Just back from Beach Club

[dandave]

Hi all! We just got home a little while ago from our weekend at the BC. We had room 4540. It was a nice room with a daybed and full size balcony. We could see some of Epcot from the balcony, and we faced the BCV.
Pros: It was extremely quiet. Check-in took only a couple of minutes. The room was very similar in size and lay-out to our AKL Deluxe room, i.e. makeup mirror, phone in the bathroom (why would anyone actually need a phone in there), and nice double sinks in vanity area. There was even a TV speaker over the Vanity area. (Again, why? This did help get the boys to brush their teeth in the midst of a cartoon, however.) The pool area was a big hit with DH and my boys! I loved it too, but that slide was just too much for me. Long story, but I screamed all the way down... We loved the proximity to Epcot, also. Maid service was good.

Cons: No food court. We missed really good resort coffee, because we had to make our own in the room. The line was out the door to Beaches and Cream after Epcot closed, and it would have been a real hike from the room in the mornings. The room had some stains on the wallpaper, and the hallway walls had scuff marks. A rehab is definitely in order. The shower had some mildew, and the fabric outer shower curtain was moldy. Very limited room service menu after 11 p.m. was available. The mini bar food set atop the armoire was just too much. Of course, the children can't completely takes their minds off the fact that there are candy bars, cookies, gummy bears, etc. only feet away from them. Mine were warned not to touch them, and they didn't. But I finally gave in to one item each. Yes, it is a vacation, but $1.75 for a Crunch bar and $1.85 for a small bag of cookies???

Crowds were pretty heavy till Monday. We will *not* be returning to Boma. My family will never be happy with another WDW Resort pool, after staying at the BC. I took them over to show them the WL pool, and they were not impressed. They liked the lodge, though.

Any questions or comments are welcome!

 

[corvair]

Why will you not be returning to the Boma. I have read some great reveiws about it here on the boards...amy

 

[splashfamily]

I also just returned from the BC. My kids loved the pool and only want to reurn to this resort. We also encountered very long lines at B&C especially in the morning. After waiting on line for 20 minutes for coffee we started room service in the AM for a pot of coffee.
We also found through out Disney, that all food service was much slower than in the past. Guess with all the budgets cuts, it's effecting service.

 

[pooh6890]

I would think the phone is in the bathroom area so you don't have to get up to answer it. But, how many people do you know carry on a conversation while in the bathroom? Many I am sure (like my boss). Yuck!

 

[MauraAndIainsDad]

If your boss carries on converstaions from the bathroom, maybe you should donate your ID to him! (sorry - couldn't resist )

 

[Jillpie]

Oh please, please tell me all about the slide! I am 42 yrs. old and a big kid when it comes to water slides (love BB and POR slide). We are joining DVC in the next 2 wks and buying BCV, but have never stayed at the BC before. I have to know about this slide! The only thing I don't like is if its pitch dark at any time...otherwise, the faster the better!

 

[dandave]

Hi!

corvair, I posted on the restaurant board about our meal at Boma.

Jillpie, You will probably love that slide. We went to the pools after dark each night. On our last night my family talked me into going down the slide. They didn't tell me that you have to lie down until I got to the top. I prefer sitting up so that I can see where I'm going. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, though. It was pitch black in there. It was a very, very long way to the bottom. My knees were shaking when I finally hit dry land. Dh said everyone at the top was laughing, because you could here me going "ohhhhhhhh...ohhhhhh...oh my GOD" all the way down the slide. You'll probably love it!

 

[Tagrel]

There is free coffee in the morning for all guests in the lounges near the front desks in both the BC and YC. I'm not a coffee drinker, but my wife said it was fine. We've taken advantage of this for the last three visits from 2000 - 2002.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Welcome home! Did you take any pictures of your room?

 

[Jillpie]

What? What? What? You have to lie DOWN on this slide??? Please say it isn't so! You can't sit? What would happen if you sat? Is it not high enough for adults? This did not make my day.

 

[dandave]

Hi Tagrel! Thanks for the info! I told DH that I thought I had read something about complimentary coffe in the lobby, but we never got around to looking for it. The weekend just flew by!

Hi Cali! No. I'm very sorry to say that I did not take any photos. I did remember to pack the camera, but never thought to unpack it till we were already at the parks...
DS #1 was very disappointed that I had forgotten it yet again, when we did the AK Safari.
The room was very nice, though. The comforters had seahorses on them, and the sconces were seahorses. The balcony could have really used a good steam cleaning, but it was so peaceful. We could see Spaceship Earth, and there were tons of flowering pink crepe myrtles just below us. DH prefers more "action" from the balcony, but I liked the solitude. Rarely did I see anyone else out on the BCV balconies, which we faced. The only part of the balcony that I really disliked was the fact they the balcony light stayed on all night. I noticed that all the 4th floor balcony lights in our area stayed on all night. I would have liked to have been able to turn the balcony light off.

