2013/2014 Beach and Yacht FAQ, Fun & Friends ~ Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec & Jan ~

[Jenne03]

Hi! I am finally going to post in here. Basically I have posted in the general forum about my decision between the Poly and YC. I have been to the Poly before and I really loved it. Being on the monorail was great and we didn't wait to long for buses either. When we went my then 8 year old daughter had swine flu. So she spent most of the time at the resort It was hard and really the whole Disney thing was geared toward her . She was so excited and wanted to eat at the royal table like no ones business.

We had ressies there but she was so sick during..that she didn't enjoy it. Anyhow we spent a lot of time in the resort due to my daughters high fever. I loved the quick service downstairs(don't know what it was called). We got a yummy lunch there and brought it back to our room(we did not have dining plan). We were able to use the pool which was nice but we don't really care about a resort's pool as much as some. As long as their is water , my kids are fine.

So this year we are going in Nov. I could not get the Poly for the time frame I want to go . I could get it the week before Thanksgiving. But because oldest is a junior in high school, I am nervous about her missing 5 days of school. If I go the week of Thanksgiving (11-22 -11-28) then she would only miss Friday , Mon, Tues and half day on Wed. With the bulk being during thanksgiving week where they don't do anything anyway.

So the resort that I can do that week at is YC. I have had people tell me to stay away from Thanksgiving week . I have had people tell me Yc is kind of stuffy(my kids are older though 16, 11 , 9) , rundown and the buses are horrible. . But then again, I have people tell me the YC is really nice and I will love it.


Soooo I am here to hear what is awesome on the YC. I am going to the experts!!! Please tell me why you love the YC. I have to make my decision before the weekend is over ....

Thank you so much! I am so excited to hear from you! I have looked at the pictures and thought it was beautiful..More my kind of resort ..even more than the Poly... so I am wondering are there some bad rooms that people are talking about?

 

[JulieT3]

I never log into MDE, but I did it on a whim 2 days ago and noticed that FP+ is available for our trip at the end of October...I linked my UT tickets and was able to make my selections! We are doing a split stay, with WL on the first half of the trip, so we are only eligible for FP+ during the 2nd half while we are are at BC. I usually can't wrap my head around the fact that our trip is going to happen, but this makes it seem a little more real

I'm hoping we get to spend some time at SAB, although it looks like I won't be ordering any sunken treasures as I unexpectedly found out last month that we're adding another little Disney lover to our family.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating: thanks again to everyone who contributes to this thread, especially Dee!

 

[JulieT3]

Loving that my ticker is closing in on less than 3 months! +

Not loving what JetBlue is doing to my anxiety.

Here's the situation.

I work until about 2:50, and we live about 35 min. from the airport. Since we're not checking any bags for this short trip (4 nights), we rolled the dice and booked a great deal on a non-stop flight that will get us to Orlando that night at 8:10 P.M. That puts us at the YC by hopefully 9:30-ish. This of course means that the flight is at 4:50 P.M. That's right. We're giving ourselves 2hrs. to get me from work to the airport, through security and to the gate. Bags will be packed ahead of time, DP will be waiting outside of my work in a running car, and we will book it to the airport, park in the closest lot, we'll have our boarding passes printed...and though we won't have time to relax at the airport, we figure we should be fine....

Well....
JetBlue keeps bumping our flight up, as in posting it to leave earlier than originally planned. Instead of 4:50, as of this morning, we are leaving at 4:37. I know it's only 13 minutes, but if they keep inching the time up...we're going to get to a point where we have to back out of this flight and that will royally screw things up.

Has anyone else had this experience with JetBlue? Do they just keep inching it up as the trip gets closer?

I understand your frustration, Scott! Southwest is doing something similar to us. My little guy and I are driving down to Disney, and to minimize school/work missed, my husband and daughter are flying down to meet us. Their flight was scheduled for 5:40, but that flight no longer appears on the website. When I called to ask about it, they said that they are shifting their schedule and may either cancel the flight or change the time, but they won't know until Monday. Grrrrr! Hope it all works out for you!

