Disney’s Beach Club and Boardwalk Resorts on the Bucket List!

Location, Location, Location!

You have heard that many times… it refers to the location of real estate. A prime location. These two resorts, Boardwalk and Yacht and Beach Club, have location and much more. Although I have only visited these properties, they are on my wish list to actually stay at. I am very lucky to take trips solo with my young daughter, so I am all about the location of a hotel. Who hasn’t had a young child fall asleep on the way back from the parks? Experiencing this by myself, I try to make the ride “home” as short as possible. While my hubby and son are enjoying the black May flies of Maine on a fishing trip, my daughter Rhianna and I head home to get our Disney fix.

The location of these two resorts is along a sparkling waterway that leads to Epcot or Hollywood Studios. With these two resorts you don’t even have to take the boat ride to or from Epcot or Hollywood Studios, you can walk along the waterway on a meandering path. The resorts only have boat transportation from Epcot and Hollywood studios, unless there is bad weather and they can’t operate, then they switch to bus. If you are impatient and don’t want to ride the boat, there are walking paths to either park as well. My daughter and I even walked back at 1:00 in the morning one night, just the two of us from Epcot. We took our time and enjoyed the resorts all lit up and twinkling for the evening. How many places can you walk that late at night, just a mother and young daughter and feel totally safe? Not many. I did and would again with no concerns… well maybe one concern. Is that ice cream shop still open for a late snack? I have to add that I LOVE entering Epcot by the entrance near France. Saves all the walking through Future World. I spend most of my time in World Showcase, pretending I am actually in Europe.

Back to the resorts. Along with location, the Yacht and Beach Club Resort has the largest pool on property. It’s called Stormalong Bay, and has a shipwreck to play on, and a lazy river winding through te pool area. I am a pool lover, and will pick a resort for the pool alone, so I am dying to stay there and try that pool. Being a Yankee, a person from New England, I have always avoided this resort as it reminds me of home. Thankfully, a guest does not ever have the chance of suffering through 3 or more feet of snow, like our last endless winter. But after realizing how wonderful the location is and that pool, I am changing my mind. Oh, and one more wonderful thing about this resort… Beaches and Cream. What is that, you ask?  Only delicious ice cream sold at a quaint 50’s diner. They also offer typical diner fare but we just had ice cream and it was delicious. What’s that saying about eating dessert first? If your daring you can order the kitchen sink, which is exactly what is implies, everything AND the kitchen sink. Bring your appetite! There are also a few restaurants – the Yatchtsman Steak House, I have heard serves mouth watering steaks. I am not a steak lover, I can only tell you what I have heard. Maybe you should just stay here and try it yourself. Or the ice cream…

Yes, I know there are other places to go while in Walt Disney World, and not just Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. To get there you would take a bus to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, the water parks, etc. If you are like me, you leave the car home like all your troubles, and depend on Disney to get you where you want to go. I honestly have taken about 10 trips home, and always take the buses. Yes, sometimes you wait a bit, but I love bypassing the lines of cars to get into parks, and I love getting dropped off at the front of a resort. I have yet to have a bad experience with transportation. I hope I didn’t just jinx myself… I am off to knock on my sons head!

Across the water from the Yacht and Beach Club lies the Boardwalk Resort. This is fashioned after the boardwalk glory days in New Jersey. There is plenty to entertain you along the boardwalk. Carnival games, restaurants and a lovely bakery. We stopped here one morning on our way to the park and had some delicious muffins. Sadly it was on our last day, and I wish I had found that bakery earlier. It was nice to have a light breakfast, waterside, avoiding all the early morning crowds at the parks – and of course eat the delicious muffins. The pool here is designed to remind you of a Coney Island roller coaster. All the criss-crossed wood framing and a slide running through it, emptying you out through a clown’s mouth. Very carnival-ish. Is that a word? Rooms are decorated with a seaside motif and the resort is painted with the cool colors of a seaside town.

So that’s my take on two resorts that I have visited and have on my bucket list to stay in. Maybe you should stay there and tell me more of what I am missing – it may push up my next trip home. Or comment with more suggestions to make a guests stay even more magical. Is that possible, after staying at a resort with incredible pool, close to two parks and ice cream?  I am sure someone knows…

Guest Blogger, Marnie Reynolds-Bourque is an accomplished artist who paints lovely Disney inspired scenes, as well as many other subjects. You can see her work at: http://www.artistmarnie.com/disney-gallery.html