Just read another thread that was lamenting the decline in the BC cash room quality. Both state that the room was in ("shabby?!?) and the poor quality of WiFi.
Is this a popular opinion? What about other resorts nearby on the Epcot deluxe circuit? Similar spotty WiFi and or states of shabbiness? Specifically Dolphin and Boardwalk? Was there a resort, either on property or nearby Disney Springs area that had better connectivity?
If we find no WiFi in the room, will we be able to switch to another room/resort without penalty (ie losing the entire stay’s cost)?
My upcoming trip can only happen if it’s a working vacation. Poor WiFi is a total and complete deal breaker.
However we are not above workarounds. In fact, about a decade ago I remember DH walking around with a backpack full of phones/laptops/the first Surface Pro and such to get a roaming hotspot so he could take work calls around Epcot. Not the optimal solution, but it worked at the time. On that note, we’re also looking at buying a chair that would be better for DH’s back. Would any of the properties stop us from wheeling in a more ergonomic chair up to our room?
Lastly (for now) These park reservations are throwing me for a loop. I wanted to do one “nice meal” in the park as our Christmas dinner. I want to do it on a HS day, but aren’t finding any places I feel would be enough for such a celebration. Would it be crazy to hop to Epcot for an ADR then go back to HS, especially on a projected 10 day?
All of that to ask:
How was your last stay at Beach Club/ Dolphin? Was it shabby/dirty?
How was the WiFi at your last Epcot resort area stay? Good and bad reviews encouraged.
Can I roll a big ole chair up to my room?
If you could have a special holiday meal at Hollywood Studios, where would you do it? Nothing there is screaming Christmas Dinner to me. What about Epcot, excluding Le Cellier which I have for the previous nights choice.
I’ll have other questions, but these are the ones that currently wake me up in the middle of the night.
This is just a thing throughout WDW. It’s quite unreliable and is not limited to any one particular resort.
I would guess that if they have availability (you’re going over christmas though, so unlikely) they might be able to move you. Room category changes would require paying the difference I’m sure.
I wouldn’t think so but this takes packing for a WDW vacation to a whole new level.
It’s never crazy to do what would work best for your family
We just got back from a 4 night stay at the Dolphin. We had a king room. I would definitely stay there again. No problems with wifi at hotel. ( I got boarding group 59 for ROR using wifi. ) Used it to preview rides for granddaughter on YouTube and for her to videochat with mom and Dad before bed with no issues. Wifi signal good at pool area also.
Our king room had a table with a pretty comfy rolling chair, so you might not need a different one, plus we could see Epcot fireworks from our room. And this doesn’t pertain to Wifi, but the beds were very,very comfortable. Rooms were clean and well kept. Check in was fast, employees very friendly and helpful
Wifi was not great in the parks, had a lot of lag trying to mobile order in the Disney App, had to switch to data a few times to work, especially in Animal Kingdom. Calls should be OK, although the noise might be a factor there.
As far as special dining, if you are in HS, why not either walk or take friendship boat to Boardwalk area, lots of dining there. It might not be fancy enough, but we had lunch at Hollywood and Vine in HS. I had salmon, with yummy potatoes and green beans, it was delicious, plus mickey, minnie, and goofy came around. It was both fun and delicious. Nice desserts also.
Stayed at Beach Club 7/30-8/2. Two different rooms, 5658 and 5710. I wouldn’t say the rooms are shabby but it did not feel worth the cost at all, especially considering they were normally club level rooms. GDT was much nicer. We did NOT get a BG (for the first time ever!) on our HS morning while trying in our BC room. One person on WiFi and one not. I doubt we will ever stay in BC again. Really need to get that trip report out but part of why I haven’t is I feel I’d be complaining a lot about the early part of our trip. At BC.
My concerns with Wifi has been more in the park, or wanting to access it from our phone.
But in December, while at BWV, we brought our Roku with us and connected it up to the hotel Wifi to stream some shows during our down times in the hotel. It worked pretty well. (We had more issues trying to get the Roku connected to the TV than we did the Roku to the Wifi!)
This drives us crazy! We love our Roku too and WDW specifically we’ve always had problems connecting anything that wasn’t already preset. Many an hour has been spent behind those tv’s. Stinks that it hasn’t gotten any better since our last visit 4 years ago.
We have several open reservations, around both Epcot and Disney Springs (there’s a Marriott directly next to Disney Springs we’re hoping will have better internet because it’s technically a business hotel). The Dolphin being a pretty major player in those reservations so far. It’s good to hear you had a good experience there.
I talked DH into Beach Club due to proximity to Epcot for his lunch break time, I think I might have to talk him back into Dolphin. But now that you mentioned the eating around Crescent Lake (iirc), that might work for him too. Hold him over until he can join us in the parks later!
Awesome…I’m really glad you shared too! Thank you!
The only EP area resorts we’ve stayed in is BWV. I’ve been wanting to try BC, but recent reports have me wary. I plan on doing a DVC room tour when I’m there next month.
The one resort I remember having trouble with the WiFi (which means it was really bad because I usually only remember the good things) was at OKW. It wasn’t even functioning. Total black hole. Don’t bother calling the front desk asking them to fix it. If they let you change rooms it will be the only solution.
It was me with the shabby BCV room. We used our phones for hot spots. We watched the last episode of Loki using my husband’s phone for wifi on a Fire Stick.
No, but also I love hopping. We used the skyliner to hop between parks and loved it.
DH did say he doesn’t think he’ll have to do any client demos, but he will still need to conference with the developers and check code.
Internet doesn’t have to be excellent, but certainly reliable.
DH threw out his back our last trip there and it was miserable for all of us. He was in so much pain and we couldn’t fix it because our Doctor we go to was down in Miami.
After that, we learned that he needs a high back chair and 2 lacrosse balls at shoulder blade height to correct his posture when at the computer. He has to sit straight to keep them in place.
If not a high back chair, then a standing desk. But seeing as nights will be spent walking around the parks, we felt that might be too much on his knees/legs.
We have one of these for our 15yo ds who has lots of sensory challenges and while he says he doesn’t love it, he sits in it voluntarily an awful lot!
Dh and I have gaming chairs from Office Max/Staples (one of those office supply chains, can’t remember which dh ordered them from). They weren’t too expensive but far more comfortable than a standard chair!!
We used our phones for hot spots. We watched the last episode of Loki using my husband’s phone for wifi on a Fire Stick.