2013/2014 Beach and Yacht FAQ, Fun & Friends ~ Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec & Jan ~

[PrincessInOz]

I was scared having DH have an account would mess things up so I handled everything on mine. I'm the Disney planner and techie of the 2 of us anyways. It worked great.

I'm pretty safe. I'm pretty sure DH doesn't even know how to spell MDE.

But yes, I think I might just stick with my account.

 

[wannabee]

hi all..... I stayed at the BC in June 2012 and loved it.. Considering renting points to stay at BCV but the pictures don't look as nice as the BC rooms. Any idea if a refurb is coming anytime soon?

 

[suetoo]

I have a question for all you MagicBand experts. Do you have only one MDE account for your family, or do you and your spouse or other travel companion have separate MDE accounts? The reason I'm asking is because I am reading about problems that some people are having when they travel with other families. My husband and I each have our own MDE profiles and we have had no problems with the resort reservations and the dining reservations linking up automatically. As soon as I made them, they were already linked to each account.

What I am curious about is what happens when we try to make our FP+ reservations. Can one of us make the reservations for both of us?

I am jumping in hours after you posted this but I have the only account for my family of 4 and my MIL, FIL, and BIL. I sent invites for the inlaws which they did not respond to even though I was with them when I sent them(they never set up MDE) Probably for the best. It all works better when I do all the planning.

 

[CareHeartsDisney]

Ahhhh. I've linked everything up, but I'm still 96 days out. Maybe I have to wait until the 75 day or 60 day mark. Hmmm....

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

I've read on other forums that the 60 day mark is when you can Fastpass+ selections.

 

[nannette]

Ahhhh. I've linked everything up, but I'm still 96 days out. Maybe I have to wait until the 75 day or 60 day mark. Hmmm....

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Yep about 70ish days and you should be able to customize the band and confirm the ship to address and then at 60 days out you can pick fast pass + options. All of this is based on whether or not the resort you are staying at (in this case YC) is involved in testing during that period.

Keep checking and good luck!

~N

 

[nannette]

I'm pretty safe. I'm pretty sure DH doesn't even know how to spell MDE.

But yes, I think I might just stick with my account.

Lol! This is how my DH is... He wouldn't know how to turn on the computer let alone figure out how to type in disneyworld.com and then figure out what MDE stood for But tonight I said our Disney trip is coming up very soon... are you getting excited yet?!?! He actually said yes a little bit This will be his first time to Disney World so it should be fun!!

~N

 

[PrincessInOz]

Lol! This is how my DH is... He wouldn't know how to turn on the computer let alone figure out how to type in disneyworld.com and then figure out what MDE stood for But tonight I said our Disney trip is coming up very soon... are you getting excited yet?!?! He actually said yes a little bit This will be his first time to Disney World so it should be fun!!

~N

We leave Oz on the 13th September and head to Anaheim first. We've got two days planned at DLR before doing a road trip through the Four Corners area (Sedona, Grand Canyon, Page, Monument Valley, Durango). After that, we're heading home to BCV. I've got lots of DisMeets lined up.

Excited.......YES!!!!!!! Just like your DH!

 

[BringingUpDisney]

I got a phone call from my 4 yr. old grandson this morning. He let me know we only had 96 more days until our trip to sing happy birthday to Nana!!! Jackson then let me know that I was the best Nana in the world because I take him to see Mickey on my birthday!! Made my heart melt. So...... only 96 days until we are all at the Beach Club to celebrate my 61st birthday!!! Cannot wait to have my entire family with me this trip.

How sweet he is - hope to see you there!

 

[nannette]

We leave Oz on the 13th September and head to Anaheim first. We've got two days planned at DLR before doing a road trip through the Four Corners area (Sedona, Grand Canyon, Page, Monument Valley, Durango). After that, we're heading home to BCV. I've got lots of DisMeets lined up.

Excited.......YES!!!!!!! Just like your DH!

Sounds great!! I'm originally from Southern Calif and LOVE it there! Have a great time and enjoy the beauty of Sedona and Grand Canyon!! When do you arrive at BCV??

~N

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sounds great!! I'm originally from Southern Calif and LOVE it there! Have a great time and enjoy the beauty of Sedona and Grand Canyon!! When do you arrive at BCV??

~N

Late night check-in on the 29 Sep.

When do you?

 

[BringingUpDisney]

We leave Oz on the 13th September and head to Anaheim first. We've got two days planned at DLR before doing a road trip through the Four Corners area (Sedona, Grand Canyon, Page, Monument Valley, Durango). After that, we're heading home to BCV. I've got lots of DisMeets lined up.

Excited.......YES!!!!!!! Just like your DH!

If you want another Dismeet, DD and I will be at DLR September 13-16! We are staying on site at GC.

