The 2009 Yacht & Beach Club FAQ Thread

[TeenaS]

Hi Teena

I have been lurking on the resort boards, reading these threads, and I just have to say how lucky BCV people are to have you on these boards. I have learned so much about BCV from all the posters on this thread (and the previous one)but having a knowledgable and caring CM is priceless too.

(I have to say, your story about the magical upgrade just made me want to cry - that was so sweet. You have the best job in the world - I wanna do that too! :>)

I also learned alot about the online check in from you, thanks for your opinions!

I have never stayed at the Beachclub, but have always loved the resort (we take a tour of the boardwalk and BC/YC on our trips). We only go to Disney every 2 or 3 years, but last year, DH and I decided to buy DVC -- and I knew I had to own at BCV. We arrive Aug 13, and stay to the 24th, and if I see you in the lobby, I will have to say hi! We bought a contract with tons of banked points, so we will luckly be able to visit both in August, and a Christmas trip too! We will be staying at the BLT for a few days at Christmas,(then a few days at BCV) and if your DH is working there, I will be sure to give him the gears!!!

Anyways, thanks so much, I love this resort thread, and all the informative people on it. Cant wait for our trip -- its less then a month -- yippee!!!

Thank you for those kind words. I do have a wonderful job. What a nice fun way to be retired ... working two days a week (sometimes more if they talk me into it) and the best part is getting to meet so many wonderful people. However, I certainly could never do half of what I do if I didn't have the wonderful managers that I have. They are what Walt dreamed of ... true Disney cast members and they want to do everything in their power to make sure everyone has a magical vacation. I'm extremely lucky to be part of the wonderful team at the Y&B. We all value the friendships we make with our guests and can't wait for them to keep coming back!

Looks like I'll definitely get to meet you in August. I'll be working on the 16th and 17th before taking off to Nevada to help my daughter in her classroom for eleven days. Disney allows me to work in her classroom as a Disney VoluntEAR. It's a very low income school and they need so much help. I'm very fortunate that I work for a company that allows me so much time off to go help her (and yep, they allow me time off for my cruises too). I definitely know how lucky I am.

Wow ... sounds like you made a good deal. I have a few friends back in Pennsylvania that are members and their home is Animal Kingdom. They have been trying since they bought in to get a few days at the BCV and can't. And lucky you to be returning at Christmas!!

 

[natebenma]

Just returned from an AMAZING week-long trip staying at the Beach Club. REALLY magical trip. Hot but not too humid. Crowds were manageable because we did everything early (8 am park entries most days). Afternoons were pretty bad, so we would take a break around 1 each day. Judicious use of fast passes- I think the most we waited for any ride was 20 minutes and we did everything multiple times.
Bus service was pretty efficient- the only time we had a long ride was an evening return from Downtown Disney- took about 45 minutes. Other than that, we never waited very long for the buses. We took taxis to early morning breakfasts at Chef Mickey and Kona- around $15 plus tip.
We had a room at the Concierge level with a beautiful view of the pool/windmill. We were close to the lounge, elevator and the lobby and a 5 minute walk to EPCOT. The cast members in the Concierge lounge were very helpful and friendly. It was great having our packages delivered right to our room and they helped us make/cancel reservations and even sharpened pencils for us! I'm not used to getting waited on, but I must say I enjoyed it this past week!!! The only problem is that my son Nathan was a Prima Donna before the trip- this will not improve the situation.
It was so convenient to grab a quick bite to eat at the lounge before we headed out to the parks each morning. There was fruit, pastry, croissants, bagels, coffee/tea and juices. The midday snacks were great- the homemade kettle chips had a delicious red pepper dip, the yogurt pretzels were tasty and there were cookies available. We were never at the resort at dinner time, so we didn’t have a chance to sample the appetizers, but we did enjoy a drink in the evenings on our balcony when we returned to our room after dinner. There were also a wide variety of desserts available each night.
We had a chance to use our last dining credits at the new Beaches and Cream breakfast this morning. Our family of four shared two huge, delicious breakfast platters (counter serve credit) and a yummy parfait (snack credit).
FYI: Saw a couple of people using clear colored tubes in the pool, so it looks like the lifeguards were allowing it.
On Wednesday night we saw the space shuttle launch while we were at EPCOT. The launch was at 6:03, and we viewed it over Mexico from Canada- had 6:10 reservations at Le Cellier that evening, so the timing was perfect.
I appreciate all of the helpful info from people who have posted on this thread, especially TeenaS. It was great meeting her while we were at the Beach Club, and yes, she is as nice as she sounds in her posts!!! More about that in a few minutes/another post, after I go back to read the BC posts from the past week.

