Category — q. Reviews
Review: Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, Continued
This is the second page of this review of Disney’s Yacht Club Resort. For the first page, click here.
MORE ON DISNEY’S YACHT CLUB RESORT
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort is one of 8 official Disney owned and operated deluxe resorts at Walt Disney World.
In their recommended order for first time family visitors, they are
Many of these also offer Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) studios and villas, all for rent to the general public–see this for more on the Disney Vacation Club resorts. The Yacht Club does not have a DVC offering.
ROOMS AT DISNEY’S YACHT CLUB RESORT
February 19, 2012 No Comments
Review: Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S YACHT CLUB RESORT
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, one of the Epcot resorts, is the seventh best deluxe resort at Walt Disney World for first time family visitors.
You can have a wonderful visit at any Walt Disney World resort hotel.
However, this site recommends that first time visitors to Walt Disney World who can afford it should stay at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, a deluxe resort, and that those who can’t should stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, a value resort.
(It also suggests that first time visitors should avoid the moderate resorts, while noting that these resorts are wonderful for visits after the first. See this for why.)
Compared to other Walt Disney World owned and operated resorts, the deluxe resorts are distinguished by having (on average) the most amenities, nicest views, best dining options, best transport options, largest rooms, best service, and highest prices.
Among the deluxe resorts, Disney’s Yacht Club Resort has a lot of positives.
It stands out for sharing with the Beach Club the best pool on property, sharing with the Beach Club and the BoardWalk Inn convenient access to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and also sharing with these resorts a short walk to dozens of interesting table service dining options located in these resorts, at the Swan and Dolphin, on the BoardWalk, and in Epcot.
(See this for much more on resort distinctions by price class–value, moderate, deluxe, etc.) [Read more →]
February 13, 2012 No Comments
Review: Disney’s BoardWalk Villas, p4
This is the fourth page of this review of Disney’s BoardWalk Villas. For the first page of this material, click here.
MORE ON DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS
The BoardWalk Villas opened in July 1996 as the second of the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) resorts. Its floor plans set the basic pattern for all those that would follow.
Much smaller than the spaces at Disney’s Old Key West Resort, its floor plans are still larger than most of the next wave of DVC resorts.
The BoardWalk Villas share the lobby, shops, and services of Disney’s BoardWalk Inn; you can find more about the BoardWalk Inn here.
PHOTO TOUR OF A ONE BEDROOM VILLA AT DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS
You enter to find an entrance area with a closet to one side and walls on the other.
As you proceed into the villa, a kitchen opens on one side.
On the other side, you’ll find a hallway that leads to the door to the washer-dryer closet, a door to the split bath, and a door to the master bedroom.
The kitchen includes all necessary appliances and a good selection of plates, cups, pots and pans, and other kitchenware.
Counter space is at a premium, and the attached breakfast bar is small and comes with only two chairs.
Opposite the kitchen is a very small dining table and two more chairs.
Note the wall behind the dining table–this is a mirror, which increases the sense of spaciousness of the room.
Further back you’ll find the living area. A TV and dresser are on one side, and a fold-out couch on the other.
In rooms with connecting doors (they connect to a studio, so that the collection can be sold as a studio and a one bedroom, or as a two-bedroom), an armchair is next to the couch.
In the room we stayed in, without a connecting door, the armchair was back where the connecting door would be.
This led to a feeling of spaciousness so extreme the room felt empty.
The master bedroom is accessed through a small hall near the entry to the room.
This hall passes a closet containing a stacked washer and dryer, and has an entry to the bath.
The bath is divided into two areas. One, accessible from both the hall and the master bedroom, has a toilet, sink, and large shower.
The second part of the bath is accessible from both this space, and from the master bedroom.
It includes a large whirlpool tub, with a shutter-able opening to the master bedroom itself, a nice vanity and sink, and a large closet.
(The shutter is on the left side of the image, above the tub.)
The master bedroom contains a king bed, upholstered chair, and a TV and dresser.
There’s a balcony here as well–the main living area also has a balcony.
Other than the flaw in the placement of the connecting doors in Two-Bedroom Villas (see the discussion here), the BoardWalk Villas are the most livable DVC spaces in the generation of DVC resorts built after Disney’s Old Key West Resort and before Kidani Village and Bay Lake Tower.
Compare the One Bedroom at Saratoga Springs–pretty much the nadir of DVC design.
The entry closet in the Saratoga Springs floor plan is missing entirely–there’s only one small closet, in the shrunken master bath.
Each Saratoga Springs space is narrower–the living room space so much so that it’s unusable when the fold-out couch is open.
And of course there’s just one balcony in the Saratoga Springs floor plan, rather than the two at the BoardWalk.
Disney’s BoardWalk Villas strengths for first time visitors are this livability (which carries over into all of its room types), and its convenience to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Disney’s BoardWalk Villas principal negative is the absence of any real kid appeal compared to alternatives like The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Jambo House.
