Disney's Beach Club Villas

If Epcot is your favorite park, I’d highly recommend Disney’s Beach Club Resort and Disney Beach Club Villas. The main selling point for us is the resort is only steps away from the entrance to Epcot. The walk into the lobby offers an enchanting ocean scent. The villas are modern, decorated in a nautical/beach theme, and were very clean. The beds are relatively firm; however, the pillows were soft. We benefited from having a washer/dryer in our unit, along with a full kitchen - especially since it rained almost every day of our vacation which was then topped off with Hurricane Milton in the middle of our stay. It was nice of the resort to offer activities for the kids, as well as free arcade play for the day the parks were closed. Some of the less desirable aspects of this resort tended to revolve around the mixed and confusing messages provided by cast members about expectations for guests to follow as a result of the approaching hurricane. For example, guests were told to place mobile orders for the next day’s breakfast and lunch the day prior to the hurricane making landfall. The problem with this plan was 1.) the villas aren’t connected to the resort so walking outside to physically go to the restaurant to get a mobile order was not going to be an option during a hurricane event 2.) how was one supposed to pick up a mobile order for the next day if the villas building was going to be on lockdown? We were finally told by a cast member that we should have placed our order for food boxes to be picked up the same day (for the next day). Okay, clearly not the initial instructions given. By the time we received clarification, it was 8:25 PM and the building was going to be locked at 8:30 PM. My husband asked the cast member what we were supposed to do because the instructions were not clearly or concisely stated, and we had no food in our room outside of a few snacks and beverages. We were met with no response other than, “Well this building is going to be locked.” Um, yeah, we established that fact already. Our question was about dining for the next day. Thankfully, the hurricane did not cause substantial damage to the resorts and parks as everyone had anticipated. Guests were allowed out of their rooms the next morning even though the parks were closed. Where things got tricky fast is guests of The Beach and Yacht Club Resort, Boardwalk, and the Swan/Dolphin were now descending on very limited dining offerings, with little to no guarantee of available seating at the few options offered. One could not rely on basically anything posted on the app. None of the restaurants were further taking ANY online reservations, so you could walk around aimlessly for hours looking for somewhere to sit down and eat a meal with no success. Cast members were themselves confused as to their own offerings and hours of operation (which honestly seemed to be arbitrary and/or based on the whim of the staff/mgt.). For lunch, we walked over to the boardwalk area in

Stayed at beach club villas in a one bedroom. Make sure you call ahead with whatever requests you have (I called to request refurbished room and was able to get one). Was a bit worried as I booked the one bedroom for four adults and a child, but with the new renovations it was fine. Pulldown bed (Murphy bed?) is definitely an upgrade from the pull out bed from the couch in the living room that they had previously. Slightly difficult to get down from the wall if you haven’t used one before (we called and they sent someone up pretty quickly to help out). The kitchen is solid, fridge is as big as my home fridge. Dishes were clean. Showers and bathrooms good (soap dispensers have your classic Disney soaps). Shower pressure great. Master bed very very comfortable. Televisions in both master bed and family room large and great if you have little ones (tons of disney channels. Our kid loved the disney music video channel). Few minor gripes with the room (one of the phones didn’t work and the sink seemed to drain slow). But nothing major The resort itself is fairly immaculate in terms of cleanliness. Lots of options for dining in the hotel and the adjacent yacht club (but need ti make reservations ahead of time on the disney app for most). Beaches and cream is great (get the kitchen sink!) , and if you got kiddos and are worried about waiting for an hour in the parks to meet the characters, done be. Cape may cafe has a great character breakfast (again make sure you book ahead of time on app). The lobby is beautiful, the theming modeled after old time New England coast resorts. Several nice areas just off the lobby to sit and relax and enjoy a morning coffee and take in the ambience. The marketplace has almost everything you would need from snacks to ice cream to over the counter meds, gift items, etc. and the marketplace quick meals seem decent also. Pool is probably the best on Disney property. Lazy river and multiple deeper pool options along with a water slide make it fun for the older kids but they also have an expansive shallow pool with adjacent sandbars for the younger ones to enjoy. Lots of lifeguards keeping an eye constantly. There’s also an arcade and fitness center next to the pool. The beach is beautiful with multiple swings and a terrific view of the other side of the boardwalk. The pirate ship is where the water slide starts off and is a cool touch. They have nightly s’mores and movies on the beach weather permitting. All the above is great but what sets beach club apart is its proximity to the parks. Epcot is literally a ten minute walk away. The sky liner is even closer. And the boardwalk is an excellent area to stroll around and grab a bite to eat. Even the bus system is fairly smooth. Getting to the bus stop and then being dropped off at magic kingdom took no more than 20-25 mins. Same with animal kingdom. Overall probably 4.5/5 stars. Wife fell in love with the place and said we’re not staying anywhere else on future Disn