A Few Question re: BWV Refurb

[annnewjerz]

Hi everyone, we will be staying at BWV for the first time this December and I thought I had read somewhere on this board that a refurb is scheduled to begin sometime in the near future. I have just a few questions I'm hoping to get help with.

1. When is the refurb scheduled to begin? I thought I read May, but I could be remembering incorrectly.

2. When they do a refurb at the DVC resorts, what does the refurb include?? New paint and sheets or do they do more extensive renos?

3. How long will a refurb usually take? As I said, we are going in December and just wondering what the likelihood is that we will be there when construction is happening.

4. Is there a way to request a refurbed room on our reservation if all of them haven't been completed yet on our arrival? If so---would I just have to contact MS for this, or ask upon arrival? We're staying in a standard view studio and from what I can tell, there aren't many of them to begin with.

Thanks so much for all of the help!
Ann

 

[tjkraz]

1. When is the refurb scheduled to begin? I thought I read May, but I could be remembering incorrectly.

I've never heard anything more concrete than "spring or summer." It's worth noting that this rumored rehab has yet to make it onto Disney official refurbishment schedule.

2. When they do a refurb at the DVC resorts, what does the refurb include?? New paint and sheets or do they do more extensive renos?

To date, none of the DVC villas have received anything more substantial than new carpet, wallcoverings, linens and furniture / fixtures as needed. Specific rooms may need drywall work, tile work, etc., but they will not be doing full-blown room design changes as with the likes of the Contemporary, Poly, BWI, etc.

3. How long will a refurb usually take? As I said, we are going in December and just wondering what the likelihood is that we will be there when construction is happening.

Until it hits Disney's schedule, there is no way of knowing. Could be weeks, months or years.

DVC rooms have been in existence for nearly 20 years now and they have been doing rolling refurbishments for a long time. Personally I'm not sure what to make of these BWV rumors because I don't think there is a precedent for saying "we're going to spend the next XX months systematically refurbishing all 400 BoardWalk Villas." Due to the high occupancy at DVC resorts and long lead time needed to schedule refurbs in advance (11+ months), the typical approach is to use DVC's 2% maintenance holdings to refresh select rooms on an ongoing basis.

Assuming DVC really is starting a big project at the BW, they could be doing a couple rooms at a time spread over a year or more. Or it could be something that was planned more than a year out to remove larger blocks of rooms.

4. Is there a way to request a refurbed room on our reservation if all of them haven't been completed yet on our arrival? If so---would I just have to contact MS for this, or ask upon arrival? We're staying in a standard view studio and from what I can tell, there aren't many of them to begin with.

You could try but I have no idea if Member Services would accept the request or if the room assigner would be making any sort of attempt to keep track of refurbished rooms.

Even if it does work, there's no guarantee the room you get will be top-notch. A room that's refurbished in June or July will still look very lived-in come December. All it takes is a few careless guests (or mediocre housekeepers) for new carpets to become stained, fixtures broken, walls dinged-up by luggage, etc.

I realize that everyone has visions of planning the perfect trip, but certain things are simply out of our control. Despite what you read on the Internet, the odds of you getting a lackluster room are quite small. There are something like 3000-4000 families checking into DVC rooms every single week. Few people bother to even mention stays that met or exceeded their expectations. It's only the rare horror stories that you hear about.

Check the room out when you arrive...note any problems and contact maintenance or housekeeping to resolve. Chances are they'll be addressed within an hour or two.

 

[annnewjerz]

I've never heard anything more concrete than "spring or summer." It's worth noting that this rumored rehab has yet to make it onto Disney official refurbishment schedule.



To date, none of the DVC villas have received anything more substantial than new carpet, wallcoverings, linens and furniture / fixtures as needed. Specific rooms may need drywall work, tile work, etc., but they will not be doing full-blown room design changes as with the likes of the Contemporary, Poly, BWI, etc.



Until it hits Disney's schedule, there is no way of knowing. Could be weeks, months or years.

DVC rooms have been in existence for nearly 20 years now and they have been doing rolling refurbishments for a long time. Personally I'm not sure what to make of these BWV rumors because I don't think there is a precedent for saying "we're going to spend the next XX months systematically refurbishing all 400 BoardWalk Villas." Due to the high occupancy at DVC resorts and long lead time needed to schedule refurbs in advance (11+ months), the typical approach is to use DVC's 2% maintenance holdings to refresh select rooms on an ongoing basis.

Assuming DVC really is starting a big project at the BW, they could be doing a couple rooms at a time spread over a year or more. Or it could be something that was planned more than a year out to remove larger blocks of rooms.



You could try but I have no idea if Member Services would accept the request or if the room assigner would be making any sort of attempt to keep track of refurbished rooms.

Even if it does work, there's no guarantee the room you get will be top-notch. A room that's refurbished in June or July will still look very lived-in come December. All it takes is a few careless guests (or mediocre housekeepers) for new carpets to become stained, fixtures broken, walls dinged-up by luggage, etc.

I realize that everyone has visions of planning the perfect trip, but certain things are simply out of our control. Despite what you read on the Internet, the odds of you getting a lackluster room are quite small. There are something like 3000-4000 families checking into DVC rooms every single week. Few people bother to even mention stays that met or exceeded their expectations. It's only the rare horror stories that you hear about.

Check the room out when you arrive...note any problems and contact maintenance or housekeeping to resolve. Chances are they'll be addressed within an hour or two.

Thanks for the info. I definitely do not expect the rooms to be perfect, I've stayed at a value every trip so far and have no issue with a room looking "lived in". For the most part, I just wanted to know how noticable any refurb would be.

When we have stayed in Aruba and Mexico, they refurbed portions of the hotel and I felt bad for anyone staying in that section---it was loud and looked like a horrible mess. They refurbed ASSp last time we were there in 07 and it didn't seem to be bad at all---wanted to see if it would be the same at BWV.

When it comes to Disney, I have no visions of planning a perfect trip because I learned a long time ago that being in Disney is what matters most to me and I will be BEYOND THRILLED to be within walking distance to DHS and Epcot.

I'm sure no matter what the condition of the room---it'll be a trip I don't forget.

 

[dvc_john]

I don't have any info about interior rehab's, but they are definitely doing an exterior rehab. They are in the process of re-roofing, painting, and putting up new awnings. As of a week or so ago, much of the area around the leisure pool was done, and they were working on the community center. They had scaffolding up around the sections they were working on.

The completed parts look great - like brand new. By comparison, the parts not completed look a bit shabby.