 

[quirty30]

Hey quirty30 --- looks like you'll be at BLT before too long (2 months). You'll get to deal with my hubby who is the lobby greeter at the Contemporary on Sundays and Mondays. You'll have to give him a hard time and tell him how the lobby greeter on Sundays and Mondays at the BC works alot harder than he does!!!

I told him he'll love having Members around - his job will be so much more fun once August 4th arrives! He loves pin trading so if anybody in the family are pin traders, you've got to look him up!

We'll have to find him on Sunday the 27th when we have breakfast at Chef Mickey's - my kids both became avid pin traders last month, much to the dismay of my wallet

Thanks for the pics...

It looks like alot of room is taken up in the "foyer" area? I am on the fence about reg CL or deluxe room. While i am at it i am also on the fence about BC/YC vs GF.....

I really want the Epcot area for the close location to 2 parks but i really want to stay GF cl. Don't really want to do a split stay with only 7 nights...I don't think i would consider a split stay unless i was there at least 10 nights.

I usually just let whatever discount comes out to decide for me. Meaning wherever has availability with the special, but i do want to book SOMETHING when 2010 pkgs come out in August.

You are right that the foyer takes up some room - and you can't even see the huge marble tiled entry that leads into the carpeted hall in those pics - it's about 12' x 4'. I put it to good use and rolled the lower portion of the desk over there and set up my own secluded little computer alcove. I could quietly surf the web (and post on Disboards) after the kids went to bed. I've never stayed in a standard BC room, but I've seen the layouts. The deluxe room is definitely wider - has the same furnishings, just a lot more space. I believe it has 520 sq. ft. compared to 380 for the standard rooms. They are not convenient to the concierge lounge, if that is an issue for you. Your idea to see what exactly is available in conjunction with a deal sounds like a good idea : )

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Okay a little more settled now.

I am sooooo missing BC right now! I can't believe how the two weeks flew by. We had a nice (and restful) stay in Hilton Head for five days to cushion the blow. Of course I'm already planning for next year!

We really did love the extra room in the BC deluxe CL room. With such a long trip it's nice to unpack and not be crowded. It is funny but we really grew to love the location of 1557 (although I always made DH look for snakes each morning!).

We spent a lot of time relaxing at the resort too. The kids did the Albatross Cruise and did the campfire the movie one night. We spent a lot of time at SAB. We had one night of rain and the kids got some DVD from CL and we relaxed in our room.

We ate at B&C for breakfast twice. They just started it at the end of our trip and I'm definitely going to write to guest communications and tell them how much we enjoyed it. It was so convenient, and the kids were getting tired of the CL suggestions after two weeks! They loved being able to have pancakes.

We did the Illuminations Cruise with friends for our ds and their ds's birthdays. The cruise was great - it is an incredible view of Illuminations from the boat. The only thing that went awry on our whole trip was the birthday cake which was supposed to be delivered to the cruise. We had special ordered a "pirate themed" birthday cake from BC Private dining. They had started working on it two weeks before we got there so I was really excited. It was definitely more than I usually spent on a birthday cake ($100!) but we were splitting it with the other family and I figured it was a one time deal.

The day of the cruise the weather was iffy. I talked to BC Private dining and they said if the cruise was cancelled we could have it in our room. I asked about just having it delibered to the Cape May Buffet (where we were all having dinner together) but they said the decision on whether to cancel the cruise probably wouldn't be made that soon.

When we checked in for the Illuminations Cruise I was told that the cake was there but that the weather wasn't cooperating for having a cake. The marina cms told us that it was too muggy and the cake might melt. They agreed to have private dining set it up in our room for after the cruise. That was fine, no big deal.

In February we had a cake delivered to our room for dd's birthday and it was very nice. They had set it up on a table with a china plates, silverwear and a silver cake cutter.

