2013 Beach and Yacht FAQ, Fun & Friends: Don't Post Here- New Thread Started

[natebenma]

I noticed last year when we visited The Y&B that there was some refurbishments going on - I'm particularly interested in whether anyone has pictures of the new Periwig and Ship Shape Health Club after the refurbs?

TIA

stitchie13

I don't have any pictures of Periwigs, but these are pictures I have on Page 1(Post 5) of the health club after renovation


Ship Shape Health Club and Spa Guests of the YC, BC and BCV will discover a new sense of well-being in the Ship Shape Health Club. State-of-the-art fitness equipment by Life Fitness and Hammer Strength includes treadmills, ellipticals, stair climbers, regular and recumbent bicycles, weight machines and free weights.

Thanks so much for the pictures, spacy9!!!


To see more photos of the Ship Shape Health Club (taken by spacy9), click here! Ship Shape Health Club

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[natebenma]

page 10-13

Just gotta say thanks so much to all that make this thread so great and informative. I spend a lot of time planning our Disney vacations and this thread has been so helpful.

Looking forward to our first Beach Club stay on July 18-25. Can't wait to see my name on the Be Our Guest List.

Sorry to take so long to catch up. I'll add you now!!!

Greetings from the beach club. Our room is very near the epcot end of bc, and my family was amazed when I took us thru the "secret" entrance -our total walk less than 5 or 6 minutes. We did about an hour at sab, then ate at hh, then crashed in room for bit, then literally traversed entirety of epecot, sampling the various special food kiosks set up for festival, plus took my mom into china movie, which she loved. Our toddler slept through most of it, but now just woke up and likely not want to sleep until 10 or so. We will probably take him and my mom for some quick but nice dinner (maybe captain's grille?), and appreciate helpful advice and well wishes from all. I think our son is in love with sab (and getting a replacement spritzer fan)

Sounds like a great start.

Happy Mother's Day Dee!
I know it's your first without your mum and you are in my thoughts
I hope you (and all the other mums on here) have a lovely day I take it you are enjoying the peace and quiet before your birthday guests awaken

Happy Mothers Day to you too!

Thanks for your sweet words and thinking of me. I appreciate it.

It was a nice quiet couple of hours this morning. The benefit of boys staying up way too late is that they sleep in in the morning.

Back atcha Mom. Or should I say SuperMom. Only Mom I know of with a house FULL of men that is up at 6am nursing her other baby, 'The 2013 Beach and Yacht FAQ, Fun & Friends'.

Happy Mothers Day Dee and all you other ladies that put up with all our odd quirks and obsessions!

Thanks, Mike!

Hope Lee Ann had a great day.

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone! Finally have a moment to get caught up on our trip. We arrived Thursday and waited until 2 for our room and alas no full balcony, which was our only request. We are on the fourth floor with a view dead on of the windmill of SAB and the lagoon beyond that. I love our room and honestly cannot see us moving back down to moderate until the baby is bigger as it is the perfect amount of space even with a stroller and pack n play. My husband has requested that I ask to be near transportation next time as we are all the way down at the end of the building. On the best plus side, we have the BEST maid. Not only is our room been spotless and perfect but….TOWEL ANIMALS. The first night we came in she had set up the pig/elephant reading the babies book and last night we have a great big birthday cake with one of the birthday buttons and older DD giraffe hanging out on it. DH and DD have been to SAB twice and our in love. Bus service has been pretty good, no complaints, although we have avoided the dreaded Downtown Disney bus. I have to thank all of you yet again for the suggestion of Garden Grill. We ate there Thursday night and had the best time and the best server, Jeffrey. The baby loved Mickey, screamed at Pluto and was indifferent to Chip and Dale, but momma inhaled two plates of the mashed potatoes so I was all good. Friday was a MK day and we truly got a lot accomplished and I felt the crowds were very easy to manage. BOG for dinner that night was amazing. I cried walking into the ballroom because it was that magical and the food was equally delicious. Saturday was AK and it was HOT and HUMID and we rode out a thunderstorm at Dinosaur, but DH and older DD were happy because they rode Everest 7 times. Dinner last night was Boma and it was another hit. I tried to be adventurous and really wanted to like the Carrot Ginger soup, but alas no go. Zebra Domes however were a huge hit for me and DH. AKL is amazing and I think we will take more time to explore it later in our trip. Today is DHS day for Mothers day and Captain’s Grill tonight for dinner. Overall I am thrilled with BC, its location, rooms, and staff. Have a great day everyone and be back soon!

