Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Disney's Yacht Club Resort
Disney's Yacht Club Resort (“YC”), an Epcot resort, is themed to resemble a formal New
England yacht club. The dull gray exterior does little to accomplish this, but there are
some nautical decorative elements in the public areas and rooms. Neither kids nor adults
much get its theming. Kids, though, are delighted by Stormalong Bay pool and its asso-
ciated beaches and playgrounds. The Yacht Club occupies half of an enormous long-cor-
ridored building, with sister resort The Beach Club—warmer, more charming, and more
inviting—taking up the other half. In the center of the enormous building are kitchens and
other back-of the house areas, then on either side the table service restaurants of the two
resorts, then the guest service areas (one for each) and shops. Near Crescent Lake you'll
find Stormalong Bay pool, shared with the Beach Club—actually three separate pools, each
with its own focus: a sand-bottomed shallow pool delightful for little ones; a pool per-
fect for drifting or tubing; and a pool for swimming. The larger of two fun water slides
accessed from a shipwreck (!) on a beach splashes down at one end of this pool. Some
call Stormalong Bay a “mini water park”. That's a stretch yet does capture the difference
between it and every other Disney World pool except those at the Four Seasons. There's
one smaller pool at the far west end of YC, and two smaller ones near the east end of BC.
The Yacht Club is near the back entrance to Epcot, the International Gateway. You can
walk or take a boat to Epcot. Hollywood Studios is accessed by a long walk or by boat, and
the other theme parks, water parks, and Downtown Disney via shared buses that can take
a while. The Yacht Club is well located for trips centered on Epcot, but not so well located
for a Magic Kingdom focused trip.
All of Disney's marketing material stresses the “formality” of the Yacht Club and the
“fun” of the Beach Club. Both points are overstated, but result in families self-selecting in-
to the prettier Beach Club, and conventioneers (both hotels are convention hotels) into the
duller Yacht Club. This is fine—the Beach Club is the better family choice on any relevant
measure except balconies: all YC rooms have large balconies, while BC rooms have either
small or almost uselessly tiny ones.
Guest rooms at the YC are identical to those in BC except for decorations and balconies.
Most standard rooms at YC sleep five on two queens and a daybed (some rooms omit the
daybed and sleep four). Standard rooms are about 380 square feet—in the middle of the de-
luxe range, but well-appointed and proportioned. Five-person rooms have, beside the beds,
a desk with a small rolling table underneath, a desk chair, mini-fridge, TV, dresser, closet,
and a coffee-maker. The divided bath includes two sinks and a hair dryer, and a toilet and
tub in a separate room. Four-person rooms have the same size, omit the daybed, but add
an easy chair. All rooms are accessed from interior corridors. Like the other deluxe re-
sorts, you can also reserve concierge-supported rooms (Disney call these “club” rooms)
and suites.
YC has two table service restaurants. The Yachtsman Steak House is a top-notch venue
with steaks as good as any Disney restaurant. It has a resort casual dress code. The other
table service restaurant, Captain's Grille, is tied with the Grand Floridian Café for being
the most uninteresting resort restaurant on property. There's no counter service at all. You
can walk to the nearby Beach Club and find a character breakfast at Cape May Café, great
burger and ice cream dining at Beaches and Cream, and very weak counter service. The
nearby BoardWalk Inn has neither meaningful counter service nor any kid-appealing table
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