When we got back to the room I wanted to cry. The cake had either been dropped or left out in the room too long and had completely broken apart. What you could still see looked great, but the chocolate pirate ships had broken apart and large pieces of cake the fallen off the crumbled all over.
In addition it was just left with some plastic forks and plates. I don't know how we would have even cut it. I called private dining and Brian,one of the managers came over. He even couldn't believe it when he saw it. Of course they took it off our bill and offered to sent over two small cakes but we declined. By that time it was too late and the kids were tired.

That was the only disappointment of our trip though. Everything else was great. In addition to seeing Teena again I finally met one of my favorite Dissers, Java. We met up on the 4th of July since we both had lunch reservations at Chef de France. It was great to finally meet her! Remy was really cute at lunch too.

We ate at a lot of restaurants in two weeks:

Breakfast:
Cape May Buffet
Chef Mickeys
Crystal Palace
Princess Storybook Breakfast

Lunch"
Sci-Fi
50's Prime Time Cafe
Chefs de France

Dinner:
Tutto Italia
Rose and Crown (4th of July and we had a patio table for Illuminations)
Biergarten
Le Cellier
Liberty Tree Tavern
Ohana
Kona Cafe
The Wave
Narcoose's
RainForrest Cafe
Cape May Buffet
Mama Melrose's
Hollywood Brown Derby

All were wonderful (especially Narcoose's). We did have two slight problems -food was great at LTT, but service was horrible. After 1 hour and 45 minutes we left without even having dessert because it was the 3rd of July and we wanted to get a place to watch the special preview fireworks. The other, believe it or not, was LeCellier. My steak and mashed potatoes tasted like someone had spilled a salt shaker on it. When I told the cm she immediately took it off the check and offered to bring me anything. By that time it was late so I declined, but the service (and the cheese soup) were very good.

Crowds weren't as bad as they usually are this time of the year.

Mousekeeping at BC was exceptional! We had asked for the room to be made up by 12:00 every day and it always was. Never a complaint with the quality of mousekeeping service either.

Everyone at BC was friendly and helpful. BC marketplace was a great "quick food" and "snack" stop. CL was great, although I did see some people really using the appetizers as dinner. One woman was yelling to someone to bring her a second plate, while she was still in line! All in all we appreciated having the CL for a quick breakfast, drinks and nice appetizers and wine in the early evening. We only had the "dessert" offerings twice. The dining plan killed me with dessert! Now I'm back to eating lean cuisine -even with all the walking I gained 6lbs in three weeks!

Any questions?

 

[quirty30]

Okay a little more settled now.

I am sooooo missing BC right now! I can't believe how the two weeks flew by. We had a nice (and restful) stay in Hilton Head for five days to cushion the blow. Of course I'm already planning for next year!

We really did love the extra room in the BC deluxe CL room. With such a long trip it's nice to unpack and not be crowded. It is funny but we really grew to love the location of 1557 (although I always made DH look for snakes each morning!).

We spent a lot of time relaxing at the resort too. The kids did the Albatross Cruise and did the campfire the movie one night. We spent a lot of time at SAB. We had one night of rain and the kids got some DVD from CL and we relaxed in our room.

We ate at B&C for breakfast twice. They just started it at the end of our trip and I'm definitely going to write to guest communications and tell them how much we enjoyed it. It was so convenient, and the kids were getting tired of the CL suggestions after two weeks! They loved being able to have pancakes.

We did the Illuminations Cruise with friends for our ds and their ds's birthdays. The cruise was great - it is an incredible view of Illuminations from the boat. The only thing that went awry on our whole trip was the birthday cake which was supposed to be delivered to the cruise. We had special ordered a "pirate themed" birthday cake from BC Private dining. They had started working on it two weeks before we got there so I was really excited. It was definitely more than I usually spent on a birthday cake ($100!) but we were splitting it with the other family and I figured it was a one time deal.

The day of the cruise the weather was iffy. I talked to BC Private dining and they said if the cruise was cancelled we could have it in our room. I asked about just having it delibered to the Cape May Buffet (where we were all having dinner together) but they said the decision on whether to cancel the cruise probably wouldn't be made that soon.

When we checked in for the Illuminations Cruise I was told that the cake was there but that the weather wasn't cooperating for having a cake. The marina cms told us that it was too muggy and the cake might melt. They agreed to have private dining set it up in our room for after the cruise. That was fine, no big deal.

In February we had a cake delivered to our room for dd's birthday and it was very nice. They had set it up on a table with a china plates, silverwear and a silver cake cutter.

