A BCV/BWV/SSR REVIEW...(long!)

[gopherit]

I am still working on the comprehensive "tome" of our travels (see below for a quick-connect to the start), but meanwhile, thought I’d write up a brief DVC focused review of our experiences from our recent trip. I have split these up as 3 separate posts within this same thread, along with our synopsis.

CLICK HERE TO START READING THE REALLY REALLY LONG FORM OF MY REPORT!


BCV We arrived at 11 am to spend one Sat. night here on cash in a studio and 1 br villa. I don’t keep track of welcome homes, but everyone seemed personable at the desk, despite the HUGE LINE. Waited a long time for this check-in. Art The Greeter was there. The lobby seemed to swim with people. Our rooms were not yet ready, so we went straight to SAB to enjoy the water and wait for our guests (BIL, SIL, and 2 nephews) to arrive. When we finally got our room assignment (at nearly 4 pm), it was rooms 170 and 172. That’s ground floor, wherein the patio looks out across the canal. At first, I confess – I was bummed. I didn’t want ground floor, and it was on the opposite end of the bldg I wanted (I requested upper floor, near lobby / elevator). But for a one-nighter stay like ours, this was actually good! We had great access to the car, for example! And no hassle with elevators or stairs for my nephew’s stroller. The rooms were clean and seemed to be in good shape. I was concerned about the lizards, though -- wonder how many of those suckers crawl in the room each day. Ugh. The room seemed dark much of the time because we kept the curtains drawn so folks walking by wouldn't be viewing us in our jammies. That could scar someone for life! I ended up on the sleeper sofa in the studio that night and will confess that it wasn’t too bad, comfort-wise. NO Seinfeldian "bar" complaints here. SAB was great but very frustrating for a family whose 3 kids are all at various swim stages! One minute dd (age 4) wanted to go to the kiddie slide at the ship, then she wanted to trot back and play in the sand at SAB… meanwhile the boys were EVERYWHERE. For frustration like that, I’d just as soon go to BB or TL! I like to relax at the pool, but it seemed I was constantly trying to split myself in half just to keep tabs on all our kids! We liked the theming and the quietness of areas like the drawing room, etc. I also liked that oval table in the dining area of a BCV room better than the rounds used at other DVCs. I liked the room layout, overall. I did have some bizarre paperwork to straighten out (a bill for one room – but not the other – was slipped under the door), and I won’t discuss here my feelings about magical gatherings – the comments aren’t too magical. But on the whole, we loved the BCV!

(Keep going -- BWV and SSR yet to come!)

 

[gopherit]

