Resort Thread Disney's YACHT & BEACH CLUB Resorts

[maryj11]

What are our chances of being upgraded to a garden view if we booked a standard view? I put lower floor on the online check in near an elevator.

 

[dansdad]

What are our chances of being upgraded to a garden view if we booked a standard view? I put lower floor on the online check in near an elevator.

Very slim.

 

[lelder]

We're coming! We were originally booked for POR, but when free dining was released (and not offered at POR during our dates) I couldn't pass up the opportunity to bump up to deluxe. We'll be at BC from 12/13-12/20. I am beyond excited.

 

[natebenma]

I booked our stay through a TA (first time). I booked a GV CL room but haven't heard anything from the concierge. I assume it is because I booked through a TA but can I still contact the concierge? I just wanted to make a room request but don't want to be a hassle if this is something I'm not supposed to do.

Also, no one commented last time I asked but does anyone know if there are GV CL rooms near the lounge? Alternatively I may request a full balcony. Just looking for somewhere to hang while family sleeps in some days.

That's a good question. I assume that IPO (Itinerary Planning Office) will contact you directly even though you booked through a travel agency. Perhaps others will share their experience and correct me if I am wrong.

Now that I am thinking about it, if you have to place your room requests via the TA, do you have to make contact to IPO through them, too? What about if you book through a third party like Orbitz or Travelocity?

Here is my experience- I booked a CL reservation in January for a trip in October (with Disney). I did not contact CL and they sent me an email a couple of weeks before my 180 day reservation date, with a contact form for me to fill out and to indicate if I wanted them to make reservations for me.

As it turned out, I was away during my ADR day, they made all of the reservations I wanted and had notified my by 7:20 that morning.

I believe there are 8 or 9 BC CL GV rooms, all with full balconies in that category. Not sure where all of them are located, but many overlook the back entrance (lakeside) courtyard. These rooms would be fairly close to the lounge.

 

[disny_luvr]

We were almost completely packed for our trip home that morning when we found out that our flight had been cancelled. I quickly booked the earliest flight home that I could get at the time, which was two days later. Then I called the front desk from our room to see if we could extend our stay by two days. We couldn't stay in the same room but they had one garden view room available and we could get the bounce back discount for it. The room was a handicap room but we were glad to get anything at that point since they said that the resort was full. I ran down to the front desk with our MB's and the front desk manager had us all set up for our new room. The room was ready for us so we packed up and went to find it. We had a hard time finding this room and finally a CM came along and knew immediately that the puzzled looks on our faces meant that we couldn't find our room. The BC does not do a good job of marking where the rooms are. Anyway, our new room turned out to be in the small wing located between the lake side main entrance and the volleyball court. We were two doors down from the Marketplace and we loved the location. I would take this room again, it was so convenient.

The room had two queen beds, a daybed and a connecting door. It had extra outlets. Where a normal room would have two wall outlets, this room had four. Most of the bedroom furniture was the same as you would find in a regular resort room except for the small dresser. You'll see my attempt to block some of the noise from the room next store. I stuffed some pillows in front of the door. The housekeeper never moved these pillows.

I just loved this shower. It had a rubber gasket along the bottom to catch the drips, but otherwise it was level with the floor. There was a chair in there that folded up, out of the way. The shower had a water wand shower head and it was a great way to rinse off. And it was roomier than the typical bathtub shower that the regular resort rooms have.

The disadvantage to this bathroom was the single sink and having everything in the one room. I wouldn't want to share this room with five people.

I didn't take picture of the closet but it was set up with two different levels of clothes racks. One set was normal height and a second rack was about waist high. The wall safe was a little lower, too. The coffee service on top of the refrigerator cabinet was the same as in a normal room. I suppose you could move it to the bathroom counter if you wanted it to be lower.

The craziest thing about the room was that it had a handicap door opener and closer system. The door would open and close really slowly. You would have to stand there and wait for the door to close before walking away. You also had to make sure that no one was standing around in their underwear when you opened the door, since there was no way to quickly close the door in case. Luckily, this room was in the short wing, so there weren't very many people walking past the room.

This room had a lovely view. It was a ground floor room with a patio and and sideways view of the lake. This room faces the volleyball courtyard and if you have a garden view room then this is a great location to request.

Those ground floor windows to the left are the windows of the Sandcastle Club.

We really enjoyed our new room and our extra two days of vacation. It was annoying to have to pack up and move to a new room, but as you can see, the view and room location were totally worth it. Our first room looked at the woods and was far from the Marketplace. Our second room was two doors away from the Marketplace and had a great view for a garden view room.

Thank you for sharing your room pics. I agree, the view of the second room is 100x better than the first. I'm glad you were able to get another room at the BC when your trip was unexpectedly extended.

