Review: Disney’s Beach Club Villas
By Dave Shute
OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB VILLAS
Note: Guests at Disney’s Beach Club Villas are eligible for Disney World’s Early Entry program, and have the ability to pre-book as early as seven days before check-in Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass rides. They are also eligible for its Extended Evening Hours.
Disney’s Beach Club Villas (a Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) resort, and one of the Epcot resorts,) is a wonderful place for returning visitors to Walt Disney World to stay, and could easily become one of my personal favorites among the DVC resorts.
For typical first-time visitors, I don’t recommend the Disney Vacation Club resorts.
That said, these “DVC” resorts can be a great choice for first time visitors with large families, needing extra sleeping spaces, or looking for a more comfortable place to stay.
Among the Disney Vacation Club resorts, Disney’s Beach Club Villas ranks ninth overall for first-time visitors, and is particularly strong for charm, compactness, convenience to Epcot, and access to the great pool Stormalong Bay.
THE BEACH CLUB VILLAS AND THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB RESORTS
You can have a spectacular visit at any Walt Disney World resort.
However, this site recommends that typical first time visitors to Walt Disney World avoid the Disney Vacation Club resorts, while noting that these resorts are wonderful for visits after the first.
(You can find extensive detail on the DVC resorts here.)
The recommendation comes from the simple fact that the distinguishing features of these resorts–extra space and full kitchens–will not be of much value to first-time visitors following one of the itineraries on this site, as they won’t be used much.
However, the Disney Vacation Club resorts represent more than 10% of Walt Disney World’s total rooms, and are very appropriate for first time visitors with large families, needing extra sleeping spaces, or looking for a more comfortable place to stay.
Because of this, I’m providing a series of up-to-date reviews. We’ve stayed in the Beach Club Villas four times, and this review is based on those stays.
It includes the following material:
- The page you are reading, an overview of Disney’s Beach Club Villas
- Theming and accommodations at Disney’s Beach Club Villas
- Photo tour of a Studio at Disney’s Beach Club Villas
- Photo tour of the living/dining/kitchen space in One and Two Bedroom Villas at Disney’s Beach Club Villas
- Photo tour of the bath and master bedroom in One and Two Bedroom Villas at Disney’s Beach Club Villas
THE 2016 REFURB AT DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB VILLAS
The Beach Club Villas came out of a refurb in September 2016. The most material changes:
Studios now sleep five–the fifth on a fold-down bed.
Studios have also lost drawer space.
One and Two Bedroom Villas have had much carpet replaced with wooden flooring.
The master bath in One and Two Bedroom Villas is simplified, with the whirlpool tub being replaced with a soaking tub, and the window between the bath and the master bedroom now gone.
In all villas and studios, the refurbed spaces have a more austere and less playful color palette than the former decor.
Compare the above from an old Studio…
…with this from a new one.
A photo tour of all these newly refurbed spaces begins here.
DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB VILLAS
Resorts are ranked on this site for first time visitors based first on their kid appeal, and then on their convenience.
On this basis, Disney’s Beach Club Villas comes in ninth overall of the Disney Vacation Club resorts. (See this for resort rankings.)
Beach Club Villas Kid Appeal.
The kid appeal of the Beach Club Villas, such as it is, comes from largely the pool it shares with its parent resort the Beach Club, and not its design, architecture, or theme.
Kids will love the Stormalong Bay pool, the best pool at a Disney-owned resort, but otherwise find the Villas a yawn compared to resorts with higher kid appeal.
Beach Club Villas Convenience.
Disney’s Beach Club Villas is the sixth-most convenient of all the Walt Disney World resorts in carrying out the Magic Kingdom-focused itineraries for first-time family visitors on this site.
All of the Epcot resorts are convenient to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Epcot is a short walk away, and the Studios are a longer walk or boat ride away. The Disney Skyliner is also an option for getting to the Studios–after a change at Caribbean Beach.
The other two parks are accessed by buses from the main Beach Club resort, which are shared with some of the other Epcot resorts.
BEST AND WORST ROOMS AT DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB VILLAS
On the map, the Beach Club Villas are the dark brown building in the upper right corner. On the map, these Villas kinda looks like a cat with its tail raised, seen from the side. (Well, it does to me…) The cat’s head faces the center of the map.
The Beach Club itself is the brown building below the Villas, and the Villas share its amenities, dining, and pools. In the Villas, there’s two elevator areas–one at the cat’s neck, and the other about halfway along its tail.
The Beach Club Villas is very compact, so room location matters less than at some other resorts. The best views are of its little quiet pool, as other views can be so-so. First floor rooms have patios.
All guest services–check in, dining, etc.–are available in the Beach Club itself. There is also a little check in/concierge desk in the Villas themselves, not open all the time.
Parking is available where the top of the Villas crosses the canal at the top of the map–at the top of the cat’s tail.
The pathway to Epcot is in the middle of the right side of the map–the white path that is cut off by the map’s key.
The boats to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios are reached from the pier that juts out into the lake (in front of the Yacht Club). From the Villas, it’s faster and almost shorter to walk to Epcot than to walk to the boat dock.
Buses to the other two parks and Downtown Disney are at the Beach Club’s bus stop, which is at the top center of the map, near but to the left of the cat’s head.
