Beach Club or Old Key West?

[OnTheWay2Diz]

Hi...I'm a Disney Newbie I guess...hubby and I finally are going to take the plunge and go to Disney this summer. It will be the 2 of us, our 10 year old and my mom. After hours and hours of late night research, I have narrowed our resort choice down to 3 choices based on the fact that we pretty much have to have a "beachy" theme to be happy.

The 3 choices are: Beach Club Resort, Old Key West or Carribean Beach Resort. I think I pefer BCR or OKW but the price of the CBR looks pretty good as well. However, with my mom going, she insists on paying 1/3 of the cost which will therefore allow us to move to the deluxe or home away from home levels.

So, we have a choice, according to the travel agent, of a one bedroom at OKW or a standard (2 queen beds) at the BCR. The price difference is minimal and therefore not an issue and so here's my question: Is it worth giving up the space of the 1 bedroom at OKW in order to have access to Stormalong Bay, the excellent location (next door to Epcot) and other amenities of BCR?

Or, is the CBR just as good to stay in and save the $$$ in order to do more once we get there???????????? Opps, that's 2 questions!

Sorry to ramble! I have information overload and am confused and overwhelmed at the choices! Any help is very much appreciated!! Thanks!

 

[lyncruiser]

Why not try a Beach Club Villa? That way you can have access to Storm-a-long Bay plus the comforts of a villa similar to (albeit slightly smaller) than a villa at OKW.

 

[drusba]

BC definitely has the best location and best pool (although CBR's pool is pretty good; OKW's is more of a regular pool, no slide). That room at CBR will be smaller than BC. If pool and location are most important, BC is the place as you have easy acces to Epcot, MGM, and a couple of dozen restaurants.

If room size and room comfort are most important then OKW wins by a very large margin. The 1BR's are close to 1100 sg ft (most large 1BR apartments that you would rent anywhere aren't that big) and it has a kitchen, w/d, and large bathroom and a nice porch with an overhead fan.

If price is most important, CBR is fine and will not disappoint. Transportation at both CBR and OKW is by bus and they are both about the same distance from parks although CBR is a little closer to MGM and Epcot. BC is a walk or boat to MGM or Epcot (walking is very often faster) and busses to other parks.

Note, you can rent OKW through a DVC owner for less than Disney charges (see Disney Vacation Club rent\trade board on this site); the same would apply to the Beach Club Villas which are part of the Beach Club resort and are DVC units, have very nice 1BR's (720 sg ft), and you get the use of SAB and other amenities of Beach Club.

 

[Samsma]

I vote for Beach Club Villas also. You'd be in the middle of the action with your 10 year old, and maybe Mom would keep him/her while you and your husband go to the Boardwalk one night. We stayed at OKW a few years ago, and it seemed too far from everything. Once we got there in the evening to rest, it was hard to get back on the bus to go to the parks. At the BCV you could walk to two parks. Plus you'd have the extra privacy of your own bedroom.

 

[DebbieB]

A 1 bedroom at OKW has 1 king in the master bedroom and a queen sleeper sofa in the living room. If you and your husband take the king, that leaves your mom and 10 year old on the sofa or mom on the sofa and 10 yo on the floor. You may want to think about connecting rooms at CBR, that would give everyone their own bed and 2 bathrooms for the same price as OKW or BC. You may even be able to request a king room connecting to a double room.

 

[HOTMIKE]

Your 10 year old will definitely enjoy Beach Club or CBR much more than Old Key West. Old Key West is so "out of the action" and the pool is just a pool. There is no slide. There also is no food court and very limited restaurant choices. If price doesn't matter, the Beach Club area by the Boardwalk and Epcot is our personal favorite. The lake is beautiful and the pool is great! The convenience of walking to Epcot is great -- you also have many restaurant choices in the area.

 

[CRCrazy]

If you don't plan on using the kitchen, your best bet might be to take advantage of any codes being offered and get a regular room at the Beach Club. Instead of the bedroom, with one sofa bed that you will get at the villas, you will have two queen beds, as well as a day bed for your daughter - that way, she and Grandma won't have to sleep together.

We find the regular deluxe rooms work well for our family of five - but my two younger daughters don't mind sleeping together in a queen size bed.

 

[OnTheWay2Diz]

Thanks to you guys for all the good information...I think based on what you've said, I will eliminate OKW from our list. I never would have thought about the distance or the fact that they don't have a "theme" type pool.

So now it's down to CBR or BCR with BCR leading by a hair (and a dollar)! It is turning into a girls against the boy thing here as my mom, my daughter and myself want the BCR but my ever so practical hubby votes for the CBR because of what else...MONEY!! My poor husband, surrounded by all us girls! LOL

Anyway, off to do more "looking and thinking" and then I'll just make the decision and go with it...thanks for all the help!

 

[HOTMIKE]

Is your husband into sports? If so, a selling point is that the ESPN Sports Bar is right over the bridge -- walking distance.

 

[Terry S]

Beach Club.... Hands down! Either the 1 bedroom Villa or regular resort room would work. The Villas at the Beach Club are right next to the Beach Club.

 

[pstepka]

As drusba said...if you rent points from a DVC member, Beach Club can end up costing not much more than CBR. The weekend (Friday and Saturday) nights are the most expensive. In August, we're staying at BCV Sun-Thur nights for $740.00, then moving to CBR for Fri and Saturday nights. If we had booked BCV direct through Disney for those nights, it would have been 1600.00+!!

Pam

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

I love OKW and CBR but we are trying BCV's this time because we loved our stay at the YC so much. Our oldest ds loves Stormalong Bay, and nothing beats the Boardwalk/Epcot area!

 

[colleen costello]

We love OKW and BCV both. We stay at OKW "off season" when we are with my parents. It's convenient for them to have a vehicle right there and we run around a lot to the parks because the weather is cooler.

Summertime is Beach Club time! When we visit in the summer we take it easy and hang around at the resort a lot, so Beach Club's location CAN"T be beat. There is so much to see, do, and EAT right at the resort. You can go to the Boardwalk area or walk to Epcot or MGM, or just hang out at the wonderful pool. We had so much fun at Stormalong Bay we never made it to a water park. The new Villas are really nice -- so nifty and new. The whole area is busy, bustling and fun.

So my advice? In the summertime, Beach Club!