I stayed at the Disney Yacht Club for a week over Easter this for a family Disney holiday. We booked four double queen bed rooms with lake view and the hotel was very helpful in accommodating our request for two adjoining rooms with connecting door. We chose the Disney Yacht Club because of the location, its relatively recently refurbishment and because it was a Disney property with the accompanying benefits. The rooms were all great: clean, still looking very fresh, spacious and we made full use of the balconies to relax in the evening whilst watching the fireworks. The alternate day only housekeeping worked fine and there were no problems getting what we needed outside of this. The family of five (kids were 11, 8 and 8) in our group found the adjoining room set up worked well with no-one getting under anyone else’s feet. What really blew us away and totally justified the premium price tag was the location. We loved the whole lake area: the hotel pool, the wonderful promenade round the lake, the Boardwalk shopping, food and attractions and just how well kept it all was. It really was a great place to relax as well as a convenient location for the parks. Having Beaches and Cream on our doorstep was great and a special shoutout must go to the frozen margarita and lobster wanging stalls at the Boardwalk. The fact that Epcot was 8 minutes walk away was amazing and Hollywood Studios was about 10 minutes by boat - it just made things so pleasant having such easy access to two of the four parks. The shuttle buses to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom were fine too - the waiting time system worked well and we did not have any problem getting on buses when we wanted. In both cases, the bus drop off was super convenient for the park entrance, so a definite benefit of staying in the WDW resort. We originally booked to go in 2020, but the pandemic caused the trip to be postponed two years. What was really noticeable was how the benefits for Disney resort guests have been eroded, notably with the removal of free airport transfers and free access to fast track lanes in the parks. However other benefits such as early access to dining reservations, early park entry and the ability to charge everything back to your room were very helpful. I would say there were only two downsides to the stay: firstly it is not cheap and you pay a considerable premium for the location and (relatively) seamless Disney experience. As I mentioned above, these were things we appreciated and on balance worth the cost, but do not come expecting any bargains. Secondly getting breakfast can be challenging. Unlike any other hotel I have ever stayed in, you can’t just turn up at the hotel restaurant and get breakfast. You have to make a booking through the centralised system which is a PITA at the best of times trying to get a table at a convenient time for a party of 8. I get it in the parks, but for breakfast, seriously? (The Ale & Compass breakfast is very nice once you’re seated, but it involves a level of planning I’m not used to!) The other breakfast option is the Market at Ale & Compass, but the takeaway food there is not great and the service is shambolicly slow. Overall though we loved the Disney Yacht Club and would definitely choose it again for a really relaxing Disney experience.…
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort is one of the best hotels at Disney. Located in the Boardwalk area for Epcot hotels, it is right outside the back gate of Epcot and very near Disney’s Skyliner. The Boardwalk area consists of the Boardwalk, Swan, Dolphin and the sister property, The Beach Club Resort. You can take a pleasant boat trip to Epcot (but it is easier to walk) and a boat or Skyliner to Disney Studios. You can also walk to Disney Studios along the waterway, but it can be a hot walk of over a mile. The location of the Yacht Club is great. The amenities are some of the best at Disney. The Yacht Club shares probably the best pool at Disney with her sister resort, the Beach Club. The pool area is extraordinary. The pool is a series of pools and has a small lazy river to float upon. Some of the pools have a sandy bottom and a sandy beach area. It does get crowded during the hot weather months (most of the time). There are several restaurants at the resort as well. And, like I already mentioned, Epcot, the Boardwalk, The Swan and Dolphin are out your back door for other restaurants and bars! Being the Yacht Club, there is a strong nautical theme which I thought was well done. It does have a “club” feel to the place. It is quiet in my opinion for a Disney hotel in that it has small lobby and smaller public areas. This is a plus to me. The rooms are well done. I believe they went through a recent refurbishment. I believe every room has a balcony. We found the service of the "cast members" to be excellent and were greeted at the front door upon arrival. There are many “pros” and few “cons” to this place. I would say the only “con” would be the price, so if you find a good price, you are good to go.…
The idea of the yacht club sounds good in theory. In reality it only ok and not worth the cost. Despite Disney being aware that we were on property at 9am because we were doing a split stay from CBR, our room was not ready until 4pm, an hour after check in time. Then the room we are assigned is far away from the lobby overlooking a roof top. Two of the elevators are broken or just never come so plan on it taking 10 minutes to get to and from your room. The front desk was rude and acted like I wasn't worth their time. Once we got our room assignment, I asked the FD for a map and directions and the woman told me she wasn't sure and circled and area on the map where she thought our room might be. She was wrong. So more time trying to find our room. Then the door does not open with the magic band. So back to the front desk to get that fixed. It took the FD 10 minutes to update the door band issue. Finally got in the room and found the sink would not drain so a call to the FD for maintenance was made. Oh and in the evening the bathroom light would not stop flickering so another call for maintenance. The hairdryer was also broken, again maintenance. Each time I spoke to the FD I was treated as if my call was a bother to them. The woman even asked if i really wanted another hairdryer brought to the room or if I was just letting her know. Why would I have called about the hairdryer unless I has been trying to use it? When I asked at the FD for directions as to how to enter the pool, she waved towards the doors and said 'go outside, you'll find it.' When I asked for directions to the restaurants the woman actually told me that I didn't need to know because the restaurants take reservations and they were full. Well we had reservations and even if we didn't that was incredibly rude. I know it is just my daughter and I for this trip and not a huge group, but to be treated like and inconvenience with every interaction at the FD was awful. There are positives to my experience. James at beaches and cream is an excellent server and made our dinner experience great. Kelly at ale and compass is also an excellent server and made mother's day breakfast nice. Both smiled, checked in to see if we needed anything, and were knowledgeable about food options. The pool is nice but not what I expected. It was billed as a mini water park. It's really not. The slide is awesome but my kid and I have enjoyed the slides at GF, Kidani, WL, and CBR too. The pool at YC does not outweigh the horrid experience with the FD. The location is great. But we had just come from CBR which also has an excellent location. In the end, I likely would not stay at YC again due to the horrible experience with the front desk. There are better resorts and CBR and WL are still my two favorites.…
I recently stayed at the Yacht Club in a Club Level room. The lounge was always fully stocked and everyone extremely helpful. The balcony also had a lovely view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks during the evening dessert hours. My room was very quiet, which was surprising to me as it was near the elevator. It had a lovely view of the gardens and partial view of the Boardwalk hotel. I could see some brief fireworks over the Dolphin hotel. I rented a Cabana which was a highlight of the stay. Very relaxing and I enjoyed all the amenities and services provided. The only downside was the private area was not really being enforced and several people came in just to look around or walk through the back gate. The construction workers also came through at various points during the day. The Construction work around the pool was a little distracting and there was also some foul language being used in full earshot of families and children.…
The water in my room was brown with sediment. Water was turned off without notice. I didn’t use tap water for anything. Scary! Food and beverage was tasteless. They do not accommodate gluten or other allergies. Lots of unhealthy packages and processed food.
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