Yacht Club vs Beach Club vs Boardwalk Inn

[MsOnceUponATime]

Are there any major differences between the three?

Three adults will be staying - who will be hitting Epcot, MK and HS on a 5 night/6 day visit. Would one of the above hotels be better than the other for this type of trip? The prices are comparable.

 

[SarahC97]

Yacht Club has the most recently renovated rooms, but that's the biggest difference I see between them - aside from the pool, with Stormalong Bay only available to guests of BC/YC. I have a trip planned next year and we went with YC simply for the renovated rooms.

 

[OKW Lover]

Biggest difference is probably Stormalong Bay at the Beach & Yacht Clubs. Boardwalk, of course, has the whole boardwalk atmosphere witch is mostly a night-time thing. Of course if you are staying at Beach or Yacht, that's a short walk away.

 

[EllNat11]

I've never stayed at YC, but between Boardwalk and Beach Club we enjoyed our trip at Beach Club more. Unfortunately for us, it was during Thanksgiving one year and it wasn't warm enough to enjoy Stormalong Bay, we'll have to try again! The pool at Boardwalk was nice, but Stormalong Bay was way nicer.

 

[loves to dive]

I usually just go with whichever one is cheapest at the time I'm booking. I prefer YC but will stay at any of them. BC is my least favorite since it's more family friendly and we are two adults and I don't like the fact that all the rooms don't have full balconies. We never use the main pool at any of them, we use the quiet pools instead. YC has more of an adult feel, BW has no indoor food options, they are all out on the boardwalk but that has never been a problem with us. Technically, BC is closer to Epcot but it really isn't that big of a difference.

 

[Princess Mulan]

Are there any major differences between the three?

Three adults will be staying - who will be hitting Epcot, MK and HS on a 5 night/6 day visit. Would one of the above hotels be better than the other for this type of trip? The prices are comparable.

We usually book whichever one has the best rates, but we prefer Boardwalk and Yacht Club for two big reasons: the almost guaranteed balcony and the calm atmosphere. Not all Beach Club rooms have full balconies, and the resort seems to cater more toward families, so the common areas tend to be noisier. After our last stay at BC, I swore that we would never book standard view there again; standard view rooms at BC can be particularly off-putting, especially if you are assigned a room that overlooks the infamous “Pebble Beach” (flat rooftop).

 

[Buckeye Jones]

We are a family of 5, and have stayed at BWI and YC, though only 4 of us went on our YC trip. I prefer BW. The room was bigger, and just had a more upscale feel. The closet space is much better at BW too. My kids love the pool at YC, and for the summer months we will stay there again. I think they spent more time at the pool than in the parks on that trip. For an adult trip I’d go with BW, for sure. We are staying there in March, and I can’t wait to go “home.”

 

[Hopefully]

You can't go wrong with any of them. But we prefer BC all the way. It was renovated just before YC, so the difference there is minimal. We enjoy SAB, and the ease of walking to Epcot.

 

[jerseygal]

Yacht & Beach Club all the way! You can beat the "water park" they got there (Stormalong bay)

JUST LOVE Stormalong Bay. Have stayed at BC and BW, my preference is BC...love the lobby, the whole vibe. My vote would be BC, then YC, then BW. All are SO CONVENIENT to Epcot, but Stormalong Bay imo is still the best pool on property. When DH and I travel without our adult kids, we still love Stormalong Bay as adults. So spacious, so much room. Gorgeous pool!

 

[Nancyg56]

All thrteee are good choices for an Epcot centric visit, however BC is my favorite. The issue is the balcony though, I don't care if we have one or not, but if you really want a balcony, choose YC or BWI.

 

[SweetSerenity]

As others have mentioned, they are all so similar that I think it comes down to what is important to you. The main pool area for Yacht Club and Beach Club is so beautiful, but it was always crowded whenever we were there. Boardwalk has lovely terraces overlooking the gardens for lounging and conversing, and the quaint Bellevue Lounge was very nice. The main drawback to BWI for us was the inconvenience of refilling mugs if you're going to be using one. We never used ours because the closest option was the Boardwalk Bakery, which was a ways away from our room. If you will be using Disney transportation, though, the boats to Epcot and Hollywood Studios is shared between the Boardwalk, YC/BC, and the Swan and Dolphin. The boat to Epcot went straight over after picking up at The Boardwalk, which was nice. Of course, you can also walk. We did that several times, and it was not a bad stroll. I don't think you can go wrong choosing any of them, though.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

Thank you all! We will be going in October so it's likely that we will not be using the pools (besides we have a fantastic pool at home). I'm wondering - is there a view preference at Boardwalk? Is Garden view worth the price increase over Standard view?

