Spring Break long weekend - Beach Club

[DeeBee3]

Just finished a long weekend staying at Beach Club. Just me, husband, and 2 kids (8 and 4). Did not purchase Genie+.

We arrived Friday night and it was much later than it should have been due to delay with JetBlue. Kept us 2 hours behind due to "weather" in Florida. Definitely a cover because it was beautiful with NO weather in Orlando. So, the first night was just get in room and go to bed. Was supposed to be a dinner/look around the resort night.

Monday was MK. We did not get to rope drop before rope drop, but we were in Fantasyland at 8:31. Peter Pan was 45 mins and we didn't want to spend the whole time on 1 ride so we hopped over to Small World and proceeded to get cinnamon rolls at Gaston's. Husband and kids went on Dumbo while I finished eating. I then took my older daughter on Barnstormer and the littlest went on Tea Cups with Dad. Kids also enjoyed running around Casey's splash area.
So far I was pleased with how much we got done, even if it wasn't a headliner. No one had a great desire to do Seven Dwarfs so we knew we would be skipping it anyway.

Much to my chagrin, my youngest did not want to ride Little Mermaid (poop to her) so I hung out with her and had a snack.

On the way to our lunch reservation at Tony's, we were able to enjoy the Festival of Fantasy parade. Kids loved it. We stopped along the way to check it out. After lunch (which was good), we went back to the hotel (Beach Club). I needed to rest; the kids wanted the pool. So we relaxed for a few hours before heading back to MK. Visited Swiss Family Treehouse, Haunted Mansion, got some Dole Whip and food. Was able to get on Winnie the Pooh before fireworks. Checked out the fireworks from that area and it was pretty cool. We wanted to be close to Peter Pan, and we were able to get on in less than 20 minutes.

We were all tired, but still excited to be in the magic, so we hopped on People Mover to take in the night view. Finished off with Laugh Floor. I really wanted to get on Astro Orbiter, but my body said, "NO, GO TO SLEEP."

Sunday was Disney Springs/Pool day. Had breakfast at Olivia's, took a boat to the Springs, and then headed back to the hotel. We all took a rest and then enjoyed the pool. Headed over to the boardwalk and enjoyed the Hula Hoop ladies.

Monday was Epcot and this is where we really loved the Beach Club location. We were going to attempt early hours, but we knew we wanted to stay for the extended evening so we didn't rush out. I have little kids so we are up early anyway, but at least we didn't have to run around to get out. I lucked out with an ILL for Remy. The dreaded reset of time occurred so I thought it was 10:30ish, but when I checked out and paid, it was 2:55-3:55pm. We had a lunch reservation at Biergarten, but it all worked out. They seated us a tad early and we had plenty of time to walk over to Remy.

We all love Epcot, and honestly, it doesn't even matter if we do rides. We started out at International Gateway and bought the Easter egg scavenger hunt. We started out looking for those and just enjoyed the surroundings. Made our way through UK, Canada, etc and ended up in Mexico to ride 3 Caballeros. Walk on for that. Took a picture with Mr. Donald after the ride. Frozen was an hour or so and I don't wait that long for anything. We headed down toward the entrance and rode Figment for the 1st time. I was not a fan. Don't hate me. We then proceeded to Nemo, which ended up being way more than 30 mins. Had I figured out the sign was "lying" I would not have stayed in line. We all love the ride. The kids were able to check out the aquarium and did Turtle Talk with Crush. I sat outside and enjoyed the breeze.

We headed over to Club Cool and sampled the horrid Beverly. My husband said he liked it - not sure I believe him. I was looking for the 50th anniversary Cinderella Castle Spirit Jersey so we looked in Connections. That shirt must be the most popular in the parks because all they had at every stop was the bigger sizes. No luck this trip.

On to Biergarten and Remy. We enjoyed lunch and music. We have a big German club in our small city and we always love the Oktoberfest they host. Kids loved it. Remy was nice. I would not have waited on the line if I hadn't purchased the ILL. As it was our lane was slowed down because a kid got sick right before we were supposed to ride. Not sure if it was from a ride (nauseous) or just a stomach issue. They had to shut down a few cars and loading areas due to that. It turned out the people being directed to the other loading area (who were way behind us) got on the ride sooner than we did. Overall, we liked the ride. I guess I wasn't blown away, but I'm also pretty low-key in my descriptions of things.

Back to the hotel where we all took more than an hour nap. This was the first time my kids actually fell asleep. Thank goodness. I was exhausted.

I stayed in the room with our youngest since she was sleeping so well. My husband took a walk with "other" and enjoyed themselves with the adventure.

We got back into Epcot after 7 and continued the egg hunt. Grabbed some booth food and found ourselves listening to Don McLean sing "American Pie." We had completely forgotten he was going to be there so it was a fun little surprise. We did not pick out a strategic fireworks spot, so we just hung out near France. Kids couldn't see the water/screen stuff without us holding them. I could only do that for so long. We liked the show. I think Coco was my favorite part.

After Harmonious we walked against traffic and headed to Norway. Frozen was maybe 20 mins. We spent time before that trying to buy Mickey bars, but the cash register was down. After the ride it was back up and kids were happy. We made one last souvenir stop and then my daughter and husband walked over to Remy. A 10-minute wait. We met them at exit by Intl Gateway and headed back to hotel to collapse in a heap.

Tuesday was check out day so we packed up, left luggage with bell services, and headed out to Grand Floridian to see the eggs. We took a very roundabout route to enjoy looking around and relax. Boat from BC to HS. Got on the Skyliner to Riviera and then hopped on a bus to MK. Walked over to the boats since monorail was down. Boat took a long while, but we eventually made it over to GF to grab an Easter treat and look at the eggs. After some lounging, we found out the monorail was back so we hopped on and went to Contemporary. We had a lunch reservation at Steakhouse 71. Food was great. Kids were dying to get one last dip in the pool, so we headed back to BC. While they went into the pool with dad, I relaxed in the lobby.

