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

[pixarmom]

Hello BC/YC friends!

Welcome back, Mickey T!

Thanks for sharing the mini meet photo, Dee! (Although I'm going to be pouting most of July, missing not one but TWO BC/YC meets.)

My main concerns w/ the Beach Club are as follows:

1. We'll book a gardenview room, so I'm worried our room will be far away from everything,

2. We may or may not have a full balcony,

3. The lack of a true quick-service, and

4. The bus to & from the MK

How about long is the bus to the MK in the mornings (for MK rope drop)? Previously, we've always stayed at the CR, the WL, or FW. The bus stations at MK after "Wishes" always look so jam-packed & crowded to me - it's been nice to just walk straight out of the MK to the WL/FW boat dock.

Also, you can get your refillable mugs filled at the Marketplace, right? Are there some rooms that are more convenient to the Marketplace?

I'm concerned about the location of our room because our 2 older kids are old enough to go to the quick-service by themselves (to get a snack or drink), but I'd rather our room be close, if that makes sense.

We're a family of 5. I would like a full balcony w/ a room w/ a nice view that's not terribly far away from everything.

What kind of room requests will I need to make?

Welcome, Wendy!!! We've stayed at BC many times over 20+ years and I'm happy to address some of your questions. Our favorite garden view room was on the second floor and VERY close to the lobby. We had a full balcony in that particular room and it overlooked the courtyard with a little slice of the lake and SAB beyond. Our request from now on (when staying garden view) will be "full balcony, close to lobby, please." Our boys (ages 13, 12 and 6) easily ranked that room their favorite non-CL room at BC. It was literally just a walk around the corner and down the stairs to BC Marketplace and the lobby - super easy for refill mugs!

So, to answer #1, garden view definitely does not mean you'll be far away from everything!

Regarding #2, it's true a full balcony is not guaranteed, but in all of our BC stays over many years, we've always had a full balcony whether we requested one or not. When you check in, ask if you have a full balcony. If not, talk to the CM about your willingness to wait for a room with a full balcony to be ready later in the day.

Regarding #3, we don't use quick service a ton because we prefer TS. But when we do use quick service, BC Marketplace is now our favorite in all of WDW. BC Marketplace has all the basics, it's close and in the same building, and it's about as non-chaotic as a quick service location can possibly be. As for other options, there are so many quick service locations in the Epcot resort area - Picabu (extensive menu - open 24 hours), Hurricane Hanna's, BC Marketplace, the brand new Boardwalk Bakery. And if you have park hoppers, you won't get a better food court than World Showcase! The new bakery in France - Les Halles - is outstanding, and just through the International Gateway and to the left. We did a take-out lunch from Les Halles on our departure day this year and LOVED it.

As for #4, I've timed the bus to MK from BC. It's approximately 15 minutes before rope drop without the BWI stop. And if you hop on the bus to MK during less busy times (midday, for example) and it stops at BWI, that's about 18 minutes. On the way home, the bus does stop at S/D and YC, but that doesn't bother us a bit. Funny thing is that the last time we stayed at Poly (which we also love) and headed "home" after Wishes, the monorail was mobbed, the boat dock was mobbed, and it took us 1.5 HOURS to get from MK to our room at Poly. That was during value season. Now, that's certainly not the norm, but we were looking over at those buses to BC and BWI thinking it would have been nice to hop on a bus!

 

[Sue M]

Guess who got Mickey Mail today!!!!!

Happy Dance time!!!!



Dee, the 18th sounds good to me. This is the one morning we won't be at SAB...the kids have their Y.E.S. class and I have my tour that morning. I know for sure we'll be at SAB that afternoon! Ironically, that's the evening with our questionable ADR (Via Napoli, Tutto, Hoop, Captain's Grille). We might wind up at Captain's Grille, too! Who is your super-secret special guest? Let me guess....

Buzzy!

2013 Drunken Treasures Meet sounds very apropos!

When is your Wishes Dessert Party?

for Mickey Mail!!

 

[Sue M]

Lots of things going on. Tomorrow we hit double digits!!! 99 days we can't wait. The movers are coming tomorrow. Starting us off on the next journey. We got word yesterday that one of our dearest friends was killed in Afghanistan. We could use some Beach Club and Disney. We will be doing our double digit dance in the morning!!!

So sorry for your loss

OMG!! You're right! it's three days away and I totally forgot.
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(Not really) I've been inundated with "Mom will you sew this button on", "Mom where are my pool shoes?", "Mom I need more underwear".... the list goes on and on! What I want to know is how the underwear got to be 'missing' in the first place! If you see three boys running barefoot and 'nekked' around the parks they belong to me! Sigh......

