natebenma
Beach Club Dee
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2008
- Messages
- 20,143
July 10-17, 2010, Beach Club Resort
We're back after 7 wonderful days/nights at the Beach Club. We had an amazing trip!!! I took lots of notes and TONS of pics, so I will be working on getting a trip report and photo gallery ready in the coming weeks. But in the meantime, here is a summary, and feel free to ask anything specific that you want to know:
Weather: It was hot, but not unbearably so. The humidity level changed quite a bit throughout the day. We had about an hour-long rainstorm on Sunday while at Norway, but it didn't stop us. We were on a mission. Literally. Our first Kim Possible mission and Ben refused to let some rain prevent him from saving the world! On Wednesday, we were at Blizzard Beach while it was shut down for about an hour due to inclement weather -some rain and lightning/thunder in the area. Around 3:30 on Thursday there was a horrendous lightning storm in the EPCOT/Beach Club area. I think this is the storm that Teena mentioned delayed her return home. We lucked out big time. We had entered Ellen's Energy Aventure to bright skies. When the show was over, the sky was menacing and you knew a big storm would start any time. We hoofed it back to the Beach Club. We literally had only seconds to spare as it started POURING just as we ducked into the side entrance of the Beach Club. After dinner, it rained again for about 30-40 minutes but once it cleared, it was cool and pleasant! We took a leisurely stroll around World Showcase and finally was able to convince my family to stay for Illuminations (I had gone solo earlier in the week)
Crowds: We were at every park at 8 AM, following the early entry hours. Crowds were not bad for the first couple of hours, so we enjoyed a lot of attractions and collected fast passes while the crowd built around 11 or so. We used our fast passes in the early afternoon and left the parks between 2-3 most days. People seemed much more civilized than in some previous trips. Not too many line-cutting attempts or pushing and shoving. That was a refreshing. There were some South American tour groups. They seemed smaller and there were fewer than last year, and they were definitely quieter- we didn't hear them chanting very much at all, and they didn't interfere with our ability to enjoy attractions.
Because we arrived early everyday and had FPs, we rarely waited more than 10 minutes for any attraction. Exceptions- waited 25 min for Toy Story on Friday, 8:20 am, 25 minute for RNR on Friday, 25 minute wait for Great Movie Ride at 11:30 on Friday (but we got the Cowboy scene!!!). Thursday afternoon Pirates was about 25 minutes, but the boys wanted to ride it then. Every other time we rode Pirates it was less than a 10 minute wait. Wednesday at 12:30 we had a 25 minute wait for a second ride on Dinosaur.
Three highlights-
On Sunday- we rode Soarin' 3 times. Twice in the morning, and we pulled a FP and rode again when we returned from T-Rex in the evening.
On Tuesday at MK, by noon we had ridden Peter Pan, Space Mtn, Winnie the Pooh, Splash Mtn, Big Thunder Mtn, Haunted Mansion, PLUS we had FP for Space, Splash and Big Thunder to be used in the afternoon. Triple Mountain Whammy times 2! It's all WHAM!
Extra Magic Hours Rock!
My husband swept streets in Beverly Mass for the Give A Day program. We exchanged for FP at HS. We found a mom who was with her two young kids and we invited her to join us when we redeemed the passes (7 total). My son and I rode Toy Story Mania 4 times - once standby, once regular FP, twice GAD FP. My husband and older son rode TSM twice, RNR twice and TOT once. All by noon!
The GAD Program Rocks!
Storm Along Bay Pool at BC: I think I went to the pool 2-3 times. One afternoon alone, for about 30 minutes. Then the whole family went on Tuesday afternoon, from 3-5 PM. Found chairs upstairs near Hurricane Hannah's. Pool was crowded but manageable. I went again solo at 9 PM on Wed (after we had walked back from HS). It was wonderful, and I had a nice view of the Illuminations finale from one of the pool bridges.
