"Do You Mind?" - Disney Adventures with Teens August Trip Report

[Grandma Bonnie]

Mom's lookin' quite sporty at this point in the trip.

Hey, Susan, is that another teaser?

 

[winkers]

Grandma Bonnie with a dirty magazine!!

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Grandma Bonnie with a dirty magazine!!

Y'all just wait till Susan writes about my birthday dinner at The Brown Derby........that's where I really got down and dirty.

 

[katiebug86]

Y'all just wait till Susan writes about my birthday dinner at The Brown Derby........that's where I really got down and dirty.

Grandma Bonnie you crack me up.

 

[swwake]

Next up: Arriving at the Beach Club
• Is check-in eventful? Yes
• Did we receive any special treatment? Yes - upgrades
• Did the Garden Grocer shipment make it to our room? Yes
• Did the UPS Ship-ahead box make it? Not right away
• Were my room requests honored? no, b/c you got upgraded -- even better
• What floor were we assigned? ?? 5th?
• Did we have a full balcony? Yes
• Did we receive an upgrade? Yes
• What did we do before dinner? Slept! You guys have been running on empty for a while. 2nd choice -- walk around SAB and the water.

Anywhere close??

You sure do give long quizzes!!

Close, but no cigar. Next update coming right up - with the answers.

Grandma Bonnie with a dirty magazine!!

 

[swwake]

Part II, Chapter 2​

Saturday, August 9
What’s that Funny Smell?​

As I mentioned above, our first stop was the Caribbean Beach Resort.

Entering here brought back memories of our last stay for a long weekend in 1998. It is a really neat resort. But we were excited about the new adventure of the Beach Club. I do like how all the resort entrances are gated. It gives an added sense of security.

Next stop:

This was one of our Top 3 options in narrowing down at which resort to stay for this visit. We liked the idea of the hustle and bustle activity. Katie liked the boardwalk theme, but was disappointed that there wasn’t a real midway (as far as we knew) with games and such. Also, from the online pictures of the rooms, we felt that the décor was too “busy”. I have seen pictures of the recently-renovated rooms, and they look much classier, so maybe next time…

Finally, though the ME trip didn’t seem like a long one, the 8 months of planning did. And so we arrive…

I really like this picture:

Without even seeing faces, you can just feel the anticipation and energy.

Inside the front doors, we were greeted by a secret service man with the earpiece and a clipboard. He was very friendly – much friendlier than the secret service men I have been in contact with. He welcomed us and directed us to the registration/check-in desk.

Katie had warned us that the Yacht Club had a “funny smell” from when she stayed there in April with Paxton and family. She commented as we walked in that the Beach Club “smells funny too”. I think they are just piping in the pleasant aroma of Disney aura. Later in the week, Katie commented that she had really grown to like the Beach Club’s “funny smell”.

At the desk, we were greeted by a friendly lady CM. She seemed to have a lot of things to tell us. First, she said “I see you are celebrating your 10-year anniversary with us!” And we got these:

Then: “and we have a birthday girl?” So Mom was presented with this:

I gave my camera to Katie and asked her to take some nice lobby pictures, and this is what I got:

Yep, a sole picture of one small area of the Beach Club lobby. Not exactly what I ordered, but what’s a girl to do? Maybe I can remember to take more lobby pictures later this week.

During check-in, we were told that there was a box waiting for us and the CM called to let the person holding the box know our room number for delivery. I asked about the Garden Grocer delivery which was supposedly left with “Bell Services”. They had me check over at the Bell Desk, and they located the package and said they’d bring it up to us.

Then Mom told me to ask whether we had received a renovated room (as I had requested). I mentioned (in front of the check-in CM) that I didn’t want to know. I wanted to be surprised, and I didn’t want to complain if our request was not honored. I was going to be happy to be there either way.

We were presented with a really nice blue folio that included a map of the property, the Times Guides for the week, and the Recreation Activities for BC and YC for the week.

