2012 Beach and Yacht FAQ, Part 3- Don't Post Here!!! New Thread, November 2012

[barbliny]

Crew's Cup - ate dinner here our first night, it was just okay - not a lot of choices - the buffalo chicken bites were good, the garden salad was huge and a bargain at a little more than $5

Captain's Grill - ate here for breakfast our last day - we all got the buffet - it was good, more than the usual buffet choices (fritatta, rueben, etc) - it was much fresher and turned over faster than the larger character buffets - it was more expensive than I expected - I had seen prices of $15.99 and $16.99 elsewhere on menu sites - no price on the menu - it turned out to be $18.29. We were able to get any choice of eggs we wanted.

Hint - waiting for the boat to DHS and the dock is really crowded?? BC is at the end of the loop - and it was very hard to get on a boat, we were often shut out with the head counts and had to wait for another boat. Our solution -- the EPCOT and the DHS boats alternate their arrivals. If you feel you are going to get turned away from a DHS boat or you just have, take the next EPCOT boat that arrives - it stops at the Boardwalk before going to EPCOT. So get off at BW, switch sides on the dock and you will easily get on the next boat to DHS and wave goodbye to many of your fellow BC/YC guests when the boat then goes to that dock and only a few get on before it reaches capacity.

Hint (only posting it here for the BC/YC insiders, not posting on the attractions board) - we tried multiple times to get on Toy Story Mania, many different times of day. The wait was always long and/or the fastpasses were gone or much later in the day at a time that did not work for us. The last day in the park, we got to TSM just 7 minutes after park opening, the fastpasses were already for 1:30 pm, the posted standby time was 90 minutes. I was very disappointed since I really wanted to ride as I had not experienced it before. The family decided we would suck it up and get on the standby line. Well, we breezed through it - barely stopping. From the time we entered the building to the time we got on the ride was 22 minutes. We got off and decided to ride again - this time posted standby was 50 minutes, we were loaded on the ride just 13 minutes later. I think they must overstate those standby times early in the day, so that people don't get on line and the crowds disperse more evenly through the park. We passed by again an hour later and the standby was posted at 90 again, but this time it must have been true since the line was outside of the building.

Other places we ate (both on property and off):
Crossroads House of Blues (used a restaurant com certificate - so this was a great priced meal) - favorite meal of our trip
Bahama Breeze
Sweet Tomatoes (twice) - absolutely wonderful, huge salad/soup/potato/frozen yogurt bar - such a great change of pace from park food - wish we had them up north here
Columbia Harbor House
Crystal Palace for breakfast
Menchies for froyo (favorite of our girls, there are none by us, so they googled where one was)
Moe's - girls wanted burritos
Dawa Bar for Harambi punch cocktails - fantastic
Grey Goose slushies (lemon)
Rose & Crown for Illuminations in a front and center patio table
Starring Rolls for a red velvet cupcake
La Cava Tequila Bar - make sure to follow them on twitter for free chips & salsa
Boma

 

[StayCool]

I finally paid the deposit on our room at the Beach Club today! We are going to be staying Aug. 18-24, 2013. There will be 5 of us so we are counting on the day bed. My husband is a retired vet so we were able to snag the military discount for the room. Now I just have to figure out how to get our military salute tickets (hopefully before we leave!). We will be driving from NY and stopping each way. Sooo excited to finally get to Disney!

I've been trying to keep up with this thread but it flies! I've subscribed and will do my best to check in now and again. :lol:

 

[natebenma]

Tomorrow we fly to Disney for the trip where we were supposed to stay in a CL deluxe room at BC. Instead we're staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek in a 2 bedroom villa. We saved $2000 on lodging alone so it's worth it for this trip. I will be sad to walk by Beach Club knowing that I should be staying there. Luckily I'm a spoiled little princess and I will be at Beach Club for the Tower of Terror race in a few more weeks (I'm staying in a BCV studio and arriving late on 9/27).
We seem to have great luck with tropical storms and hurricanes so I apologize to everyone else at Disney for Isaac....