~NM

for 3 days!! Just a little jealous. My knee surgery is tomorrow, bleck. But hope I'll be good as new for August wdw trip!

 

[Sue M]

Ok well.. I just booked a dinning reservation for Garden Grill (for 1)! I've never eaten here in all my years going to Disney, so I figured why not!! I'll be there 10/30-11/4/13 alone and thought I should give it a shot!! I have a late reservation so I should get Chip and Dale all to myself!!

Can't wait!
~N

We are thinking of Garden Grille for next January trip, never eaten there yet either.

 

[Sue M]

For those of you considering getting the dining plan, I highly recommend looking into Tables in Wonderland instead. I really think if you do the math and if you really consider what you would order for your meals if you were NOT on the dining plan (would you order dessert at your QS and TS meals every time?), you'll find you will save more money with Tables. And it's for 13 months. Of course to get it, you have to either be a Vacation Club Member, annual passholder (one of you), a CM, or a Florida resident.

I totally agree with you. Lately we've gotten the TIW card, and load up a Disney gift card to use for food, and we do save $. Only last trip we did get the DDP with the stay, play & dine promo, because it was discounted, and POFQ was included in the promo.

After not bring on it for last 2 trips, then on DDP again for January I have to say, we didn't enjoy the DDP as much as we used to. It is way too much food.

 

[1971DBday]

One more night sleep (if you can call it that)!

All packed, one more REALLY long day at work, a few trip preps and then a glass of wine or two before I try to sleep! I want to thank everyone for all of there help on our adventure with a new resort!

I am looking forward to (and in no particular order):
1. A nap on the beach
2. A Sunken Treasure induced nap on the beach
3. Meeting Teena
4. Walking to EP and maybe DHS
5. Watching my kids excitement for SAB
6. Yachtsman Steakhouse
7. Beaches & Cream
8. Hopefully a beautiful view

It's been a rough year and we really need this! Plus celebrating DS13s graduation last night. I promise to try to post daily from our 10 days at BC. Let me know if anyone has any requests I'm an early riser with insomnia!!!!

 

[natebenma]

page 96-98

I have been following this thread for a while now and have decided to finally join in the fun! We (me, DH, DS13 & DD11) are staying at BC club level 8/22 - 8/31. I love this thread and all the info and tips. I made my final reservation (Dessert Party) today so now all I can do is wait. Thanks to all for making the wait so much easier!

I'll add you to the Be Our Guest list

We look forward to sharing your excitement while we are all waiting for our trips!

We're thinking about doing the Illuminations Cruise from the YC marina. Does anyone know what time you have to arrive at the dock at for boarding. Is it 8:30? We have dinner ADR's on both possible nights, if available and I'm wondering if I need to change them. Both are in Epcot WS so not too far away.

Bump!

Have you posted this question on Erika's TigrLuvsPooh (formerly) live report? I think she is still posting there- she did the cruise last week.

The report is on the Live Trip Report subforum of the Resorts forum.

Or I wonder if the someone on the Reservations line could tell you (if you trust the answer)

Dee- either way.. You can post them or I will...

I posted them. Full balcony? Was there a daybed?

Thanks!

We are doing the Wishes dessert party on 8/27. Anyone else going to be there with us? I've never been, so I'm pretty excited about it.

Hunclemarco has a thread on the Dining Boards where he lists guests who have notified him that they have Dessert Party reservations, so you can see some of the other DISers who might be there at the same time.

Has anyone ever stayed here during November/December? I'm sure the answer is yes, but I'm trying to figure out if the pools are do-able if it is cold out. Is Stormalong Bay heated? We were supposed to be there now but had to cancel due to a death in the family and now we are looking at September or the week right after Thanksgiving for Yacht Club. Thanks in advance!

I have a post about that in the "Other Useful Info Post". Stormalong Bay is heated. The issue is usually how cold it is once you get out! Weather can vary greatly in the winter months, even within the same week. It can go from hot to cold in the matter of a day. Many guests have reported that they have had one or two opportunities to swim during their trips in December.

 

[ella6599]

It hit me last night that we're now in our window for online check-in if we choose to do it.

So...the inevitable question- should we or not?

We're staying YC SV...honestly we're not that picky...we've only requested a room change 2 or 3 times ever staying at (non-Disney) hotels...once when they gave us a king bed instead of the two doubles we requested (for me, DH and our 2 tween girls), and twice when the non-smoking room clearly wasn't...

I'm starting to wonder if we SHOULD be picky since I hear so many people talking about all their requests, and which are most important....