When we got back to the room I wanted to cry. The cake had either been dropped or left out in the room too long and had completely broken apart. What you could still see looked great, but the chocolate pirate ships had broken apart and large pieces of cake the fallen off the crumbled all over.
In addition it was just left with some plastic forks and plates. I don't know how we would have even cut it. I called private dining and Brian,one of the managers came over. He even couldn't believe it when he saw it. Of course they took it off our bill and offered to sent over two small cakes but we declined. By that time it was too late and the kids were tired.

OMG Robyn, I totally agree about dessert overload. I think they should include the tip in the dining plan and leave off the dessert. It was just too much, especially with all the wonderful sweet offerings you can get with snack credits. I am so sorry about the pirate cake - I can't begin to fathom your disappointment. Our Wishes cruise for DS's b-day was actually cancelled due to lightning - we were so upset, but our wonderful captain Irma somehow managed to get us a smaller boat for the next night and kept our cake in the Wilderness marina fridge. It was just perfect, even the next day. But it was just in a box along with a bag of plates, forks, etc. so it was easy to carry on the boat. Not much of a presentation. I'm guessing that's how your cake was delivered to your room. I think you and I both might have learned some lessons about cakes and bad weather and fireworks cruises. Order the pirate cake again on your next visit and have it at the restaurant (I really hope this is something you can do!) And have it early in the trip - we threw half the Mickey cake away because we were leaving in the AM.

 

[natebenma]

As I mentioned in a previous post, we returned today from a super trip to the BC. Before we left for the trip, I decided at the last minute that I would put together a photo album for TeenaS, whose frequent posts about the Beach Club have been helpful to so many of us.

I PM'ed a few of the frequent or recent posters to this board, and asked if they would e-mail me a couple of photos of their family at Disney, or at the Beach Club or with Teena. I want to thank the families who responded to my last minute request. Teena was SO appreciative of the book when I gave it to her at checkin. She said it was nice to have a reminder of the wonderful people she has met and to be able to put a face to a "screen name/avatar" of the people who write into the board.

I tried to include 4 photos per family on each page, I printed out the avatar and wrote screen names, and if the family provided their names/hometown, I included that, too.

I told Teena I would maintain this book for her, and send photos to her if BC visitors/posters want to add their photos. Please PM me and I will respond with my e-mail address for you to attach a few photos. You can provide me with your real name if you want, or not. Please note that this book is just for Teena, not shared with the public, if you have privacy concerns.

Now that it is no longer a surprise, I can post my request for photos to keep this book current, I will post this message frequently, probably around the time that Teena posts the movie/activities schedule for the month.

Thanks! Look forward to hearing from you!

Dee (Natebenma)

 

[LoraJ]

Teena,
That is such a magical thing you did for that family. I love it!!!!!

 

[scottmel]

Teena you might be the only person able to answer this...When YC did the room refurb now (CL) and rest of rooms going forward, are the mattresses being replaced? Mattresses are deal breakers for me..I loved the BWI mattress and realize the room was totally renovated in 08 so got me thinking about YC....are the mattresses being replaced now? Thanks! melissa

 

[mouskagirlie]

Teena you might be the only person able to answer this...When YC did the room refurb now (CL) and rest of rooms going forward, are the mattresses being replaced? Mattresses are deal breakers for me..I loved the BWI mattress and realize the room was totally renovated in 08 so got me thinking about YC....are the mattresses being replaced now? Thanks! melissa

Good question, I've been wondering about that very same thing

 

[mmmears]

Hi all!CL was great. It was a little inconvenient being on the 1st floor but we knew that when we picked the deluxe room over the regular CL floor. The appetizers were really nice- bacon wrapped scallops, duck quesedillas, chicken skewers, potstickers, egg rolls, tomato and mozzarella, fresh veg and dip and my ds's favorite mickey shaped sugar cookies.

Thank you so much for posting such a detailed review of the offerings in the club lounge. It really helps me (and I'm sure others as well) to get an idea of what we can expect when we are there! Glad you had a wonderful vacation!

Thank you for those kind words. I do have a wonderful job. What a nice fun way to be retired ... working two days a week (sometimes more if they talk me into it) and the best part is getting to meet so many wonderful people. However, I certainly could never do half of what I do if I didn't have the wonderful managers that I have. They are what Walt dreamed of ... true Disney cast members and they want to do everything in their power to make sure everyone has a magical vacation. I'm extremely lucky to be part of the wonderful team at the Y&B. We all value the friendships we make with our guests and can't wait for them to keep coming back!

