Considering an Epcot Area hotel...help

[mrsp1030]

We typically stay deluxe and have done AKL, VWL, WL, VGF, and Poly but never have tried out an Epcot area resort. Pros/Cons of both resorts or even OKW. We have 3 boys: 10,8, 4...my biggest worry is lack of quick service.

 

[Mousemommy1]

We have really enjoyed staying in the Epcot area. We have stayed at YC and BC. Honestly, in order to combat the lack of QS, we opted to stay club level. Is that an option for you?

 

[HM2012Butler]

YC will provide the service you are looking for. OKW is great and has the biggest rooms

 

[cluvsdisney]

The Boardwalk is our home resort so we almost always stay there. They have a great pool and the location is great. While they don't have a traditional QS, they do have the bakery with breakfast & lunch/dinner menu. The Belle Vue lounge has a continental breakfast. There's Boardwalk Joe's which is a kiosk on the boardwalk that has chicken fingers, hot dogs, and those kind of foods. Plus there's a pizza window next to Trattoria. There's a pinned thread in the dining forum with all of the options.

 

[LSLS]

No QS can kind of stinks, but honestly, how often do you need it? There are tons of places to eat that aren't QS, and if you do need something quick, the pizza window has good pizza, and the bakery on the boarwalk (which is 5 minutes from BC on the Boardwalk) has really good options for breakfast as well as lunch and dinner. Plus if you have park hopper passes, you can just run into Epcot if you need something.

As for which one, kind of depends what you want. The boardwalk has some cool street performances and such, but BC/YC have the great pool. Personally, I like the sitdowns over at BC/YC better, you can still walk/boat over to the Boardwalk to walk for the performances, and added with the pool, I'd pick BC/YC.

 

[MamaMaleficent2016]

So, I have always stayed at the Epcot resorts. I have stayed at all 3. I am not sure why the concern over quick service, since I've never noticed that's missing. My point of view, therefore, may not be helpful but here it is...

From a food perspective the choices are endless. We love the breakfast at Captain's Grille and have never waited more than a few minutes for a table. There is a walk-in bakery at Boardwalk that is a lovely walk from any of the resorts. And you can fill your mug there. It is also a quick walk to Epcot and all of their food choices. Hurricane Hanna's is great for a quick meal as well. And when we've wanted something quick, the marketplace in the Beach Club has never let us down!

 

[Wood Nymph]

We typically stay deluxe and have done AKL, VWL, WL, VGF, and Poly but never have tried out an Epcot area resort. Pros/Cons of both resorts or even OKW. We have 3 boys: 10,8, 4...my biggest worry is lack of quick service.

The Beach Club Marketplace is adequate for breakfast. Most people will eat lunch and dinner at either a counter service in a park or a table service restaurant. The Epcot area has lots of dining options for table service within walking distance - more so than any other resort area, since you are just a short walk from the Epcot International Gateway. And if you want some burgers and fries, they have several options, including Hurricane Hana's. The Swan and Dolphin also have counter service options if you are looking for some Mickey waffles in the morning.

We think the dining options at the Epcot resorts are plentiful. It is one of the reasons we love to stay there.

 

[TJA]

The BC is our favorite Epcot resort. The biggest pro is the location and being able to walk to 2 parks. Many people love the pool too -- when our kids were younger, we couldn't keep them out of it! There's a whole section that is all sand on the bottom and also some sandy areas to play in. Might not work for your older kids, but the younger one should still like it. However, you have 3 kids so I'm not sure if it would be hard for you to keep track of them as the pool is very large and spread out with different sections. It's a great pool -- we love it, but we also only have 2 kids....

As far as quick service -- many people comment on this, but honestly it has never been a factor for us. We normally stay Club Level now, but in the past when our kids were younger we always stayed in a regular room. DH would get some breakfast from the Market Place which was more than adequate for us. If we were ever around the resort during the afternoon, they serve food at the pool and there's also Beaches & Cream right there in the pool area. If it was dinner we wanted, we usually ate in the countries in Epcot. We never really needed food "quick," but if we did, we found what we needed at the Market Place.

 

[tinkerbella16]

This year will be our very first deluxe stay, and we chose the BC. We were nervous about the QS options, especially since we stay at Riverside mainly and they have a fantastic food court. But we have Cape May for breakfast booked one morning, Akershus breakfast for another morning and it seems that what the Marketplace does offer, we would be just fine. Plus the Boardwalk Bakery is just a walk away. For lunch we would just want snacks. We booked dinner at Beaches and Cream, so we are excited for that. It seems that there are more quick options around that area than we thought there were. We are very excited for Stormalong Bay also! Being so close to Epcot is a HUGE plus for us! We love Epcot, so being able to walk right over made the decision easier.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

If your main concern is having adequate QS options, I would pick BWI. The Boardwalk Bakery, plus the pizza window and kiosks offer a lot of variety (love the salads, sandwiches and desserts at the bakery) and it's such a lovely hotel! We have stayed at every deluxe at WDW and BWI is our absolute favorite.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We stayed at the Boardwalk last January. Boardwalk Bakery was just awful. We tried it a couple of times, but nothing we got was any good. It was too cold to swim, but we did enjoy the quick walk to Epcot and the boats to Hollywood Studios. I walked to Beaches N Cream for ice cream one night, which was nice. Big River Grille was also good. We ate at the bar without a reservation.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I love the BC, one of my favorite resorts. I love the feeling of it and SAB is the best! While there are not many QS options there, you can always walk/boat over to the BW and choose from their options.
Basically any EPCOT resort is great because you are right near EPCOT and HS.

