2010 Yacht and Beach Club FAQ, Part II---Inactive Thread--- Please do not post here!

[disneyandme]

What I've read on here is be specific on what you want. If you only know what you don't want (roof or parking lot) Teena has said 2nd floor request can be good - not high enough to see a roof. Or you can request courtyard view or facing epcot should get you woods or illuminations if high enough. Also at BC if you'd prefer full balcony add that to request since about half are standing room only. Anything specific you would like for a view?

I am looking for a room where we can see some Epcot fireworks. What should I specifically ask for?

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

I just wanted to thank everyone in this thread who gave me very good and solid advice and let you all know that I was fully prepared to take it. I really was. I got up bright and early this morning to check out the new discounts ... And discovered that no monorail resorts were available at all for our travel dates in December for the room-only discount. But guess what was? Yacht Club! And for $1,200 less (for the same package) that we were currently paying at Polynesian with free dining.

So, though I gather Yacht is the less preferable for board members (Beach club availability was short one day we needed), I switched. (For us, $1,200 is a lot of money.) I'm gonna' keep checking for monorail resort discounts BUT for now we're officially booked at Yacht Club (club level).

So, a couple questions ...

How long DOES it take to get to Magic Kingdom by bus? We might go ahead and get a rental car anyway, just because we have Hertz points so it will cost us >$100 for the week. Is driving better/faster than taking a bus to the parks? What about going to other resorts for meals?

Can you walk to Hollywood Studios? Or is it better to take the boat?

From what I've read here it seems like Beach Club was just renovated. Is that accurate, and does it also apply to Yacht Club (fingers crossed)?

The actual bus ride from the airport to Disney is around 45 minutes...give or take...but to get to your resort will depend on which stop you are. We are generally at our resort in about an hour....What my concern has been after the last two trips, is how long it takes to actually get ON the magic express! Last year it took almost an hour!! It was crzy down there...they had changed up the way they were loading and it was the arrival for lots of Pop Warner families...I didn't think I would ever get out!! But, you are missing that week so it really shouldn't be too long...
As for walking from the resort to Hollywood, you may like it...if you are a walker....and you have a stroller! I prefer the boat, just because you are already walking so much and it really isn't faster to walk this particular route.I mean, if you are walk/running, maybe, but I like to be 'not exhausted' by the time I get to the turnstiles!!!

 

[coopersmom]

The actual bus ride from the airport to Disney is around 45 minutes...give or take...but to get to your resort will depend on which stop you are. We are generally at our resort in about an hour....What my concern has been after the last two trips, is how long it takes to actually get ON the magic express! Last year it took almost an hour!! It was crzy down there...they had changed up the way they were loading and it was the arrival for lots of Pop Warner families...I didn't think I would ever get out!! But, you are missing that week so it really shouldn't be too long...
As for walking from the resort to Hollywood, you may like it...if you are a walker....and you have a stroller! I prefer the boat, just because you are already walking so much and it really isn't faster to walk this particular route.I mean, if you are walk/running, maybe, but I like to be 'not exhausted' by the time I get to the turnstiles!!!

Thanks for the info. I meant the bus from Beach Club to Magic Kingdom, not the Magical Express.
Sorry!

Also, should we have a room request? We're booked garden view, club level.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Thanks for the info. I meant the bus from Beach Club to Magic Kingdom, not the Magical Express.
Sorry!

Also, should we have a room request? We're booked garden view, club level.

It's early yet...can you tell I am still sleepy? I would say about 15-20 minutes...not long really!

 

[kldmom2000]

YC and BC both seem to be completely booked for our visit.

Luckily we did book our room long ago, but were hoping to upgrade to a waterview, but there are not any available. I was just wondering if it is just crazy at BC when the resort is booked out?

I am a little worried that it will be so busy that we will never get a spot by the pool and it will be crazy busy.

We are going first two weeks of October and am thinking of moving to BWI for part of the trip (maybe a week at BC and a week at BWI) as BWI seems to have lots of rooms and the pool may not be as busy (my DS is really excited about the pool, but does like the look of both pools).

