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

[natebenma]

page 199-201

Hello everybody! I am a regular on the WL thread. I see a couple of familiar names here, hello Wood Nymph and pas 130!
Anyhow, I have made it to around p.6 of this thread, (wonderfully informative FAQ natebenma!), and I am thinking that a new version may start before I am done, so I better post now.
We last stayed at the BC way back in 1991 and got the wonderful promo rate of $125.00 a night! It was a short trip and I have wanted to go back for a while. But then we fell in love the WL. My DD got engaged on our trip this past summer, so we will not be going again for a while. But, I think I have convinced my DH that 2017 would be a great time to go. My DD wants to stay near Epcot this time and I agree!
So, finally , my question. Are the BCVs harder to reserve as a cash customer than the VWL? We loved having all that room and the other amenities. I think 2 rooms would cost more, but I guess that would be our only alternative if we can't get a 2BR.
Anyhow, thanks for this wonderful thread! Loved the "Happy" video posted in the early pages.

Glad you have found the thread to be informative and entertaining!



I have always stayed at the resort, so I don't have any experience about how difficult it is to book one of the villas with Disney. I do know the BCV in general are very popular, especially the 2BR.

Perhaps some of my DVC friends can help- Is it difficult to reserve villa rooms on cash? Are there restrictions on who can reserve a 2BR villa and when?

Does anyone have any standard room club level recommendations for Beach Club? We tend to only sleep in the room, so view doesn't really matter, but since my 11 and 16 year old daughters sleep really late, a quiet location does! We usually stay at GF and know the room numbers we want, so not knowing what to ask for at BC is frustrating. We stayed at BC last spring for the first time, and our room was right by the lounge and concierge desks so we woke up to the sounds of people talking and laughing at 7am! Fortunately, that room doesn't exist anymore because we were told it was to be included in the lounge expansion. I would simply request to be far away from the lounge, but I don't want to be too far away since my husband and I tend to hang out there all morning until our kids wake up.

back!

Hmmmm- not sure what the best way to word "not close to lounge but not too far away" I'm thinking "Away from lounge, please" is probably your best bet. I believe I stayed at one of the furthest rooms from the lounge during our 2013 trip and I didn't think it was too far from the lounge- at the end of the second hallway.

When is your trip? Would you like me to add you to the Be Our Guest list?

I have been stressing over the decision to stay at BC or YC, but thought all newly renovated BC rooms had roman shades. This video shows the room with curtains. Does anyone know how you know which rooms have the curtains versus the roman shades? I am considering CL, but i would love to be able to request a room with "curtains"...that would solidify my decision to do BC CL instead of YC... Anyone know? of course i know requests are just that...requests.

Let me know if you would like to be added to the Be Our Guest list.

I believe that rooms with sliding patio doors have the sheers and room-darkening draperies, while the rooms with a hinged door and small window have the Roman-fold shades (with light leakage).

That would make sense ...i will have to investigate! thanks!

The bad news is, I'm not sure that the room assigners or the desk CMs know which rooms have the sliding vs. hinged doors (and therefore the sheers vs. roman shades) so although you could request a room with curtains, I don't think this is a description of the rooms that they have. I don't think the sliders vs. door have anything to do with the size of the balcony. I have had a full balcony on all 4 of my BC stays, but I have had both types of doors.

I discovered a recent post on YouTube which has video of the new Beach Club rooms:

Thanks so much for posting this!!!

I'm going to add the link the video section.

Yeah...great video! Is the beach where the launch chairs are the place they show the movies at night?

I think the answer is yes. I have seen the movie set up to the left of Jib slide (as you are facing Crescent Lake). I have a picture or two in the activities Post 4 on the first page.

Hello all from the Beach Club. We arrived here around 11. It took almost 1 and 1/2 hours from touch down to resort. I have read of others doing it much faster. Our biggest glitch was that we were the first ones to sit down on the ME! So we waited a bit. Then it went to CBR, BW, then us. We actually waited almost 10 minutes in the driveway because another ME was loading ahead. I wanted to say "just let me out we can walk from here!" We had a breezy check in and our room was ready. We got upper floor (4th) and daybed but we have a small balcony. We could have had a large balcony lower floor but I wanted a referb room! I supossidly have a garden view but I mainly face BCV. If you lean over the balcony you can see the fireworks from Epcot! Had a great first day at MK. ADR at Chef Mickey's ( it was so so and expensive, good character time though). We had a night swim at SAB. It is open to 11, I know that was a concern from some ( me included).
My parents are here with me today and something went on during he day when the kids and I were MK. They had to evacuate. Not sure what it was. I have seen nothing nor heard nothing about the referb. I will post again if I find anything out. The rooms are really nice though!
Happy to answer any questions if you have them.

