Boardwalk inn versus beach club

[ellisin]

Are the epcot resorts comparable? Or do you prefer one over the other?

 

[loves to dive]

They are pretty much all comparable, each with it's own little difference. I prefer YC but I'll stay at whichever one is less at the time I'm booking.

I like YC the best because it just seems more adult to me.

BW is second. I like it and there are actually some things I like better than YC, there is a great little quiet lounge tucked away. I love sitting out on their big balcony in the morning and watching the BW wake up.

BC is my least favorite, it seems geared more toward families and just seems more noisy to me. The BW and YC almost guarantee you a balcony in your room if you are above the first floor. At BC some of the rooms have a full balcony but not many, some have little two person balconies that you can stand on but a chair will not fit unless you leave the door open. I like a balcony.

YC and BC share facilities so you can swim in the big pool (Stormalong bay) which some people will say is the best on property, I don't necessarily agree. It's too busy for me. I enjoy the quiet pools at all three resorts. BC is a tad closer to Epcot, if you get a room at the far side of YC, it is closer to HS. BW has DVC rooms that are closer to BW but the Inn side is a tad further along.

You really can't go wrong with any of the three, just depends on the vibe you want.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Tried both, and I liked Beach Club better. The resort and rooms felt more deluxe and clean. The walk to Epcot was shorter. Stormalong Bay is a much better pool. I have 2 kids aged 6 and 4 and they both loved it. We also saw fireworks from the sand pool area. Beaches and Cream is always great. Boardwalk was great too, but the rooms felt more dated. And those long hallways! and the walls were thinner. just my 2 cents

 

[ellisin]

Thank you to both. I have a reservation for boardwalk inn next week, but just saw beach club show up for slightly less. I do have some concerns over how dated the BWI rooms look; I’m wondering if they’ll be clean.

It’s only about $100 difference, and I wondered whether it was worth moving the reservation. I’m excited about trying the epcot resorts in general; I’m really looking forward to not having to take buses to two of the parks.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Thank you to both. I have a reservation for boardwalk inn next week, but just saw beach club show up for slightly less. I do have some concerns over how dated the BWI rooms look; I’m wondering if they’ll be clean.

It’s only about $100 difference, and I wondered whether it was worth moving the reservation. I’m excited about trying the epcot resorts in general; I’m really looking forward to not having to take buses to two of the parks.

The rooms will surely be clean. It is just that some of the stuff is a bit worn. I have stayed at both but I just prefer the Boardwalk. TBH I don't know that I have a really good reason other than that we just love the theming. Oh and the beds are awesome lol

 

[Nabas]

The Boardwalk advantage is that it's a shorter walk to DHS than the Yacht or Beach Club. The Beach Club is slightly closer to Epcot, but the Yacht Club and Boardwalk are not much father.

The Yacht & Beach Club advantage is that it has Stormalong Bay, which is widely considered to be the best hotel pool at WDW.

 

[NicoleLarson]

Thank you to both. I have a reservation for boardwalk inn next week, but just saw beach club show up for slightly less. I do have some concerns over how dated the BWI rooms look; I’m wondering if they’ll be clean.

It’s only about $100 difference, and I wondered whether it was worth moving the reservation. I’m excited about trying the epcot resorts in general; I’m really looking forward to not having to take buses to two of the parks.

We love them both but BWI is our favorite resort on property. If having a balcony is important, know that many rooms at BC do not have balconies. SAB is a nice pool but I do not recommend it for families with small kids, its VERY spread out and can be difficult to find a chair. We've never had that issue at BWI. They're both great so you can't go wrong with either.

 

[Best Aunt]

Beach Club versus BoadWalk:

Difference # 1: location of gift shop and restaurants.
If you want to go to the gift shop/quick service place in Beach Club, it is inside the hotel building.
At BoardWalk, there is a tiny gift shop inside the building. There is a lounge in the building. (I think both have reopened since the pandemic but I'm not positive.) To get to the big gift shop and all other restaurants, you have to go outside and down to the BoardWalk. It makes a difference if it's raining and you don't want to get wet, or if it's 100 degrees outside, you just took a shower, and you don't want to get sweaty.