 

[PNO4TE]

Well, this trip has pretty much been a bust for us. While things looked promising as of Tuesday night with my oldest feeling better, that changed quickly by Wednesday afternoon. Whatever she caught is not going away. While we managed to make it over to MK yesterday morning (our first full morning at a park), by the time we made our O'Hana dinner reservation, she was sick again and couldn't eat. Same happened this morning, woke up fine, we head over to AK, and by time we made our dinner res. at Narcoosee's, she was sick and couldn't eat. She's completely devastated and I'm just sad for her. Anyone who knows our family knows that she and I are the "Disney fanatics" so to see her so upset about not being able to enjoy this trip just plain sucks!

I do have to say that all the CL staff have been wonderful & am grateful that we are at least staying here vs. a moderate (which I originally had booked) since we have spent a lot of our time both in the room with her & at the resort itself. The upside is that we have a great view of the higher wishes fireworks from our room so at least she hasn't missed that. Plus, we keep telling her two things: 1. It could be so much worse and 2. There's always next year...

I am so sorry that she is not feeling any better. Poor thing.

 

[suetoo]

Hi everyone! I have spent the last 2 nights customizing MBs and obsessing over and changing FP+ options. I had to share as a couple of others have, that these are open through Oct now on MDE. It may literally just appear. I saw on other threads that Oct checkins were starting to get the options, and was getting upset that I wasn't and my trip was earlier than those posting (10/5). Well I randomly checked at 8:00 Thursday night and there was the FP+ option. MB appeared Friday am with just grey bands available and by Friday at 1:00,colors were available. Just wanted to remind October peeps to check MDE often if you want to experience these benefits!

 

[cocoabean1]

Just a reminder: When you use TIW, you are automatically charged 18% gratuity no matter how many people in your party.

I usually don't tell the server until he/she brings the check- this way I know that I am going to get good service. If you tell the server at the beginning of the meal they know that they will be getting 18% tip so the service can be so-so. I've learned from experience!!!

When you sit down, they ask if you are on a dinning plan- I always say no.

 

[VbChristy]

Logged into my ME and saw we could customize our bands today! I know there will be bugs and snags along the way, but I'm excited!

This vacation can not come soon enough!!

I hope they are still testing during our November trip- I sooooo want a magic band!!

 

[VbChristy]

Just a reminder: When you use TIW, you are automatically charged 18% gratuity no matter how many people in your party.

I usually don't tell the server until he/she brings the check- this way I know that I am going to get good service. If you tell the server at the beginning of the meal they know that they will be getting 18% tip so the service can be so-so. I've learned from experience!!!

When you sit down, they ask if you are on a dinning plan- I always say no.

Great advice. Thanks.

I think we are going to get the AP's even though I am still not 100% it is a perfect idea. But it will make my next 2 trips that much better. The problem is justifying it, but oh well. I get 2 2 day PH tickets a year that I don't have to pay for. So while during each of my 2 already planned trips I would have just done 2 days at the parks- I will now likely make my way into a park 5 day on the YC trip- if only to ride a ride first thing in the morning, and get some food; and 4 days during my BLT trip. Plus if I get the AP's I can buy some smaller ticket now and then upgrade it to AP's when I get to the park and then I can customize FP+ if it is available in November for testing- which I REALLY am hoping for... Sigh. So is it really worth spending $1700 for the AP's when I could just not... Decisions decisions!

 

[catho72]

I have also found it at TJMax, Marshall's and HomeGoods.....
Not sure if those stores are nationwide, but if you're in the Northeast, check them out.

I seem to live in home goods (unfortunately for my budget. Lol) and last night was the first time I saw them. You know all stores are different though do good luck!! Have they ever been at Ulta? I feel like I saw them there too at some point.

It's touch-and-go. Sometimes it's there and sometimes it's not. I do have a large bottle of the Bath Aquatics lotion with a pump on top sitting on my desk at work- $4.99 at TJ Max.