We were given our Keys to the World and it was explained to us that our park tickets, with park hopper and water fun & more options are included on the room key cards. We were each asked to sign the backs of our cards on the spot, and we were told that we could charge items on these cards. I was asked if I wanted to place spending limits on the cards, but I didn’t do this. I knew the girls might need to use their cards when they were separate from us, and I knew they wouldn’t abuse this.

With directions to our room (through the lobby, behind the stairs, up the elevator to the 4th floor), we headed off to check out our crib for the week.

We were Room 4626. This was (obviously) on the fourth floor, just outside the elevator bank. This location was absolutely wonderful for us. It meant very little walking any time we entered the hotel. Also, the BC Marketplace is right at the base of the elevators on the first floor, which was very convenient for snacks, shopping and other essentials. I don’t think we could have asked for a better location. And the 4th floor is the highest non-club-level floor.

Also, because the 5th floor does not expand the full length of the hotel corridors, there was nobody above us. The left wall of our room was along the hallway, so we didn’t have neighbors on that side. We ended up with neighbors only on the right side and below us. Less risk of noise from other rooms. So far, so good.

(too many pictures - continued next post)

 

[swwake]

As soon as we entered the room, I recognized that we had been granted our first Disney wish – a refurbished room!! This meant that we were likely to be one of the first parties to use the new beds and other digs.

The bathroom:

Vanity (Mom taking the picture):

This is the dresser near the door, and part of the closet:

Here’s the closet. The safe was in the left wall.

Close-up of the Mickey lamp. I thought this was just so cute! You can also see the seahorse wallpaper.

Another view of the beds, from the other direction. The girls were not photo-ready at this point.

We got a full balcony!! This is a much-discussed topic on the DIS boards. Many of the balconies at the Beach Club are just barely large enough to step out onto (like the one directly in front of us in this picture). Our balcony was quite large and had a table and two chairs, with room to still move around. All five of us could fit comfortably on the balcony at once.

These pictures are my attempt at a panorama from our balcony. The above is straight ahead.

Next: center pan:

And looking to the right:

Here’s a view from below:

And zoomed in:

The red oval is our balcony. The blue circle is the balcony where the ice and vending is on the floor above us.

The only towel critter we ever saw the entire week. But it was a friendly welcome.

I found a hidden Mickey in the wallpaper in the vanity/bathroom area:

While we were checking out our room, someone arrived with our ship-ahead box. This was a little bit of a relief – all of our toiletries, ponchos, emergency/first-aid, etc. We unloaded the box into one of the drawers in the dresser.

Also, our Garden Grocer order arrived. We double-checked everything and it was exactly what we ordered. Another victory and relief! We had drinks and snacks for the trip. We quickly loaded the refrigerator with goodies and promised each other to always replace a drink whenever we snagged one.

We absolutely loved our room! It was the perfect location. The renovations make it so nice. We loved having a full balcony. We were glad that with our “standard view” room, we overlooked a garden, and not a parking lot or loading dock. The proximity to the elevators made it easy to get to and from our room all week. The beds were comfortable, and Mom didn’t have any complaints about her daybed (which was really a twin bed, the best I could tell). I will say that it is a bit of a tight squeeze for five adult-sized people to stay in one room, so that would be the one drawback. Sharing the bathroom 5 ways meant we had to get creative in timing our showers.

Answers to questions, per above:
• Is check-in eventful? Not particularly, but we did receive excellent service!
• Did we receive any special treatment? We got buttons!!
• Did the Garden Grocer shipment make it to our room? Yes, exactly as ordered!
• Did the UPS Ship-ahead box make it? Yes – what a great idea! So glad we did this.
• Were my room requests honored? Yes! We got our recently-renovated room.
• What floor were we assigned? 4th
• Did we have a full balcony? Yes!
• Did we receive an upgrade? No, but this didn’t have any impact on our vacation whatsoever.

Next up: “Wasting” time until dinner
• What favorite gallery did we visit?
• What other resort did we explore?
• What performing CM(s) did we watch?
• What mode of transportation did we use?

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

Your room is beautiful! I love all the pictures...makes me feel like I'm there!

What a great location and such luck that you got a renovated room!

I can't imagine sharing one bathroom among 5 adults, but i'm sure you worked it out just fine.

