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

[ToyStory3]

Can you go in and eat at Hurricane Hannah's if you're not a guest of the resort? Can't remember if you have to go into SAB to eat there. Thanks!

 

[natebenma]

page 242-245

Where did you find a room number map for BC? I've been looking for one.

Do you have an upcoming trip booked? Let me know if you would like to be added to the Be Our Guest list

Thanks Teena! I am about to call and upgrade from YCSV for our family of five to a deluxe BC room. If I would really only be unhappy with the 2 standing room only balcony rooms, what do you suggest I use as my room request?

Did you upgrade? Would you like me to update the Be Our Guest list?

We are booked at the Beach Club this June and are able to get the. I wondered if upgrading to a garden view would be worth our money.
The difference would be $15 a night.

I'll add you to the Be Our Guest list for June




I posted a thread that gives samples of some of the different room views a few pages back (post 3650)

So excited to read through as much of this whole thread as possible! We'll be at the BC from May 3rd-10th (myself, DH and 6 yr old DD). We were originally booked at the CR in a Garden Wing room, but the new spring discount didn't apply to our room. Our TA originally bumped us up to a Tower room (Bay Lake view) and that still would have been a bit cheaper than our rack-rate reservation. But - we'd been hoping to save more, so after pricing out a few other resorts, we made the decision to switch to BC. I'm thrilled, as it's where I wanted to stay when DH and I started talking about planning this upcoming trip. I guess some things were just meant to be! This will be our second family trip to WDW. We were there in early May 2012 and stayed at Poly, which we loved - esp. the convenience of the monorail. HOWEVER! I am so excited to be the Epcot area this time, as I know it will give us an entirely new experience and let us do things we didn't do last time - explore the Boardwalk area, spend more time in Epcot, etc. I was also happy to drop the water park option on our tickets since SAB seems more than water-park-enough for us - I know we're going to love it. Can't wait to start reading up on all the posts here!

I'll add you to the list!



I think you will love the EPCOT area!

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Hanging my head in shame.... please remove us from the list. We've switched to BWI....for now....I'm sure I'll probably switch back before September

No need for shame! Have a fantastic trip!

Buzzy-
What sugary adult drinks have you gotten yourself stuck in that you didn't want to get out of? Do you attribute your larger size to delightfully delicious goodies (at least in part)? I specifically would like to know if you have ever tried the cheese danish or at least SEEN it at BC...or YC? Do you venture to YC or is that something I should leave on the downlow?

Or for any others that have seen the pastries - do they serve the fabulous cheese danishes at YC or BC? I get them all the time at the Poly - along with my beloved waffles - but dare I say that I like the cheese danish better than the waffle??



Thankzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

back!

I don't see you on the B.O.G. list, so I will add you- June YC?




The cheese Danish looks delish. I don't spend any time at the Marketplace in the morning, so I can't help you determine if they have it.

One of our friends will be at BCV later this week- I'll ask him to check if he gets a chance.

Hi all! Just booked yesterday for an August trip! I dont know much about this resort so I am eager to starting reading up! I hope the construction doesn't affect anything :-(

I'll add you to the Be Our Guest list. BC or YC?



Have fun reading- there's LOTS of info on Page 1, but please let us know if you have any questions.

 

[natebenma]

Can you go in and eat at Hurricane Hannah's if you're not a guest of the resort? Can't remember if you have to go into SAB to eat there. Thanks!

Great question! I think the answer is yes. I have only entered HH from SAB, but I'm pretty sure some of our friends have stopped by to order a Sunken Treasure or two, when they are staying at another resort.

Can someone confirm this for us?

 

[PoohsFan1]

Great question! I think the answer is yes. I have only entered HH from SAB, but I'm pretty sure some of our friends have stopped by to order a Sunken Treasure or two, when they are staying at another resort.

Can someone confirm this for us?

I could be wrong, but I thought there is an area where you can walk up to the counter without actually going into SAB (as you are walking down the dock area closest to the lake), but like I said, I can be wrong about that.