 

[dandave]

Jillpie, DH said that there were posted rules saying that you have to lie down. I just did what they told me...
I did overhear other people saying that the slide was much better at night, because it was so dark. Perhaps that means that you could see better in the daylight.
All I know is that after the first few feet I sqweenched my eyes closed, held my nose, and started screaming.

 

[dgroet]

We also just returned from 3 days at BC. In some ways the place was a real disappointment. The rooms were absolutely horrible for the price you pay. We have stayed at Days Inn's abd Super 8's with newer and cleaner accomodations. Check in was fair to moderate. Long line at the desk. Surprisingly, they told us our room was available, when we checked in at 10:30am. So off we go to the room. After getting into the room, we discovered it was filthy. Used/old towels were still on the chairs on the patio (we were on ground floor) and you could tell they had been sat on. Beer bottle caps were strewn about on the floor, along with plenty of crumbs (food pop corn etc.) under the furniture and along the walls & corners. We immediately complained to the houskeeper in the hall, only to discover she spoke very little english. So we phoned the front desk and houskeeping and they were summoned to the room to inspect it with us. They both agreed it was not cleaned properly and switched us to another room. Unfortunately, that room was not yet ready, so se were told to it would be ready after lunch. For the inconvenience (and because of 3 restless boys 2, 6 & 7) they gave us lunch at Beaches and Cream ($100 value after tip for 8 of us). When we checked into the room after lunch it was indeed clean. But it smelled like Clorox bleach. We attributed the smell to what we thought was the staff's attempt to make sure it was perfectly clean. The second day the smell was still there. On the thrid and last day, when we returned to the room in the afternoon, it smelled like a musty basement. Since we wern't staying long we switched off the AC since they sometimes grow mold in the condensor. We returned at dinner time, and the smell was stronger than before. This time we cranked up the AC and went swimming, returned at bed time for the kids and the smell was just as strong. So we got the head of housekeeping in there and she immediately smelled it. Long story short, apparently the room had been tagged before for a musty/mildew smell. In an attempt to rectify the situation they replaced the carpet and scrubbed the walls. Since it was the last night of our stay, and since it was too late to change rooms, they refunded the rack rate of the room for that night. So avoid room 1594!!

Also the first night, when we finally settled into bed at around mid-night, I picked up the remote, only to discover that the buttons were missing! So of course, i make a trip to the front desk only to be told we wuld have to wait until maintenance gets in the next day. i also told them of teh broken switch on the pole lamp. The bulb was just loosened in the socket to turn it off! And of course, when we returned to our room the next day, nothing had been taken care of. So another trip to the front desk. The maintenance guy din't believe the lamp was broken because he said "..oh yeah, the switch is broken off.." when he came to check it out!

I also was turned off by the overpriced "stuff" (candy etc.) on top of the armoir; $20 for a disposable camera!! To head off the kids interests, we placed a towel over the top of the box, and they never knew it was up there. The furniture was worn and the wallpaper was peeling at some of the seams. The bathroom was very tired. A lot of mold/mildew in the grout of the tile. The sower curtain was however clean.

We were also supposed to have a fridge in our room, and of course neither of the 2 rooms they checked us into had the fridge in it. The first one they brought up, the guy went to plug in, and discovered one prong missing from the plug. So off he went to find another. The replacement was much older, but did keep food cold. The wet bar in the armoire, was missing a "foot" so it rocked back and forth.

On the brighter side, there were plenty of bell hops to gather your belongings from the car and wisk them to your room. And the pools were great. The tunnel water slide is a lot of fun, for kids and adults. Yes you do need to lie down, but just tilt your head up and you can see where you are going.

 

[dandave]

dgroet, Hi! I am so sorry to hear about the problems you experienced at BC. That is a fantastic idea about putting the towel over the mini bar foods!! Wish I had thought of that...

 

[splashfamily]

Hi dgroet! We were in a 2bed-suite and the kids room had that Clorox smell. Friends we were traveling with had the odor in their room. However, our room did not.
We were in an diiferent room when we first arrived at BC. I found that room to be run-down. Stains on carpet, cracked tiles in bathroom. We were disappointed, especially figuring we were staying at a deluxe resort. BC is definielty in need of rehab.