4DisneyAddicts
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2004
I just returned a few days ago from our first stay as DVC owners. Since we had double points this first year, and we only needed 3 nights because it was following our cruise, we had enough points for a MK view Grand Villa and shared it with our friends and family who cruised with us. I am sure we spoiled ourselves, as we may never be able to do GV again, but it was worth it.
Here are some observations of our stay and the resort.
Wondered why check in was at the Contemporary and not BLT. Not a big deal but noticed that the poor bell service attendants had to push 2 carts (one guy) all the way from the Contemporary to BLT. I wondered why they didn't use golf carts, as they do at Poly and GF.
Check in was a little slow. At first they said I had 10 adults and 8 kids in 2 rooms. I was concerned my reservation was going to be messed up but did get the GV I booked so not sure what that was about. Then we wanted to put each family's credit card on their respective room cards. I was told it was no problem, but it took quite a while. The check in person had to get a supervisor. She seemed equally as puzzled by whatever confused them, but eventually it all worked out.
It was not nearly as crowded as I expected for Easter weekend. There were several times I had hallways and elevators to myself. We went to magic kingdom first thing in the morning and walked on every ride until about 10, then needed one fast pass for Splash Mt. I expected restaurants and parks to be mobbed this week, but didn't find it so. This may also be due to the fact we know the little tricks on how to avoid crowds. Or maybe I am just accustomed to summer crowds?
On Easter morning they had a special character met outside with various characters, including the Easter bunny. There was a candy scramble and the kids came back with what seemed like their weight in candy. They had some eggs hidden in the candy piles, which had prizes in them for stuffed animals, a fireworks cruise, etc. We didn't win any extras, but it was a very nice "freebie".
The grand villa was awesome! We surprised the kids and they loved it. We comfortably fit 3 families, 12 people. Never felt crowded or in the way of others. Plenty of bathrooms, balconies, TVs, etc.
The rooms need more trash cans, a small inconvenience.
I requested a centrally located room so we would have a nice MK view. We were practically dead center and loved watching the activity around the kingdom, monorails, and fireworks from the comfort of our room.
The train whistles from MK could be heard as early as 5:12 am. Our doors were closed. I didn't mind though, it was the best alarm clock! I'd much rather wake to that than my alarm at home!
Maintenance issues, minor.....There was a broken closet door handle in one of the upstairs bedrooms. It looked as though they removed it to fix it, but forgot about it. We just put it aside. After we checked in, received a text at 2:30ish that room was ready, maintenance showed up and asked if we called about the dishwasher. We said no but they were welcome to check it out. They brought up 2 different dishwashers and the second worked fine. They weren't there long, offered to come back another time (we told them it was no problem), and didn't stay long. There were some dents and scratches, as others have mentioned, but not too bad. I think this is partly because the modern decor is so sleek. It makes these problems more noticeable, IMO.
Overall, the rooms were clean and comfortable.
The second floor got very warm as the day went on, from the sun coming in that huge set of 2 story windows. We should all have such problems, right! We closed the blinds, with help of the electric switch, and cranked the AC to cool it off quickly.
There were 3 or 4 pack and plays. I saw one in my master, the entry, and at least one guest closet. I thought that was odd...
There were 2 vacuums, one upstairs and one down. Who wants to lug a vacuum up stairs on vacation?
The laundry room was bigger than mine at home. I actually enjoyed doing laundry!
There were no glasses/cups in the bathrooms. I wondered if there should have been, as I noticed them on a housekeeping cart. I just took some from the kitchen.
The pool area was great. I saw so many comments about crowding that I worried it would be a problem during this peak time. DH and the other dads took the kids for quick swims a couple of times and the kids had a great time on the slide. We love the beach entry pools, especially for the younger kids.
We visited the Top of the World lounge. I think we went about 90 minutes before fireworks. It was very nice, only a few guests there. Didn't stay since we had the Grand Villa. Figured we would save that for when we we "slumming it" in a lake view someday.
. The menu of drinks and appetizers looked good. I think I could make a small meal of it up there.