BWV Room was ready at check-in (10 am!) I laughed and said, “It’s ready? Why? Didn’t anybody want it?” She didn’t appreciate my sense of humor – kinda insinuated that it met our requests and we should approve (not that we WOULD – just that we SHOULD!) This was not to say she was mean or anything – only that she didn’t get my joke and there would be no “options” for us today – what you get is what ya got. A convention was checking in – who knows what problems she had already faced that day. ANYWAY…. She gave me the keys and room #s (4081 and 4083). Again, my heart kinda sunk… I had wanted to be much farther down the hall (requests were NS med reasons, non-HC, and across from bus stop / far from elevator). But hey, 2 outta 3 (and the more important of the 3 I should add), is pretty good. As it turned out, being nearer to the elevator wasn’t so bad. We weren’t so close as to be disturbed, but not so far to need a compass, either. The room was clean and in good order, although IMHO, the kitchen could have used a closer touch up (some crumbs, unwiped spots). Bathrooms looked good – no mold or other signs of neglect. I did not like the layout of the master bathroom in the 1BR though. Every time you sit on the toilet, you face those 2 doors and just fear that one will fly open, showing you in your least attractive pose. We did not, however, feel that BWV lacked for space – we used the sleeper sofa every night. Whoever said that using it leaves you with no room – well, I beg to differ. Granted, you couldn’t host a dance party in there, but even with the sofa bed out, I could readily walk around it to go to the balcony, or the adjoining studio, or sit in the other chair, etc. The balcony for these rooms were covered (some are not – and personally, that would truly stink to get an open one). We stayed in these rooms for the next 8 nights – including the night of Charley! It was very interesting, seeing how BW tried to handle this. All the restaurants closed up at 1-2 pm. The word spread quickly in the misting rain, however, that BW planned to feed its guests and we should head to our rooms and fear not! Well, SIL and I still went ahead and purchased a few extra provisions at the store on the Boardwalk. Simple stuff – frozen pizzas for the kids, extra jug of water, a few goodies, etc. After all, we already had a fairly stocked pantry anyway. Once in the villa, the message from management was to come on down at 4:30 for the meal. Another note, however, said 5 pm. SO which was it? SIL and I took the kids down at 4:35. But whatever had been there was now gone, replaced with a pack of confused hungry folks. As one manager recounted to me, he watched over 1600 sandwich meals in bags basically vaporize into the paws of a hungry few within seconds. They had some that were special diet even (vegetarian or diabetic?) and I guess before they could even get that message across to folks, those boxes were gone. Someone in the lobby told us that as they got on an elevator, a fellow was getting off with oodles of bags and about 8 cookies. They said, “Wow! You must be staying in a Grand Villa!” He said, “Nope. Just me and my 2 friends, but we plan to eat a lot tonight.” Needless to say, when they made their trip down and found the food gone, they wished they had that guy’s room number. I felt sorta sorry for the BW managers. They tried to do something nice and went with an honor system that was not upheld. I also felt badly for those in the Inn side who might not have much in the way of provisions for the night, foodwise. The BW management was telling everyone that there would be more food, though. This, I feel, was wrong. They had to realize then and there that there would be NO MORE FOOD RUNS. They were going to spend the next hours consumed with the storm – food was simply not on the menu, so to speak! By now it was 6 pm. Instead of confessing that they had not planned on the greed of humanity (or made it organized enough to prevent the greed), they told us all that there would be more food – just go to your villa and wait, and they would call you! Another manager, however, hinted to us that while “officially” we should, for safety, return to our rooms, we should in actuality leave a “scout” so that when the food came out, we could “grab it”. One girl commented on a BW manager’s Tinkerbelle pin. He said, “You like it? Here.” And he gave it to her. I was waiting for someone to say they liked his shirt too and watch him rip that off and give it to ‘em – they were sweaty and desperate. I was amazed at the number of