In this post, we review the Regatta Club, the Club Level offering at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort. If this is the first post of ours you’re reading, there might be two others you’re interested in. First, we have separately reviewed Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, and it’s one of our favorite hotels at Walt Disney World. If you’re looking for information about the hotel generally, you’ll need to read that post.
Second—and maybe more importantly—we have an entirely separate post covering the ins and outs of Club Level at Walt Disney World. If you’re wondering about the details of whats included, whether it’s worth it, and just how we evaluate it broadly, you’ll want to check out that post. This post focuses specifically on the Regatta Club Lounge at Yacht Club.
Booking Club Level at Yacht Club
Club Level is a special room designation at all the the deluxe resorts (and one moderate resort) at Walt Disney World that includes a variety of perks. If you’re interested in reading about Club Level at the other deluxe resorts, we have reviews here (links open in new tabs):
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kilimanjaro Club Level Review
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort - Royal Palm Club (Main Building) Level Review
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort - King Kamehameha Club Level Review
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort - Regatta Club Level Review (you are here)
Disney’s Coronado Springs (Moderate Resort) - Chronos Club Level Review
When booking Club Level we use our go-to travel agent, Lauren Quirk of Travel With Character LLC. We prefer to book these stays when Annual Passholder offer rates are available, as these can get up to 35% off. If that’s not possible, we’ll often try to book Club Level as part of a split stay with a value or moderate hotel—say, two nights Club Level, three nights at a value resort.
For 2024, Club Level rooms at Yacht Club start at $830 per night. That’s a premium of about $263 per night over the lowest priced standard room. Club rooms are the same as other rooms, just on a club-exclusive floor.
Yacht Club Club Level Check-In
If you check in at the hotel’s front desk you’ll want to make sure they either give you directions to the lounge or have someone from the lounge come get you (this sometimes happens, sometimes doesn’t). If you use Disney World’s online check in, you can just head to the lounge before or after stopping at your room.
In either case, it’s important to pay a visit to “check in” with the lounge staff once you’re at the hotel. This was they know who you are and have an opportunity to show you around the lounge and give you any welcome information/gifts.
The Regatta Club concierge desk is just outside the elevator bay, so you can’t really miss it. If you’re arriving, it will just be least awkward to check in with them quickly. If no one is there and you’re checked in online, you can head straight to your room. Arriving in our room we found a nice box of chocolates:
Along with the lounge operating schedule:
Yacht Club Club Level Perks
Again, our post on Club Level at Walt Disney World more generally is a better place to get a sense of the value of Club Level. Briefly though, by staying Club Level at Disney’s Yacht Club resort, you’ll get:
access to a lounge (The Regatta Club Lounge) with five small food and beverage servings throughout the day
access to a dedicated concierge staff, including by phone and text
The first of these is really the most important, and it’s what we focus most on in this review.
As a guest of a deluxe resort at Disney World, you’ll also get all the perks of a Disney stay, like Early Theme Park Entry and transportation to the parks, plus the deluxe-exclusive Extended Evening Hours.
The Regatta Club Lounge
The name of the lounge for Yacht Club’s Club Level is the “Regatta Club Lounge.” (Note: I think the room configuration or furniture has changed slightly since these photos/video, but it’s the same basic layout. On our recent visit it wasn’t different enough for me to think to take new photos.)
The room itself could be divided into five sections (don’t let that impress you, it’s not five rooms, it’s really one room). The main area has seating for about 30 people. There’s also a TV in this main area.
A small adjacent room has three sofa chairs and a TV.
The balcony has seating for ten at three tables.
And then there is (of course) the serving area—no seats, just food.
Just off the serving area is a small kids section with a few small chairs and a TV showing children’s programming.
While the Regatta Club has a decent number of seats, the confined space really makes it feel small. Whenever there are more than a few people there, it really feels packed, and it gets loud.
You can easily hear a conversation going on at the other side of the room. Generally, this isn’t a problem. But all it takes is one bad apple to really take over the entire lounge.
Experience at Yacht Club’s Regatta Club
In our experience, Disney doesn’t always have a proactive mindset toward lounge service. Most recently we found Regatta Club a mixed bag, in mostly a good way. Particularly when we were with Zoe (and thus looking like we desperately could use any shred of help), we found the staff were proactive in seeing if we needed anything.