 

[PrincessInOz]

If you want another Dismeet, DD and I will be at DLR September 13-16! We are staying on site at GC.

If we do, it would be Sunday 15th.

I'll be hitting DCA first. DH and DS have not been to Carsland yet.

 

[natebenma]

pages 34-39

We are super excited, just made reservations for a trip to the BC CL September 12-15! DD was dying to do the Villain Party at HS, so we decided to squeeze in a quick trip.

As you can see from my signature we often stay at the Poly, but we really really enjoyed our trip to the BC last time; and it was winter with a freakish super cold snap so we didn't even get to swim in SB! I'm really looking forward to that too!

Just thought I would post on this thread to say Hi and thanks for all the great information posted on here.

I'll add you to the Be Our Guest list on Page 1.

hi all..... I stayed at the BC in June 2012 and loved it.. Considering renting points to stay at BCV but the pictures don't look as nice as the BC rooms. Any idea if a refurb is coming anytime soon?

to the thread!



I don't keep up on all of the DVC/BCV news, so I don't have an answer for you. I thought I had read that the plan was for all of the older DVC properties to undergo at least a soft refurb (bed linnens and such), but I wouldn't quote me on that.

Hey, DVC friends- what is the news on room refurbs?

The BC resort rooms will be renovated sometime in 2014. Not sure of the timetable yet, probably starting on the 5th floor at the beginning of the year and working down by floor.

We leave Oz on the 13th September and head to Anaheim first. We've got two days planned at DLR before doing a road trip through the Four Corners area (Sedona, Grand Canyon, Page, Monument Valley, Durango). After that, we're heading home to BCV. I've got lots of DisMeets lined up.

Excited.......YES!!!!!!! Just like your DH!

Sounds amazing!!! We are looking at doing some of those next summer with the boys since we have never been out west with them, and my husband and I have never been to these site. I may be asking you lots and lots of questions after the trip, or better yet following your trip report!

 

[Boski]

I have one MDE account under my name. I was thinking of getting DH to set up an account for himself so that he could change FP+ when we're at WDW; but now I'm not so sure. It might be easier to have one account....

If you are doing everything together it is much easier to have 1 account. I have an account and DW has one. Our kids are under DW's account and it took me forever to be able to control them. We wanted two accounts because we some times split during the day. It's been difficult in our experience because we have rides we all want to ride and some that we'll split up for, and trying to set that up has proved difficult.

 

[natebenma]

Happy September everyone!

As soon as I have an activities and movie schedule for the month, I will post it here.




I believe the Be Our Guest list is updated, so I would appreciate if you would take a look to make sure your information is listed correctly. If not, please let me know.

Post 15: Be Our Guest list

.

 

[HBGdancermom]

Lol! This is how my DH is... He wouldn't know how to turn on the computer let alone figure out how to type in disneyworld.com and then figure out what MDE stood for But tonight I said our Disney trip is coming up very soon... are you getting excited yet?!?! He actually said yes a little bit This will be his first time to Disney World so it should be fun!!

~N

Oh wow!! I hope your DH has a wonderful time!

 

[Hopefully]

pages 34-39





I'll add you to the Be Our Guest list on Page 1.






to the thread!



I don't keep up on all of the DVC/BCV news, so I don't have an answer for you. I thought I had read that the plan was for all of the older DVC properties to undergo at least a soft refurb (bed linnens and such), but I wouldn't quote me on that.

Hey, DVC friends- what is the news on room refurbs?

The BC resort rooms will be renovated sometime in 2014. Not sure of the timetable yet, probably starting on the 5th floor at the beginning of the year and working down by floor.




Sounds amazing!!! We are looking at doing some of those next summer with the boys since we have never been out west with them, and my husband and I have never been to these site. I may be asking you lots and lots of questions after the trip, or better yet following your trip report!

Yes Dee you are correct (as usual ) The BCV, and all DVC Villas are getting a soft goods upgrade sometime this year. They will replace the bedspreads with Duvets.
But Wannabee a thought for you. The DVC Villas are all "themed" and the BCV are themed to a casual beach feel of the early 1900's. If you are looking for a slick upscale hotel theme you will not ever find that at the Villas. I love the themeing there. I can do slick hotel anywhere in the world. The BCV are pure Disney.
HTH.

 

[BringingUpDisney]

If we do, it would be Sunday 15th.

I'll be hitting DCA first. DH and DS have not been to Carsland yet.

We haven't seen it either!! Sunday the 15th should work, just putting together our schedule. So very different than WDW where I have my December trip completely planned.

 

[beebeeryan]

I just posted my review of our Yacht Club stay on the main resort board. Feel free to link to it if you want Dee.

I will post some more pics on the picture thread.

