WDWKOOK
NOW WITH LESS TAG!
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2009
DH, DD13 and I stayed four nights at BWI Club Level over spring break; it was our first BWI stay. We then moved to WL/CL for 6 nights where we last stayed in August. We've also stayed CL at the YC and CR and have stayed at all WDW Resorts except BC, GF and the value resorts.
We arrived, unloaded our luggage and parked our car. A CL runner greeted us and took us to the bellman's stand inside where we were then taken to our room by a bellman. I had requested a room with a BoardWalk View and no connecting door and both of my requests were met (thanks to a wonderful CM, Jackie). We were in room 4261 which is a Standard CL room and one of only 3 CL rooms on the 4th floor that aren't inside the Innkeeper's Club door. The room has a huge corner balcony that overlooks the grassy area near Wyland Galleries and Muscles and Bustles and the BoardWalk/Lake. The room is to the upper right of the Flying Fish sign (which hums when illuminated and is quite bright):
The room has an extra window behind the sofa:
While the view is spectacular and the balcony is immense, a lot of noise reaches this room. The performers are right below the balcony. While this was great to watch for a while as they're very talented and entertaining, they are out there until about 10:15 with loud musical accompaniment. After several hours of this on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it was a bit much. The main culprit is the extra window pictured above. It actually opens up and has a ladder beneath it to gain access to the Flying Fish's roof. It isn't sealed up properly so you can hear everything through it; wind and rain can even pass through the side of it.
The room is also very close to the dock. We heard the boat horns VERY loudly until close to 0100 sometimes and as early as 0600. This has never bothered me at any of the MK Resorts, perhaps because the rooms are further away from the boats and/or there is better soundproofing
You can also hear much that goes on in/near the concierge desk that's right before the Innkeeper's Club door. Most everyone who is staying beyond the Innkeeper's Club door has to go through it at least twice a day, so it's a high traffic area a few steps from the room door.
At first, being outside the Innkeeper's Club door didn't bother us. But after a couple of days of having to go through the door, we felt like we were inconveniencing the CM who sat at the desk. Sometimes we would just try to use our own KTTW, but sometimes the CM would then press the button and we would have to wait for the door to re-set and then stand out of the way as it automatically opened. The whole process got old after going back and forth 3 or so times a day. I would have much rather preferred to just enter my card once in an elevator and not every time I went to the lounge.
We were given the standard packet of information/brochures which did not contain our ADR/itinerary print-out. Luckily, I had brought a copy with us and had them in my phone, so I didn't ask for a print-out, though I'm certain they would have obliged. We also received taffy at turn-down and the welcome gift of delicious BoardWalk truffles.
Everything in the room was in good operating condition. However, there were drawings/scribbling on the back of the bathroom door and bathroom wall and there were black marks (Mold? Dirt?) on the ceiling above the sinks and some of the furniture had seen better days, which is not uncommon. For those of your wondering, we never had any towel animals, which didn't matter to us, but can be a nice touch time to time and we did tip daily.
We arrived during appetizer hour and much to our dismay, found almost the exact same items all four nights of our stay. The only hot items were a spring roll and satay which one night of four changed from a cylindrical shape to a triangular shape. DH jokingly referred to this as the changing of the hot appetizer geometry. While we were there (Thursday - Sunday), all of the cold appetizers were the same almost every night and they were all salad variations (without lettuce): bean salad, rice salad with duck, a bread salad with more beans& None of the dishes were labeled, but there was a sign in the lounge that listed that evening's items.
We ate breakfast in the lounge daily:
There were cereal choices, and they did have oatmeal and hard boiled eggs which was nice. In the photo above, the oatmeal was missing, but was eventually replaced. They didn't have fresh pineapple or watermelon which we missed. Also, they don't have a fridge so items such as yogurt, soda and beer are in a tub with ice. The ice melts and then items sort of float around or sink. One morning we arrived at breakfast and there were no bowls or plates. Two CMs were standing at the entrance talking with each other and I had to interrupt to ask for plates or bowls. She seemed surprised that there weren't any and by the time they were put out, there were many guests standing waiting for them.
I noticed that none of the tongs had a dish to put them back into after use, like at WL for example. Consequently, some guests would hold onto the tongs to serve themselves, then place the tongs back into the dish of food and sometimes directly on top of the food, like with the bagels and croissants pictured above.
Some nights there was a different flavored cone filling, but there weren't any brownies, cobbler, lemon squares or magic cookie bars (at least when we were there) like some lounges have. While the cones looked pretty, when you peeled back the paper to eat it, the cone would start to fall apart and turn into a big mess. Milk was not out, but the CMs would always gladly bring a cup to you.