Our flight gets in at noon, BTW...and we still haven't decided if we're taking ME, or something else (so I guess we're NOT done trip planning after all!!)

 

[rea59]

Yes!!! Down to the teens. Don't know how much longer I can wait.

 

[donnajherren]

Hi, everyone! May I join this thread?

We were originally booked at the CR for 9/14 through 9/24, but we've decided to add some beach days to our trip & change resorts.

Now, we'll be arriving in WDW on 9/18 (still through 9/24). We're currently trying to decide between the Beach Club & a FW cabin.

My main concerns w/ the Beach Club are as follows:

1. We'll book a gardenview room, so I'm worried our room will be far away from everything,

2. We may or may not have a full balcony,

3. The lack of a true quick-service, and

4. The bus to & from the MK

How about long is the bus to the MK in the mornings (for MK rope drop)? Previously, we've always stayed at the CR, the WL, or FW. The bus stations at MK after "Wishes" always look so jam-packed & crowded to me - it's been nice to just walk straight out of the MK to the WL/FW boat dock.

Also, you can get your refillable mugs filled at the Marketplace, right? Are there some rooms that are more convenient to the Marketplace?

I'm concerned about the location of our room because our 2 older kids are old enough to go to the quick-service by themselves (to get a snack or drink), but I'd rather our room be close, if that makes sense.

We're a family of 5. I would like a full balcony w/ a room w/ a nice view that's not terribly far away from everything.

What kind of room requests will I need to make?

Thanks so much!

While I'm a little sad that our WDW trip is going from 10 days to 7 days, I'm also excited about the possibility of staying at the Beach Club. I've always wanted to stay at an EPCOT resort.

I also think, if we do decide on the Beach Club, I'm going to switch our Chef Mickey's breakfast to the Cape May breakfast - we've never done the Cape May character breakfast, so that'll be something new for us.

The Cape May breakfast is fun. My girls enjoyed it.

We took an early bus to MK yesterday for our breakfast reservation at the Crystal Palace. Start to finish, I think it took about half an hour, maybe 25 minutes.

 

[Wood Nymph]

It hit me last night that we're now in our window for online check-in if we choose to do it.

So...the inevitable question- should we or not?

We're staying YC SV...honestly we're not that picky...we've only requested a room change 2 or 3 times ever staying at (non-Disney) hotels...once when they gave us a king bed instead of the two doubles we requested (for me, DH and our 2 tween girls), and twice when the non-smoking room clearly wasn't...

I'm starting to wonder if we SHOULD be picky since I hear so many people talking about all their requests, and which are most important....

Our flight gets in at noon, BTW...and we still haven't decided if we're taking ME, or something else (so I guess we're NOT done trip planning after all!!)

We have never made a room request during the 20 years of staying at the BC and have gotten some great free upgrades. I didn't know you could make room requests until I found this site. Anyway, we have gotten full balconies about half the time. We've only had a roof view once. We've gotten a free upgrade to lagoon view five times. And we got a suite once. . We have always gotten a day bed whenever our whole family of five was on the trip, except for the one time we got a roll away.

But I would definitely make requests now, especially since the online check in process includes those options.

ETA:

Has anyone ever stayed here during November/December? I'm sure the answer is yes, but I'm trying to figure out if the pools are do-able if it is cold out. Is Stormalong Bay heated? We were supposed to be there now but had to cancel due to a death in the family and now we are looking at September or the week right after Thanksgiving for Yacht Club. Thanks in advance!

We have stayed at the BC in December, January and February, and we haven't done a lot of swimming during those periods. The pool is heated, but if the air is cool, it makes it a little difficult to be motivated to swim. But we have gotten lucky and had days in the low 80's, which made the pool a great place to hang out. The steam rising from the pools when it is cold out is lovely to see. And if you are brave you can hop in the water and swim around in the fog. The hot tubs are very popular at that time of year.

 

[Sue M]

It hit me last night that we're now in our window for online check-in if we choose to do it.

So...the inevitable question- should we or not?

We're staying YC SV...honestly we're not that picky...we've only requested a room change 2 or 3 times ever staying at (non-Disney) hotels...once when they gave us a king bed instead of the two doubles we requested (for me, DH and our 2 tween girls), and twice when the non-smoking room clearly wasn't...

I'm starting to wonder if we SHOULD be picky since I hear so many people talking about all their requests, and which are most important....

Our flight gets in at noon, BTW...and we still haven't decided if we're taking ME, or something else (so I guess we're NOT done trip planning after all!!)

I'd be interested in the answer too, as I am approaching the online check in day too, in around 10 days ( not that I'm counting ).