This was the review:

We are just back from a fabulous trip! Our 3rd family trip, we skipped last year, but stayed at Wilderness Lodge Villas in 2010 and the Contemporary in 2011. Always the same last week of August. This trip, thanks to a great deal, I was able to stay at my dream resort. Ive been itching to stay in the Epcot Resort area since accidentally wandering out of the International Gateway on our Honeymoon 15 years ago and finding the Boardwalk. We really enjoyed this area!

Room & Checkin
We arrived about 12:45 after taking Happy Limo from the airport. I had done Online Checkin and were greeted outside by name and taken straight inside to a desk where Cindy helped us. We already had our Magic Bands and were ready to go. We had been upgrade from a Standard View to a Garden View and were assigned room 4100. I had asked for a higher floor and close to transportation. It was probably halfway across the resort, not in the father area, maybe the middle, not too bad. We had a view of the tennis courts directly in front of us and could see a sliver of the quiet pool and the roof tops of the Swalfin through the trees. It took a few extra minutes because apparently 2 of the Magic Bands, mine and DS10s were not linking up properly and its still kinda new to them, but they got them set and we were off to our room. Our room was ready.

Magic Bands:
Yacht Club was a rest resort for August for the Magic Bands and we were able to customize them before the trip and set up our Fastpass Plus. The bands were great, we really liked them. Other than a few minutes at checkin because the machine was being tempermental they always worked well. A few times we had to repeat the scan and finger scan at the parks, but it wasnt the bands in that case, it was the finger moving to not being on right. At Stormalong Bay we always just showed our bands and were let in, they never asked to see our KTTW cards even though we always brought them with us incase since we were told at checkin that we would need them since the WIFI was not working at the pool. We were told by the attendant at the pool that we did need to keep the bands on in the pool or they would ask us to show our keys. They are waterproof so we always kept them on. They do however, not float, we were told. They will sink if they come off. Kids both had them come off on the slide once, they must not have been in well, but they both were able to grab them quickly. The bands always opened the doors, we charged everything to the room at meals and at stores. Only twice was there an issue with the machine not working in which case I just pulled out my KTTW card to make it easier. That was once at the pool where we ordered drinks poolside and we knew the WIFI didnt work well there, it was fine at the bar. And once at Via Napoli, it was was being a pain so to make it faster I handed Gianluigi a card. They were great for the FP+ as well. Never had an issue. Also, with regards to wearing them all the time, it really was not an issue. It was August and HOT, but they really are pretty comfortable, they didnt bother us too much and none of us wear anything on our wrists usually. We kept them on all day and only took them off to sleep.

Pool:
Stormalong Bay was amazing! Its loud and busy for sure, but our kids loved it. They have already said when/if we come back to Disney we have to stay here again. They are completely spoiled by that pool now. Oops! Like I said, they never checked our keys to enter because we had the bands on. We did not see that many people with bands to be honest. The slide and lazy river with the tubes (which are free now, no renting) were big hits with the kids. They are old enough at 10 and 7 to be able to go to the slide and around the pool on their own. They both are strong swimmers too. We stuck near the lazy river and waterfall pool on those lovely seats built in for the most part and the kids would come tell us when they switched pools or went to the slide. It worked really well. Getting chairs wasnt too bad if we were there early enough, we always got chairs, just sometimes it was not in the shade, but we didnt sit in the chairs long anyways, we were mostly in the water. In the evening we were able to see a bit of the high Illuminations from the pool and beach and hear the music. That was nice too since my kids always opted for the pool rather than wait around at Epcot after dinner to see the show again.

Food & Drink:
We ate at the resort a little. Sadly we never made it to Beaches and Cream which was disappointing , but the few times it was an option, it was just too long a wait. Timing just didnt work. That place is crazy! We ate at Hurricane Hannahs a few times. Had the Shrimp Lobster roll which was okay, but having been to Cape Cod a few times, I concur that its a poor version. But I knew that going in. The last day I had the Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich and it was really good. I highly recommend that. We walked over to the Boardwalk and had lunch at ESPN the first day and another day got off the bus at Swan and walked over to Big River Grille for lunch before heading back to the pool. That was nice to have that option.
I had the infamous Sunken Treasure more than once...so YUMMY!!!! (Thanks to the Beach and Yacht Club happy thread for that little nugget of information!) Its not on the menu, but Noel knows how to make it thankfully and he was around most days. The Pina Colava is yummy as well, and very refreshing as its more smoothie like. They even had a non-alcoholic version the kids liked.
We had breakfast twice at Captains Grille. We opted to order off the menu rather than do the buffet both times. The Lobster Omelette was really good! I also tried the Challah French Toast with Strawberry Compote and some kind of sauce lavender blah blah blah... the last morning and it was excellent as well. I just checked the menu online to get the whole name of it and it appears to have changed since just the other day already and both those options are gone or changed.
Best of all was the Peanut Butter Cup cupcake at the Marketplace. OMG! So good. Had 2 of those.