Amanda

Have a great trip, Amanda!

 

[MaxTheHorse]

Ok my earlier info was incorrect. Grace, Henry and two more noodles returned to *BC* under "Noodle Family" name.

 

[Angel16]

I am going to post my thoughts, good and not so good ... this is to help others - I received a lot of information from this thread and hope what I say here can help others and set up expectations ...

1. We arrived at BC CL around 11 am on Wednesday August 15th (flew into Tampa and had a rental car, my hint to all those travelling to WDW is not to overlook this airport as it is much less congested and busy than ORL and the flights are often less expensive - $80 cheaper RT in our case) - the CL check-in area was very busy as I believe an ME bus had arrived recently.

2. Much to our delight, our room was ready and waiting for us - we received exactly 'what we ordered' - we booked GV, asked non-accessible, non-adjoining

3. Room 5630 - GREAT GV room - it is to the right of the desk area, past a large bank of windows, so it only has a room on one side. It is in the far corner of a courtyard. It looks directly out onto a grass, and tree courtyard with a volleyball court to the right. Best of all, it had a great view of the water and boardwalk. We could see illuminations fireworks over the roof opposite our room. We did not have any problem with noise or traffic in the hallway being so close to the CL lounge (well, except for one night). This room does NOT have a daybed, nor does it have any room to put a rollaway.

4. The CMs on CL, both at the desks and in the lounge were wonderful.

5. We tipped housekeeping every morning - we recieved towel animals (I see that many are interested in these) most of the mornings - we did not on a couple of days - these were weekend days if that has any bearing. Our toiletries were always restocked (except for one morning). The room was always clean. We requested a 10am to noon cleaning window and other than 2 mornings, it was finished in that time frame.

6. The CL lounge - was well worth it for us - 2 adults, and 20 and 17 year old daughters. What we received in water bottles for the parks, beer, wine, cordials, continental breakfast, desserts and especially sodas made it worthwhile. Also, it was an additional area for us to disperse while someone else was getting ready.

7. I had not seen it mentioned before - but, we were pleasantly surprised to find the lounge open all night with swedish fish, yogurt pretzels, trail mix and sodas available - coffee machine also. This was a great perk after late nights at the parks.

8. The CMs on club level were great. Some of the other guests, not so much. I noticed a lot of lack of manners in some of the guests using the lounge - both in accessing the food/drinks and more glaringly in the rude and entitled manner in which they addressed the staff.

9. Yes, the lounge is small. But, we never really had a problem finding someplace to sit. But, we were close and we did not go every evening during appetizer time - the busiest time in the lounge.

10. The transportation - mixed bag. The buses were fine for MK. The boat for EPCOT was fine. The boat to DHS, not so great - especially on EMH night. The walk to EPCOT was great - the shortcut was a great hint. I would also like to point out that there are bathrooms on the 'boardwalk' side of the laundry room which were a great help on some of the trips back from EPCOT - I had not seen this mentioned before. The walk to DHS - we never tried it, it seemed a very long walk during such drastic heat and humidity. The bus to AK - was fine, the bus back not so much - we waited a long time with a lot of people. The bus back from DTD - this was a NIGHTMARE - we waited 40 minutes, and others had been there first. The bus stop was so crowded by the time the bus finally came. They need ropes and aisles at this stop since it gets so crowded and many guests stormed the bus when it finally came and were not fair and mindful of the order in which they arrived for the bus. EMH at DHS there was a huge thunderstorm - and the buses to ferry people to the EPCOT resorts were ridiculously inefficient - and it was highly annoying and scary to stand in the midst of this huge lightning storm seeing idle buses in the lot waiting for I don't know what. For the buses from DTD, AK, and DHS - I witnessed multiple buses for AKL (3 buses in fact) come and go with none for BC, etc. Similar situations for other resorts.

