Beach Club Resort

Overview

The Beach Club Resort is a Siamese sister to the Yacht Club Resort.  Both share the common theme of turn-of-the-century New England. The resort's brightly colored clapboard exteriors with gingerbread details look like a well-cared for club on Martha's Vineyard...albeit a great deal larger. The Yacht Club side is a bit more so, but both resorts tend to the formal side. Hardwood floors, wainscoting, and brightly polished brass nautical knick knacks and decor, all lend themselves to the sea-side themeing.

The Beach Club Resort is well-known as one of WDW's premier hostelries.  The resort is located just a short walk from Epcot and directly across from Disney's Boardwalk and adjacent, of course, to the Yacht Club Resort.  This provides many options for meals and recreation right in close proximity to your hotel room. 

Room Description

The seaside, nautical theme pervades each guest room with the light, airy colors and the furniture and accessories.  About half of the resorts rooms are non-smoking and a handful of them have wheelchair accessible showers (and none of them are fully handicapped accessible according to AAA.)

Standard view rooms, on paper, gives the guest a view of the parking lot.  As at most Disney resorts, though, the view is hardly "standard."  Water view rooms will face Stormalong Bay, the quiet pools, or Cresent Lake.  The garden view rooms provide peeks at the courtyards and groomed grounds.  Some, but not all, rooms include balconies or patios.

There are also several suites ranging from the junior suite (which provides a small sitting area in addition to the bedroom) to the two bedroom suites (which also include a sitting room with a wet bar) to the "named" suites which, as the proverbial statement goes, if you have to ask how much they cost you can't afford them.

You won't find coffee makers (except in the suites) but your room will be equipped with a minibar, hairdryer, iron and ironing board.  A morning newspaper (The Orlando Sentinel) and evening turn-down service are also complimentary.

Ice machines are located near the elevators, pop and snack machines near the quiet pool.

Preferred Room Locations

Depending on your own personal preferences for seclusion versus proximity to the central resort areas, you may wish to request a room accordingly.  Also, be aware that there is a single elevator located at the far end, near the quiet pool side of the resort.  For Epcot junkies, that might mean that a room located at that end of the resort might minimize walking..

Food and Drink

Meal options abound. The Yachtsman Steakhouse provides the resort's premium meals. Cape May Cafe serves a mean New England seafood buffet in the evenings. The Yacht Club Galley and Hurricane Hanna's Grill are alternatives for simpler ala carte offerings. Beaches and Cream is a turn-of-the-century hamburger and soda fountain that has been given high marks by many critics. Four-Bars provide nautical atmospheres for those that would like to drown their troubles...

Activities

The pool area toward the back of the resort is an attraction in it's own right. With a sandy bottom, a ship wreck, hot tubs and spas scattered about..."Stormalong Bay" is a wonderful place to spend a few hours. The resorts also share a fitness center and tennis courts. Volleyball, croquet, and a full-service beauty shop are on site as well. Several upscale shops cater to the Topsider crowd.

Disney Transportation

The Beach and Yacht Club resorts are located close to Epcot's back door, the International Gateway, so you can walk to that park.   (As a resort guest, you will be permitted to walk through World Showcase to the "top" of Future World even on those mornings when World Showcase hasn't yet opened.  It's a prime time to snap some pictures of those gardens in the United Kingdom and Canada pavilions without any guests meandering through.)  Alternatively, you can catch a "friendship" boat launch for a short cruise to the Gateway or to the Disney / MGM Studios.  Disney's buses provide service to the other destinations at WDW.

If you just missed the boat to MGM, you can still catch it by hoofing it over to the Swan and Dolphin dock.

Other Comments

The fireworks from Epcot's IllumiNations show are visible from the beach or from the Boardwalk bridge.  Alternatively, you can take an IllumiNations cruise (very expensive, but very special, too) on a pontoon boat or the Yacht Club's yacht, Breathless.

A member of the WDW horticultural team provides landscaping tours Monday, Wednesday and Fridays at 8:30 and 12:30.  You'll need to contact Guest Services to make arrangements.

The two resort stores have story presentations on Tuesday evenings.