We arrived, unloaded our luggage and parked our car. A CL runner greeted us and took us to the bellman's stand inside where we were then taken to our room by a bellman. I had requested a room with a BoardWalk View and no connecting door and both of my requests were met (thanks to a wonderful CM, Jackie). We were in room 4261 which is a Standard CL room and one of only 3 CL rooms on the 4th floor that aren't inside the Innkeeper's Club door. The room has a huge corner balcony that overlooks the grassy area near Wyland Galleries and Muscles and Bustles and the BoardWalk/Lake. The room is to the upper right of the Flying Fish sign (which hums when illuminated and is quite bright):
The room has an extra window behind the sofa:
While the view is spectacular and the balcony is immense, a lot of noise reaches this room. The performers are right below the balcony. While this was great to watch for a while as they're very talented and entertaining, they are out there until about 10:15 with loud musical accompaniment. After several hours of this on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it was a bit much. The main culprit is the extra window pictured above. It actually opens up and has a ladder beneath it to gain access to the Flying Fish's roof. It isn't sealed up properly so you can hear everything through it; wind and rain can even pass through the side of it.
The room is also very close to the dock. We heard the boat horns VERY loudly until close to 0100 sometimes and as early as 0600. This has never bothered me at any of the MK Resorts, perhaps because the rooms are further away from the boats and/or there is better soundproofing
You can also hear much that goes on in/near the concierge desk that's right before the Innkeeper's Club door. Most everyone who is staying beyond the Innkeeper's Club door has to go through it at least twice a day, so it's a high traffic area a few steps from the room door.
At first, being outside the Innkeeper's Club door didn't bother us. But after a couple of days of having to go through the door, we felt like we were inconveniencing the CM who sat at the desk. Sometimes we would just try to use our own KTTW, but sometimes the CM would then press the button and we would have to wait for the door to re-set and then stand out of the way as it automatically opened. The whole process got old after going back and forth 3 or so times a day. I would have much rather preferred to just enter my card once in an elevator and not every time I went to the lounge.
We were given the standard packet of information/brochures which did not contain our ADR/itinerary print-out. Luckily, I had brought a copy with us and had them in my phone, so I didn't ask for a print-out, though I'm certain they would have obliged. We also received taffy at turn-down and the welcome gift of delicious BoardWalk truffles.
Everything in the room was in good operating condition. However, there were drawings/scribbling on the back of the bathroom door and bathroom wall and there were black marks (Mold? Dirt?) on the ceiling above the sinks and some of the furniture had seen better days, which is not uncommon. For those of your wondering, we never had any towel animals, which didn't matter to us, but can be a nice touch time to time and we did tip daily.
We arrived during appetizer hour and much to our dismay, found almost the exact same items all four nights of our stay. The only hot items were a spring roll and satay which one night of four changed from a cylindrical shape to a triangular shape. DH jokingly referred to this as the changing of the hot appetizer geometry. While we were there (Thursday - Sunday), all of the cold appetizers were the same almost every night and they were all salad variations (without lettuce): bean salad, rice salad with duck, a bread salad with more beans& None of the dishes were labeled, but there was a sign in the lounge that listed that evening's items.
We ate breakfast in the lounge daily:
There were cereal choices, and they did have oatmeal and hard boiled eggs which was nice. In the photo above, the oatmeal was missing, but was eventually replaced. They didn't have fresh pineapple or watermelon which we missed. Also, they don't have a fridge so items such as yogurt, soda and beer are in a tub with ice. The ice melts and then items sort of float around or sink. One morning we arrived at breakfast and there were no bowls or plates. Two CMs were standing at the entrance talking with each other and I had to interrupt to ask for plates or bowls. She seemed surprised that there weren't any and by the time they were put out, there were many guests standing waiting for them.
I noticed that none of the tongs had a dish to put them back into after use, like at WL for example. Consequently, some guests would hold onto the tongs to serve themselves, then place the tongs back into the dish of food and sometimes directly on top of the food, like with the bagels and croissants pictured above.
Some nights there was a different flavored cone filling, but there weren't any brownies, cobbler, lemon squares or magic cookie bars (at least when we were there) like some lounges have. While the cones looked pretty, when you peeled back the paper to eat it, the cone would start to fall apart and turn into a big mess. Milk was not out, but the CMs would always gladly bring a cup to you.
your thoughts on BWI. I appreciate your insights. Four nights at a pop is the longest I tend to do at a Resort, and I can see how staying longer at BWI (or any WDW Resort) will make certain “needs and wants” importance levels different than my shorter Resort romps. Very interesting food for thought. Also, since I stayed before Daylight Savings Time, the Boardwalk seemed to be empty by 7:00pm-ish. I will keep in mind that a spring/summer stay with increased daylight hours will increase boardwalk view rooms nighttime noise quotient. Thanks for the review, WDWKOOK. 
(pretend this guy's in a boat).
scanne, thank you! Let's see... a WL/CL review
. I accept your subtle hint