Fastpass Plus Experience:
Since this is fairly new I will just say a bit about this even though its not resort related. We really enjoyed the ability to book FP in advance. It may not be for everyone, but it worked well for our style of touring. We are generally up early so we do Rope Drop for morning EMH most of the time. This means we dont generally need FPs during the morning at this time of year. We can ride everything we want without them usually, with little to very short waits. We take pool breaks around lunchtime and then head back to a different park in the afternoon generally for dinner and the evening. So I booked my FP+ for the evening park a ride or two before or after dinner. I took advantage of being able to book FP+ for the shows as well as with the kids and my DH, none of us are really stake out a spot and wait kinda people. And none of us like crowds. FP+ for Illuminations was great. It was a small area in front of one of the gift shops at the front of the WS Lagoon. There was maybe 50 people in there, all the kids had a front row seat by the fence and played with ducks. We walked in 10-15 minutes before the show. We stood in back of the kids like all the other adults were doing. In back of us, empty. It was really nice and calm. And then walking back home instead of rushing with everyone else to the monorail and buses was priceless!
We booked FP+ for MSEP and Wishes as well, but because of rain and such, and not wanted to take a chance on waiting for it, it was only 8pm, and having it be delayed we ended up leaving and I cancelled them as we walked out. I dont know if there were any delays that night, but we ended up in the pool. The kids decided on the pool rather than wait. I had wanted to see how that worked, but it didnt work out.
The other FP+ we did was for Fantasmic. This was great. We had never done F! because we just didnt want to deal with the chaos of it all. With the FP+ we were able to get a few walkon rides on RnR and ToT in while everyone else was already lining up and filing in. We rode them several times then made our way over about 8pm. We were directed to the Pochahontas section and there was maybe 20 people in the whole section. 20 minutes before the show I took these pictures, it got dark fast right after. about 10 minutes before the show they started letting people in to fill it in. The FP+ window says to be there by 8:15 for the 8:30 show, then they will start letting anyone in. It still did not fill up completely and we still had empty spaces around us. The rest of the threatre was packed in already when we walked in at 8pm including the dining package section. That was really nice.
I was able to make changes on the go a few times when it was obvious we didnt need a FP for something I changed it to something else. I didnt rely on the park WIFI since I knew that was spotty. I have unlimited data so that was not an issue. I had a few bars pretty much everywhere in the parks except inside of Soarin and Splash a few times. A few places where there was no service, but only briefly. One confusing thing is when a ride is closed and you have a FP+ for it. It happened at MK twice because Splash and Thunder were closed due to rain. Once our FP window came, I would check my MDE app and the Splash disappeared and random things came up, difference rides for each of us. As it turns out, they send you an email, which I did not receive the first time and basically you can do on any of the FP+ rides listed that are operating at any time and use the FP+ or wait for your selected ride to open back up. In this case you can go at any time on any of the rides, not necessarily in the FP+ window of time you originally had, it basically becomes a universal FP. On our last MK day we were able to test this when again Splash was down and our window came and went, then we went back later after our window had passed and were able to get through no problem. I did get the email that time and figured out how it worked.

Photopass Plus:
We love getting ride photos so we were happy for the PP+ option and not having to buy them, we usually pick and choose and only get 2. While I liked this for the rides, I think the system needs a lot of work. The system in place now to get the photos is ridiculous. At Splash I waited 15 minutes, longer than the ride line itself, to get the photo added to my card. You have to go through the regular register for buying photos or photopass. A lot of people would get up there to buy the photo and then be like, oh I can but this card and get them all, and the CM would have to go into a 15 minute sales pitch explaining everything. With only 2-3 people working this tied up registers, it was ridiculous when most people just needed a quick scan. A self serve kiosks right by the photos would be good and/or a dedicated PP+ register or 2. Test Track was the only place to do it right, they had 2 PP+ only registers right where you see the pics. Anything else and you have to go to the other desk in the shop. Much better. I ended up skipping a few pictures because of it.
Another issue with PP is we missed out on the first couple of ride photos. They only give you a voucher which you have to exchange for the card when you are at a park. Well, we arrived at Rope Drop and ran to the rides, no time to stop and do that. On the way out I stopped and got the card. I had the numbers from the rides and the CM said he would call them in and have them put on. They are not there. They expire after 48 hours so I was not able to get them. They really should just mail you the card with the CD, why they make you go in and exchange a voucher makes no sense to me. Even better would be if they link it to your Magic Bands. Maybe in the future.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

 

[natebenma]

I just posted my review of our Yacht Club stay on the main resort board. Feel free to link to it if you want Dee.

Fantastic! Thanks. I'm running out soon so I don't have time to read or comment right now, but the pictures look amazing!