 

[PolyAddict]

NATEBENMA-

I have not upgraded yet...still debating a bit. One thing holding me back is im doing BC in March and wanted YC for May. That would complete my deluxe resort stays with WL being the only one left.

 

[Flyz Ondewalz]

USTE=Tinkerbellie16;50423689]Buzzy-
What sugary adult drinks have you gotten yourself stuck in that you didn't want to get out of? Do you attribute your larger size to delightfully delicious goodies (at least in part)? I specifically would like to know if you have ever tried the cheese danish or at least SEEN it at BC...or YC? Do you venture to YC or is that something I should leave on the downlow?

Or for any others that have seen the pastries - do they serve the fabulous cheese danishes at YC or BC? I get them all the time at the Poly - along with my beloved waffles - but dare I say that I like the cheese danish better than the waffle??



Thankzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz![/QUOTE]

Hi Tinkerbelli!!!

Buzzy is a chocoholic! I'm addicted to those chocolate croissants found in the BC Marketplace. I don't know about those cheese croissants but the next time I am buzzing around the pastry case I will go in for a landing and check them out.

I have also gotten myself stuck in many a sugary drink. The laundry room seems to be a place where I get myself in a lot of trouble. All these women and men doing laundry keep bringing their sugary drinks into the laundry room to assist them in the fluffing and folding. Being the good natured fly that I am I frequently offer to test their drinks to see if they are still up to the high quality standards that the Beach Club and Yacht Club maintains. Someone has to make that sacrifice so it might as well be me... I am especially fond of the resort favorite Sunken Treasure drink but any bucket of booze will do for your old pal Buzzy.

As for the Yacht Club, Buzzy only flies over there to check out the bar scene. Sometimes I am also in the mood for a good steak but I can get them cheaper from the dumpster so I hardly ever venture into the Yachtsman Steakhouse. That place is way too fancy for your friend Buzzy the fly!

Hopefully when your trip comes I'll see you buzzing around the resort. Look for me at the pool by Hurricane Hannah's. I'll be the fly bothering the servers for extra cherries in my drinks.

Love, your pal, Buzzy the fly

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Can you go in and eat at Hurricane Hannah's if you're not a guest of the resort? Can't remember if you have to go into SAB to eat there. Thanks!

Great question! I think the answer is yes. I have only entered HH from SAB, but I'm pretty sure some of our friends have stopped by to order a Sunken Treasure or two, when they are staying at another resort.

Can someone confirm this for us?

You can definitely eat/drink at Hurricane Hannahs without being a guest at the resort There are tables that are set up alongside the footpath around the lagoon and it's just before the entrance to SAB so no need to be a guest

 

[kimmy85]

I, personally, like the BCV studios and have never wanted to stay in a BC room. I like having the couch, and have not needed a second bed. I like having the kitchenette area because I like to eat breakfast in the room every day. BCV feels like home to me, and a studio feels more like home than a regular hotel room would.

But if you need the second bed, you might prefer BC. If you don't eat in the room, you might prefer BC (although BC rooms do have mini fridges so you can keep stuff cold).
And by the way, this was my first attempt at multi-quoting, so I'm all

Thanks for the insight! I think studio is the way to go for us since it is just DH & I (early 50's) and there is no need for a second bed. I love the idea of having a couch and the kitchenette works into our plan since we loved using Garden Grocer for our in-room breakfasts and beverages on our first WDW trip last year.

It looks like the studio kitchenette has a toaster, microwave, coffee maker, and fridge for appliances. If I am mistaken, please correct me!

CRO is, as stated, the Central Reservations Office. This is the main Disney reservation line for all hotels as well as DVC Villa cash rooms. Unless you are a DVC member, you can not call the specialDVC Member Services number used by members. The number of Villas available at CRO for cash rentals is limited however.
If you reserve a BCV through Central Reservations Office for your cash stay you are considered a Disney resort guests and eligible for all resort amentities including DME and the DDP. There was, and I am not sure if it is still true, even room service available at the Villas through the regular BC room service number. I think it is still available, but the menu was not in our Villa last October, so I am not sure.
Enjoy

Thank you Hopefully for the explanation. I had booked through AAA last year for CBR and was going to do the same for a BCV studio when the rates open up (11/15 visit). I am "assuming" that by going through AAA that they are dealing with CRO. If I should go directly, please let me know!

