Boardwalk vs. Yacht vs. Beach Club?

[Melissa Sheridan]

Hi!
We will be traveling end of Jan/early Feb. 2019, there will be 3 adults and 2 kids (10 & 8 at time of travel).
Where should we stay? Pluses/minuses of each?
Thanks!

 

[loves to dive]

I think it's 6 of one and half dozen of the other when it comes to the Epcot resorts. I usually just go with whichever one is less, they are all good and have their pros and cons. Many like YC/BC because of the pool and it is good for kids but it can be a little crowded and overwhelming. BW has the clown pool slide which is off putting to some. My favorite is YC, my kid is grown and I like the more adult feel of it, it is darker and a little less busy than BC. YC also has full balconies, BC does not have them in all the rooms and I like sitting out on the balcony in the morning. BC is lighter and more kid friendly. BW seems to have longer hallways to me, they remind me of redrum but it's a pretty resort. The food options other than a continental breakfast set up in the bar are all outside on the boardwalk but it has some great out of the way places to just sit and relax. If you are walking to HS YC is a tad closer, BC a tad closer to Epcot, BW depends on which end you are on. You can't go wrong with any of them.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Oh, no, not the dreaded travel family of 5. Disney isn't nice to groups of 5. I have lived that nightmare. Thinking if those are your choices you might want to go for a DVC which would rule out Yacht club.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We prefer the EP area resorts in the following order, HOWEVER, we book whichever is cheapest, because they are all great!

1) Boardwalk - we love the theme, the food options and the atmosphere at night. It's also a quicker walk to DHS if you are up for it. The pool is fun, typically never crowded and the slide is fun, too.

2) Beach Club - a little livelier than YC, great pool, quick walk to EP

3) Yacht Club - a little more sedate, a bit of a convention crowd, great pool but longer walk to EP.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We like BC best, then YC. We don't like Boardwalk because it has very long hallways and you have to go outside to get to the restaurants.

 

[starry_solo]

Beach Club / Yacht Club for Stormalong Bay and Pirate Ship slide

Boardwalk has the clown pool. I've never stayed there, but have seen the clown pool on the way to the clubhouse. Something about popping out of the clown's mouth at the end of the slide gives me the heebie jeebies.

 

[megs1313]

I really think this comes down to personal preferences. I will say, though, that the beach club scent is much beloved around here, but actually makes me nauseous. I'm really glad we visited there before booking a stay there, because that would have been miserable.

 

[Melissa Sheridan]

Lots of good info here - thanks, guys!
We will probably end up choosing whatever is cheapest, but I think I'm leaning towards Beach Club.

Any of the three resorts better in terms of boat service or bus service? We are thinking we will boat to HS and EP, bus (or drive) to AK, Springs, waterparks. Side question - monorail to MK or bus, which is better, in your opinions?

 

[ColoradoMom12]

Side question - monorail to MK or bus, which is better, in your opinions?

Bus. The only way to do the monorail is to walk all the way through Epcot. It's a big park/ long walk. Then you would have not one but two monorails to get to MK. It takes much longer, too, and also requires parkhopper tickets. If you want to be at MK when it opens, you wouldn't even be able to use the monorail as you wouldn't be able to walk through Epcot (as it wouldn't be open yet). The bus is faster. All of these resorts have dedicated MK service (BC and YC might share?). It's a fairly short ride, and we didn't wait long at BWI in July.

BTW, you can walk from BC to Epcot. You can take the boat, but the faster way is to walk. It's very short, less than 10 minutes in my experience.

 

[Marionnette]

Lots of good info here - thanks, guys!
We will probably end up choosing whatever is cheapest, but I think I'm leaning towards Beach Club.

Any of the three resorts better in terms of boat service or bus service? We are thinking we will boat to HS and EP, bus (or drive) to AK, Springs, waterparks. Side question - monorail to MK or bus, which is better, in your opinions?

You cannot take a monorail directly from any of those resorts. You would have to walk thru Epcot (if you have hoppers) and then take the Epcot monorail to the TTC, and transfer to either a boat or monorail to the MK if you want to do the monorail. The buses from the resorts would be quicker.

 

[Melissa Sheridan]

Sorry, should have specified - yes we will have hoppers.

