This is the *NEW* Yacht & Beach Club Question & Answer Forum. Yea...we're still here.

[Joe Cool]

Hoolaz,

OK, the official word is that AP discounts can only be used for rooms. Sorry, it would be really nice if we could get a break on food but...*sigh*...they need enough money to keep the grass painted a nice shade of green...

I think I'm a little sticker shocked lately myself. In the Notre Dame section of South Bend, Indiana, everything seemed so...inexpensive, but not cheap. $2 chai lattes? $15 t-shirts? 75 cent long-distance pay phones? Hook me up. It's all good, I'd better get used to being a poor college student. I called it the Disney World of campuses because...well...first of all, almost everyone's so...nice. What a concept, eh!? And plus, the place is so well landscaped around <i>people</i>, and not monuments and too-old buildings like other universities, that at one point last week I began to wonder whether whenever an unsuspecting tourist turns their back, a university ground crew member replants something. <i>Un</i>believable. Or is it believable...compared to the good ol' Lehigh Valley (where I'm from), any place half as nice as Notre Dame could have had me transfixed...nah. I fear that I'm gonna be chanting "Go Irish!" before my Penn State-phile family knows it.

Uh-oh. I think this next part should really go on the Community Board, but oh, what the hoo...

Anyway. While i'm on the subject of sticker shock, after arriving wayyyy too late at night from ND, I shlepped out to Hershey for THE most INCREDIBLE Matchbox Twenty concert EVER!!!!! We figured why don't we make a weekend out of it, so we got a couple rooms at the Hotel Hershey...well...they were so booked that what we ended up with was a $250 broom closet with a bunch of beds, a bathroom the size of the <i>bathtub</i> at the Grand Floridian, a view of the kitchen chimney and...get ready for this one...a busted air condioner. Hooo-whee. (wipes forehead)...I, um, well...called the front desk and after a few minutes of my best Tony Soprano-esque tone (lol...no kidding...I guess i'm <i>that</i> kind of Italian), we found ourselves with a sliiiiight upgrade...the <i>other</i> last room they had...the Milton Hershey Presidential Suite, which coincidentally happened to be one of the biggest and most expensive hotel rooms in Pennsylvania. Not too bad for one phone call. LOL! I took a bunch of pictures, but since the lighting in there wasn't all that great, I don't know how they'll come out. I later found out that the suite normally goes for about the same as the Captain's Deck at the Yacht Club ($1,500/night). Not too relatively bad, when you compare that to the $70 shirts they were selling at the concert, the $5 pizza slices (sorry to disappoint ya but folks I'm from <i>Bethlehem</i> here), and the wonderful, fabulous, utterly tastless $7 frozen cokes. Vendors, um, sorry to disappoint but don't let the doors hit ya where the good Lord split ya. LoL...

To add insult to injury, they even charged to use the bathroom with no line. Yep, some poor desperate shmuck brought a bunch of portapotties and set 'em up in the parking lot. He of course got thrown out by the one-metric-ton-each security guards.

..but the music was SO GOOD. 7th row seats were such a better place to be than even closer...I think the first five rows are now fighting for appointments with their chiropractors...lol. Oh, um was anybody THERE? I could have been standing next to someone from the DIS and not even known it!

OK i gotta keep this thing on topic (gee, whoda thunk? a Disney forum with a reply post about Disney? wow!) but thanks for listening.

Oh, eh...if you want <b>Beach Club Villas</b> information, go to the bottom of the first page and you should see the BCV section...it's the one with the artists' rendering and "Beach Club Villas" in big letters...ya can't miss it.

<i>*YAWWWWWWN*</i> I'm getting up at 6 tomorrow to take my girlfriend to Philadelphia airport (she's going to California for 2 weeks) and i NEEEEED SLEEEEEEP!!!!!!!! Gaah! I didn't even load my car for tomorrow morning yet! Sheesh. And you thought I was Joe Cool. More like Joe Stressed-Up-The-Wazoo. Oh wait, but that wouldn't fit. LOL! Chi vediamo, amici.