How is the BC when all of the rooms are booked out?

A lot of guests stay at the Epcot resorts during October specifically for the Food & Wine Festival. I know we've been there the first week of Oct (about 4 years ago) and the F & W festival was jammed but I don't recall the pool being overly crowded??? I don't know in 4 years' time if it's changed or not, but that's what I remember because we spent a LOT of time at the pool our girls who were 4 & 6 at the time

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We're back!!!!!

Well we're back from our marathon Disney vacation!

It was wonderful. You know how some people post the good,the bad and the ugly about their Disney vacations? Well in all honestly there wasn't any bad or ugly! (although 2 scary parts).

As everyone knows our whole planning was a nightmare. Air Tran was the biggest part of the nightmare and they kept true to form. The day before we were leaving DH kept trying to check in to print our boarding passes and check in our luggage. The system was down - it would let you get so far and then a message would come up to try later the system was down. Even when we got to the airport hotel that night DH tried one more time. We figured we would just leave a little earlier and do it the next morning. We took the 4:45 am shuttle over and were in the airport by 5:00 am.

Now the nightmare part - apparently (and lots of people were having similar problems) when we tried to check in the day before it recorded the luggage as being six pieces for one person instead of 1 piece for 4 and 2 pieces for the 5th. So the luggage fees were more than doubled. They acknowledged the system had problems but said there was nothing they could do. Dh asked to speak to a manager. This was at 5 am - we had a 7 am flight. We waited for over an hour and a half and they kept telling us the manager was busy. Finally at 6:40 am Dh said fine just charge it and we'll dispute it with the credit card company when we get home. It seemed like lots of people were doing the same thing so I wonder if a manager was ever really going to show at all. We got to the plane at 6:50 and the employee at the gate told us "well you really should have been here earlier". I thought DH's head was going to blow - I told her we had been there since 5 but because Air Tran's system was down everyone was having problems. The employee denied the system was ever down! Fine - whatever - just get me on that plane! We made it with about 2 minutes to spare - so the kids didn't have any breakfast (as we usually buy something at the counter service place right before we board). I'm really hoping that everyone who reads this will make a vow NEVER TO FLY AIR TRAN!!!!!

Anyway after that not so magical start the rest of the trip made up for it.

We were able to board the ME bus about 5 minutes after we got the ME line. It was a different route this time. Boardwalk, YC, BC and then POR. Every other time we've used ME it was CBR, BW, YC and BC.

We had a great gv cl room - 5682. It overlooked the back courtyard and had a wonderful view of the Boardwak and lagoon! I sat out there many mornings while DH was running and it was so relaxing and I thanked our lucky stars that we hit the jackpot of gv cl rooms!

CL offerings were fantastic!
I'm sure I'll forget some but this is what I remember:

Breakfast: oatmeal (with lots of toppings) fresh fruit - cut up and whole, bagels, croissants, specialty bread, pastry, muffins, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, cereal and juices and coffee.

Snacks: soda,s lemonade, cranberry juice, water, yogurt covered raisins, trail mix, homemade chips and dip, gummy worms or sweedish fish, three different kinds of cookies.

Evening appetizers: Here's where we really noticed an improvements: 2 hots foods (such as chicken skewers, crab ragoons, bacon wrapped scallops, mini egg rolls, potstickers, duck quesedillas), two cold appetizers (such as lobster salad, shrimp salad, tuna tartare, rice salad, olive salad, tomatoes and mozzarella), cheese and crackers, small rye bread - two dips usually tomato pesto spread and a hummus, small rolls, little peanut butter and jelly cups, vegetables and dip. Beer - wine - soda, etc.

Desserts - we didn't really utilized the dessert offerings and that is the only thing that I thought looked a little skimpy. DD loved the oreo bonbons though and ds loved the mini cupcakes. It looked like two or three mini desserts, cookies, cordials, soda, etc.

