Beach Club Resort at Walt Disney World

During our July 2017 visit to Florida, we stopped in for a quick visit at the Beach Club Resort, one of the Epcot Resorts at Walt Disney World. We did not linger there all that long, as we were mainly just enjoying a walk around the Epcot Resorts loop. but we did stop for a few photos as we always do.

I sometimes have trouble keeping this resort and its sister resort, the Yacht Club Resort, straight as far as which one is which. After all, the two are actually one really large building housing two hotels each with its own lobby and theme. And the two were also designed by architect Robert A.M. Stern and feature very similar architectural elements. So I have to remind myself that the Beach Club is blue (they both start with “B”), while the Yacht Club is not blue since it does not start with “B”. Hopefully, that will help you remember, too.

As you can see, this photo continues our theme of cloudy skies from that July 2017 visit, and yes, we did get a little bit of rain that day, although it was not enough rain to deter us from our walk. However, you can also see that there were not all that many other walkers out there with us, probably at least partly due to the rain.

We also did step inside the resort’s lobby for a few minutes to have a look around and to visit the gift shop, which is a tradition of ours for all of the Epcot Resorts as we visit them. The tall, interesting beach cabana chairs around the lobby and the seahorse chandelier in the center of the ceiling are more reminders that this is the Beach Club and not the Yacht Club.

I like all of the different surface levels of the ceiling in this lobby, with all sorts of ups and downs, for lack of a more technological sounding architectural term. So much more interesting than a plain flat ceiling, and it really helps to make the whole room feel larger when actually only part of the ceiling is that high.

Of course, we never actually have stayed here, but it is fun to wander in for a visit sometimes. We don’t even pretend to be staying there or anything. Sometimes I wonder if other people are actually doing that, or if they really are staying there. Not that it is any of my business, of course.

And in keeping with the photo theme for this trip, we of course had to get a photo of us at the Beach Club to add to our collection. Don’t worry, I took one of us at the Yacht Club, too, but I do know which one is which. And I do know which one of us is which, because I think that would be pretty obvious, too, even though we were made by the same Creator.

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” - Matthew 19:4-6

About the photos:

Once again, these photos help to illustrate why the fisheye lens is currently my favorite lens. I like being able to get as much of the facade of the Beach Club in the photo as I can without having to photograph it from all the way across the lake. Of course, because it and the Yacht Club are one large building, it is impossible to get the whole thing in one photo, and that would even be the case if the two hotels were separate buildings, because each one is so large. But with the fisheye lens I am still able to get the whole side of the building from top to bottom in one photo, along with some of the colorful plants in the landscape beds.

Also, the fisheye lens lets me get much of the lobby area in one photo as well. The space is not quite as large as perhaps the photo above makes it look, and a standard lens would let you only capture part of it. But the fisheye lens lets you get much more of it in the frame than you could otherwise.

And lastly, the fisheye lens lets us take a photo of ourselves and still get much of the scenery behind us in the photo. Yes, this could also be accomplished by either setting up the camera on a tripod and either using the camera’s timer or a remote, and it could also be accomplished by having someone else take our photo for us. But the fisheye lens is much quicker and easier than either of those two options. Plus, you don’t have to worry about the kind of person in which you are placing the trust of your camera.

Besides, fisheye lenses make for some cool photos, too!

Photos: Each photo is a single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Rokinon 7.5mm f/3.5 Fisheye Lens
Date: July 21, 2017
Location: Beach Club Resort, Walt Disney World, Florida