mcd2745
These Mickey pretzels are making me thirsty!
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2010
- Messages
- 4,323
We returned late Saturday night from our 8-night stay at the BC. Let me start by saying overall, we enjoyed our stay very much. A couple of personal matters took away from the trip just a little unfortunately. First, while we were able to get out of NY and down to MCO just ahead of Irene. However, for a couple of days, we were worried about potential damage to our house. Once the storm was over though, luckily we received word that everything was okay. But then, two days later, my mother had to undergo emergency gall bladder surgery (everything went well and she is doing fine). So, we had a good chunk of our trip where we couldn't just 'let go' mentally (i hope that makes sense) and fully immerse ourselves in the magic as there were things to worry about back home in the back of our minds. Also, we unfortunately had several days where it rained for hours (with lots of lightning too, shutting things down and closing SAB)- not the typical short lived downpours everyone describes. In fact, they stopped Fantasmic! shortly after it started because of the rain when we were there.
As for the Beach Club, it is a beautiful resort and all the CMs were extremely nice and always asking if there was anything they can do to help us. And oh yeah....that BC smell in the lobby is lovely. When we checked in (garden view reservation), we were initially being given a room pretty much right above the MArketplace overlooking a courtyard and facing the Villas.I asked if they had anything over towards the Epcot end and was given a 4th floor room over by the "secret entrance". This was great for our visits to Epcot. The trade off being we were far from the lobby, the Marketplace, and SAB. It was better though than the original room as the courtyard area we would have overlooked was full of construction equipment. The room was very nice and mousekeeping fine (no towel animals other than the Mickey when we checked in - something I don't care about but I know others look for). The view wasn't much - woods literally just feet in front of the (full, at least) balcony.
There were a few negatives though. First, the single elevator over by where our room was located was out of service for four days. I can understand one, maybe two, days - but not four. As a result, we were faced with the choice of either walking up 4 flights of stairs or making the long walk to the main elevator bank and then making the same walk back to our room. Also, since our room was located near the quiet pool, I went down there late several nights after the kids were asleep to relax in the hot tub. However, the jets were not working for 2-3 days. Another problem was the night we wanted to get some laundry done. They only have four washers out by the quiet pool and two in a room just inside near the quiet pool area- and one out by the pool was out of service. THings not working obviously was a running theme - in the Marketplace the hot chocolate machine was also out of order the whole time except on our last day (not that i wanted any, but it something i noticed). Clearly not nearly enough washer machines for a resort of this size. There were several people who had to wait quite a while for machines. All of these things are pretty unacceptable when you consider the prices people pay to stay here, but I tried not to let them bother me too much.
My biggest complaint though, would be closing SAB so early (10pm). SAB is awesome and my kids LOVED it - especially the slide and the sand area. However, I see absolutely no good reason to close the entire thing at 10pm. When we stayed at CBR last year, they closed the slides and the lifeguards went off duty at 8pm - but the pool and hot tubs stayed open 24/7. There's no reason they can't do something similar with SAB. At the very least SAB should not close before midnight.
As for transportation, we had no real problems with the buses/boats - although I agree Swan & Dolphin should have their own buses for everything all the time. And as for dining, we had great meals at Cape May, Captain's Grille, and Beaches & Cream. Plus everything we got from the Marketplace and Hurricane Hannah's was very good too. At the end of the day, I will not rule out staying at the BC again. The main reasons being the fabulous CMs, the overall beauty of the resort, and the convenience to Epcot.
As for the Beach Club, it is a beautiful resort and all the CMs were extremely nice and always asking if there was anything they can do to help us. And oh yeah....that BC smell in the lobby is lovely. When we checked in (garden view reservation), we were initially being given a room pretty much right above the MArketplace overlooking a courtyard and facing the Villas.I asked if they had anything over towards the Epcot end and was given a 4th floor room over by the "secret entrance". This was great for our visits to Epcot. The trade off being we were far from the lobby, the Marketplace, and SAB. It was better though than the original room as the courtyard area we would have overlooked was full of construction equipment. The room was very nice and mousekeeping fine (no towel animals other than the Mickey when we checked in - something I don't care about but I know others look for). The view wasn't much - woods literally just feet in front of the (full, at least) balcony.
There were a few negatives though. First, the single elevator over by where our room was located was out of service for four days. I can understand one, maybe two, days - but not four. As a result, we were faced with the choice of either walking up 4 flights of stairs or making the long walk to the main elevator bank and then making the same walk back to our room. Also, since our room was located near the quiet pool, I went down there late several nights after the kids were asleep to relax in the hot tub. However, the jets were not working for 2-3 days. Another problem was the night we wanted to get some laundry done. They only have four washers out by the quiet pool and two in a room just inside near the quiet pool area- and one out by the pool was out of service. THings not working obviously was a running theme - in the Marketplace the hot chocolate machine was also out of order the whole time except on our last day (not that i wanted any, but it something i noticed). Clearly not nearly enough washer machines for a resort of this size. There were several people who had to wait quite a while for machines. All of these things are pretty unacceptable when you consider the prices people pay to stay here, but I tried not to let them bother me too much.
My biggest complaint though, would be closing SAB so early (10pm). SAB is awesome and my kids LOVED it - especially the slide and the sand area. However, I see absolutely no good reason to close the entire thing at 10pm. When we stayed at CBR last year, they closed the slides and the lifeguards went off duty at 8pm - but the pool and hot tubs stayed open 24/7. There's no reason they can't do something similar with SAB. At the very least SAB should not close before midnight.
As for transportation, we had no real problems with the buses/boats - although I agree Swan & Dolphin should have their own buses for everything all the time. And as for dining, we had great meals at Cape May, Captain's Grille, and Beaches & Cream. Plus everything we got from the Marketplace and Hurricane Hannah's was very good too. At the end of the day, I will not rule out staying at the BC again. The main reasons being the fabulous CMs, the overall beauty of the resort, and the convenience to Epcot.
I was wondering if they are offered in Nov/Dec. I know it's not really prime pool weather at that time of the year.
! I can pack a lot lighter if I use that early morning time to do some laundry and I won't feel like I'm "taking away from vacation time" since everyone else will still be asleep. I might even end up going home with a suitcase full of clean clothes for a change