We had wonderful service from all the cms'. BC CL staff was fabulous - mousekeeping really was wonderful. We had a super nice mousekeeper, Gloria, who did turndown for us most of the nice and she was so nice. She would knock on the door around 5:00 and ask us what time we wanted turn down service. We never lacked for any toiletries and she kept us supplied in chocolates! Everything was super clean and in all honesty I never saw one cm who wasn't smiling and just into the whole Disney spirit!

Here's the scary part - The one day we were sleeping in we were awakened by the smoke detectors going off and an announcement saying there was a fire in the building the to proceed to the nearest exit and not to use the elevators. It was really scary. I got the kids and Dh up and we left so quickly one dd didn't even have shoes on and DH had shorts, but no shirt. My heart was really racing. It appears there was a small fire, no where near our room, but it makes you realize that quickly things can happen. I will definitely be paying more attention in the future to where our nearest exit is and to have a better plan than me standing in the middle of the room screaming fire, fire, fire, get up, get up , get up!

The other scary part for me (who is petrified of snakes) was seeing two water moccasins in the lake when we were on the boat to DHS (not hear us but still creepy) and seeing a black racer snake right in front of walking from the International Gateway to BC.

One of the best part of the trip was our Disser meet! I haven't gone back and ready the end of the old thread or the start of the new one (too much laundry today), but I'm sure you guys heard all about it. It was so good to be able to put faces to names! Natebenma - what a hoot with your flat Stanley! jjohnson so sorry you couldn't make it since you put the time into organizing the meet.

We were lucky enough to see Teena a lot on our trip since she was working extra days.

16 nights/17 days seemed like such a long time before we went but it flew by!
We'll be back in February for a week but we all agreed we wanted to do the really long summer trip again on 2011!

Any questions?

 

[janloz]

Glad you had a great trip, you deserved it!!

One question: What is the current bounceback? We are going in early Sept and thinking about booking BB for my mom's 70th bday next spring. thanks.

 

[natebenma]

We're back!!!!!

Well we're back from our marathon Disney vacation!

Welcome back!!! Thought of you often these past couple of weeks and hoped you were all having a good time. Hope it wasn't too difficult for your daughter to get around.

Teena gave us a little tease about the trouble you had with Air Tran. They screwed us over on flight times from Orlando (we were supposed to have a non-stop 2 PM to 5PM, which was changed to a 11 AM to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Boston, landing at 5PM), so we are not fans either.

So glad you got a kick out of "me" crashing the meet. I was afraid it might be too hokey.

I'm sure we are all glad to have you back and posting when you have time!

Dee

 

[DisneyMomx7]

The current bounceback was 40% off deluxes.

I forgot to add - our first night there was a knock at the door and it was private dining. I thought they had the wrong room since were were going out to dinner and hadn't ordered anything. They said our last name so I wasn't sure what was going on. Wait until I tell you this suprise - they set up a table and there was a white chocolate mickey, white chocolate minnie, 5 what chocolate beach sandals, 5 chocolate covered strawberries and 5 white chocolate tuxedo strawberries. It was a magical surprise and definitely brought tears to my eyes after all the problems with this trip. There was also a sign in our room that said happy birthday to our dd.

The BC CL did a great job getting the sand buckets filled with the items I requested from the BC Marketplace and were even able to get the three light up mickey balloons from the parks to tie to the buckets.

The cms were all wonderful. I wish I could say the same for all the guests in the parks and even the resort. The first day we were at MK DH saw someone point at dd in the wheelchair and say to her kids "See that girl being pushed in the stroller - nothing wrong with her except wanting to get on the rides first". So glad I didn't hear that. BTW - total misconception that people think you get on the rides first when you have to use the wheelchair. MK is the only park that even puts you in a different line since all the rides are not wheelchair accessible. At Splash Mt. there can only be four wheelchair users on the ride at the time so you can not even go on it until a wheechair users comes off - and you are in the regular line (or fastpast line if you get a fastpast) until the stairs. At Space Mt. they would give you a time to come back (same as getting a fastpass) and they you would go in the fastpass line. DHS, AK and EPCOT all had you in the regular line.

