Beach Club Getaway

After several canceled trips last year, we had some points we needed to use up so booked a three night stay at the Beach Club Villas.

Our first day was Sunday which was unseasonably cool for this area of Florida. Additionally, it was overcast and remained that way all day.

We drove over early on Sunday morning. Our room was not ready yet so we parked our car and walked over to Epcot. We went directly to the Frozen After ride which had a wait of 1/2 hour or so. From there, we went to the Mexican pavilion and rode the Gran Fiesta Tour which was a walk on. (A few days before, we had been in Epcot and the line just to get into the pavilion snaked around the outside and was probably 40 minutes or so).

Since Epcot didn't open until 11 am, by time we finished these two rides, we were ready for lunch. Surprisingly, we were able to snag a reservation at Rose & Crown Pub (Just the day before, the Disney website listed this location as "temporarily closed"). Since lunch was still a little while later, we walked the long way around, stopping in some shops along the way. Many shops are still closed such as the Germany pavilion where only the shops on the left, as you face the pavilion, are open. A cast member we spoke to there stated they were having difficulty getting merchandise from Germany to stock all of the shops so incorporated as much as they could on the one side of the pavilion. As we wandered through the France pavilion, we did notice that the shelves weren't as full as we had remembered them from the past.

Once we checked in at Rose and Crown, we were quickly seated on the upper porch which had lowered the plastic sheeting and had the heaters running. I had fish and chips while my spouse opted for a burger.

I did want to go by Disney Springs on this day but wanted to get my luggage out of the car and into our room before we left. As we left the restaurant, I decided we should just go to Disney Springs even if the luggage was still in the car. Just after making that decision, I was notified that our room was ready - perfect timing. We returned to the car, got the luggage and brought it to the room.

Once our stuff was in the room, we returned to the car and drove over to Disney Springs. We wanted to park in the end garage but the entrance was blocked off so we had no choice but to park in the garage by the AMC theaters. We ended up on the 4th floor and parking there was scarce. As soon as we found the line to get through temperature checks, I was sorry we had come. We wound around and around for probably 20 minutes or so, before we reached the temperature check area. One of the reasons for coming was to renew our passes which were close to expiring. The line to get into the Annual Pass location was about 45 minutes long. Once inside, it took about 5 minutes to renew. The other reason I wanted to come was to get some bath bombs as we were in a one bedroom unit and I always enjoy soaking in jetted tubs at the end of a Disney day. At The Basin, we had to stand in line for about 20 minutes just to get into the store. Selecting and buying what I wanted took about 10 minutes. While we were on line waiting to enter the store, we could see the line to get into World of Disney - that line was probably about 45 minutes long - just to get into the store!! With the bath bombs in hand, I couldn't wait to leave Disney Springs so we went directly back to our car and drove back to the resort.

Oh no!! Once we got back, I realized that the tub in our room, while a soaker tub, was not jetted. I was quite disappointed!!

I had thought about getting takeout from The Polite Pig but, because, I just wanted to leave the crowds at Disney Springs, we did not. Instead, we just a sandwich from the Beach Club marketplace and shared that for dinner. Additionally, I didn't bother to take a tubby before we settled into bed on this evening.

Thanks for the review. Sounds like I'll skip DS on my next trip-standing in line for rides is tolerable, but standing in line for a store is not. Weird about not getting a jetted tub. In all our stays at BCV, I've never seen that-hope the room is otherwise OK.

I always enjoy reading your reviews. Wowzers though, DS sounds like a zoo ... I'm impressed you lasted as long as you did!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.