Thanks for checking in with us!!!

Sounds like you are getting some fantastic towel art!!! Have you seen the mushroom yet?

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Ahhhh, the finally at the BC!!!! So I'm sneaking a post from bed while the kids sleep and DH enjoys a cup of coffee on the balcony, lol. I need a moment of peace when typing! Really quick, it's beautiful weather! We came in Friday, stayed at AoA overnight (clean, colorful, crowded), Boma for dinner YUM! Up early yesterday and taxi to BC ($15) carryons came with, luggage ended up transferring to YC instead (story for later) no big deal, escorted upstairs, everyone went to lounge while I checked in. Went to parks via boats (which I won't do again because on the walk back i remembered the secret entrance, which it takes longer to walk from the lounge to the boats than the lounge to the entrance!). Went to the parks to find out KTTW cards weren't activated (?!?!). (They fixed, second long story)..... Until later.....!!!!

Good to hear from you! Hope the rest of your trip is great.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Dee, I see you survived the night Can't believe you are up this early!

You chose the perfect picture to post.....as you can see DD named her cat after Marie!

After Ben's performance in Aristocats, what else could I pick?

Happy Mother's day everyone. Only 2 more sleeps and we will be at the YC!!! I am so looking forward to going. My 3 yr. old granddaughter, Lucy, can't figure out why we are going without her. This is our annual "alone"trip and we will be taking Lucy and the rest of her family in December.

Looking forward to trying the YC again after 2 years. I hope I get to meet some of the wonderful people on this thread while there.

So soon!

Have fun!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO EVERYONE ON THE YC/BC THREAD!!!!!

Yesterday my DSis decided to join us on our trip along with her two kids my Dnephew11 and Dniece 9! Unfortunately she didn't listen to me and book it earlier and now I can't get a discount for her. However, she booked BC SV for 6/6 to 6/10.

This will be a surprise for my niece and nephew and I was really teasing them last night telling them I will send them pictures from WDW. They looked so sad... My sister is going to "take them out to dinner" after their last day of school and show up at the airport.

I am also leaving this as a surprise for my DS13 and DD7. They love hanging out/playing with their cousins so we are just letting them show up in WDW. DSis is going to tell her kids we are going to WDW at the end of the month and that we are not there the same time as them - so double surprise hopefully for them.

Only 25 days to go!!!! Today I am helping my Dsis link reservations and do online check-in!!!!

That is cool news! Sounds like a wonderful trip and lots of nice surprises all around.

 

[Minnie]

Question about the Yacht Club and Beach Club club lounges- I think someone recently posted that you can go out on a porch from the lounge at the Yacht Club. Has anyone done that? Pictures from the porch?

YC club lounge does have a porch you can go out on however the view is of the parking lot.

 

[catho72]

Question about the Yacht Club and Beach Club club lounges- I think someone recently posted that you can go out on a porch from the lounge at the Yacht Club. Has anyone done that? Pictures from the porch?

How about the Beach Club. Although I have had a CL room twice, I have no idea if you can access the outside from the lounge. Anyone know? Again, pictures???

Also, I would love to have more YC and BC room view pictures (both club level and standard rooms). It would be especially helpful to have samples of Standard Views, since I think people are a little afraid of booking this category and getting a horrendous view- so showing the good, bad and ugly is the best way for people to know what to expect.

I started up two View Threads in the Resort Photo Subforum:

Beach Club Room Views

Yacht Club Room Views


The purpose of these thread is to give some samples of rooms in various view categories at the Yacht and Beach Clubs.


Thanks!

I just posted some pics on this thread....both GV and Water/Lagoon View. Plus one photo has a great daybed shot.

