Before I begin the review, it is important to note that we are two adults, no children. When we vacation, we tend to eat at the signature restaurants, to get a quieter atmosphere. We don't object to well-behaved children, but we don't have children of our own to take into account when we examine a resort's appropriateness for our own vacation needs. What I may like or dislike about this resort would probably be quite different if I were a mother of four youngsters, so I like to take that into consideration when reading resort reviews.
Anyway, on with the review. We checked in early Saturday (1/13) morning. This was our first stay at the Beach Club Resort, so we were unsure whether we should check in at the main level, or whether there was a separate check-in for concierge level. We arrived at the main desk and asked this question. The lady there was very friendly, gave us the key card to get to the 5th level in the elevator, and, after she'd asked us whether we'd stayed with them before, she gave us First Visit buttons. These were cute and nice souvenirs, but we didn't wear them in the parks, as we'd been there dozens of times!
We got up to the concierge level, and Hyacinth checked us in. She was very friendly, and it turned out that our room, number 5704, was ready already (it was only 7:30 am). We stopped by the room to drop our things off, then grabbed a quick breakfast in the concierge lounge.
The concierge lounge here is SMALL. We like to use the lounge as a sort of haven from the noise & bustle of the parks, so we were disappointed to find it crammed to the hilt. We also noticed many more children here, and, possibly because of this, the snack offerings tended to be more child-centered. There were three different varieties of Krispy Kreme doughnuts: glazed, chocolate with sprinkles, and raspberry filled. This was fine by me, but my DH missed the meat & cheese breakfast selection at the GF concierge level.
There were so many people here that there weren't enough chairs for them all. We'd gotten there just before the big breakfast rush, but I would probably have found it disappointing to have paid for concierge service and then not have been able to find a seat. We noticed quite a few people standing around waiting for tables or else taking their food back to their rooms.
There were more children in this resort than in others we've been in, and, because they were crowded into such a small area, it tended to get quite loud. The adults were loud, too - there was some football playoff thing going on, so some of the adults were getting rowdy in the lounge. I think it was the lack of space more than anything else; we don't like lots of noise & crowds when we're in our hotel.
Because the lounge is so small, they don't have those nice, plush, "sink into me and relax" chairs that the Boardwalk Inn and the Grand Floridian have. The chairs here were wooden dining chairs only.
The afternoon snacks were nothing spectacular and, again, seemed to be more child-centered, including things like pudding snack packs, cheddar popcorn, etc. The lemonade was great, but that's always my favorite refreshing drink from the various concierge lounges.
The evening offerings were also okay, not great. Again, they were much more limited than the evening offerings from the Boardwalk Inn & Grand Floridian. One evening, they had extremely soggy (since kept in a covered chafing dish) fish & chips and cream of mushroom soup. The cream of mushroom soup was great - very creamy and delicious, and had lots of chunks of mushrooms in it. Another evening, we had pork ribs and clam chowder. I don't eat meat (I'm a pescatarian), so I wasn't able to eat much that evening. Which was okay, and I'm used to having things I won't eat no matter where I stay.
The cheese selection here was disappointing, in that it was quite limited. The dessert selection, though, was GREAT! They had Rice Krispie treats, lemon icebox pie squares, raspberry & chocolate mousse, and two kind of cream filled puff pastry. The lemon squares were my favorite - they were rich and tasted just like the ones I loved as a child.
As far as the room itself, our room, 5704, had a view of the Beach Club Villas and part of Spaceship Earth. If we leaned out to the side, we could see part of Illuminations. This wasn't a big thing for us either way, though, as we're not huge Illuminations fans, and as we've had rooms at the BWI that have better fireworks views. So we were perfectly contented with the room view - I hadn't wanted a parking lot view, but didn't care otherwise.
The room was SMALL! We expected to have a table with two chairs, so that we could sit down together and eat. The lounge got so crowded and noisy that it was very stressful to us to be there, so, unless we'd hit it at a down time, we'd grab drinks or snacks and go back to the room. It would have been nice to have a place where we could both sit down and set our drinks on the table. Instead of which, we had to take turns eating at the table, with the other one sitting on the bed waiting. A small couch or armchair, even, would have been nice - just some place, besides the bed, for both of us to sit down.