Teena -- sounds like you have my dream job! I think it would be great to get to work a couple of days a week, especially in such a wonderful place and with great people.

Just returned from an AMAZING week-long trip staying at the Beach Club. REALLY magical trip. Hot but not too humid. Crowds were manageable because we did everything early (8 am park entries most days). Afternoons were pretty bad, so we would take a break around 1 each day. Judicious use of fast passes- I think the most we waited for any ride was 20 minutes and we did everything multiple times.
Bus service was pretty efficient- the only time we had a long ride was an evening return from Downtown Disney- took about 45 minutes. Other than that, we never waited very long for the buses. We took taxis to early morning breakfasts at Chef Mickey and Kona- around $15 plus tip.
We had a room at the Concierge level with a beautiful view of the pool/windmill. We were close to the lounge, elevator and the lobby and a 5 minute walk to EPCOT. The cast members in the Concierge lounge were very helpful and friendly. It was great having our packages delivered right to our room and they helped us make/cancel reservations and even sharpened pencils for us! I'm not used to getting waited on, but I must say I enjoyed it this past week!!! The only problem is that my son Nathan was a Prima Donna before the trip- this will not improve the situation.
It was so convenient to grab a quick bite to eat at the lounge before we headed out to the parks each morning. There was fruit, pastry, croissants, bagels, coffee/tea and juices. The midday snacks were great- the homemade kettle chips had a delicious red pepper dip, the yogurt pretzels were tasty and there were cookies available. We were never at the resort at dinner time, so we didn’t have a chance to sample the appetizers, but we did enjoy a drink in the evenings on our balcony when we returned to our room after dinner. There were also a wide variety of desserts available each night.

Thank you for writing your review. The club lounge info is really helpful, as is your report about the crowds and the weather. We're going in a week and I've been a bit worried about the crowds and the weather, so your info has helped make me feel better about it all.

 

[liltoot]

Add me to the wondering list on the mattress. I loved the mattress we had at the BC a month ago. I looked at what kind it was and now I can't remember!! It was soooooo comfortable. Does anyone know what brand they use? TIA

 

[natebenma]

No idea on the mattress type at BC, but they were GREAT!!! I usually don't sleep well when I am on vacation, and I slept much better than I ever have away from home.

 

[Jeanine3kids]

Teena where in ther hotel do you work?????????? I want to say hello

 

[Jeanine3kids]

Another great story to share about the BC, we all went to Ak and we purchased my son a Yeti doll on thte bus on the way back we noticed the dolls arm was ripped my son was so upset since we would not be returning to the AK, so I took the Yeti into the BC Marketplace and showed it to the manager and he said no problem I will have my runner get you a new one I have SHOCKED I couldn't believe they did this buy later that evening my son had a new Yeti Got love the BC.

Jeanine

 

[seadooken]

Good morning all . . .

I saw on an earlier post that there is free wifi in the lobby? Is this true? I thought that Disney charged a fee for internet access.

 

[quirty30]

Good morning all . . .

I saw on an earlier post that there is free wifi in the lobby? Is this true? I thought that Disney charged a fee for internet access.

In the lobby it's free. If you want it in your room, you have to use a cord and pay. Unless your room is really close to the lobby like mine was : )

 

[donaldseeyore]

Thank you to everyone who has helped answer so many questions I had with this thread, and I didn't even have to post!! LOL

I am so excited to get there..we just managed to get a studio villa for Dec 8 with a waitlist for the 9th (really hoping it comes through!! I don't want to go to BWV)

Then we are staying there in January right before the marathon starts. I can't wait, it has been a dream of ours to get to stay at BC.......happy happy happy

 

[seadooken]

Any idea what the rates are for in the room use?

 

[Rain]

Any idea what the rates are for in the room use?

I think they are still $9.99 per 24 hour period. I had no idea they had free internet in the lobby.

 

[quirty30]

I think they are still $9.99 per 24 hour period. I had no idea they had free internet in the lobby.

Yep - on any given day, if you take a look around, you will see numerous people sitting in the chairs and couches with their laptops. I think I read here that only Disney hotels attached to convention centers have free wi-fi in the lobby.