OKW is also a very nice resort. The rooms are big and spacious, the theming is calm and beautiful and the boat to DTD is great!

If I had to pick though, I would go with an EPCOT resort.

 

[DJFan88]

That's what we hated about the QS at YC. You've got to go to BC or the pool to get anything, and then it's limited. Coming from POR, it was rough. We kept walking over to BWI, so that gets my vote. Sure my kids liked the pool, but they like every pool, and it does get pretty busy at SAB. Also, you can walk over to the Dolphin/swan they have some great QS options.

 

[mickeynut1]

We typically stay deluxe and have done AKL, VWL, WL, VGF, and Poly but never have tried out an Epcot area resort. Pros/Cons of both resorts or even OKW. We have 3 boys: 10,8, 4...my biggest worry is lack of quick service.

We've stayed at the BC and while I'm glad we tried it, we haven't been back for another stay or to try the YC or BWI as the limited CS options is a deal breaker for us. We are in the minority in that we don't find it convenient to walk into Epcot just to eat (especially for a quick breakfast). We love the CS options at the other deluxe resorts (Poly, WL, & AKL being our favorites), but find the options at the BC/YC/BWI to be lacking. With that said, we prefer the MK area over the Epcot area for several reasons, but a variety of CS options is high on the list of those reasons.

 

[missbrooke06]

I highly recommend PHs when you stay at Epcot area. It's so nice and easy to walk over there. We stayed in November with our 4 and 11 mos old and went 5 out of 7 days, sometimes just for a quick snack.

 

[alex9179]

I agree, that with 3 young kids, I wouldn't walk to EPCOT or around the lake for morning QS. I'd pack or order groceries for easy things to have in the room and then snack or lunch at the park we were visiting. We don't eat large meals early in the morning, though, and the DDP isn't for us.

We're looking at YC for summer 2017 and there are plenty of QS options. Ale & Compass (has Continental BF options), Hurricane Hanna's, BC Marketplace, and Beaches & Cream takeout window for ice cream. The lounges offer afternoon/evening food at Disney reasonable prices. I'd rather sit and enjoy being waited on than queue up for food. I also have 3 kids and feel most QS is too much trouble They'll be older when we visit, so I might change my mind. We ARE looking forward to walking into EPCOT for afternoon/evening food after playing in the pool.

It really depends on how you guys normally eat and how you're vacationing. You might not fit the EPCOT resorts right now, but will when the kids are older. If you utilize QS quite a bit, then stay at the resort that fills the need. We thought QS at CR was easy to navigate and would stay there in a heartbeat. It's great for transportation with the monorail, boats, and buses (to resort dining from MK, too.). It's my family's favorite, so far!

 

[Babsy]

I like the Epcot area just fine, but as others have posted, the QS options are limited. I agree with Mickeynut1 that the MK area resorts offer better QS options and are generally more appealing to us. That said we do often end up with a split stay with a MK and an Epcot resort. When we do, we like the BC for a quick walk to Epcot, the YC for the full balconies and the BWI when we are staying CL. So, I would simply pick the Epcot resort that appealed to me the most for this trip. They all have their pros and cons. (Oh, we like the Dolphin as well for the low price tag. They sometimes have great discounts that come fairly close to moderate prices.)

I like Alex 9179's idea of having a quick breakfast in the room. We have sometimes just picked up some bread/muffins, fruit and a yogurt to put in the fridge. A few juice packs and a coffee (there is a perk in the room) and we can be good to go.

FWIW, I would probably choose to stay at the BWI in your situation. Three kids will be easier to keep track of at the BW pool and the QS options are a little better.

Good luck choosing!

 

[AllieBoo]

We stayed at YC this past summer and loved it! For breakfast, we brought granola bars and cereal with us and ate in the room most mornings. Some mornings, we walked to the Boardwalk bakery or to France in Epcot (which was awesome!). Hurricane Hannas seemed to have some great options for lunch

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

I've stayed at BWI & BC in the Epcot area would definitely chooses BWI over BC. We found BWI more appealing for us, as BC was our worst deluxe stay on property in many years. We had a garden view room at BC & stayed CL at BWI. We did enjoy eating at Capt. grille & even the ESPN club.

 

[clapton]

We love the Epcot area resorts and yes the QS is not as good as at the MK resort area, but I wouldn't let that change my decision to stay there. You will be able to find plenty of places to eat and like a pp stated the S&D has great options for breakfast as well. Any one of the Epcot resorts are great whatever you choose!