Disney First Time - CB or BC Villas worth extra money?

[hause55]

Going to Disney for first time for Spring Break. We start our trip on Easter with a family of 5. Kids are 4, 6 & 8. Plan to go to parks for 5 days. 6 night stay.

Considering Caribbean Beach resort 5th sleeper room or Beach Club Villas deluxe room. The Beach Club is $2200 more! Not sure if it is worth it? Wanted to get your thoughts. Has anyone stayed at both?

 

[Cheburashka]

Going to Disney for first time for Spring Break. We start our trip on Easter with a family of 5. Kids are 4, 6 & 8. Plan to go to parks for 5 days. 6 night stay.

Considering Caribbean Beach resort 5th sleeper room or Beach Club Villas deluxe room. The Beach Club is $2200 more! Not sure if it is worth it? Wanted to get your thoughts. Has anyone stayed at both?

Normally I'd say no, that for a first time trip you'll almost always be at the parks so the resort is less important. But since reopening, the parks have much shorter hours than they used to. The hours will probably extend a little for spring break, but they're still going to be much shorter than they used to be. Which means that your resort will matter.

Your kids would probably love Beach Club's amazing Stormalong Bay pool. Can they swim? It does have one deep area: the lazy river. Also, Beach Club is within close walking distance to Epcot and is about a 20 minute walk to Hollywood Studios. It's a fantastic resort but only you can decide if the extra cost is really worth it. If you aren't planning to become regular WDW visitors, imo you should go for it and stay at the resort with the best pool (by far) at WDW. Assuming you like to swim, of course.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Just making sure you’re aware of the sleeping conditions in a BCV Deluxe Studio - 1 Queen, a Double Sleeper-Sofa, and a Single Pull-Down bed.

Only one real bed would bother us, but if you’re OK with that size crew and the bed situation, then there’s no problem. Not like CBR is any bigger, but at least you get two permanent beds and two sinks.

For a week long trip, SAB and walkability to two parks would win out over CBR, for us.

 

[hause55]

Thank you for the advise. Will probably be one our only trips to Disney. We also do like to swim.

Will have tickets to the park for Monday-Friday. Just trying to justify in my head if it’s worth it and if we’ll have time to swim. Appreciate the feedback.

 

[RanDIZ]

Thank you for the advise. Will probably be one our only trips to Disney. We also do like to swim.

Will have tickets to the park for Monday-Friday. Just trying to justify in my head if it’s worth it and if we’ll have time to swim. Appreciate the feedback.

CBR is a big resort and has a decent pool. Its not Stormalong Bay, but it is nice. It’s also connected to Skyliner to HS and EP are easy to get to. If it’s going to be one of your only trips to Disney I’d normally say BC. But I don’t think anything at BC would justify $2200 more. Invest that for your kids and they’ll thank you when their 18. Lol

 

[Marthasor]

Going to Disney for first time for Spring Break. We start our trip on Easter with a family of 5. Kids are 4, 6 & 8. Plan to go to parks for 5 days. 6 night stay.

Considering Caribbean Beach resort 5th sleeper room or Beach Club Villas deluxe room. The Beach Club is $2200 more! Not sure if it is worth it? Wanted to get your thoughts. Has anyone stayed at both?

I love BCV, but am not a big fan of the bedding set-up in the studio as I find the pull-out beds quite uncomfortable. Are those your only two choices? Have you priced out a standard room at YC (which would give you 2 queens and a daybed) or a room in the garden wing at CR which typically prices out less than rooms at the other monorail resorts (again, would give you 2 queens and a daybed). YC still gives you access to Stormalong Bay. $2200 is a lot. Personally, I would probably save the money and thing about springing for, perhaps, a VIP tour instead of upgrading the resort.

 

[hause55]

I think the YC is closed during our dates. We have not priced out any other resorts. Those are the two our travel agent gave us. Such a tough decision never going to Disney before. Obviously want to stay at a nice place. The pull out bed doesn't matter much to us with young kids. They can sleep through anything. Just comes down to is the better pool and location worth $2,200 more from what CBR offers.

 

[Sunshine11]

Beach Club (though I agree about a studio not as ideal for sleeping surfaces as the guest rooms) is the way to go if you can fit it in your budget. But like prior poster said, if you think you'll be back, save it for the next trip. WDW is addictive, watch out!

 

[Cheburashka]

I think the YC is closed during our dates. We have not priced out any other resorts. Those are the two our travel agent gave us.

Personally I would try looking independently. Yacht Club is open now and there is no news about it closing. I would also keep an eye open for discounts, as Disney often substantially discounts resort rooms.

 

[disneyfreak202]

I haven’t stayed at CBR in years, but just stayed at BCV on a split stay recently for the first time and my boyfriend and I fell in love. It was a splurge for sure but we said from now on when we can splurge we will stay there on a split stay. We got lucky and was upgraded to a 1 bedroom (when I sent in my room request I politely asked and was granted). Loved being walking distance to Epcot and Hollywood studios, just so much quieter and better than Pop and any other hotel we stayed at. We currently are scheduled to stay at CBR in March and cant wait for that either (trying to save a little bit of money).

 

[Deb & Bill]

I haven’t stayed at CBR in years, but just stayed at BCV on a split stay recently for the first time and my boyfriend and I fell in love. It was a splurge for sure but we said from now on when we can splurge we will stay there on a split stay. We got lucky and was upgraded to a 1 bedroom (when I sent in my room request I politely asked and was granted). Loved being walking distance to Epcot and Hollywood studios, just so much quieter and better than Pop and any other hotel we stayed at. We currently are scheduled to stay at CBR in March and cant wait for that either (trying to save a little bit of money).

I hope you made your BCV reservation through Disney Reservation Center and not by renting points. Your request for an upgrade when you checked in probably would have cost the owner of the points more points and you might have messed up their point totals. If you rent points, please don't ask for an upgrade.

 

[disneyfreak202]

I hope you made your BCV reservation through Disney Reservation Center and not by renting points. Your request for an upgrade when you checked in probably would have cost the owner of the points more points and you might have messed up their point totals. If you rent points, please don't ask for an upgrade.

We don’t rent points, we always book everything through disney directly as we want full control of everything on our trips

 

[crazylady]

Thank you for the advise. Will probably be one our only trips to Disney. We also do like to swim.

Will have tickets to the park for Monday-Friday. Just trying to justify in my head if it’s worth it and if we’ll have time to swim. Appreciate the feedback.

I don't think it would be worth it to stay at BC for an extra 2k so I would stay at CB. The pool at CB is fun too. It has several slides and a great area for your youngest.

 

[crazylady]

I don't think it would be worth it to stay at BC for an extra 2k so I would stay at CB. The pool at CB is fun too. It has several slides and a great area for your youngest.

Also, the pool at BC has an odd set up in that the slide starts outside of the enclosed pool area so one parent would have to leave the area to get to the start of the slide with the kids.

 

[Novatrix]

Honestly, as a first time visitor I would say you should save the money and stay at CBR in the 5th sleeper room.

Reasons why:
- Better bed situation for your family
-Still have the skyliner available for transport to EPCOT and DHS.
-$2,200 is a lot of mickey bars... Seriously, you'll probably get a lot more happiness utility by using that money for nice meals and souvenirs
-For 5 days, on your first trip during which you'd presumably spend most of the time in the park, how often are you really going to use the pool? 10 hours max? That's $220/hour for Storm-a-long Bay. And CBR has lovely pools that your kids will still have a blast at.

If you were going to spend 6 hours at the pool everyday, only go into the parks for a couple of hours, and only visit EPCOT and DHS, then my recommendation would be different.

 

[Marthasor]

I think the YC is closed during our dates. We have not priced out any other resorts. Those are the two our travel agent gave us. Such a tough decision never going to Disney before. Obviously want to stay at a nice place. The pull out bed doesn't matter much to us with young kids. They can sleep through anything. Just comes down to is the better pool and location worth $2,200 more from what CBR offers.

BC is closed, currently. YC is not closed the week of your vacation. Personally, with a family of 5, I would recommend a standard room at YC over a studio at BCV. I would encourage you to reach out to your TA and ask him/her to price out some other resorts for you. There are a few discounts available during that time period as well - I would make sure he/she is applying those. You may also want to ask for pricing for the monorail resorts (CR/Poly/GF), with any applicable discounts, to see if they price out any better than BCV. For a first WDW visit, I would encourage you to price out the MK monorail resorts if you are willing to spend some extra money.

 

[hause55]

BC is closed, currently. YC is not closed the week of your vacation. Personally, with a family of 5, I would recommend a standard room at YC over a studio at BCV. I would encourage you to reach out to your TA and ask him/her to price out some other resorts for you. There are a few discounts available during that time period as well - I would make sure he/she is applying those. You may also want to ask for pricing for the monorail resorts (CR/Poly/GF), with any applicable discounts, to see if they price out any better than BCV. For a first WDW visit, I would encourage you to price out the MK monorail resorts if you are willing to spend some extra money.

Good suggestion. Unfortunately that week our travel agent was not able to get the discount for the YC or BCV. She was able to get the discount at the GF which makes it the same price as those. So many options! I guess now when you compare BCV/YC is GF the better choice? Is it worth $2200 more for the GF over BC? Appreciate the help everyone!

 

[disneyfreak202]

Good suggestion. Unfortunately that week our travel agent was not able to get the discount for the YC or BCV. She was able to get the discount at the GF which makes it the same price as those. So many options! I guess now when you compare BCV/YC is GF the better choice? Is it worth $2200 more for the GF over BC? Appreciate the help everyone!

I think it depends. If you spend that $2200 are you planning on cutting back on dining reservations? Is it the better hotel or something else? What will you use the $2200 for if you don’t upgrade to BC/GF?

 

[MomOTwins]

Good suggestion. Unfortunately that week our travel agent was not able to get the discount for the YC or BCV. She was able to get the discount at the GF which makes it the same price as those. So many options! I guess now when you compare BCV/YC is GF the better choice? Is it worth $2200 more for the GF over BC? Appreciate the help everyone!

Something not adding up with what your TA is telling you. I priced your party size, six nights starting easter. Both BCV and YC are available for the same price (roughly $2200 more than CBR, with discount). GF is another $1500 on top of that—as I would expect (GF is always more expensive than YC/BCV). I would go back to your agent and find out what is going on.

In our experience, a deluxe hotel is almost always “worth it.” We stayed at a moderate once and I did not enjoy the long walk to the room, motel style exterior hallways with no elevator (not fun when lugging a stroller upstairs), smaller rooms, less comfy beds, limited onsite dining. A deluxe hotel is more of what I would expect from a resort experience, but it is disney, so you pay a ton more than you would for a regular hotel of the same caliber. But we always take midday breaks at the resort pool and like to have at least one no-park day so resort is important to us. If the hotel is just a place to sleep for you, and you don’t mind the extra walking at a spread out resort like CBR, then save the money and stay there.

 

[hause55]

Something not adding up with what your TA is telling you. I priced your party size, six nights starting easter. Both BCV and YC are available for the same price (roughly $2200 more than CBR, with discount). GF is another $1500 on top of that—as I would expect (GF is always more expensive than YC/BCV). I would go back to your agent and find out what is going on.

In our experience, a deluxe hotel is almost always “worth it.” We stayed at a moderate once and I did not enjoy the long walk to the room, motel style exterior hallways with no elevator (not fun when lugging a stroller upstairs), smaller rooms, less comfy beds, limited onsite dining. A deluxe hotel is more of what I would expect from a resort experience, but it is disney, so you pay a ton more than you would for a regular hotel of the same caliber. But we always take midday breaks at the resort pool and like to have at least one no-park day so resort is important to us. If the hotel is just a place to sleep for you, and you don’t mind the extra walking at a spread out resort like CBR, then save the money and stay there.

She said she was able to apply the discount at GF but wasn’t able to at YC/BCV which made them the same price.