 

[anbouk]

Hi Susan!!! We're back!!! This was the BESTEST vacation ever! We got a Magical Upgrade to the CL level ! 10 DAYS on CL ... what a DREAM we were given!!! We LOVED the BC so very much that we are looking to become BCV DVC owners !!! My teens loved Stormalong Bay, and my six year old LOVED doing the shuffle with the changing of the lifeguards every day!!! What FUN!!! We lucked out weather-wise...got there the day after FAY left and returned home a day before Hanna arrived. Sorry I hijacked your thread.....BUT I am LOVING your TR...keep it coming!

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Grandma Bonnie you crack me up.

Sorry!

 

[stagemomx3]

Hurray for a refurb room! I love the girls non photo ready shot.

 

[winkers]

Y'all just wait till Susan writes about my birthday dinner at The Brown Derby........that's where I really got down and dirty.

I can't wait!!!



I love the look of the hotel! I want the Mickey lamp!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Woo hoo for a refurbed room!!! It looks fantastic! So fantastic, even, that I went to price a room for our June trip -- alas, it is still out of our price range!

 

[nts4wdw]

What a beautiful room! Love that balcony! Somehow it makes the room seem so much bigger.

 

[jtlover]

Really enjoying your report.

 

[swwake]

Your room is beautiful! I love all the pictures...makes me feel like I'm there!

What a great location and such luck that you got a renovated room!

I can't imagine sharing one bathroom among 5 adults, but i'm sure you worked it out just fine.

We loved the room! The pics make me feel like I'm back. On the bathroom front, there were clean public bathrooms right by the elevator bank on the first floor, so that was a nice help to us in sharing, if you know what I mean!

Hi Susan!!! We're back!!! This was the BESTEST vacation ever! We got a Magical Upgrade to the CL level ! 10 DAYS on CL ... what a DREAM we were given!!! We LOVED the BC so very much that we are looking to become BCV DVC owners !!! My teens loved Stormalong Bay, and my six year old LOVED doing the shuffle with the changing of the lifeguards every day!!! What FUN!!! We lucked out weather-wise...got there the day after FAY left and returned home a day before Hanna arrived. Sorry I hijacked your thread.....BUT I am LOVING your TR...keep it coming!

I'm so glad y'all had a wonderful time! Awesome that you got the upgrade! Hmm....DVC....maybe that is something we should consider. We missed the lifeguard shuffle. Another reason to return!

Hurray for a refurb room! I love the girls non photo ready shot.

I know, aren't they funny?

I can't wait!!!

I love the look of the hotel! I want the Mickey lamp!

That lamp is adorable. I bet you can buy it.

Woo hoo for a refurbed room!!! It looks fantastic! So fantastic, even, that I went to price a room for our June trip -- alas, it is still out of our price range!

We were so glad to have the refurbed room. It was a nice addition to our trip. I know - it's expensive - but it was a huge trip for us - last one for Katie before she starts paying for her own Disney trips - it was our complete family vacation budget for the year. And I'm glad it was worth it.

What a beautiful room! Love that balcony! Somehow it makes the room seem so much bigger.

Yeah, I wish I had gotten more balcony pics.

Really enjoying your report.

Thank you! More to come!

 

[Marshay]

That room looks lovely!! What a terrific location!!

Wow -- 5 adults in one room -- you guys really are brave!!

Please remind me, how far in advance did you ship out your stuff?

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Grandma Bonnie with a dirty magazine!!

Just remember...the eyesight is NOT the first to go in old age

 

[Lady Lallie]

I am caught up! Your room looks fantastic, perhaps I must investigate Beach Club more! Hehehe.

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Part II, Chapter 2​

Saturday, August 9
What’s that Funny Smell?​

He was very friendly – much friendlier than the secret service men I have been in contact with.

Then: “and we have a birthday girl?” So Mom was presented with this:

Hmmm, daughter, I never knew you had CIA/FBI experience.

I took advantage of the birthday button until I got tired of strangers wishing me happy birthday. I decided to wait until my Brown Derby Birthday Dinner to wear it again......or so I thought!!!!! (teaser from the old lady )