Speaking of TOTWL, I thought I read that the second floor door in the grand villas would take you right to the lounge. It doesn't. I asked and was told we still had to have someone let us up from the 1st floor. Just wondering if I forgot a secret tip or if I misunderstood.
We had groceries delivered. That was a huge perk, to have food and drinks in the comfort of a full kitchen. My friend arranged that, don't remember who they used. We had unused water bottles, sodas, and soup. We left them with the DVC staff downstairs. I asked them if they could use it and they said they would find someone who could. I was glad, didn't want to throw it away.
I seem to remember posts about the table being too small for such a large room. It seats eight, but has a pull out extension on the end to add 2 more seats. We never used the extension.
We ate at the Wave restaurant. Kids stayed in the room and ate the groceries we had delivered so it was just adults.
The food was good, the desserts were phenomenal!
We also got food from the walk up service restaurant, contempo cafe?? We brought it back to the room. The selections were delicious! They sounded good, a bit more gourmet then the old quick service downstairs. I was pleased that they were as good as they sounded. I had a hot sandwich of turkey, Brie, and sliced apples on toasted bread. Can't remember what everyone else had, but all were happy with their choices. Our friends have points at Saratoga and AKL and said the food was better here (in the quick service). Oh yeah, I thought the prices were very reasonable, cosidering it was Disney. My sandwich was about $8. Most choices seemed to be under $10.
We did have a room service menu. I didn't notice a menu for contempo cafe but if it isn't in the room service menu, it would be helpful to have a list of choices in the room. We just took a picture of the electronic menu with our phone and showed everyone back at the room.
Overall it was a fantastic trip and we are so glad we bought DVC at BLT. I always told DH the only way I'd ever buy DVC was if they built there. I never imagined they would. The Contemporary and BLT are not my design style at all, I am very traditional. But our 3 sons LOVE monorails and the Contemporary, so BLT was definitely our ideal home resort. We are looking forward to many years of memories there.
Here are some observations of our stay and the resort.
Wondered why check in was at the Contemporary and not BLT. Not a big deal but noticed that the poor bell service attendants had to push 2 carts (one guy) all the way from the Contemporary to BLT. I wondered why they didn't use golf carts, as they do at Poly and GF.
Check in was a little slow. At first they said I had 10 adults and 8 kids in 2 rooms. I was concerned my reservation was going to be messed up but did get the GV I booked so not sure what that was about. Then we wanted to put each family's credit card on their respective room cards. I was told it was no problem, but it took quite a while. The check in person had to get a supervisor. She seemed equally as puzzled by whatever confused them, but eventually it all worked out.
It was not nearly as crowded as I expected for Easter weekend. There were several times I had hallways and elevators to myself. We went to magic kingdom first thing in the morning and walked on every ride until about 10, then needed one fast pass for Splash Mt. I expected restaurants and parks to be mobbed this week, but didn't find it so. This may also be due to the fact we know the little tricks on how to avoid crowds. Or maybe I am just accustomed to summer crowds?
On Easter morning they had a special character met outside with various characters, including the Easter bunny. There was a candy scramble and the kids came back with what seemed like their weight in candy. They had some eggs hidden in the candy piles, which had prizes in them for stuffed animals, a fireworks cruise, etc. We didn't win any extras, but it was a very nice "freebie".
The grand villa was awesome! We surprised the kids and they loved it. We comfortably fit 3 families, 12 people. Never felt crowded or in the way of others. Plenty of bathrooms, balconies, TVs, etc.
The rooms need more trash cans, a small inconvenience.
I requested a centrally located room so we would have a nice MK view. We were practically dead center and loved watching the activity around the kingdom, monorails, and fireworks from the comfort of our room.
The train whistles from MK could be heard as early as 5:12 am. Our doors were closed. I didn't mind though, it was the best alarm clock! I'd much rather wake to that than my alarm at home!
