2013 Beach and Yacht Club FAQ: Don't Post Here! New Thread Now Open

[JanetMom]

Thanks!

By the way here is the Mickey one she made for me for Mothers Day!

Love this! Thanks for sharing.

 

[rea59]

Thanks again to everyone for the great advice on the full balcony request. You guys are wonderful!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I knew you'd find a way!!

Yeah, on a wing and a prayer!

 

[AliceIn]

We're back from our non-Disney road trip to Florida and still catching up! Thanks to Dee for the "cliff notes" version of what I missed while I was away!

The moment I received the mousemisers e-mail about the summer discounts, I did a little cheer for Robyn, Dee and all the summer BC/YC fans! My husband asked what I was so happy about and I told him discounts for Dee, CL for Robyn and savings for many friends on the thread! Yay!!! I'd just love for DL to cut us a little break on our August GCH rates, but I fear that's not as likely as a good BC discount!

A little OT, but it's about the beach! We really enjoyed Vero. I love the beach generally, and definitely prefer the West coast and the Pacific, but I think Vero is now my favorite beach in Florida. But we love to boogie board, so waves are a big plus for us (even though they are tiny compared to the west coast - some waves are better than none!) So for those who are looking for a few waves, Vero is a bit of a drive, but great for some post-Disney beach time!

Beautiful pictures! I'm glad to hear you had a nice time at the beach. I think our next FL trip will include some beach time. We couldn't swing it this year. How far is Vero beach from Orlando?

 

[jenjersnap]

Really hoping our July trip will be a stay at the Beach Club. I'm impatiently waiting to see what the AP rates will be.

There only appears to be about a $50 to $60 difference to book a GV over a SV with the summer discount that's available right now. Should I book the GV? Are these rooms in a better location than the SV? I'm guessing most of the SV rooms are at the back of the building overlooking the parking lot. I guess I'm more interested in location than the view. Would like something close to the pool or the walkway to Epcot, but don't want to splurge for the water view.

Thanks for the advice!

I would do GV over SV in a minute! Many GV rooms overlook the woods with Epcot behind them. It is a very pretty view and a short walk to IG and the quiet pool. It is fairly far to SAB, but I don't think there are *a lot* of very centrally located GV rooms - I know Teena or one of the experts will correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Angeejoe]

Okay practicing posting photos from my phone in preparation of upcoming BC stay (plus bragging at the same time).

DD16 took 1st place last night for her painting (of her little sister reading under the sheets)!

[/IMG]

Lets see if this works.....she wants to be an Imagineer of course!

Beautiful painting ! Your daughters very talented!

 

[Angeejoe]

Devil's Advocate, here!

Is 'Ohana one of the restaurants with a penalty for non-cancellation? Can't remember.

Make the reservation for 3. If this is a penalty restaurant, call within the required time limit and say that one of the people on your reservation is unable to make it.

Thanks Dee! I booked it for 3. Is there a way to cancel the 3rd person? Thanks for the advice ! There's a no show penalty at Ohana. I had to give my credit card.

Angeejoe - I have booked 'Ohana for more people than actually showed up with no penalty. If anyone at all shows for the ressie, you will not be charged. By the way, what days are you looking for? I may be able to help you!

Thanks ggghost! I booked 5/26@9:30p eek! I really would prefer like 8p so I need to keep looking, my other open day would be 5/29. 5/26 is our arrival day & I really want to wow my 60 yr old aunt who has never been to Disney, let alone Florida! I think dinner that late would be a lot for her especially after a long travel day! If it was DH & I it wouldn't be a big deal, we can go late into the night!

 

[mommakacie]

ROTFL!! Does your DH have long hair and a long beard and are you the hot wife? I'm having visions of Duck Dynasty!! Glad you are having a good time and that your DH is enjoying CL!!

I'm so not the hot wife and my hubby doesn't have a long beard, but we're fans of the show, so that counts, right???

So excited for you and your family. The view from your room looks great and it sounds like your trip has a great start.

The view is great!! Pretty pleased with our SV room!

Thanks so much for the excellent report!!!

That is interesting news about them offering you a room on the 4th floor with a daybed. I love that!!! I haven't really heard of that before.

I also really appreciate the pictures- don't worry about it during the trip, but I would love to add the view photos when you get back. I'm not sure that I can "borrow" your pictures from Flickr.

The picture of the upright cot is also very helpful.

