Rollercoaster panic AKL to BC = $$$

[Shellyb84]

Are you not allowed to have drinks by the main pool? or do you mean you can be in the pool or sitting on the edge of a pool with drinks? When we stayed at AKL I was relaxing on a Lounge chair and a Castmember took my drink order and brought it back to me.

You have to have them so many feet away from the pool. So lounge chairs are fine! They also have servers at the BC pool. Guillermo is the best!

 

[Amanda999]

You can have drinks at Stormalong Bay - they even have pool side service (food and beverages).

There's a grill and bar right next to it (outside the gate, which lets non-BC/YC people buy from there too) if you want to go that route. My kids love the bacon cheeseburger w/fries there. Great protein (chicken, blue cheese iirc) filled salad for me. Mug refill (soda). And separate bar next to the CS food area.

 

[Miss Frankie J]

You have to have them so many feet away from the pool. So lounge chairs are fine! They also have servers at the BC pool. Guillermo is the best!

Phew! I got worried for a second! Thats great to hear, at my offsite villa they dont enforce the no drinks by the pool policy and sometimes spills or drunken behavior happens so I get needing to be a certain distance away.

 

[Miss Frankie J]

You can have drinks at Stormalong Bay - they even have pool side service (food and beverages).

There's a grill and bar right next to it (outside the gate, which lets non-BC/YC people buy from there too) if you want to go that route. My kids love the Hurricane Hannah burger there (bacon cheeseburger). Great protein filled salad for me. Mug refill (soda). And separate bar next to the CS food area.

Fantastic! One of my boyfriends favorite things to do is hang out by the pool bar and chill. I'll have to tell him that as well as another perk.

 

[Shellyb84]

Phew! I got worried for a second! Thats great to hear, at my offsite villa they dont enforce the no drinks by the pool policy and sometimes spills or drunken behavior happens so I get needing to be a certain distance away.

Sorry I didn't word that the best way!

 

[msb578]

Have you considered the Swan & Dolphin as an option?

They are both on-site between the Boardwalk and the Yacht club. Pricing is often less than any of the other Epcot resorts. Yes they charge a $32 Resort fee and for parking but Disney is also charging for parking now can a resort fee be far away. Just factor these items into your cost calculation. Oh they have great pools that are better than AKL but still not in the class of SAB at the YC / BC.

Try this link: https://swandolphin.com/offers/index.html

You get almost all the same benefits as a true Disney Resort including EMHs, 60 FP+, 180 Day + 10 ADR bookings. The only thing I miss when staying at the Swan / Dolphin is the lack of a supplied MB and the ability to charge back to my room from my MB. Not an issue if you already have MBs from a previous trip or don't mind spending $12.99 to purchase a new one for your SO. He might like a custom one vs a plain old Disney color. And really how hard is it to pay with a credit card or cash vs using a MB that I can never right the first time.

Dave

I agree with pricing the Swan and Dolphin. Just one small thing: you *do* get 60-day plus length of stay FP+ and EMH; you *do not* get the “plus 10” for ADRs. You just have to book ADRs 180 days out, one day at a time (like the general public). Some people have reported receiving the “plus 10”, but it is a glitch in MDE.

There is also no Magical Express, and no option to purchase dining plans.

 

[Disneylover99]

Oh I have no problem moving unattended towels if there aren't any other personal items with them! That drives me crazy!

I agree. The resort pool towels are fair game, but many people are sneaky/smart. We noticed empty bottles of sunblock thrown on towels or resort plastic cups on tables, half filled with water to deter people from taking their chairs.

 

[Monykalyn]

Our only stay at Beach Club was a June trip. Only request was full balcony. Booked standard view room. Ended up with full balcony overlooking quiet pool, steps from the "secret" way to IG-literally steps away from IG to Epcot. We did have a Cape May dinner, but we all preferred just going into Epcot to get what we wanted to eat- I think it was truly closer to do that than trek allllll the way to lobby LOL. The older kids loved being able to go off on their own into Epcot to eat. The one day we did the main pool we had zero issues getting partly shaded loungers. We preferred the quiet pool most days for a quick cool off!

AKL is on my bucket list to stay at, but the proximity of BC to two parks just can't be beat.

 

[Disneylover99]

This makes me nervous.

Don't be nervous. So many people love SAB and don't find it too crowded at all. I'm just relaying my experience.

 

[Shellyb84]

I agree. The resort pool towels are fair game, but many people are sneaky/smart. We noticed empty bottles of sunblock thrown on towels or resort plastic cups on tables, half filled with water to deter people from taking their chairs.

 

[SL6827]

Don't be nervous. So many people love SAB and don't find it too crowded at all. I'm just relaying my experience.

Oh, I love SAB, don't get me wrong there. But will most likely not be arriving for our one night stay next month until maybe 11:00, hence the worry over not getting a chair? We will be staying overnight in Valdosta the night before, might need to leave at 5:00 in the morning then. Yep kids, ya'll want a chair, we are leaving at five.