This was probably just us not doing our homework on room sizes at the Beach Club but, having stayed in other deluxe resorts with a small sitting area or table & chairs, we had just expected this resort to be the same. Live & learn!
Anyway, here are some photos of the room:
(notice the ONE chair!)
(cute little towel animals)
I did like the new toiletries. These were great, and so much better than the old, black Mickey bottles. The shampoo in those used to weight my hair down and leave it with a slightly sticky feeling. This new shampoo & conditioner, though, was great! My hair felt soft and light: actually better than my own shampoo & conditioner at home. And they'd included more toiletries, with items like a toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash.
Side note: is there a Beach Club ghost? We kept hearing a Wooooooooo sound, low at the beginning, rising high-pitched in the middle, then sinking lower at the end. Possibly the pipes? Whatever it was, it kept us giggling. That ghost was woooooing all night -I would wake up at 3 am, and there he'd be: Wooooooooo. It wasn't loud or irritating, and it certainly wasn't what kept waking me up. We weren't bothered by it in any way, but it was just a strange sound.
Overall, if we'd not gotten a great deal on this room, we would have been disappointed that we'd chosen this resort. I'd wanted to try it for a while, but we found it not to our liking for several reasons:
- Small bedroom with only one chair
- Small, crowded, noisy concierge lounge
- Many, many more young children (pre-K) than we'd seen in other deluxes
- More limited food selection
Our demographics play into this; as I said initially, we have a certain vacation style, and the Beach Club wasn't a good match. If I had a boisterous two-year-old, I might like it because I'd feel like his noise wouldn't be noticed among the general hubub. But that's not the case for us; we enjoy escaping from the noise & crowds of the parks to our peaceful resort. This just didn't fit that bill. The cast members here were fine, perfectly pleasant and accommodating, but it is not a hotel we'd return to.
Let me know if you have any questions - I would be more than happy to answer them if I could.
Cheers!
Heather W
Anyway, on with the review. We checked in early Saturday (1/13) morning. This was our first stay at the Beach Club Resort, so we were unsure whether we should check in at the main level, or whether there was a separate check-in for concierge level. We arrived at the main desk and asked this question. The lady there was very friendly, gave us the key card to get to the 5th level in the elevator, and, after she'd asked us whether we'd stayed with them before, she gave us First Visit buttons. These were cute and nice souvenirs, but we didn't wear them in the parks, as we'd been there dozens of times!
We got up to the concierge level, and Hyacinth checked us in. She was very friendly, and it turned out that our room, number 5704, was ready already (it was only 7:30 am). We stopped by the room to drop our things off, then grabbed a quick breakfast in the concierge lounge.
The concierge lounge here is SMALL. We like to use the lounge as a sort of haven from the noise & bustle of the parks, so we were disappointed to find it crammed to the hilt. We also noticed many more children here, and, possibly because of this, the snack offerings tended to be more child-centered. There were three different varieties of Krispy Kreme doughnuts: glazed, chocolate with sprinkles, and raspberry filled. This was fine by me, but my DH missed the meat & cheese breakfast selection at the GF concierge level.
There were so many people here that there weren't enough chairs for them all. We'd gotten there just before the big breakfast rush, but I would probably have found it disappointing to have paid for concierge service and then not have been able to find a seat. We noticed quite a few people standing around waiting for tables or else taking their food back to their rooms.
There were more children in this resort than in others we've been in, and, because they were crowded into such a small area, it tended to get quite loud. The adults were loud, too - there was some football playoff thing going on, so some of the adults were getting rowdy in the lounge. I think it was the lack of space more than anything else; we don't like lots of noise & crowds when we're in our hotel.
Because the lounge is so small, they don't have those nice, plush, "sink into me and relax" chairs that the Boardwalk Inn and the Grand Floridian have. The chairs here were wooden dining chairs only.
The afternoon snacks were nothing spectacular and, again, seemed to be more child-centered, including things like pudding snack packs, cheddar popcorn, etc. The lemonade was great, but that's always my favorite refreshing drink from the various concierge lounges.
