Yacht Club/ Beach Club and little kids?

[NEEN09]

I posted awhile ago about potentially planning a Disney trip for Spring 2018. We've now officially decided to book it.

We stayed at the Polynesian on our first family trip there in 2015 and really have nothing bad to say about the experience. We loved the resort and especially the pool & splash pad, DH and I loved spending time on the balcony after bedtime, and most nights we watched Magic Kingdom fireworks across the way as well.

My husband is interested in staying at the Beach Club or Yacht Club this trip. Is there really any difference between the two?

Also, I always think of these resorts as more "grown up" than the Poly or similar, maybe because I have memories of staying there as a teenager. When we go our kids will be 7, very nearly 5 (a month before his birthday), and 22 months old. Is the pool little kid-friendly? I know it's awesome for older kids and grown ups!

Side note: my daughter saw photos of Wilderness Lodge and was absolutely enchanted, so I've also briefly considered it, but I've heard that it's awful for park access. True?

What else do I need to consider/ am I not thinking of re: this resort plan?

 

[HatboxGhoul]

Both Yacht Club(YC) and Beach Club(BC) are the same with minor differences, like so minor some people don't even notice the buildings are painted different colours.

Some differences between them are:

YC lobby is quieter than BC lobby.

YC has no counter service; BC has some beverage station and some foods at the BC Marketplace.

YC rooms have full balconies; many at BC do not.

YC decor is dark woods; BC is lighter/brighter.

BC is one minute closer to Epcot; YC is one minute closer to boat dock to DHS or walking to DHS.

YC is picked up/dropped off before BC on shared bus routes.

They share a 3 acre water attraction and pool area called Stormalong Bay(exclusively used by Yacht and Beach Club stayers) which under went an extensive refurbishment completed in Spring 2015. Below is what the pool complex looks like.

Wilderness Lodge is absolutely stunning, it is detailed amazingly. Now that Copper Creek is open and the construction is finished it is just simply fantastic. Wilderness Lodge definitely does it best shining during the holiday season as they over decorate the lobby and have a giant(50 feet I think) Christmas tree in the lobby too. But as nice as it is, it is very over priced...and the park access isn't the worst (that dis-honour goes to Animal Kingdom Lodge) getting to Magic Kingdom for being the closest park can be frustrating and the other parks your looking at 25-ish minutes to Hollywood Studios or EPCOT, 30-ish minutes to Animal Kingdom, 40-ish minutes to Disney Springs.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've stayed at BC, YC and WL (and Poly, too!). Between BC and YC, I really prefer BC. It's brighter and more lively with more food options and it's closer to EP. YC is much darker, the lobby is smaller and it really seems to cater to a convention crowd.

In terms of the pool, there is a big, sand-bottomed children's pool (with a little "beach" where kids can build castles) that is about 2 feet deep (if I recall correctly). There is also a deeper children's pool with a small slide behind the big pirate ship slide. I think it's GREAT for small children (when my DS was 5 he went down that little slide over and over and over again). I would just be prepared, with 3 children, to have your eyes on them at all times as the sand-bottomed children's pool is right next to the "lazy river" area of SAB and that area is about 6 feet deep. They do have life vests for the children to wear, so I would definitely use them.

BC is super convenient to EP and DHS and, if your children have any interest, your 5 and 7 year olds could go to Sandcastle Club. My DS has been there many times and begs to go every trip. He sees it as one of the highlights of his vacations!

WL is gorgeous, but, I would agree, other than the boat to MK, the transportation isn't great. We stayed there when DS was 3 1/2 and haven't been back since because the buses take so long. We are finally going back this August but only because we will utilize uber or the new Minnie Vans to go everywhere except MK. We started using uber around WDW on our last few trips and it's been fantastic! We never wait for buses any more! It sounds like the Minnie Vans will have two car seats available for use. If this is a mode of transportation you would consider, you might want to keep an eye on the roll out of the program to see if it might work for you if you decide to stay at a resort that is less convenient than BC/YC.

The other thing I love about BC is being able to walk in and out of WS for dinner at night and being able to walk around the Boardwalk to see the entertainment and go to the other EP resort restaurants. Especially with a stroller, being able to simply walk out of your room and having so much within walking distance is priceless, IMHO.