Thanks so much for checking in with us. Have a fantastic time.

Hi - which number did you call to check about your reservation? Thx

Central Reservations Office: Walt Disney World Resort Reservations: (407) 939-1936

Just showed our daughter the video of the refurbished rooms and the first thing she asked was "where is the Mickey lamp!". I think they are missed by many, but we love the look of the new rooms! We can't wait for October .

We just got back yesterday from a week at the BC. I booked through orbitz and requested a refurbished room. A few days before check in I called the hotel directly and asked to make sure my request was on my reservation. We were given a 4th floor refurbished room with a garden view. We faced the BC villas and some woods. We had a door and window leading out to a mid size balcony. Plenty big for us. There really wasn't anything to see sitting out there anyway! The door and window had a roman shade on it. We were up early anyway so we didn't notice any light coming in the room. The rooms are really nice and smell fresh and new. My kids didn't like that there wasn't a "Disney theme" to them. The shower curtain has little mickeys but that was it. If anyone has any questions let me know!

Thanks for your review!

JetBlue alert!

Not sure if anyone else was waiting for the next release of the flight schedule but you can now book through January 4, 2016!! Got out preferred flight times and seats - now off to the DVC site to request Magical Express!

Thanks for sharing this helpful info!

Oooh, Ooooh! I know! Pick Meeeeee!!!!

~NM

Thanks for posting the Easter info. I'll add that to the Activities section.

On our arrival day we will be moving from Universal Studios to BC. We are planning on swimming at SAB in the afternoon and then have a 5:20pm ADR for Cape May Cafe. I know our room may not be ready when we check in but would it probably be ready by 3:30pm at the latest? This would be on a Sunday in August. I do not know if the day of the week makes any difference. There are 5 of us so we need enough time to get ready for dinner. This will be our first stay at BC and the first time eating at Cape May. We need to be finished eating to get to HS to ride Toy Story Mania around 7:30pm before it closes early for the Frozen fireworks. We could probably go to HS first before dinner but I have heard horror stories of people waiting 45-60 minutes after their ADR time to be seated and want to avoid that problem by eating on the earlier side. Thanks for the help.

My rooms have always been ready by 11:30, but I don't think that is the norm (and was CL) so I don't know if that matters.

Not sure what others have experienced with getting into their rooms in the late afternoon.

Are you hearing about late seatings at Cape May specifically or at restaurants Disney-wide? 45 minutes late is NOT ok!!!

 

[Dispro1]

page 199-201





Glad you have found the thread to be informative and entertaining!



I have always stayed at the resort, so I don't have any experience about how difficult it is to book one of the villas with Disney. I do know the BCV in general are very popular, especially the 2BR.

Perhaps some of my DVC friends can help- Is it difficult to reserve villa rooms on cash? Are there restrictions on who can reserve a 2BR villa and when?






back!

Hmmmm- not sure what the best way to word "not close to lounge but not too far away" I'm thinking "Away from lounge, please" is probably your best bet. I believe I stayed at one of the furthest rooms from the lounge during our 2013 trip and I didn't think it was too far from the lounge- at the end of the second hallway.

When is your trip? Would you like me to add you to the Be Our Guest list?







Let me know if you would like to be added to the Be Our Guest list.







The bad news is, I'm not sure that the room assigners or the desk CMs know which rooms have the sliding vs. hinged doors (and therefore the sheers vs. roman shades) so although you could request a room with curtains, I don't think this is a description of the rooms that they have. I don't think the sliders vs. door have anything to do with the size of the balcony. I have had a full balcony on all 4 of my BC stays, but I have had both types of doors.






Thanks so much for posting this!!!

I'm going to add the link the video section.






I think the answer is yes. I have seen the movie set up to the left of Jib slide (as you are facing Crescent Lake). I have a picture or two in the activities Post 4 on the first page.






Thanks so much for checking in with us. Have a fantastic time.






Central Reservations Office: Walt Disney World Resort Reservations: (407) 939-1936









Thanks for your review!





Thanks for sharing this helpful info!






Thanks for posting the Easter info. I'll add that to the Activities section.






My rooms have always been ready by 11:30, but I don't think that is the norm (and was CL) so I don't know if that matters.