JC

 

[jabrown40]

Hey Joe, welcome to Indiana - I live about an hour away from Notre Dame in Crown Point - The people are just plain nice in the Midwest. And if you liked Notre Dame in August, just wait til football season!!! Go Irish!!

 

[kpgclark]

Our family most recently stayed at WL, which we LOVED!!!! Our next trip we'll be staying at the YC. I'm wondering what sort of "events" happen at the YC that are similar to the electric water pageant at WL. Can anyone fill me in? Are there any free special "events" at the YC or boardwalk area?

 

[wdwnutze]

I've just returned from a week in the world. I was so excited to go to the BC for the 1st time. We checked out after the 1st day because we were disappointed. Don't get me wrong..the resort is beautiful. We just found it very big and confusing and some of the front desk people weren't that helpful. We also had trouble with the sleeping arrangements.

 

[EPCOTLADY]

IN REF TO THE BREAKFAST QUESTION: I LOVE MY SPOODLES AND I WILL TRY CAPE MAY ALSO THIS TRIP BUT I ALWAYS LOVE TO GO TO MGM'S ABC COMMISARY. THE FOOD IS SURPRISINGLY GOOD AND NOT PRICEY AT ALL. HOPE THIS HELPS. PS YOU HAVE TO TRY THEIR HASHBROWNS THEY ARE DELICIOUS! inkbounc inkbounc

 

[RAV]

In response to the breakfast question, Beaches and Cream has fruit, cereal, bagels, egg sandwiches, coffee , juice, muffins and pastries. The Yacht Club Galley has a terrific buffet and also gives you the option of ordering breakfast items from the menu if you prefer. The Cape May Cafe offers a very nice selection for breakfast. You can also walk over to the bakery on the boardwalk and eat outside.

 

[jabrown40]

Thanks for answering my question about breakfast. I'm so up in the air, I'm glad I have quite a while to read lots of advice before I finally have to book. Obviously, everyone on this thread loves the BC, and I'm leaning this way. I have taken my 16 yr old to WDW 9 times since he was 4. I know that this time will probably be the last for many years, or at least until I have grandchildren ! It has been his big dream to stay at the BC, we never have stayed there. I'm hoping for a great rate next summer. All of the advice that is given is greatly appreciated!

 

[kbeverina]

Thanks, Joe--I did see that info, I was just hoping there might be more. Great thread!

 

[wendell]

Hey RAV,

You must hold the record for most visits to the Yacht Club!

I'm just curious, do you ever stay Concierge or regular? And do you have a favorite room?

Sorry in advance if this sounds personal but I didn't mean it to be and if you don't feel like answering, I totally understand too.

It's just that I've learned to go to "the Pros" when I'm looking for answers!

Thanks,

Wendell

 

[jabrown40]

Okay, I've looked over the plans (boy are they great, good job Joe) and I'm planning on booking a waterview room. I am going to specify that this means the lake, not a pool view. (And I would prefer to just pay a little extra for the waterview, I don't want to take a chance and book standard and hope for an upgrade.) I like the idea of the non-smoking floor - so help me out here BC fans - what else should I request??? Is there a way to ask for those rooms that are a little larger, and what rooms are they? Please help!!!!!

 

[RAV]

Wendell,

Your post did not seem too personal. I am happy to respond.
We have stayed in both concierge and water-view rooms. We are early risers and take advantage of the early openings, spend our afternoons at the pool, and then enjoy a late evening dinner. For our purposes, concierge did not seem worth it for us. We rushed through the breakfast offerings, would not walk from the pool back to the room for snacks, and never had more than a glass of wine or small bite of something as not to spoil the great dinners that we planned. I will say that the service at the concierge level was quite lovely but for someone who makes their own ps's before they depart, there wasn't much for them to do for us. One year we were on the Grand Plan and were upgraded to concierge. We made very little use of the lounge as there is only so much food a family can consume. We always select the waterview because when our son falls asleep my DH and I sometimes enjoy a drink or dessert on the balcony and don't feel cut off from the action. (Sorry to be so long)

 

[RAV]

Wendell,

After my rather long winded response, I failed to answer your question about a favorite room. We are split on this one. When our son was a toddler, we loved the gazebo area because the characters show up at many of the weddings that take place there. We often wonder how many wedding albums my son is in because he often stood on the balcony watching the weddings waiting to see if Minnie and Mickey would show up to dance with the bride and groom. Currently, we enjoy the area 3157, 3159, 3161,or 3163 as the rooms are near the elevator without everyone on the third floor passing your room (very quite) and the view is lovely.

