Pete your BC review was spot on!

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

We felt the same exact way that you did when we left and that was about 10 years ago. I dont know what it is about that property but there is no WOW factor at all. I thought it was just us that felt that way or maybe because we did not have children at the time. I guess maybe the lack of lobby may have been part of it. We just could never put our finger on the reason we never went back. I have been at all the deluxe resorts and that is the only one that left me feeling that way. I am sure this will offend those who love BC but there is definately something lacking in the resort. The only upside in my mind was the amazing pool.

 

[fall08CP]

Stayed there this past week and I have to agree as well. I'm much more wow-ed by Boardwalk and DAK lodge. The pool was a blast, but didn't make up for the rest of the resort and the price point.

 

[aggielawyer]

I haven't listened to the podcast yet, so I can't comment on the review, but for me the BC is about location, location, location. Being able to be in the World Showcase in 10 minutes makes it my favorite place to stay.

 

[parrotheadlois]

Art the Greeter was a big part of the magic - we miss him. He was there from the moment you first walked in the door and then every time we came back from being in the park. He always made us smile.

 

[VrBchJ]

I miss Art too. He was kind of the heart and soul of the BC. I must say that my experiences have been excellent. One time we were in the Market Place and they were celebrating the 30th Disney Anniversary of one of the employees. A manager asked if we wanted to help them make this a special event for Barbara and included us in the presentation of her cake and certificate. We were in the picture when they gave her the cake. I often thought she must have looked at that picture later and thought "Who are those 'civilians' in my photos?"

On the other hand, I will never forgive the powers that be for removing the gelato from the Market. That was just beyond the pale.

 

[BriarRosie]

Art the Greeter was a big part of the magic - we miss him. He was there from the moment you first walked in the door and then every time we came back from being in the park. He always made us smile.

I agree that Art really was a big "wow" cast member at Beach Club, and I was fortunate enough to thank him for his years of sharing magic with us a few days before he retired last October.

But, I wanted to share my experience checking in during the DIS A Palooza trip in December. I own DVC at Beach Club, so I've had prior check in experiences to compare this to, and the most recent experience blew me away.

I had used Online Check In for the first time, not knowing what to expect, and I had gone about securing Disney's Magical Express from the airport as I usually do. When I arrived at the resort, a cast member was standing outside with a clipboard, and she greeted me by name.

I was taken aback that she knew who I was, but I figured she probably knew approximate arrival time, and she probably didn't see many solo arrivals. Not that difficult to know it was me. Anyway, I was pleased by the personal greeting. Who wouldn't be?

What she did next surprised me. I expected her to stay outside to greet more new arrivals, but she didn't. She escorted me into the lobby, chatting with me. When I mentioned I used Online Check In, she noticed nobody was standing in the station, so she went through the door, walked around the counter, and finished my check in for me!

My room happened to be ready, which is not normal with the DVC villas. So that was just another pleasant surprise. The entire experience made me feel like a VIP checking into Concierge level. And I was just a DVC member checking in like I've done in the past a handful of times.

Again, how could I not be impressed by that?


Just a quick comment about Online Check In for other stays:

I did Online Check In for my one night bookend stays in July at Pop Century. The first stay the room wasn't ready, but the second stay, it was. I don't expect that the room would be ready for any stay, so it's nice when it happens. Both times, there was no wait for the Online Check In queue, and I'm definitely going to be using it as long as Disney keeps this service active.

 

[BriarRosie]

Forgot to add something else in my last post.

I'm going to do Online Check In at Beach Club Villas in October and December. I'm going to keep tabs on how they handle it on both trips to see if I get similar levels of service I received last December. I'll report back.

 

[brergnat]

Methinks Pete is jaded.

I couldn't have DISAGREED with him more about the Beach Club. However, our family also LOVES the Grand Californian Hotel-Concierge Level, whereas, Pete seems to have a very negative attitude about the GCH... We stay there every year for a few nights and we've never been less than amazed at how great that resort is and how awesome the CMs are. We live only 12 miles from DL, and we don't HAVE to stay in the resorts, but we do it anyway, every year, because our time there is always SO wonderful.

We stayed at the Beach Club-CL over spring break this year with our two special needs sons. I can't even tell you how the staff at the BC (EVERYONE we encountered) just went above and beyond. The CL staff, especially, went above and beyond BEFORE we even arrived. The place was immaculate, and we loved everything about our week there. It's my new favorite WDW resort...and I've stayed at lots of them.

I think, the truth is, EVERY single hotel, Disney or otherwise, has reviews that run the gamut from "this is the worst place I've ever stayed" to "this is the best place I've ever stayed." There are just too many variables that come into play with everyone's different experiences over different time periods, and interacting with different employees.

The only real negative I got from Pete's review (i.e. something that would have bothered ME) was the report of bad room service food. However, I wouldn't have stayed quiet about that. I'd have returned the food and asked for a refund...

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

I just wanted to add that the service I recieved was not bad at all. I even got an upgrade. Just the property itself had no WOW to me. For whatever reason we just didnt love it. We stayed at BWI just across the lake and loved the resort. Makes no sense but that is how me and DH felt. I never felt like lingering in the lobby or roaming the resort. Maybe the lack of change for us we are from the East Coast and it was nothing new for us?? Now I love Beaches and Cream and we stop in there for lunch quite often. I just cant put my finger on what is is.

 

[Joan S.]