Here are some random shots from our July 2012 trip










Doesn't everyone want to see a picture of my family's butts? Ha ha ha....I never knew about the "secret path"....only the ramp. Here we are walking down the ramp...




Walking through WS after entering through the IG entrance on our way to the front of the park for a Y.E.S. class.


A cloudy sunrise over WS


Gratuitous kid shot


Kind of creepy don't you think? Again, before park opening....


We're wet but we're still smiling

 

[catho72]

I just realized that we leave for WDW in exactly TWO MONTHS!!!!!!



Happy Mother's Day to all my YC/BC friends! Cheers to you!

 

[natebenma]

page 14-17

Checking into the BC in 17 days! The banana really does not do justice to how excited I am.

DBF and I are flying in separately, so I'll have around 4 hours to myself that I just can't decide what to do with. Debating whether or not it'd be worth it to hit the MK for a little bit, just to go shopping and enjoy Main Street. We may not be able to get to the MK until our third day together, and I'm a sap who needs to see the train station and the castle to feel like I've arrived (DBF is less sentimental and doesn't care if I hit the parks without him, though I do have to wait for him to ride the Haunted Mansion). But if the room is ready when I check in, I'll probably just hang out in the BC/YC/BW area, unpack, do some souvenir shopping, and take a shower before dinner.

Either way, I'm going to need to eat something, so does anyone have recommendations (or places to avoid!) for a light lunch in the BC/YC/BW area? And any thoughts/suggestions on how you'd spend the time? I'm not really sure how much time to factor in for transportation to the MK from the BC, in spite of the fact that I've made the trip a dozen times. Guess I've always been too excited (or too tired) to take note of how much time the journey took.

I'll add you to the Be Our Guest list for the end of May.



There should be some links to menus for Hurricane Hanna's, I think the Marketplace (sandwiches, flat bread pizza, salads, grab and go sushi) and Beaches and Cream on Page 1, the Dining Post. Although B&C tends to be really crowded, as a solo diner you may be able to snag a seat at the counter without much wait.

The other thing, sort of suggested by others- enter EPCOT- have a light lunch at the French bakery, or fish & chips in UK or something from Sunshine Seasons, then when you are done, catch the monorail to the MK to get that first view of the castle.

Ride to and from BC/MK on the bus should be around 15 minutes, plus whatever wait you have for the bus if you choose to go that way.

Hi everyone,

Happy Mother's Day! One of my gifts today was getting uninterrupted Disboard time. Lol

So excited to be coming with my family of 5 in Oct. Nobody knows but me, and of course you guys, that we are staying at BC CL. My DH thinks AoA. I think he will be so excited!!!

Ok, now though I am questioning some of my ADRs and would love opinions from the BC/YC peeps. My kids are DS 13, DS 11 and DD 7. This is only our 2nd trip. Last time we did Ohana.

This time I have hoop dee Doo revue, tuskar house(lunch)...thinking of moving that to Camp May?? And prime time cafe(lunch)

Any thoughts or others suggestions for my age kids?

Thanks!!!

The one thing my boys (they will be 15 and 12 on the trip) insisted on was Sci Fi at HS. We love Cape May at the Beach Club. Teppen Edo, as someone suggested, is a fun choice, especially if you don't have access to one near your home. Boma at AKL is awesome! I think my favorite at Disney and even my very picky eater enjoys it. Plus a nice chance to check out the resort.

Happy Mother's Day!

We also stayed at Beach Club, which was probably our favorite or 2nd favorite of the 4 Disney resorts we have stayed at. Do the Cape May Cafe Character Breakfast. The food is great, the atmosphere is quaint and the characters make it to every table.
BTW- Once you step into the Beach Club, you will never want to leave! The resort had the most amazing scent I've ever smelled! And the beds are the best of any Disney Resort. Its weird how after that stay, no Disney Resort has had beds like that one. The whole family never slept so well.

and thanks for your input!

So do you have a trip in the planning to your favorite or 2nd favorite resort?

Would u guys do CL in YC or BC with dds 2&5?