 

[Miss Frankie J]

Have you considered the Swan & Dolphin as an option?

They are both on-site between the Boardwalk and the Yacht club. Pricing is often less than any of the other Epcot resorts. Yes they charge a $32 Resort fee and for parking but Disney is also charging for parking now can a resort fee be far away. Just factor these items into your cost calculation. Oh they have great pools that are better than AKL but still not in the class of SAB at the YC / BC.

Try this link: https://swandolphin.com/offers/index.html

You get almost all the same benefits as a true Disney Resort including EMHs, 60 FP+, 180 Day + 10 ADR bookings. The only thing I miss when staying at the Swan / Dolphin is the lack of a supplied MB and the ability to charge back to my room from my MB. Not an issue if you already have MBs from a previous trip or don't mind spending $12.99 to purchase a new one for your SO. He might like a custom one vs a plain old Disney color. And really how hard is it to pay with a credit card or cash vs using a MB that I can never right the first time.

Dave

Yes! we did consider those hotels as well. This has honestly been a long journey of research lol.

we looked into Swan and Dolphin first because the fall discounts werent available. as we watched videos and did research on the rooms we felt like Swan and Dolphin were a fine choice but Once the discounts dropped we were looking at POFQ/POR, BC, AKL. I think once the discounts were dropped it swayed us to stay at one of those resorts. Thanks though for the input, If you couldn't tell my Sweet boyfriend is very picky

 

[SL6827]

Yes! we did consider those hotels as well. This has honestly been a long journey of research lol.

we looked into Swan and Dolphin first because the fall discounts werent available. as we watched videos and did research on the rooms we felt like Swan and Dolphin were a fine choice but Once the discounts dropped we were looking at POFQ/POR, BC, AKL. I think once the discounts were dropped it swayed us to stay at one of those resorts. Thanks though for the input, If you couldn't tell my Sweet boyfriend is very picky

How many nights is $400 covering? Is this extra fair a rate directly with Disney or say a travel agent?

 

[Disneylover99]

We will be staying overnight in Valdosta the night before, might need to leave at 5:00 in the morning then. Yep kids, ya'll want a chair, we are leaving at five.

Five? You'll need to leave by 4:30 if you want a chair for everyone.

 

[sjrec]

I think you made the right decision-we just got back from a wonderful stay at Kidani-used the pool every day. One of the days they closed the pool at Jambo because of a “bio incident” and the pool was a madhouse. Lounges were all taken by noon. BC is such a great location-and we have stayed there in May and August and haven’t had a problem finding a chair-it’s such a big area there are many places to sit.

 

[SL6827]

Five? You'll need to leave by 4:30 if you want a chair for everyone.

4:30 it is!!

 

[SL6827]

Nah, I will just risk it. Maybe try to arrive by 10:00. Surely there will be many hotel guest gone to the parks then?

 

[Miss Frankie J]

How many nights is $400 covering? Is this extra fair a rate directly with Disney or say a travel agent?

So the rate is through disney and I spoke with a travel agent as well. Mostly my travel dates are a bit of a pain which is causing me not to get super awesome discounts but through disney I'm paying 325 a night for 5 nights in a garden/woods view room. The travel agent I spoke with Quoted me 319 a night in a standard but this is after taxes she mentioned. but not during my dates of travel. If I switched my dates I could save about $200 going with the travel agent but because of my job my dates are pretty locked in.

Running the numbers again AKL was $258 a night, BC is $325 a night. a $67 Difference per night. Overall after taxes the differences between the packages is $374.

 

[Miss Frankie J]

I think you made the right decision-we just got back from a wonderful stay at Kidani-used the pool every day. One of the days they closed the pool at Jambo because of a “bio incident” and the pool was a madhouse. Lounges were all taken by noon. BC is such a great location-and we have stayed there in May and August and haven’t had a problem finding a chair-it’s such a big area there are many places to sit.

Thats honestly what im the most worried about. When I stayed at AKL The pool at Jambo house was pretty lively when we arrived at 3pm. we found chairs no problem but I couldn't imagine all those people + all the people at Kidani Village enjoying one pool together.

 

[SL6827]

So the rate is through disney and I spoke with a travel agent as well. Mostly my travel dates are a bit of a pain which is causing me not to get super awesome discounts but through disney I'm paying 325 a night for 5 nights in a garden/woods view room. The travel agent I spoke with Quoted me 319 a night in a standard but this is after taxes she mentioned. but not during my dates of travel. If I switched my dates I could save about $200 going with the travel agent but because of my job my dates are pretty locked in.

Running the numbers again AKL was $258 a night, BC is $325 a night. a $67 Difference per night. Overall after taxes the differences between the packages is $374.

I was afraid that was the case with the dates, caused I noticed you were directly in between the specials with your dates when I went and looked to see what they had. I would still switch to the Beach Club. I have yet to stay there, just basing it on SAB, when we stayed at the Yacht Club.