2011 Yacht & Beach Club FAQ, Part III- DO NOT POST HERE- Summer/Fall

[MickeyT]

A quick update from floor 5 of BC.

Quick synopsis. Woke up. Got on plane. Plane lands on time and on wheels. From landing to resort 1hr. Room not ready. Cool. Sandwiches at B&C for lunch. First and only customers for about 20 minutes. On to EPCOT where we hit a snag getting AP's renewed. Took about an hour but I talked nice CM out of two fast passes for our trouble . We walked on TT and Soaring @ 2pm with the FP's. Rode Spaceship Earth and headed back to room

Back at room. It was ready. Had booked standard view CL. You tell me....Room5701..

I guess it does have rooftops!

Full balcony, The works. Walked back over and had dinner (or as we Carolinians call it 'supper) at La Hacienda de Angel. Good stuff. Different, Menu kinda scares you to start out but after some friendly banter with the waiter we all got a meal to enjoy. Back to room. DW's leg hurt so I went on a solo Illumintations trip. From 5th floor to WS = 7 minutes. Cant be beat. Still love that show over all others. Without being too mushy when, I hear "I go on, through the good times and the bad...we go on"....It just fits.

Time for sleep. We got EMH at MK bright and early in the morning, Havent forgot the grocery list. Later, Mike B!

 

[pixarmom]

Wow, Mike - I love the live report! Great view! Great photos! Other than the AP renewal issues and your wife's leg pain, it sounds like a good arrival day. Hope she feels better tomorrow!

Regarding Illuminations, absolutely agree. My favorite, too.

 

[fairyprincess1]

Only took me an an hour & fifteen minutes to get through 23 pages... whew...

All caught up...

Teena - wishing you a speedy recovery - take it easy & hopefully your trip to Vegas will happen - don't overdo it!!!

Dee - nice job on the move!! This place sure moves fast...

 

[marcus.ka]

Thank you for all the answers to my "Standard View - CL" question. I think we will not take the risk and end up with a roof top view.
I think I'll go for a regular room with a Water View instead.

 

[marcus.ka]

I know that it is only a short walk to the "backdoor" entrance of Epcot. But can you also walk to the main entrance? And if yes how long would it take me to get from the BC to the main entrance?

 

[doccoc2002]

Great view!! I'll take that for our trip in September...only we're at YC CL

 

[ClareH37]

OK, this might seem a little odd but I really hate elevators (all goes back to when I got stuck in one), so I try and use stairs wherever possible.

I'm staying CL on the BC, so 5th floor, does anyone know if there's stairs I can take rather than an elevator?

Thanks

 

[MickeyT]

I know that it is only a short walk to the "backdoor" entrance of Epcot. But can you also walk to the main entrance? And if yes how long would it take me to get from the BC to the main entrance?

The only way to walk to the main entrance is through EPCOT. Through the backdoor, Inernational Gateway, through the park and out the front. I Would allow about 15 minutes. No way to walk around the outside to the front.

 

[natebenma]

Just booked the Yacht Club in November. We booked a garden view. We picked the Yacht Club over the Beach Club because we want a full balcony. Do I still need to request a full balcony at the Yacht Club or do they all have full balconies? If full balcony is guaranteed any other requests I should make?

Thanks.

You do not need to request a full balcony if you are staying at the YC.

I personally have never stayed at the YC but many people recommend the gazebo view if you have booked a garden view.

 

[natebenma]

Mike- thanks for the quick, live report. Great room! There is always going to be something interesting to watch out there. Hope you have a great morning at MK and that some rest helps the pain in DW's leg!

 

[natebenma]

OK, this might seem a little odd but I really hate elevators (all goes back to when I got stuck in one), so I try and use stairs wherever possible.

I'm staying CL on the BC, so 5th floor, does anyone know if there's stairs I can take rather than an elevator?

Thanks

There has to be, right? You can't have an elevator be the only access to/from the rooms on high floors. But I don't recall exactly where the stair access is.

