JonHM
02-04-2002, 08:32 AM
Ever since DW and I signed up last June to join DVC, we've both been incredibly excited about it, brimming with expectations. I was actually worried that our expectations for DVC might have become over-inflated in the 7 months since joining, and that we might be headed for a letdown. Such was not the case, however, as our exceedingly high expectations were not only met but surpassed.
Although our home is WLV, we booked our first trip to Boardwalk - we were taking 3 grandparents to DS's first trip to WDW (He's 19 months) and we figured that Boardwalk would provide the greatest ease in getting around to the parks. Since it wasn't our home, and I didn't even get the ressie in at the 7 month window (I think I booked at around 6 mos), I was completely not expecting for any of our room requests to be met. Number one after non-smoking had been a Boardwalk view, then top floor, then near the elevators. Well, we got in around 1pm, and they told us right away that our room was ready. Very pleasant surprise, so I expected the next sentence to be that we hadn't gotten most of our requests. But it turns out we got a beautiful 2 bedroom Villa on the Boardwalk, directly over Big River Grille, and up on the 5th floor. So while I was expecting to get no boardwalk view but a short walk from the elevators, instead we got a *Fabulous* Boardwalk view several miles from the elevators. ;) As tradeoffs go, however, I'll take it. :) We had a fantastic view from our balcony, which was HUGE, and we could actually see quite a lot of Illuminations from our room.
As far as room size goes, I guess it's all about expectations. Now I've never seen any of the OKW Villas, and I don't plan on staying there for a few years, until we're good and used to the 'smaller' villas elsewhere. And I can see where if you'd gotten used to having all that space, that it might be difficult to stay in BWV or WLV, that they might seem cramped by comparison. But to US, who have never stayed in anything but hotel rooms, all I can say about the BWV 2 Bedroom is... WOW!!! Oh my gosh, it was FANTASTIC! We stayed in the Grand Floridian last June, and this villa just absolutely, positively BLEW AWAY our lagoon view Magic Kingdom view GF room. We had 6 adults and a 1.5yo, and it was plenty of space for all of us, and then some. Extremely comfortable. No noise from other rooms, only occasional Boardwalk noise. We could hear some of the fireworks, the horns the Friendship launches would blow, and some long ringing bell noise that I only associate with two things - the bell they ring when a carousel is about to start up, or the end of period bell from junior high school. I still have no idea what that sound was, and the noise was only occasional and not that loud. Not enough to disturb anyone's sleep.
I am happy to report that in the 5 days that we were there, every day on property and in the parks, we did not come across one 'bad attitude' cast member. (On our trip last June, we had actually come across a number of them) Everyone we came in contact with was extremely friendly and helpful, and often funny. In addition, although the crowds were light, I think that they were only January light - the parks were still crowded, especially in the afternoons. When we went to the parks in the mornings, we really didn't have any lines to contend with. Often the standby lines were 10 minutes, and getting a fastpass would have meant we would have to wait an hour to come back. The one thing we did get a fastpass for (and was glad that we did) was Test Track. The only big surprise for us of a ride being out of commision was Splash Mountain - I don't know how I missed that, but wasn't prepared for it not to be there. This is the kind of thing that would have had me extremely upset in the past, but now, with DVC, it's just "Oh well. We'll see that when we're back in October"... :D
We did decide to go hang out some at the Wilderness Lodge and Villas, since we had never seen either of them except from the outside, and since it's going to be our home for the next 40 years, and all of us were absolutely blown away. I had seen pictures, I had read quite a bit about the stunning design of the lodge, the attention to detail and the fantastic theming, but NOTHING can substitute for walking into that place, especially when you've never seen it before. Again... WOW!!! By the way, we had dinner at the Whispering Canyon cafe, and had an absolute blast! Our food was great and the antics of the waiters were SO much fun. We all had to get up and do an abbreviated version of the Hokey Pokey in honor of someone's birthday, and I rode the 'Pony Express' around the dining room with DS - he loved it. Needless to say, we can't wait to go back and stay in the WLV, we are VERY excited!
By the way, as I said, DS *is* only 1.5yo, but he LOVED... no, **LOVED** WDW - since he was so young, we couldn't really prepare him for anything, and he only knows a few of the characters, but Oh my gosh - he had a gigantic smile on his face for the entire week. His first character experience, which was with Chip and Dale on the Character Caravan, was great - he was a little bit tentative at first, but they got down on the floor with him and were very very patient and sweet. And from that point on, he LOVED seeing the characters. We got an absolutely adorable picture of him with Minnie, and great pix of Chip and Dale and Jessie.
We also took an Illuminations Cruise, which I would *highly* recommend. There was some acrid smoke that came through as a cloud from the fireworks on the water, but it passed through pretty quickly. Other than that, a LOT of fun, and the best vantage point for Illuminations that I could imagine (and NO fighting crowds on the way out! ;) )
Our experience with transportation was uneven - we didn't have any troubles waiting for busses - none of them were longer than about 15 min wait, and most were more like 5, both to the parks and to DTD. Our biggest hassle with the transportation was when we had to go from one place to another where you have to change busses/monorails 2 to 3 times to get there. But considering the tradeoff of not having to drive, I'd have to say I was pretty satisfied with the transportation situation.