Thanks again, and hope the rest of your trip is SPECTACULAR!!!

Dee - if you can pm me your email address, I'll just email you the photos.

Did it! Just sent an email to our TA to upgrade our stay to CL!!!

That nagging, missing CL feeling, just wouldn't go away. I was going to wait for
AP rates but didn't want to miss out on getting a CL room since we can only book sv (family of 5).

Oh well - I'll just cut back on some of our ts meals and we won't need an order for garden grocer. Thank goodness for Disney math!

That's what I did - dropped the dining plan, forgot about garden grocer... We're doing a couple TS meals, but not one for every day, and that's ok! My only issue with the lounge so far is that it seems our timing is working bad. They close it a couple times a day to clean and prepare for the next setting and we keep wanting to go during those times. Maybe by the time we leave, we'll have it figured out.

Just heard back from our TA - it's official!

Dee - you can add CL next to my name on the Be Our Guest List!

All checked in!!! This time tomorrow we will be halfway to MCO

Thanks Dee! I booked it for 3. Is there a way to cancel the 3rd person? Thanks for the advice ! There's a no show penalty at Ohana. I had to give my credit card.

We have a ressie there in a couple days. If I think about it, I'll ask if (hypothetically speaking, of course) someone in your situation should cancel the person or just go with it. I personally think you'll be ok. You could always say the third person became ill and couldn't come.

 

[mommakacie]

Recap of Day 2....

We got up early and hit MK at 7 am today. We did Aerial's ride, met Ariel, the Barnstormer, Dumbo, Teacups, Pooh, and Buzz (2 times) all before 9am!! Then we did the laugh floor, had breakfast, rode the carpets, pirates, and spent quite a while on tom sawyer's island, rode the train to the front of the park and came back to the BC around noon. I cannot recommend enough to get to the parks when it opens!! When we were leaving at noon, it was packed!!!!

We came back and had some chips and cookies at the lounge. I knew that my 2 little kids were still hungry, so I asked the attendant for some peanut butter and jelly. She gave me some of those little ones that they have around for toast, then she went and brought me back some bread so I could fix them some sandwiches. The kids thought that was awesome!

We then (all 5 of us) slept for 2.5 hours! And apparently right through all the rain that we were getting.

We headed over to EP for our dinner ressie at Biergarten. We love that place. The kids liked it pretty well, too. I don't understand why they don't sell that bavarian cheesecake at one of the stores - I think they'd make a killing on it!

We spent some time in a couple countries, got a start on the kids passports and our hats around the world photo collage We rode mission space - less intense version, then watched illuminations. EMH at EP tonight, so we went over and rode Soarin' (still my favorite ride) and Test Track. Hoofed it back to the BC, so I could crash with my friend Ty(lenol).

Another great day! Thankful for that nap or we would not have made it to EMH at EP - not even close!

The kids have a reservation on the pirate cruise in the morning, so we're getting a later start tomorrow. Yeah for "sleeping in".

 

[Sue M]

Pixar beautiful pics. My daughters enjoy taking surf lessons from Ron Jon's in Cocoa Beach. Last time they got the same instructor that also goes to TL! We are looking forward to 9 days Pre wdw this August in Deerfield Beach.

Ninja excellent idea of chair moving. Sadly I think part of the problem is also that people are too lazy & inconsiderate to take their towels to the bin when they leave. Way easier to just leave them on the chair/lounge
For sure I'm going to remember the chair move in August

True about the incentive to book short stay, I added on 2 days at GF before our YC stay. Got a good discount.

 

[GGGhosts]

Thanks Dee! I booked it for 3. Is there a way to cancel the 3rd person? Thanks for the advice ! There's a no show penalty at Ohana. I had to give my credit card.



Thanks ggghost! I booked 5/26@9:30p eek! I really would prefer like 8p so I need to keep looking, my other open day would be 5/29. 5/26 is our arrival day & I really want to wow my 60 yr old aunt who has never been to Disney, let alone Florida! I think dinner that late would be a lot for her especially after a long travel day! If it was DH & I it wouldn't be a big deal, we can go late into the night!

Well good luck, 9:30 is a bit late! I have a 5/17 that I might not use, so I thought it might have worked for you. Again, I have been to 'Ohana with a ressie for 3 and only 2 of us could go and there was no problem. As I was told, as long as the ressie time is used, no charge.

 

[JulieODC]

Thanks all for the input on when to book our room for November - I'm going to book ASAP!