Not sure what others have experienced with getting into their rooms in the late afternoon.

Are you hearing about late seatings at Cape May specifically or at restaurants Disney-wide? 45 minutes late is NOT ok!!!

I wasn't sure how big the fifth floor is at BC but after looking at a map I found online, I realized being "far away" from the lounge isn't that far, so I made my request today. What is the Be Our Guest List? We are booked May 30- June 6th at BC CL but nothing is set in stone until we book plane tickets.

 

[natebenma]

I wasn't sure how big the fifth floor is at BC but after looking at a map I found online, I realized being "far away" from the lounge isn't that far, so I made my request today. What is the Be Our Guest List? We are booked May 30- June 6th at BC CL but nothing is set in stone until we book plane tickets.

The Be Our Guest list is just a listing for fun of which guests are staying at the resort and when. That way you can see the other DISers who will be there at the same time as you. Post 15 on Page 1 of this thread.

:

 

[defendthehill]

Five days till me and the family are in THE WORLD!!! On line check in is done. Going to go straight to the room on this trip! Garden grocer is ordered. All ressies and FP+ are in order! Now five days of work...or day dreaming about the BC and Stormalong Bay!!! Yep, we are excited!!!

 

[abk96]

Five days till me and the family are in THE WORLD!!! On line check in is done. Going to go straight to the room on this trip! Garden grocer is ordered. All ressies and FP+ are in order! Now five days of work...or day dreaming about the BC and Stormalong Bay!!! Yep, we are excited!!!

How exciting! Have a great trip.

 

[LindyWebb]

Hey all. Day 2 here we went 9 to 9 at Epcot with a 2 hour swim in the middle. The pool today was open til ten and the slide til ten too. We used the secret entrances to get to and from Epcot and walking down the hall on the first floor you can see a difference with the referb. Definitely nicer carpets and the paint job is fresher. The staff here is really fantastic. I forgot to mention yesterday as soon as I got to my room I requested a microwave and they brought it right up. Ready for a good nights sleep the. HS tomorrow!

 

[LindyWebb]

Wow, is it coming in at off-times of the day?

Do they always go to BC last? I am guessing that is why. They should almost ask the first one on and they get first stop!! I know, I know - it won't happen.

I was super long on it too. Same as written here first one and last one off. 90 minutes easy.

 

[catho72]

Hi all! It's been quite a while since I last posted. I had a quick trip to the World two weeks ago. We stayed two nights at AllStar Movies (where I had the bartender make me a Sunken Treasure!) and Coronado Springs. I wasn't excited about staying at either resort but since we were only planning on using the rooms for sleeping, spending more on a resort like BC seemed silly. I am happy to report that I enjoyed both resorts! We paid for a preferred room at ASMovies and it was a wise choice as our room was three rooms away from the main building! And I really liked our room at CSR. The resort was very beautiful and peaceful.

I'm now planning our July 2015 and I'm happy to request for my name to be added to the BOG list! We are doing a split stay at POR, YC and Poly. I am raising a very spoiled family! I had initially planned to stay only at POR (thinking we could do a cheaper trip) but both DH and DS complained that they wouldn't get to play volleyball in SAB and then grab a milkshake from Beaches and Cream. So I had to oblige them! Our oldest daughter is turning 16 at the end of our trip and she wanted to stay at Poly. We've never stayed there so we are all excited about it! It's going to be a lot of packing and unpacking but that's OK! Our family is used to split stays.

Our dates for YC (BC wasn't available) are 7/21-7/24. We'll be in WDW 7/18-7/27. I was able to book our flights in and out of TPA on Southwest for almost half of the price of flying in/out of MCO! It's an easy drive (less than 90 minutes) from Tampa to WDW. We flew out of TPA two weeks ago and it was excellent. Super short lines for checking our baggage and security. I think I paid $73 per person one way and $80 per person the other way. Super cheap!!!!!

 

[Dispro1]

Hi all! It's been quite a while since I last posted. I had a quick trip to the World two weeks ago. We stayed two nights at AllStar Movies (where I had the bartender make me a Sunken Treasure!) and Coronado Springs. I wasn't excited about staying at either resort but since we were only planning on using the rooms for sleeping, spending more on a resort like BC seemed silly. I am happy to report that I enjoyed both resorts! We paid for a preferred room at ASMovies and it was a wise choice as our room was three rooms away from the main building! And I really liked our room at CSR. The resort was very beautiful and peaceful.