11. SAB - was great. We never had much of a problem finding seats in the mid-afternoon. But, we're easy and flexible. We could usually find 2 chairs together and we were happy with this for our family of 4 - we don't necessarily use 4 at the same time. I did find that many of the chairs had towels on them - some for hours with no one in sight. I also came to the conclusion that many guests did not find it necessary or within their 'to do' list to remove their used towels from the lounges when they were done for the day. The CMs should do more to remove these towels rather than have the guests try and figure it out.

12. HH - we did not use it - staying on CL, gave us the opportunity to bring drinks down to the pool. I do agree with what I saw someone else say - I rarely saw anyone taking orders for drinks/food around SAB.

13. I saw someone complain about the pool staff and guards - I did not find them to be 'nasty' at all. When they are told to close the pool for lightning they are required to start a 30-minute clock - that clock is reset everytime there is more lightning. These are resort rules.

More later, if anyone has questions let me know .... I'll try to answer.

Thank you for your thoughts and sharing. Sounds to me like BC is pretty wonderful and the CM's and CL amazing. So glad you had a great vacation. How long was your stay if you don't mind me asking?

We will be checking in one month from today. We are getting so excited! First visit to a Epcot resort, we are staying club level with a standard room, only request was for a full balcony.

Angel16

 

[georgiasmom]

On the plane. DD decorated her shoes for the trip

 

[barbliny]

How long was your stay if you don't mind me asking?

We were there 8 days/7 nights

Enjoy your trip!

 

[TwistGrl101]

Here now. The hot dog stand is already put in place ready for action when HH closes. The waitresses will also still be taking orders for food and drinks. It should be closed until December-ish.
I don't know if it's because I'm pregnant, but the BC lobby doesn't smell the same to me??
Will update more as my trip goes on...

 

[ZehnJahren]

Just booked the new Epcot Segway tour for 9/17; this was our Epcot morning anyway. I asked the woman if I could go through the IG in the morning and she said I should be able to but I might want to ask on my way out the night before. She also said that since half is indoors, they'll give a 60% discount if they have to cancel the outdoor portion of the tour. I hope that doesn't happen! Rain, rain, stay away, while I'm riding the segway.

This will be the very first day of the new tour with breakfast. I don't care much about breakfast, but my mom has already volunteered to hang out at the pool until I get back. So generous of her.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

ScottMC - Love the picture of Grace & Henry!

Ninja Mom - I am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. I love your sense of humor!

Amanda - Have a wonderful vacation!

 

[mommyrosa2]

So, bees have taken over SAB, you can't get into B&C and you can't get a No Way Jose to go. Crast members at the pool and elsewhere at the resort are incosiderate and rude. The Marketplace isn't a qualified QS location, and now HH is closing and there is only one person walking around the pool taking drink orders. The facilities are dirty and run down and there is construction all over the place. Beds are uncomfortable, the CL is small and always crowded. The bus transportation is simply terrible and forget about going to or from DTD, can't get there from here. Let's see, what have I forgotten? Oh yes, there are no phone books in the fifth floor rooms. So, why should I stay here?

Simply because of all the resorts I've stayed at at WDW, there is no doubt I've never stayed at a better one. And that's all I have to say about that.

Couldn't help but chuckle when I read that report on another thread and couldn't help but comment on that thread especially because we were there almost the same time as that person. We recently enjoyed a wonderful 10 day stay at the BC (we just got back Monday night) and for the life of me, I don't remember being "swarmed" by bees...my teen girls actually laughed at that considering we spent quite a bit of time at SAB on this trip. Our room was clean (well except when we made a mess), we always managed to find a seat in the CL lounge, got served several times at SAB and even managed to get a seat within 20 min at B&C to take on the kitchen sink. All the CM's we encountered were great, and while I will say that I'm not particular fond of the QS options at the Marketplace, there are several other QS locations at many other resorts that I'm not fond of either. While I didn't have to worry about the buses (we had our own car), I did manage to walk over to HS (and timed myself) to see what some folks on other threads were fussing about. It took me exactly 15 min from HS to the Boarkwalk and another 10 min to get to my CL room - I didn't pass out and I didn't need to call the paramedics! I actually found it to be a pleasant walk. As for the phone book? I always chuckle about this one....
Some folks are never happy

 

[mommytocalliesue]

This was our first trip to a Deluxe resort...and after changing my mind several times...I finally decided on the BC for my family (DH, DD 6, and DS 2.5). The selling points....SAB and the closeness to Epcot and DHS.