 

[danacara]

Last week (8/14) I got upgraded to waterview at the BC (I paid for standard view with a code). Got room 3679. It was nice, had a full balcony, the view was nothing to write home about (you could see a small smidgen of water off the left side) but an upgrade is always great and not to be complained about! Thanks for the plans, Joe, I had printed them out and was sooo happy when I was at the front desk and got the room assignment! xoxo Dana

 

[jabrown40]

I never thought of printing out the plans and using them when I check in! what another great idea. Bump Bump.

 

[Joe Cool]

Just like I said..."satisfaction guaranteed"... *Cheshire Cat Smile*

Ya. Thanks y'all, just...eh...be careful who you show those plans to at check in!!!!! There are some factions inside Disney who don't want the public to know this information. Eventually, I'm going to put this entire thread up on my personal site (Joe Cool's Slice Of The Web), but i haven't had any time or patience to do HTML this summer.

If all goes well, the Admiral and Captain's Deck suites will be online today, August 21.

School starts slowly for me <i>tomorrow</i> (can ya believe it!?)...it's like no big deal, because I still have enough summer left to preserve my sanity, or lack thereof.

The next big concert I'm looking forward to is SR-71/Nine Days/Vertical Horizon (3 concerts, one night) at the Allentown Fair. Talli's getting back from California on the 28th at <i>midnight</i>, and then we're driving back up here from Philly at 2 a.m. (gaaah!)...and <i>then</i>, the concert's on the night of the 29th. If anyone's gonna be there from the DIS, email me!

OK see you guys later, thanks for bumping and stay cool!

JC

 

[danacara]

Joe,
No worries, nothing on the plans to indicate where they came from - and it looked like the lady at the desk had the same plans! She checked them before she assigned us a room. I would have loved to see her try to confiscate my plans. There would have been mayhem in the lobby.
I got tix for the 29th with my boyfriend (Jean-Paul), I really only want to see Vertical Horizon, still figuring out if we are going to make the show or give the tix to my sister and go camping instead.
Dana

 

[Joe Cool]

Hola, amigos...

Yea, it's been a busy week. Or should I say, it still is.

OK, um HOLD THE PRESSES! The version of the Admiral Suite I put up will be <i>updated</i> with the actual master bathroom layout as soon as Linda sends me back the jpeg version. Sorry to make y'all wait, but right now I'm kind of technologically impaired. Heh. I'll let y'all know when you can print out the real one.

...eh...same plans!? Wow. I made the beach club plans you have all by muh lonesome, and the YC plans are just sloppily converted versions of the maps they used to hand out.

My next big project is new YC plans in the same format as the BC plans, but I have nooo time for that now! Maybe over Christmas break.

Stay cool,

JC

 

[Joe Cool]

OK y'all, Linda and I got the "real" Admiral Suite plan up.

The only one left is the Captain's Deck, which is being converted and will most likely be up Friday. That'll round out the July 31st stage of the updates...

...during the rest of 2001, this place will continue to exist in its present format; I'll add 2002 room rates and new discount information when I get it. Thanks for bumping whenever you guys can, and of course if anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to ask, it's no problem.

Stay cool,

JC

 

[Joe Cool]

Alright!

How about a DIS shout out to Linda (aka figmentvi), who is the real reason we have those room floor plans up. Thanks!

OK, since the Captain's Deck's now online, it's up to y'all to keep this place bumped. I'll stop by to answer questions and stuff, but that's the end of the summer update. Stay cool!

JC

 

[figmentvi]

Awwwww shucks t'weren't nothin'


It's been really fun helping out and exchanging e-mails with Joe.