Here is my mini trip report of our June 12 - 16 stay at the Beach Club. We had booked this trip with the room only bounceback discount back in October. We had many wonderful family trips at the BC starting when our three kids were ages 16, 13 and 11 and the BC quickly became the only place we ever wanted to stay at for a long time. This recent trip was with our son and his two boys plus one of my sisters. Initially I booked the bounceback for two rooms for the five of us and then later called back and was able to get a bounceback discount for my sister's room, too. We had two garden view rooms and my sister paid for a standard view but they gave her a garden view room that was close to our room.
We were given rooms 3569 and 3571 which were connecting rooms that overlooked the volleyball court. Our room had a king bed, sofa sleeper and a wet bar. Our son's room was the very typical two queens and a daybed room. We had standing balconies but with the heat and the fact that they were painting outside of our rooms, we never would have used a full balcony anyway. It was just too hot for that.
We were delighted with our rooms. I posted pictures of it earlier in this thread and in the Beach Club room view there here:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/beach-club-room-views.3057904/page-7#post-59377909
We had taken a trip with our son and grandsons two years ago last June. We were at POR for that trip and he admitted that he "wore them out" trying to do too much at the parks. I was very much hoping that he would slow it down for this trip and let them spend time Storm Along Bay. Well, not only did the boys spend plenty of time at SAB, that was just about the only thing they wanted too do.
They loved playing volleyball and they had met friends there, so for them, that was probably some of the best times of the trip. It was very hot during our trip and no one really wanted to be in the parks too much. Luckily, we never really had any problems with rain, since we were usually eating dinner when the heaviest rain fell.
I had a pretty good trip plan worked out and in general it went very well. Our son and my sister went golfing one morning, which allowed the boys to sleep in, which they needed. And our son and grandsons went to Typhoon Lagoon the next day, which allowed DH, my sister and me to head off and do our own thing. We went to Epcot that morning, rode Living with the Land, then took the bus to POFQ for gluten free beignets. My sister has celiac disease and having the gluten free beignets was at the top of her to do list. Then we took the boat to Disney Springs for a little shopping and lunch. We all met back up at the BC for a late afternoon trip to AK. That late afternoon at AK turned out to be one of the nicest days of the trip. The weather had cooled off a bit and it had rained earlier, which chased the crowds of of the park.
Some of the other highlights of the trip was a very nice dinner at Cape May. The boys really chowed down on the crab legs and it was nice to see them eating "real food". And it is very easy for my sister to get her gluten free foods there. They brought her some gluten free desserts which she really appreciated.
We also had a fun lunch at Sci Fi Diner at Hollywood Studios after my sister and son returned from golfing. We ended up riding Star Tours and RnR and then left the park early. It was too hot and the boys wanted to go swimming, of course.
We had taken the bus to and from DHS and that worked out well. I was disappointed that the Friendship boats would be down during our trip, since that is one of the perks of staying at an Epcot resort, but we waited less than 10 minutes for the bus both times and it was air conditioned and more comfortable than the boat. This was the afternoon that DH and I went swimming in the quiet pool and watched the painters painting the resort building right in front of us. The pool water was very warm, like a bathtub, and we have never been in such warm water before. But it was nice to relax, anyway.
That night we took a taxi to the Polynesian for dinner at Ohana. It was the one request that the boys had made and I was lucky to get a reservation there. It was our third time dining at Ohana and this was the best meal of them all. My sister got her gluten free foods and she was happy. DH ordered extra pot stickers and noodles and we all ate them up. It was a very good meal.
This was only a four night trip and our Magical Express picked us up at 1:50pm, which left us with enough time to do a few rides at MK, get lunch, and then go to the airport. DH hadn't been feeling well on this trip, so he stayed back in the room until 11 am and then went to the Solarium. The rest of us went to MK and our grandsons got to experience the Jungle Cruise for the first time. We ended up on a handicap accessible boat and it was really interesting how they did that. They took a normal boat out of the rotation, then brought the accessible boat up to the dock. The ramp lifted up from the center of the boat and the ECV was able to ride onto the boat. Once the ECV was in position it dropped down so that the rider was eye level with the rest of the guests. The accessible boat moved forward and we got on. When the ride was done, they pulled a normal boat back in line in front of our boat, and then we moved to the dock for unloading.
My sister and I left MK early to meet DH for lunch at Ale and Compass. It was our first time eating there since they remodeled and we enjoyed our meal very much. The atmosphere is relaxing but I agree the restaurant colors make it look a bit dark. It was a good way to end our trip, though, and we were glad we ate there. Our son and grandsons got back from MK around 1pm and had some flatbread pizzas from the Marketplace before heading to the airport. All in all it was a good trip.