I'm now planning our July 2015 and I'm happy to request for my name to be added to the BOG list! We are doing a split stay at POR, YC and Poly. I am raising a very spoiled family! I had initially planned to stay only at POR (thinking we could do a cheaper trip) but both DH and DS complained that they wouldn't get to play volleyball in SAB and then grab a milkshake from Beaches and Cream. So I had to oblige them! Our oldest daughter is turning 16 at the end of our trip and she wanted to stay at Poly. We've never stayed there so we are all excited about it! It's going to be a lot of packing and unpacking but that's OK! Our family is used to split stays.

Our dates for YC (BC wasn't available) are 7/21-7/24. We'll be in WDW 7/18-7/27. I was able to book our flights in and out of TPA on Southwest for almost half of the price of flying in/out of MCO! It's an easy drive (less than 90 minutes) from Tampa to WDW. We flew out of TPA two weeks ago and it was excellent. Super short lines for checking our baggage and security. I think I paid $73 per person one way and $80 per person the other way. Super cheap!!!!!

We flew into TPA last October because it saved us $600 or more! It took us just under an hour to drive to WDW!! I will say that our flight arrived at TPA at midnight, so there wasn't ANY traffic. It takes 30 minutes to drive from MCO to WDW anyway, so if the savings are big flying into TPA, it's worth the extra 30 minute drive.

 

[natebenma]

Page 201

Five days till me and the family are in THE WORLD!!! On line check in is done. Going to go straight to the room on this trip! Garden grocer is ordered. All ressies and FP+ are in order! Now five days of work...or day dreaming about the BC and Stormalong Bay!!! Yep, we are excited!!!

Wishing you safe travels and a fantastic trip.

Please let us know what you think of the direct to room option.

Hey all. Day 2 here we went 9 to 9 at Epcot with a 2 hour swim in the middle. The pool today was open til ten and the slide til ten too. We used the secret entrances to get to and from Epcot and walking down the hall on the first floor you can see a difference with the referb. Definitely nicer carpets and the paint job is fresher. The staff here is really fantastic. I forgot to mention yesterday as soon as I got to my room I requested a microwave and they brought it right up. Ready for a good nights sleep the. HS tomorrow!

Sounds like an awesome day!!!

Thanks for checking in an for the info about pool hours.

:

Hi all! It's been quite a while since I last posted. I had a quick trip to the World two weeks ago. We stayed two nights at AllStar Movies (where I had the bartender make me a Sunken Treasure!) and Coronado Springs. I wasn't excited about staying at either resort but since we were only planning on using the rooms for sleeping, spending more on a resort like BC seemed silly. I am happy to report that I enjoyed both resorts! We paid for a preferred room at ASMovies and it was a wise choice as our room was three rooms away from the main building! And I really liked our room at CSR. The resort was very beautiful and peaceful.

I'm now planning our July 2015 and I'm happy to request for my name to be added to the BOG list! We are doing a split stay at POR, YC and Poly. I am raising a very spoiled family! I had initially planned to stay only at POR (thinking we could do a cheaper trip) but both DH and DS complained that they wouldn't get to play volleyball in SAB and then grab a milkshake from Beaches and Cream. So I had to oblige them! Our oldest daughter is turning 16 at the end of our trip and she wanted to stay at Poly. We've never stayed there so we are all excited about it! It's going to be a lot of packing and unpacking but that's OK! Our family is used to split stays.

Our dates for YC (BC wasn't available) are 7/21-7/24. We'll be in WDW 7/18-7/27. I was able to book our flights in and out of TPA on Southwest for almost half of the price of flying in/out of MCO! It's an easy drive (less than 90 minutes) from Tampa to WDW. We flew out of TPA two weeks ago and it was excellent. Super short lines for checking our baggage and security. I think I paid $73 per person one way and $80 per person the other way. Super cheap!!!!!

back!!!

I am thrilled to be adding you to the BOG! Your split sounds great- I would love to try the Poly someday.

Thanks so much for the tip about TPA- we haven't ever priced that, but it may be worth it.

We flew into TPA last October because it saved us $600 or more! It took us just under an hour to drive to WDW!! I will say that our flight arrived at TPA at midnight, so there wasn't ANY traffic. It takes 30 minutes to drive from MCO to WDW anyway, so if the savings are big flying into TPA, it's worth the extra 30 minute drive.

I appreciate the additional confirmation about TPA.






I was at a trivia fundraiser Friday night and one of the questions was "The airport with the designation MCO is in what city?"

