Epcot area Deluxe resorts/ tell me everything!

[eliza61]

I've been to AKL and loved it.
But I'm thinking an EPCOT area resort next time since I seem to spend alot of time at EPCOT.

Who's been to BeachClub, BoardWalk, Swan, Dolphin or Yacht Club?

I'm a foodie so that's important. And I usually travel w/o kids.

You'll love the area if you're a foodie. first, there are so many options no matter which resort you pick. The entire boardwalk area is available, world showcase restuarants are easy to get to and the restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin are close by, I think some of them are better than disney run restaurants.

Our favorite is the Beach club. We love the laid back elegance of the place. 2nd up would be the Yacht club.

 

[RhettsMom]

My wife and I are big foodies as well. Being able to walk to the World Showcase is priceless for us. If you want to see the walk from the 1500s BC rooms to Epcot its at around the 9:00 mark of our video

http://youtu.be/kJB6dCOM5oM

Your video is awesome! I teared up multiple times There is nothing more magical than a child's reaction to WDW! We will be taking my son for his second trip in November (he will two when we go) and I can hardly contain my excitement to see his reaction to things this go around!

 

[PrincessShea]

I absolutely adore the area and think you can't go wrong at any of the hotels. I have stayed at Beach Club, the Dolphin and the Swan. I personally feel like the extra cost of the Beach Club is not worth it. I didn't feel so much more immersed in Disney where it seemed worth the cost. S/D is significantly cheaper, so unless there was a huge deal (I stayed at Beach Club during the buy 7 nights for the cost of 4 promotion) I would always stay at S/D.

The exception though is if you or someone in your family are REALLY into hanging by the resort pool. The Beach Club is head and shoulders above all the others.

 

[artemis908]

I've stayed at Beach Club and loved it. Like everyone said it's great to be walkable to Epcot and plus there are some great restaurants there like Beaches and Cream and Cape May Cafe.

We are staying at Boardwalk for our next trip and I actually don't know how much we will eat there, maybe breakfast at Kouzzina's. And maybe ESPN on our last day, but otherwise I tend to make ADRs at Epcot A LOT. IMO the world showcase has some of the most incredible restaurants on property.

 

[olive]

I think of the Disney options in the area, BW would be at the top of my list just because I like the atmosphere and decor better there, but as far as teh Epcot resort area goes, we have only stayed at the Dolphin so far (booked at Swan as part of a split stay for our next visit). Otherwise, we have stayed at Polynesian, CR and GF, and will be at BLT on the next trip, too for something new. We really enjoyed the Dolphin, and unless the pricing dropped a lot, not sure I would bother paying for one of the other Epcot resorts (other than Swan). We didn't find it more convention-y than, say, the CR, and that doesn't really bother me anyway. (You would have to consider for yourself, of course.) We had a fabulous Epcot fireworks view, which is a separate booking category, and the pool area was really lovely and spread out - 5 pools, I think, and never that crowded. One nice thing about S/D is that you can earn or use Starwood points. Our next visit is basically free thanks to points. The food options are kind of break even among these hotels, I think, since none is that far from the other, and all are pretty close to world showcase. We had a very nice dinner at Flying Fish last time, just about a 5 minute walk away at the BW. If you have AAA, you can get a discount at most of the S/D dining venues, which is nice. We prefer a town car to ME, so that hasn't been an issue for us, and we aren't fans of the DDP, but some folks are. If ME and the dining plan are important to you, S/D may not be for you. I think the whole Epcot resort area is really pretty, and with the exception of a few MK resort area restaurants (V&A of course being our favorite), food options will be wonderful and plentiful from any of these. Decor, theme, amenities and value, are perhaps the easiest determining factors. Not sure you can make a bad choice among these resorts!

 

[BLTLDZ]

Big Boardwalk fan. Love the fact that I can walk to Epcot and the studios. Love all the dining options available within walking distance; the swan and dolphin, the beach and yacht club, the world showcase, the boardwalk itself. It's beautiful at night.

Boardwalk is our favorite. Beach club is really great too...

 

[amberpi]

Hi! Long time lurker but this question is near and dear enough to my heart that I thought I'd finally register.

I've been to WDW a zillion times and now only stay at the Swan/Dolphin (I'm in consulting so I travel more than I like to think about but the Starwood points are great to either bank or use) after staying at all the deluxes in the Epcot area and on the monorail. Here are my thoughts:

I think that of all the WDW pools I've experienced, the pool at the SD can only be topped by the YC/BC and that the pool at the Poly is overrun with poolhoppers. Until they enforce that, its really not fun being overrun with people that shouldn't be there.

I hate WDW toiletries - and did hear that S&D finally moved to Molton Brown, but even Bath and Bodyworks are better

The location is a bit better from my POV. You can walk or take the ships to Epcot or HS and if you want to take the little one to Wishes one night, you can even go the LONG way and go to Epcot, grab a drink for mom and dad and then take the monorail over to MK.

The resort view balcony rooms can often be had for a nominal onsite upgrade fee at the Dolphin and the view of Illuminations is much better than any view I've had at the Poly (but not as good as some views from CR - I'm sure Bay Lake is even better, I haven't done any of the DVC stuff, I like hotel rooms, not condos, my mom and SIL are the exact opposite, I love that WDW can give us all our ways

The food choices are the best for convenience and quality (especially if you include the entirety of the Epcot resort area). Yes, this means you have to either do the WDW transportation hokey pokey or take a cab to do V&A (which you would probably be skipping with the little one, right? I know we are on our next trip in Sept. with a 5 year old!) or Cal Grill, but the ease of the counter service coffee station in the mornings to the variance of offerings is just not to be missed. Honestly, we used to do Cal Grill every trip, but now with Kimonos (agree with previous poster on it being GREAT!) having better sushi and Cal Grill's movement to a bit less innovative menu, I'd take Flying Fish or even Kouzzina over it. Also, if you can't get a reservation (and I will totally admit to tipping CMs for a table!) somewhere, I've found the availability of Boardwalk restaurants and S&D restaurants a bit manageable. I don't have the luxury of planning things 180 days out to my job so I'm always scrambling to get in where we want to eat - although a lot of our faves must not be very popular because it has seemed easier lately.

The beds at the S&D are much more comfortable than anywhere else I've stayed at WDW.

The fact that it's a little less themey and a bit less loud are serious pros for me but I know lots of people want the towel animals, etc...to each their own!

We rarely go for more than 3 or 4 days at the most (I like to tag a short WDW stay to biz meeting and go more often for a short duration) and park hoppers are the best, especially in August when it still be a bit crowded. I can't tell you how many times we've decided to leave a too crowded park (even with the crowd calculators now) based on what the ride times are in another park - and BTW, god bless all those new and amazing apps - WDW Waits is my favorite. You guys let me know if you know of a better one.

Anyhow, either way you will have an amazing time and I've learned a lot from this board!

 

[moobar25]

I'd recommend BC over BW, but only because of the layout. BW seems more spread out- rooms may be far away from elevator & main area. BC is closer together.
Other than that, they both offer the same things you are looking for.
For me BC is the best.