Tell me about SAB &BC

[momhmmx2]

We are headed to disney at the end of August. We are staying at Kidani Sun-Thurs..
BUT I am thinking of flying in early and staying on site at BC...I've never stayed at BC (don't even know if it is available), but I'm thinking of arriving early on Sat and spending most of the day(if not all) at the resort on points. What are your thoughts about SAB??? I hear it is fabulous, but what exactly does that mean?? Can you describe to me the pool/slide/lifeguards and games for kids ours will be 13 and 10/ fun things to do at the resort?? Is it worth the ridiculous amount of points for one weekend night??

Thanks!!

 

[robertdangelo]

I highly recommend it! SAB is like a water park. We don't do the Water Parks at WDW because of it. It is very easy to get separated from your kids there. The entrance to the waterslide is over by the lake, not cluse to where the slide comes into the pool. Great food and Drink at Hurricane Hanna's Grill at the pool. Beaches & Cream is nearby... great ice cream!
BC also has nightly movies on the beach, with Campfire, S'Mores & Sing-A-Longs. Here is a link to Movie schedule: http://www.buildabettermousetrip.com/activity-outdoormovie.php#beachclub
Click On "Beach club photos" below... there are several pics of SAB.

Cape May has a great Character breakfast... much more relaxed than Chef Mickey's. Dinner at Cape May is a "Clambake" everynight!

BCV is a 5 minute walkto EPCOT.
Good luck!

 

[CandyMandy]

SAB comes with tradeoffs. To summarize:

The good news:

- While calling it a full-blow "water park" is an exaggeration, it does have more overall play value (by virtue of having a toddler-friendly sand-bottomed area, waterfalls, a pseudo "lazy river" and a pump-driven whirpool) than any other pool at WDW.

- In terms of seating, lots of nooks and crannies and many with shade. There are some really nice shaded spots in the middle of the pool with "shelves" that allow one to sit in the water and enjoy the theming.

- Fastest (not longest or biggest but yes, fastest) slide of any WDW resort pool.

The not-so good news:

- It's a lousy place for parents with young swimmers. By virtue of its meandering design, the sight lines at SAB are absolutely terrible. Parents with young kids who are just getting their "wings" will quickly feel their blood pressure rising as barely bouyant Johnny or Muffy bobs out of view every ten seconds. And the strong currents in the middle lazy river section (areas of which are close to six feet deep) make this only worse.

- When it's crowded you really feel it. SAB was pretty much "at capacity" before BVC was even built and the addition of the latter turned it into the busiest pool on property. A "only for guests of Beach and Yacht" policy was then added, but enforcement is spotty, expecially during low seasons. But even then, plan on grabbing your seats early. Also, walkways across the pool are relatively narrow, so you will be doing a lot of limbo dancing when trying to navigate them when bringing back food from Hurricane Hanas. On that subject, said crowding makes the nearby (and IMHO somewhat overrated) Beaches and Cream a proverbial long, long wait whenever the pool is busy.

 

[fers31]

Having just returned from my first trip to BCV last week let me say this: while SAB is I believe the coolest pool on property, it is by no means a waterpark. I had heard the term "waterpark" many times and when I got to SAB, I thought it was an above average pool. I have a 2 year old so the sand bottom area was good for him and filled with lots of young kids, the rest wasn't much. I had heard of the "lazy river" but had to ask to find it as there was nobody in it and didn't look like anything. It's a nice pool, but don't expect to walk into Blizzard Beach.

 

[awilliams4]

A "only for guests of Beach and Yacht" policy was then added, but enforcement is very spotty.

We found the BCV/BC/YC only enforcement to be very strict when we were there in Oct 09. Every entrance had a CM checking room cards closely from what we saw the entire time we were there.

 

[LSchrow]

imho, add a sun-thurs night onto another trip (unless you can to this vaca).
the pool is nice, but as others have said: not a waterpark. august is a crowded time to begin with, and the pool and surrounding area will almost definately be wall-to-wall ppl (probably not what a 10 & 13 yo would consider fun).
i really don't think trying SAB is worth spending the high weekend points for - especially as you could try it for half the amount just by going a different day.
hth

 

[CandyMandy]

We found the BCV/BC/YC only enforcement to be very strict when we were there in Oct 09. Every entrance had a CM checking room cards closely from what we saw the entire time we were there.

That's what I meant by "spotty," ergo inconsistent. At times it is diligent (as you experienced) and at other times pretty much non-existent, perhaps due to budget-cut-related tightening of staff in lowers seasons.

Example of latter: I was at the Yacht Club attending a conference last year in early May and went to SAB four times while there. Not only I but my kids noticed that on three of those four visits there was hardly ever a CM attending the gate and towel station near the northeastern entrance (the one to the right of the Yachtsmen Steakhouse), despite the fact many people were entering there. Which may have explained why we continually saw scores of parties in the pool without wristbands.

And not once did we see a lifeguard removing any of said parties.

 

[Tara]

During the day there's music, a DJ of sorts keeping people involved, lots of small-child-appropriate games in the zero entry/beach area, beachball water volleyball, games that get parents involved, like water balloon toss (sort of like a dunking machine but the kid throws at a target and if it, a water balloon gets popped over the parent's head, crafts for kids like t-shirt painting.

VERY fun pool area.

And just to add, I do believe some areas are even deeper than 6 feet.

We've stayed at BC a lot and while I am not a pool person or much for swimming, I've always enjoyed SAB. Our favorite routine is to come back to the room around 1pm, change into our suits and swim for a couple of hours, then hustle back over to put some dry clothes on and eat at Beaches & Cream at about 3:30-4:00 or so. In our experience, it is NEVER crowded at this time (unless a storm blows through and clears the pool out).

Good luck finding a room - I've had a lot of trouble getting a room for the dates I want in August.