My concern is if the magic bands and fast pass + go live for August, I will need to do online check in to participate in the FP+ and to be able to pick my magic band color

My past 2 trips - both last August at AKL, and January at POFQ I did online check in, and was very pleased, I got all my requests for room location. So I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

The only thing with online check is that you should be willing to take the room assigned. All your stuff is in a folder for you ready to go.

 

[pamkat1820]

I don't understand anything about the magic bands and how it's linked to FP's I'm really confused about the new bands are they just for AP holders. I can't find a thread that is not all speculation.

Anyone know the ins and outs or have a link?

 

[swimfly]

I don't understand anything about the magic bands and how it's linked to FP's I'm really confused about the new bands are they just for AP holders. I can't find a thread that is not all speculation.

Anyone know the ins and outs or have a link?

Magic Bands are still in the test phase. You may see some people wearing the magic band but they are CMs or guests of AKL in the pilot group.

 

[swimfly]

My concern is if the magic bands and fast pass + go live for August, I will need to do online check in to participate in the FP+ and to be able to pick my magic band color

Where did you see magic bands go live in August? During our May trip, we converted our old APs to the new RFID and were told late fall at earliest. Would love additional info.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I don't understand anything about the magic bands and how it's linked to FP's I'm really confused about the new bands are they just for AP holders. I can't find a thread that is not all speculation.

Anyone know the ins and outs or have a link?

Where did you see magic bands go live in August? During our May trip, we converted our old APs to the new RFID and were told late fall at earliest. Would love additional info.

The Magic Bands are still in the development and testing process. It is all speculation now because Disney hasn't made any definitive announcements yet. Potentially, everyone who checks into a WDW resort will be issued a Magic Band. It will contain an RFID chip which will have your room key and park tickets programmed to it. You would just tap your band to the RFID device instead of using the current KTTW card. I believe there still might be an option to have a card instead of a band, but I'm not sure about that.

In addition to the Magic Band, they also want to roll out a reservation system, called Fast Pass +, which will enable you make reservations for rides and events, like preferred viewing for parades, in advance. The rumor is that you would be able to make a limited number of fast pass + reservations, replacing the current fast pass system. The advantage would be that you could reserve a day and time for Test Test or TSMM, for example, ahead of time, and you wouldn't have to race to the ride the minute the park opens.

The Disney developers are having a hard time getting this new system to work. Until people are able to make normal dinner reservations online without problems, I don't see how they can begin their fancy Magic Band system. I am hoping they are out for our December trip, but I wouldn't be surprised if they still weren't ready yet.

 

[TeenaS]

Hi Gang,

Just an FYI: My new hours (10 hour days) start this Sunday: 8:00 AM to 6:30 PM. That means I will probably take a 15 minute break around 10:30, then take my 45 minute lunch at 12:45, then a 10 minute break at 4:00 PM. I'll leave the lobby around 6:20 PM.

 

[Hunclemarco]

Hi Gang,

Just an FYI: My new hours (10 hour days) start this Sunday: 8:00 AM to 6:30 PM. That means I will probably take a 15 minute break around 10:30, then take my 45 minute lunch at 12:45, then a 10 minute break at 4:00 PM. I'll leave the lobby around 6:20 PM.

Wow! That's a long day...

 

[swimfly]

Hi Gang,

Just an FYI: My new hours (10 hour days) start this Sunday: 8:00 AM to 6:30 PM. That means I will probably take a 15 minute break around 10:30, then take my 45 minute lunch at 12:45, then a 10 minute break at 4:00 PM. I'll leave the lobby around 6:20 PM.

Wowza! Hope to meet you during our trip to BC in two weeks.

 

[swimfly]

The Magic Bands are still in the development and testing process. It is all speculation now because Disney hasn't made any definitive announcements yet. Potentially, everyone who checks into a WDW resort will be issued a Magic Band. It will contain an RFID chip which will have your room key and park tickets programmed to it. You would just tap your band to the RFID device instead of using the current KTTW card. I believe there still might be an option to have a card instead of a band, but I'm not sure on that.

In addition to the Magic Band, they also want to roll out a reservation system, called Fast Pass +, which will enable you make reservations for rides and events, like preferred viewing for parades, in advice. The rumor is that you would be able to make a limited number of fast pass + reservations, replacing the current fast pass system. The advantage would be that you could reserve a day and time for Test Test or TSMM, for example, ahead of time, and you wouldn't have to race to the ride the minute the park opens.

The Disney developers are having a hard time getting this new system to work. Until people are able to make normal dinner reservations online without problems, I don't see how they can begin their fancy Magic Band system. I am hoping they are out for our December trip, but I wouldn't be surprised if they still weren't ready yet.

Thanks!