Hi all! DH & I returned from our week at BCV!! It was a great week full of fun but H-O-T. The "feels like" temperature was in excess of 100 degrees most days. Hydrate yourself often if you go. Unfortunately, we saw a young girl faint waiting in the breakfast ADR line at MK and it appeared that heat was a factor.
It took about 90 minutes to get from airplane ramp to BCV. ME stopped at CBR, BW, YC, and then BC/BCV. We received a room text to stop at the Front Desk upon arrival. The CM at the desk was confused since according to her, our room was already ready. I made one online request and it was for a higher floor which we got - Room 539 which is a dedicated studio in the Villas:
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Dee - i am going to send you other room photos separately but wanted to post the view. You can see Swan in the distance and TOT to the left. Amazing view of Star Wars fireworks from this room!!
Disclaimer - nothing in my post is meant to criticize Disney. These are just my thoughts/comments so....This is our 2nd trip as DVC owners at BCV. Our first trip was pre-refurbishment. I thought the "new" room colors were nice but I wasn't bowled over:
Coffee maker - we had a 4-cup drip; DH got the formula down after 1 pot so we stuck with it rather than requesting a larger machine.
Drawer space - there are 4 deep but very narrow drawers in the unit which holds the Murphy bed. I asked DH to estimate the width and he said 8 inches. You are not going to fold shorts or shirts in half and fit them in the drawer - you need to keep folding or roll these items (or make use of the wire rack in the closet as an extra shelf). There are two wider drawers in the coffee table and two in the end table. If you have more than 2 guests in the room, storage space would be tight.
Garden Grocer - change in delivery time was a little disappointing; we came back after lunch at 4:30 but then had to leave at 5:30 for FP; text came @ 5:45 that they were delivered. I called at 8:00 and asked if Bell Services could bring them in the next 20 minutes (before B&C ADR) and they couldn't since their "queue" was so full. We got our groceries at 10:00 pm but within 5 minutes of calling after we returned from B&C.
Bed - very comfy! Nightlight in vanity area - very bright! Noise - not a peep once you close your door! Clothesline in tub - yes! H2O products - Grapefruit! Mousekeeping - awesome!
Magic band issues - although we couldn't get a definitive answer from the 3 separate trips to the Front Desk, there appears to be a limit to the number of bands you can activate for each person. Too many will "confuse" (their word) the Disney system. If you have more than one band per guest, only activate a couple at a time and keep all others deactivated for that person. It only takes a few seconds to switch them on and off through your
MDE account.
Highlight - our first (and won't be last) dinner at Tutta Italia! "Middle" light - Frozen Ever After - glad we had a FP for this; ended up cancelling our 2nd FP for this and switched it to Test Track. Lowlight - Star Wars Dessert Party - awesome food and drinks (yes, you can make a meal out of this), cute Chewbacca souvenir steins, great interaction with First Order stormtroopers, but not the best location for the awesome projection and firework show. The roped off area is left of center and there are a couple of trees that may block your view. Yes - it's better than saving a spot for over an hour sitting on hot asphalt...
FP - as soon as you scan your 3rd, make your 4th FP while waiting in line; we had one day where we made 6! Got an unexpected FP to the 3:00 pm MK parade (great view by standing at Town Square facing the center of the Train Station - you get a long unobstructed view as they round the corner).
Sorry for the long rambling post but if there is a tidbit that can help someone else out, I wanted to do so since this thread has been so helpful to me.
I am going to go into lurk mode since we are taking next year off from WDW; the plan is to bank our points and upgrade to 1 Bedroom for our next two trips!
One last item - I should have heeded the warning signs at Soarin' that you may not like this if you are afraid of heights. They were right!!