 

[AGoofykindagirl]

We were almost completely packed for our trip home that morning when we found out that our flight had been cancelled. I quickly booked the earliest flight home that I could get at the time, which was two days later. Then I called the front desk from our room to see if we could extend our stay by two days. We couldn't stay in the same room but they had one garden view room available and we could get the bounce back discount for it. The room was a handicap room but we were glad to get anything at that point since they said that the resort was full. I ran down to the front desk with our MB's and the front desk manager had us all set up for our new room. The room was ready for us so we packed up and went to find it. We had a hard time finding this room and finally a CM came along and knew immediately that the puzzled looks on our faces meant that we couldn't find our room. The BC does not do a good job of marking where the rooms are. Anyway, our new room turned out to be in the small wing located between the lake side main entrance and the volleyball court. We were two doors down from the Marketplace and we loved the location. I would take this room again, it was so convenient.

The room had two queen beds, a daybed and a connecting door. It had extra outlets. Where a normal room would have two wall outlets, this room had four. Most of the bedroom furniture was the same as you would find in a regular resort room except for the small dresser. You'll see my attempt to block some of the noise from the room next store. I stuffed some pillows in front of the door. The housekeeper never moved these pillows.

I just loved this shower. It had a rubber gasket along the bottom to catch the drips, but otherwise it was level with the floor. There was a chair in there that folded up, out of the way. The shower had a water wand shower head and it was a great way to rinse off. And it was roomier than the typical bathtub shower that the regular resort rooms have.

The disadvantage to this bathroom was the single sink and having everything in the one room. I wouldn't want to share this room with five people.

I didn't take picture of the closet but it was set up with two different levels of clothes racks. One set was normal height and a second rack was about waist high. The wall safe was a little lower, too. The coffee service on top of the refrigerator cabinet was the same as in a normal room. I suppose you could move it to the bathroom counter if you wanted it to be lower.

The craziest thing about the room was that it had a handicap door opener and closer system. The door would open and close really slowly. You would have to stand there and wait for the door to close before walking away. You also had to make sure that no one was standing around in their underwear when you opened the door, since there was no way to quickly close the door in case. Luckily, this room was in the short wing, so there weren't very many people walking past the room.

This room had a lovely view. It was a ground floor room with a patio and and sideways view of the lake. This room faces the volleyball courtyard and if you have a garden view room then this is a great location to request.

Those ground floor windows to the left are the windows of the Sandcastle Club.

We really enjoyed our new room and our extra two days of vacation. It was annoying to have to pack up and move to a new room, but as you can see, the view and room location were totally worth it. Our first room looked at the woods and was far from the Marketplace. Our second room was two doors away from the Marketplace and had a great view for a garden view room.

We had that room Nov 2015. We are a family of 3 adults (2 use ECV's). I agree it is a wonderful location. Easy to Marketplace, easy to ice machine, and easy to lobby and main exit. So glad you were able to get a room so quickly and that you enjoyed a couple of extra days. And thank you for taking pictures- I was an idiot and forgot.

 

[HubbDave]

What are our chances of being upgraded to a garden view if we booked a standard view? I put lower floor on the online check in near an elevator.

I did an informal survey here on the Disboards a few years back. I got about 750 stays (some people had 30+ stays, some had 1). Of those only around 4% had been pixie dusted

 

[LaidBackDad]

Do any of the Garden / Woods View rooms in Beach Club Resort have a view of Illuminations from the balcony at night? If so, is it possible to make a request for a room with a view of Illuminations?

 

[disny_luvr]

What are our chances of being upgraded to a garden view if we booked a standard view? I put lower floor on the online check in near an elevator.

We were upgraded from a standard view to a garden view last summer. It was a nice surprise at check-in. That being said, I wouldn't bank on an upgrade. We have a standard view booked again for this summer and we are totally expecting to get just that and are fine with it. If you really want a garden view, I'd book that category.

 

[natebenma]

i am sure this has been asked (and likely answered) before but does anyone know if they tend to do work in any particular order... club level, higher floors down to main floor? start with lobby, then main floor, 2nd floor, 3rd, etc?
i realize these would be complicated projects with many different factors but thought i would throw it out there. you people are WAY smart about all things disney!

Can't say for sure what will happen at YC, but they did start on the club level (5th floor) last year when they did the Beach Club. And worked down floor by floor. Makes sense I guess in the rare possibility of damage to the rooms under where they're working. You wouldn't want any possible damage to a newly reno'd room.

I do have a club level stay booked for early Sept & I do think we'll be effected. If I recall correctly, each floor at BC took about 6 - 8 weeks. So pretty sure we'll be hearing from them.

That is how the most recent Beach Club resort renovation and the previous YC and BC room refurbs have been done- From 5th floor, then 4th floor, with the first floor rooms last. I think with the Beach Club, they closed the entire floor to reservations before opening up rooms for stays, but on other floors, they closed off a section, like a wing, but the remaining rooms on that floor were still open.

But for the Beach Club Villas reno, happening now, they are working in a wing at a time, so all rooms from the top floor to the bottom floor in that particular area are being renovated before moving on to another section.