Disney transportation: We dont rent a car, so we rely exclusively on walking, bus, boat, monorail, and an occasional taxi. We landed at the airport around 10 am, ME bus stopped at POFQ, Boardwalk, maybe YC. We were checking in at 11 am. Not bad. Buses arrived within 5 minutes for the 3 mornings (7:30 am) we traveled to MK and AK. We mostly took the monorail back to EPCOT for our return to BC. Two visits (boat) to HS. Monday we were able to take the one at the dock. Friday we had to wait for a second boat, arrived at HS around 8:10. We had a 15 minute wait for a bus to MK on the afternoon we arrived, around noon-time. Bus to DTD on Sunday afternoon, around 4 PM. I think we waited around 10 minutes and we actually had seats. For our trip back from DTD, we took the boat to Saratoga Springs (should have gone to PO), then took a bus to EPCOT from there, and returned to BC through the park. We only had to stand on buses once or twice during our trip.
Taxi, BC to Typhoon Lagoon- $12 plus tip
Taxi, Poly to BC, $15 plus tip
Room 5670: we had a standard-view Concierge level room which was sprinkled with pixie dust. My only request was a full balcony, which we received. The room was facing the front entrance of the BC and the BCV to the right. A very large tree obscured the view of the parking lot. We overlooked a rooftop to the left. We could hear, but not really see a fountain from our room which was soothing. But our mild-mannered view by day turned into SUPER-VIEW by night. We had a good view of the high fireworks from Illuminations to the right at 9 PM and excellent views of the MK fireworks, to the left at 10 PM. Other features. This room connected with 5672, also a full balcony, I think. Two beds (Queen, I think). No couch/daybed. Double sinks outside of bathroom. Mousekeeping and turndown service were both great. Many towel animals (Mickey circles at welcome, an elephant, stingray, and a little duckie washcloth).
Concierge: We really loved the Concierge offerings and service. It was great to have a quick breakfast at 7 (fruit, eggs, bagels, croissants, cereal, new pastry offerings, yummy oatmeal with fixings) and be headed out by 7:30. We had the chips and dip, yogurt pretzels and trail mix in the afternoon a couple of times. Despite having 6 PM dinner reservations every night, my youngest still insisted on sampling the appetizers at 5 on a few days. Offerings included crab ragoon, duck quesadilla, pot stickers, seafood empanada, chicken on a stick, and on Thursday, there were little cups of lobster salad. Very good. And that comes from a New Englander! All of the concierge cast members were helpful and friendly, especially Vilma, Neil and Kyle, who spent several minutes finding a weather report for us on Thursday morning which fortunately convinced us to change our visit to Typhoon Lagoon from Thursday to Friday.
I have many pictures of the CL and all of the offerings, but I haven't uploaded them yet.
Dining: made all of my dining reservations at 6 am 180 days ago:
Arrival Dinner- Captain's Grille at YC. Wonderful! Nice and relaxing for first night
Sunday- T-Rex at DTD. Good food, huge servings, great but noisy atmosphere. I have a dinosaur fanatic, so he loved it!
Monday- lunch at Sci Fi. Burgers and pastrami sandwich all good. Too full to enjoy the awesome sundaes. The hot fudge is amazingly good.
Tuesday- Le Cellier. Really enjoyed everything
Wednesday- Boma. Probably our favorite
Thursday- 11 am breakfast at Kona after touring Magic Kingdom. Macadami Pineapple pancakes are one of my most favorite things to eat!
Thursday-Cape May Cafe. Everything was delicious but it was hard to pass up focusing on the crab legs, clams and mussels and shrimp.
Ohana- our first time- our last dinner- Reservations were at 6:20, we arrived 10 minutes late due to transportation delays from Typhoon Lagoon to the Poly and we were not seated until after 7. Waiting area was a ZOO! After a long week of early wake ups and serious touring, the boys were practically falling asleep in the bread pudding.
Mark and the boys headed back to the BC at 8:30. I headed out to the Poly beach alone, got a beach chair and read and watched the castle turn color for an hour and a half until the NightTastic fireworks. A nice, solitary, relaxing finale to my vacation. Took a cab home and was back at BC by 10:30!
Once again, thank you to everyone who posts here who shared information, tips and reviews and an extra special shout out to TeenaS from the Beach Club board for all you do for everyone who comes to the Beach Club!!!
