DVC Resort Tips and Tricks: Beach Club
When you want a prime location near theme parks and the best feature pool on property, it’s hard to beat the Beach Club. Whether you are a repeat guest at the Beach Club or you’re thinking of renting a stay at the Beach Club for the first time, here are some tips and tricks for a great stay.
Booking and Availability
Availability
The Beach Club is actually one of the smaller DVC Resorts with only 282 rooms, so availability is fairly limited. That small room inventory combined with high demand can make the Beach Club one of the harder resorts to book. When planning a rental stay at the Beach Club, it’s best to submit your rental request 11 months out from your check-in date since that is the earliest that a DVC Member can book a stay for you.
Room Types
As with many other resorts, the Deluxe Studios at the Beach Club tend to book up first since they cost the fewest points. Their lower point values also make them cheaper to rent compared to larger rooms. If you’re traveling with a larger group, it’s worth noting that the largest rooms at the Beach Club are the Two Bedroom Villas, which sleep up to 8 or 9 guests (8 in the Two Bedroom Dedicated Villas and 9 in the Two Bedroom Lock-off Villas). There are no Three Bedroom Grand Villas at the Beach Club, so if you have more than 9 guests in your travel party, you will need to book multiple rooms.
Room Views
The Beach Club doesn’t have different booking categories, but the views and balcony sizes can vary greatly. Some just look out towards the resort grounds or the foliage between EPCOT and the Beach Club while others face the leisure pool.
Getting Around
Walking
One of the biggest draws of the Beach Club is its proximity to International Gateway, the back entrance to EPCOT. This entrance tends to be less crowded than the front entrance, and it leads you to right to World Showcase. It’s incredibly convenient for trips during EPCOT’s festivals. You can walk from the Beach Club to EPCOT in less than 10 minutes. If you don’t mind a longer walk, you can also walk to Hollywood Studios.
Boats
A mode of transportation that is unique to Crescent Lake where the Beach Club is located is the Friendship Boats. These boats are ideal for park hopping and resort hopping in the area. The Friendship Boats go from EPCOT to Hollywood Studios and make 3 resort stops in between: Yacht and Beach Club, BoardWalk, and Swan and Dolphin. ECVs can easily board from the back of the boats as can strollers. Strollers don’t typically need to be collapsed unless the boat is crowded.
Skyliner
While you’ll need to take a bus to Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom, the Skyliner station at EPCOT’s International Gateway can be a nice, leisurely way to get to Hollywood Studios from the Beach Club. To get to Hollywood Studios, you’ll pass Riviera and get off the Skyliner at Caribbean Beach where you can transfer to the Hollywood Studios line. The Skyliner is helpful when you’re traveling with a stroller or ECV. You won’t need to collapse your stroller unless it’s a side-by-side double stroller.
Treats and Eats
Table Service
The Beach Club has two table service restaurants and a quick service restaurant. For table service dining, there’s the popular Beaches & Cream Soda Shop for burgers, sandwiches, and of course ice cream and shakes. If you’re up for a challenge, don’t forget about the Kitchen Sink, which has vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, cookies ‘n cream, and mint chocolate chip ice cream with every topping and a whole can of whipped cream!
If you like the variety of a buffet, Cape May Cafe is open for breakfast and dinner. In the morning, there’s character dining with Minnie’s Beach Bash Breakfast. You’ll see Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy in their adorable beach attire as you enjoy classics like Mickey waffles, eggs, sausage, and bacon as well as omelet and carving stations. At dinner, in lieu of character dining there’s a New England-style seafood buffet featuring peel-n-eat shrimp, clams, catch of the day, strip loin, and oven-roasted chicken.
If you can’t get a reservation, both Beaches & Cream and Cape May Cafe offer walk-ups, depending on availability. You can join the virtual waitlist through the My Disney Experience app. Also, if you’re just looking for ice cream or shakes, Beaches & Cream also has a walk-up window.
Quick Service
Beach Club Marketplace is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. At breakfast, there are breakfast platters, Mickey waffles, flatbreads, and a bagel sandwich. For lunch, you can order hot dogs, flatbreads, subs and sandwiches, and macaroni and cheese. The dinner menu is nearly identical to the lunch menu with the addition of a roasted chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables.
The marketplace is also where you can fill up your resort refillable mug. While there aren’t any tables and chairs right at the marketplace, you can dine at the outdoor tables or find a spot in the Solarium in the main lobby building or the Breezeway in the villas building.
Recreation and Entertainment
The Beach Club is best known for its feature pool, Stormalong Bay. The 3-acre pool complex has a lazy river, sandy bottom, and thrilling ship-wreck-themed water slide. If you plan on spending a resort day lounging by the pool, consider renting a cabana. Cabana rentals at the Beach Club include a dedicated cast member who provides service to the cabanas, cocktail service, padded furniture, TV, charging outlet, mini fridge with complimentary soda and water, a fruit basket, towels, and cabinet safe. You can rent a cabana up to 60 days in advance by calling 407-939-5277.
Besides Stormalong Bay, guests at the Beach Club have access to 3 leisure pools: the Admiral Pool at the Yacht Club (the Beach Club’s sister resort), the Beach Club Resort Pool in a garden near the far end of the resort, and the Dunes Cove pool, which is closest to the Beach Club DVC building. If you plan to use the grill in the barbecue area near the Dunes Cove Pool, you’ll need to get charcoal.
From Bayside Marina, you can rent motorized boats, go on a bass fishing excursion, or even go on an EPCOT fireworks cruise! For more outdoor fun, you can play beach volleyball by the Tidal Pool or tennis on the court near the Admiral Pool.
For some air-conditioned fun, stop by Lafferty Place Arcade by Beaches and Cream. It is a fairly small arcade, but it has a good variety of games for guests of different ages.
Enjoy the Beach Club for your next Disney World trip! Browse the confirmed reservations, or request a free quote to rent DVC points and save up to 65% compared to booking directly through Disney.