Maintenance issues, minor.....There was a broken closet door handle in one of the upstairs bedrooms. It looked as though they removed it to fix it, but forgot about it. We just put it aside. After we checked in, received a text at 2:30ish that room was ready, maintenance showed up and asked if we called about the dishwasher. We said no but they were welcome to check it out. They brought up 2 different dishwashers and the second worked fine. They weren't there long, offered to come back another time (we told them it was no problem), and didn't stay long. There were some dents and scratches, as others have mentioned, but not too bad. I think this is partly because the modern decor is so sleek. It makes these problems more noticeable, IMO.
Overall, the rooms were clean and comfortable.
The second floor got very warm as the day went on, from the sun coming in that huge set of 2 story windows. We should all have such problems, right! We closed the blinds, with help of the electric switch, and cranked the AC to cool it off quickly.
There were 3 or 4 pack and plays. I saw one in my master, the entry, and at least one guest closet. I thought that was odd...
There were 2 vacuums, one upstairs and one down. Who wants to lug a vacuum up stairs on vacation?
The laundry room was bigger than mine at home. I actually enjoyed doing laundry!
There were no glasses/cups in the bathrooms. I wondered if there should have been, as I noticed them on a housekeeping cart. I just took some from the kitchen.
The pool area was great. I saw so many comments about crowding that I worried it would be a problem during this peak time. DH and the other dads took the kids for quick swims a couple of times and the kids had a great time on the slide. We love the beach entry pools, especially for the younger kids.
We visited the Top of the World lounge. I think we went about 90 minutes before fireworks. It was very nice, only a few guests there. Didn't stay since we had the Grand Villa. Figured we would save that for when we we "slumming it" in a lake view someday.
. The menu of drinks and appetizers looked good. I think I could make a small meal of it up there.Speaking of TOTWL, I thought I read that the second floor door in the grand villas would take you right to the lounge. It doesn't. I asked and was told we still had to have someone let us up from the 1st floor. Just wondering if I forgot a secret tip or if I misunderstood.
We had groceries delivered. That was a huge perk, to have food and drinks in the comfort of a full kitchen. My friend arranged that, don't remember who they used. We had unused water bottles, sodas, and soup. We left them with the DVC staff downstairs. I asked them if they could use it and they said they would find someone who could. I was glad, didn't want to throw it away.
I seem to remember posts about the table being too small for such a large room. It seats eight, but has a pull out extension on the end to add 2 more seats. We never used the extension.
We ate at the Wave restaurant. Kids stayed in the room and ate the groceries we had delivered so it was just adults.
The food was good, the desserts were phenomenal!We also got food from the walk up service restaurant, contempo cafe?? We brought it back to the room. The selections were delicious! They sounded good, a bit more gourmet then the old quick service downstairs. I was pleased that they were as good as they sounded. I had a hot sandwich of turkey, Brie, and sliced apples on toasted bread. Can't remember what everyone else had, but all were happy with their choices. Our friends have points at Saratoga and AKL and said the food was better here (in the quick service). Oh yeah, I thought the prices were very reasonable, cosidering it was Disney. My sandwich was about $8. Most choices seemed to be under $10.
We did have a room service menu. I didn't notice a menu for contempo cafe but if it isn't in the room service menu, it would be helpful to have a list of choices in the room. We just took a picture of the electronic menu with our phone and showed everyone back at the room.
Overall it was a fantastic trip and we are so glad we bought DVC at BLT. I always told DH the only way I'd ever buy DVC was if they built there. I never imagined they would. The Contemporary and BLT are not my design style at all, I am very traditional. But our 3 sons LOVE monorails and the Contemporary, so BLT was definitely our ideal home resort. We are looking forward to many years of memories there.
Was hoping you would have had better news for me!!! Oh well....we'll be riding the elevator a LOT!! LOL!!
....LOL....so she insisted on sleeping in there.
Also, I thought the two chairs in the living room (which have the leather pillow backings) were not very comfortable either. I wish they had at least one of the gold sleeper chairs....(even tho we would not have used the sleeper).. I find those chairs much more comfortable to lounge in than the others. 
And everyone that slept in bedrooms said their beds were comfy too!
Of course the number of points is quite painful!! 
We hope that in five years we can get a GV for our 25th Wedding Anniv!!! 