These boards are great and full of friendly (and patient) posters!

(My first multi-quote also!!)

 

[dipastor]

Hello. I recently booked a trip to Disney at BC for March 20 - 28th. We have always gone in October early Nov., week before Christmas (lovely time to go) and once in June (never again).

Can anyone tell me what the Beach Club is like during Spring Break? This year Easter comes late in April so I was hoping I wouldn't see similar crowds to our June trip. I have read they are comparable crowds in March versus June. At BC (2nd week of June 2013) we weren't able to get a seat at the pool and people were fighting for chairs and space at SAB. Do you think we'll see that kind of activity in 3rd to last week of March this year??

thanks for your input.
d.

 

[EclecticWAHM]

SO excited that we booked BC for our 20th Anniversary trip. We'll be there April 7-11. We stayed at BWI with the kids summer of 2010 and loved it, but we were pretty jealous of Stormalong Bay! Dh and I had said long ago that we wanted our 20th anniversary to be spent "toes in the sand"...we were thinking beach somewhere. Well, we couldn't decide on anything until I said "there's sand at Disney's Beach Club...why not just you and me at Disney World?" and he thought it was brilliant

This will be our first vacation just the two of us since our honeymoon!! So far I've booked an ADR for our anniversary night at Captain's Grille. We LOVED that place last time. Also booked the Dessert Party at the Tomorrowland terrace for one night. I don't think I'm going to pre-schedule anything else...maybe one more dinner somewhere. Any not-to-be missed romantic-but-casual dining spots?

 

[PrncessA]

Definitely upgrade yourself to at least a Garden View if a view is important. A standard view at the Y&B is a guaranteed view of a roof or parking lot. A garden view is not much more money and at least you will look at something green ... although it would be dense woods ... but better than a roof or parking lot IMO.

Thank you, although it wasn't the end of the world, I think we want a view of some thing other than a parking lot!

Our CL room last year was SV and we overlooked the front ( or is it back) entrance of BC.....where the ME drop-off is. We were able to see Spaceship Earth and some fireworks from our room. We weren't able to book a WV or GV room because we have 5 people in our family.

The IPO will book your dining reservations and any other activities you wish. We had them book our Wishes Dessert Party and we had the best table in the house! When you are there, the CL CM's check you in to your rooms and can answer most questions for you.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Thank you for the advice!!

Need to come back in the morning to officially welcome some new folks to the thread, but here is a generic to tide you over.

A few people have been asking about the view categories, so I thought I would post the info from the FAQ post on Page 1. There is a link to thread of room views in the various categories so you can see some samples of standard vs. garden vs. water view


What will the view from my room be?

Effective with reservations on January 1, 2011, the view categories at the Beach and Yacht Clubs were reclassified into 3 booking categories:

Standard view- parking lot or rooftops
Garden view- something green- trees or courtyard
Lagoon or Water view- lake or pool


I started up two View Threads in the Resort Photo Subforum:

Beach Club Room Views

Yacht Club Room Views


The purpose of these threads is to give some samples of rooms in various view categories (standard, garden, lagoon/pool) at the Yacht and Beach Clubs.

After a little research, I think we are going to upgrade to a GV room!

 

[Best Aunt]

It looks like the studio kitchenette has a toaster, microwave, coffee maker, and fridge for appliances. If I am mistaken, please correct me!

I had booked through AAA last year for CBR and was going to do the same for a BCV studio when the rates open up (11/15 visit). I am "assuming" that by going through AAA that they are dealing with CRO. If I should go directly, please let me know!

Correct on the appliances.

Not sure if you're doing the right thing about making a reservation. In the past, I have called CRO and booked a room only reservation as soon as I knew my plans. I would ask if the AAA discount is available. If they said no, I made the reservation anyway. Then I kept calling back periodically to find out if the discount was available. If it became available, they would apply it.

