Granny
Yeah, I'm a guy
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2001
- Messages
- 14,434
Weve recently returned from a nice, long, two-week stay at WDW at BWV. And you all just knew that I had to check in here to let you know how it went for us. Without any additional comments about the rain or the park crowds, here are my impressions of the DVC experience from this trip:
Check in
We checked into the resort at 11:00 a.m. and to our delight our room was ready!! What a great bonus it is to get right into the room. We were ready and willing to wait until 4:00 for the room, but it sure is nice not to have to wait to unpack!
The front desk CM, Linda, was very sweet and greeted us with a hearty Welcome Home. She did a great job in getting us set up, and then added a little magical touch by calling our room later in the day and left a message asking if everything was to our satisfaction, and to let her know if we needed anything! Obviously, she will be prominently mentioned in my note to Disney management! Anyone know who I should be writing to?
Room Number & Description
We were in a 2 BR (lock off, of course) Standard View accommodation .numbers 5075 (1BR) & 5073 (Studio). This villa had three separate small, open-air balconies (not solid wall) off each of the rooms. The room is designated as Non-Smoking.
Room location & views
Okay, Ill admit it. We got really lucky and were only two rooms away from the elevators on the fifth floor!! We didnt request to be close to the elevators, and we dont think the walk is all that bad even to the farthest rooms, but it was handy to be that close to the elevators, especially for a 13 night stay. The rooms look out over the drive-up valet parking/unloading area in the front of the resort. Looking to our right was the driveway and the parking lots, though they are so nicely landscaped that we didnt feel like the view was boring in any way. We could see only the highest fireworks for Illuminations for those that like that.
Room condition
The overall cleanliness and room condition upon arrival was excellent. Knowing that I dont tend to inspect for these things closely enough, I got down on my knees and did manage to find a few flecks of mildew in the shower area. And a couple of small (1/8) paint chips in the bottom of the connecting doorway from the studio. But that was about it .overall, we found the accommodations to be their usual first-class level.
The fold out sofa in the studio portion was comfortable for my DD13, but since we drove we threw in one of those egg-carton foam pads and it made it even more comfortable. If we were flying, I wouldnt even think about it but since we drove we just jammed it into the back of our minivan!
The room was labeled as Non-Smoking and we did not smell even a hint of smoke. Thats important to us as my daughter has allergies and asthma.
One glitch on the third day we had no hot water in the morning. Evidently, the boiler went out on them the night before. The CM at Muscles & Bustles was very nice when my daughter went down there to take a hot shower (DW & I roughed it with cold showers in the villa!). By the time we came back to our room that afternoon, the hot water had returned.
Noise
We received a notice in our packet that they were refurbishing some pipes around the BWV during our stay. We never heard anything in the way of noise regarding that. We did hear some noise from the landscapers as they cut the grass, trimmed and used blowers to clear the sidewalks. But that was because we slept in most days and they couldnt wait forever for us to leave our villa!
Mousekeeping
We received Trash & Towel and Full Cleaning on the appropriate days and the maids were very accommodating to our Do not disturb signs that we had on the door until late in the mornings. Cleaning was good and no problem with towel counts.
We did walk through the hallways a lot and in the two weeks we were there, we didnt see any trash sitting in bags in the hallways as others have reported.
Bus Service
I have to admit that our past experience with bus service at BWV had been less than great. But on this trip, the bus service was fantastic! I decided to time our various trips and the longest wait we had was 20 minutes for a DTD bus one evening. All in all, we took 8 bus trips from BWV, and the waits ranged from 2-20 minutes, with only two of the waits exceeding 12 minutes.
Most of the bus routes were shared with the Swan & Dolphin only .no Beach or Yacht Club stops. I know that there was one route that still shared with all five of the other resorts, but I cant remember which one it was. Still, the bus service for this trip was first class, in our opinion.
CMs
I have to say that the BWV CMs continue to excel in their attitude and desire to satisfy the guests. Every single CM we met was at a minimum courteous, and most were downright friendly. The front desk staff was excellent every time we needed them (which was fairly often since they handled Guest Services much of the time). The valet parking guys were all hustling and very helpful, always asking if we needed directions. And the guard shack guards gave us a welcome home every time, especially the older gentlemen who gave us the WC along with a sharp salute!! I could swear it was the same guy who did that for us during our VWL stays!