I have an October YC CL booked, so if I hear from Disney about needing to change my reservation, I'll let everyone know.

 

[disny_luvr]

Do any of the Garden / Woods View rooms in Beach Club Resort have a view of Illuminations from the balcony at night? If so, is it possible to make a request for a room with a view of Illuminations?

When we stayed at the Beach Club Villas a few years ago, our room overlooked the woods and we could see the high fireworks from Illuminations, just above the treetops. I'm not sure any room is going to have a great view of Illuminations.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Do any of the Garden / Woods View rooms in Beach Club Resort have a view of Illuminations from the balcony at night? If so, is it possible to make a request for a room with a view of Illuminations?

If you look at the room view picture I posted last night, you'll see a typical illuminations view. Most of the garden view/woods view rooms face Epcot. And many of the rooms will have a partial view of the high fireworks. The higher floors would have a better view than the lower floors. But there are a lot of trees between the rooms and Epcot, and there are a lot of ground level fireworks during the Illuminations show. In fact I timed it and I think it is about 6 minutes without any visible fireworks from outside the park.

 

[merrick]

Can't say for sure what will happen at YC, but they did start on the club level (5th floor) last year when they did the Beach Club. And worked down floor by floor. Makes sense I guess in the rare possibility of damage to the rooms under where they're working. You wouldn't want any possible damage to a newly reno'd room.

I do have a club level stay booked for early Sept & I do think we'll be effected. If I recall correctly, each floor at BC took about 6 - 8 weeks. So pretty sure we'll be hearing from them.

thanks for the reply! i wanted to like it... but then it might appear that i like the fact you probably will have renos going on during your stay. so instead, i say thanks!

we are booked for dec and i loved the ground floor room we had the contemporary and was thinking of requesting one again so was wondering...

 

[maryj11]

We were upgraded from a standard view to a garden view last summer. It was a nice surprise at check-in. That being said, I wouldn't bank on an upgrade. We have a standard view booked again for this summer and we are totally expecting to get just that and are fine with it. If you really want a garden view, I'd book that category.

We have a special discount on the standard room. The discount does not include garden view and would cost 1000.00 more to change it to that

 

[maryj11]

I did an informal survey here on the Disboards a few years back. I got about 750 stays (some people had 30+ stays, some had 1). Of those only around 4% had been pixie dusted

Ok thanks for the info.

 

[Sue M]

Do any of the Garden / Woods View rooms in Beach Club Resort have a view of Illuminations from the balcony at night? If so, is it possible to make a request for a room with a view of Illuminations?

We had an upper floor room in the Volley Ball courtyard facing Epcot and had a great view of the higher Illuminations.

 

[CowgirlTN]

We stayed at BC in '14 but that was before the room reno's.

Question: How has the room reno changed the available drawer space in the rooms? We are 5 people to the room. 4 adults and a 16 yr old. (so not itty bitty kids with their tiny clothes) We will be in a room with a daybed, if that makes a difference to the answer. I noticed that where the tall dresser used to be, there is now a cabinet with frig and coffee maker on top. So less drawers due to that. I see the console under the TV but would really like to know what drawer space I can expect with that. I've looked at youtube videos but none of them open those drawers/cabinet under the tv. In '14 I brought along one of those thingies that hang inside a closet and provides "shelf space" ( http://www.walmart.com/ip/Honey-Can-Do-6-Shelf-Hanging-Organizer-Bamboo/20519598 ) Wondering if i will need to buy another 1 or 2 of those.

Also, how is the new daybed? My DD was very comfortable in the old one. Is this one just as comfortable?

TIA!

Storage is very minimul in the studio. I had to use all the hangers. There are 4 narrow drawers by the daybed. The daybed was very uncomfortable according to my husband. He slept on it the first night.

 

[maryj11]

and it makes sense that it should be based on availability vs booking method.

really, if you have the ability to thrill people from the get-go... well that goes a long way.

i guess disney has to keep it rare enough to avoid those folks that would just expect it. i would only book a room that i was truly happy with having. if not... well way to set up a bad holiday! lol!

No way will it be a bad vacation, we will be at the Beach Club and Disney of course! If we could afford a garden view or water view I would book that, but this is a really good deal with a standard room. We will be happy even without being upgraded. It would just be nice if we were.

 

[TristiK]

Has anyone tried out the new food menu at Ale and Compass? Or know if you can order to go? I was hoping to get a burger there on our pool day instead of Hurricane Hannah's. Thanks!

 

[Devamitaka]

We leave for BCV in 3 weeks. You said you were in a renovated room--566. Is that whole wing now done? I thought I had read that the wing with rooms x53-x78 were being renovated now (well, started in mid March). It would be awesome to hear if these rooms were all done!! We'd really love an updated room!!

The 5th floor of that wing is done. When I left on May 8th the other floors were still walled off. I walked through the first floor hallway one evening (construction guys had left the door open) and not much had been done in those rooms. A CM told me they are working top down so I would expect that one or more additional floors will be done by the time you arrive.