EXTERNAL LINKS FOR DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS:
PAGES: Previous | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
MORE ON WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD
- For where to stay, see this
- For your next best choices, in order, see this
- For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
- For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
- For where not to stay, see this
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- For what you get in each resort price category, see this
- For Walt Disney World resort price seasons, see this
- For resort reviews, see this
- For the value resorts, see this
- For the moderate resorts, see this
- For thedeluxe resorts, see this
- For suites at the deluxe resorts, see this
- For the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) Resorts, see this
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- For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this
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- Military/DOD families should look at this
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- Families seeking the most comfortable place to stay should see this
February 5, 2012 No Comments
Review: Disney’s BoardWalk Villas, p3
This is the third page of this review of Disney’s BoardWalk Villas. For the first page of this material, click here.
GRAND VILLAS AT DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS
Grand Villas at Disney’s BoardWalk Villas sleep 12.
They have three bedrooms (one with a king, and two with two queens) plus a sleeper sofa.
They also have a kitchen, dining room, living room, balconies, and 3 baths.
There are seven Grand Villas at the BoardWalk. Five of them have the single-story layout shown in the above floor plan, and those five are what this review discusses.
Going right to left, the first two spaces are bedrooms, each with a private bath, two queen beds and balcony access. Each of these rooms is about the size of a “normal” hotel room–though note that the hall to the right-most room means the other bedroom is smaller.
Note also in this hall the additional door to the hotel hallway.
Next comes the kitchen and dining space, and after, a living space almost twice as large as that found in two-story Grand Villas, with a stately entry hall.
Off of the living room space you’ll find a small hallway with a door to the laundry room, another to the master bath, and a third door to the master bedroom.
The master bath serves both the master bedroom and those who may be sleeping on the living room couch, or visiting, and can be entered from the master bedroom as well as the hallway.
The master bedroom includes a king bed and an expansive divided bath, with a large whirlpool tub.
These single story Grand Villas at the BoardWalk Villas have the second-best floor plan of any Disney World Grand Villa, bettered only by those in the Villas at the Grand Floridian. (For an extensive discussion of Grand Villa design choices, see this.)
This is because the BoardWalk single story Grand Villas are unique in offering a single living room space large enough to seat all the guests they will sleep.
(To the capacity of 12, you can add one more kid under 3 at time of check in who sleeps in a crib.)
THE THEMING OF ON DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS
Disney’s BoardWalk Villas are described on Walt Disney World’s website as capturing
“…the charm, whimsy and elegance of turn-of-the-century Atlantic City. These Villas, along with adjacent hotel Disney’s Boardwalk Inn, put Guests in a prime location to enjoy the carnival sights and ragtime sounds of the BoardWalk, along with the glittering waters and recreation of Crescent Lake.”
This “Atlantic City” claim is a bit of a crock.
The BoardWalk complex has multiple theming points, unified by the concept of “eastern resort town.”
The BoardWalk entertainment area perfectly matches the Atlantic City theme.
But the BoardWalk Inn, according to its architect Robert A. M. Stern, “takes its architectural cue from rambling colonial revival-style hotels of New England.”
And the Villas, again per Stern, bring to the “resort town” concept the Bungalow Style:
“The Disney Vacation Club [BoardWalk Villas], in keeping with the sense of the BoardWalk as a resort town, consists of a series of interconnected small scale buildings facing the [BoardWalk] lakefront.
Beyond the lakefront, where the vacation club faces a canal, the building takes on a larger scale with wide roof overhangs and bold horizontals reflecting the early 20th century American tradition that combined classicism with vernacular cottage architecture to create the Bungalow Style.
Here the historical timeline of the resort town’s development is brought to its conclusion by an architecture that suggests the incipient modernism of the early twentieth century.”
The overall theming of the BoardWalk complex as a “resort town” is a tour de force, with fun on the BoardWalk itself, and true loveliness in the BoardWalk Inn.
The theming and architecture of the Villas are neither so fun nor so lovely, but work well enough.
MORE ON DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS
This review continues here.
January 29, 2012 No Comments
Review: Disney’s BoardWalk Villas, Continued
This is the second page of this review of Disney’s BoardWalk Villas. For the first page of this material, click here.
MORE ON DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS
Disney’s BoardWalk Villas is one of 8 official Disney Vacation Club resorts at Walt Disney World.
However, I have come to count them as ten, because two of the resorts–Saratoga Springs and the Animal Kingdom Villas–have two very different areas.
In order of their appropriateness for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World, they are:
- The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Jambo House
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Kidani Village
- Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
- Disney’s Beach Club Villas
- Disney’s Boardwalk Villas
- Disney’s Old Key West Resort
- Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa, main resort
- Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort, Treehouse Villas area.
