2014/2015 Beach and Yacht Club FAQ, Friends & Fun, Sept 2014-Mayl 2015

[thisismyusername]

According to planned schedule, you will be fine in a nice brand new room with the brand new lounge!!!

Thanks! Crossing fingers, toes, eyes, arms and legs they don't run behind schedule!

 

[ready2vacation]

Teena, we've paid for meals with gift cards on our last few trips and were able to tip from it. I apologize if I have misunderstood your post!

 

[TeenaS]

Teena, we've paid for meals with gift cards on our last few trips and were able to tip from it. I apologize if I have misunderstood your post!

I was just saying I personally feel you lose money on the dining plan at the current price and if you want to test that, you can put what you would have paid for the dining plan on a gift card and use it to pay for your one quick service and one table service meal a day (excluding tip ... since the dining plan does NOT cover tip).

Of course you can pay the tip from a gift card but not if you are doing a cost comparison with the dining plan.

Hope I made that clear ... it's hard to explain.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

With the ddp being $64 a day for an adult....I think it's just insane. There's no way we could ever make it worth our while.

 

[ready2vacation]

I was just saying I personally feel you lose money on the dining plan at the current price and if you want to test that, you can put what you would have paid for the dining plan on a gift card and use it to pay for your one quick service and one table service meal a day (excluding tip ... since the dining plan does NOT cover tip).

Of course you can pay the tip from a gift card but not if you are doing a cost comparison with the dining plan.

Hope I made that clear ... it's hard to explain.

Got it! I missed the cost comparison component

 

[Wood Nymph]

We are currently on the road, headed home.

But we had an awesome 4 night stay at YC!!! Room 2123 was prefect! If you're standing on the balcony, the wedding gazebo is just off to the left and the lighthouse is right out in front. We booked a garden view and requested a king. Got the king, but we're we upgraded to water view?

Your room was very close to the room we had, which was room 1148, and just about as far away from the water as ours was. I don't know for sure, but I would guess that your room would still be considered garden view. The water was really far away. You could check your hotel bill to see what it had listed for your room, just to be sure.

 

[Sandy321]

With the ddp being $64 a day for an adult....I think it's just insane. There's no way we could ever make it worth our while.

There are times when we make appetizers our meals too, much more flexibility without the DP

- now back when they first rolled out the DP and aps and tips were included, no brainer.... I honestly hate being old enough "to remember when" the "good old days"!!!

 

[HockeyMomR]

There are times when we make appetizers our meals too, much more flexibility without the DP - now back when they first rolled out the DP and aps and tips were included, no brainer.... I honestly hate being old enough "to remember when" the "good old days"!!!

It was such a good deal back then. I remember too and think it was only $40 each - a total of $160 a day for our family of four! Showing my age as well.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

There are times when we make appetizers our meals too, much more flexibility without the DP - now back when they first rolled out the DP and aps and tips were included, no brainer.... I honestly hate being old enough "to remember when" the "good old days"!!!

We are the same way. Apps for dinner lots if times.

My DS 14 sometimes wants a steak and sometimes wants chicken fingers. Or just an app.

DD 8 prefers adult meals so we do apps and will share an entree. She's my little foodie.

I wish we went when the plan included tips and apps. The plan was good when my kids were small and we did tons if character meals but that's not us anymore.

 

[Ninja Mom]

With all this talk of Renovations going on at the resort I just thought that I would put it out there and volunteer for the job of "Bed Tester" at the Beach Club.

Someone has GOT to test those new beds and make sure that they are up to Deluxe level accommodations standards. Since each room has an average of two beds in it and there are seventyteen billion rooms I think I should probably renew my annual pass as well.

So... how much does the job of Beach Club Bed tester pay and does it include perks like unlimited club level? How about access to the showers in the fitness center? That would be a nice benefit! The BC/YC seems to be the only resort not to have this amenity...


I was amazed to realize that at Pop Century they have showers and changing areas for people who want to use the pool on their departure day.

That means no running around nekked on the pool deck as you are trying to: A) get OUT of your wet bathing suit, B)trying to get back in to your skivvies and C) trying to make it on time to the Magical DEPRESS Bus.

If I was a bed tester then the public would see far less of my bee-hind. That should be enough of an incentive for someone to hire me...

