Resort Thread Disney's YACHT & BEACH CLUB Resorts

[DisneyMomx7]

We did a Grand Gathering in 2008. Only we were the ones who paid for all the kids, grandchildren and my mom (who was celebrating her 80th birthday)! We didn't have connecting rooms but all 4 rooms were either next to each other ir across from each other.

Hope you have as magical trip as we had!

 

[Monykalyn]

Took me awhile to finally respond to this but here are mine:

Breakfast: Kona Café, no question!!!

Lunch: Usually counter service for us (Columbia Harbor House, Sunshine Seasons or Tangierine Café) but for a Table Service the boys like Sci-Fi

Dinner: La Hacienda- we have only been there once, but the meal was out of this world!


In a somewhat related topic, here is USAToday's Readers Choice Top 10 (plus) amusement park restaurants. The top 3 are actually Darkside places and I totally agree with Leaky Cauldron and Cowfish (both new).

http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-amusement-park-restaurant/

LOVED Leaky Cauldron and now I am double sad we missed Mythos (walked the wrong way around the park and none of us wanted to walk back lol); We also enjoyed BOG lunch-everything was very good-but have heard mixed reviews on dinner. From the looks of things on that list looks like a trip to Cali is worth doing

 

[SRUAlmn]

Two notes:

1. If you need it to be dark to sleep, bring an eye mask! I wish I would've known that. The new rooms have roman shades and all the light comes in behind them. For most early Disney risers, no biggie, but this was our sleep in and relax trip.
2. The construction is LOUD. We are on the fourth floor so we figured it shouldn't be bad, but it sounds like they're in the room right beside us! I went to check it out this morning and realized the noise is coming through the AC and bathroom vents! (And they started before 9.)

 

[Wood Nymph]

Two notes:

1. If you need it to be dark to sleep, bring an eye mask! I wish I would've known that. The new rooms have roman shades and all the light comes in behind them. For most early Disney risers, no biggie, but this was our sleep in and relax trip.
2. The construction is LOUD. We are on the fourth floor so we figured it shouldn't be bad, but it sounds like they're in the room right beside us! I went to check it out this morning and realized the noise is coming through the AC and bathroom vents! (And they started before 9.)

I'm sorry to hear about the construction noise. We had some on our trip, too, but luckily it wasn't too bad.

By the way, not all rooms have the Roman shades. Most of them have regular full length drapery with blackout curtains. The rooms with sliding doors have the full size drapery and the rooms with the separate door and window seem to have the Roman shades. If you walk around outside and look up at the windows on the different floors, you'll see the different window treatments.

 

[Pinkgirl]

My first suggestion would be to send your sister in law on a wonderful spa vacation to somewhere that isn't WDW. Just kidding.

Second this........

 

[Hi Pluto]

There is no escape. The smoke, haze and smell has made it south. We are seeing and smelling it here in the Ohio valley. Just watch the All Star game next week and i'll bet it gets mentioned.
Katesdad

We haven't smelled it, but we have been getting the haze (blocking out the sun) down here in St. Louis from the Canadian wildfires.

~Cari~

 

[shoreward]

If you need it to be dark to sleep, bring an eye mask! I wish I would've known that. The new rooms have roman shades and all the light comes in behind them. For most early Disney risers, no biggie, but this was our sleep in and relax trip.

I agree about the Roman shades. I was assigned a room with the Roman shades twice this year, and I also had difficulty sleeping with the light leakage. The problem is occurring because the shades do not overlap the glass enough, and they should not have been mounted that far away from the door/wall. One of the rooms faced the Quiet Pool, which had extremely bright lights outside the windows, till daybreak. I was told that the lights stay on all night for safety reasons, as the Quiet Pool area is open 24/7. You never know in what condition some guests might be, after a night of partying.

 

[CerysG]

We haven't smelled it, but we have been getting the haze (blocking out the sun) down here in St. Louis from the Canadian wildfires.

~Cari~

It's been better here the last few days so I don't know if the wind has shifted. They say that there are still 123 burning here in nothern Saskatchewan. British Columbia seems to have it worse with over 200 still burning. People from all over the world are coming to help fight them.

