Beach Club or Contemporary

[Themadhatter21]

I am planning a trip next May with my family and we are torn where to stay. I have two daughters who will be 2.5 and one turning 5 while we are there. Last December, we stayed at GF and loved it. We wanted to try a different resort due to price and to have a chance to just experience something different. We love the idea of being able to walk to MK from the contemporary as well as having the monorail. As for the beach club, the pool would be great and being able to walk to Epcot is also a bonus as well as the boat to HS. We are def leaving towards BC. How are the buses to MK? I was interested to hearing any pros and cons others have! Thank you!

 

[Ben23A]

BC pool is great however the pool is super crowded if this is an issue for you I would lean away from the BC. The buses to MK are ok not great but not the worst busing in Disney World. Walking to epcot is very nice and the boat to HS is also very nice. If you have PH tickets you can also (if your up for a walk) walk into epcot and go to the monorail to ttc and then take the monorail to MK. Contemporary path to MK is very convenient. Contemporary also offers a good pool but nothing compared to BC pool. Also the monorail from Contemporary is one stop from ttc so getting to epcot is very simple and you could walk from there to the boat to HS if you want although bus would probably be easier.

 

[Dumbo7]

Tough call! I'm thinking Frozen is a big draw. If it's not such a big draw I'd do the contemporary. That walk to the magic kingdom can't be beat. The pool at storm along bay can a bit chaotic. Not sure I'd want to do it with a 2.5 & 5 year old

 

[Ben23A]

Tough call! I'm thinking Frozen is a big draw. If it's not such a big draw I'd do the contemporary. That walk to the magic kingdom can't be beat. The pool at storm along bay can a bit chaotic. Not sure I'd want to do it with a 2.5 & 5 year old

Exactly my thought with the BC pool

 

[Themadhatter21]

BC pool is great however the pool is super crowded if this is an issue for you I would lean away from the BC. The buses to MK are ok not great but not the worst busing in Disney World. Walking to epcot is very nice and the boat to HS is also very nice. If you have PH tickets you can also (if your up for a walk) walk into epcot and go to the monorail to ttc and then take the monorail to MK. Contemporary path to MK is very convenient. Contemporary also offers a good pool but nothing compared to BC pool. Also the monorail from Contemporary is one stop from ttc so getting to epcot is very simple and you could walk from there to the boat to HS if you want although bus would probably be easier.

Thank you so much! We also love ohana and 1900 PF so if we stayed at the contemporary, those places are perfect. If we try BC, we would
Loved to try new places!

 

[Themadhatter21]

Tough call! I'm thinking Frozen is a big draw. If it's not such a big draw I'd do the contemporary. That walk to the magic kingdom can't be beat. The pool at storm along bay can a bit chaotic. Not sure I'd want to do it with a 2.5 & 5 year old

We love frozen! I could be the understudy in the sing a long at HS bc we listen to it so much! We love to hit the parks early and figured we would be at the pool (especially with weather in May) and the BC pool would be fun. Thank you so much!

 

[Ben23A]

I have stayed at BC before and enjoyed it, I have never stayed at contemporary but stay at the Poly (I also love O'hanas) most times and I can't compare the resorts on bay lake to any other on Disney property.

We love frozen! I could be the understudy in the sing a long at HS bc we listen to it so much! We love to hit the parks early and figured we would be at the pool (especially with weather in May) and the BC pool would be fun. Thank you so much!

I have stayed at BC before and enjoyed it (I also recommend Cape May), I have never stayed at contemporary but stay at the Poly (I also love O'hanas) most times. It really comes down to what area you prefer more, I think both have about the same level of transportation and the pool at BC is large however very very busy. The BC also has the benefit that you could go over to the boardwalk which is a great place to hang out.

 

[DLgal]

BC is awesome. I would choose it with those ages, for sure. Not sure what people are talking about with the pool. SAB has a HUGE toddler sand bar wading section where little ones can make sandcastles and wade in about 1-2 ft of water. It's awesome. Also, the slide has a kiddie area on the back of the ship with a mini slide for small kids. It's like a small pool back there and it's always suoer warm. It'a perfect. As to the size, yeah, the pool is big, but I assume you will stay in the water with your kids...they are little, I don't imagine you plan to lounge on a chair and nap while they swim. As long as there are at least 2 adults, it's a very fun pool.

Contemporary is great, but not super kid friendly. I would recommend it for older kids and adults, but IMO, it's not really "worth it" unless you are in a Tower MK View room.

BC is great because you have SO much to do around the lake resorts there. Swan has a fabulous playground, BW has the surrey bike rentals (little ones can ride in front and ring the bell while the adults pedal...my boys LOVED that when they were 4 and 5), you have the nighttime Boardwalk entertainers and games, and it has the beach where you can play or relax in swing seats. You have Ample Hills and Beaches & Cream for ice cream. It's such a fun area.

 

[Themadhatter21]

BC is awesome. I would choose it with those ages, for sure. Not sure what people are talking about with the pool. SAB has a HUGE toddler sand bar wading section where little ones can make sandcastles and wade in about 1-2 ft of water. It's awesome. Also, the slide has a kiddie area on the back of the ship with a mini slide for small kids. It's like a small pool back there and it's always suoer warm. It'a perfect. As to the size, yeah, the pool is big, but I assume you will stay in the water with your kids...they are little, I don't imagine you plan to lounge on a chair and nap while they swim. As long as there are at least 2 adults, it's a very fun pool.

