Hi all,
In prelim stages of planning our Oct/Nov 2021 trip, and am considering Beach Club this time around due to the proximity to Epcot. We loved the Food & Wine Fest and the countries last time, and think would awesome to have it steps outside our hotel to grab a quick lunch or dinner. Also Stormalong Bay would be awesome for the kids.
My concerns are last time we stayed at Poly and were spoiled with the closeness to MK & TTC for Epcot’s monorail. We do rope drop parks, and our kids will be 7 & 10 for our next trip. I see the Skyliner is close to BC, but it looks like it goes a long round-about way to get to HS.
Questions: how crowded are the buses from BC to MK? Will they leave early enough for ropedrop?
How long is the skyliner ride from BC to HS?
I have not stayed at beach club, but I did stay at the dolphin that sometimes shares buses with it. The bus service is about the same as any other resort. It will get you there for ropedrop. I usually planned on getting on the bus an hour before rd.
I haven’t used the skyliner, but the best part of the epcot area is the fact you can take the boat from your resort or just walk to epcot or HS. It’s about a mile walk to HS, but if you don’t want to wait for a boat it is nice to have.
I imagine it will be similar to Boardwalk, where I’ve stayed a couple of times. I don’t remember ever having to wait for more than one busload on the way to the parks (busses are going to be pretty full at park opening, no matter which resort you stay at so it’s really a matter of whether you have to wait for the second or third bus), but I’ve only ever had that problem at the values and at Old Key West or Saratoga Springs if you’re the last stop. As mentioned above, there is boat transportation to Epcot and HS, plus you can walk to either, though the walk to HS is kind of long (like, a little less than a mile).
I will say that the last couple of trips we’ve been Ubering for any early morning trips (we’re more pre-park open breakfast than RD, but I feel like it’s a similar situation), rather than deal with the buses at all. My sister is not the most patient of people, and is not really a happy cheerful morning person either and Uber has prevented AM irritation. It’s not that expensive, especially if you have 4 or fewer people and will fit into a regular Uber.
Thanks guys! I think Beach Club it is. 
You’ll probably be best walking to Hollywood studios or using the boat. You’d have to walk to the Epcot entrance at international gateway to take the skyliner and it’s a bit of back tracking. But I guess it could be an option since BC is closest resort to Epcot.
Info is a little dated as this happened in June of 2017, but morning RD bus to MK can be a miss. Bus picks up at Yacht Club first and can be full early at Beach Club.
If you really want to ensure rope drop, you need to be early for the breakfast bus. After just missing the breakfast bus, we didn’t see another MK bus until 815 on a 9 open day (like they advertise). In hindsight, we should have given up and driven (or ubered/Lyft).
We were back at Beach Club December 19, didn’t try am for MK, but had to wait over 30 minutes for a bus mid afternoon.
As everyone says, be early or leave plenty of time if depending on busses.
Aside from that, enjoy! We love Beach and Yacht Clubs!
We just checked out of Beach Club today.
HS via skyliner was about 40 min, assuming minimal lines. We used skyliner only midday though. Lines were long at park close and we wanted to be at HS well ahead of rope drop and skyliner wasn’t running yet, so we walked those timeframes in 20-25 min. The boat was loading one evening on the return, so we attempted that as the line looked small enough, but it filled 2 parties before us so we walked rather than wait 20 min.
For our RD for MK, we did Minnie Van just to try it (party of 6) and because it drops at gate so is quickest. This morning we did the MK bus for an early breakfast and it took 30 min with half marathon traffic.
AK was 15 min by bus yesterday morning.
we stay at beach club and uber to MK and AK and walk or use the boat to HS. the location is perfect for Epcot
Thanks everyone, this is good to think about
We caught a bus at 7:00 for an 8am BBB appt on a 9am open. We were the only ones on the bus.
Stayed at BC last Sept. We did love the close proximity to Epcot. Even with Skyliner, boat to HS is probably best. Busses to MK and AK are very do able. Only crowded after a park closing.
Having said that … What we didn’t like … The food options are horribly inadequate at BC. The rooms were in need of TLC. Overall we left feeling BC was not worth what Disney charges for these rooms. If you have a resort you love, I wouldn’t change to BC. Yatch Club rooms have been refurbished, if that is important to you.
On the half marathon day, what time did you leave BC by bus to get MK? Did you see a lot of Minnie vans arriving then also?
I think it heavily depends on what you’re looking for in food options. If heavy Quick Service, then I’d agree - BC Quick Serve options aren’t great. If ADRs are more your speed, it’s nirvana as you’re a short walk from everything Epcot has to offer plus a host of excellent hotel restaurants in Yachtsmen, Flying Fish & the seafood Buffet at BC itself plus the newly remodeled Beaches & Cream and all the options on the Boardwalk. We dined like kings while staying at BC, of course it came at the price of a King’s Ransom, but…
We left our room around 740am, but since it was our last day, had to check our luggage for airline and drop carryons at bell services, so we were probably at the bus stop somewhere about 8. Bus was around 30 min and we arrived about 5 min late for our 840 BOG.
Sorry, wasn’t really paying attention to Minnie vans.
I agree. We definitely enjoyed the seafood buffet at BC, but wouldn’t want to do it more than once a trip. For food purposes, it is an awesome location if you’re willing to walk just a little. It’s more the proximity to food choices than the ones actually there. All the Epcot options and we really enjoyed sushi and karaoke at Kiminos at the Swan (not on DDP though). We heard good things about Boardwalk Bakery but never made it over there. We only used BC marketplace for mug refills and minimal snacks. We visited Beaches & Cream to check the Kitchen Sink off the Disney bucket list after park close one night. The Ale and Compass lounge menu next door at Yacht Club also looked like our sort of fare, but never made it over there. So many places to try!