~NM

 

[wishes114]

My personal opinion about club level: If you are going to be at the resort a lot, then I love to have club level. I love waking up and having breakfast there. Then spending part of the day at the pool and every time I pass the lounge, I stop and get a drink, snacks, etc. If you are going to be at the resort before dinner, having appetizers and a nice beer or wine before dinner in the lounge is super. Then after dinner, around 9 PM, having a cordial and a few tiny desserts before bed is so nice. HOWEVER, if you plan on being at the parks all day, not coming back to the resort until bed time, then no way do I do club level. We prefer club level when we are spending time at the pool and at the resort. On the trips we did parks all day, it wasn't worth the money.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this advice. We have done the DDP for the past two years and my husband loves it. I think it is WAY too much -- 3 sit down meals a day and 2 snacks per person! We tend to be park people with maybe an afternoon or two at the hotel. So, reading your feedback, I don't think club level would be worth it. DH is pretty stubborn and it insisting on the dining plan. He likes the convenience of it and says he won't have to worry. We will have paid about $2500 for meals on the dining plan for a 9 night stay for 2 adults and 2 kids -- that is about 20 weeks of grocery shopping! I agree, it is totally not worth it. I think I can convince him to do the regular dining plan. He likes to do 2 sit downs a day. I wish that was an option on the dining plan.

Thanks again! We are excited to try the Beach Club. We have a 6 year old and an 8 year old. They should love the pool! We stayed at WL our first year and while it was nice, we were underwhelmed. It is a gorgeous resort but the pool is eh. We stayed at POR last year and missed the deluxe resorts - the beds were uncomfortable there and it was WAY too big. I love that beach club is close to two parks.

I love this thread -- thanks everyone!

 

[TeenaS]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this advice. We have done the DDP for the past two years and my husband loves it. I think it is WAY too much -- 3 sit down meals a day and 2 snacks per person! We tend to be park people with maybe an afternoon or two at the hotel. So, reading your feedback, I don't think club level would be worth it. DH is pretty stubborn and it insisting on the dining plan. He likes the convenience of it and says he won't have to worry. We will have paid about $2500 for meals on the dining plan for a 9 night stay for 2 adults and 2 kids -- that is about 20 weeks of grocery shopping! I agree, it is totally not worth it. I think I can convince him to do the regular dining plan. He likes to do 2 sit downs a day. I wish that was an option on the dining plan.

Thanks again! We are excited to try the Beach Club. We have a 6 year old and an 8 year old. They should love the pool! We stayed at WL our first year and while it was nice, we were underwhelmed. It is a gorgeous resort but the pool is eh. We stayed at POR last year and missed the deluxe resorts - the beds were uncomfortable there and it was WAY too big. I love that beach club is close to two parks.

I love this thread -- thanks everyone!

Ever consider just paying cash instead of getting the deluxe dining plan ... you can eat as many sit downs as you want and you are not pushed into eating the most expensive thing to get your money's worth. When you add the tips onto all those sit down meals, you are probably spending more like $3000 on that plan. I bet if you kept track and paid as you went, you'd spend much less. JMO.

 

[hill6]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this advice. We have done the DDP for the past two years and my husband loves it. I think it is WAY too much -- 3 sit down meals a day and 2 snacks per person! We tend to be park people with maybe an afternoon or two at the hotel. So, reading your feedback, I don't think club level would be worth it. DH is pretty stubborn and it insisting on the dining plan. He likes the convenience of it and says he won't have to worry. We will have paid about $2500 for meals on the dining plan for a 9 night stay for 2 adults and 2 kids -- that is about 20 weeks of grocery shopping! I agree, it is totally not worth it. I think I can convince him to do the regular dining plan. He likes to do 2 sit downs a day. I wish that was an option on the dining plan.

Thanks again! We are excited to try the Beach Club. We have a 6 year old and an 8 year old. They should love the pool! We stayed at WL our first year and while it was nice, we were underwhelmed. It is a gorgeous resort but the pool is eh. We stayed at POR last year and missed the deluxe resorts - the beds were uncomfortable there and it was WAY too big. I love that beach club is close to two parks.

I love this thread -- thanks everyone!

We have done DxDP twice. We planned to do some meals we normally wouldn't do. We did Narcoossees, Cinderella's Royal Table so they took up more credits. We also did some nicer lunches instead of counter services and since we had a late day departure we even did an early Disney dinner before heading to the airport. I kept track of all of our receipts and we ended up coming out about $100 ahead by using the dining plan.

We normally don't splurge on food that much but we had a lot of fun and tried a few new things and enjoyed some things we haven't done in quite a while. We will be trying out Tables in Wonderland for our next two trips to see how that goes.

 

[TeenaS]

We have done DxDP twice. We planned to do some meals we normally wouldn't do. We did Narcoossees, Cinderella's Royal Table so they took up more credits. We also did some nicer lunches instead of counter services and since we had a late day departure we even did an early Disney dinner before heading to the airport. I kept track of all of our receipts and we ended up coming out about $100 ahead by using the dining plan.

