Disney’s Beach and Yacht Club Restaurants Guide

This article discusses the restaurants at Disney’s Beach and Yacht Club. We’ll preview a list of restaurants for both resorts and then provide an individual overview of each one.

Some dining options might not be so obvious when you stay at either Disney’s Beach or Yacht Club. While the resorts have adequate table-service restaurants and lounges, the quick-service locations are insufficient.

We recently spent an entire week at the Yacht Club and used a few loopholes to do well with dining. However, I overheard multiple guests complaining about the lack of restaurants during our stay.

Most mornings, I woke up early and jogged or walked around Crescent Lake. Twice, I ran into guests asking cast members where they could eat breakfast. One of those guests, an older gentleman, exclaimed, “You mean this restaurant is the only place I can get breakfast at this hotel,” referring to Ale and Compass.

In both situations, the guests were frustrated. You pay a premium price to stay at a hotel, and the quick service options are stuck inside a hotel gift shop–most of them premade–and room service hasn’t been available in years!

We go on and on about the Disney Beach and Yacht Club. It’s our favorite place to stay in all of Walt Disney World! So, I felt it was important to update our dining guide for the resorts and share these frustrations. You are not alone.

But I sincerely believe you can do well for breakfast and most other meals without always needing a dining reservation at a table service restaurant. So, let me share what’s available with a few tips to enhance your vacation instead of leaving you frustrated!

Restaurants at Disney’s Beach Club

Here is a list of the restaurants at Disney’s Beach Club Resort.

Counter Service

  • Beach Club Marketplace
  • Hurricane Hanna’s Waterside Grill

Lounge

  • Martha’s Vineyard

Table Service

  • Beaches and Cream Soda Shop
  • Cape May Cafe

Restaurants at Disney’s Yacht Club

Here is a list of the restaurants at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort.

Counter Service

  • The Market at Ale and Compass

Lounge

  • Ale and Compass Lounge
  • Crew’s Cup

Table Service

  • Ale and Compass Restaurant
  • Yachtsman Steakhouse

Beach Club Marketplace

Beach Club Marketplace is the primary quick-service restaurant on the Beach Club side of the resort. It’s located off the resort’s lobby.

Part of the Beach Club Marketplace is the Beach Club’s gift shop. The other half offers grab-and-go items, regular menu items, and a beverage station.

Beach Club Marketplace serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner and is usually open from 7:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. You can preview their menu here on Disney’s site.

You can get a few decent items for breakfast, like breakfast sandwiches, a Bounty Platter (bacon, scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, and a biscuit), and Mickey waffles.

However, lunch and dinner items are pretty limited. Those items include a pulled pork sandwich, a foot-long all-beef hot dog, baked macaroni and cheese, a roasted half-chicken dinner, and a garden salad.

Kids’ meals include a turkey sandwich, PB&J Uncrustable, baked mac and cheese, and a hot dog. If you want chicken nuggets, you’ll need to pick them up at Hurricane Hanna’s.

In addition to menu items, Beach Club Marketplace has a good deal of premade grab-and-go items. Here are a few photos from a recent visit.

If you are a chocolate lover, you’ll want to try the plant-based chocolate brownie with icing. A cast member shared that it was a guest favorite, so I tried it on a previous visit. It was delicious!

Unfortunately, this location does not have a formal indoor seating area. However, you can enjoy your meal in the nearby Solarium. Additionally, a separate covered outdoor patio with tables and chairs is available across the walkway.

For more specifics about this location, we have an entire review of Disney’s Beach Club Marketplace. It includes photos of everything you can expect at this quick service.

The Market at Ale and Compass

The Market at Ale and Compass is almost identical to Beach Club Marketplace. The Market is down a hall, only a few steps from the Yacht Club’s lobby.

This location offers mainly grab-and-go style sandwiches, salads, and pastries. However, a few made-to-order selections are available.

Hours of operation are daily between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. The Market serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Limited seating is available inside.

For breakfast, items include breakfast sandwiches, a breakfast bowl (scrambled eggs, a Mickey waffle, potato barrels, bacon, and a biscuit), Mickey waffles, and oatmeal.

Lunch and dinner items include premade cold sandwiches, premade salads, a grilled chicken panini, a Cuban sandwich, and a ham and cheese sandwich. Kids’ meals include a ham sandwich, turkey sandwich, mac and cheese, or grilled cheese.

Additionally, The Market has a relatively extensive list of specialty coffee drinks. So, this is an excellent stop to pick up a caffeinated beverage.

Related: The Market at Ale and Compass

Rapid Fill Mugs

We didn’t dine at The Market at Ale and Compass or Beach Club Marketplace during our stay. However, two in our group purchased a Rapid Fill mug from The Market at Ale and Compass.

At the time of this update, mugs are $21.99 and can be used at any resort quick service with a refillable beverage station for the length of your stay. So, for these resorts, you can refill them at either quick service or Hurricane Hanna’s by the pool.

Tip: If you visit any other resort’s quick service, you can use the mugs there. For instance, if you take the Skyliner to Primo Piatto at the Riviera for breakfast, take your mug with you.