 

[Beth06015]

Just finished my FP+ selections!!! I was quite surprised at the limited avail times!!! And thank goodness we are past the "Anna & Elsa" stage...those were gone for each day. Feel really bad for those needing them The week we picked this year is supposed to be a VERY slow week. Hope it actually is!!!

The towel animals I THINK were taking up too much time and kept them from actually using that time for cleaning. I think also, some people complained that they didn't get them each day and others complained of the kind they got. So better to just cancel them completely.

I think we are going the same time -- I stayed up last night and did the FP+ at 12:01 this morning. I'm not kidding, even with the slow week, A&E were booked Sun-Wed of that week. My goal was Friday which I got, but after I got the rest of the FP+ I went back to fine-tune times and there were no other A&E times available. I am so glad I got one -- DD 8 and DS 3 definitely have A&E on their "must-do" list (although "what about Olaf" keeps being asked, lol). but, PHEW, glad that's checked off the list.

 

[Hi Pluto]

There is another thread (I think in the News and Rumors) that said they are no longer doing the towel animals.(Actually more than one thread). One of the posts said they heard the Mousekeeper reminded of possible reprimands if they continued to make them. Hope you have a wonderful rest of your stay!
Sarah

Noooooooooo!!!

~Cari~

 

[White Rose]

My first suggestion would be to send your sister in law on a wonderful spa vacation to somewhere that isn't WDW. Just kidding.

The kids are the perfect age for SAB. If you plan plenty of pool time then your trip will be a success. The other suggestion with kids that age is to plan on doing mostly thrill rides. The more flexible the trip the more fun you will have. And don't hestitate to spend some time apart. You'll enjoy it more that way.

I have offered SIL the option to do what she wants and we will entertain everyone else. She said no... She is playing the martyr too. lol

I am so excited to check out SAB! We have never stayed there before!

We are staying at the HRH Sept1-3. The majority of the kids are not flying down till the 3rd because of my SIL. We check into the beach club on the third and leave the morning of the 7th. We did gets few FP for MK in the afternoon for the third, but it is just an option! I want pool time!

The trip starts on September 1st at the hard rock hotel and we are doing the non- private universal Studios Park tour on September 2. We check out of the hard rock Hotel on September 3rd.


WDW Plans:
Thursday 3rd
Check in, pool time or park
Dinner captain's grill
Illuminations cruise
Friday 4th
MK w/ tourguide
Dinner whispering canyon
FP for Fireworks and MSEP as an option
Saturday 5th
AK on own, pool afternoon or oyo time
Dinner: Marrakesh
Pool time/on own time
Sunday 6th
EP HS with tourguide
Italy pizzeria for lunch
Fantasmic FP for everyone as an option
Monday 7th
Fly home!

 

[izzylovesmickey]

I'm just glad somebody posted about the towel animals. I would have been wondering if we offended someone if we didn't get them this time! Definitely will miss them, was nice to return to find them.

 

[izzylovesmickey]

I have offered SIL the option to do what she wants and we will entertain everyone else. She said no... She s playing the martyr too. lol

I am so excited to check out SAB! We have never stayed

We are staying at the HRH Sept1-3. The majority of the kids are not flying down till the 3rd because of my SIL. We check into the beach club on the third and leave the morning of the 7th. We did gets few FP for MK in the afternoon for the third, but it is just an option! I want pool time!

The trip starts on September 1st at the hard rock hotel and we are doing the non- private universal Studios Park tour on September 2. We check out of the hard rock Hotel on September 3rd.


WDW Plans:
Thursday 3rd
Check in, pool time or park
Dinner captain's grill
Illuminations cruise
Friday 4th
MK w/ tourguide
Dinner whispering canyon
FP for Fireworks and MSEP as an option
Saturday 5th
AK on own, pool afternoon or oyo time
Dinner: Marrakesh
Pool time/on own time
Sunday 6th
EP HS with tourguide
Italy pizzeria for lunch
Fantasmic FP for everyone as an option
Monday 7th
Fly home!

Sounds like a great trip! Hope everyone gets on board by the time you go, if not-ignore and enjoy!

 

[Ninja Mom]

Never fear, Ninja Mom is here to fix all of your towel animal problems!