Only 219 days to go....

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

Recap of Day 2....

We got up early and hit MK at 7 am today. We did Aerial's ride, met Ariel, the Barnstormer, Dumbo, Teacups, Pooh, and Buzz (2 times) all before 9am!! Then we did the laugh floor, had breakfast, rode the carpets, pirates, and spent quite a while on tom sawyer's island, rode the train to the front of the park and came back to the BC around noon. I cannot recommend enough to get to the parks when it opens!! When we were leaving at noon, it was packed!!!!

We came back and had some chips and cookies at the lounge. I knew that my 2 little kids were still hungry, so I asked the attendant for some peanut butter and jelly. She gave me some of those little ones that they have around for toast, then she went and brought me back some bread so I could fix them some sandwiches. The kids thought that was awesome!

We then (all 5 of us) slept for 2.5 hours! And apparently right through all the rain that we were getting.

We headed over to EP for our dinner ressie at Biergarten. We love that place. The kids liked it pretty well, too. I don't understand why they don't sell that bavarian cheesecake at one of the stores - I think they'd make a killing on it!

We spent some time in a couple countries, got a start on the kids passports and our hats around the world photo collage We rode mission space - less intense version, then watched illuminations. EMH at EP tonight, so we went over and rode Soarin' (still my favorite ride) and Test Track. Hoofed it back to the BC, so I could crash with my friend Ty(lenol).

Another great day! Thankful for that nap or we would not have made it to EMH at EP - not even close!

The kids have a reservation on the pirate cruise in the morning, so we're getting a later start tomorrow. Yeah for "sleeping in".

I love your updates! Sounds like you are having a fabulous time. We still have 175 days left before our trip (not like I'm counting .) Trip reports like this help the time go by so much faster and make me even more excited for our trip.

I convinced everyone that we needed to add an extra day so that we could have a morning to sleep in and enjoy the pool. So now we will be there Sept 27-Oct 6. When I added the extra day I also put in a request for a full size balcony. Since we have free dining, I also have one more ADR I need to make, but can't decide where to go.

 

[natebenma]

So, our dates are 7/19 - 7/23 BC.

Here are our tentative plans on Friday and Sat:

Friday is EMH at EP, so we will be heading over there in the morning. We may actually go back to the resort mid-day to relax and hopefully get in some time at SAB. Our plan was to go to MK for EMH, but I understand the hours were cut back. We will still go for the evening though.

Our flight on Saturday is at 7 PM, so we will still have lots of the day. It is EMH at HS, so that is our plan in the morning. Afternoon will either be EP or pool, since we won't want to travel too far from the resort.

email me if you want to exchange cell numbers. beachclubdee at yahoo

Hi All!

I've been reading through posts - thanks for all the great info on BC/YC!!

I just booked flights yesterday, so we're officially back at WDW from 11/10-11/16. We're thinking of switching it up this time, and staying at YC (for the first time) - seems like such easy access to Epcot and DHS will be great (esp with DD in tow!).

We're thinking YC, lagoon view - so we can put DD to bed and enjoy some drinks on the balcony in the evening.

I'll add you to the Be Our Guest list!

Fingers crossed for a great fall discount for you!

Congrats!!!

Dee, for the BoG list, are dates are now 6/14-6/19 at YC.

Got it!

DS and I stayed at Pop for our last trip (our "bonus" trip of 2012) so just staying deluxe again will be a difference!

As many of you know, my last stay was at All Star Movies with 145 teenagers!

Can't wait to be back at BC!!! With just one teen.

Could you add another (short) trip to the BOG list for me? DH and I will be at the YC August 2-4 for a weekend anniversary getaway.

Absolutely!!!

and Happy Anniversary!

Just heard back from our TA - it's official!

Dee - you can add CL next to my name on the Be Our Guest List!

So happy for you!!!

Really hoping our July trip will be a stay at the Beach Club. I'm impatiently waiting to see what the AP rates will be.

to the thread!

Let us know when you book so I can add you to the Be Our Guest list.

I convinced everyone that we needed to add an extra day so that we could have a morning to sleep in and enjoy the pool. So now we will be there Sept 27-Oct 6. When I added the extra day I also put in a request for a full size balcony. Since we have free dining, I also have one more ADR I need to make, but can't decide where to go.

I'll make the change to the Be Our Guest list.

for another day!

