CR Atrium Club vs. BC Stone Harbor Club

[travelforfun]

Love both MK and Epcot areas. Have never stayed in the Club Level at either resorts. Which is best? CR costs more. BC looks nice but seems small. What about food offerings? Which is the overall best choice?

 

[chasgoose]

The views are better from CR as you can see Wishes from the lounge with the music piped in. That said I would probably pick based on which resort you like more and/or price. With the exception of the afternoon tea at the GF club levels the offerings and services are pretty similar

 

[pixarmom]

We've stayed CL at both CR and BC and they are very different, so it's difficult to say which is best. Overall, we prefer BC, but we really like the CR CL lounge. A few comparisons might help:

Lounge: CR's lounge is much more spacious and the view of MK is absolutely amazing. We loved having a bay lake view from our room (peaceful, quiet) and the MK view from the lounge (fun!) Huge windows in the CR lounge and some of the friendliest CMs we've met on Disney property. Just love how open the whole space is. I think the CL lounge at CR is outstanding, and was really the highlight of our stay there. Not sure we'd enjoy CR as much without the club lounge. BC's lounge is definitely smaller and doesn't offer a view. We prefer the food in the BC lounge, but only by a little bit.

Rooms: CR rooms seem bigger, and are well decorated - really clean lines and comfy beds. I love the sliding glass doors out to the patios. But the air conditioning is a little louder and you can see a few signs in the corners and on the ceilings that remind us CR is a Disney original. We don't mind - they've done a great job updating a Disney classic. I prefer the theme of the BC rooms and I also prefer a 5-story resort over a high rise generally. I find the balcony more relaxing at BC because we're not SO high up and the overall environment is more quaint. Not all BC rooms have full balconies (some are juliet), so you'd need to request that if it's important to you.

Pools: BC wins - no question for us.

Dining: Again, BC wins for us because of its proximity to all the wonderful Epcot and Epcot area dining options. No waiting for monorails or buses - just walk!

Location: If you're spending lots of time at MK, can't beat walking there from CR. But we tend to spend the day in one park (MK, DHS or AK) and then go to Epcot for dinner. So BC is far more convenient for us. We stayed at CR last year for MNSSHP, which was really convenient for that particular purpose. But for most trips, the BC location works better for us.

Transportation: As I mentioned, we loved walking to MK from CR. But for DHS, it's a bus and for Epcot, it's a monorail to TTC, switch monorails, and then get to Epcot. For us, that's not as convenient as BC, where we can walk to both Epcot and DHS (or boat) and bus to MK. It's bus to AK for everyone, so we don't usually include that in the analysis.

Resort grounds/area: BC wins for us because we love to walk and when we stay in the Epcot resort area, we have access to BC, YC, BWI, Swan and Dolphin - so there's quite a lot around. Not enough walking area for us around CR and far less theming, so we prefer BC.

 

[WsPrincess]

I have stayed at both as well and HANDS DOWN Atrium Club!! No question for us.

CR Club staff was amazing and so great to the kids. They were made to feel so special from the moment we stepped off the elevator until we left to get on the plane. They even remembered the kids favorite snacks and had them packed up for them to take with us. The lounge was huge and it is open 24/7 so DH was able to go down and watch TV and hang one night. This is not an option at BC CL. Also the staff at BC seemed rushed and stretched thin. Neil was amazing there with birthday buttons for the kids (that they still have) but otherwise it was just OK. If we had done BC CL first we probably would not have done it again.

We do love BC just won't pay for CL there again.

We also prefer CR because it is so close to MK and we have small kids.

 

[TJA]

pixarmom mentioned some great comparisons. We have also stayed at both CL's and will definitely be staying at both many more times.

BC CL is smaller, cozier, more intimate. Neil is an awesome CM at BC CL and goes above and beyond. We feel very pampered there. We thought the food choices were better at BC than at CR, and I think due to the lounge being smaller, we seem to receive much more attention there versus at CR.

CR CL has an outstanding view, as already mentioned, it's really quite a wow factor. BC has no view, but overall it's not a dealbreaker for us.

We choose BC CL over and over again -- we just love it there, probably mainly due to location. We make many ADR's in Epcot and love that park, so BC is so convenient for us. And we absolutely love the pool at BC, much more so than the pool at CR.

I do think you'd be happy at either CL. I'd say choose based on location and which will serve your family's needs better.