Disney’s Beach Club Villas vs Disney’s Beach Club Resort (What’s The Difference)
Most deluxe resorts at Disney World have a separate Disney Vacation Club wing. At Disney’s Beach Club Resort, that area is called Disney’s Beach Club Villas. This can get confusing if you’re looking to stay at the Beach Club and come across listings that mention the villas. The good news is that guests of the Beach Club Villas and vice versa can access all of the resort’s amenities.
So while a few nuances distinguish the differences between the resorts, it’s hard to go wrong with either. That said, I thought we would put the spotlight on some of those things that make each side of the resort stand out. We’ll start with their unique colors.
Beach Club Blue vs Mint Green Villas
The Beach Club is a pretty blue color with stark white trim. The resort is modeled after a New England-style seaside hotel.
The Beach Club Villas continue the same look. This area of the resort, however, can be easily distinguished by its mint green paint color. Make no mistake, they are both pleasant and calming colors. That would probably be the word I would use if only given one to sum up how I feel about the Beach Club. Calming. It’s not over the top with any spectacular amenities other than the pool. But it doesn’t need to be anything else.
Ariel’s statue sits outside the main entrance of the Villas wing.
The Rooms
The rooms are where you’ll find the biggest difference between the Beach Club Villas and Beach Club Resort. If you’re comparing, you’ll want to be aware of a few things. Standard rooms at Disney’s Beach Club and Beach Club Villas both sleep up to five guests. Here is a comparison.
Resort View Room at Disney’s Beach Club: This room type sleeps up to five guests. If you are a couple traveling with no other guests, you could receive a room with a king bed or two queen beds. The rooms that sleep up to five have two queen beds and a day bed. They are first assigned to those with a party of five.
Deluxe Studio Disney’s Beach Club Villas: The deluxe studio at Beach Club Villas is comparable to a standard room (in general). This unit, however, will be the same across the board. Each unit will have a queen bed, a double sleeper sofa, and a single pull-down bed. (Most of the sofa beds will pull down from the wall, similar to a Murphy bed.)
One major difference is that deluxe studios have a kitchenette with a sink, a microwave, and a mini-fridge. Standard resort rooms only offer a beverage cooler. We have a room tour here of a standard room that sleeps up to five at Disney’s Beach Club Resort.
If you are looking for larger accommodations, you’ll likely want to stick with the Beach Club Villas. You might consider a one-bedroom villa, which sleeps up to four guests with a full-size kitchen, living room, and laundry room.
A two-bedroom villa is the coziest of the units, sleeping up to eight guests with two bedrooms, a living room, a full-size kitchen, two full bathrooms, and a laundry room. (Two-Bedroom Villa Disney’s Beach Club)
On the Beach Club side of the resort, you can upgrade to select room views, including a water view room. You can also upgrade to the club level. Club level is a special concierge floor (the 5th floor) at Disney’s Beach Club. Most of the rooms are the same as the rest of the resort. The difference is that you’ll have access to a lounge that offers multiple food and beverage services throughout the day. (The club level has a couple of suites offering larger accommodations. These will be your highest price point rooms at the resort.) We have a complete overview of Disney World’s Club Levels if you would like to learn more.
While we’re on the subject of the rooms, you’ll also want to be aware of the differences in balconies. Rooms at Disney’s Beach Club have a full-size or Juliet balcony. All units at Disney’s Beach Club Villas have a full-size balcony or a patio on the ground level. We have a separate article where we discuss the Beach Club’s balcony types in detail. A Juliet balcony is merely a step-out with no place to sit. The photo below shows a full-size balcony on the resort side.
Amenities
As we touched on above, the amenities are the same for everyone staying at the resort. However, one of the benefits of being in the villas is that all one-bedroom and larger units have a laundry room. A separate and complimentary laundry room is available for guests staying in a deluxe studio. It’s located on the 4th floor of the villa’s building. This is a complimentary offering for Disney Vacation Club members, but all villa guests can take advantage of it.
Guests staying on the resort side will have access to two laundry rooms. However, you will have to pay for detergent and to use the machines. We have a map that highlights the location of the laundry rooms at the Beach Club, along with photos and details of what to expect.
Regarding pools, the Beach Club Villas is home to the Dunes Cove Quiet Pool. So villa guests will be closer to this quiet pool than the Tidal Pool that sits toward the front of the resort. Most guests, however, will spend their pool time at Stormalong Bay. This is the massive pool that is shared between the Beach and the Yacht Club.
As far as housekeeping goes, guests of deluxe resorts receive daily housekeeping. Guests of Disney Vacation Club Resorts will receive housekeeping based on how they reserved their room. If you rented or are using Disney Vacation Club points for your stay, you’ll receive housekeeping on this schedule:
For stays of 7 or fewer consecutive nights in the same villa, the Disney Vacation Club Resort will provide a “Trash & Towel” service on the fourth consecutive day of the stay.
For stays of 8 or more nights, Full Cleaning Service is provided on day 4 and Trash & Towel Service is provided on day 8 (after which the cycle begins again on day 12). This service schedule applies regardless of whether you are using a Member-discounted cash reservation, Vacation Points, or a combination of both.
*If you rented a villa through Disney and are paying cash, you’ll receive daily housekeeping in the villas.
Final Thoughts
We love staying at both the resort and the villas section of Disney’s Beach Club. We’ve spent time in regular rooms, the villas, and the club level. If money were no object, we would choose to stay club level. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s an over-the-top experience, but we enjoy having access to the lounge for fresh coffee, soft drinks, and small bites throughout the day. It’s so convenient.
Our second choice would be a one-bedroom villa for the extra space and the ability to prepare food in the room. We are typically a party of two or three, so we wouldn’t need a larger unit. If you have a larger party, the two-bedroom has a nice layout.
A stay at Disney’s Beach Club is a real treat. We love it for two reasons: the pool and the proximity to Epcot. We mention it often, but you can’t beat the short walk in and out of Epcot. You’ll want to consider a park-hopper upgrade when you stay here so you can do early mornings and late evenings at Epcot. Trust me, it’s a surreal feeling to walk out of the park after fireworks and be back in your room in less than 10 minutes.
For more on Disney’s Beach Club Resort, you might like the following:
In the Comments
Have you stayed at the Beach Club or Villas? Which do you prefer? Did I miss anything? Let us know in the comments below. We hope to hear from you!