What the main difference is between YC and BC club levels. Obviously the hotel, but what about size of lounge, view off lounge, staff, offerings? I have seen several, or maybe just a few, dislikes for the BC lounge because of size and traffic flow. YC only has a standard view open for our dates, and I think I'd rather have the nicer view from our room than a "better" lounge area. Thoughts and opinions anyone??

I haven't been to the YC lounge. From everything I have read, the food offerings are the same, same management team, YC lounge is a larger. I don't think there is much action out on the porch and I don't think there is any special view from the lounge area.

I think either would be a fine choice.

 

[VbChristy]

I get to make my dining reservations Tuesday morning! YAY!!!!! I just went through to decide where I want to eat and when. I am not making too many res since we will have a 5 month old on the trip... But I want to get in some favorites and must have's

 

[natebenma]

I just posted some pics on this thread....both GV and Water/Lagoon View. Plus one photo has a great daybed shot.

Happy Mother's Day to all my YC/BC friends! Cheers to you!

Thanks for putting the pictures up on the view thread!

GREAT pictures! Thanks for sharing.

And YUM! Cheers and Happy Mother's Day to you, too.

 

[SpeedyDisney]

Also, I would love to have more YC and BC room view pictures (both club level and standard rooms). It would be especially helpful to have samples of Standard Views, since I think people are a little afraid of booking this category and getting a horrendous view- so showing the good, bad and ugly is the best way for people to know what to expect.

We'll be staying BC SV CL at end of May banana:) and I'll be taking pictures of the view and other stuff. I plan to pay it forward assuming I can figure out how to post pictures and I have reached the required post count.

David

 

[natebenma]

We'll be staying BC SV CL at end of May banana:) and I'll be taking pictures of the view and other stuff. I plan to pay it forward assuming I can figure out how to post pictures and I have reached the required post count.

David

Thanks!!! We appreciate the help and input.

I think your post count is fine (10 are needed, I believe) for posting photos. I have some directions about posting pictures on Page 1, Other Useful Info, or I can talk you through it when the time comes.

The main thing you need to do is add your pictures to a photo sharing site- I use Photobucket


By the way- I have just added a few more pictures from my files to the view threads.

 

[jennyjinx3]

Well we told the kiddos today!! They are super excited and now for me it s REAL! Can't wait to be at the BC in 3 days!!

 

[BringingUpDisney]

Thanks for this info. We have been back and forth about the DDP since we booked! It has been stressing me out! I think we will end up removing it from our reservation and paying out of pocket. When I did the calculations we were close to breaking only if we ordered the most expensive entrees at each of our TS meals. I am a super picky eater so a lot of times I prefer to just get an appetizer or nibble off the kids' plates. This validated that it may not be a good value for us.

We found that we over paid & under ate. We are going OOP this time, and since it a longer trip and we are going to try to bounce back, we are gong to get APs and try TIW, I think that will be more cost effective in the end. Yes, it's also a shameless use of Disney math!

 

[BringingUpDisney]

I wanted to book the dining plan for that exact reason We booked a room with a travel agent exclusive and so Disney will not allow us to add the dining plan. We had the dining plan last time and it worked well. Hoping that all goes well on this trip without the plan!

We do a faux plan by estimating costs including tax, tips and snacks and put it all on a gift card. This makes it easier to stop obsessing on prices and it's usually the same or less than what we would pay for DDP

 

[Karebear]

We do a faux plan by estimating costs including tax, tips and snacks and put it all on a gift card. This makes it easier to stop obsessing on prices and it's usually the same or less than what we would pay for DDP

Thanks for the tips! I am going to use a gift card--that is a great idea. I think that we will be fine. I remember last time we were always too full to eat the dessert that came with the CS meals. This time, I can just order a salad, etc. and won't feel like I am "wasting" a credit.

 

[disney777]

I calculated $DDP x 14 days and put that on a gift card. I ended up with a just under $200 balance at the end of my trip. So I definitely came out ahead. I liked being able to eat what I wanted.

 

[Simba's Girl]

I calculated $DDP x 14 days and put that on a gift card. I ended up with a just under $200 balance at the end of my trip. So I definitely came out ahead. I liked being able to eat what I wanted.