Bottom line
First class personnel, first class accommodations, first class resort. We look forward to many more stays at this beautiful resort with its wonderful location.
Check in
We checked into the resort at 11:00 a.m. and to our delight our room was ready!! What a great bonus it is to get right into the room. We were ready and willing to wait until 4:00 for the room, but it sure is nice not to have to wait to unpack!
The front desk CM, Linda, was very sweet and greeted us with a hearty Welcome Home. She did a great job in getting us set up, and then added a little magical touch by calling our room later in the day and left a message asking if everything was to our satisfaction, and to let her know if we needed anything! Obviously, she will be prominently mentioned in my note to Disney management! Anyone know who I should be writing to?
Room Number & Description
We were in a 2 BR (lock off, of course) Standard View accommodation .numbers 5075 (1BR) & 5073 (Studio). This villa had three separate small, open-air balconies (not solid wall) off each of the rooms. The room is designated as Non-Smoking.
Room location & views
Okay, Ill admit it. We got really lucky and were only two rooms away from the elevators on the fifth floor!! We didnt request to be close to the elevators, and we dont think the walk is all that bad even to the farthest rooms, but it was handy to be that close to the elevators, especially for a 13 night stay. The rooms look out over the drive-up valet parking/unloading area in the front of the resort. Looking to our right was the driveway and the parking lots, though they are so nicely landscaped that we didnt feel like the view was boring in any way. We could see only the highest fireworks for Illuminations for those that like that.
Room condition
The overall cleanliness and room condition upon arrival was excellent. Knowing that I dont tend to inspect for these things closely enough, I got down on my knees and did manage to find a few flecks of mildew in the shower area. And a couple of small (1/8) paint chips in the bottom of the connecting doorway from the studio. But that was about it .overall, we found the accommodations to be their usual first-class level.
The fold out sofa in the studio portion was comfortable for my DD13, but since we drove we threw in one of those egg-carton foam pads and it made it even more comfortable. If we were flying, I wouldnt even think about it but since we drove we just jammed it into the back of our minivan!
The room was labeled as Non-Smoking and we did not smell even a hint of smoke. Thats important to us as my daughter has allergies and asthma.
One glitch on the third day we had no hot water in the morning. Evidently, the boiler went out on them the night before. The CM at Muscles & Bustles was very nice when my daughter went down there to take a hot shower (DW & I roughed it with cold showers in the villa!). By the time we came back to our room that afternoon, the hot water had returned.
Noise
We received a notice in our packet that they were refurbishing some pipes around the BWV during our stay. We never heard anything in the way of noise regarding that. We did hear some noise from the landscapers as they cut the grass, trimmed and used blowers to clear the sidewalks. But that was because we slept in most days and they couldnt wait forever for us to leave our villa!
Mousekeeping
We received Trash & Towel and Full Cleaning on the appropriate days and the maids were very accommodating to our Do not disturb signs that we had on the door until late in the mornings. Cleaning was good and no problem with towel counts.
We did walk through the hallways a lot and in the two weeks we were there, we didnt see any trash sitting in bags in the hallways as others have reported.
Bus Service
I have to admit that our past experience with bus service at BWV had been less than great. But on this trip, the bus service was fantastic! I decided to time our various trips and the longest wait we had was 20 minutes for a DTD bus one evening. All in all, we took 8 bus trips from BWV, and the waits ranged from 2-20 minutes, with only two of the waits exceeding 12 minutes.
Most of the bus routes were shared with the Swan & Dolphin only .no Beach or Yacht Club stops. I know that there was one route that still shared with all five of the other resorts, but I cant remember which one it was. Still, the bus service for this trip was first class, in our opinion.
CMs
I have to say that the BWV CMs continue to excel in their attitude and desire to satisfy the guests. Every single CM we met was at a minimum courteous, and most were downright friendly. The front desk staff was excellent every time we needed them (which was fairly often since they handled Guest Services much of the time). The valet parking guys were all hustling and very helpful, always asking if we needed directions. And the guard shack guards gave us a welcome home every time, especially the older gentlemen who gave us the WC along with a sharp salute!! I could swear it was the same guy who did that for us during our VWL stays!
Bottom line
First class personnel, first class accommodations, first class resort. We look forward to many more stays at this beautiful resort with its wonderful location.
for taking the time to post a wonderful trip report. I am biased toward the kind where mostly everything was great 
).
