Beach club villas - what are the best rooms?

[mwoates]

What are the best rooms at the Beach Club Villas? We want peace, quiet, good view (I guess doesn't everybody), but when we check in what should we be looking for? Anybody have experience on this? We don't mind walking a bit from our room outside either...

 

[pacochran]

We like the 4th or 5th Floor Epcot view. We have always gotten those rooms and loved them. One of the reasons we love them is that you can see the illumination fireworks from your balcony. This past December we couldn't get the 5th floor and they put us on the 4th floor room 478 I believe saying we wouldn't have as good a view of the fireworks, but I loved it because you could look out to the left and see the fireworks from MK and then to the right were Illuminations. The only noise (and in the room you couldn't hear them) were from the road, but not a lot of traffic either because it is just the road for the resorts.

 

[DisneyPhD]

We requested and received the Epcot/Road view but on the lower floors (2 and 3) you couldn't see much except the back of soarin' and the traffic was a bit distracting especially when trying to relax on the balcony. We also found that we were rarely in the room when Illumanations was going off so that wasn't much of an advantage either.

We prefer the pool view. We haven't had the woods or BC views. Check out http://www.parkinfo2go.com/dvc-bcv/ for different views complete with pix.

 

[surfsupdon]

Many, many rooms overlook service roads. Either directly, through a few trees, on the other side of a canal, or with the back of Epcot buildings behind the service road.

Beach Club is a great location, but the Villas are in such a cramped area, surrounded by service roads, parking lots, and maintenance dumpsters. Wierd location for the Villas.

A handful of rooms over look the quiet pool, and a few more look out to a grassy field and the Solarium (aattached to Beach Club.) I'd thnk those rooms would be prime.

 

[mwoates]

Thanks!

Thanks for the link to the map...Very helpful! I keep hearing about the service roads, etc. but you can't see them in many pictures (except the ones on the link)...Many thanks for your help!

 

[meganw1985]

Woods

We stayed in the BCV in May 08 and stayed in room 419 I think. It was close off the elevator, and the balcony overlooked the front of the BCR. Did a lot of wandering around the resort and it didn't look like there were any great views anyway. Ours wasn't anything special...just overlooked the parking lot and we were constantly seeing the DME buses, but I personally would have rather stayed on the first floor on the other side (by the woods) for quietness since there really didn't seem to be any views worth fighting over. You have to walk to the BCR to get refills in your mugs and it can be a pain having to wait for the elevator to go down, walk to the Marketplace, fill up your mug and buy snacks or whatever, walk back, wait for the elevator, go back up (the elevators are SLOW). Unless you REALLY have your heart set on a view of the back of the Land pavilion in the FAR distance, get a room on the bottom floor (or second if you would rather have a balcony than patio) on the woods side. Closer to the BCR facilities and you can just follow the sidewalk practically right to Epcot's back door!

 

[mwoates]

I am starting to get nervous...

I have heard such good things about the BC Villas, and now I'm worried it's nothing special. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas last time and thought it was wonderful. I hope the price of the Villas is worth it! Hopefully the location alone is (walking to park and not taking bus)...

 

[mouselvrmom]

The BCV is our favorite resort that we've stayed in so far. We were on the first floor facing not the pool but some vegetation. It was pretty and convenient not having to wait for the elevator.

I think that regardless of what room you get the location of beach club can't be beat. The walk to epcot is ridiculously short. We would take a break and then head to epcot for dinner. The pool also can't be beat. We like trying new places, but so far we haven't found one we enjoy as much as beach club.

 

[KingStefan]

I have not stayed at BCV, but for what it's worth, the Unofficial Guide says (in part):

"Rooms facing the pool offer a limited view of a small canal but are subject to traffic noise. Ditto the rooms on the northeast side, but they don't face the pool. Only southeast-facing rooms provide both a scenic landscape (woods) and relative relief from traffic noise. The nearby road is only two-lane, and traffic noice probably won't bother you if you're indoors with the balcony door closed... If you elect to stay at the Beach Club Villas, go for odd-numbered rooms 229 to 251, 329 to 351, 429 to 451, and 529 to 551."

 

[KingStefan]

Another tip is to call the Reservation Center at WDW and specify a room preference as early as possible. Don't wait until you check in - the room assignments will have been made already, and your choices to switch will be very limited.

Here is a quote from another thread from JPVonDrake, a WDWMagic member who is an authority on these matters. Even though it is from a year and a half ago, I believe the advice is still valid:

Let me be of some help...

We have been instructed at the Reservation Center that ALL of the Disney Resort Hotels will no longer accept or consider any room request faxed or mailed to them. If you try to call the resort directly before you check-in, the switchboard is instructed to redirect your call to the reservation center, not the front desk.

The best time to make requests for specific rooms, buildings, bedding, ground-floor, connecting rooms, etc. is when you first book the reservation or as early as possible after your reservation is made. Please note, we at the reservation center have a VERY limited space to enter in room request, so please limit your requests.

When you call to make any modifications, please have the reservation agent verify any requests you have previously made are still there. Due to system challenges, the accommodations comment box on a reservation may clear when a modification is confirmed, erasing any requests that were noted. To ensure they are correctly re-entered, please ask us to read back to you what is there.

The resort room coordinators will do their best to honor as many request as possible, but will factor in the number of request made. For example if you have 10 different request and another guest made 1 or 2 requests, you may get some of the 10 honored, and the other guest may get all of their request honored. Although the Resort may start pre-assigning rooms up to 2-3 days prior to your arrival, your room assignment is never finalized or guaranteed until you have arrived and are checked-in to your resort. No one at DRC or the Resort itself will be able to disclose what (if any) pre-assignments have been made, so please don't ask.

