23 March 2015

Beachcomber Shack

Sometimes you’re worth spending a little extra on, right? After all, what’s a vacation for if you don’t relax and splurge a little! Typhoon Lagoon has an option for guests who want to feel pampered in the heart of the water park. With Spring Break trips happening now, and the summer season just around the corner, let’s take a look at Typhoon Lagoon’s cabanas, affectionately known as Beachcomber Shacks.

Typhoon Lagoon has twelve cabanas clustered in two groups on either end of the park the park in private access areas. A set of six Beachcomber Shacks sit along the shore of Castaway Creek near Happy Landings and Leaning Palms, while another collection of six can be found overlooking the lagoon itself just over the bridge from Typhoon Tilly’s. The shacks’ proximity to the quick services eateries will be handy, but we’ll get to that in just a few minutes.

These aren’t your ordinary cabanas, however! The salvaged seascape inherent throughout Typhoon Lagoon runs through to the shacks as well. Mast timbers lashed to one another with ropes and shredded aluminum sheets form the basis of each shack. As far as amenities go, each Beachcomber Shack comes with seating for up to six, an in-shack locker, cooler, unlimited towels, and souvenir mugs for each member of your party. They’re also covered, which makes them a suitable shelter should an afternoon storm blow through.

Each shack also has an attendant who comes around and checks on your party at regular intervals. They will take your lunch, snack, or cocktail order and bring them back to you in a flash. I won’t lie, after 30-plus years of getting my own food in Disney theme and water parks, this was a little disorienting. That said, our attendant was so easy going and so genuine, and took such good care of us, I often wanted to ask her to take a seat and relax a little!

The main impetus for us renting one of the Beachcomber Shacks actually comes from the missus. The pale, Irish lass complexion she was born with can have a hard time standing up to the combination of sun and chlorine at a water park, but we didn’t want her to miss out on the joys of Typhoon Lagoon. These shacks give her the perfect place to get out of the sun and rest when she needs it. I can imagine the same benefits could be useful for parties with small children or active agers. Heck, they’re also just a great place to know your belongs of space and give you a little bit of room to spread out with.

Let me be upfront here, the cost for renting a Beachcomber Shack can be prohibitive. There is a reason, after all, that Typhoon Lagoon only has twelve of them scattered around the park. No question, you can absolutely have a wonderful time at Typhoon Lagoon without renting one of these shacks, but it is good to know that the option is always there. If you’re visiting for a special occasion such as a birthday or honeymoon, I highly recommend them. The cost also becomes less exorbitant the more people you bring with you, so for a group of three couples this could very well be a win-win-win.

Being able to relax is what vacations are all about, but often times, trips to Walt Disney World can be filled with more hustle and bustle than you typically have at home. It’s nice to know that places like Typhoon Lagoon’s Beachcomber Shacks exist for those times when you want to spend a bit more on yourself and loved ones and just let the rest of the world melt away as you drift away to the sounds of the Beach Boys and roaring typhoon waves in your own shack.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I have rented shacks at Typhoon and Patios at Blizzard and will never go to either park without doing so again. Yes, it is a bit pricey (prices are different at different times of the year so call Disney Play to inquire. I believe we paid somewhere between $225-$300 for the day at Typhoon during our last Christmas/New Years trip in 2015) and we are a family of average, blue-collar income but these are worth the splurge!
If you don't get to either park at "rope drop" you will have a hard time finding any chairs, let alone some together for a family, in any spot remotely close to anything. I also don't like having to go the locker rental to put away my phone and/or wallet each time we went in the water or on an attraction than back again when I needed them. Every shack and patio (as they are called at Blizzard) have their own lockers. The Adirondack style chairs with soft back and seat cushions are SO comfortable. (Perfect for a mid-day nap!) The free refill mugs that are included are always used to their fullest plus they make fun souvenirs. The endless supply of clean, dry towels is a luxury that I realized WAS such a luxury. Our cast member was like a ninja with the towels since we ALWAYS had fresh ones on our chairs and we never saw her make the swap let alone ever have to ask. That brings me to "our" cast member. I use the word "our" because we were lucky enough to have Ashley at Blizzard Beach the first time we ever rented a cabana (sorry I think they are called patios at BB). That year we were going to do a few days at water parks before the parks at night and BB was the park that was open for the refurb circulation. BB is Ashley's "home" park where she told us she had worked for years. It showed because we ended-up unwittingly bombarding her with questions first about the water parks (she was a pro on both) which turned into questions on all things Disney. She happily answered them all and spent time adding in some great and often funny stories about her time at Disney which we all didn't want to end. Ashley (like other special cast members) was what turned this "hidden gem" of the Disney parks from great to MAGICAL! We have been lucky enough to get our request of Ashley on our subsequent visits and my 11 year old daughter looks forward to seeing her as much as she does going to the park. (So much so that I found her hiding tears as we boarded the bus to leave on our last visit.
I have seen a few other blogs about the cabanas where some people "weren't impressed" and some said they never saw their cast members. I never had this problem (quite the opposite) nor did I see any other cabanas without their cast members. I will say one thing that I DID observe. I actually witnessed a few people talking down to, being rude to and even whistling to their cast members to get a soda refill. For anyone who thinks just because they paid premium rates for a private cabana and cast member to assist you, that you can treat them like less of a human being, I am embarrassed FOR you. Frankly if any people like that got service they chose to deem "unimpressive"..I wouldn't blame that cast member at all.
Our service was always above what we expected and I won't go to a Disney water park again without renting a cabana. As a matter of fact, we are going down to The World again on Halloween into he first week of Christmas season and right after I booked my resort and park tickets..I booked my Beachcombers and got my request in for our buddy Ashley!
Hope this helped a bit and enjoy your trip!