Hi,I have not read the review yet either and I do LOVE staying at the BCV. But to be a DELUXE resort they REALLY need to step it up!! There are too many empty (dead ) areas. The Vineyard lounge only opens at 5pm and serves NO FOOD. They get some traffic but not as much as if they had a small snack menu. (I was just at GC in Cali and BOTH the Hearthstone lounge and Napa Rose lounge have wonderful accompaniments to your drink.) Also on a HOT day us OLDER folks want to get OUT of the sun and have a drink. And we may not want to wait till 5pm!! And Ariels is a BEAUTIFUL Restaurant why is it not open to everyone?? And Beaches and Cream,yes I love it there too. But they used to serve take out food and a full service ice cream at the to go. Now you are lucky to get a cone or a drink. I was once refused a Frozen Sunshine at the take out. NOT a good thing. Why do they not just expand Beaches and Cream and have a FULL take out?? I often wonder WHO runs this place and what does the bottom line look like?? Because in my BOOK they are missing SO MANY opportunities to make MORE $$. Joan

 

[brergnat]

Hi,I have not read the review yet either and I do LOVE staying at the BCV. But to be a DELUXE resort they REALLY need to step it up!! There are too many empty (dead ) areas. The Vineyard lounge only opens at 5pm and serves NO FOOD. They get some traffic but not as much as if they had a small snack menu. (I was just at GC in Cali and BOTH the Hearthstone lounge and Napa Rose lounge have wonderful accompaniments to your drink.) Also on a HOT day us OLDER folks want to get OUT of the sun and have a drink. And we may not want to wait till 5pm!! And Ariels is a BEAUTIFUL Restaurant why is it not open to everyone?? And Beaches and Cream,yes I love it there too. But they used to serve take out food and a full service ice cream at the to go. Now you are lucky to get a cone or a drink. I was once refused a Frozen Sunshine at the take out. NOT a good thing. Why do they not just expand Beaches and Cream and have a FULL take out?? I often wonder WHO runs this place and what does the bottom line look like?? Because in my BOOK they are missing SO MANY opportunities to make MORE $$. Joan

I sort of agree with you here. Food, in general, seems to be hard to come by at BC/YC (and also BWI to be fair). We trekked over to Dolphin a couple times to visit Picabu, and even the Fountain looked to be on par with B&C, food and price wise, without the insane wait times.

I agree about Ariel's too. We had our wedding reception here almost 10 years ago! It's sad that they are not even using it for special events anymore. If they are going to do that, just knock it down and build a CS there, a la Contempo Cafe or something similar.

That is a big reason we stayed Club Level at BC. We knew we didn't want to deal with the logistics of trying to "find" breakfast every morning, and to be honest, the evening offerings served as our dinner on several nights, so it worked for us. We are two adults with light appetites, and a 4 and 6 year old, who also eat like birds. We'd eat a large lunch either TS or CS and we were always back at the resort for the evening offerings. We had some really nice light dinners of fresh veggies, breads and cheese, salads, and the hot apps. Desserts were a nice way to finish the evening. I would not stay BC/YC, or BWI without choosing Club Level though. We got a nice discount, and I would never pay Disney's rack rate at ANY of their hotels. For what we paid, we were exceptionally satisfied with the Beach Club on all accounts (perhaps if we had been sans children, the lure of a bar with apps would be larger, but we didn't have the opportunity to partake in such adult luxuries).

 

[brergnat]

Just the property itself had no WOW to me. For whatever reason we just didnt love it. We stayed at BWI just across the lake and loved the resort. Makes no sense but that is how me and DH felt.

How funny! This is how we felt about BWI! I had always wanted to stay here, so we did some exploring and both DH and I agreed that we thought it had a strange "vibe" and we had NO desire to ever stay there. We felt the same about YC. I have always felt that way about AKL too. The place gives me the creeps...and I wouldn't even stay there if it was free. Sometimes, you just don't "fit" with a particular place, and that's okay. It's also another reason why you have to take negative reviews with a grain of salt. I can guarantee you if I stayed at AKL, I'd have nothing nice to say about it, because I already have these negative associations with it from just visiting! That doesn't make it a bad resort, though. Just not my cup of tea.

 

[dansyr2514]

I have to agree with John when he commented the maybe the service was inconsistent.

however.....

I also agree with Pete when he mentioned if you're paying over $400 a night for a hotel room the service should be outstanding.

 

[WebmasterPete]

As with any review we do, its simply a snapshot of the experience we had during those particular days. I think I'm pretty good at being fair when I do these, at least I try to be. I don't go in expecting to love or hate a particular resort - I try to think from the perspective of someone on vacation, and from the perspective of value.

It's important to point out that I did not give the Beach Club a bad review - I said that in my opinion it was unexceptional, especially when compared with service I've received elsewhere. I don't think I've become jaded, I think the vast majority of Disney visitors have lowered their expectations in deference to things like location.

As far as the Grand Californian is concerned, I haven't stayed on the concierge floor there in years - I simply won't pay the outrageous price they charge for what amounts to a 'Wilderness Lodge' room IMO. I've stayed there several times in the last few years and find it to be one of the worst Disney deluxe resorts out there. The service is inconsistent, and the value for what they charge simply isn't there. Again - these are my observations and experiences. I don't suggest that people should book or not book a resort because I say so - I ask only that the information be considered when making an informed decision about where to stay.

Pete