Here's a bit of our experience!!

1) We arrived August 9th at 2:45....was greeted by several CM's! I had a reservation for 2 Queen beds, Garden View. When I went to check in...I was told they did not have queen beds left I was like, "What do you mean? I made this reservation 5-6 months ago." She just told me they didn't have any. I was so sad....The CM said we had two options.

1) Upgrade to YC for a Water view

2) Take a King bed room with a daybed

DH was no help in helping me decide (Kids were being naughty and running around....we were both flustered!!) Now that I look back on it...I should have probably picked YC....but I was SO looking forward to BC. So I said, "Fine...we'll take the King bed." She told me it wasn't quite ready...but should be in like 10 min. She took my cell number and said they'd text.

An HOUR went by....yes...an hour. To most people...no big deals...but to people with 2 kids who have been traveling since 7 am....it was not fun. Around 4 pm I went back up to the desk and asked if our room was ready. He checked the computer and said, "Haven't you received a text?" Um...no..... He said it was ready and gave us our room number.

So...as you can see....my first impression of the BC was not very good....I was frustrated by not getting the room we wanted and having to wait for the room. But I'm happy to say....this is pretty much all I can complain about....except....

2) the hallway noise (which I know you'll get at any hotel). I can't believe how many rude people there are. One night it was like 1:30 am...and you could hear a family and their kids just YELLING and screaming down the hallway. I understand...kids will be kids...but if we were in the hallway...didn't matter if it was 9 am or 3 pm or midnight...I constantly told my kids to whisper...and they did. I just can't believe some people are so inconsiderate of others.

Ok...moving on to the positive!!

2) We got room 1573! It was a perfect location. First floor, close to the lobby, and close to the 1501 secret passage! We used it all the time!! We were on the first floor and had a nice patio that overlooked the garden/volleyball net!!

3) Yes, we got a king bed room with a daybed. I was at first worried about the sleeping situation...but we worked it out. The kids slept in the king everynight...with DH and I alternating between sleeping with them and the daybed. You'd probably think we'd want the king bed since the daybed isn't that comfortable...but we fought over the daybed so we didn't have to sleep with the kids!! The king bed was very comfortable (except when you have a 6 year old trying to use you as her pillow!!) The room was very spacious. I enjoyed the two closets and loved the 2 sinks! We also had plenty of space at the "kitchen" area for the groceries we got from Garden Grocer! My only regret is I wish I had asked for railing on the bed....DS rolled off one night...however...he slept right through it!!

4) The room was always clean....we left a tip...and had towel animals I believe 3 days! And mousekeeping always seemed to find DS's toys!! Thank goodness!! Twice they were in our room when we had came back to nap at like 2 pm....but they'd let us come in and get our cups...and by the time we walked for a bit...they were done!

5) Storm Along Bay!! We LOVED it!! We used the pool every, single day! I did notice chair hogs...but DH always found a chair to sit on by the 2 ft. sand area. DD loved the big slide....and DS loved the little slide. And both LOVED the sand!! Here's a couple pics!

DD also loved the pool party and participated in many of the games!! I will say...in August...the concrete is HOT!!! We wore our shoes everywhere...and just plopped them off by the side!

6) Marketplace ~ We didn't use it a whole lot. On our first day while waiting for our room...we got the flatbread pizza's. I thought they were ok....but no one else seemed to like them. The only thing else we did at the Marketplace was fill up our cups!

7) CM's were awesome! Long story...short...I lost my son in the Marketplace on our first night....and they immediately went into action, calling security and helping me look! One was extra caring...I never caught her name though. We found him after a long 10 min. and he was somewhere...I'll never know where...but I was happy with how they handled it!!