All things considered, the pool-view rooms on the second and higher floors of the cat’s head are the best choices–these are even numbered rooms 202-210, 302-316, and 402-412. These rooms are close to the elevators, have a stair at the end close to the bus stop, and are close to the main Beach Club services.
Don’t ask your reservationist for a cat’s head room or they may hang up–instead ask for a pool-view room on the second floor or higher in the wing that’s closest to the bus stop.
There really aren’t any bad rooms, but a first floor room on the non-pool side at the tip of the cat’s tail has little to recommend it other than being close to parking.
BEST FOR:
First time family visitors looking for extra or more comfortable space, and prefer its theme or location to DVC resort with more kid appeal, such as The Villas at the Wilderness Lodge.
WORST FOR:
Families on a budget; families looking for the highest degree of kid appeal.
THEMING AND ACCOMMODATIONS AT DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB VILLAS
This review continues here.
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18 comments
I know this report is on The Beach Club Villas but getting a little off topic – how would you rate Beach Club Resort for 1st timers? 2 adults, 13 year old son & 12 year old daughter. This will probably be our only trip to WDW. We are from Ireland. Thinking of 3 nights in Wilderness Lodge (to be near MK) then moving to BC for 8 nights. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks and love your posts!
Ciara, for a split stay with part at an Epcot resort, the Beach Club is a great choice!
Thanks a million Dave, that is what I was hoping you would say! Keep up the great work!
Hi Dave!
We have a 2 bedroom reserved and I’m trying to figure out a room request I’m not sure how to tell which rooms have the larger balcony and does it make much of a difference? From your external pictures it looks like on the “cat’s head” wing the upper 2 floors (3 and 4?) have smaller balconies? Maybe only floor 2 has a larger balcony? And are the rooms on the top floor (4th) dormer rooms with a sloped ceiling on the inside or does it just look sloped from the outside? I thought room 404 looked best on the floor plans I’ve seen but I wouldn’t mind being lower if there was a nicer balcony. Thanks!
Hi Anne, in the villas all the balconies are good–unlike in the main resort–although some are larger than others.
First time to BCV. We are going to be there in 2 weeks. Wondering what room/floor you would recommend for a family of 5 – 18 month old, 4 year old and an 8 year old. I was originally thinking a ground floor room with a dunes pool view, but it seems far from SAB and BC amenities. I know its just your opinion but I have never been here so I am just curious to hear your thoughts. Thanks in advance.
Emily, BCV is so small (compared to other DVC options) that it does not much matter. My advice, as I note, is to ask for a pool-view room on the second floor or higher in the wing that’s closest to the bus stop. The higher floor limit noise from the pool and improve the view.
Are woods view rooms the ones that face Epcot?
Britt, the garden/woods view rooms do not face a parking lot, nor water, but other than that can be aimed in any direction.
Hi Dave!
First time at BCV. Are there any rooms on the top floor which is closest to the International walkway to Epcot? Also, can you get to the villa from the inside of BC or only from the outdoor walkways?
Thank you!
Hi Tina, the closer a BCV space is to Crescent Lake, the shorter the walk to the Epcot entrance. And yes, you do have to go outside to get from the BC to the BCV, but the walkway is covered.
Hi Dave, thanks for tour review if the DVC studio, it was extremely informative. We are currently booked at the Contemporary Resort tower with lake view. We originally picked the CR because of the monorail and restaurant. We do plan on visiting the MK twice during our 6 day stay. but I’m strongly considering moving to a studio at the BC. Why? The pool looks amazing, more space in the room when we’re not sleeping, and a microwave to make breakfast. What are your thought on this change? If you do get a room at the BC facing Epcot, can you see anything, like the light show?
Hi Shirell, how big is your party? There are also studios with similar layouts next to the Contemporary at Bay Lake Tower, and at the two other monorail resorts, the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian. (The ones at BLT are small, though, which is why I ask about the size of your group.) The Beach Club Villas are a great choice for the pool and nearness to Epcot. Some of them might have an oblique view of the higher fireworks at Epcot, above the trees.
Dave – we’re heading back in Oct 19. Been reading that demand is pretty high for BC during F&W Festival; not being member, do you think it’s possible to snag a 1 bedroom suite 7 months out? thx
Jeff the Gartner symposium–which traditionally makes getting Epcot resort rooms hard–ends 10/18, so stay-overs from that may also make getting a 1BR hard (though not as hard as a studio). I can’t opine firmly, but there are places where you can get a fact based opinion–e.g. ask a question on this forum: https://www.easywdw.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?17-Disney-Vacation-Club-(DVC)
I’m booking late, as usual, (sigh), planning a 9-night stay at Disney World. I have 5 nights booked at the Boulder Ridge villas for our family of 5, and now I see a 1-bedroom villa at the Beach Club for the next 3 nights that I like. BUT, I actually need 4 nights. We arrive at Disney World Nov. 25, so we are 5 weeks out. Can I book the Beach Club villa now and expect a villa to free up to cover that extra night? Wishful thinking?
Dee, wishful thinking. Anything is possible, but occupancy runs 85% +, so you can’t count on anything being available…
Thanks for the answer Dave. You are right. So, there are family suites available at art of animation. I’ll book there. Also, can you tell me if the Disney fold-out couches are ok for adults? I’m wondering if we should rent (?) something to add to the bed as we have a fairly large adult in our party who will have to sleep on a couch.
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