 

[natebenma]

Will probably only be checking in periodically today. Last night was opening night for my son's play, Pom Pom Zombies. It was AWESOME!!!

Another show tonight and Saturday.

I'd keep my peepers open and see if I could find an empty chair. If I don't see any then I would pick a chair that looks unattended and observe it for awhile. Making sure that the only thing on the chair is hotel property as opposed to personal property I would take the chair and.... here's the key.... MOVE it to a different location. That's right... I just advocated relocating an UNATTENDED chair to a different pool location. This way if the chair hog came back hours later and you were still sitting in the chair, well, you wouldn't be sitting where Piggy remembered hogging the chair hours ago before they left for the parks.... right??

I never thought that people might put a towel on a chair and walk out of the pool area - for hours. That is really inconsiderate. I will never again feel guilty if I take an unattended chair that only has a towel on it.

Last time DH and I went over to the quiet pool because there weren't any good chairs at SAB that didn't have towels on them. I love the idea of moving the chair.

Ah, the "beloved" Towel Game! Happens everywhere these days! SAB, all resort pools at Disney and beyond, especially cruise ships! When I went out for my sunrise walk on the beach in Mexico, people were putting towels out on the beach loungers at 6 am.

I can't remember if it was on this thread or somewhere else where it was suggested that someone leave notes with the time of day on empty chairs (say you arrive at 2 pm, the sticky note would say 2:00. And see how long it stays there!

Halloween?


Hi, we will be staying over Halloween and will not be attending MNSSHP this time.

What does the Y&BC do, if anything, on the 31st? I am due to make ADRs soon and wondering where to make them for. In the past I have heard DTD offer some trick or treating but we were thinking of just staying at the hotel that night and doing Cape May.

What about Epcot?

Thanks.

Bumping this up!

Thanks!

By the way here is the Mickey one she made for me for Mothers Day!

Is that the Mirror of Erised?

(oops, wrong park, my HP is showing )

Another great painting by your talented daughter!

Thanks Dee! I booked it for 3. Is there a way to cancel the 3rd person? Thanks for the advice ! There's a no show penalty at Ohana. I had to give my credit card.

Keep looking for a better time and 2 people, but keep this reservation.

A couple of days before the reservation, call the dining line and let them know one of your party had to return home unexpectedly.

Hoofed it back to the BC, so I could crash with my friend Ty(lenol).

Thanks again for your great updates!!!

I'm glad you slept through the rain. I saw the rain on my Orlando weather icon and I thought of you and your family.

No rush on getting pictures to me. The email address I use for thread "business" is beachclubdee at yahoo.

 

[natebenma]

We're back from our non-Disney road trip to Florida and still catching up! Thanks to Dee for the "cliff notes" version of what I missed while I was away!

AWESOME pictures!!!

You put this one in to make me jealous, didn't you!?!

(actually, all of them made me jealous)

Thanks for sharing!

 

[bigAWL]

Dee,

Concerning this section of your "Other Useful Information" section...

Can I ship a package to Beach Club or Yacht Club for my stay?

If you ship a package to the resort, Mail by United States Postal Service, not anything else!!! If you mail other than USPS, your items will be shipped to the convention center and the shipping department will charge the recipient a handling charge, based on the weight of your package.

Disney's Beach Club Resort (or Disney's Beach Club Villas)
1800 Epcot Resort Boulevard
Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830
Please give to Guest, (name on reservation)
Check-in date 9/1/10 (for example)

or

Disney's Yacht Club Resort
1700 Epcot Resort Boulevard
Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830
Please give to Guest, (name on reservation)
Check-in date 9/1/10 (for example)

Orders from Garden Grocer are delivered to Bell Services at YC or BC, so they are not subject to the delivery fee. You can ask Bell Services to deliver the order to your room when you are there.

My order from Garden Grocer the other week did include a "Deilvery" charge by Garden Grocer. It wasn't the convention center handling charge, which I think is what you were getting at. But this line might be confusing.

 

[bigAWL]

A couple updates now that I'm back and a bit recovered from my vacation....

I'll also add the the useable depth at BCV is approximately the same as the width of a standard US passport. About 3"? I don't have a ruler.

When I looked again as I was cleaning out my safe, I would say that my 3" estimate above may be a little generous. Closing the door takes up some of that space. It may not be any more than 2" or less in there with the door closed. I did have our passports standing sideway in the corner where the door was not a factor.

