ksanders

We are planning a trip to WDW for May 2007. We have never been so I am completely overwhelmed by the Disney thing. We are leaning toward staying at one of the Disney timeshare resorts. Looking at Beach Club Villas. Can anyone give me some reviews on the place. How long does it take to get to the Magic Kingdom from their? Should we rent a car? I always get great help from the wonderful Fodorites here so any suggestions are always welcome.
Thanks.

GoTravel

No, don't rent a car. Disney has such excellent free onsite transportation that you don't need a car if you are staying on sight.

Some say the waiting for bus/boat/monorail takes too long but I've stayed in many of the Disney resorts all times of the year and never waited more than a couple of minutes.

mikesmom

I have not stayed in the Beach Club Villas, but we have stayed at the Beach Club. It is very, very nice. The pool at the Beach Club is considered the best on Disney property. The location of the Beach Club Villas is fantastic. You will be able to walk to Epcot and MGM (or you can take a boat to either). EPCOT about a ten minute walk - MGM is probably twenty minutes or so.

We always rent a car when we visit Disney. We like the flexibility a car gives us. When you stay on Disney property, you don't pay to park at the theme parks. The Magic Kingdom is probably twenty minutes or so from the Beach Club by car. You have to park the car and then take the monorail to the park.

I recommend you go to disboards.com for tons of information on Disney.

Also recommend mousesavers.com and allearsnet.com for valuable information.

Whether or not you rent a car is just a matter of personal preference. I don't want to wait for a bus and I want to be able to eat off property on occasion. A car lets us do that.

I hope this is helpful.

Have fun!

Lena456

We found that as much as we loved WDW everyone was ready for a break and we headed out to SeaWorld one day and Universal on another. You used to be able to rent cars by the day there - can you call them and ask the concierge?

ksanders

Great advice! Thank You!

Has anyone taken the bus from Beach Club Villas? How often do the buses come, how long of a ride is it to the Magic Kingdom. We plan to rent the 2 bd/2 bath villas. Has anyone been there recently. I am guessing that most of our stay we will be at the Magic Kingdom. Our kids our 4 and 8.
Thanks again for all the info.

shelbyjosh

We own at Old Key West but have never stayed at BCV. You are able to take the boat over to MGM or Epcot. The buses run about every 15-20 minutes to the other parks. It is probably less than a 15 minute bus ride to MK from BCV. You can rent a car onsite from National/Budget. There are rentals available at the Swan or Dolphin and at the Car Care. You can get some pretty decent rates by combining codes. We have gotten a car for a few days each trip. Just enough to get us to Universal or SW. This past March we went to SW and Discovery Cove. Last year we used a rental to go to the Gulf for the weekend before our stay at OKW. If you are getting a 2 bedroom, you will have plenty of room. Technically you could get away with a 1 br. You will have a washer/dryer in your room along with a full kitchen. We prefer OKW since it has the largest accomodations of the DVC resorts within Disney. Any other questions? Feel free to ask! Oh...the pool at BC is awesome...Stormalong Bay...

ajcolorado

Here are some great pictures of the beach club: http://disneylinks.net/Resorts/BeachClub/

We stayed at the Beach Club and rented points from someone on the DVC forum on the disboards and it was wonderful. The pool is wonderful and it is easy trek or boat ride over to the boardwalk: http://www.buildabettermousetrip.com...boardwalk.html

We didn't rent a car - we've always used Disney transportation.

We enjoyed "Beaches & Cream" - the little soda fountain restaurant at the Beach Club.

jmc3mom

We went on our first trip to WDW this past October with our children (10,7,5). We stayed at the Yacht Club and loved it! We did not feel the need to rent a car. We walked to Epcot, took the boat to MGM and took the bus to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom and had no problem whatsoever. The concierge at the Yacht Club was nice enough to give us a room with a view of the lake so we were able to see the fireworks/show at Epcot every night. We would definately stay there again. Any other trip questions please feel welcome to let me know. We had a fantastic trip.

padams421

How long will you be at WDW? With a 4 and a 8 year old, you might spend 2 days at MK. AK takes less than a full day.

The buses from all of the resort to the parks generally come every 20 minutes. Usually, you won't wait that long unless you have just missed the bus.

Don't rent a car.

The Beach Club villas are a great location.