If you used the GC for tips too, you probably came out WAY ahead!

 

[natebenma]

Well we told the kiddos today!! They are super excited and now for me it s REAL! Can't wait to be at the BC in 3 days!!

That is fantastic!!! Best.Mothers.Day.Ever. (for the kids).

You all must be over the moon.

Thanks for this info. We have been back and forth about the DDP since we booked! It has been stressing me out! I think we will end up removing it from our reservation and paying out of pocket. When I did the calculations we were close to breaking only if we ordered the most expensive entrees at each of our TS meals. I am a super picky eater so a lot of times I prefer to just get an appetizer or nibble off the kids' plates. This validated that it may not be a good value for us.

Thanks for the tips! I am going to use a gift card--that is a great idea. I think that we will be fine. I remember last time we were always too full to eat the dessert that came with the CS meals. This time, I can just order a salad, etc. and won't feel like I am "wasting" a credit.

We are skipping the dining plan for the first time in 4 trips. We have 4 nights and two of the sit down meals we are doing are a late breakfast (Kona, 11) and lunch (Sci Fi). We also have a meal at T-Rex which was not originally on the dining plan, but I believe is part of it now. I did the math and estimated the most expensive drink, entree and dessert we might possibly get. We came out about $100 ahead paying OOP, so if some of us skip or share dessert or share an entree, we will be even better off.

Plus, we can order Disney gift cards through a program that benefits the middle school.

Even so, it was a really tough sell for my DH. He really did not want to leave the security of the dining plan and Ben was afraid he would have to compromise on what he ordered.

I get to make my dining reservations Tuesday morning! YAY!!!!! I just went through to decide where I want to eat and when. I am not making too many res since we will have a 5 month old on the trip... But I want to get in some favorites and must have's

Good luck! Let us know what you end up with.

 

[JulieODC]

Hi all! I've been following this thread and getting so much good info for our YC trip in November. Tomorrow is our 180 days -- anyone have thoughts about our current plan? No dining plan here as of yet (we usually do better paying out of pocket, and hope for a resort discount over FD). Do you all mind if I ask for some dining input??

I'm nervous about getting the ressies we want, esp with the new system being so finicky! Any words of advice?

Should I book more ressies - esp for dinners? We will have our 2yo DD in tow, so I was afraid to book too many TS meals.

Here are our tentative plans/ressie wishlist:

Sun, 11/10: Arrive ~12pm, L: B&C (or another resort CS); D: Flying Fish

Mon, 11/11: MK day; B: CP at 8:05; L: Pecos Bills; D: Epcot/resort CS

Tues: 11/12: Epcot day; B/L: CS; D: San Angel Inn

Wed: 11/13: AK day; B: CS; L: Flame Tree BBQ; D: BOG or Cali Grill (before heading to the Electical Parade/Wishes)

Thurs: DHS day; B: CS; L: SciFi; D: BOG or Cali Grill (~5:30pm)

Fri: MK day; B: CS (or CP at 8:05 if we can't get it for Monday); L: MK CS; D: Coral Reef (haven't eaten here before, and know it doesn't seem to get great reviews, but thought our DD would love the aquarium)

 

[KerryCM]

Tomorrow morning Jim and I will be on our way to our "alone" trip!! We have a standard view at the YC club level. Dee, I will take pictures for the thread. Hopefully I can figure out how to post them. I am computer challenged, but your directions seem very easy to do!

Thank you all for the great information I have gotten here.

 

[suemom2kay]

A word of warning about gift cards. They are like cash. If you lose it, you lose the total value. Disney may or may not be able to look it up and cancel.

This is what we do. We buy gift cards (in Target using our Redcard for 5% off) in $50 increments. I leave them in the room safe. Then we pay for our meals using our KTTW card. I then periodically go to the front desk and pay off our balance.

The first year I used gift cards in lieu of the dining plan, I was walking around with a $500 gift card and it made me a wreck (I lose stuf a lot - ADD).

I think I really posted this helpful advice so I can see my TICKER!!!! FOUR MORE DAYS!!!!