The evening offerings were also okay, not great. Again, they were much more limited than the evening offerings from the Boardwalk Inn & Grand Floridian. One evening, they had extremely soggy (since kept in a covered chafing dish) fish & chips and cream of mushroom soup. The cream of mushroom soup was great - very creamy and delicious, and had lots of chunks of mushrooms in it. Another evening, we had pork ribs and clam chowder. I don't eat meat (I'm a pescatarian), so I wasn't able to eat much that evening. Which was okay, and I'm used to having things I won't eat no matter where I stay.
The cheese selection here was disappointing, in that it was quite limited. The dessert selection, though, was GREAT! They had Rice Krispie treats, lemon icebox pie squares, raspberry & chocolate mousse, and two kind of cream filled puff pastry. The lemon squares were my favorite - they were rich and tasted just like the ones I loved as a child.
As far as the room itself, our room, 5704, had a view of the Beach Club Villas and part of Spaceship Earth. If we leaned out to the side, we could see part of Illuminations. This wasn't a big thing for us either way, though, as we're not huge Illuminations fans, and as we've had rooms at the BWI that have better fireworks views. So we were perfectly contented with the room view - I hadn't wanted a parking lot view, but didn't care otherwise.
The room was SMALL! We expected to have a table with two chairs, so that we could sit down together and eat. The lounge got so crowded and noisy that it was very stressful to us to be there, so, unless we'd hit it at a down time, we'd grab drinks or snacks and go back to the room. It would have been nice to have a place where we could both sit down and set our drinks on the table. Instead of which, we had to take turns eating at the table, with the other one sitting on the bed waiting. A small couch or armchair, even, would have been nice - just some place, besides the bed, for both of us to sit down.
This was probably just us not doing our homework on room sizes at the Beach Club but, having stayed in other deluxe resorts with a small sitting area or table & chairs, we had just expected this resort to be the same. Live & learn!
Anyway, here are some photos of the room:
(notice the ONE chair!)
(cute little towel animals)
I did like the new toiletries. These were great, and so much better than the old, black Mickey bottles. The shampoo in those used to weight my hair down and leave it with a slightly sticky feeling. This new shampoo & conditioner, though, was great! My hair felt soft and light: actually better than my own shampoo & conditioner at home. And they'd included more toiletries, with items like a toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash.
Side note: is there a Beach Club ghost? We kept hearing a Wooooooooo sound, low at the beginning, rising high-pitched in the middle, then sinking lower at the end. Possibly the pipes? Whatever it was, it kept us giggling. That ghost was woooooing all night -I would wake up at 3 am, and there he'd be: Wooooooooo. It wasn't loud or irritating, and it certainly wasn't what kept waking me up. We weren't bothered by it in any way, but it was just a strange sound.
Overall, if we'd not gotten a great deal on this room, we would have been disappointed that we'd chosen this resort. I'd wanted to try it for a while, but we found it not to our liking for several reasons:
- Small bedroom with only one chair
- Small, crowded, noisy concierge lounge
- Many, many more young children (pre-K) than we'd seen in other deluxes
- More limited food selection
Our demographics play into this; as I said initially, we have a certain vacation style, and the Beach Club wasn't a good match. If I had a boisterous two-year-old, I might like it because I'd feel like his noise wouldn't be noticed among the general hubub. But that's not the case for us; we enjoy escaping from the noise & crowds of the parks to our peaceful resort. This just didn't fit that bill. The cast members here were fine, perfectly pleasant and accommodating, but it is not a hotel we'd return to.
Let me know if you have any questions - I would be more than happy to answer them if I could.
Cheers!
Heather W
Small & crowded isn't my thing. The pool would be the ultimate plus for us, but maybe YC?? Have you stayed concierge at the YC? I haven't read many positive reviews of the YC concierge, either, but would really love that pool in July. 
IPO is just top notch! Plus, it's just really cool to be so close to 2 major themeparks.
... that's where we adopted our wonderful two pups from! ... 
and Hannah both came from Petfinder.com - that site is great. I wish more people would use it, instead of encouraging backyard breeders.