The first step is to begin learning how to make them yourself. You'll have to start out simply because some of those towel animals can be quite vexing in their construction, (Remember that Sting ray/platypus/elephant combo?).

As such NM recommends starting with what I like to call "Modern Art" towel animals. See below:

If you have children around the house some of you may even have already gotten a head start on this phase of your instruction! After a number of alcoholic beverages you should be able to see Disney characters in your towel animals. Just think of how jealous the mousekeepers will be when they see your amazing modern art towel animals, I mean towels arranged like these are not something they see every day!

What are you waiting for? Get busy!

~NM

 

[Katesdad]

We haven't smelled it, but we have been getting the haze (blocking out the sun) down here in St. Louis from the Canadian wildfires. ~Cari~

Heavy (and I mean HEAVY) rains on Monday really cleaned up the air around here but my car needs to go through the car wash since the dirt that was in the atmosphere is now plastered on the paint. More rain today (hoping the All Star Game isn't affected) will probably take caer of any remaining haze in the air.
Katesdad

 

[tarak]

10 of us are coming down Sept 1-7 and staying at universal and WDW. We have 3 rooms at the beach club, just standard view. It has been my job, along its my hubby, to plan the trip!

Many months ago we asked my dad what he wanted to do for his 80th birthday. He said...to take all of us to WDW! So we have 5 under the age of 18 (17, 15, 13, 11 and 9!) as well as several 40 somethings and my dad.

We are doing tour guides for 2 days at WDW for all 10, 2 days on our own and one day non private tour at universal, for just 4 of us, my dad, hubby, 13 year old nephew and I.(Staying at the hard rock.)

My SIL has been trying to cancel this trip since we booked it, coming up with excuses as to why our schedule would not work or just being a negative nancy....so we have some crazy logistics worked out.

Some of the excuses we have resolved are...the kids have allergies and cannot eat theme park food...(we all know how good Disney is with this if you note it on your ADR!) the kids don't want to go (lie...as they all yell in the background "Yes we do!"...rofl!)she said my brother does not get vacation time. (Lie...really? Senior VP for a financial firm does not get vacation time? I worked there. He does.) she told her kids someone died riding test track in a Lamborghini...not kidding, and also my SIL bought tickets for my nieces to go to see a boy band in Sept after we booked on the day we were supposed to leave...so they can not go to Universal. Also...she would not tell us when the kids were going back to school and we had to jump through hoops confirm the dates. Crazy!

We are doing a Fireworks cruise at illuminations as our surprise thank you to my Dad for paying for us all, and we purchased pins for the kids to trade and we got water bottle straps personalized for everyone! I have little goody bags made up.

Ok, quick question time, now that you know our plans and maybe have a bit of sympathy for us...lol...connecting rooms...do they exsist and how can we request them. We have adjacent rooms selected on our reservation. We just have standard view.

One addition. Yes I am a Disney nut, but we are not the ones who go every year. We go every 5 years typically. We went in 2013 and our next trip is not supposed to be till 2018, but my hubby flew me down to WDW dec 2014 for a long weekend while he was there in a business trip. We also are doing ABD California 33 days after we come home from this trip.....booked before we knew about all this....any suggestions on how not to be "disneyed out"?

Does SIL just not want to go herself so she's making up excuses? I get that not everyone loves disney the way we do, but there are loads of things that she can do there that doesn't involve hanging out at the MK. Hopefully she won't play the martyr while you're there. It seems like you have a decent amount of "on your own" time in the schedule, which is good. We had a grand gathering a few years back and it worked out really well, particularly because our plans were to let each family have control over how the days went. We'd just say we were doing XYZ and anyone who wanted to join us was welcome to. We had a few ADRs scheduled and otherwise went with the flow.

Never fear, Ninja Mom is here to fix all of your towel animal problems!

The first step is to begin learning how to make them yourself. You'll have to start out simply because some of those towel animals can be quite vexing in their construction, (Remember that Sting ray/platypus/elephant combo?).

As such NM recommends starting with what I like to call "Modern Art" towel animals. See below:

If you have children around the house some of you may even have already gotten a head start on this phase of your instruction! After a number of alcoholic beverages you should be able to see Disney characters in your towel animals. Just think of how jealous the mousekeepers will be when they see your amazing modern art towel animals, I mean towels arranged like these are not something they see every day!

