Ok. I never thought I would be saying this, but I have a new favorite hotel at WDW. Yes, it is the Yacht Club. Just got back from staying there and the GF. Prior to this trip, I had only stayed at the GF, BWI, WL for extended periods and Riverside (when it was Dixie Landings for a single night), Shades of Green when it was the Disney Inn ages ago, and the Disney Institute before Downtown Disney was even built. I had also visited all the Deluxe and Moderates extensively and seen their grounds and eaten in many of their restaurants. Still, the only 2 hotels I really enjoyed and would return to were the GF and WL. And the one I really, really loved was the GF. But I heard a lot of positive things about the Yacht Club on these boards and hubby really wanted to try the pool so I added a few days to our stay to try it. And we were not sorry! Everything was perfect.
We were greeted by an absolutely lovely cast member at check-in named Abby. She was definitely great and very nice--a definite Disney gem. She sent us to room 2009, a non-smoking waterview room, that I will forever request when we return. Admittedly, the walk from the elevator was pretty much as long as possible--we thought we were walking to the MK! But the view was worth it--a corner room, facing forward on the lake, with a balcony overlooking the Boardwalk and a double set of large windows on the other wall facing Epcot! Also, once we figured out where we were, we realized we had a stairwell next to us that provided much easier access than the elevator and walk. Additionally, the room renovations are complete and ours was in perfect condition.
The holiday decorations were up and very nice. Nothing overly impressive but still beautiful. I liked the understated elegance of the lobby. We also loved the convenience of the Yacht Club's location. We didn't like the BWI very much because it seemed too busy over there, but the Yacht Club has the same convenience of location without being right in the hustle and bustle. The pool was a lot of fun. I think it is the most fun of the any of the resort hotels, however I do think that it is overhyped on these boards. We enjoyed the pool and the slide very much nonetheless.
Since this is already a very long thread, I will write a separate one on the GF. But just quickly I will sum up why the Yacht Club surpassed the GF in our hearts and minds...
1. Location--I love the MK and feel nostalgia for it, but the truth is the monorail was a mess during our stay--constant delays, and the convenience of being able to walk to Epcot, MGM and the Boardwalk couldn't be overlooked--especially late at night.
2. We had some really bad weather--torrential rain and tornado warnings which caused me to suddenly realize the inconvenience of the Lodge buildings at the GF. There were lots of times, I wanted to go to the lobby, but the weather was just too bad.
3. Parking. I am all for valet parking, but the lines at the GF were always very long. To add insult to injury, the self parking is across the street and a very long walk. We like to drive to the parks and this proved very inconvenient for us. The self parking at the Yacht Club was much faster.
4. Renovations. Our room at the Yacht Club was in perfect condition, having just completed refurbishing. The GF room was in good conditions, but was showing some wear and tear. Nothing major and nothing to complain about, just a difference.
5. Only 1 hot tub at the GF and it was always full with a lot of little children. The YC has several of them spread throughout the resort.
6. There were a lot of little children and strollers at the GF and I have nothing against children, I mean I went to Disney, what did I expect? Just at the GF there were tons and they seemed to all be screaming at the top of their lungs anytime we were in our room morning, noon and all night long, and the bigger problem was we could hear them from our room--constantly. There seemed to be more couples at the YC and that made us more comfortable.
We still love the GF and the GF has plenty of pros, but for now the YC is our favorite!
We were greeted by an absolutely lovely cast member at check-in named Abby. She was definitely great and very nice--a definite Disney gem. She sent us to room 2009, a non-smoking waterview room, that I will forever request when we return. Admittedly, the walk from the elevator was pretty much as long as possible--we thought we were walking to the MK! But the view was worth it--a corner room, facing forward on the lake, with a balcony overlooking the Boardwalk and a double set of large windows on the other wall facing Epcot! Also, once we figured out where we were, we realized we had a stairwell next to us that provided much easier access than the elevator and walk. Additionally, the room renovations are complete and ours was in perfect condition.
The holiday decorations were up and very nice. Nothing overly impressive but still beautiful. I liked the understated elegance of the lobby. We also loved the convenience of the Yacht Club's location. We didn't like the BWI very much because it seemed too busy over there, but the Yacht Club has the same convenience of location without being right in the hustle and bustle. The pool was a lot of fun. I think it is the most fun of the any of the resort hotels, however I do think that it is overhyped on these boards. We enjoyed the pool and the slide very much nonetheless.
Since this is already a very long thread, I will write a separate one on the GF. But just quickly I will sum up why the Yacht Club surpassed the GF in our hearts and minds...
1. Location--I love the MK and feel nostalgia for it, but the truth is the monorail was a mess during our stay--constant delays, and the convenience of being able to walk to Epcot, MGM and the Boardwalk couldn't be overlooked--especially late at night.
2. We had some really bad weather--torrential rain and tornado warnings which caused me to suddenly realize the inconvenience of the Lodge buildings at the GF. There were lots of times, I wanted to go to the lobby, but the weather was just too bad.
3. Parking. I am all for valet parking, but the lines at the GF were always very long. To add insult to injury, the self parking is across the street and a very long walk. We like to drive to the parks and this proved very inconvenient for us. The self parking at the Yacht Club was much faster.
4. Renovations. Our room at the Yacht Club was in perfect condition, having just completed refurbishing. The GF room was in good conditions, but was showing some wear and tear. Nothing major and nothing to complain about, just a difference.
5. Only 1 hot tub at the GF and it was always full with a lot of little children. The YC has several of them spread throughout the resort.
6. There were a lot of little children and strollers at the GF and I have nothing against children, I mean I went to Disney, what did I expect? Just at the GF there were tons and they seemed to all be screaming at the top of their lungs anytime we were in our room morning, noon and all night long, and the bigger problem was we could hear them from our room--constantly. There seemed to be more couples at the YC and that made us more comfortable.
We still love the GF and the GF has plenty of pros, but for now the YC is our favorite!
