Beach Club Garden View or Contemporary Garden Wing?

Royal Consort

DIS Veteran
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Jan 14, 2012
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Hello everyone.
We're having a dilemma regarding which resort to choose for our stay in November. We have previously stayed in a number of Magic Kingdom resorts including the Contemporary in the main tower, Wilderness Lodge, and the Grand Floridian. For our upcoming stay we have booked the Beach Club for 10 nights.

I have some doubts as I have never been a big fan of Epcot and we spend most of our time, including several evenings, in the Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately this time our budget cannot stretch to a Tower room at the Contemporary. I like the look and feel of the Beach Club and the surrounding Boardwalk which gives us a range of things to do in the evening. I also like that I am able to walk to two parks. However, at the Contemporary I can take a bus to any resort without having to make a change. The Beach Club seems like a nicer experience than the Contemporary garden wing (I know I will miss the tower), but the location to MK can't be beat.

Beach Club or Contemporary? Before people suggest, a split stay isn't possible as we are booked through Disney UK.
 
If the only thing holding you back from CR is being in the garden wing, I wouldn't sweat it! I actually really like the Garden Wing! The rooms are just as big as the tower rooms, you are right next to the pool and you don't have to use the often-congested elevators to get to the pathway to MK, the buses or the 4th floor. I found the garden wing to be much more relaxing than the tower and the lower price point is an extra bonus!

I do love BC, but, then again, EP is my favorite park. If you are going to spend the majority of your time in MK, I would stick with CR and try out the Garden Wing. I would suggest putting in a request for 1st floor so you get a lovely patio!
 
For me the added cost to benefit in paying for Disney's version of "deluxe" is the location. So, I choose based on what park we will be in the most, which for you sounds like MK, so CR is a good choice.

We have only stayed garden wing at CR, and I really enjoyed it... our room at a great view of the canal so we got to see the boats coming & going.

Just out of curiosity why doesn't Disney UK not allow a split stay?
 
More time at EPCOT (which seems unlikely in your case), then walk to BC; more time at MK, then walk to CR--both resorts are great, so it's just a matter of where you will spend the majority of your time, which looks like MK, so CR IMO. Have a great vacation!
 

I actually prefer the garden wing to the tower at the Contemporary. I find it quieter, and there isn’t the congestion with elevators that tends to be the case in the main building. If you think you’ll spend the majority of your time at MK, I would go with the Contemporary. We stayed at BWI (also an Epcot resort) last summer. I loved everything about it except the bus over to the MK, where, like you, we spend a fair amount of our time. After that trip we decided that the best choice for us is to either book our entire stay at a MK resort (when we stay for a shorter amount of time) or do a split stay (I know you said this isn’t an option for you) with one resort being in the MK area.

On the other hand, if the pool is important to you and you think you’ll spend a fair amount of time there, I would choose the Beach Club. At BWI last summer, I found that while I missed being close to MK, spending some evenings on the boardwalk was really nice. I also loved being able to pick up lunch from Les Halles in France (way better than any resort QS option!) as we left the park and enjoy it sitting on the boardwalk or in lobby/lounge (BWI has a lounge) of the resort before spending our afternoon at the pool.
 
We stayed at BC during a split stay. We loved the resort, especially Stormalong Bay. We spend a lot of time at our resort, and being able to enjoy Stormalong Bay for ten days sounds like heaven. We loved using the boats for transportation. It was nice walking right into World Showcase.

The downside of BC is the room size. Our room there was not as big as our Contemporary tower room, not even close. Also, we normally only spend one day in Epcot and one day in Hollywood. We typically spend four days in MK. We would really miss seeing fireworks from our resort.

I would love to pick up the Beach Club and move it next to MK.
 
Tough choice!!! I also wish BC was near MK. Having done all the deluxe (other than WL), I also struggle with wanting to try the non MK area deluxes but don't care for the location overall since MK is my top pick. Very difficult choice!!!
 
If the Garden Wing location does not bother you, then I would say CR for sure.

We love EPCOT, so staying at an EPCOT resort works best for us. I do like trying new resorts, so maybe trying something new might be great!
 


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