BCV 16/10/04 to 29/10/04
As we prepare for our upcoming trip to BCV in mid October (again, yea !), I realised that I hadnt posted my brief report from last year -
I am a great believer that life is all about give and take and having taken so much information and advice from these boards I thought it only right and proper to, in my own small and illiterate way, give a little back by posting a brief report on our experiences at the BCV.
As way of a little background I own and manage a sixty bed care home and employ forty five staff including carers, housekeepers, kitchen staff and gardeners. I mention this because I perhaps have more empathy with the problems associated with running a hospitality/service orientated business.
My family consists of myself, my wife (who must always be adored and obeyed), and my two sons (ages 4 and 7) and we live in the UK.
Anyway enough of me, on to the interesting stuff The holiday got off to a great start as we were bumped up to first class on our direct flight with Virgin from Gatwick to Orlando.
We stayed our first night at the Holiday Inn Family Suite near to Disney. Got a great rate on Expedia, hotel was in the process of being refurbished and I would not have wanted to stay here for more than one night.
Now having avidly read reports on the BCV I thought I would break my report down and offer my opinions on those observations (and complaints) that fellow DISers have made previously about the BCV.
We arrived at the Beach Club at 9.30am (Not once during our entire stay did anyone every say welcome home, which I cannot say bothered me one bit). Our bags were whisked away and we went to the front desk, no queue. Obviously at 9.30am our dedicated two bedroom villa was not yet ready, but we were given room keys and a card with a number to call to check back later. I would assess the front desk as business like and efficient, this could be easily be regarded as unfriendly but I feel the CMs working the desk have a difficult job as they have to be all things to all people. (I.e. the expectations and needs of the business man checking in to attend a conference are completely different to that of a DVC family checking in).
We went off to EPCOT and returned around four oclock and found that our room was ready. We had requested non smoking, non ground floor and a view of the quite pool (we had already confirmed a dedicated two bedroom, which meant we had two queen beds in the second bedroom) we were allocated room 368 which met with all our requests.
Room 368 was ideally located very near to the single elevator which takes you down to dunes cove and is very close to self parking. The room had two balconies (one off the sitting room, other off main bedroom) and was on the third floor slightly over the canal. It was clean, light and airy and I was very impressed with the overall specification of the room. The villa certainly had a lived in look and there were a number of dinks and scratches which comes with what I would expect as general wear and tear (but none that would indicate a refurb was required).
We ate several times at both Beeches and Cream and Cape May Café, with no complaints food and service was great and we really enjoyed the clam bake. Have to say we preferred the breakfast at Chef Mickeys to that of Cape May.
We also mainly used the bus system Wait times were just on the side of OK, but I will say that we found the bus drivers to be the friendliest people at WDW !
October is now my favourite month in which to visit WDW The weather was great (it rained only once during our two week stay, for about 10mins) and the crowds were manageable (Other than Epcot on Saturday night, heaving due to F&W)
I can honestly say that I had very high expectations of BCV and that they were met, and sometimes exceeded. The space a 2 bedroom villa afforded us was great, I really loved the theming, the relaxed and informal atmosphere, the pool was of course great and not forgetting the Location, Location and Location!
Regards
Macca
As we prepare for our upcoming trip to BCV in mid October (again, yea !), I realised that I hadnt posted my brief report from last year -
I am a great believer that life is all about give and take and having taken so much information and advice from these boards I thought it only right and proper to, in my own small and illiterate way, give a little back by posting a brief report on our experiences at the BCV.
As way of a little background I own and manage a sixty bed care home and employ forty five staff including carers, housekeepers, kitchen staff and gardeners. I mention this because I perhaps have more empathy with the problems associated with running a hospitality/service orientated business.
My family consists of myself, my wife (who must always be adored and obeyed), and my two sons (ages 4 and 7) and we live in the UK.
Anyway enough of me, on to the interesting stuff The holiday got off to a great start as we were bumped up to first class on our direct flight with Virgin from Gatwick to Orlando.
We stayed our first night at the Holiday Inn Family Suite near to Disney. Got a great rate on Expedia, hotel was in the process of being refurbished and I would not have wanted to stay here for more than one night.
Now having avidly read reports on the BCV I thought I would break my report down and offer my opinions on those observations (and complaints) that fellow DISers have made previously about the BCV.
We arrived at the Beach Club at 9.30am (Not once during our entire stay did anyone every say welcome home, which I cannot say bothered me one bit). Our bags were whisked away and we went to the front desk, no queue. Obviously at 9.30am our dedicated two bedroom villa was not yet ready, but we were given room keys and a card with a number to call to check back later. I would assess the front desk as business like and efficient, this could be easily be regarded as unfriendly but I feel the CMs working the desk have a difficult job as they have to be all things to all people. (I.e. the expectations and needs of the business man checking in to attend a conference are completely different to that of a DVC family checking in).
We went off to EPCOT and returned around four oclock and found that our room was ready. We had requested non smoking, non ground floor and a view of the quite pool (we had already confirmed a dedicated two bedroom, which meant we had two queen beds in the second bedroom) we were allocated room 368 which met with all our requests.
Room 368 was ideally located very near to the single elevator which takes you down to dunes cove and is very close to self parking. The room had two balconies (one off the sitting room, other off main bedroom) and was on the third floor slightly over the canal. It was clean, light and airy and I was very impressed with the overall specification of the room. The villa certainly had a lived in look and there were a number of dinks and scratches which comes with what I would expect as general wear and tear (but none that would indicate a refurb was required).
We ate several times at both Beeches and Cream and Cape May Café, with no complaints food and service was great and we really enjoyed the clam bake. Have to say we preferred the breakfast at Chef Mickeys to that of Cape May.
We also mainly used the bus system Wait times were just on the side of OK, but I will say that we found the bus drivers to be the friendliest people at WDW !
October is now my favourite month in which to visit WDW The weather was great (it rained only once during our two week stay, for about 10mins) and the crowds were manageable (Other than Epcot on Saturday night, heaving due to F&W)
I can honestly say that I had very high expectations of BCV and that they were met, and sometimes exceeded. The space a 2 bedroom villa afforded us was great, I really loved the theming, the relaxed and informal atmosphere, the pool was of course great and not forgetting the Location, Location and Location!
Regards
Macca
I've found them to be quite friendly but obviously it depends on who you get. And the BC, YC, and BCV staff all work for the same General Manager.