I popped over to Costco travel and can get an almost $500 discount (vs the Disney website itself) booking through Costco if we stay at Boardwalk! That discount is almost a no-brainer for me if the three hotels are that comparable. I am aware that this is comparing to rack rate on the Disney website, but I don't want to wait too terribly long to lock in a hotel.

 

[SweetSerenity]

Thank you all! We will be going in October so it's likely that we will not be using the pools (besides we have a fantastic pool at home). I'm wondering - is there a view preference at Boardwalk? Is Garden view worth the price increase over Standard view?

I popped over to Costco travel and can get an almost $500 discount (vs the Disney website itself) booking through Costco if we stay at Boardwalk! That discount is almost a no-brainer for me if the three hotels are that comparable. I am aware that this is comparing to rack rate on the Disney website, but I don't want to wait too terribly long to lock in a hotel.

Again, it's your preference. How much time will you be spending on your balcony looking at the view? We don't spend the extra for the upgraded view because it's not important to us. As I mentioned, The Boardwalk has so many nice spots for landscape and Boardwalk viewing that it won't be hard to find a good place to sit to have a cup of coffee or a drink.

 

[TJA]

Thank you all! We will be going in October so it's likely that we will not be using the pools (besides we have a fantastic pool at home). I'm wondering - is there a view preference at Boardwalk? Is Garden view worth the price increase over Standard view?

I popped over to Costco travel and can get an almost $500 discount (vs the Disney website itself) booking through Costco if we stay at Boardwalk! That discount is almost a no-brainer for me if the three hotels are that comparable. I am aware that this is comparing to rack rate on the Disney website, but I don't want to wait too terribly long to lock in a hotel.

If the cost isn't too much more, I'd go with the garden view only because we do like to sit on our balcony at times with a drink in hand, and it's nice to have a decent view.

I think BWI is a good decision for you considering there are 3 adults in your party. The BC is our personal favorite, but that's because my kids have practically grown up there and we have so many special memories. But as people in this thread said, the BC is very family/kid oriented. So my vote for you was going to be either BWI or YC because that's where DH and I would stay if we were travelling alone, probably steering more towards BWI because the BC/YC SAB pool would be hard for me to sit at without my kids.

 

[marmar]

We are 2 adults who almost always stay at BWI. WE stopped staying at BC because of the noise and chaos. Stormalong bay means nothing to us. Again I am not a fan of chaos. The primary reason we end up at BWI is that it ends up being a few hundred $$$ less than YC. BWI is closer to Epcot and DHS. Even standard view rooms were not too bad at BWI. We’ve had the roof view at the yacht club. I never do standard at YC.

So for 3 adults I’d put them in this order BWI YC BC

 

[Mynamewastaken]

We've done all 3 and love BWI. We always pay for Garden View. I've never had a bad experience there.

 

[Babsy]

Our preference is BWI, but it is slight. All three resorts are very similar, IMO. The big difference is the pool (Storm Along Bay vs the dreaded clown pool! LOL) We just use the quiet pool at the BWI.

 

[Minnie1222]

The renovated Yacht Club was my favorite resort until it became a full-fledged dog-friendly hotel. BC is too loud and crowded in my opinion. BWI's garden view rooms are very pretty and you may be able to see the fireworks from some of them.

 

[kandb]

We have stayed at all three. We rate them YC, BC, BWI, with YC being our favorite and BWI our least favorite.

 

[Minnie1222]

Our preference is BWI, but it is slight. All three resorts are very similar, IMO. The big difference is the pool (Storm Along Bay vs the dreaded clown pool! LOL) We just use the quiet pool at the BWI.

LOL! The clown pool is THE reason we stay far away on the opposite side of Crescent lake. Although it is not visible from the Inn side, knowing that it is so closed, so nearby, gives me the creeps every time.