folks giving them the “what –for” about the food. I never expected Disney to provide for my family’s needs, and Good Lord, they told us about the hurricane early hat morning – not like we didn’t have advance warning. Watching the angry people swarming around the BW management, you expected them to chant in a very Hopper-esque manner, “WHERE’S MY FOOD?!?” We nixed the scout routine and grabbed some sodas (or what they had left of ‘em) and returned to the villa. My BIL and I did go back down at around 7 pm to grab a newspaper at the store. By this time, they had cleared out the clothing racks on the left wall of the little BW store and replaced them with an odd assortment of foods: cereal, chips, pop tarts. Then on the counter, there was milk, beer, and wine. Bizarre, but folks were scarfing them up. I grabbed one of the last copies of USA Today, paid my 50 cents, and fled the mob scene. We had pancakes in our villa. As for the integrity of the BWV during the storm -- Honestly, while the storm whipped, you could sometimes feel reverberation of the glass doors if you went too near, but we never, EVER felt threatened. BIL was even in denial, saying “This CAN’T be a hurricane. Not a REAL one. This just isn’t anything to write home about.” The lights flickered and went out in the parking lot for all of 5 seconds, then came back on right at the height of the storm (around 8:55 pm.) By 10 pm, we were out on our porch, surveying for any damage. The flags got shredded (on top of the “BOARDWALK” arch). There were some leaves and such everywhere. But nothing major. I told DH that this surely had impressed me that our investment in BWV was a SOLID one! Especially when so many other places down there got rocked (especially off-site). We knew we had experienced the "real thing" when we went to exit Orlando and saw what Charley had done to all the eixt signs entering Disney area -- they looked like they had been folded, right at the steel beams, as easily as paper. Trees ripped right up at the root. AMAZING. A friend in Daytona had the airconditioner units stripped right off the top of her condo building. Surviving this storm intact -- we feel like BWV is surely THERE TO STAY! I’m posting more about Charley in my full report. But as for our stay at BWV, and hurricanes aside, we did enjoy it very much. Luna Park is a great pool – you can watch ALL your kids easily from several choice vantage spots! They would not, however, let my dd go down the slide with a life jacket on (neither would SAB). She is a good little swimmer, but she nixed doing the slide as a result – it just seemed overwhelming to her sans her buddy (the jacket). I thought the pool was reasonably clean. The Dumbo tiles weren’t too “Scumbo”… although I would suggest that Disney NEVER use a flat shiny white tile background again! Just shows dirt too easily. One lifeguard was making everyone answer a trivia question in order to slide. I had a Carousel drink at Leaping Libations – tasty, but maybe too creamy for the summer heat. I regret not having the Meltdown instead. Next trip! Plenty of chairs and space in the pool, and we went at all hours of the day. Community hall at BW is much more protective of their life jackets than other resorts – they even called the day before we checked out to remind us they had to be turned in or suffer ye the consequences (40 something bucks a piece). I should note that in conjunction with our stay, my sister and her 2 dds were also staying at BWV (she and her dh are DVC’ers since ’92… we sometimes are able to force them out of their OKW routine!) They had a 1 br pref view, room 5094, all the way at the end of the hall and overlooking Luna Park Slide and the waterway / Swan. It seemed nice enough also – no big complaints. She said the long walk wasn’t bad – just “lonely”! And it was convenient to the stairs. And she loved being so close to EPCOT (her fave park). The only “events” we had were few and far between. A toilet overflowed in SIL’s studio room one night while the rest of us were out, requiring maintenance. She said it was handled promptly. (Being on the 4th floor, I would hope so, for 3rd floor’s sake!) They were even careful not to wake her baby. DVD player wasn’t working in 1 br side -- something was faulty with the remote, as it turns out. Maint. came promptly and fixed that the day before Charley, thank goodness! All in all, BWV was a good trip as well that we all enjoyed. We especially enjoyed its proximity to food, Epcot, and MGM. Very convenient, especially for folks like us who like to walk.