Hurricane Hanna’s Waterside Bar and Grill

Hurricane Hanna’s Waterside Bar and Grill is a quick-service dining location at Stormalong Bay. For those unfamiliar, Stormalong Bay is the pool area shared between the resorts. It’s so large that it has its own name.

Hurricane Hanna’s is usually open daily from 11:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. They serve standard items like burgers, chicken nuggets, and salads. Here is a preview of their menu. (Those frozen grapes make for an excellent treat at the pool.)

They have a separate cocktail menu.

Seating at Hurricane Hanna’s is available outside of the pool area. However, if you’re at the pool, a server is usually available to take your order during the busier portions of the day.

On a past visit, we rented a cabana at Stormalong Bay and ordered lunch from the poolside quick service. I got the grilled chicken sandwich.

Over the years, we’ve ordered food from Hurricane Hanna’s and taken it back to our room. This spot has always been our go-to location for allergy-friendly chicken nuggets when staying at the resort.

Related: Hurricane Hanna’s Review

Ale and Compass Lounge

You’ll find three lounges between Disney’s Beach and Yacht Club. I use the word lounge loosely because they are all excellent locations to enjoy dinner without a reservation.

We’ve had dinner at all three locations and consider each a bit of a hidden gem. First, we’ll discuss Ale and Compass Lounge, the primary lounge off the Yacht Club’s lobby.

This location is open daily from 4:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. Several items from Ale and Compass Restaurant are available on the lounge menu.

Those items include hearth-oven flatbreads, Parker House rolls with spreads, roasted Buffalo-style cauliflower, blue crab bisque, roasted garlic shrimp, and the bacon and Vermont cheddar burger.

Related: Ale and Compass Lounge

Crew’s Cup Lounge

You’ll find Crew’s Cup Lounge next to Yachtsman Steakhouse. Crew’s Cup appears to be a bit of a hole in the wall. But once you spend a few moments inside, you’ll be glad you decided to stop. It’s one of the friendliest places on the property.

Crew’s Cup has a menu with a few offerings from Yachtsman Steakhouse. A menu is posted outside the entrance.

On this stay, we were allowed to order steaks from Yachtsman along with their delicious bread service. Since we had a younger member in our party, they also provided us with a kids’ menu.

Unfortunately, it was so dark I didn’t get great pictures. We had the ribeye and roasted prime rib. Other menu options included lobster corn chowder, Caesar salad, jumbo shrimp cocktail, and a charcuterie board.

You may remember we tried the charcuterie board on a previous visit. It was a tasty option that was more than enough to make a meal.

Related: Crew’s Cup Lounge at Disney’s Yacht Club

Martha’s Vineyard

Lastly, Martha’s Vineyard is a lounge located on the Beach Club side of the resort. This location offers a tasty New England Clam Chowder.

I often stop here for a bowl on cooler evenings. The chowder is delicious and comes with a side of cornbread. (This chowder is supreme over the one at Beach Club Marketplace.) You can also order items like loaded potato barrels, Buffalo-glazed wings, mussels, and more.

If you’re looking for a cocktail or a meal, I wouldn’t hesitate to try any of the lounges. They are much more appealing than either of the resort’s counter services.

Ale and Compass Restaurant

Ale and Compass is a restaurant that we frequent year-round. This trip was no exception. If you were to look at our receipts from our stay, you’d see one line item after another that said, “Ale & Compass.”

This is also our loophole location for dining at the resorts. Yes, it’s a table service restaurant. But they offer mobile ordering.

Ale and Compass serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They are open most of the day. But they close around 2:00 p.m. and reopen at 5:00 p.m. for dinner service.

We enjoy having breakfast inside the restaurant from time to time. This location has a popular breakfast buffet that includes an entree for a reasonable price.

Those chocolate waffles are one of the entrees, and they are every bit as delicious as they look. They come topped with mascarpone, cherries, and chocolate shavings.

We have also enjoyed many other menu items for lunch and dinner at Ale and Compass. But our favorite thing to do when staying at the hotel is to order takeout and enjoy it at the pool.

Since the feature pool opens at 10:00 a.m., we ordered breakfast at 9:30 a.m. each day of our stay. It was usually ready by 9:50 a.m. So I would pick up our order and get in line to rope drop the pool. (It’s a very popular pool.)

Each day of our stay, we enjoyed breakfast at the Stormalong Bay Pool. Honestly, it was our favorite part of the trip!

A few mornings, I had blueberry pancakes. Oh, and the best part? This item below is a kids’ meal other than the coffee. For a reasonable price, you receive two pancakes and two sides. I chose roasted sweet potatoes and sausage.

The first evening before everyone arrived, I enjoyed a cheeseburger with fries and broccolini at the pool. This was another mobile order kids’ meal from Ale and Compass.

I cannot stress enough how much we love this location for table-service dining and to-go orders. It is so simple to order your food and pick it up.

If you don’t want to dine at the pool, you can find a seat in the neighboring lounge or return to your room. And if you don’t want to pay a table service price, mobile order a kids’ meal. It will be a better quality than what’s available at the quick service. (However, note that kids’ meals are not an option for adults when dining inside the restaurant.)