Anyone? Is it near the elevator banks, or somewhere else? Where do you find it in the lobby?

And since you need key card access to the 5th floor, how does that work? Is there a key card reader? Hmmmm.

 

[Katesdad]

I know that it is only a short walk to the "backdoor" entrance of Epcot. But can you also walk to the main entrance?

Assuming you are wanting to get to the front entrance in order to do a "Backstage tour", take a cab. Check with the concierge but you should be able to get it reimbursed by the hotel since they don't have bus transportation to Epcot. Cost is approximately $10.

OK, this might seem a little odd but I really hate elevators, so I try and use stairs wherever possible. I'm staying CL on the BC, so 5th floor, does anyone know if there's stairs I can take rather than an elevator? Thanks

Interesting question, I can take stairs floors 1 4 but if you need a pass to get to the fifth floor on an elevator, how would they control it if you could just walk up by the stairs?

No way to walk around the outside to the front.

Wow, on vacation and up at 4:00 in the morning. Mike, your dedication to this thread is just outstanding. Hope you made your EMH opening this morning and your DW's leg is feeling better.

 

[krmlaw]

so excited! just booked a one bedroom condo at beach club villas for feb 2012!!! its me, dh, and dbady 2.5

 

[natebenma]

I started a thread on the Resort Pictures forum with more pictures (from kldmom2000) of the July 25 Beach and Yacht Club DISmeet/Nanny Shower.

Here is a link to the thread.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=42109256#post42109256


I have also added a link to this thread on the Page 1 Community Page, along with the sample photos.

If anyone else who attended the meet has photos they would like to add, please let me know! Thanks!

.

 

[TeenaS]

There are emergency stairs to the fifth floor. Most of the time they are locked. The stairs are used for evacs only.

You may want to consider booking a club level deluxe room and request the one on the first floor and then everybody in your family can use the elevators to get to the lounge and they could bring you your lounge selections to your room. Just make sure you put on the reservation and tell IPO that you have a fear of elevators!!!

 

[jmamom]

Hey all-

We are heading down in 2 weeks from today and just had a few quick questions.

1) While I know there are no "set times" for SAB (I did read the FAQ, I promise), can those who have been down there recently share the hours of operation for the pool and Hanna's for their trip? I gotta think end of July/beginning of August times hold true for mid-August (but I won't "count" on them...just getting an idea). We were at the BC last May and I believe everything closed down at 9 or 930, and was hoping they stayed open later during the peak summer season with the heat and all.

2) While we have ADR's for just about every night (and a few breakfasts too), we left one night open on our trip. We are a large group (8) and don't have a great idea of what we want to do that night ( we were thinking we'd do AK that day and either grab a bite there as the park was closing or figure it out when we got back to the resort)...I know a poster a few pages back spoke about Cape May for walkups, but does anyone have experience with dinner walkups at either the Boardwalk spots, or even into the World showcase? Just looking for some ideas to keep in mind.

3) For those who have been down there recently, how has the weather been? I've been tracking it through accuweather and all that and looks like there has been a lot of rain...has it been persistant or just the standard PM thunderstorms? And while the temperatures themselves don't seem to be out of whack with expectations from past years, has it felt unusually oppressive down there this year (I'm in the NE, so no stranger to humidity, but I just know the reports of the horrible heat in the south and wasn't sure if it extended down to the Florida coasts).

Thanks all!

One option for a night without ADR's is the ESPN club- they don't take reservations. My family loved it there, we can't wait to go back this month!

 

[natebenma]

I know this was answering another person's question, but this was great information! I think I have a handle on most of it, but it is the ADRs that are confusing me. I really don't like the idea of having to be at a certain park at a certain time this time around since I am trying to reform my commando ways. LOL For all you BC veterans, do you just make the majority of your ADRs for WS? I definitely want Ohanas (DS + meat on a stick = win) because I would like to wander down to the Poly beach after for Wishes. Other than that, I know we will do a lunch and dinner at Cape May (but not on the same day by the size of the buffet I saw in the pics!) since we are staying there, and I also know we will be doing Via Napoli and Tutto Italia (since DH is 1/2 Italian). I have no urge to brave Le Cellier with my savages I mean kids.

One more piece of dining advice to add to all of the other great suggestions already offered.

Even if you don't know exactly what you will be doing each night, make a dining reservation- as you suggested, in the World Showcase, or maybe Boardwalk- try Kouzzina. I'm DYING to try Kouzzina!

As long as it is not a place that requires a Credit Card hold, you can cancel last minute without penalty (and, please, do cancel if you are not going to keep the reservation).

That way, if you can't find another place to eat, you will have someplace to go.

KWIM?

 

[always]

We are home from an exhausting, but in a good way, 5 day trip. Alas, our 5th floor room did not materialize and we never got a call or a text that our room was ready. We headed back to the front desk after 5 pm and were assigned room 3556, a lovely garden room facing the villas. There was a large cherry picker outside our room for most of our stay but it didn't bother us.

Housekeeping was wonderful as was most of the staff. We dined at Captain's Grille on Saturday night and had one of the best servers I've ever had. Jing was outstanding and we made sure to leave a compliment for her. We also did breakfast at Captain's Grille. The buffet had Mickey waffles!

Teena, when we saw you, you were always chatting with another guest and I didn't want to be rude but it was nice to put an actual person with a screen name.

SAB was not as crowded as it was last year. This could be because we traveled a week later this year. We found the pool to be not as warm as it was last year. (that was a good thing) Chairs were available poolside midday. My only "complaint" is that SAB is hard on my pedicure. haha.

We did not encounter any tour groups and the crowd levels were manageable in the mornings and evenings. Mid-day was always pretty bad, except at Epcot.

My sister and I each ran into someone we know also staying at the BC. What are the chances?! During our trip we talked about maybe trying out the Boardwalk but by the end of the trip we decided that the YC/BC are the only places for us. All in all I was both happy and sad to see our vacation come to an end. We are not leisurely tourers and all the "go go go", park hopping, early mornings and late evenings takes it toll.

All in all, we left wanting to come back, which in my opinion, is the sign of a successful trip.

 

[jenneth79]

I have 1 thing to say concerning this...

PARTY THROUGH THE PARKS!!!!!

http://www.partythroughtheparks.com/fun-games-park-style/2010/6/20/drink-around-the-world-at-epcots-world-showcase.html

This site is the bomb!!!

Not only do they give you a detailed description of just exactly what is in a given drink, they compare prices with alcohol amounts for the true lushes/bargainistas.(right DEE?)

They have info for Disney World, Disneyland, Universal, Sea World and Busch Gardens.

Go get it girl!

Marlton Mom
PS. There will be a quiz.... (open bar!)

This site was actually the deciding factor to get my DH to agree to spend our Anniversary in Disney. Awesome drink descriptions (and from what I can tell, honest in what they do/don't like!)

 

[ClareH37]

There has to be, right? You can't have an elevator be the only access to/from the rooms on high floors. But I don't recall exactly where the stair access is.

Anyone? Is it near the elevator banks, or somewhere else? Where do you find it in the lobby?

And since you need key card access to the 5th floor, how does that work? Is there a key card reader? Hmmmm.

Interesting question, I can take stairs floors 1 4 but if you need a pass to get to the fifth floor on an elevator, how would they control it if you could just walk up by the stairs?

There are emergency stairs to the fifth floor. Most of the time they are locked. The stairs are used for evacs only.

You may want to consider booking a club level deluxe room and request the one on the first floor and then everybody in your family can use the elevators to get to the lounge and they could bring you your lounge selections to your room. Just make sure you put on the reservation and tell IPO that you have a fear of elevators!!!

Thanks everyone

It's just me I'm afraid Teena, I'll be OK but just prefer not to take elevators unless I really have to, I'll probably walk up as far as I can then hop on the elevator to the 5th floor.