come pick him up at YC or BC?

I say there are only 3 challenges, but my husband is concerned about having a cell phone, so for him I also ask ... What type of cell phone/carrier should we get in Florida. As of now our Canadian cell phone carriers don't work in Florida or the roaming fees are ridiculous so we need to come up with a new cell phone carrier, or buy a data pack for use in Florida.

There must be a way to make BC/YC our home for an indefinite time.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Teena - quick question the construction.

Are they working in the back (near the lake) area of the front area of the resort now? Also, will it be like when they did the rehab - BC first and then YC?

Thanks for all your help!

Did you get to read my post about the gv room? I took your advice and checked everyday and they finally opened up some more gv cl rooms with the 30% discount! So right now we have the whole 15 nights in gv cl and my in-laws have the gv cl room for the week they are there.

After all this, my nightmare is that they'll do the same thing when AP rates come out and I'll be back to checking every day!

I'll bet you can't wait for Thursday!

 

[natebenma]

Oh yes!!! At the BC, we have a chocolate and gingerbread working carousel in the middle of the lobby along with the normal holiday decorations. At the YC, there is a working train set up in the lobby. And you can walk around the lake and stop in and see the Boardwalk's decorations too. And of course, you get to walk into Epcot whenever you want and hear the different Christmas stories at all the countries.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1735844&page=78

There are some great photos of the gingerbread carousel from NateNLogansDad in the Post all your Yacht&Beach Club Photo thread.

I've posted the link to the page, the posts with the carousel photos are 1165 and 1166

 

[Aliceacc]

Ah, good. You've given me something else to obsess about. I was starting to think about ADRs, but I'll table it (pun intended) until I get a handle on room requests.

We're going for standard view at the Beach Club... is the extra cost for Garden View worth it? (I don't even have any idea what that extra charge might be.) I know I want to request a balcony... I love that first cup of tea outside in the morning sun.
Hers's what I'm thinking... someone tell me if it sounds logical.

My kids are huge water rats. But, that said, they have lots of energy when it comes to swimming. So being a decent distance from Stormalong bay shouldn't be an issue.

On the other hand, my girls (particularly my youngest) is a morning person-- like me. So walking home from Epcot after a long day won't be her favorite part of the trip. A long treck to the room after that walk will only make her crankier.

So I was thinking of requesting a room closer to the Epcot end of the resort. Does that make sense, (Is there a doorway there that would give us late night entry) or do I want something closer to the lobby?

Oh, and something else just occurred to me. That same younger daughter has a real issue with fireworks-- as in, NEEDS to be inside, away from them. I don't know whether it's just that they're loud (she has noise reducing headphones that help a little, but still....) or whether it's the fireworks themselves that frighten her. How loud are they from the BC? (For the record, they were never an issue from our room at the Poly.)

Anyone want to offer some ideas?

 

[WDWKOOK]

If I had to take an educated guess at the GV CL rooms, by looking at Bing Maps, I would say the following 5 are GV:

5148
5150
5152
5154

(all are facing gazebo facing away from Epcot, making it difficult to see water too)

5198

(faces away from Epcot and just outside the main lake entrance, but no view of lake from that angle)

Like I said, it's just a guess... Get on Bing Maps and look at the bird's eye view. It's wonderful....

Thank you!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Ah, good. You've given me something else to obsess about. I was starting to think about ADRs, but I'll table it (pun intended) until I get a handle on room requests.

We're going for standard view at the Beach Club... is the extra cost for Garden View worth it? (I don't even have any idea what that extra charge might be.) I know I want to request a balcony... I love that first cup of tea outside in the morning sun.
Hers's what I'm thinking... someone tell me if it sounds logical.

My kids are huge water rats. But, that said, they have lots of energy when it comes to swimming. So being a decent distance from Stormalong bay shouldn't be an issue.

On the other hand, my girls (particularly my youngest) is a morning person-- like me. So walking home from Epcot after a long day won't be her favorite part of the trip. A long treck to the room after that walk will only make her crankier.

So I was thinking of requesting a room closer to the Epcot end of the resort. Does that make sense, (Is there a doorway there that would give us late night entry) or do I want something closer to the lobby?