There were times we spent solo time in the lounge without anyone checking on us, but this is basically par for the course at Disney clubs. I suspect there’s a “keep a respectful distance” mindset, when—in my opinion—that can be done along with a quick “hello, I’m ____ and will be taking care of you, let me know if you need anything”
In any case, you can always go get your own coffee and soft drinks, and if you need alcohol you can flag someone down and ask (and they’re more than happy to help).
In the past I’d made a fuss about tidiness in the lounge, and I felt like that was somewhat improved from our last experience. During peak hours, staff were definitely overworked (but doing their best). During off hours, they didn’t let dirty dishes linger.
Probably the most problematic issue at the lounge was the carpeting. Because they’ve got a bunch of people, including kids, eating lots of snacks, mostly on small plates, the floor tends to collect quite a lot of crumbs. Because the lounge is on the smaller side, vacuuming with significant frequency isn’t feasible.
To me, our most recent visit was marked by things that were improved and things that can’t easily be improved. I felt like service, food quality, and tidiness were all improved over our last visit. However, crowding (and a generally unappealingly cramped space) and carpet cleanliness were problems. I’m not sure what can be done at this point about these issues.
Yacht Club Club Level Servings, Food, and Beverage
At our visit, the Regatta Club had four servings and a coffee half-hour according to the following schedule:
6:30AM to 7:00AM - Coffee
7:00AM to 10:30AM - Continental Breakfast
11:30AM to 4:00PM - Light Snacks
5:00PM to 7:00PM - Hors d’oeuvres and Select Beverages
8:00PM to 10:00PM - Desserts and Cordials
The club is serviced from 7:00AM to 10:00PM. During those hours, you shouldn’t have a problem getting simple alcoholic beverages (beer, wine, and we even saw someone enjoy a 1PM champagne). Included alcohol is what makes club level one of the better hotel options for adults visiting Disney World.
Outside the serving hours, you have access to a candy bar, coffee machine, tea, and canned soda.
During some of the servings, the lounge got quite crowded. Right at 5PM when Hors d’oeuvres and Select Beverages started, it was actually full for a while. During breakfast, it hovered around 80% capacity, probably because people were more willing to grab and go if there wasn’t a ton of table space.
Note: Actual food offerings will vary during your visit, sometimes substantially. These photos give a general idea of what’s available.
Continental Breakfast at the Regatta Club
Light Snacks at the Regatta Club
Hors d’oeuvres and Select Beverages at the Regatta Club
Desserts and Cordials at the Regatta Club
Disney’s Yacht Club - Regatta Club - Conclusions
Overall, we don’t recommend Club Level stays at Yacht Club. There’s a few reasons for this. First, if we’re paying the premium for Yacht Club, we’re going to be spending much of our time at Hollywood Studios and Epcot.
Yacht Club is maybe good for a no parks day—it does have Stormalong Bay—but you’re probably going to be itching to walk right over to the parks.
Second, and related, is everything the Boardwalk area has to offer. From drinks at Ale & Compass Lounge and AbracadaBar to fine dining at Yachtsman, there’s just too many food and drink options to think you’d want to stick to to the lounge. And again, remember that you’ve got Epcot’s food options right around the corner.
How much this matters will depend on your party and your plans. When traveling as a couple of adults at Disney World, for example, we like to hop between spots and can easily find seating at a variety of bars and restaurants on short notice. With a kid, the “home base” of the lounge is a little more valuable.
A family of four seeking consistency and a spot where they can always pop in and find a small meal without always having to worry about reservations will get more value out of the lounge. It’s a lot easier to get $260 of value per night for a family of four than it is for a couple.
Third, the lounge was an underwhelming place to be. I know—what could it offer, it’s just a club lounge! But that’s why this factor is third, it’s a highly subjective feeling on the ambiance and environment of the lounge.
By comparison, we’re big fans of Gran Destino’s Chronos Club and Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Kilimanjaro Club Level. In fact, if you’re considering Yacht Club’s club level for the location, you’ll be better served if you can book a stay at BoardWalk Inn’s Innkeeper Club Level.
Because of their high prices, Disney’s lounge need to offer something really special for us to find them worth it—the Regatta Club doesn’t hit that mark.
Yacht Club’s Regatta Club is simply one Disney Club Level experience we don’t plan on repeating anytime soon!
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