Thanks to everyone on this Thread for all of the helpful information about WBC. As a result of this Thread, I learned about WBC and saved $1,000 or more over a stay that I had reserved at the Beach Club. I would like to provide my review of WBC as a way of thanking you for the great tips/advice and to help others who might be considering a stay at WBC.
We arrived at Noon on Sunday (5/29) for check-in. Front Desk took down our information and we got our parking pass at that time. Our room wasn't ready (Tower 4 requested), so we went to Downtown Disney to eat lunch and walk around. At 1:30 p.m., Front Desk called to say that our room was ready. Tower 4, High Floor with Lake View. I don't know why, but I was surprised that they called. I assumed that we would be coming back at 4 p.m. to a crowded lobby to "check in" again.
Below are my impressions of the resort (we have never stayed off-site before and have stayed on-site approximately 20+ times from All Stars/Pop to Poly in price):
Pros:
2 BR Deluxe. Having the extra space has been great. The room to spread out and have an extra bedroom/bathroom has been a true luxury.
Our food bill outside of the groceries has been approximately $200. We will probably end up with a total food bill of $500 for 7 days. Averaging $70/day for our family at Disney is a good deal. On the
DDP, we would have spent over $100/day on food.
The pools. Tower 4 has been a great location for us. It is a 2 minute walk to the Main Bldg. Tower 4 has a quieter pool, because it doesn't have any "features." It is a 1 minute walk to the lazy river at Tower 5 and is a 2 minute walk to the Pirate Pool at Tower 6. There are several grills located at the end of the building. For anyone curious, there is an ice machine located in the lobby of Tower 4 as you exit to the pool. It is very convenient for filling up a cooler on the way to the pool for the day. We have visited all of the pools and have found them all to be very good.
Activities. We have played putt-putt, ping pong and attended the Gator Show. The activities employees seem to have a lot of energy and are friendly and helpful. There is an activities desk located in the Main Building and in Tower 6.
Location. I truly did not appreciate how great the WBC location was until we arrived. It might be the most convenient resort in WDW. We have our car on our trip, so we have driven to the parks for the first time in our 20+ visits to WDW. This has been the biggest surprise for us. We have loved it. It took us 5 minutes to get to Epcot (12 minutes from the time we left WBC until we were in the park). In fact, I am convinced that we parked closer than the Disney bus drop-off point. It was so convenient that we decided to come back to WBC after lunch for a few hours to rest. Later that afternoon, we drove 4 minutes over the Boardwalk and ate there before entering the Epcot countries through the back entrance. It is probably a 3 minute drive to Downtown Disney, Typhoon Lagoon and to DHS. On the day that we visited MK, we left WBC at 8:35 and were inside the park by 9:10. In the future, when we stay on-site, we will drive to the parks instead of using the Disney buses (with the possible exception of MK due to the proximity of the bus drop-off location near the entrance).
Minor Cons:
Front Desk Service. While the front desk staff has not been rude, we have not found them to be particularly helpful or welcoming either. We had a problem with our keys (they were not demagnetized, but they simply would not work). I had to return to the Main Building on 4 occasions before the issue was resolved. Not terrible as Tower 4 is a very short walk to the Main Building, but this could have been a terrible situation if we were located in Tower 3. On the other hand, they did honor our building request and allowed us to check in early.
Pool crowds/noise. We haven't found it difficult to find a chair, but the more popular pools are definitely more crowded and livelier. Sometimes it is difficult to locate a tube at the lazy river at Tower 5 and sometimes the Pirate Pool area at Tower 6 is a little too crowded for my taste. All in all, it hasn't been terrible by any means, but a minor nuisance at times. For those looking for peace and quiet (we haven't been with a 9 yo and 5 yo), there definitely seems to be more noise at the Tower 5 and 6 pools with less crowds at the Tower 3 & 4 pools and the main building pool. Also, the crowds tend to follow the live music. If live music for the day is at Tower 4, then the crowd at Tower 4 will be larger than Tower 3 and vice versa.
Cooking, Cleaning and Lack of On-Site Dining: We are on vacation, but we are cooking and cleaning on a daily basis. On the flip side, we are saving a great deal of money, but there is definitely some work involved. Also, there are not great options for dining at WBC. The pool bars are great for drinks and they do offer food options at reasonable prices (compared to WDW). However, the food is average with little variety. Great in a pinch, but I wouldn't want to eat it every meal. Also, we have particular restaurants that we always dine in at WDW. We haven't visited most of these restaurants this trip, because we are staying at WBC, we are not on the DDP and don't feel that the additional expense is warranted when we have groceries in the room. As a result, I have missed not eating at some of our favorite places.
Things to Consider for First Timers to WBC:
Lack of Disney theme. This has been a positive for us on this trip as we did not want this to be our normal Disney trip. Typically, we stay on site with a 4 or 5 day park hopper and go from rope drop to fireworks hopping from park to park. We really wanted to have a relaxing vacation this trip and try some of the things that we always say we want to do but never seem to have time for (i.e. water parks, putt-putt, Downtown Disney, etc.). We specifically chose not to buy our 3 or 4 day theme park tickets until we arrived, because we didn't want to feel compelled to visit the parks every day. As a result, we have only purchased 2 day MYW tickets + WP&MF option. We have taken things on our schedule and have only visited MK and Epcot in 5 days. Tomorrow, we will visit TL and that will be it for this trip. However, we have been to DTD twice (including DisneyQuest), visited the Boardwalk and played two rounds of putt-putt at WBC. Importantly, we are rested and relaxed, because we have slept in most mornings and have spent 3 days at WBC lounging by the pools.
In the future, if we are looking for the total Disney immersion experience with wall to wall theme park visits, then we will stay on-site again for EMH, resort theming, etc. If we are looking for a stress-free vacation with a few visits to theme parks, visits to Universal or SeaWorld or just need our WDW fix on a tight budget, then we will definitely return to WBC. I would never stay at a Value or probably even a Moderate again knowing that WBC exists. We booked our room for $72/night on eBay. The extra room, kitchen, washer/dryer and pools make it the hands-down winner over a Disney Value or Moderate. However, there are times that I would stay at a Deluxe instead of WBC -- depending on the circumstances (i.e. 40% off sale, monorail requirement, Epcot resort area for Food & Wine, etc). Overall, we have been very pleased with WBC and would highly recommend it. The value for the amount of space in a 2BR and the outstanding resort amenities make it a great option for a WDW vacation.