Our flight back home was a late one, so we didn't need an Uber until 5 and that went smoothly. Our first experience at Orlando without waiting a million years through security. We flew Delta this time and there were no delays.

My big question: How do people do Disney without feeling exhausted? Every day I felt like I was going to collapse into bed. Without a break in middle of the day, I wouldn't have made it. This happens every time!

Takeaways: We had a "magical" time. It was a long weekend for us, so we went for a short getaway from work and life. We were fine without Genie+, but could see how it would help (if working for you). It was crowded, but we were able to do plenty of rides and we had no issues with that. The weather was BEAUTIFUL. 70s during the day and cool at night. Perfect for us.

I was surprised to confirm that there was trash around. I had never experienced this before. The queue lines were filled with wrappers and food items. This was the case especially in the Haunted Mansion line. I realize it's hard to clean while people are in the lines, but I had never seen before. First thing in the morning while riding Small World, there were clumps of dirt and dust bunnies in corners - that was 8:30am and it should have been clean from overnight. I did not notice as many cast members in white walking around. Maybe that's it?

Some cast members were quiet and not as "bubbly," but I won't hold that against them.

Beach Club was great except for the state of the furniture in our studio. If I was paying full price for the room, and not using DVC points, I would have been extra upset. I realize it's up for refurbishment soon, but it was pretty bad in our room. Bathroom was spotless, but couch and wooden furniture were trashed.

Overall, it was a great family getaway. Now I just need to figure out how to get my energy back because I am still exhausted!

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

My big question: How do people do Disney without feeling exhausted? Every day I felt like I was going to collapse into bed. Without a break in middle of the day, I wouldn't have made it. This happens every time!

Looks like you had a nice weekend - we're headed to BCV in a couple of weeks so glad to see you enjoyed your stay there.

As for your big question, we came home from our last (pre-pandemic) Disney trip feeling really rested and relaxed, and when I told people that they were (naturally) shocked. At the time we had a 2.5 year old, and we felt like Disney pooped her out so much she slept later than she would at home, plus we got a break from BEING the entertainment bc Disney was the entertainment instead.

I'll say I think the trick is to stay as long as possible, especially with little ones. Then you're not rushed to do everything at once and you can take daily afternoon breaks etc without feeling the FOMO. You just go slower, you're not spending full days in the parks every day. Fastpass+ was still a thing when we were last there and that was a huge help, so I'm planning on buying Genie+ (begrudgingly) for at least a few days of our upcoming trip. With a 2 year old and a 5 year old this time, I just don't see anyone enjoying themselves if we're spending all of our time in standby lines.

 

[DeeBee3]

I think the big tired thing for me is that I go to bed "early" compared to many adults and at Disney we always end up staying out late. The kids somehow figure out how to do this, but they still wake up relatively early. For me, that doesn't work out so well.

 

[Mich123]

Great report! Sounds like a fun weekend, I like your strategy of splitting up with kids.

DH and I went (without our kids) for 9 days at the end of January and it was exhausting. We also had crazy flight issues getting to MCO (first, no flight attendants, then once we got to MCO we sat on the runway for almost an hour because there wasn’t an available gangway—I’m not buying that, just like your “weather”) and got to our hotel at 1 am. Not a relaxing start to our vacation.

We did a couple of pool breaks and hung out at lounges, but it didn’t really help that much. I’m sure I over scheduled, and for us, Genie+ might have been to blame. The stress of getting up to make LL reservations and to purchase ILL made it impossible for me to sleep in.

All of that being said, I’m probably not learning any lessons from my planning and doing it again in a few weeks.

 

[DeeBee3]

Great report! Sounds like a fun weekend, I like your strategy of splitting up with kids.

DH and I went (without our kids) for 9 days at the end of January and it was exhausting. We also had crazy flight issues getting to MCO (first, no flight attendants, then once we got to MCO we sat on the runway for almost an hour because there wasn’t an available gangway—I’m not buying that, just like your “weather”) and got to our hotel at 1 am. Not a relaxing start to our vacation.

We did a couple of pool breaks and hung out at lounges, but it didn’t really help that much. I’m sure I over scheduled, and for us, Genie+ might have been to blame. The stress of getting up to make LL reservations and to purchase ILL made it impossible for me to sleep in.

All of that being said, I’m probably not learning any lessons from my planning and doing it again in a few weeks.

The flight issues are getting nuttier by the day.

I think going from a rather "boring" and more sedentary lifestyle to all of a sudden walking 20,000 steps in the sun just makes it impossible to prepare for.

Have fun in a few weeks!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

It sounds like you had a great trip! I love BC and the epcot area location of all those resorts. I prefer those over the MK resorts since you can easily access two parks by walking or boat. It's an awesome location. I do think if you're not used to it, WDW will tire you out. When my friends visit who've never been, if they're not very active people, I always tell them to start walking/exercising before they go. We're a pretty active family but it's still really tiring. It's also much worse in the summer since you can't sustain that level of activity in the heat/humidity.

We usually only do one longish day and most of the other days of our trip we will either do late park arrival and we'll do a midday break if we arrive in the morning. We usually don't do any trips longer than a week and most are usually 4 days so we try to squeeze in a break day for relaxing too but overall, we still find our WDW trips to be pretty low key, even if we're walking 25,000 steps/day. LOL.

And by the way, not a lot of ppl love Figment so I think you're not hurting anyone's feeling and in the majority on that. I do love Figment but not the ride either!