The second rude guest was actually in the BC CL lounge! We went down from breakfast one morning. Usually we bring it back and eat in the room while the kids are getting ready but this morning we stopped in on our way to the park. I saw a dirty table with a newspaper on top and watch the cm clean it, so I sat down. A few minutes later this man comes up to me and said - did you throw my newspaper away? I told me no, that cm had cleaned the table. It got very upset and started telling me that he had put his newspaper on the table to save it and was furious with the cm for throwing it away and that this was his table. I got up and moved because I felt so bad for the cm he was berating for throwing away his newspaper! I mean really do you want a table so badly that you can't wait for it to be cleaned off and you think putting a newspaper on a stack of dirty dishes will do the trick?

As much as we hated to leave it got really crazy when free dining starte, both in the parks and in the lounge. So if we had to leave I think we left at the right time!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Welcome back Robyn! All the snake talk is making me I hope your return flight was uneventful!!!

 

[TyRy]

I am looking for a room where we can see some Epcot fireworks. What should I specifically ask for?

I wondered if any of the standard had this as well. I'd rather have that than a full balcony.

We were lucky and were able to get a room only discount this morning, and thought about upgrading to a water view. But - we are really not in the room that much and I know we'll be at SAB most of our time. Plus, we're only there for a couple of days (before chaning resorts). I'd rather see a few fireworks, than have the balcony if that is possible.

DisneyMomx7 - So glad you had a great trip (even with the scary parts), especially after all you went through just to get to Disney!

Last year was the first time we really saw some over the top rude behavior at WDW (guess we've been lucky.) DH even thought about saying something to one person in particular and that is so not like him.

 

[bean bunny]

We're back!!!!!

Well we're back from our marathon Disney vacation!

It was wonderful. You know how some people post the good,the bad and the ugly about their Disney vacations? Well in all honestly there wasn't any bad or ugly! (although 2 scary parts).

As everyone knows our whole planning was a nightmare. Air Tran was the biggest part of the nightmare and they kept true to form. The day before we were leaving DH kept trying to check in to print our boarding passes and check in our luggage. The system was down - it would let you get so far and then a message would come up to try later the system was down. Even when we got to the airport hotel that night DH tried one more time. We figured we would just leave a little earlier and do it the next morning. We took the 4:45 am shuttle over and were in the airport by 5:00 am.

Now the nightmare part - apparently (and lots of people were having similar problems) when we tried to check in the day before it recorded the luggage as being six pieces for one person instead of 1 piece for 4 and 2 pieces for the 5th. So the luggage fees were more than doubled. They acknowledged the system had problems but said there was nothing they could do. Dh asked to speak to a manager. This was at 5 am - we had a 7 am flight. We waited for over an hour and a half and they kept telling us the manager was busy. Finally at 6:40 am Dh said fine just charge it and we'll dispute it with the credit card company when we get home. It seemed like lots of people were doing the same thing so I wonder if a manager was ever really going to show at all. We got to the plane at 6:50 and the employee at the gate told us "well you really should have been here earlier". I thought DH's head was going to blow - I told her we had been there since 5 but because Air Tran's system was down everyone was having problems. The employee denied the system was ever down! Fine - whatever - just get me on that plane! We made it with about 2 minutes to spare - so the kids didn't have any breakfast (as we usually buy something at the counter service place right before we board). I'm really hoping that everyone who reads this will make a vow NEVER TO FLY AIR TRAN!!!!!

Anyway after that not so magical start the rest of the trip made up for it.

We were able to board the ME bus about 5 minutes after we got the ME line. It was a different route this time. Boardwalk, YC, BC and then POR. Every other time we've used ME it was CBR, BW, YC and BC.

We had a great gv cl room - 5682. It overlooked the back courtyard and had a wonderful view of the Boardwak and lagoon! I sat out there many mornings while DH was running and it was so relaxing and I thanked our lucky stars that we hit the jackpot of gv cl rooms!