Disney’s BoardWalk Villas comes in 7th on the list. These resorts are available to anyone to reserve through the regular Walt Disney World website or the resort reservations phone number at 407-939-7675.
They also are available to the general public at great discounts through renting points from a Disney Vacation Club member.
All Disney Vacation Club resorts have studio rooms, One-Bedroom Villas, and Two-Bedroom Villas.
Most have Grand Villas as well.
Disney’s BoardWalk Villas has all room types, and floor plans of all its standard room types except Grand Villas are on this page. Grand Villas will be covered on the next page.
STUDIOS AT DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS
At Disney’s BoardWalk Villas, Studios sleep four and have a microwave and mini fridge.
The microwave is one of several ways Studios are different from regular rooms at the BoardWalk Inn.
- A second distinction is that the second bed is a full fold-out couch, rather than a queen.
- A third is that these rooms sleep one fewer person, and have one less sleeping space, than BoardWalk Inn rooms with two queens and a convertible couch.
- The studios have about 40 more square feet than standard rooms at the BoardWalk Inn, but most of this extra space comes in the entryway and bath area (because of the choice of where to put the closet, which lengthens this area by a couple of feet), not the bedroom.
These studios go for the same price or a even few dollars less than regular standard view five person BoardWalk Inn rooms, but even at those prices, I’d prefer the rooms at the Inn, unless you really need the microwave. The increased flexibility that comes from the Inn’s extra sleeping space, and the greater charm of the Inn, outweigh the microwave.
ONE-BEDROOM VILLAS AT DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS
One-Bedroom Villas at the BoardWalk have a master bedroom with a king bed.
They have as well a full kitchen/dining/ living space, a washer/dryer, and sleep 4 in about twice the space of a studio.
The two additional sleeping spots are on a fold-out couch in the living room space.
The bath is shared, with access to it from both sleeping spaces. The kids don’t need to enter the master bedroom to get to this bath.
One-Bedroom Villas are among the most comfortable ways to stay at Walt Disney World.
Those at the BoardWalk Villas are more comfortable than those at several other DVC resorts, because they are larger.
See the chart.
The additional space, full kitchens, and living and dining furniture are hard to beat, even though if you are following one of this site’s itineraries you won’t be in your room much to enjoy them!
Depending on the price season, these villas are only 25-40% more expensive than a standard BoardWalk Inn room, for twice the space.
They aren’t for everyone…but the value is there if you can afford it.
TWO-BEDROOM VILLAS AT DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS
Two-Bedroom Villas add a second bedroom with a queen and a full sleeper sofa, and another balcony, to the amenities of a One-Bedroom, and sleep 8.
Two-Bedroom Villas can be either cramped or comfortable, depending both on how you use them and what you are comparing them to.
Like many DVC Two-Bedroom Villas, in Disney’s BoardWalk Villas Two-Bedrooms there isn’t enough seating space in either the living room or in the dining spaces for all the people these rooms will fit.
(Old Key West Resort, Kidani Village, Bay Lake Tower, the Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian, and the Treehouse Villas are exceptions.)
The living room chairs will seat four to five people, with two more chairs available at the dining table, and two more at the kitchen’s breakfast bar.
The dining table will seat at most four, taking the two chairs from the breakfast bar and adding them to the two chairs the table comes with.
So if you are filling a two bedroom with 8 people, things can get awkward, especially compared to the ease with which One-Bedroom Villas fit the people they can sleep.
Moreover, these two bedroom villas at the BoardWalk share a design problem with the same room type in The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge.
The connecting door between the four-person bedroom and the central shared space is deep in the living room. This can create some awkwardness for people leaving and entering the four-person bedroom if others are sleeping on the fold-out couch. More recent DVC villas have corrected this flaw, and moved the connecting door to the other end of the kitchen space.
These space and circulation issues are part of the reason why these rooms are only about 40-75% more expensive than One Bedroom Villas, even though they have double the sleeping capacity.
On the other hand, depending on the price season, a Two-Bedroom is between the same price and $170 more than two standard BoardWalk Inn rooms, but provides 50% more space, and, compared to those rooms, all that extra kitchen/dining/living space and furniture.
If your family’s sleeping needs will fit in the bedrooms–that is, if you don’t need to use the fold-out bed in the living space–Two-Bedrooms are a particularly comfortable option.
(To each of the capacity figures above, you can add one more kid under 3 at time of check in who sleeps in a crib.)
GRAND VILLAS AT DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS
This review continues here.
January 23, 2012 2 Comments
Review: Disney’s BoardWalk
DISNEY’S BOARDWALK
Disney’s BoardWalk is a Walt Disney World dining and entertainment district along Crescent Lake, largely built as the ground floors of Disney’s BoardWalk Inn and Disney’s BoardWalk Villas.
It’s never really clicked, and for first-time family visitors, isn’t worth a special trip. [Read more →]
January 17, 2012 2 Comments