Please try to be general in your request avoiding requests for specific room numbers. If you simply request room 1004 (because you know it is the closest to the bus stop) and it is not available, the resort does not know how to honor it. If you simply request a room close to transportation, and room 1004 is not available, the resort may assign you room 1003 or 1005, honoring the general request you made. Also, bedding options are continuously being reviewed so the number and location of select bedding (i.e. king beds) may change at any time. Just because room 1234 had a king bed last year does not mean it still has a king bed this year.

Be sure to ask your reservation agent to verify if your request is even possible. For example, if you are booked in 2 standard (parking) view rooms at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, and you want connecting rooms, it cannot be honored, as there are no connecting standard view rooms at the Lodge. Many rooms now also have limited bedding configurations. Request for king beds, or bunk beds may not be possible because there are none in the room category you are booked in.

Also please keep in mind, rooms such as the Preferred Rooms at the Value Resorts are charged a preferred price because they are the closest to the main building with the Food Court, Bus Stop, Front Desk, etc. Please do not request to be near these locations if you are booked in a standard room. These type of request can not be honored or even considered as it is essentially asking for a free upgrade.

Finally, remember nothing will guarantee you get your requests; that really will always depend on what rooms are scheduled to be vacant on the date you check-in. Often there are only a few rooms in your room category for the room coordinators or front desk Cast to choose from.

I hope this helps!

 

[meganw1985]

I have heard such good things about the BC Villas, and now I'm worried it's nothing special. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas last time and thought it was wonderful. I hope the price of the Villas is worth it! Hopefully the location alone is (walking to park and not taking bus)...

Oh. It is DEFINATELY worth it don't worry about that! We stayed in the villas b/c there were 5 of us and needed the space. If it wasn't for that though, I think I would have rather just stayed in the resort part just for the convenience. We were on the dining plan and barely used the kitchen. But we have some snore-ers in our family and I can't sleep in the same room with them, so the villas were the best choice for us. The convenience to Epcot is crazy. We would go there just to eat and then go to a different park and not even think twice about it. But it would be nicer to have a room closer to Stormalong Bay (which is AMAZING!) and the Marketplace

 

[mwoates]

Villas

I hope the Beach Club Villas is a good choice. Last time we stayed in the Wilderness Lodge Villas which was wonderful but the buses everywhere drove my husband crazy. This seemed like a good alternative, to have the two parks Epcot and DS within walking distance. Last time we also seemed to eat dinner at Epcot most nights so it seemed attractive to have a nice walk back to the hotel after dinner. I just don't want to feel like I am sleeping next to a freeway for all that money!

 

[mouselvrmom]

You're going to love the BCV, I'm sure you won't feel like you're sleeping next to a freeway!

 

[Ghall]

When we stay at the Beach Club Villas we always request a ground floor room over looking the quite swimming pool. So far we have always got our request and it's great that the kids and husband can go in and out the patio door of the villa to the pool while I am still in the room. The view of the pool is great. It's not too far to walk to the Marketplace to fill up the refillable mugs. You are not far from the Beach Club Resort lobby. You can walk in the opposite direction to the end of the corridor in the air-conditioning to get to the self-park car park which is great in the florida sun. You just walk out the main door of the villas and around the corner to get to the Epcot. These rooms are great.

 

[Mrs.PhD]

I have heard such good things about the BC Villas, and now I'm worried it's nothing special. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas last time and thought it was wonderful. I hope the price of the Villas is worth it! Hopefully the location alone is (walking to park and not taking bus)...

We own at VWL and we much prefer BCV to it. The walk alone does it make it worth it, but add in being able to use SAB, all the other accommodations of Y&B (Beaches and cream, and other resturants) the great resort store with (with food and refills for mugs) I love the theme and atsompere, and having all the boardwalk accomodations makes it twice as good. Plus a boat ride to Studios, and even dolphin (and the putt putt near it.)

So I don't think you will be disapointed.

We will be there in 34 days I am very excited.

 

[Eyekimore]

We've stayed in many of the rooms in the Villas- but my favorite-so far- was 238! It was equidistant from both elevators. It was close enough to the pool to chat with family. Also- we could see the MK fireworks from the balcony!

 

[PhilharMagician]

I must agree that a queit pool view would be the best. After staying there many times I must say the resort is extremely freindly and accomodating, but will not rank as my top favorite resort

Pros

• Awesome pool. A sand bottom pool and a lazy river in your resort! Now that is awesome!
• Location! you can walk to DHS and Epcot and don't have to worry about standing in crowded busses and boats at the end of the night.

Cons

• No good counter service restaurant. The market place is really pathetic. All of the Epcot resorts are lacking good counter service restaurants.
• Transportation is shared with multiple resorts. It really drives me crazy when the bus has to stop at other resorts on the way to and from the parks.
• Location is also a con for me. I like the closeness to Epcot which is our favorite park, but walking in the international gateway just doesn't do it for me. There is nothing like walking through the turnstiles in front of Epcot listening to the Epcot music and walking under SSE. It's like entering the MK through Mickey Toon Town. :shrug:

My ranking of WDW DVC resorts is:

1. AKLV 4 visits
2. WLV 3 visits
3. SSR 6 visits
4. BCV 3 visits
5. OKW 3 visits

 

[wendysmom]

We own there and absolutely love it! If you can get one of the upper floors facing Epcot, it is fun to see some of Illuminations and hear the music.

 

[mwoates]

thanks!

Thanks for your advice!