__________________
We're back after 7 wonderful days/nights at the Beach Club. We had an amazing trip!!! I took lots of notes and TONS of pics, so I will be working on getting a trip report and photo gallery ready in the coming weeks. But in the meantime, here is a summary, and feel free to ask anything specific that you want to know:
Weather: It was hot, but not unbearably so. The humidity level changed quite a bit throughout the day. We had about an hour-long rainstorm on Sunday while at Norway, but it didn't stop us. We were on a mission. Literally. Our first Kim Possible mission and Ben refused to let some rain prevent him from saving the world! On Wednesday, we were at Blizzard Beach while it was shut down for about an hour due to inclement weather -some rain and lightning/thunder in the area. Around 3:30 on Thursday there was a horrendous lightning storm in the EPCOT/Beach Club area. I think this is the storm that Teena mentioned delayed her return home. We lucked out big time. We had entered Ellen's Energy Aventure to bright skies. When the show was over, the sky was menacing and you knew a big storm would start any time. We hoofed it back to the Beach Club. We literally had only seconds to spare as it started POURING just as we ducked into the side entrance of the Beach Club. After dinner, it rained again for about 30-40 minutes but once it cleared, it was cool and pleasant! We took a leisurely stroll around World Showcase and finally was able to convince my family to stay for Illuminations (I had gone solo earlier in the week)
Crowds: We were at every park at 8 AM, following the early entry hours. Crowds were not bad for the first couple of hours, so we enjoyed a lot of attractions and collected fast passes while the crowd built around 11 or so. We used our fast passes in the early afternoon and left the parks between 2-3 most days. People seemed much more civilized than in some previous trips. Not too many line-cutting attempts or pushing and shoving. That was a refreshing. There were some South American tour groups. They seemed smaller and there were fewer than last year, and they were definitely quieter- we didn't hear them chanting very much at all, and they didn't interfere with our ability to enjoy attractions.
Because we arrived early everyday and had FPs, we rarely waited more than 10 minutes for any attraction. Exceptions- waited 25 min for Toy Story on Friday, 8:20 am, 25 minute for RNR on Friday, 25 minute wait for Great Movie Ride at 11:30 on Friday (but we got the Cowboy scene!!!). Thursday afternoon Pirates was about 25 minutes, but the boys wanted to ride it then. Every other time we rode Pirates it was less than a 10 minute wait. Wednesday at 12:30 we had a 25 minute wait for a second ride on Dinosaur.
Three highlights-
On Sunday- we rode Soarin' 3 times. Twice in the morning, and we pulled a FP and rode again when we returned from T-Rex in the evening.
On Tuesday at MK, by noon we had ridden Peter Pan, Space Mtn, Winnie the Pooh, Splash Mtn, Big Thunder Mtn, Haunted Mansion, PLUS we had FP for Space, Splash and Big Thunder to be used in the afternoon. Triple Mountain Whammy times 2! It's all WHAM!
Extra Magic Hours Rock!
My husband swept streets in Beverly Mass for the Give A Day program. We exchanged for FP at HS. We found a mom who was with her two young kids and we invited her to join us when we redeemed the passes (7 total). My son and I rode Toy Story Mania 4 times - once standby, once regular FP, twice GAD FP. My husband and older son rode TSM twice, RNR twice and TOT once. All by noon!
The GAD Program Rocks!
Storm Along Bay Pool at BC: I think I went to the pool 2-3 times. One afternoon alone, for about 30 minutes. Then the whole family went on Tuesday afternoon, from 3-5 PM. Found chairs upstairs near Hurricane Hannah's. Pool was crowded but manageable. I went again solo at 9 PM on Wed (after we had walked back from HS). It was wonderful, and I had a nice view of the Illuminations finale from one of the pool bridges.