What are you waiting for? Get busy!

~NM

I see Simba.

 

[nat8199]

I think we are going the same time -- I stayed up last night and did the FP+ at 12:01 this morning. I'm not kidding, even with the slow week, A&E were booked Sun-Wed of that week. My goal was Friday which I got, but after I got the rest of the FP+ I went back to fine-tune times and there were no other A&E times available. I am so glad I got one -- DD 8 and DS 3 definitely have A&E on their "must-do" list (although "what about Olaf" keeps being asked, lol). but, PHEW, glad that's checked off the list.

This is good to hear. I am trying next monday to get A&E for the Friday of our trip as well. Can I ask what time of day you got?

 

[jlundeen]

We too had a trip where not all parties were fully engaged in all activities. This person spent a lot of time in her room watching TV, and hanging around the resort. That was OK, though, because after the first two days of commando parks, I had planned for everyone to just do what they wanted to each day, and we'd all meet back together for an evening dinner and park activity. After we got home, I found out she had been having anxiety issues, and didn't want to spoil everyone else's trip. We all look back on that trip now with fond memories.

 

[White Rose]

Does SIL just not want to go herself so she's making up excuses? I get that not everyone loves disney the way we do, but there are loads of things that she can do there that doesn't involve hanging out at the MK. Hopefully she won't play the martyr while you're there. It seems like you have a decent amount of "on your own" time in the schedule, which is good. We had a grand gathering a few years back and it worked out really well, particularly because our plans were to let each family have control over how the days went. We'd just say we were doing XYZ and anyone who wanted to join us was welcome to. We had a few ADRs scheduled and otherwise went with the flow.

Saying she dislikes Disney is a huge understatement. She dislikes.. HATES whimsy and adults acting like children, so she hates 'friends of characters' because they are adults acting silly. She does not like rides, she does not want her children to like rides or Disney. I think she was born fully formed as an adult. She does not like lines. She does not like spending money frivolously. She thinks my husband and I are a bad influence because we are without children, in our 40s, who are responsible with careers, financially secure, who like Disney. We go to animated movies. We know the frozen song. (I know I should just let it go, but I can't lol) Something must be wrong with us. LOL! Apparently adults should not have room in their heads/hearts for such things.

If we could go without her, we would, my dad suggested it and she became offended. I think she wants to be there to make sure no one has fun.

OMG! I know what she is!!!! She is a Disney Villain!!! And yes she will play the martyr. Since we have a tour guide, my plan is if she starts acting out tell the tour guide to ignore my sister in law. She is already telling the kids that the rides will make them sick and is putting very negative messages in their heads about the trip. Of course they know how their mom is, and are ignoring it! Rofl! I am really hoping she just goes off on her own. We are not making her stay with us.

My husband and I are very good travelers. We are good planners. We've had various relatives travel with us and marvel at what we can accomplish and the awesome things we do. We find good deals, we plan ahead of time, and we pace ourselves to have relaxation, fun and a chance to let off steam. I am hoping that by staying at the beach club, a place right in the middle of it all, with awesome pools and a walking entrance to alcohol and 'grown up' things in Epcot, she will go and find something 'appropriately enjoyable' for her. I'm not going to force her to do anything.

(oh. this is totally weird...my SIL asked to schedule an appointment for BBB for the 9 year old. She wants to peel off from the tour with her and get dolled up. OMG.. who is she and what has she done with my SIL...and can she stay...)

 

[White Rose]

We too had a trip where not all parties were fully engaged in all activities. This person spent a lot of time in her room watching TV, and hanging around the resort. That was OK, though, because after the first two days of commando parks, I had planned for everyone to just do what they wanted to each day, and we'd all meet back together for an evening dinner and park activity. After we got home, I found out she had been having anxiety issues, and didn't want to spoil everyone else's trip. We all look back on that trip now with fond memories.

Wow - It seems that person had found ways for themselves to be entertained, and that is fine...and from the sound of it, they did not try to impede anyone else's trip, that is totally understandable! I wish this was the case in my trip. We are not forcing her to do anything, and told her it is up to her what she wants to do. We have reservations and things booked, but she is under no obligation to do anything.