8) We never did eat at Cape May....but DH went by once and saw the dessert and wanted to rush right in! I have heard people complain about the crowds it draws in the lobby....but we never noticed it!

9) Transportation ~ LOVED the walk to Epcot!!!! I made the walk to DHS one morning by myself...and we made the walk back one night (because the boat had just left) and while we did beat another boat back....it was a LONG walk...so every other time we took the boat! Never had an extremely long wait and the kids loved it!

Bus to Animal kingdom was ok. We had some bad and some good service to and from the Magic Kingdom. One night we waited quite a while for one to MK. It ALWAYS seemed we got on right when they were switching drivers....which took like 20 minutes And the one to DTD was bad....busy. And you never knew what stops they were going to make....sometimes we'd stop at YC to the parks....sometimes we'd go straight there. On the way back sometimes we'd stop at 3 other hotels...sometimes only 1....!!

Wow...this is much longer than I expected!! I'll stop for now....if you have any questions...please ask away!!

 

[PittPantherfan]

Stayed Garden View CL in 2011. I no longer see that category in accomodations description area on the Disney website. Does anyone know if this room category still exists?

 

[barbliny]

We just stayed GV CL at BC - I think that if you are not seeing it - it is sold out during your dates - from what I understand there are not a lot of rooms in this category. Try adjusting your dates if they're flexible.

 

[Scott MC]

Here now. The hot dog stand is already put in place ready for action when HH closes. The waitresses will also still be taking orders for food and drinks. It should be closed until December-ish.
I don't know if it's because I'm pregnant, but the BC lobby doesn't smell the same to me??
Will update more as my trip goes on...

I was planning to mention this. I'd heard that Bath & Bodyworks "Rain Kissed Leaves" was very close to the BC scent. Nope! BC has a lovely floral scent. Now last night, we went to California Grill for dinner... And when we stepped through the doors at the Contemporary, we got smacked with the Rain Kissed Leaves scent. Go figure.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[catho72]

I was planning to mention this. I'd heard that Bath & Bodyworks "Rain Kissed Leaves" was very close to the BC scent. Nope! BC has a lovely floral scent. Now last night, we went to California Grill for dinner... And when we stepped through the doors at the Contemporary, we got smacked with the Rain Kissed Leaves scent. Go figure.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

I think Rainkissed Leaves smells exactly like BC lobby....it's my new favorite scent at BBW!

I really wish Disney would come out with candles for the Main Street Bakery smell along with the scents from Philharmagic and Soarin'. I know I would spend way too much money on those!

 

[KJay]

On the plane. DD decorated her shoes for the trip

Cute! Have a great flight!


So excited about this ticker- one day!! I really don't know what I'm going to do all day today, since I've been packed & ready for quite some time. Trying hard not to become obsessed with the hurricane watch. We're meeting my sis and her family on Wednesday night for the Spirit of Aloha Luau show/dinner at the Poly- does this get cancelled during bad weather? I think it's outside (or parially covered?)...

 

[georgiasmom]

On the Magical Express

 

[natebenma]

I have finally had the chance to post a couple of pictures from Teena's trip out to Vegas to help Jeanne set up her classroom.

They have NOT sent or posted any recent pictures of Lily, but fortunately, I had a couple I don't think I have posted previously, so I added those, too.

Click on the link for Lily Goes Live in my signature.

By the way- has it been awhile since you have stopped by MY trip report? Are the horrors of travelling with 145 Middle Schoolers too scary to experience and you haven't even dared to start reading???

Don't worry, there are handy-dandy links to catch up if you are behind. Days 1 and 2 are in the hopper and Day 3 is about to begin.

 

[skepace]

From what I keep reading is most people on here stay at BC and not YC. Why is that? We are in YC CL SV but I am thinking of changing it to LV since with our discount it isn't that much.

Thoughts? We are going for 6 nights in October and it is in 45 DAYS!!!