Our HomeGoods didn't have it at all. I even asked two separate employees if they sold shampoo. They both looked at me like I had seven heads. Are your HomeGoods attached to a TJMaxx? Ours are all separate stores located in different towns.

If anyone could hook a Chicago gal up with some cheap Aquatics, I'd appreciate it! Thanks!

 

[TeenaS]

We checked in on Wednesday but today is our first full day at SAB... Just ordered a Sunken Treasure from Rocky!! Finally feels like vacation . Four nights at Vero was awesome. The next two nights at VWL not so much...just not my cup of tea.. Beach Club is home. As my 3 year old said "I love this place!" Saw the lovely Teena on Monday before she left for Jeanne's. need to figure out how to post pics.. Just got an iPhone and am tech challenged!

Bob, Jeanne and Lily loved the presents. Thank you sooooo much. Sure wish we were able to spend more time together!!

 

[francileb]

Hello everyone--lurker coming out of hiding to say that this thread ROCKS!! I have a split stay WL/BC at the end of October, and was just coming on to post a question about whether anyone had experience with a split stay between a non-testing resort and BC, and lo and behold I see this:

I never log into MDE, but I did it on a whim 2 days ago and noticed that FP+ is available for our trip at the end of October...I linked my UT tickets and was able to make my selections! We are doing a split stay, with WL on the first half of the trip, so we are only eligible for FP+ during the 2nd half while we are are at BC. I usually can't wrap my head around the fact that our trip is going to happen, but this makes it seem a little more real

I'm hoping we get to spend some time at SAB, although it looks like I won't be ordering any sunken treasures as I unexpectedly found out last month that we're adding another little Disney lover to our family.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating: thanks again to everyone who contributes to this thread, especially Dee!

I'm still 62 days out from our trip, so our FP+ window isn't open yet, but I'm trying to figure it all out in the next couple of days. I'm particularly curious as to whether you even tried to book any FP+ for the days you are at WL. I'm asking because my MDE FP+ page shows all our days, not just our BC days. Since we still aren't in the booking window, I can't test it out myself.

I figure if my tickets are linked to the MagicBand, then I'll have it/be using it before we get to the BC--unless they also put our tickets on our WL KTTW card. I did look at the FP+ threads and searched for split stay information, but it looked like all the info was for two resorts that were both testing.


I just don't know how this will work--any info is appreciated. This might just have to be an "experiment and see" situation.

 

[HubbDave]

I was poking around DisBoards archives and found old Beach Club/ Yacht Club threads started by Joe Cool circa 2001

He seemed to be the Dee of the time. Anyone know where he went?

 

[Wood Nymph]

Our HomeGoods didn't have it at all. I even asked two separate employees if they sold shampoo. They both looked at me like I had seven heads. Are your HomeGoods attached to a TJMaxx? Ours are all separate stores located in different towns.

If anyone could hook a Chicago gal up with some cheap Aquatics, I'd appreciate it! Thanks!

I only know where I can buy H20 products at full price. There is a store in the loop (the downtown Chicago business district). I work downtown and have bought my DH the shampoo for his birthday. He likes it. But it costs something like $18.00 a bottle.

If I see it anywhere else, I'll let you know.

 

[KerriL]

Bob, Jeanne and Lily loved the presents. Thank you sooooo much. Sure wish we were able to spend more time together!!

There's always next year! Especially if we don' t do the cruise! I forgot to give you the box tops for education... Pm me an address and I'll get them to you and continue to save them too. Let me know if you find that Tasty Kake outlet!!

 

[wlake]

Hi! I am finally going to post in here. Basically I have posted in the general forum about my decision between the Poly and YC. I have been to the Poly before and I really loved it. Being on the monorail was great and we didn't wait to long for buses either. When we went my then 8 year old daughter had swine flu. So she spent most of the time at the resort It was hard and really the whole Disney thing was geared toward her . She was so excited and wanted to eat at the royal table like no ones business.

