Beach Club vs Boulder Ridge Studio

[mmastro719]

Looking into renting points late summer and have been given the same price for a studio at the Beach Club and Boulder Ridge. I’ve never stayed at either resort so not sure which would be the best choice. Our daughter will be 7 and I think she’ll still prefer MK the best so planning to go there twice but we will visit the other parks one time each. The Poly is our first choice but their pricing has increased to much for us to consider it this year. Any insight to which resort/location would be best?

 

[Babsy]

In late summer, my vote would be for the BC and Storm Along Bay.

 

[mmastro719]

Thanks! That’s my thought also but wondering if it makes more sense to be closer to MK. I’ve heard buses from Beach Club to MK aren’t the best but I’m not too sure.

 

[Hopefully]

I agree. In August I would choose BC for SAB.

 

[starry_solo]

BC. buses aren't that bad

 

[Mikey15]

Thanks! That’s my thought also but wondering if it makes more sense to be closer to MK. I’ve heard buses from Beach Club to MK aren’t the best but I’m not too sure.

Beach Club to MK bus isn’t bad at all. It picks up at Yacht Club first, then Beach Club, so BC->MK is like a 10-15 minute ride and not nearly as crowded as a bus from a value resort. Low room count is your friend in that sense. Plus you can walk to Epcot or Hollywood, vs no walking-distance parks at Boulder Ridge.

I’ve never stayed at WL/CCV/BRV, but an MK boat ride has to be 10-12 minutes itself, right?

 

[mmastro719]

Very true. I’ve taken a boat from Poly when the monorail wasn’t running and it was about that long. Thanks for your help!!

 

[ScubaCat]

Thanks! That’s my thought also but wondering if it makes more sense to be closer to MK. I’ve heard buses from Beach Club to MK aren’t the best but I’m not too sure.

Not bad and actually a lot faster now that the new overpass is complete. DW and I took it several times over the holidays and it was fine. Max wait was about 12 minutes since we'd just missed the previous one, and the queue on the way back never got bigger than a couple of rows.

 

[Babsy]

Thanks! That’s my thought also but wondering if it makes more sense to be closer to MK. I’ve heard buses from Beach Club to MK aren’t the best but I’m not too sure.

The bus from the BC is fine. We have stayed here often and find the buses to be much the same here as at all the resorts. Sometimes buses are waiting for you whenever you get to the stop, and other times you have to wait a while. Sometimes a bus can be longer coming than it should. But that mix of good and bad happens at every single Disney resort all the time. Hopefully you will be lucky, but more than likely your experience will be a mix of good timing and bad. It happens.

The great thing, though, is that the BC has awesome convenience to both Epcot and DHS either by walking or boat (but really little point in taking the boat from BC to Epcot, it is so close you are almost staying in World Showcase.) Plus the transportation to the AK and MK is not all that long at all. The BC is nice and centrally located.

No worries on transportation, IMO.

Enjoy whichever you choose! They are both awesome!

 

[mmastro719]

Thanks everyone!! You all sold me but unfortunately we lost the Beach Club - renting points is tricky business - the same thing happened the last time I rented points and we ended up with our second choice. Our original plan was to book the Poly through a travel agency we’ve previously used but their deals aren’t nearly as good as in the past so we opted to rent points. Based on all your info I may just book the Beach Club direct with Disney and give up on saving a few bucks lol.

 

[Mikey15]

Thanks everyone!! You all sold me but unfortunately we lost the Beach Club - renting points is tricky business - the same thing happened the last time I rented points and we ended up with our second choice. Our original plan was to book the Poly through a travel agency we’ve previously used but their deals aren’t nearly as good as in the past so we opted to rent points. Based on all your info I may just book the Beach Club direct with Disney and give up on saving a few bucks lol.

Sorry to hear you lost out. “Late summer” must have just hit the 7 month booking window for your dates?

Noticed in your OP you prefer Poly but feel priced out this year. You know you can point-rental for Poly too, right? Points costs are the same this year as last (going up for studios next year).

Checked the availability tool and looks like Poly studios are still available in August, though they’re about 5 points more per night than Beach Club studios.

 

[mmastro719]

Sorry to hear you lost out. “Late summer” must have just hit the 7 month booking window for your dates?

Noticed in your OP you prefer Poly but feel priced out this year. You know you can point-rental for Poly too, right? Points costs are the same this year as last (going up for studios next year).

Checked the availability tool and looks like Poly studios are still available in August, though they’re about 5 points more per night than Beach Club studios.

Thanks!! I did get pricing but Poly was $520+ more for the week so was trying to save a bit. With what you said though perhaps I should reconsider since next year it’ll probably just become impossible for is to afford. I feel like the pricing is just going higher and higher. We booked the Poly in August 2016 with a deal from the travel agent and paid roughly $1600 for 7 nights - room only. It was such a steal but that agency’s deal this year is about double that now.

 

[tbholc81]

I'll be the odd one out and say that WL was way more enjoyable for us than BC. We found the food options at BC to be very poor and it's a very crowded and louder resort with Cape May in the lobby. The pool at WL is nice even though it's not as large as SAB and when we were there in August it was not very crowded (SAB can be very crowded). Also if you 8 year old like water slides then need to leave the pool area and walk across the walkway to get to the SAB slide.

The only plus we found for BC was being able to walk to and from EPCOT and HS.

 

[jarestel]

I think WL (BRV, CCV) is a much nicer resort when comparing the properties, but BC does have a bigger pool though it comes at a price - very crowded. And of course walking to Epcot is considered a plus by many. OTOH, I wouldn't be disappointed to stay at either location so it's really a win-win no matter what you decide.