Some mornings no matter how hungry you are, you just want to lounge around your Disney Vacation Club Villa, which is exactly what Amy and I did on our most recent trip in a one-bedroom villa at Beach Club. We decided on the last morning of our vacation, with limited dining options available, we would take advantage of the recent return of in-room dining and order breakfast straight to our villa!
Over the past few months, in-room dining or room service has found its way back to a handful of Disney Vacation Club Resorts. Living in our “new normal,” we thought it would be fun to see whether this service was still worthwhile and what changes have been implemented due to the current pandemic.
The Menu
One of the largest impacts on in-room dining at the moment appears to be the continued closure of many restaurants throughout the Walt Disney World Resort. This has resulted in scaled back menus and limited-service times compared to what was previously being offered.
Currently, Disney’s Beach Club Villas offers breakfast from 7:00 am – 11:00 am, and dinner from 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm. To place an order, guests can press “Dining Options” on their in-room phones. All orders are subject to an 18% gratuity, $5.00 delivery charge, and 6.5% sales tax.
In glancing at the menu being offered, it appears the in-room dining options for Disney’s Beach Club Villas are currently coming out of the Ale & Compass Restaurant at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort. The in-room menu features multiple items served at Ale & Compass, including the Salted Carmel-Apple French Toast, as well as the restaurant’s famous Parker House Rolls!
The Service
Service isn’t an area I would typically highlight in a review of in-room dining, but in this case, it was such a standout that I would be remiss if I failed to highlight it. From placing our order on the phone, a call letting us know it was on the way, to delivery at our door, the service we received was nothing less than perfection. Cast Member Tyrone, who delivered our food, was super friendly upon arrival. His professionalism was shown through his care of our order and his attention to physical distancing and mask-wearing when entering our villa. I would go as far as to say that Tyrone was the highlight of our entire in-room dining experience!
Due to current enhanced safety measures, all food was served in disposable containers, except for the large carafe of coffee I ordered. This included a large selection of pre-packaged condiments, including jams, preserves, ketchup, hot sauce, and more. While I assume this will be an unpopular opinion, I actually much prefer this to the previous in-room dining service. A large pet peeve of mine has always been the trend of guests sitting their room service trays in the hallway upon completion. These were never cleared promptly and just junked up the hallways, for lack of a better term. This method is both safer in our current environment and likely easier for the resort.
The Food
The current in-room dining menu at Beach Club Villas for breakfast provides a wide variety of options, certain to appeal to anyone’s morning food cravings. We decided to explore one sweet and one savory option to get a feel for a little of everything!
Mickey Waffle (with Bacon) – $17
This was the best Mickey Waffle I’ve ever had on property – but not because it was the best Mickey Waffle ever made. Disney, unfortunately, has gotten into the habit of mass-producing these things at all of their restaurants. From my experience, they are never made to order and usually get served slightly crunchy and not that warm. So you can take this however you want, but in-room dining and the ability to microwave my cold Mickey Waffle and help it regain some life provided quite an enjoyable breakfast experience.
Seasonal Fruit Bowl – $6.50
After a Mickey Waffle and bacon, I needed something to make me feel a little better about myself. I felt the seasonal fruit bowl was an excellent addition to round out my breakfast, and I was happy to see the freshness and care that went into the fruit selection.
Country Ham and Cheddar Omelet (with Arugula and Fresh Fruit) – $20.00
Amy opted to go with a more savory dish for breakfast, choosing an omelet with a side of wheat toast. She found the omelet to be quite small, cold and lacking much flavor. A better omelet could be had at probably any restaurant on property. Having the microwave, as well as some condiments nearby, was definitely another large bonus.
The Ambiance
When it comes to judging the ambiance of in-room dining, it’s hard to really find anything negative to say. I had an enjoyable breakfast with some great company (my wife) in a one-bedroom villa at Beach Club. I got to choose when and where I ate and had tools at my disposal to kick my meal up a notch, as Emeril would say.
In-room dining is definitely a battle between convenience and quality. I can’t say we loved our meal, but it was a convenient and relaxing option on our final morning before taking the Tragical Express back to the airport. The price is a bit high, but overall we found our first adventure with room service worthwhile given the limited breakfast reservation options available that day.
Have you ever enjoyed some in-room dining on your Disney Vacation Club stay? Please share your experience with us in the comments below, and let us know what food items you’ve enjoyed!
*Please note that this dining review was conducted during Walt Disney World’s initial reopening period. We ask that you take into consideration that any negative impacts may be a result of situations surrounding the ongoing pandemic, and may not accurately represent the restaurant once the resort has fully reopened.
Sounds nice.
The other option if we’re not worried about prices is to buy groceries at the DVC gift shop.
Our last trip to Boardwalk was in a one bedroom so we had the stocked kitchenette. We went to the Screen Door and bought overpriced bacon, eggs, and pop tarts and made our own breakfast. I think they may even have frozen Mickey shaped Eggos.