Difference # 2: indoor public seating areas.
At the BoardWalk, it's the lobby. At the Beach Club, it's the lobby and the Solarium; if you walk over to the Beach Club Villas building, there are two rooms over there, and if you walk over to the Yacht Club there's the lobby over there.

Difference # 3: balconies
PP mentioned that many Beach Club rooms have small balconies.

Difference # 4: pools
PP mentioned that staying at Beach Club gives you access to Stormalong Bay, as well as 3 quiet pools.
Staying at BoardWalk gives you access to the Luna Park pool, as well as 2 quiet pools.
Some people like the BoardWalk water slide better.
Stormalong Bay is so big, it may be hard to keep an eye on your kids; also you have to leave one area to get to another to use the slide.
So the ages and swimming abilities of your kids may determine how you feel about Stormalong Bay.

Difference # 5: family-friendly atmosphere
I don't think you can rely on this one. At any given moment, any lobby could be full of any group. If you happen to walk through the BoardWalk lobby when one child is having a bad day, that could impact your interpretation of whether it has an "adult vibe" or not.

 

[Nabas]

Beach Club versus BoadWalk:

Difference # 1: location of gift shop and restaurants.
If you want to go to the gift shop/quick service place in Beach Club, it is inside the hotel building.
At BoardWalk, there is a tiny gift shop inside the building. There is a lounge in the building. (I think both have reopened since the pandemic but I'm not positive.) To get to the big gift shop and all other restaurants, you have to go outside and down to the BoardWalk. It makes a difference if it's raining and you don't want to get wet, or if it's 100 degrees outside, you just took a shower, and you don't want to get sweaty.

Difference # 2: indoor public seating areas.
At the BoardWalk, it's the lobby. At the Beach Club, it's the lobby and the Solarium; if you walk over to the Beach Club Villas building, there are two rooms over there, and if you walk over to the Yacht Club there's the lobby over there.

Difference # 3: balconies
PP mentioned that many Beach Club rooms have small balconies.

Difference # 4: pools
PP mentioned that staying at Beach Club gives you access to Stormalong Bay, as well as 3 quiet pools.
Staying at BoardWalk gives you access to the Luna Park pool, as well as 2 quiet pools.
Some people like the BoardWalk water slide better.
Stormalong Bay is so big, it may be hard to keep an eye on your kids; also you have to leave one area to get to another to use the slide.
So the ages and swimming abilities of your kids may determine how you feel about Stormalong Bay.

Difference # 5: family-friendly atmosphere
I don't think you can rely on this one. At any given moment, any lobby could be full of any group. If you happen to walk through the BoardWalk lobby when one child is having a bad day, that could impact your interpretation of whether it has an "adult vibe" or not.

The lounge inside (BelleVue Lounge) and tiny store in the lobby have both reopened.

The games and booths on the Boardwalk have reopened. The Big River Grille and Trattoria al Forno restaurants have reopened. Abracadabar has reopened. The pizza window and Boardwalk Bakery (which also sells sandwiches) have reopened.

The bike rentals kiosk has reopened. The various food and drink booths on the Boardwalk have reopened.

What is not yet back at the Boardwalk is:

• Flying Fish
• ESPN Club
• Nighttime entertainment (typically a juggler)

One of the best thinks about the Boardwalk Inn is the Boardwalk itself. There is so much to see and do - it is a mini Disney Springs. No other Disney hotel has anything like it.

 

[Spazz2k]

When people ask us...we will always say the boardwalk is for everyone....

And to explain that a little bit further. If you think the rooms are more appealing at the Boardwalk then stay there, but if not stay at Beach Club.....you can walk over to the boardwalk anytime and do everything (except use pools) just like anyone staying there. We used to stay at the Boardwalk more often, but as others have stated...the rooms are, to us, getting old and in need of a refurb.

