Where's the best Grand Villa in WDW?

[DeeP]

I would choose the OKW GV

OKW units are significantly larger

No they are not, when comparing GVs the size difference betwenn OKW GVs and BWV GVs is very similiar and not significant enough to matter, and the really funny part is the actual coveted "extra" space is not even detemined as to which DVC's GV can actually stand up and accept the grand prize of "THE BIGGEST". But when you really think about it...........who cares???????

 

[Richyams]

Except that the kitchen are is that same awful area as the other rooms. Really no working area. I was in a single floor unit and it IS appreciably smaller, really without a doubt. I think the bedrooms were close, but the main area was definitely smaller and the kitchen was awful.

 

[DeeP]

Except that the kitchen are is that same awful area as the other rooms. Really no working area. I was in a single floor unit and it IS appreciably smaller, really without a doubt. I think the bedrooms were close, but the main area was definitely smaller and the kitchen was awful.

LMAO!!!!

 

[TerriBelle]

We have stayed in a 1 story BW GV and loved it!!!!!

We had 9 nine people staying there - My parents, my family (2 A, 3 k) and my sister & husband. The location for us was great.
We enjoyed watching the fireworks and the boardwalk performers every night from the balcony. It was easy to walk/boat to Epcot & MGM. Lots of restaurants close by. We all enjoyed the pool and the community hall.

For my family the Epcot resort area is our favorite. That does not mean that OKW is not great. It just means we enjoy the BW area more! Our home resort is the BW and we called every day to reserve the GV.

Hope you are able to reserve a GV.

 

[sgtdisney]

If you have made up your mind on the Grand Villa, compare the difference in points between BWV and OKW. If I remember correctly the point difference is substantially different depending on when you are going. Just one more thing to consider.

 

[CaptainMidnight]

Originally posted by DeeP
No they are not, when comparing GVs the size difference betwenn OKW GVs and BWV GVs is very similiar and not significant enough to matter, and the really funny part is the actual coveted "extra" space is not even detemined as to which DVC's GV can actually stand up and accept the grand prize of "THE BIGGEST". But when you really think about it...........who cares???????

Isn't one of the GV's "the only true DVC resort GV" while the other one is not a true DVC resort GV but offers non-true DVC amenities like rooms service, boat service to two major parks, several restaraunts within walking distance, and valet service?

Availability may be another issue. I believe there are only 9 GV at BWV and several more than that at OKW. I'm not sure of the exact numbers. Perhaps another more knowledgable poster knows. We plan on going for the beach cottage at Vero sometime.

 

[Jimbo]

Originally posted by sgtdisney
If you have made up your mind on the Grand Villa, compare the difference in points between BWV and OKW. If I remember correctly the point difference is substantially different depending on when you are going. Just one more thing to consider.

The thing that's always seemed odd about GV points at BWV is that the weekday vs. weekend ratio is different than for any other room on property. For the rest of the "world" the cost during the week is about 40-to-50% that of the weekend.

But for a BWV GV it's around 80%:

Adventure Season: 74 Sun-Thu, 94 Fri-Sat
Choice Season: 79 Sun-Thu, 96 Fri-Sat
Dream Season: 88 Sun-Thu, 118 Fri-Sat
Magic Season: 108 Sun-Thu, 130 Fri-Sat
Premier Season: 130 Sun-Thu, 158 Fri-Sat

Anybody know why?

 

[reneesam]

Also, remember that even with more GV available at OKW, most are booked at 11 months and often day-to-day. So, your decision may be made by your own home resort priority, if you don't plan to rent or trade your points.

 

[DeeP]

Anybody know why?

It is elementary Dear Watson....supply and demand.
There are a lot fewer BWV GVs than OKW GVs and also the Epcot resort area is a very much more desired/coveted location.

 

[Jimbo]

But how does that explain points for GVs on weekdays being boosted so much more than on weekends? It doesn't make a bit of sense to me.

 

[childsplay]

But how does that explain points for GVs on weekdays being boosted so much more than on weekends? It doesn't make a bit of sense to me.

I'll take a swing at this........