Disney transportation: We dont rent a car, so we rely exclusively on walking, bus, boat, monorail, and an occasional taxi. We landed at the airport around 10 am, ME bus stopped at POFQ, Boardwalk, maybe YC. We were checking in at 11 am. Not bad. Buses arrived within 5 minutes for the 3 mornings (7:30 am) we traveled to MK and AK. We mostly took the monorail back to EPCOT for our return to BC. Two visits (boat) to HS. Monday we were able to take the one at the dock. Friday we had to wait for a second boat, arrived at HS around 8:10. We had a 15 minute wait for a bus to MK on the afternoon we arrived, around noon-time. Bus to DTD on Sunday afternoon, around 4 PM. I think we waited around 10 minutes and we actually had seats. For our trip back from DTD, we took the boat to Saratoga Springs (should have gone to PO), then took a bus to EPCOT from there, and returned to BC through the park. We only had to stand on buses once or twice during our trip.
Taxi, BC to Typhoon Lagoon- $12 plus tip
Taxi, Poly to BC, $15 plus tip
Room 5670: we had a standard-view Concierge level room which was sprinkled with pixie dust. My only request was a full balcony, which we received. The room was facing the front entrance of the BC and the BCV to the right. A very large tree obscured the view of the parking lot. We overlooked a rooftop to the left. We could hear, but not really see a fountain from our room which was soothing. But our mild-mannered view by day turned into SUPER-VIEW by night. We had a good view of the high fireworks from Illuminations to the right at 9 PM and excellent views of the MK fireworks, to the left at 10 PM. Other features. This room connected with 5672, also a full balcony, I think. Two beds (Queen, I think). No couch/daybed. Double sinks outside of bathroom. Mousekeeping and turndown service were both great. Many towel animals (Mickey circles at welcome, an elephant, stingray, and a little duckie washcloth).
Concierge: We really loved the Concierge offerings and service. It was great to have a quick breakfast at 7 (fruit, eggs, bagels, croissants, cereal, new pastry offerings, yummy oatmeal with fixings) and be headed out by 7:30. We had the chips and dip, yogurt pretzels and trail mix in the afternoon a couple of times. Despite having 6 PM dinner reservations every night, my youngest still insisted on sampling the appetizers at 5 on a few days. Offerings included crab ragoon, duck quesadilla, pot stickers, seafood empanada, chicken on a stick, and on Thursday, there were little cups of lobster salad. Very good. And that comes from a New Englander! All of the concierge cast members were helpful and friendly, especially Vilma, Neil and Kyle, who spent several minutes finding a weather report for us on Thursday morning which fortunately convinced us to change our visit to Typhoon Lagoon from Thursday to Friday.
I have many pictures of the CL and all of the offerings, but I haven't uploaded them yet.
Dining: made all of my dining reservations at 6 am 180 days ago:
Arrival Dinner- Captain's Grille at YC. Wonderful! Nice and relaxing for first night
Sunday- T-Rex at DTD. Good food, huge servings, great but noisy atmosphere. I have a dinosaur fanatic, so he loved it!
Monday- lunch at Sci Fi. Burgers and pastrami sandwich all good. Too full to enjoy the awesome sundaes. The hot fudge is amazingly good.
Tuesday- Le Cellier. Really enjoyed everything
Wednesday- Boma. Probably our favorite
Thursday- 11 am breakfast at Kona after touring Magic Kingdom. Macadami Pineapple pancakes are one of my most favorite things to eat!
Thursday-Cape May Cafe. Everything was delicious but it was hard to pass up focusing on the crab legs, clams and mussels and shrimp.
Ohana- our first time- our last dinner- Reservations were at 6:20, we arrived 10 minutes late due to transportation delays from Typhoon Lagoon to the Poly and we were not seated until after 7. Waiting area was a ZOO! After a long week of early wake ups and serious touring, the boys were practically falling asleep in the bread pudding.
Mark and the boys headed back to the BC at 8:30. I headed out to the Poly beach alone, got a beach chair and read and watched the castle turn color for an hour and a half until the NightTastic fireworks. A nice, solitary, relaxing finale to my vacation. Took a cab home and was back at BC by 10:30!
Once again, thank you to everyone who posts here who shared information, tips and reviews and an extra special shout out to TeenaS from the Beach Club board for all you do for everyone who comes to the Beach Club!!!
__________________