So if you ask me...Beach Club and walk over and enjoy the Boardwalk.

 

[Nabas]

We stayed at the Boardwalk Villas for the 50th. This is what the room was like:

 

[DSLRuser]

we have stayed at BW, YC and BC many times. they are all the same category and rooms are identical with the exception of theme.

YC and BC feel a little more formal simply because the way the hotels are set up. You are frequently in and out of the lobby.

At the BW, I have spent 5 days there and never been to the lobby because the rooms are so from from the lobby, you end up walking outside all the time.

Obviously, the pool is better at YC and BC, but it also has way more kids. We enjoyed the pool BC plenty.

 

[Shark Head]

I like both, but found Boardwalk to be a little more my speed. Neither have an "wow" lobby, but I did prefer Boardwalk's. I did a one-bedroom villa in each, and found them to be pretty much the same. I liked the bustle of the Boardwalk and the shorter walk to HS. (Although, depending where you are at BW, you could be just as far from the Boardwalk as you are from BC.) Found busing to MK/AK to be better at BW as well. While the BC/YC pool is really cool, I found it almost too big with little kids. But then, the proximity to Epcot, where I like to country-hop for dinner, is awesome. Plus the walk to the BC marketplace to grab breakfast is shorter. So each have their pros and cons. You really can't go wrong.

 

[Shark Head]

If you're doing a 1B villa at BW and prefer to be down at the end closer to HS (and the bus stop), or if that's where they put you, you could see if 2123, 3123, etc. are available. They are slightly bigger being on a bend with a unique layout compared with other villas and a more-private balcony.

 

[kevtlas]

We stayed at BW and BC during our July trip, each for the first time, and did not like BC at all. The pool was definitely great, and we enjoyed the hot sandwiches from the Yacht Club Marketplace, but nothing else at the resort appealed to us. We really liked BW, and as another poster mentioned, our favorite part was sitting on the balcony and watching the boardwalk wake up or sitting out there in the evening people watching and watching Epcot fireworks from our balcony.

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

Have stayed ay BWI Villas. Very nice. Liked it alot. But compared to BC and/or YC it feels more like a place to have a business conference. We dined at both the BC and YC while we were there and my children, tween and teen at the time, remarked while visiting the two resorts they liked them better than the BWI. So, it really depends on the ages in the traveling group. I feel that if there are younger ones traveling with the group they would gravitate to BC or YC

 

[NYCgrrl]

Personally, I prefer BW. It’s closest to EPCOT and HS, and easy to get to SwanDolphin. FF is downstairs and offers room service to hotel guests. Less children in the hotel thus in the pools as well. There is that bizarre clown slide in the main pool but the secondary pool is great for laps. Love the depth of some of the rooms’ terraces which are much bigger than similar hotels.
Often less expensive room rates than the other two.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Personally, I prefer BW. It’s closest to EPCOT and HS, and easy to get to SwanDolphin. FF is downstairs and offers room service to hotel guests. Less children in the hotel thus in the pools as well. There is that bizarre clown slide in the main pool but the secondary pool is great for laps. Love the depth of some of the rooms’ terraces which are much bigger than similar hotels.
Often less expensive room rates than the other two.

They sadly removed the clown slide and rethemed it

 

[NYCgrrl]

They sadly removed the clown slide and rethemed it

Something good came out of the pandemic!

 

[Best Aunt]

Personally, I prefer BW. It’s closest to EPCOT and HS, and easy to get to SwanDolphin. FF is downstairs and offers room service to hotel guests. Less children in the hotel thus in the pools as well. There is that bizarre clown slide in the main pool but the secondary pool is great for laps. Love the depth of some of the rooms’ terraces which are much bigger than similar hotels.
Often less expensive room rates than the other two.

I always thought the walk from beach club to epcot was shorter than the walk from boardwalk to epcot. And last I heard, Flying Fish had not reopened. And last I heard, room service had not returned to Boardwalk. If i’m wrong, i’m sure someone will post.