Oh, and something else just occurred to me. That same younger daughter has a real issue with fireworks-- as in, NEEDS to be inside, away from them. I don't know whether it's just that they're loud (she has noise reducing headphones that help a little, but still....) or whether it's the fireworks themselves that frighten her. How loud are they from the BC? (For the record, they were never an issue from our room at the Poly.)

Anyone want to offer some ideas?

The difference between and sv and a gv room is about $10 a day. A small price to pay for a nice view!

 

[Aliceacc]

Really? I hadn't realized it was so little.

Hmmmm....

 

[sjs314]

DH and I watched a few videos on UTube yesterday of the Beach Club. When I changed our ressie from Sept to Oct the Studio Villa was not available for our new dates so we booked GV in BC.
The reasons we had originally booked the Studio was tri-fold, one because all Villas had a balcony, two, DH liked the idea of having a sitting area and three the microwave in room.
As we were watching the one video showed the Juliet Balcony which was good since I had not yet mentioned to DH the possiblity of maybe having the small balcony
DH actually said he like the look of the BC rooms better than the Villa so knowing I can ask about a microwave at check-in and DH will not freak now if we happen to end up in a room with the Julet balcony I am one happy and excited camper.

 

[WsPrincess]

Need help figuring out Plan C.


Challenge 1 - We are only in our 40's, so there isn't enough savings to go forever and in theory we could still be alive and well after the savings run out. My husband's solution is to just eat and drink so much wonderful but unhealthy food that we shorten our life span. My solution is to simply pretend that money is not a problem and ignore any thoughts of it running out.

Challenge 2 - Our dog. We have a dog so we would need to find a place for her. We could leave her with our dog walker but that would cost money and that would eat into the number of days we could stay in WDW. We could bring her to the WDW Kennel, but that costs even more than our dog walker. We like our dog so this challenge is a tricky one.

Challenge 3 - Our son. We have a 14-year old son. I figure if he is old enough to be alone at SAB he is old enough to stay home in Toronto so he can keep going to school (and look after the dog ) Our son seems to think he should come with us. So, any Florida experts have thoughts on the Orlando school system? Will a school bus come pick him up at YC or BC?

I say there are only 3 challenges, but my husband is concerned about having a cell phone, so for him I also ask ... What type of cell phone/carrier should we get in Florida. As of now our Canadian cell phone carriers don't work in Florida or the roaming fees are ridiculous so we need to come up with a new cell phone carrier, or buy a data pack for use in Florida.

There must be a way to make BC/YC our home for an indefinite time.

Challenge 1 seems simple and you have it figured out. Just ignore the money issue and worry about it later! It should be fine for a while and since you will be living the dream, it will be worth it!

Challenge 2 might be the hardest. How big is the dog? Can you just dress him up like a baby and take him for walks in a stroller? If that doesn't appeal to you and you don't want to risk getting evicted from BC if you get caught, there is the Kennel near POR. You could go spend the days there and visit! Now this will cut into the money you have for living at BC but that is OK.

Now you could combine Challenge 2 and 3 together and go with if DS is old enough to stay home to finish school, the dog can just stay with him! Perfect solution for everyone. Now, DS might get loney so plan for some of the money going to frequent flights down to BC!

Also, you can always homeschool/BC School him. He would have the WS and CM as his teachers and you could teach him the rest. Talk about hands on learning. Plus Disney offers all those fun classes for homeschooling families. Maybe they would let you volunteer to help cover the costs

I think you could totally make it work. Though maybe a BC expert can answer this but since you can only do a 14 day reservation, would you have to move rooms every two weeks or so?

 

[JanetMom]

Though maybe a BC expert can answer this but since you can only do a 14 day reservation, would you have to move rooms every two weeks or so?

Hmmm, hadn't thought about the time limit on a reservation. That would be a bit of a pain to move every 2 weeks, but I'd work with it and look at it as an opportunity to try out all the parks.

 

[DawnMaree]

Trying to get caught up- is everyone staying CL but me

No -- We po' folk are staying garden view at the YC, which I had to almost rip my husband's arm off while twisting it to pay for the upgrade from standard. He's thinking $80+ more a week could be better spent. Oh SURE, I could spend it on some booze baby, but I'll just do that anyway. LOL.