Leaving BCV now. Now headed out on a back to back cruise on the Dream. I did get a couple more photos pd the solarium I will post after the cruise. I verified there are gallon jugs of water available in the marketplace. Photo will follow. Price is $2.95. Unfortunately did not make it into the lobby restrooms. Sorry for that.

I'll try to catch up again in a week. But I'm not sure ill be able to get through the 50 more pages you all are sure to put up between now and then.

Later!

Here are a couple of photos of the Solarium I got...

Here's one of the gallon jugs of water...

And I was able to sneak in at the end to the men's room off the lobby (at the Marketplace end of the lobby)... but oops, I forgot to upload that photo yet. More later.

We were in BCV 2BR villa with 2 queen beds - room 441. I'll also post these on the room-view thread, but here they are. Trying to look left off the balcony, Illuminations fireworks were completely blocked by the building.

Here's what it looks like from the outside (this is a path behind the BC and BCV along the woods that leads to the walkway to Epcot).

 

[natebenma]

Dee,

Concerning this section of your "Other Useful Information" section...



My order from Garden Grocer the other week did include a "Deilvery" charge by Garden Grocer. It wasn't the convention center handling charge, which I think is what you were getting at. But this line might be confusing.

Thanks for that insight! I'll add something like it is only subject to GG fees, not resort charges.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

I also would love to see what kind of pirate document the two of you (Captain) Cook up!

They still may offer the discount. Remember the object of these discount enticements is to get the resort as full as possible. The resort more than likely may still have rooms open, but only for shorter stays like 1 or 2 days. Staying at a resort for 1 or 2 days may not fit someone's idea of a great plan but with the proper financial enticement it may be the tipping point that convinces people to book and fill up these shorter stay rooms.

Ah yes.... the summer season will soon be upon us. This is the time of year where we see a lot of questions from the summer trip planners about what will the pool situation be. Well Auntie Ninja is here to tell you how it's been in the past. Put your jammies on an pull up a chair while I go make us the Sunkin Treasures. It's history lesson time!

Here is what will happen. It happens at just about every Disney resort pool in the summer so Storm Along Bay is not the only pool where this occurs.

1) The resorts will be very busy and it will be hot out.

2) People will think it's a good idea to go down to the pool when it first opens in the early morning to "save" chairs by putting resort towels on them. (it's not!)

3) The staff at the pool, in the past, has gone around from time to time to remove orphan towels from the chairs, thus freeing them up.
They however cannot be counted on to do this to the point where it solves the problem. It's just not practical from a logistics standpoint to get it perfectly right.

4) The chair savers will be mad that the chair they were saving since 8 am is now occupied by someone who is actually using it in the afternoon when they come back to FINALLY use the pool. The person sitting in the chair will have no idea why the chair saver is snorting around the pool in (un) righteous indignation.

So there you have it. A picture of what happens at MOST Disney Resort pools during the busy summer months. This is not just at Storm Along Bay....

Also keep in mind that the Pool is so large that it will in all likelihood never seem crowded so that is almost never a problem.

OK, so what do we do to live with this situation? Well when you come to the pool in the afternoon, if you see a sea of empty chairs with towels on them here's what I would do.

I'd keep my peepers open and see if I could find an empty chair. If I don't see any then I would pick a chair that looks unattended and observe it for awhile. Making sure that the only thing on the chair is hotel property as opposed to personal property I would take the chair and.... here's the key.... MOVE it to a different location. That's right... I just advocated relocating an UNATTENDED chair to a different pool location. This way if the chair hog came back hours later and you were still sitting in the chair, well, you wouldn't be sitting where Piggy remembered hogging the chair hours ago before they left for the parks.... right??

This is an excellent time to remind people NEVER to leave valuables unattended at the pool. If you must take your phone or other devices to the pool there are lockers over at the raft rental desk in the center of the pool complex. You can find this area directly across from where the Volleyball rope is located. Keep in mind these outdoor lockers are in POOR condition and many of them are stuck and non functional. An insider's tip is to use the lockers located inside the fitness center for storing valuables while at the pool. This area is a short walk outside of the pool near the Beaches and Cream area.

So there you have the end of the story. It's a wonder Ninja Mom is not in jail but she is hiding in plain sight on a pool chair at Storm Along Bay so the 'Coppers' will never catch up with her.

~NM

I just saw this and LOVED it. Thanks for making me laugh out loud in my cubicle!