Related Articles:

Beaches and Cream Soda Shop

Most everyone planning a stay at either Disney’s Beach or Yacht Club will want to secure a reservation for Beaches and Cream Soda Shop. This diner-style restaurant is located directly behind Stormalong Bay.

Beaches and Cream serves burgers, fries, grilled cheese, and onion rings. They also have an array of popular sundaes, milkshakes, and banana splits for dessert.

Beaches and Cream Soda Shop takes walk-ups based on availability. However, to ensure a table, you will want to make reservations. Due to the restaurant’s popularity, reservations are sometimes difficult to obtain.

However, if you’re only going for ice cream or would like a treat to enjoy by the pool, you’re in luck! Beaches and Cream has a walk-up window that serves ice cream only.

You can get pretty much everything except the kitchen sink! Well, actually, you can get the kitchen sink. Just make sure you have someone(s) to help you.

Here is the menu description: Scoops of Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Cookies ‘n Cream, and Mint Chocolate Chip topped with Hot Fudge, Peanut Butter, SNICKERS® pieces, Fresh-baked Brownie, and smothered in every additional topping we have. Also available are Chocolate Lovers or Neapolitan. (Serves Four)

Related: Beaches and Cream Soda Shop Review

Cape May Cafe

Cape May Cafe is located on the Beach Club side of the resort. This restaurant offers two unique dining experiences. First, they have a daily breakfast buffet from 7:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.

This meal is considered character dining and referred to as Minnie’s Beachside Bash. Characters at this meal include Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Donald Duck, and Goofy.

Breakfast items include salted caramel beach buns, oatmeal, grits, cheddar biscuits and gravy, omelets, carving stations, fruits, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and more.

Related: Cape May Cafe Character Breakfast Review

For dinner, Cape May Cafe is open from 5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. This meal is a seafood-and-more dinner buffet.

Cape May’s seafood buffet includes clams, shrimp, mussels, pasta, soups, salads, roasted beef, desserts, and more. However, it’s important to note that this meal is not character dining. Characters only appear at breakfast.

Unfortunately, snow crab legs are no longer part of the all-you-can-eat buffet. At the time of this article, an order of extra crab legs cost $29.00 per pound.

Character Dining at Disney World
Cape May Cafe has a special breakfast buffet with characters called Minnie’s Beachside Bash.

Yachtsman Steakhouse

Yachtsman Steakhouse is a signature dining establishment on the Yacht Club side of the resort. It’s so good that it’s included in our list of the best signature dining options at Disney World. They are open nightly from 5:00 p.m. until 9:30 p.m.

Like its name, the steakhouse serves a variety of quality aged in-house meats. The restaurant’s signature steak is the New York Strip.

So far, we’ve tried the filet mignon, ribeye, and prime rib. All were delicious, but the ribeye with blue cheese butter was more than memorable.

Related: Yachtsman Steakhouse Review

Restaurants near Disney’s Beach and Yacht Club

Lastly, we’ll discuss a few dining options near the Beach and Yacht Club. As you probably know, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot are within walking distance of the resorts. So you’ll want to plan some meals when you visit those parks.

Disney’s Boardwalk and the Swan and Dolphin Hotels are also within walking distance. This means you’ll find plenty of table-service dining options within the area. However, quick-service locations are lacking in the entire Epcot Resorts Area.

Dining options at Disney’s Boardwalk include Trattoria al Forno, Flying Fish, and Big River Grille. You might also get a sandwich or treat at the Boardwalk Deli.

Disney’s Swan and Dolphin has multiple signature dining options: Il Mulino, Todd English’s Blue Zoo, and Shula’s Steakhouse. Shula’s is one of the best meals we’ve had!

If you’re looking for something more casual, try The Fountain, located on the Dolphin’s first floor. This restaurant is similar to Beaches and Cream and offers diner-style menu items.

And if you prefer to eat outside, the Cabana Bar and Beach Club Grill is by the pool. This location takes walk-ups, and they have several tasty menu options. Additionally, Rosa Mexicano is the resort’s newest restaurant.

Related: Restaurants at Disney’s Swan and Dolphin

Final Thoughts on Dining at Disney’s Beach and Yacht Club

When it comes to restaurants, you’ll find plenty of options between Disney’s Beach and Yacht Club. As for a quick meal, remember that mobile ordering from Ale and Compass is your friend.

As far as staying at the resorts, they are pretty hard to beat. While I often complain about the lack of places to enjoy a casual meal in this area, it’s usually our only issue. So, I don’t necessarily mean to put a damper on things by complaining. But it’s something you’ll want to be aware of going into your stay.

For more information on either of these resorts, we have complete guides that list all our articles:

You might also enjoy these individual reviews:

In the comments:

What are your thoughts about dining at Disney’s Beach and Yacht Club? Do you have a favorite restaurant here?

2 Comments

  1. Great review! We’ve been to many of the restaurants mentioned and it’s funny because it was the Hurricane Hanna’s that surprised us the most. My sister and I ate there on a whim and I remember talking about it even days later because I couldn’t believe how good it was for a pool bar…lol

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