(Keep on going -- still SSR to come!)

 

[gopherit]

SSR: So after 1 night at BCV, then 8 nights at BWV, we moved to SSR. Our SIL/BIL and other company left, so it was just us chickens. THis is probably the last time we could ever get by with a 1 br, so we went for it. (We have 3 kids and the third still wants to be in with us when she's in strange / new places... but next trip that gal is gettin' her own bed, if I have to velcro her to it!!)

SO about SSR... In a word: WONDERFUL! Check in was my best experience yet. Went over at 9:30 am. No waiting, just peaceful ambiance. The lobby is quite nice, too, although I would imagine if there were a line, you would find it hard to know where to stand, with that circular couch thing in the center. The CM (Justin, I think) was just super nice. We chatted about the hurricane, how the resorts and CMs fared through it, etc. He then gave me a choice – a ready 1 br with a garden view, or wait for a DTD view. I said we could wait, and he said he was going to really “hook us up.” By golly he did – an awesome room. #1825 – the 3rd building, top floor, looking right out over the pool and DTD. Really nice! On the down side -- Our room took forever to be ready (all the way to 4 pm). But on the upside -- we spent the hours at the pool (which the kids LOVED.) This was my dd’s favorite pool – they let her use her life vest on both slides! She was in heaven. She liked the zero entry area too. SSR pool does seem small though – we hope that “2nd theme pool at SSR” rumor is true. The Donald Duck fountain area did not seem to be working right – perhaps an effect of Charley, along with their “light” system at the slide to signal when you can go. Some of the fountains were dribbly and weak. Didn’t stop my kids from playing in it, though! They had pool games that afternoon – lots of fun with hulahoop and water balloon toss contests, biggest cannonball, and my fave, the “horse races” in the pool! Every hour on the hour you hear the go-to-the-races horns blowing. The kids loved the community hall, too – couldn’t get my boys out of it! They played video games, ping pong…my dd colored and worked puzzles. They have a great book in there to share family recipes and photos… I’m sending our pics in soon, I hope, along with some recipes too! We can be a part of SSR history! They rent pool noodles for free, too. Just show your room key. We enjoyed the quiet pool at night too. So cool with the lights from DTD all around you and in the sky! DH really liked having the car nearby, and loved the proximity of SSR to DTD. We both agreed that the outside hallways did not bug us at all, and the elevator was almost too nice! Seemed like it belonged indoors! The landscaping is still young but attractive (and a lot of it Charley had uprooted). I’m sure Disney will have the damage fixed asap. We thought the décor was elegant in the rooms – I liked those dark gray marble-type countertops. And I hadn’t been too sure I would like the SSR décor – too much like a Grandma’s house, might not feel “vacation-y”. I was wrong! It felt very much like “home” but in a good way! HOWEVER – it seems DVC has found new ways to reduce space in a villa. We were stunned by the lack of closet space. No hall closet (like we had at BCV and BWV and VWL, etc). And the master closet is so shallow! No WAY could I sit in THERE and eat chips and dip, that was certain (long story, read my trip report if that puzzles you…) And the bathroom layout was just not optimal, either. For starters, very skimpy on drawer space – tiny shallow drawers over by the external sink. Then, in the bathroom, the shower door was positioned in such a way that if anyone opened the door, well helllllooo! They would see you in all yer glory. There are 2 doors on this area – one locks you in… and one locks you OUT of the rest of the bathroom! So the only way to keep folks out of the bathroom while you shower is to lock the master BR door, AND the door that exits to the dining area. Doors just seemed to be everywhere in there. I liked the fact that the toilet was separate and just had one door, however – that made me feel more secure! Understand that when you have kids – nothing is private, it seems. So doors that lock are important to me to get a few moments of peace! The motion-activated fans at SSR didn’t bother us too much – they weren’t that loud – but they are hypersensitive, because every time I went into the bedroom or to grab a load of wash, they would detonate in the bathrooms.
We liked the DVD player in the living area but also wished it had VHS as well since many of our kids’ tapes are VHS, but hey, we’re willing to bend with the future. We even borrowed a DVD from Artist’s Palette while we were there – quite a nice variety. And as for the sofa bed in SSR – it was a different type than at BWV and BCV and MAN it was comfy. Feels like it’s made out of that “space foam” stuff you see on TV. One night the kids fell asleep watching TV in the king bed – DH and I took the sleeper sofa and thought it was MORE COMFY than the king!

One other note -- When we entered the room ,we thought at first it stunk of new carpet – then we realized it was oven cleaner we smelled. Sure enough whoever had that room before us must have been a real piggie, cause the Mousekeeping had obviously cleaned out the oven (it was VERY hot from the self-clean mode). The front entry carpet felt damp too – couldn’t tell if that was because they had to clean it, though, or just an artifact yet again of Charley blowing water around. I stopped in Artist’s palette a couple times. They have some nice DVC merchandise – got myself a SSR shirt and some light groceries. HOWEVER – that food court just doesn’t cut the mustard for me. They need a full-service themed restaurant here. The food court may be nice in theory, but it just doesn’t fit the “spa/resort” atmosphere, IMO. Can you imagine another “spa resort”, say, the GF, with just a food court? Maybe they don’t need as many restaurants as GF – but certainly a nice sit-down somewhere! Bus service was great here – never more than 60 seconds, I swear. And it was so convenient to just hop a bus to the main pool / community hall!
What an awesome, awesome place! I have to wonder if we liked it so well becasue it seemed like we had our "run" of the place... I would be curious to see what it feels like once several more buildings open up, just to see if the atmosphere changes any. I sure hope not -- maybe it will instead only get better!

(Hang in there -- just have some final thoughts to add, if you can keep movin' forward!)

