Trip Report Holiday Trip #3!

We just got back from 3 nights at Universal and 5 nights at Disney Beach Club with 4 park days! Here is our trip report (for Disney part only)!

Arrival Day 12/8:

We checked out of Sapphire Falls right at about 11 and made our way over to Beach Club. We dropped luggage and made our way over to Disney Springs for lunch and for my wife to meet a friend. Our room at BC was ready by 1:32 PM so that was nice! The smells in BC lobby were to die for. While our room was literally the last room in the hall way on the 3rd floor so there was a bit of a walk to our room, I did like that the Marketplace was right next to the elevators.

For dinner that evening we went over to 1900 Park Fare. Overall it was okay food wise - I would give it a 6.5/10. My wife LOVED the Strawberry Soup.

 

[Schweino]

Day 1 12/9 - Magic Kingdom day

We met my wife's brother and his family for our trip! Our nephew is four and we have a lot of pictures with them so out of privacy respect, won't be posting a ton of photos here on out, but will post what I can. This was us on the bus to MK!

We met Santa with my nephew, I paid for a LL for my wife and her brother to go on Tron (I rode it already a few weeks ago) and did some other rides for young kids. We had dinner at Liberty Tree tavern and it was again a solid choice. 8/10.

We stayed for the Fireworks and we got to stand under the wire to see Tinkerbell come down above us. Super neat! My nephew did not enjoy the loudness, but he did enjoy the lights. Great day.

 

[Schweino]

Day 2 - Epcot Day! We dont have really any pictures of just my wife and I, so apologies for that

We rope dropped and hit up Nemo and Crush. My nephew had a good time with those! We were able to snag a Guardians boarding group, but unfortunately the timing did not work for us and our group was called around 1:30 and we all were at our respective resorts having a nap LOL. We went back and had dinner at Space 220. This is my second time eating here and I just don't get it. This was something my BIL family really wanted to do so of course I went along, but the atmosphere is just meh. The food was good, but portions extremely lacking. 5/10.

 

[Schweino]

Day 3 - AK first half and then Jollywood Nights!

We did AK the first half of the day and my wife and I were able to get FOP done before BIL family got there. We then proceeded to hit up Raifiki's area and my nephew really enjoyed that entire thing. We then went to Dino land and my nephew played on the playground there and then we had lunch at Rainforest Cafe. I like RC - the food is good and its at least reasonable price wise! 6.5/10.

Wife and I had a nap after lunch and then we proceeded to HS for Jollywood. We had dinner at Woody's at 5:05 and I am still unsure of how I feel about this place lol. The coleslaw, mac and cheese and biscuits were really good. The ribs were a bit tough, the briscuit dry, and the chicken was just okay. Im leaning towards a 5.5 or 6/10.

For JN - it was definitely cold! I think the temp was low 50s. However this was one of the days that were not completely sold out and the crowd seemed non-existent! We were basically able to walk on RoR, RR and ToT. That was awesome. IDK how this compares to a night that is sold out, but we definitely felt that JN was a good purchase and we would absolutely do it again. The Jingle Jam firework/show thingy was really cute and fun too!

 

[Schweino]

Day 4 - HS day

This was our last park day and we did HS. The only picture that doesnt include others is Mando so here we are! My wife and BIL went and did Rise (his first) while my SIL and myself took my nephew to Toy Story area and did TS Mania and the Alien Saucers (3 times LOL). My nephew loved it. We then proceeded to go watch the Frozen show. That was way funnier then I thought it was going to be. Nephew enjoyed that too.

We all took afternoon naps and we actually took my nephew to Chef Mickeys for dinner. He was a bit shy at first with the characters, but warmed up quickly. But boy that food was just...crap lol. Never going there again. 3/10.

We then took the monorail to TTC and met my BIL and SIL in Epcot where they were eating around the world. Gave the nephew back and we walked back to Beach Club to end the evening.

 

[Schweino]

Unfortunately I think my nephew passed me a cold or something because Friday 12/13 (return day) I started getting stuffy and chills and its continuing today. Nasty chills followed by drenched sweat from fever breaking. Oh well!

Final thoughts:

Beach Club was pretty nice and that was our first time staying there. However, our preferred location is FQ and I dont think the value is there when its $210 more per night (Bounceback rates). If we had kids ourselves and we planned to have one or two resort days, then maybe...but for just us I dont think so. Being able to walk to Epcot was great, but my wife and I don't care if we walk or take a bus back to the resort really. If we do go again, we'll stick with FQ and save the money.

I really need to hear from someone who has been at JN when it was sold out what the wait times were like, because the non-existent wait times for rides during our party night (which wasnt sold out) was freaking amazing and I'd love to do it again.

We did over 153,600 steps, roughly 66 miles. We both bought ON Cloud shoes about a month before our trip and while they were a good purchase, our feet were still wrecked LOL. We looked at our 2022 trip and this trip was by far the most walking we have ever done between US and Disney, both were 8 night trips with 6 park days.

I love Disney during Christmas!