Just got in last night.
Here's my short version:
Got in around noon and one person was in front of me at online check-in. Got to the counter quickly to find none of my room requests had been met. (asked for 60's facing the lake, was given 90's facing the street) (same thing happened to me at ASMo last year - it's like they didn't even read it) He proceeded to search for a new room with my requests with took forever. The 60's were full, so I asked for 70's lake view, which he found. He had to call baggage services, write all kind of things down, make new keys, etc. He was very nice, but it took over 25 minutes.
We got a 1st floor, 70's room, at the very end of the wing, facing the lake. It was a VERY quiet room, which I loved. You could cut across to the Hippy Dippy Pool easily. It was about 4 minutes to Classic Hall and the buses.
The room was very clean when we got there. We had a non-updated room at ASMo last year, so this one seemed great comparably. The TV was really nice, and the curtain in front of the bathroom helped me - I always got up an hour before everyone else. (I could make coffee and check email.)
Only 1 bar of AT&T service in my room - usually none. That was a pain for me, as I was uploaded pictures to Flikr every day for my students and one bar just won't cut it.
Asked for lots of extras the first few days - bedrails,(DD4 fell out of bed the first night!) 4 pillows, 2 more blankets, etc, and all came within 10 minutes.
ME luggage was there within 30 minutes of our arrival, even though we changed rooms. They also brought down our fridge we were using through a fridge swap.
There was plenty of room for a twin air mattress near the door. Unfortunately, it bothered DS8 this year and he and DH wrestled in the bed for the rest of the week. We are getting two rooms next year!
A/C never got real cold. It said 68, but it wasn't. (and wouldn't go lower) I told the front desk, and when we came home that night they had fixed it so that the temp would go lower. It said 65 and was better.
Only ate at Everything Pop once. We had lunch - turkey sandwich and beef and blue sandwich. Both were meh, but DH said he liked the tie-dyed cheesecake. The turkey sandwich at Starring Rolls was 100 times better.
The store had everything we needed. I seemed to miss a few things on our list this year - pull ups for night time, toothpaste, and then needed Immodium for kids at one point.
Room was cleaned really well each day. No towel animals, but always extra soap and shampoo since I had asked for it the first day.
I slept fine on the beds - not the best hotel bed I've slept on, but it was fine for me for 7 nights. I slept like a rock every night.
Bus service was awesome. Never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus both at Pop and the parks. 75% of the time either walked on a bus or waited less than 5 minutes. Had to stand a few times, but that was at expected times - a park closing and a few rope drops.
Hippy Dippy was NOT heated. It was 80 during the day and mid 60s at night. We got in and immediately got out. We did the bowling pin pool the next night and it was much warmer.
The only "recreational activities" we did was Halloween night. The kids put on their costumes and we went down for the crafts and parade. Then after, they had "trick or treating" (8 long tables by the pool with CMs handing out candy)
Between the music and the nightly movie by the pool, it was very loud in that area. I can't see having a room facing the pool if you wanted to go to sleep before 10:30. (that's us, we do rope drop every day)
ME on the way back - they sent us a letter that was worded very strongly not to be late, and to be 15 minutes early, as the bus would leave right on time without us. We were there 20 minutes early, and the bus was 10 minutes late. Not a huge deal, but they make you wait on an island in the middle of the bell hop circle drive drop off area. Think small circle of cement in the middle of an area where buses and taxis are driving around. Then having to wait with small children - not very safe at all. Maybe for a few minutes, but not 20 or 30.
All in all, a great trip, nice room and will stay there again.
I love that lake view too!
doesn't like the smell of coffee in her mug. I wash them by hand with hot soapy water, yet they still get coffee stains and have a coffee smell. DH got the blue one. There was I believe a yellow one and at the Pop, I saw an orange one. I visited about 10 resorts in August and not all the resorts had the same colors available. But everyone seemed to have the Caribbean Blue and the Pink.
The Orange was my mug and I got so many compliments and people wanting to know where I got it ?? Since the orange went quick 
While I don't usually like on line check-in, in this instance I agree, definitely it is definitely the way to go. Even with on line check-in there can be a long line, especially during a holiday. Depending on the time (sounds like it could be tight), I would recommend a cab - the boats at HS do not run all that often (ever 20 to 30 mins) and are slower than molasses! If you don't mind walking, it is about a 15 min walk from HS to Cape May - a very nice walk along the water and much faster than the boat. I always want to get off the boat and push it along.