 

[gopherit]

IN SUMMATION:

We’ve now come full-circle within DVC at WDW. We’ve stayed several times at OKW, had a 9 nt stay at VWL, and in this trip covered the other 3 DVC resorts (even if only briefly at BCV. So where would this family choose to stay – where is our “favorite” resort? Well one thing we all agreed upon… our least favorite was actually the one we own, BWV. I know, I know – at this very minute many of you BWV-lovers are firing up your torches to blaze us to a crisp, but understand that just because it’s our least fave doesn’t mean we didn’t love staying there. It simply doesn’t fit us as perfectly as some of the other choices out there (which I’ll get to in a minute). Truth is, there isn't one we DON'T like -- just some we LOVE more! We felt a bit too Clampettish at BWV. DH just can’t deal with valet, and when I would stroll through its lobby headed to the bus, all dressed for a trip to BB, I felt weird and out of place. Felt like I needed to go back and put on a skirt and blouse or something. If I were looking to feel “elegant” or pampered, it would be my first choice. I’m more BC or WL than GF, I guess. And please note these are all just my impressions, which combined with 75 cents might get you a soda somewhere but that’s it. It doesn’t really bother us that our pts are all in BWV – we may still want to try a BW view one day, that may change our perspective, who knows, maybe a different season will feel differently there, or maybe when it’s just DH and I one day, we’ll want that “luxury” feeling – who knows. BWV is a GREAT “last choice”!

So back again to WHICH RESORT IS OUR FAVE?!?

Well, DH answered very quickly: VWL and SSR. He just loves that lodge. And he truly loved SSR – the proximity of it to DTD, the parking arrangements, the community hall, the pool – despite any concessions in space and storage in the villas. He reckons it’s a tie between BCV and OKW; he loved SAB, and preferred the quieter, laid-back feel of BCV over BWV. But he still loves OKW for its spaciouness, laid back feel (and that whole parking thing again!) I suspect that a slide at OKW will really mix things up for him a bit and possibly move OKW up a notch. He knows too that the pts are cheaper at OKW, which could mean a longer stay, and every time we go, we have streeeeeetched our trip by another 2 days. We’re up to 13 days now – at OKW, we could have easily added another day or 3, depending upon room type! That says a lot to my DH.

And what about the kids – how do they feel? I was surprised to hear them even mention OKW – the boys were 6 and 4.5 the last time they went there. But they recall it fondly and are anxious to try a slide there! For our middle son, his faves are VWL and BCV tied. He loved SAB too much, but still loves that Lodge too. Then OKW and then SSR and then BWV. For eldest son, it was OKW and SSR, then VWL, then BCV, then BWV. DD said she loved them all – no preference – but all she talks about is the pool at SSR, if that’s any indication, and I’m sure she is swayed too by how GREAT the CMs were to her at SSR, also! Several went out of their way to chat with her, at the pool and at the C.Hall, to give her a little something, to just insure she was having a great time! She eats that up with a spoon (and admittedly so does her mom )

Speaking of Mom, er, ME… ahh yes me, that’s the opinion that REALLY counts, as my DH says, because I’M the one who does all the planning anyway, right? Well – it won’t come as much of a surprise, based on my family’s reactions, but I can’t get that Lodge off my mind. I'm more of a mountain person that a beach – always have been. Never cared for sand in my sheets! So my first choice would be VWL, with either SSR or OKW as a very close second. If I needed space, vote would go to OKW. On the other hand, with kids in tow, the community hall at SSR seems like such a great one, I might go there. One thing I noticed while listening to messages on my cell phone -- when DH and I left BCV or BWV, we always said "I'm headed back to the villa" or "I'll meet you back at the room". The messages from SSR had us saying, "I'll be home at..." Home. THere's the real telling sign, isn't it? And we always called VWL and OKW "home" or "the house" when we stayed there, too. BWV felt much more like a hotel to us, I guess.

We will probably do our next WDW trip to OKW; the slide will be complete and quite frankly, we could stand to conserve a bit on points! And it's been a long time since we've visited our old friend. But our next DVC trip will hopefully not be to WDW but instead to HHI – we haven’t tried this one or Vero yet and it’s our goal to do ‘em all! Gonna try for our 15th anniversary here (unless we try a cruise instead... ahh so many options, never enough points, vacation time, or cash...)