I'm sure that I'm forgetting tons of stuff - please let me know if you have any questions on anything particular. But I do have to say, we were VERY impressed with Boardwalk, and *VERY* impressed with our DVC experience... WOW!!! :D
:bounce: :bounce:
Although our home is WLV, we booked our first trip to Boardwalk - we were taking 3 grandparents to DS's first trip to WDW (He's 19 months) and we figured that Boardwalk would provide the greatest ease in getting around to the parks. Since it wasn't our home, and I didn't even get the ressie in at the 7 month window (I think I booked at around 6 mos), I was completely not expecting for any of our room requests to be met. Number one after non-smoking had been a Boardwalk view, then top floor, then near the elevators. Well, we got in around 1pm, and they told us right away that our room was ready. Very pleasant surprise, so I expected the next sentence to be that we hadn't gotten most of our requests. But it turns out we got a beautiful 2 bedroom Villa on the Boardwalk, directly over Big River Grille, and up on the 5th floor. So while I was expecting to get no boardwalk view but a short walk from the elevators, instead we got a *Fabulous* Boardwalk view several miles from the elevators. ;) As tradeoffs go, however, I'll take it. :) We had a fantastic view from our balcony, which was HUGE, and we could actually see quite a lot of Illuminations from our room.
As far as room size goes, I guess it's all about expectations. Now I've never seen any of the OKW Villas, and I don't plan on staying there for a few years, until we're good and used to the 'smaller' villas elsewhere. And I can see where if you'd gotten used to having all that space, that it might be difficult to stay in BWV or WLV, that they might seem cramped by comparison. But to US, who have never stayed in anything but hotel rooms, all I can say about the BWV 2 Bedroom is... WOW!!! Oh my gosh, it was FANTASTIC! We stayed in the Grand Floridian last June, and this villa just absolutely, positively BLEW AWAY our lagoon view Magic Kingdom view GF room. We had 6 adults and a 1.5yo, and it was plenty of space for all of us, and then some. Extremely comfortable. No noise from other rooms, only occasional Boardwalk noise. We could hear some of the fireworks, the horns the Friendship launches would blow, and some long ringing bell noise that I only associate with two things - the bell they ring when a carousel is about to start up, or the end of period bell from junior high school. I still have no idea what that sound was, and the noise was only occasional and not that loud. Not enough to disturb anyone's sleep.
I am happy to report that in the 5 days that we were there, every day on property and in the parks, we did not come across one 'bad attitude' cast member. (On our trip last June, we had actually come across a number of them) Everyone we came in contact with was extremely friendly and helpful, and often funny. In addition, although the crowds were light, I think that they were only January light - the parks were still crowded, especially in the afternoons. When we went to the parks in the mornings, we really didn't have any lines to contend with. Often the standby lines were 10 minutes, and getting a fastpass would have meant we would have to wait an hour to come back. The one thing we did get a fastpass for (and was glad that we did) was Test Track. The only big surprise for us of a ride being out of commision was Splash Mountain - I don't know how I missed that, but wasn't prepared for it not to be there. This is the kind of thing that would have had me extremely upset in the past, but now, with DVC, it's just "Oh well. We'll see that when we're back in October"... :D
We did decide to go hang out some at the Wilderness Lodge and Villas, since we had never seen either of them except from the outside, and since it's going to be our home for the next 40 years, and all of us were absolutely blown away. I had seen pictures, I had read quite a bit about the stunning design of the lodge, the attention to detail and the fantastic theming, but NOTHING can substitute for walking into that place, especially when you've never seen it before. Again... WOW!!! By the way, we had dinner at the Whispering Canyon cafe, and had an absolute blast! Our food was great and the antics of the waiters were SO much fun. We all had to get up and do an abbreviated version of the Hokey Pokey in honor of someone's birthday, and I rode the 'Pony Express' around the dining room with DS - he loved it. Needless to say, we can't wait to go back and stay in the WLV, we are VERY excited!
By the way, as I said, DS *is* only 1.5yo, but he LOVED... no, **LOVED** WDW - since he was so young, we couldn't really prepare him for anything, and he only knows a few of the characters, but Oh my gosh - he had a gigantic smile on his face for the entire week. His first character experience, which was with Chip and Dale on the Character Caravan, was great - he was a little bit tentative at first, but they got down on the floor with him and were very very patient and sweet. And from that point on, he LOVED seeing the characters. We got an absolutely adorable picture of him with Minnie, and great pix of Chip and Dale and Jessie.
We also took an Illuminations Cruise, which I would *highly* recommend. There was some acrid smoke that came through as a cloud from the fireworks on the water, but it passed through pretty quickly. Other than that, a LOT of fun, and the best vantage point for Illuminations that I could imagine (and NO fighting crowds on the way out! ;) )
Our experience with transportation was uneven - we didn't have any troubles waiting for busses - none of them were longer than about 15 min wait, and most were more like 5, both to the parks and to DTD. Our biggest hassle with the transportation was when we had to go from one place to another where you have to change busses/monorails 2 to 3 times to get there. But considering the tradeoff of not having to drive, I'd have to say I was pretty satisfied with the transportation situation.
I'm sure that I'm forgetting tons of stuff - please let me know if you have any questions on anything particular. But I do have to say, we were VERY impressed with Boardwalk, and *VERY* impressed with our DVC experience... WOW!!! :D
:bounce: :bounce: