Runners, in-laws, Beach Club, Birthdays! Day 1

Just got back from six nights at the Beach Club (Jan 9 to 16). Me (40), my wife (bit more than 40), our 4yo son, and for the first time we were travelling with my wife’s husband and his wife and two young kids and his wife’s sister and her young son. All of the above are thoroughly WDW knowledgeable. BIL was celebrating his 40th and niece was celebrating her 8th on this trip.

The report will be in general themes, rather than chronological.

Visiting in mid-January
I’ve traveled in January once before and think this year was much colder! I loved not having the crowds, but I really wanted to do some swimming at the Beach Club and it really only happened one night and after my son shivered for about 15 minutes, we bailed. Our arrival and departure days each had highs in the low 50s. It did not help that we dressed for warm weather for our flight down and thus were underdressed upon our arrival and DME took WELL over three hours to get our stuff to the room, forcing my wife to buy some clothes.

We got there the day before the half marathon (and two days before the marathon). That really impacts the crowds, obviously, but I don’t think I was anticipating the impact on travel times. Bus to MK Saturday morning was crazy slow. And all weekend there were just these skinny, lithe people everywhere, clanging their badges around. Good for them, if you’re into that kind of masochism. (There’s a joke that goes, “How do you know the vegan at a party? Wait long enough and they’ll come around and tell you.”) Well, how do you know the people who ran the marathon at Disney World? Just wait long enough and one of them will somehow work it into the conversation. :mickey: Seriously, though, there was a nice sense of camaraderie among them. I did find it odd in AK that people were getting out of the marathon not just to take pictures with characters but to also ride rides(?). How dare they take a break during a 26-mile run! :mickey:

I appreciate that at this time of year you get to see some Christmas decorations (the main Christmas tree was up at each park when we first got there) without having to deal with the Christmas crowds. But on the flip side, they were playing Christmas music a LOT in the Magic Kingdom and by mid January I’ve moved on and it’s weird to have “Winter Wonderland” stuck in your head!

The Beach Club
This was our first time to stay around Crescent Lake and we really loved the location, obviously. The verrrry quick walk to Epcot and the pleasant walk to the Studios are fantastic, and we found ourselves at Epcot most evenings because it’s just so easy to be there.

The property itself is ….ehhh. I like the lobby area and LOVED the smell (green clove and aloe, from ScentAir, from what I was told, in case you want to go have it in your own foyer at home). I guess I actually liked the resort but it was the room that was underwhelming, especially the FOUR TINY DRAWERS that was our clothing space. And I was expected to be blown away by Stormalong Bay but really wasn’t. It could be that it was cold and overcast and the weather just didn’t have a good “feel” for swimming, but I think we actually like the CBR pool area better. Part of it also had to do with some of it being closed for renovations, of course. We’re booked there for a few nights in May, so we’ll give it another try. I've wanted a No Way Jose for years but was just never hungry enough for it (see comments later about dining plan). Definitely getting one of those in May!