Any ???? ask away…

 

[dvcfamily41801]

Thanks so much for writing!! Can't wait to read your other reports

 

[LIFERBABE]

Loved ALL of it! LOL

Glad you weathered the storm and were able to enjoy the rest of your trip.

That's strange that they wouldnt allow your DD to wear her vest down the slide at Luna Park. My Ds has worn his and I've read several accounts of others doing the same.

We will be at BWV next month and VWL in Dec. Cant wait to try them out!

 

[MJTinNH]

Thanks for the great report. Loved all the details. I'll read your "really really Long" report tomorrow night. I'm sure it's fun reading too.

Glad you and your family enjoyed your vacation!

 

[kweaver]

If that's your "brief DVC focused review", I can't wait to read the whole trip report!

Great job...sounds like a wonderful trip!

 

[findbyme]

Coming down for first trip in February and will probably be a SSR owner before end of this week. I am encouraged by such a rave review of this property. My DH wants to stay at BWV but maybe we should try to stay at SSR for the inaguaral event.

Great report - read cover to cover

 

[dallastxcpa]

What a great trip report. I loved all the details especially about SSR my "home" We are looking forward to our December trip.

I am sorry to hear about the greedy people at BWV. That just stinks that people take advantage of the hospitality of others, including WDW management.

 

[TOMAR@SSR]

Hi gopherit
thank you so very much for taking the time to share such a wonderful, detailed, sincere report of your trip experience. It was a pleasure to read!!
We stood @ BCV a few weeks ago, walked around BWV too, but when we visited SSR, my dh was hooked on our home resort. It Does have the homey feel! I was also impressed with the epcot resorts though, (so much going on all around you ), , even a back door entrance to epcot! All the DVC resorts are great, i guess it`s just like you mentioned (it`s all about personal preference)!
thanks again,
_______________________________________

 

[KelNottAt]

Thanks for the great report. We're heading to BWV for the first time this weekend. All your info was just what the doctor ordered!

Kelley

 

[RJake1]

I was in Doubletree DTD for Charley and your notes brought those memories back.

FYI, the exit signs you say were 'folded' by Charley are designed to do just that. They bend in half under severe wind which is better than having them twisted and rendered useless, or worse yet, fly off and kill someone.

 

[PamOKW]

What a great report! Thanks for taking the time to share so many details and thoughts. Charley certainly added it's own chapter.

I think your comment

Truth is, there isn't one we DON'T like -- just some we LOVE more!

is right in line with the way I feel as well.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your trip report with us! I loved reading all the details, although not so much about the greedy guests! I think Tinkerbell needed to knock him over the head with her wand!
I really enjoyed reading about each property, especially my home, SSR! We plan on doing each and every property (except maybe value resorts) so hopefully I'll be able to contribute to these great trip reports some day. I hope that SSR keeps getting the good reviews after it fills up more and more phases are released. Thanks again and welcome back!

 

[Lexxiefern]

Thanks for the fabulous reports!! I really enjoyed reading all the details. Thanks for sharing!

 

[ErinC]

Thanks so much for the great trip report. We'll be trying SSR in Feb. and I can't wait to see how it compares with the other resorts we've tried.

Too bad about the vultures at BWV. Maybe this is why BCV charged the $3 for their meals, so folks wouldn't be so selfish and inconsiderate of others. (Some people just blow my mind! ) Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you were impressed with the way the accomodations stood up to the storm. I'm afraid they may get tested in a few more days again!

Thanks for all the details, I'm going to try to read the long reports later today. Erin

 

[bobbiwoz]

I enjoyed reading your reports, thank you very much for writing them. As I read the note above, regarding "vultures" I had to think, (I'm a bird person) but then I remembered the food freenzy. I'm glad you didn't focus on that, but it is something we ought to know about.

BWV will be the last WDW property we'll be staying at, (in December) it's our main home and I'm looking forward to seeing how we like it.

Bobbi

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

Thank you so much for sharing

 

[poohnpiglet3]

I am so glad you posted your trip reports! Wow! That took a long time to read (2 almost 2-year-olds interrupting the whole time) but it was so detailed!

Thanks for sharing - so glad you had a great time, despite Charley and Magical Gatherings... LOL

Sherri