When you make a room only reservation, they charge your credit card for one night's stay as a deposit. If you change your mind and want to cancel, you can get your money back as long as it's more than 5 days before your arrival date.

Keep in mind that room only reservations can be made by calling CRO even when they don't appear on the website yet. Room only reservations can be made earlier than package reservations.

You seem to be talking about booking directly through AAA. I've never done that. I don't know if it's cheaper. I don't know if you can make a reservation at the same time, or earlier, or later. If it's later, I might be tempted to call and book through CRO. Then, if I find out it's cheaper through AAA, I would cancel what I booked through CRO and book through AAA.

 

[luvallprincesses]

Sorry a little off topic - but you are all so nice here - how do I go about getting a cab from DTD back to BC? (Must admit: I've actually never ridden in a cab in my life, the country bumpkin that I am.). Where do we get one? HOW do we get one? Is there a set fare? Do we pay at the conclusion of the trip? Tip to driver?

 

[CJK]

Just to clarify...........there won't be any construction going on at Beach Club in April, correct?

 

[Ninja Mom]

Sorry a little off topic - but you are all so nice here - how do I go about getting a cab from DTD back to BC? (Must admit: I've actually never ridden in a cab in my life, the country bumpkin that I am.). Where do we get one? HOW do we get one? Is there a set fare? Do we pay at the conclusion of the trip? Tip to driver?

There are cab stands in the parking lot of DTD close to the backs of the stores (if that makes any sense...) The one I usually use is located behind the BASIN store.
Take that exit to the parking lot that is located between the basin store and THE WORLD OF DISNEY. You will have to go across the street that is directly behind the stores to get to the row of cabs waiting there.

It's like this:
Store
behind the store
street
cab stand (row of waiting cabs across this 2 lane street)
Parking lot

You can only get a cab at DTD using these cab stands. The drivers are not allowed drop offs/pick ups elsewhere at DTD, especially with all the construction...

There are other cab stands located all the way down to and past Planet Hollywood but with all the construction going on at DTD some of those parking lots are closed off so stick with the cab stand by WORLD of DISNEY/BASIN stores that is located across the street that runs right along the back of the sores and is directly behind the BASIN store.

There is no set fare. It depends on the time spent in the cab and the distance traveled. There is a link to a fare estimator later in this post. You pay at the end after your ride has concluded. Sometimes I have seen the fare go up a dollar or something when the driver closes out the meter after arriving at the destination. I'm not sure if this is a tax or what but I think there is an explanation on one of the stickers inside the cab for why this happens.

Be sure to only take Mears cabs as some of the others are "GYPSY" cabs and they will charge you higher rates or may even engage in other shenanigans. Mears cabs may come in different colors but they always have stickers identifying them as Mears cabs so don't go by what a driver SAYS. I've heard it relayed that sometimes these Gypsy cabs are not allowed to drop off guests at Disney Property so watch out.

Bottom line: Mears is good/other cabs maybe not so good....

Here is a link to the Mears site complete with a Fare indicator.
http://www.mearstransportation.com/taxi-services/

If you program this number into your cell phone: 407-422-2222 you will have the phone number to call a cab yourself. Keep in mind that you can always get a cab at the bell stand outside of any Disney resort. I keep that number handy so I can call a cab to pick me up when I am done shopping at Walmart. I go to Walmart because I need breakfast and drink supplies for the room and Walmart doesn't price gouge like the other resort markets or closest supermarkets do. The cab from BC/YC to Walmart is about $20.00 one way, a little more if you go during rush hour. It has taken less than 15 mins for a cab to come and pick me up from Walmart after I have called. This $40-$45 round trip sure beats the heck out of renting a car.

This ends the sermon on how to catch and use cabs while at WDW. I hope that you have found this information helpful. If you did be sure the next time you are in a cab at WDW to roll the window down and yell "THANKS NINJA MOM!!!" REALLY LOUDLY. I'll be listening.......

~NM

 

[Mickey & Minnie Mom]

Just to clarify...........there won't be any construction going on at Beach Club in April, correct?

I have not heard/read any construction going on in April.