The difference between and sv and a gv room is about $10 a day. A small price to pay for a nice view!

Which is why we finally "splurged" for the better view!

 

[sjs314]

No -- We po' folk are staying garden view at the YC, which I had to almost rip my husband's arm off while twisting it to pay for the upgrade from standard. He's thinking $80+ more a week could be better spent. Oh SURE, I could spend it on some booze baby, but I'll just do that anyway. LOL.


Which is why we finally "splurged" for the better view!

Yep we are staying gv too, but DH would like to change to water view after seeing the videos yesterday (one showed a view of quiet pool and one showed view of the lake) I told him I would check to see what the difference in price is after informing him GV is basically looking at anything green which I am perfectly happy with myself.
I am with your DH the $ could be spent on something else like more souvieners for me

 

[summersalt]

I'm surprised, we had a great check in at Poly, no wait at all, just walked up to the desk, got all our requests too - Tokelau, upper floor, near beach

I guess we just caught a cast member on a bad day. No worries though. We got a great room and really enjoyed our stay. No complaints about the Poly. I'm just still looking for the resort that feels like home. Haven't found it yet but I sure do like trying! We aren't picky about which room we get, since we don't spend very much time in them.

I'm also not staying CL.

 

[summersalt]

I'm not staying CL, either.

I'm just happy to be staying at the BC.

Me Too! I'm so excited!!

 

[pixarmom]

So I'm getting the sense that DH and I really should book YC if we want some peace and quiet after the parks? We stayed in a BWI Garden Suite on our first trip and loved it because it was so quiet. Our last trip was WL directly off the lobby (a bear-face room, I believe it is called) and found the noise from the lobby cacophonous.

Is the noise in the BC lobby really loud? Is that what the hustle and bustle comments mean?

We've spent a fair amount of time at BC recently and I think the BC lobby is lively but not noisy or crowded. I can think of only one time in our three recent visits that there was a line for Cape May around opening time, but that lasted only a few moments. In my more limited experience walking over to YC, the YC lobby is more quiet but can be bustling if you have convention attendees in Crew's Cup - saw that! Now the Poly lobby during marathon weekend, that's another story!! I love Poly, but that was a busy lobby!

We've also stayed at WL several times and I do love the lobby there - absolutely beautiful - but our rooms have always been away from it. The BC and YC lobbies are much smaller and don't have that echo that you hear in the WL lobby.

 

[pixarmom]

That's exactly what I feel like - a stalker!!

Now I'm still stalking the Wishes Dessert Party for July. You can see it on the calendar but it won't let you book it yet. I'm stalking and I have BC IPO stalking!

The funny thing is I may have to stalk all over again if and when AP rates come out!

I was without a stalking mission for a while, but then packofprincesses asked the Poly vs. BC question and our youngest answered with "BC, but Poly for breakfast with Lilo and Stitch." That led to this: "Mommy, can we please please have breakfast with Lilo and Stitch before the Disney Cruise Line?" That wasn't in the plan when I made our ADRs at 180 days out, so now I'm working on the Ohana breakfast ADR for August! I got a 10am ADR, but we need a 7:30am, so that makes it a fun challenge.

Crossing my fingers for your Dessert Party and the AP rate!

 

[TeenaS]

Teena - quick question the construction.

Are they working in the back (near the lake) area of the front area of the resort now? Also, will it be like when they did the rehab - BC first and then YC?

Thanks for all your help!

Did you get to read my post about the gv room? I took your advice and checked everyday and they finally opened up some more gv cl rooms with the 30% discount! So right now we have the whole 15 nights in gv cl and my in-laws have the gv cl room for the week they are there.

After all this, my nightmare is that they'll do the same thing when AP rates come out and I'll be back to checking every day!

I'll bet you can't wait for Thursday!

Yep, I'm so happy you got the 15 nights in gv cl!!!

They are in the back now (outdoor rehab) and I have no idea how long in each place and where they will go from there. I was told BC was first and it would be going on all year at the BC. Don't know if that's true or not.