CL offerings were fantastic!
I'm sure I'll forget some but this is what I remember:

Breakfast: oatmeal (with lots of toppings) fresh fruit - cut up and whole, bagels, croissants, specialty bread, pastry, muffins, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, cereal and juices and coffee.

Snacks: soda,s lemonade, cranberry juice, water, yogurt covered raisins, trail mix, homemade chips and dip, gummy worms or sweedish fish, three different kinds of cookies.

Evening appetizers: Here's where we really noticed an improvements: 2 hots foods (such as chicken skewers, crab ragoons, bacon wrapped scallops, mini egg rolls, potstickers, duck quesedillas), two cold appetizers (such as lobster salad, shrimp salad, tuna tartare, rice salad, olive salad, tomatoes and mozzarella), cheese and crackers, small rye bread - two dips usually tomato pesto spread and a hummus, small rolls, little peanut butter and jelly cups, vegetables and dip. Beer - wine - soda, etc.

Desserts - we didn't really utilized the dessert offerings and that is the only thing that I thought looked a little skimpy. DD loved the oreo bonbons though and ds loved the mini cupcakes. It looked like two or three mini desserts, cookies, cordials, soda, etc.

We had wonderful service from all the cms'. BC CL staff was fabulous - mousekeeping really was wonderful. We had a super nice mousekeeper, Gloria, who did turndown for us most of the nice and she was so nice. She would knock on the door around 5:00 and ask us what time we wanted turn down service. We never lacked for any toiletries and she kept us supplied in chocolates! Everything was super clean and in all honesty I never saw one cm who wasn't smiling and just into the whole Disney spirit!

Here's the scary part - The one day we were sleeping in we were awakened by the smoke detectors going off and an announcement saying there was a fire in the building the to proceed to the nearest exit and not to use the elevators. It was really scary. I got the kids and Dh up and we left so quickly one dd didn't even have shoes on and DH had shorts, but no shirt. My heart was really racing. It appears there was a small fire, no where near our room, but it makes you realize that quickly things can happen. I will definitely be paying more attention in the future to where our nearest exit is and to have a better plan than me standing in the middle of the room screaming fire, fire, fire, get up, get up , get up!

The other scary part for me (who is petrified of snakes) was seeing two water moccasins in the lake when we were on the boat to DHS (not hear us but still creepy) and seeing a black racer snake right in front of walking from the International Gateway to BC.

One of the best part of the trip was our Disser meet! I haven't gone back and ready the end of the old thread or the start of the new one (too much laundry today), but I'm sure you guys heard all about it. It was so good to be able to put faces to names! Natebenma - what a hoot with your flat Stanley! jjohnson so sorry you couldn't make it since you put the time into organizing the meet.

We were lucky enough to see Teena a lot on our trip since she was working extra days.

16 nights/17 days seemed like such a long time before we went but it flew by!
We'll be back in February for a week but we all agreed we wanted to do the really long summer trip again on 2011!

Any questions?

Just wanted to say Welcome Back. WE were at the YC at the same time and the fire alarm almost scared me to death!! All of the guests were quite a sight in our area - half of us in pjs and no shoes just getting out. It was a scary moment for sure. Glad you had a great time

 

[yanjan]

well after going to WDW for 6 years in a row and always staying at other resort but always wishing for BC i finally did it.

staying Dec 11-14 in a std room.

now for the questions

is there a better wing/room to ask for for the std?
can you request an upgrade with full intent to pay for it at check in?

thats all for now.

nick

 

[coopersmom]

By the way ... What ARE the differences between Yacht and Beach club, beyond decor?

Why do the folks here seem (from what I've read anyway) to prefer the Beach Club.

And does anyone know the answer to my earlier question ... Has the Yacht Club been renovated like the Beach Club has?

 

[pixarmom]

Welcome Back, Robyn!!!! So happy that you had a great trip (with some bumps) especially after all the pre-trip challenges. And thanks again for all your summer advice - you, Dee, Teena and so many others really helped our family of WDW winter/spring vets enjoy our July trip!