We had ressies there but she was so sick during..that she didn't enjoy it. Anyhow we spent a lot of time in the resort due to my daughters high fever. I loved the quick service downstairs(don't know what it was called). We got a yummy lunch there and brought it back to our room(we did not have dining plan). We were able to use the pool which was nice but we don't really care about a resort's pool as much as some. As long as their is water , my kids are fine.

So this year we are going in Nov. I could not get the Poly for the time frame I want to go . I could get it the week before Thanksgiving. But because oldest is a junior in high school, I am nervous about her missing 5 days of school. If I go the week of Thanksgiving (11-22 -11-28) then she would only miss Friday , Mon, Tues and half day on Wed. With the bulk being during thanksgiving week where they don't do anything anyway.

So the resort that I can do that week at is YC. I have had people tell me to stay away from Thanksgiving week . I have had people tell me Yc is kind of stuffy(my kids are older though 16, 11 , 9) , rundown and the buses are horrible. . But then again, I have people tell me the YC is really nice and I will love it.


Soooo I am here to hear what is awesome on the YC. I am going to the experts!!! Please tell me why you love the YC. I have to make my decision before the weekend is over ....

Thank you so much! I am so excited to hear from you! I have looked at the pictures and thought it was beautiful..More my kind of resort ..even more than the Poly... so I am wondering are there some bad rooms that people are talking about?

I'll start -- what buses? You walk to Epcot and walk or take the boat to HS, so you spend no time on buses there! We never waited more than a few minutes for a bus to MK or AK, and we were almost always the ONLY people on the bus until it drove over to BC -- and that was in August! We did have one longish wait for a bus back from MK one day. (DTD buses are another story and are as bad as you hear.)

The rooms all have full balconies, so even if they seem small on the inside, there's extra living space outdoors. My boys are 11 and 8 (and we first took them there at 9 and 6) and while it looks more formal, it doesn't act it. I hope that makes sense!

We visited Poly this summer -- it seems very lush, so YC may seem more stark to you. I can't say anything about Thanksgiving week, having never been to Disney then, but I hope you'll enjoy YC!

 

[JKSWonder]

In the middle of the packing frenzy. Just two more nights until we are headed to the airport.

At the last minute DS tells me his water shoes broke and DH says he lost his head phones. I thought we had everything we needed, but judging by how much money I dropped at Target today, I guess not!

 

[natebenma]

I was poking around DisBoards archives and found old Beach Club/ Yacht Club threads started by Joe Cool circa 2001

He seemed to be the Dee of the time. Anyone know where he went?

College and Life, I think. One of our long-time posters told me he was a student when he started this thread. I took over from Tete01830 and I have never seen the previous version.

I have a little shoutout to them both, at the end of the first post on this thread:

THANK YOU to Joe Cool, a high school student who originally put together this FAQ thread and to Tete01830 for keeping it going.

 

[HubbDave]

College and Life, I think. One of our long-time posters told me he was a student when he started this thread. I took over from Tete01830 and I have never seen the previous version.

I have a little shoutout to them both, at the end of the first post on this thread:

THANK YOU to Joe Cool, a high school student who originally put together this FAQ thread and to Tete01830 for keeping it going.

I will try to find a link to that old thread. I stumbled on it looking for refillable mug info

Glad you kept it going!

Forums like these are interesting because few are on from the beginning and things get lost or forgotten. Thank you for what you do

Beach Club has given me great memories

 

[JanetMom]

Thank you for what you do

Beach Club has given me great memories

I'll second that!

 

[Barbara C]

Hi Everyone -

We arrive at the Beach Club on 9/14 and I received a letter yesterday stating there may not be a refrigerator in our room. I thought I had read on these boards that all of the refrigerators had been swapped out - do you know if that is the case? I've put in an order with Garden Grocer for milk and juice but I will need to cancel if we don't have the fridge.

Thanks for your help.