 

[jlundeen]

Does DME go to and from the Tampa airport? If not, does the cost of a car rental make a difference in savings?

 

[dansdad]

Does DME go to and from the Tampa airport?

Nope.

If not, does the cost of a car rental make a difference in savings?

It depends on the airfare. But some people rent a car no matter where they fly into so that cost is already factored in.

 

[jlundeen]

I just added it up - from Minneapolis to Orlando, then Tampa to Minneapolis...uses fewer frequent flyer miles, and could get non-stop both ways (as opposed to non-stop down and 1-stop home), but cost would be around $75+ for the car for drive to Tampa...plus the hassle of handling our luggage, picking up the car, dropping off the car...doesn't look like an option that would really save us anything...but it was certainly worth checking into! Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Dispro1]

I just added it up - from Minneapolis to Orlando, then Tampa to Minneapolis...uses fewer frequent flyer miles, and could get non-stop both ways (as opposed to non-stop down and 1-stop home), but cost would be around $75+ for the car for drive to Tampa...plus the hassle of handling our luggage, picking up the car, dropping off the car...doesn't look like an option that would really save us anything...but it was certainly worth checking into! Thanks for the suggestion.

It's definitely not for everyone. We always rent a car because we don't like buses, so that's not an extra cost for us. We still prefer flying into MCO for the convenience, but during spring break and fall break the airline ticket prices are absolutely ridiculous! Last spring break, they were $700+ each, so we ended up driving. Now my kids refuse to drive so if it's too expensive to fly into MCO, we look at TPA. Sometimes the price is the same.

 

[pas130]

to bluecastle! I haven't booked BCV, but thinking back to last summer it seemed VWL availability was less than BCV (maybe the refurb at WL?). Those 2BR book up quick, don't they? We ended up at OKW instead of WL CL (2 rooms), we were very happy at OKW. Kids are super excited about trying BC

 

[Wood Nymph]

On our arrival day we will be moving from Universal Studios to BC. We are planning on swimming at SAB in the afternoon and then have a 5:20pm ADR for Cape May Cafe. I know our room may not be ready when we check in but would it probably be ready by 3:30pm at the latest? This would be on a Sunday in August. I do not know if the day of the week makes any difference. There are 5 of us so we need enough time to get ready for dinner. This will be our first stay at BC and the first time eating at Cape May. We need to be finished eating to get to HS to ride Toy Story Mania around 7:30pm before it closes early for the Frozen fireworks. We could probably go to HS first before dinner but I have heard horror stories of people waiting 45-60 minutes after their ADR time to be seated and want to avoid that problem by eating on the earlier side. Thanks for the help.

We have had dinner at Cape May seven times in the last two years and for every single one of those ADR's we've had to wait an average of 15 to 20 minutes. The ADR times were mostly between 6:30 and 7:00pm. It is rather difficult to get out of the restaurant in less than 1.5 hours. You might be seated with less waiting than we've had, though, because your reservation is for a much earlier time than ours usually is. But you might not have enough time to get to HS by 7:30pm even if you are seated on time because you have to either walk, which takes about twenty minutes, or take the boat which takes about twenty minutes plus waiting for the boat to get there, which could make the total boat trip about 40 minutes. Although, if you have a car it might work out.

 

[philschrek]

I have a quick question about Hurricane Hanna's. In the MDE app, in the dropdown menu for Hurricane Hanna's Pool Bar, it has a Kids Grilled Cheese and Kids Mac and Cheese. Do these come in the sand pail as well or is it just the Kids Meals on the Grille Menu? Has anyone tried either of these (or the Kids Cheeseburger Sliders) or have any photos? Thanks!

 

[Elandon]

I discovered a recent post on YouTube which has video of the new Beach Club rooms:

Thanks for the video! I can't wait to go back. Beach Club is the only disney resort I've experienced where I am super excited to go for the resort itself, not just the parks.

 

[Disney before Sally]

They are still closing Toy Story early for Frozen fireworks? my touring plan has me getting a fast pass for Toy Story at 9:30PM. Last year - Disney just changed my fast pass to Toy Story when they discovered they had been letting people reserve during the conflicting times of these fireworks.

 

[Cluelyss]

They are still closing Toy Story early for Frozen fireworks? my touring plan has me getting a fast pass for Toy Story at 9:30PM. Last year - Disney just changed my fast pass to Toy Story when they discovered they had been letting people reserve during the conflicting times of these fireworks.

For SWW, the last available FP time is 730-830 (because of the fireworks) so assume it would be the same for FSF.