Tyry and Disneyand me, just wanted to let you know that we had a fabulous view of the EPCOT fireworks and a full balcony in our standard room in March. We didn't have any requests on our reservation - that's just what we got. I know it's not good to request a specific room, but just for reference, it was 3512 - right near the exit that's closest to EPCOT. It was absolutely amazing. Could hear the music clear as day and those fireworks were just right there! I'm thinking that this may now be a garden view room, though, because we overlooked trees.

We just called to apply the new discounts to our February reservation, and got garden view for only $207/night!!! If we kept standard it would have been only $201 per night, but thanks to Teena and all of you on this thread, we knew that standard would really mean standard this time. For $6 extra per night, I can know that the view will be of something green (and I'll really need that in February!) We're still waiting to see if the AP rates are any better, but I can't imagine it can get much better than this! And we'll still continue to think about changing to CL - especially if the lounge is open 24 hours!!!

 

[ClareH37]

It's great hearing the positive reviews of the BC CL, I've stayed CL at the YC and BWI (my favourite so far), but have always wanted to try the BC since the refurbishment, the colour schemes/decor really are beautiful, so today I've switched to the BC CL for next November (ages away but at least I can look forward to it).

I know a lot of families stay at the BC but I'm a solo traveller next year and I can't wait to finally make it to the BC

 

[scottmel]

Hey Robyn! Welcome back. Thought of you often and hoped you got the good view you wanted and a magical surprise! Sounds like you got both. I bet you are glad to see that you can now book a garden CL with a pretty view! I am all over that for 2011.

We are planning a return trip in 2011 in summer. Usually I am a June person but boy seems like vacation over so fast then for summer. how did you find Aug. vs. July weather? I am sure it was hot enough to roast nuts but huge difference? I am thinking of moving our June 11 trip to end of June early July...do you think that is a huge weather difference?
Thanks Melissa

 

[DrMomof3]

Welcome back Robyn! Glad you had a good trip!!!

Amanda

 

[Minnie]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone

I called WDW travel and wow it was tough to find anything available for our dates. The 20th is just darn near impossible to find someplace to stay and with the late flight we'd only need a place to sleep - it'll be almost midnight before we even get to the resort

If we still want to get in to the YC we would need to book somewhere else for that first sleep and then move to the YC for the two nights - not sure if we want to try that or not given I need to relax this trip.... but SAB would be so relaxing so I'm not sure what to do...

The only options would be WL all nights, AKV in a studio all nights or move - 1st night only options - BWV or AKV....

Based on this and my illness - need to relax this trip - WWYD? Book the WL or AKL all nights or find somewhere to stay closer to the airport (Sanford) and then YC last 2 nights; or one night in a WDW hotel and then move to the YC? Right now I'm really at a loss on what to do... Never thought it would be this tough to find something for all 3 nights

Thanks!

 

[MickeyT]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone

I called WDW travel and wow it was tough to find anything available for our dates. The 20th is just darn near impossible to find someplace to stay and with the late flight we'd only need a place to sleep - it'll be almost midnight before we even get to the resort

If we still want to get in to the YC we would need to book somewhere else for that first sleep and then move to the YC for the two nights - not sure if we want to try that or not given I need to relax this trip.... but SAB would be so relaxing so I'm not sure what to do...

The only options would be WL all nights, AKV in a studio all nights or move - 1st night only options - BWV or AKV....

Based on this and my illness - need to relax this trip - WWYD? Book the WL or AKL all nights or find somewhere to stay closer to the airport (Sanford) and then YC last 2 nights; or one night in a WDW hotel and then move to the YC? Right now I'm really at a loss on what to do... Never thought it would be this tough to find something for all 3 nights

Thanks!

Hey Minnie,
Hate that fate has thrown you a curve ball. I love the Wilderness Lodge lobby. My favorite lobby in WDW. Personally I could just sit there all day and watch people come and go. We had a lobby room and I would come out and just sit and soak up the atmosphere. You don't have to go outside at all and if you want to visit other resorts the boat ride is nice to the monorail.