We normally don't splurge on food that much but we had a lot of fun and tried a few new things and enjoyed some things we haven't done in quite a while. We will be trying out Tables in Wonderland for our next two trips to see how that goes.

Big FAN of Tables!!!! You are the only person I know that has done DxDP and actually made out on it. Most people leave with credits not used or tell me almost every single dessert was a "one bite" only and that they definitely would have either shared one or not gotten one at every meal. Plus with DxDP, you have the appetizer too. You'll have to see now with Tables if every single meal you order appetizer, entrée and dessert for everybody. That's where I think you'll see the difference. It's not just how much you spend, it's what you order that you normally would not order.

I haven't looked at the 2015 price for DxDP ... I just know the regular dining plan doesn't work for me and my family anymore at the price it is!!!

 

[mommyrosa2]

Big FAN of Tables!!!! You are the only person I know that has done DxDP and actually made out on it. Most people leave with credits not used or tell me almost every single dessert was a "one bite" only and that they definitely would have either shared one or not gotten one at every meal. Plus with DxDP, you have the appetizer too. You'll have to see now with Tables if every single meal you order appetizer, entrée and dessert for everybody. That's where I think you'll see the difference. It's not just how much you spend, it's what you order that you normally would not order.

I haven't looked at the 2015 price for DxDP ... I just know the regular dining plan doesn't work for me and my family anymore at the price it is!!!

I have to agree with Teena here.

I'll admit that we were huge fans of the dining plan (the regular DP not the deluxe) and always came out ahead until last year when my oldest DD got sick on our first full day of vacation. Let's just say due to her being sick all week and missing out on just about every ADR we had, we lost our "shirts" as we ended up with a bunch of credits left over.

This year's trip we used TIW for the first time and while we still spent about the same $$ it would have cost us to get the DP, we got so much more than what we would have received if we had the plan (that includes appetizers and alcohol which isn't included in the DP).

I, honestly, don't see us going back to the DP again even without TIW. I'd much rather put the money on discounted GC's and use that to pay for our meals. It was nice not being restricted to the plan for once.

 

[ichabody]

Thanks for all the info regarding DDP...we've booked the one snack, quick service and sit down plan for next June and I'm thinking since we are staying club level that we don't really need the plan after all. Can't wait to scope out the new CL lounge! Anyways...I hear all this talk about gift cards...other than buying a bunch at Target and using my Red Card to save 5% what other gift card discounts are there?

Other question: We have CL standard view...is that a 5th floor room? What are the chances we can get an upgrade?

Thanks everyone for the awesome info...this thread rocks!!

 

[mommyrosa2]

Leaving bright and early Saturday and I have yet to pack . Not sure what it is with me but as much as I love to travel, I really hate packing...is that bad???

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Big FAN of Tables!!!! You are the only person I know that has done DxDP and actually made out on it. Most people leave with credits not used or tell me almost every single dessert was a "one bite" only and that they definitely would have either shared one or not gotten one at every meal. Plus with DxDP, you have the appetizer too. You'll have to see now with Tables if every single meal you order appetizer, entrée and dessert for everybody. That's where I think you'll see the difference. It's not just how much you spend, it's what you order that you normally would not order.

I haven't looked at the 2015 price for DxDP ... I just know the regular dining plan doesn't work for me and my family anymore at the price it is!!!

I agree.

I also wonder if people who have made out on the DDP or DxDP would actually eat that way when NOT on the DDP. Desserts alone at every single meal is too much. We don't drink soda at every meal. Sometimes we just like water.

When you order app, entree and dessert at every meal for EACH person it ups your tip. And you're doing that 2-3 times a day.

I've done a dining calculator and with the ADR's I want and what we likely order we are saving a lot. The DDP would be around $2000 and we would have to pay $800 OOP for apps, 2 signature ADR's, 1 TS ADR, alcohol, I allotted an extra snack a day, tips, etc.

Without the DDP we will be paying 2400 including tips, alcohol, extra snacks, 5 dining credits over the DDP, 4 mugs and tips.

I may even cut an ADR or two as I get closer and 1-2 of the signature restaurants the kids won't be going with us so OOP will be even lower.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Leaving bright and early Saturday and I have yet to pack . Not sure what it is with me but as much as I love to travel, I really hate packing...is that bad???

There is no reason to pack any earlier than Friday night. You still have plenty of time.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Leaving bright and early Saturday and I have yet to pack . Not sure what it is with me but as much as I love to travel, I really hate packing...is that bad???

I pack the night before. There's so much I still need the morning we leave.

I despise packing.