There are scheduled room renovations that won't start until at least summer and the club level lounge isn't scheduled to be redone until then either.

Of course, there are times things pop up so you can never be 100% sure. I recall a year or so ago an issue with the pool area.

 

[CJK]

I have not heard/read any construction going on in April.

There are scheduled room renovations that won't start until at least summer and the club level lounge isn't scheduled to be redone until then either.

Of course, there are times things pop up so you can never be 100% sure. I recall a year or so ago an issue with the pool area.

Good to know, thank you!

 

[luvallprincesses]

There are cab stands in the parking lot of DTD close to the backs of the stores (if that makes any sense...) The one I usually use is located behind the BASIN store.
Take that exit to the parking lot that is located between the basin store and THE WORLD OF DISNEY. You will have to go across the street that is directly behind the stores to get to the row of cabs waiting there.

It's like this:
Store
behind the store
street
cab stand (row of waiting cabs across this 2 lane street)
Parking lot

You can only get a cab at DTD using these cab stands. The drivers are not allowed drop offs/pick ups elsewhere at DTD, especially with all the construction...

There are other cab stands located all the way down to and past Planet Hollywood but with all the construction going on at DTD some of those parking lots are closed off so stick with the cab stand by WORLD of DISNEY/BASIN stores that is located across the street that runs right along the back of the sores and is directly behind the BASIN store.

There is no set fare. It depends on the time spent in the cab and the distance traveled. There is a link to a fare estimator later in this post. You pay at the end after your ride has concluded. Sometimes I have seen the fare go up a dollar or something when the driver closes out the meter after arriving at the destination. I'm not sure if this is a tax or what but I think there is an explanation on one of the stickers inside the cab for why this happens.

Be sure to only take Mears cabs as some of the others are "GYPSY" cabs and they will charge you higher rates or may even engage in other shenanigans. Mears cabs may come in different colors but they always have stickers identifying them as Mears cabs so don't go by what a driver SAYS. I've heard it relayed that sometimes these Gypsy cabs are not allowed to drop off guests at Disney Property so watch out.

Bottom line: Mears is good/other cabs maybe not so good....

Here is a link to the Mears site complete with a Fare indicator.
http://www.mearstransportation.com/taxi-services/

If you program this number into your cell phone: 407-422-2222 you will have the phone number to call a cab yourself. Keep in mind that you can always get a cab at the bell stand outside of any Disney resort. I keep that number handy so I can call a cab to pick me up when I am done shopping at Walmart. I go to Walmart because I need breakfast and drink supplies for the room and Walmart doesn't price gouge like the other resort markets or closest supermarkets do. The cab from BC/YC to Walmart is about $20.00 one way, a little more if you go during rush hour. It has taken less than 15 mins for a cab to come and pick me up from Walmart after I have called. This $40-$45 round trip sure beats the heck out of renting a car.

This ends the sermon on how to catch and use cabs while at WDW. I hope that you have found this information helpful. If you did be sure the next time you are in a cab at WDW to roll the window down and yell "THANKS NINJA MOM!!!" REALLY LOUDLY. I'll be listening.......

~NM

See I knew this was the place to post. NinjaMom just wrote "Taxicabs for Dummies" for me. It was perfect! Maybe someone will offer you movie rights for the novel, NM! Seriously, that is awesome. I can picture where you are talking about, and now feel much more comfortable about saving my family a 145 minute bus ride return from DTD to BC. Leaving now to program an important Mears number into my phone...

 

[luvallprincesses]

Next question as I begin packing for our BC stay in 9 days: When staying at the Values and the Mods (and cruises), I am in need of a hang over the door shoe organizer for bathroom and other stuff because of the lack of shelf space for 4 people, not that we're high maintenance in beauty products at all. I didn't feel this was the case at WL because there was so much more room. I've looked at pics of the bathroom/sink area at BC but still can't get a feel for it. (I'd rather not pack it if not needed, of course). If I felt I didn't need it at WL, do you think I will wish I had it at BC?

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Teena if you see this post, will you be working tomorrow??? Would love to say Hi