 

[tomlinson]

I have stayed at all three, and here's the order I would rank them:

1.) Beach Club
2.) Boardwalk
3.) Yacht Club

Yacht Club just felt stuffy to me. Like, it felt stuffy to me. Not what I, personally, was looking for for a vacation. I like the atmosphere of the Boardwalk but... the Beach Club has everything I love. Nice pool. Light and relaxed. Loud sometimes but whatever. Easy walk to Epcot. It's just home.

 

[jods]

We were at bc 2 weeks ago. We had dedicated busses to the parks and shared with YC on the way back. The boat ramp shares with YC and the boardwalk is on the same loop. Heading out was great. Leaving the parks at closing, not so much. We ended up taking Minnie vans home a few times. I will say the BE busses home seemed more frequent but that could have been our timing. They also never had anywhere near as long of a line as yc/bc. Again, it could be timing.

 

[Shanti]

Hi!
We will be traveling end of Jan/early Feb. 2019, there will be 3 adults and 2 kids (10 & 8 at time of travel).
Where should we stay? Pluses/minuses of each?
Thanks!

In midwinter, I'd recommend the Boardwalk Inn simply because it's the prettiest. The Stormalong Bay pool complex is a major draw at Yacht & Beach Club in the warm months, but you will make little to no use of it during your winter trip. With that out as a consideration, I'd focus on the fact that the Boardwalk is a more elegant hotel, and naturally is right on the Boardwalk, so you can enjoy the Boardwalk activities and shops just steps from your hotel.

 

[loves to dive]

Lots of good info here - thanks, guys!
We will probably end up choosing whatever is cheapest, but I think I'm leaning towards Beach Club.

Any of the three resorts better in terms of boat service or bus service? We are thinking we will boat to HS and EP, bus (or drive) to AK, Springs, waterparks. Side question - monorail to MK or bus, which is better, in your opinions?

Disney transportation is Disney transportation and there is no resort that is going to get better or worse service.
We always walk to both HS and Epcot from any of the resorts, if we are at Swan/Dolphin and the boat is at the dock for HS when we walk up we will take it, if the boat is pulling into the dock for HS and it's our 2nd time out for the day at BC/YC we will take it. We never boat to Epcot, always walk. If we are going directly to MK we will take the bus, if we are in Epcot and decide to run over there, we will take the monorail.
We never drive anywhere even though we have a car, we take the bus to AK and don't do the Springs or water parks so can't help you there.

 

[starry_solo]

I will say that I've only stayed at Beach Club. I've walked to EPCOT but taken the boat to HS.

If I went at a colder time, I may have walked to HS but it was so hot and humid in May that we boated.

 

[starry_solo]

Also to the OP, you might want to change your username so it's not your name.

 

[Eliserose]

I haven't stayed at BW, but would definitely choose YC over BC. The rooms are newly redone and you are guaranteed a balcony. That extra space comes in handy for a family of 5.

 

[Marionnette]

Sorry, should have specified - yes we will have hoppers.

It's still a long walk from the Epcot International Gateway to the main entrance and then you have to wait for/ride two different monorails. You also have to go thru security when you enter Epcot and again at the TTC before boarding the monorail for the MK. I highly recommend just taking the bus to the MK from any of the Epcot area resorts.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Lots of good info here - thanks, guys!
We will probably end up choosing whatever is cheapest, but I think I'm leaning towards Beach Club.

Any of the three resorts better in terms of boat service or bus service? We are thinking we will boat to HS and EP, bus (or drive) to AK, Springs, waterparks. Side question - monorail to MK or bus, which is better, in your opinions?

YC/BC share bus service. BWI has its own bus. The nice thing about staying at the EP resorts is if you are at MK or AK you can hop on any EP area resort bus (Swan/Dolphin, BC/YC or BWI) and get back to your resort (either by direct bus or by bus to another resort and then a short walk to your resort). If you stay at YC/BC or BWI, it will be much quicker to walk to EP than take the boat. Typically it's faster to walk to DHS from BWI than take the boat.

It is much faster to bus to MK than take the monorail. As PP's have noted, the monorail is at the front entrance of EP and you will be near the IG entrance. You will only be able to access the monorail after EP opens. The only time it makes sense to monorail between EP and MK, IMHO, is if you are actually park hopping and not trying to go directly to MK.