The point structure developed by DVC is like a handicapping system in Vegas...it attempts to make all days "equally desirable".

It's like any given Sunday during football season... if there were no point spreads eveybody would bet on the prohibitive favorities and nobody would bet on the stinky teams..... but if Vegas says "Hey, we'll give ya 13 points if you bet on the stinky team now they get some takers....in fact Vegas wants to have the same amount of people betting on both sides of the game (meaning they try and set the line so half the people bet on the favorite and half the people bet on the underdog). That way they win no matter what, its called "the juice". The last thing they want is for everybody to bet on one side, under this scenario that have a chance of losing...not what Vegas is into.

Now flip over to DVC, they want to try and obtain full occupancy across the week and year. They do this by "handicapping" the rooms. If you want weekends..."well that's gonna cost ya sailor"...however if you could see your way clear to take a Wednesday... "well then maybe we can give ya a break".

Now to your question (finally), you point out that at most DVC resorts the split is about 50/50, meaning you can stay Sun. - Thurs. for the same point total as Fri. and Sat. True. But this split is not set in stone and only exisits because it produces the disired outcome....even occupancy between weekends and weeknights. Apparently at the BWV GV a different point structure is needed to produce the desired effect.
As DeeP pointed out, it is really a matter of supply and demand and what the market will bear........DVC charges more during the week for BW GV because they can get it....if no one was booking during the week and eveybody was just booking weekends they would have to make a change...it seems right now that is not the case....hence the current point structure.

By the way, since this is pure speculation on my part this whole explaination might be entirely wrong.

 

[SCCaguioa]

I haven't stayed at a GV yet, however for us, I believe the decision would come down to the following:

1) Location, location, location = convenience = 'In the middle of it all" = BWV GV
2) Easy access to your vehicle = convenience = getting to 'In the middle of it all' = OKW GV

So, I guess the biggest question would be, "Would you allow WDW to handle all your transportation needs or would you rather handle the transportation yourself?"

Yes, OKW has buses allowing access throughout da World, but at BW / BWV you have so many other transportation options within short distances (unless you want to do the monorail requiring you to walk from BW to Future World)
Also, I've heard the OKW buses aren't very timely...Any input on this??

 

[WDWguru]

According to previous threads on this board:

OKW = 27 GVs
BWV = 7 GVs

 

[Merilyn]

We have stayed in a GV at OKW and BWV. They are both very nice. I would have to say that I think OKW is larger, but I could be wrong. We take 12 people many times and there is plenty of room. No one is ever there at the same time and we never all eat at the same time. I like BWV because of the location, but the points are really too high. We rent a car anyway so the ride is not that bad. We own at OKW so getting a GV there is easy. Getting one at BWV is more difficult. I don't think you will have a problem with 12 in your GV, we sure don't. Good luck with your decision.

 

[NJDVCmember]

We had a family reunion in January for 16 of us and I finally decided on a GV and 2 studios and it worked out great. I was so happy and surprised when I called and got the BW GV.

We had 9 in the GV so plenty of room and most important to us...it was so easy to get anywhere. Take a bus, a boat or even walk to the parks....restraunts were everywhere. I would do it again in BW in a minute. The view and location was wonderful.
Remember you are not just sitting in your room all day.
I would vote for BW....being fair I have never stayed in OKW GV but have stayed there in a 2 bedroom.....the location is wonderful for my family vacation. But with a family reunion I still vote for BW!

 

[Richyams]

Jennymouse realted the joy of BWV busses in her trip report over on the trip reports board:

Before we hit the sack the night before, we'd discussed where we'd go today and decided we'd try early entry at Animal Kingdom. I'd never tried EE at AK before and thought it would be a good thing to get some stuff done early since the park gets hot/crowded so fast. We bypassed the Boardwalk Bakery in favor of the HOT cinnomon rolls at Tusker House in AK and made our way to the Boardwalk bus stop. This would be our first experience with the buses from BW and we arrived there at 7:15am. There were already two families there who said they'd been there since 7am so I figured we'd see the bus at any moment. The longer we waited, the crowdeder the bus stop became. A bus for MK came & went, but there was only one family going there. A bus for "Character Breakfast" came and only one family got on. I knew there was a character breakfast at AK too, so I thought we might could ride this but, but I was told no breakfast PS no entry. So we all sat/standed/fummed and waited for the AK bus until it finally showed up, already 3/4 full from it's stops at Swan/Dolphin & YC/BC, at 7:55am. The crowd, some 50-60 strong, stormed the bus leaving my crew, one of the first to arrive, in it's dust. We would not be taking that bus to AK and since we'd have to wait for another to arrive and since it was already time for AK to open, it just didn't make any since to wait for the AK bus at all. Disappointed, we made our way to the Boardwalk Bakery and sat and ate cold cinnomon rolls before walking over to Epcot for the day.

The ease and convenience has a lot to be said for it, NOT!

 

[Peterd]

"The ease and convenience has a lot to be said for it, NOT"

I guess the BW is the only resort with Bus problems? We used the buses on one trip, and never again. Kids tried them at Okw also, and said never again. Lucky they had the option of walking or taking the boat to Epcot. I guess To complain about cold buns at the bakery is probably easier to do than to ask them to heat them up? Some do order them cold, some hot.
I hope that was the least of the problems they faced on vacation. Next time, they'll probably rent a car to drive to the parks not within walking distance or a boat ride.

Over the years you learn, expect lines for buses at early entry and at the end of the day when the parks close.

 

[DisneyMeMa]

The OP question was where are the best WDW GVs located. First let me say "I really don't know." The GVs we have stayed in are really nice and have good locations. In June we stayed in OKW GV 4824 Sun.-Thurs. and BWV GV 3047 Thurs.-Sun. At OKW we were across the street from the bus stop and had a very nice golf course view (we really liked seeing our "boys" play past us on the LBV course and is was easy for them to get to an Osprey Ridge 7:20 tee time from OKW.) Overall a good location. The BWV GV was above the Screen Door. The BW view was terrific and the MBR is on the corner so the view is both courtyard and water. Now, for a few negatives...3047 BWV is a handicap accessible room. We had made these reservations 11 months in advance requesting non smoking and non handicap. I was disappointed. MS does try to accommodate all of us, but since there are so few BWV GVs (7), some of us just don't get what we want. We were all very comfortable at OKW, not so at BWV. Everything was very nice, but storage space IMHO was very limited and the kitchen was quite inconvenient. Even the furniture arrangement was different that I remembered. The MBR bath and one of the other bedroom baths were HA. On the positive side, the BWV GV had at least 5 thermostats - one in each of the bedrooms and at least two in the living room/dining/kitchen areas. This GV is only a short walk to the elevator. Something else you might want to think about is when you have one GV you only have one refrigerator and one washer/dryer (BWV GVs are full size, not the stackable ones) When you have two two bedrooms, you not only have 2 regular refrigerators, but if they are lock-off units you also have the studio refrigerators and microwaves. However, if you all want to be together, the GVs can't be beat. Enjoy your vacation and your planning.

 

[Laurajean1014]

I'm not worried about the transportation thing. We are all well (no one needing EVC or wheelchairs), and no one small enough to need a stroller. With those two things out of the picture, it's alot easier.

We own at BWV and OKW and I have to say OKW is better by design. BWV is great, with some good restaurants, the boardwalk and ESPN, but I see the tremendous walk from the "heart of it all" to your room or pool, weighing heavy on my guests.

Does BWV have large balconies or eat out patios like OKW? I can see my guests grabbing a bottle of Luna and sitting out on the deck overlooking the golf course or the lake.

The only thing better than that would be if BWV offered the same thing, with the Illuminations fireworks over our heads...... that would be great.

 

[DeeP]

The ease and convenience has a lot to be said for it, NOT!

Having stayed at BWV more times then I can count and also always relying on Disney transportation to both MK and AK, and having stayed at BWV relying on Disney transportation during the busiest times of the year including Christmas, Easter and 4th of July.........I can say without a doubt the experience posted was the minority by far and definitely not the norm. The ease and convenience to parks, restaurants, etc from all the Epcot resorts is the best on WDW property by far.