Anything good come out of the "Garden View" at Yacht Club

[Zooey72]

I was disappointed that I had to upgrade to this room for an extra $200 when I really don't see any advantage to it (had to, to get the free dining). So other than looking out a window that I will probably never look out of (we don't spend time in the room other than to sleep and shower) do I get anything for the extra cash? Am I at least closer to transportation or the pool than I otherwise would be with a standard room?

I won't let it ruin my vacation, but I am not so rich that I just don't care that I have to blow and extra 200.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

No, garden view offers no location advantage. In fact, YC is quite spread out and I would definitely recommend a "close to lobby" request on your reservation. I just stayed at YC a few weeks ago and, though I had booked standard view, they put me in a water view room which was absolutely lovely, but, boy, a few more steps and I might as well had been staying at the Dolphin, LOL! Relatively speaking, there are fewer standard view rooms at YC than the other categories, so I'm not terribly surprised it wasn't in the discount.

 

[jelly_bean]

I was disappointed that I had to upgrade to this room for an extra $200 when I really don't see any advantage to it (had to, to get the free dining). So other than looking out a window that I will probably never look out of (we don't spend time in the room other than to sleep and shower) do I get anything for the extra cash?

You're getting free dining for your extra $200. I guess that makes it not exactly free, but it sounds like more of an "advantage" than just being near the bus stop.

We love garden view at Yacht Club, for the VIEW. The only Disney trip I've ever taken where I hated the room was a standard view at Yacht Club. It was the only thing available on club level so we had no choice. Never again. I'll change my dates before I settle for standard view. We however spend lots of time in the room and lots of time on the balcony.

 

[Hopefully]

I was disappointed that I had to upgrade to this room for an extra $200 when I really don't see any advantage to it (had to, to get the free dining). So other than looking out a window that I will probably never look out of (we don't spend time in the room other than to sleep and shower) do I get anything for the extra cash? Am I at least closer to transportation or the pool than I otherwise would be with a standard room?

I won't let it ruin my vacation, but I am not so rich that I just don't care that I have to blow and extra 200.

If you are only in the room to “sleep and shower” why are you paying to stay Deluxe at the Yacht Club at all?

 

[focusondisney]

Well, technically you didn’t have to take the garden view room. If the promotion doesn’t work for you, don’t book it. Or book a different resort.

 

[Zooey72]

Well, the free dining isn't the extra I am paying for. It is the room with a view that I won't use. Everybody's family is different, with me my favorite saying on vacation is "Hey, whatcha laying around for? You think you are on vacation or something?" We don't lounge around, and the worst vacation I can think of is the kind where you see people laying around on a beach. I can lay in my backyard for free if I want a tan and save a ton of money.

Why pay for the Yacht Club at all? 3 reasons. 1. The pool. 2. They made it to where you have to stay at a Deluxe to get normal free dining. I know I could just upgrade to a normal dining and stay at a moderate, but when you crunch the numbers you don't end up saving that much and at that point why not splurge and stay at the deluxe. 3. I used to work for Disney on the college program making min. wage. I told myself than "One day I am going to stay there" as I was eating my ramen noodles searching my couch for spare change. So it has become a bit of a bucket list thing for me.

 

[Wood Nymph]

You might as well try to get the best room that you can in the garden view category. If you request to be near the wedding gazebo and near the lobby then you could have a room that is both close to the lobby and have a sideways view of Crescent Lake.

The Yacht Club has a great entrance to Storm Along Bay that is close to the lobby. We had a garden view room that was literally steps away from the main bank of lobby elevators and very convenient for everything.

 

[mom22boys]

I just stayed at YC a few weeks ago and, though I had booked standard view, they put me in a water view room which was absolutely lovely, but, boy, a few more steps and I might as well had been staying at the Dolphin, LOL!

Us too! We were in room 2001 (a corner room with windows on two sides, so nice!). We loved it! The view was amazing! So peaceful and beautiful during the day! We looked out at the Boardwalk. In the evening, we could see Illuminations and Jingle Bell Jingle Jam. Absolutely memorable!

As for the long walks that one PP mentioned, we just used the stairwell closest to us and walked outside along the boardwalk. It was great!

So, OP, my answer would be that maybe with some pixie dust your garden view will be upgraded to water view and it will be worth every penny!

 

[sbd78]

If you want to save the money and book a standard room, keep checking a couple of times a day. People cancel all the time. I originally had a Sat. to Sat. reservation booked with free dining at CBR but wanted to move it to a Tues. to Tues. or Wed. to Wed. since flights are usually cheaper on those days. With some dedicated stalking, I was able to move my reservation to the days I wanted.

 

[buzznina]

We rather do a RO discount over rack rate FD.

 

[sndral]

I've booked garden view at the YC three times - the slight up charge was worth it to me to guarantee that I was not overlooking the street/parking lot. But I use my balcony and I allocate enough days at WDW so that I can relax and enjoy the room/balcony and the ambiance of the resort without feeling I've short changed myself on park time.
First stay there we had a lovely room on an upper floor overlooking the wedding gazebo, it was very close to the elevators and quite convenient.
Second stay we were again on an upper floor and were upgraded to a lake view - I loved that room's view - it was gorgeous to see the BW lights reflecting on the water and to watch the friendship boats glide by.
Third stay we were way out at the end of the resort, closer to the Swolphin than the YC's lobby It was a ground floor room and overlooked a nice little pond where a heron hung out. I was initially disappointed, but soon grew attached to 'my' heron and liked the convenient door to the outside by the stairwell just a few steps away.

 

[Nancyg56]

I had lake view at the BC and thought it was stunning as I sat on my balcony sipping coffee in the morning or a glass of wine in the evening. I never pay for view unless I need to for a promotion, and only of that makes sense financially. For us, FD usually does, even if we pay a little more for room category.

OP- it seems like your choice of resort is locked in place for you, so i woudl just make the best of it. TO me, it seems odd to begrudge the cost of the view in a deluxe category, but be willing to pay for that category when I am not going to spend much time using the resort. Personally, I would have booked CSR, upgraded my dining plan, and then put some of the money aside that I saved for Lyft.