Contemporary is great, but not super kid friendly. I would recommend it for older kids and adults, but IMO, it's not really "worth it" unless you are in a Tower MK View room.

BC is great because you have SO much to do around the lake resorts there. Swan has a fabulous playground, BW has the surrey bike rentals (little ones can ride in front and ring the bell while the adults pedal...my boys LOVED that when they were 4 and 5), you have the nighttime Boardwalk entertainers and games, and it has the beach where you can play or relax in swing seats. You have Ample Hills and Beaches & Cream for ice cream. It's such a fun area.

Thank you so much! If we stay at BC we would def do a park hopper so we can go to Epcot at night (my mom and mother in law will also be coming). My husband is leaning towards BC bc he thinks the girls will love the pool. I also like the idea of walking to boardwalk too. I am Only nervous about getting to MK and back BC we will go there at least two days.

 

[DLgal]

Thank you so much! If we stay at BC we would def do a park hopper so we can go to Epcot at night (my mom and mother in law will also be coming). My husband is leaning towards BC bc he thinks the girls will love the pool. I also like the idea of walking to boardwalk too. I am Only nervous about getting to MK and back BC we will go there at least two days.

It's not a big deal to go to MK at all. It's a 15 min bus ride. It actually is kind of a pain to get everywhere other than MK when you stay at Contemporary. Going to Epcot requires a monorail transfer and on the way back, you have to ride it ALL the way around from TTC to Contemporary. It's at least a 30-40 min production every time. And since it's up near MK, every other destination via bus takes forever. Plus, it shares a bus with other MK resorts so you have to stop before heading to your destination. BC is centrally located and AK and Disney Springs are only like 10 min away. It only shares a bus with YC, which is attached.

 

[rcraw45425]

CR if you plan on spending most of your time at MK. It's one of our favorites. It was pretty much the only place we stayed when our girls were little.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

BC is more of a resort than CR with tons of things to do within walking distance of the resort - restaurants, the Boardwalk, two parks. CR's only pro, IMHO, is the walking distance to MK. If you are interested in swimming, BC has the gigantic sand bottom children's pool, plus a kids' pool behind the big slide with a smaller slide for smaller children. CR's pool is not conducive to small children at all and is in desperate need of a refurb IMHO.

The bus to MK from BC isn't bad at all. The other nice thing, when you leave MK, you can hop on a BC/YC bus, BWI bus or Swan/Dolphin bus and simply walk back to BC from the other resorts if one of their buses comes first.

 

[LMO429]

If you are concerned about getting to the MK from the beach club you can always cab it the Contemporary and walk over to the MK. I have a 2 year old as well I am a long time beach club resort veteran. Our first trip with him he was 1 year old and we stayed at the Grand and we had a wonderful time the amenities were perfect for him our biggest grip with the Grand were the monorails being down. Last trip we stayed at the boardwalk and with the amount of times we went to epcot/hollywood studios for me it does not warrant staying in the epcot resort area. as far as the pool goes at the beach club it is amazing but that being said with a 2 year old while they have the sand bottom area you have to walk all the way from your room at the beach club and then walk all the way over to the yacht club as a mom it makes me worried how big SAB is that this time we are going to try wilderness lodge since the pools are smaller and they have a splash area (that the beach club does not) regardless of where you stay you will have a wonderful time there is no ideal location there are pros and cons to each resort you have to sit down and think about your family and your needs.

 

[LMO429]

BC is more of a resort than CR with tons of things to do within walking distance of the resort - restaurants, the Boardwalk, two parks. CR's only pro, IMHO, is the walking distance to MK. If you are interested in swimming, BC has the gigantic sand bottom children's pool, plus a kids' pool behind the big slide with a smaller slide for smaller children. CR's pool is not conducive to small children at all and is in desperate need of a refurb IMHO.

The bus to MK from BC isn't bad at all. The other nice thing, when you leave MK, you can hop on a BC/YC bus, BWI bus or Swan/Dolphin bus and simply walk back to BC from the other resorts if one of their buses comes first.

I agree with you the contemporary while in the most ideal location to get to the MK is just not appealing to me and needs a refurb. If i had to pick between beach or contemporary i would go with the beach club

 

[100acreHiker]

I've stayed both and would go with BC, hands down. I didn't care for the CR. It does have a following, but the main building was too loud and smelled strange. The walk between the resort and MK is ok, but honestly after a long day of walking it felt like a drag and I would have preferred a boat like GF and Poly have. If you plan to be in MK frequently, then it makes sense, but it didn't feel magical to us. Now, I think BC is beautiful, and I loved the access to EP and HS, but Stormalong Bay was too crowded and wild for our tastes, so it's not a perfect resort, either.

 

[Themadhatter21]

Thank you so much for everyone's thoughts and opinions! I think we are going to go with the BC since we stayed at a MK resort on our last trip. We like the idea of being so close to two other parks and getting a park hopper to walk to Epcot or head to HS.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

To help with the questions on transportation, the BC/YC have their own bus to AK and MK which makes it nice. Another thing to think of is at BC you are in the middle of the property, so it is a 15 minute ride to MK or AK; whereas, at the Contemporary, it would be lucky to be a 15 minute ride to Epcot on the monorail and longer than 15 minutes to HS and AK. We are DVC members at both GFV and BWV and I prefer BWV for the location. The pool at the BC is very fun for kids. I loved it when I was younger.