 

[Heartdisney15]

Stayed at beach club last summer with 2 two year olds and a five year old. Def kid friendly. Pool was awesome and great for even the little ones!

 

[Heartdisney15]

Also like mentioned above being able to walk to Epcot and the boardwalk with the strollers was very convenient!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We stayed at Yacht Club when my kids were younger. We picked it over Beach Club because of the balcony factor...i.e. I wanted to be sure we had a full balcony/patio. I never really got a major adult vibe at YC or BC, but I found I personally preferred the vibe/decor over at BC and had better experiences with their CMs (I know they rotate and this can vary). If I could do it over again, I'd pick BC.

As for WL, we've stayed there as well and while I know experiences vary, we had horrible bus service. It didn't help that the boats weren't always running due to weather and weren't any real help for making it to early morning meals. The rooms at WL are also small. My girls were 2 and 4 when we stayed there, so we had more stuff. It was also a winter trip where temps were as high as 75 and as low as 28, so we had clothes for several seasons as well as a double stroller. While not the space of the Poly, room size is at least better at YC and BC and we've always had great transportation at YC and BC.

 

[maxiesmom]

The pool area is massive. You can't see the whole pool area from any one spot, so with children that young you will need to keep them contained to one area. If your older child wants to do the big slide, be aware they have to head away from the pool and cross a public walkway in order to get on. You cannot watch them do that from the pool. You definitely have to be "on" the whole time, no relaxing by the pool for mom and dad.

 

[h518may]

My family has stayed and both BC and WL, and would pick WL every time. Actually the entire week we were at BC my son was talking about how much he wished we were are WL, he was 9 that trip. For us the pool was so big it meant letting him do the slide some then letting DD do the little kids slide, but we weren't comfortable with DS doing the big slide if we couldn't see him at the end. At WL we can let the kids slide and it's easy to watch both of them.

And as for busses, we have had great and bad busses at every resort we have stayed at. Stayed 4 nights at WL in Feb. and had not problems moved to Contemporary for three nights and waited 45 min for a bus one morning to Ak.

Another bonus for WL is that If you get a standard room on a high floor you can watch the fireworks from the balcony. My kids love that.

 

[kreckl]

We waited until our ( one) child was about 9 to do YC and I'm glad we did. I cannot imagine watching 3 kids in SAB! To access the big slide, a child needs to TOTALLY LEAVE THE POOL AREA and is completely out of sight. They need to cross the main "road" which goes around the lake, and head to the slide access which is on a diagonal. The road can be busy, and more than once I saw kids run across it and almost collide with people zooming by on surrey bikes. SAB is an amazing pool, but this is a poor design imo. I had to help a poor little guy of about 7/8 find the slide steps once he ran out by himself without anyone to help him along.
Also, there are some deep spots in the pool, and not just at the lazy river- definitely over a kids head. If you stay totally in the small kid area, which your older ones may not want to do, you're all set. But otherwise I would say it would have the potential to be exhausting there for you, with a toddler and 2 older ones.
We stayed at YC and loved it. We preferred the less hectic ( quiet) lobby and balcony. The resorts are so close together, to us they almost felt like one, and one section was louder and busier than the other. We got a room at YC for much cheaper than BC with a code, and it turned out to be great.
We've only stayed at WLV, and we didn't care for it.
Our favorite, even with the buses, is AKL. AMAZING, totally kid-friendly resort. We loved having animals right outside the door, especially when we were getting showered and refreshed, one person could leave the room with kids and go down and all be entertained for a half hour....

 

[Aliceacc]

When I finish here, I'm emailing my travel agent and asking her to book us next summer in the BC. ( I will include a line that gives her permission to move us to the YC or Boardwalk in the event that a discount in the spring makes one of them significantly cheaper than the BC. One year it was $1000 cheaper to stay at the YC.)

My preference of BC over the YC is both the airy feeling and the BC Marketplace... it's so much easier to grab a cup of coffee there than at the YC.

OP, if both you and your husband are going, watching the kids shouldn't be a big deal. One tiny little piece of advice: bright colored bathing suits make it a bit easier to immediately spot your child. Make sure they know you'll be in the kiddie area unless they're accompanied by one of the adults. There's certainly enough to do in the kiddie area.

But if you are concerned, take a look at the Boardwalk. The Epcot/DHS access is just about the same, but the pool is more traditional.