Am I toast at VWL?

[CK1]

I have read these threads about VWL with its poor transportation, the "garbage view", and the infamous HC rooms and am wondering -- please tell me these are the "minority report"! We are BWV members and booked there at our 11 mos. window for mid-August, but @ 7 mos, we switched it to VWL. We requested a NS 2 br dedicated (need those 2 queen beds for our crew of 8 -- 4 adults, 4 kids). If we end up in a HC room, are my kids going to be able to reach all the stove controls, thermostat, etc.? (Oh Good Lord -- a nightmare!) I don't even want to THINK about the possibility of having a smoking room. And "garbage view"? I know I sound paranoid, but since we booked it @ the 7 mos window, I keep wondering if we're low man on the totem pole and will get the "whatever's left" room! How many HC 2 br dedicated room are there? (It sounded like most of the HC rooms were studios and one br). Has anyone ever gotten S room but asked for NS? I called DVC the other day and asked them to put "pool view" in our request (just in case it helped in any way to buffer chance against Garbage View). Now I am nervous -- did that "new" request put us at the end of the list?? Not sure how the whole priority thing works and getting nervous! SHould I call back and ask for "No HC" too? Or leave it alone? Do I need to check in extra early? Or late? AUGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!

My BIL and SIL are coming with us and they've heard us rave about our DVC experiences. If this doesn't go well... we're never gonna live it down! (Plus, for a 10 day vacation, we really want to enjoy it ourselves, too!) I can roll with the punches and am not a nit-picker, honestly -- the view is not so very important -- but the HC room would be a saftey hazard with my crew and the S room -- well, we truly would be ill.

Any help you can offer or words of assuagement would help -- I have 3 weeks 'til we leave and I'm going nuts!!!

CIndy

 

[Lisa F]

We own at BWV but stayed at VWL shortly after it opened. We loved the place so much that we did a 50 point add on there and have stayed there a couple more times (usually for just one or two nights at a time). We have never gotten a view of garbage, just a lot of trees. We have never gotten a HC room but if it worries you, you might want to call and add that to your requests (non HC). Also remember to ask when checking in just to be sure so there are no surprises. I also never got a smoking room when I requested non-smoking. We have never found cm's to be anything but friendly and Disney.

Lisa

 

[Picasso Boy]

We have been going to WDW since it opened and have always been taken care of.
We stayed at WL in june 02 and were given a S room by mistake.
A quick phone call to guest services and about 5 minutes later we had the NS room we wanted.
No worries!

 

[bub]

We stayed at VWL last year and loved it. We were given a HC room at first (studio), but after an hour managed to get it changed. Otherwise we had a great stay - the location and theming of the resort are wonderful. You should have a great trip - don't stress out about it too much!

 

[ErinC]

Cindy, I would try to relax a little. I still think that most of the not so good experiences are not that common. We had our first stay in May and absolutely loved it. I personally think that you would have a better chance of getting an acceptable room with an early check in. Not early morning , but early afternoon. Once I got the room assignment I would check it out quickly and if it's something you can't live with asked to be moved immediately. I would let them know at checkin that with your children, a HC room is out of the question. Keep in mind that most rooms have a woods view, a few have a quiet pool view. We had a woods view on the bay side. It was an odd numbered studio,room on the 4th floor. (4543, I think) I think that you will have a great time, the resort is beautiful, and sooooo relaxing. I know it's hard not to worry so much, I too worry about every little detail. Have a great time on your trip, and let us know how every thing goes. Erin

 

[Rock'n Robin]

We were just there and absolutely loved it. Right now we actually like it more than BWV. We were on the 5th floor and saw a lot of trees. Relax, you'll love it.
Robin M.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I was one of the people with the HC room situation. But I recently got a call from a front desk manager at WL, and after talking with her, even I'd be willing to give it another chance. She sounded very nice, and assured me she'd "spoken with" all the CM about how to/not to treat guests. I have a feeling after talking to her, that WL is on its best behavior wanting to please people, and you'll have a lovely time.

 

[Laurabearz]

Originally posted by Simba's Mom
I was one of the people with the HC room situation. But I recently got a call from a front desk manager at WL, and after talking with her, even I'd be willing to give it another chance. She sounded very nice, and assured me she'd "spoken with" all the CM about how to/not to treat guests. I have a feeling after talking to her, that WL is on its best behavior wanting to please people, and you'll have a lovely time.

I am so glad you feel better about VWL Simba.... Nice to know the FDM followed thru

 

[patsal]

Cindy,
Calm down, LOL. I post the good, the bad and the ugly, just to keep it honest. I still think that this was the best WDW vacation we have ever had. I have booked VWL again for Easter and will again in the future. The transportaation is not a total nightmere, just a minor inconvienience you will adjust to. The view will be fine, ask for upper level, the higher you are the less chance for "garbage" view you will have. As I said before, the trees have not matured yet, but when they do the view will keep all "yuck" obstructed. From the studio 3538 the only thing that was obvious was the utility shed, but a pool view would certainly eliminate all possibility of that. Worst case you dislike the room so much you refuse it and they find you another. Do you spend tons of time in the room? If you do than let them know that at check in. You will have a wonderful vacation and your guests are sure to enjoy themselves too. Remember you can't get all upset over what you really have no power to control or change!
Sal

 

[Granny]

Cindy...

Click on this link to go to a very recent thread about VWL's good points. It should set your mind at ease.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=222361&highlight=support


And Simba's Mom....I'm really happy that you had such a good conversation with the front desk manager. I just felt that you would be missing out on something if you crossed VWL off of your accommodation choices forever. It sounds like the conversation made you feel better about VWL and DVC in general...great!

 

[MardiGrasDVC]

I was another who posted a bad VWL experience (requested N/S Studio, but got a Smoking & Handicapped Studio). I have also heard from a manager at VWL, who really made me feel that they were concerned about my experience. She gave us a free night's stay, which we have already booked as part of our Feb 2003 trip. I think the bad experiences are definitely a minority (just a vocal one!!), and I have no qualms about giving the VWL another try.

 

[shelly3girls]

I also posted a bad review of the WL although we did not stay in the villas. We stayed at the WL last November. Although we had problems with our room, I believe it was an isolated issue. We had no problems with the transportation and thought the atmosphere was great. We did take a taxi to the poly for the luau since we were running late. I found the boat to the MK wonderful. The only thing I would advise is that you hang around the MK after the fireworks for shopping instead of trying to get the boat right away. There was a very long line that seemed to be down to almost nothing by the time we actually got on the boat. Wish we had just taken our time in the park. We LOVED the boat light show. We could hear the music from our room, but it didn't bother us. Now that time has gone by and I have calmed a bit, my thoughts have changed. Overall the WL is a beautiful hotel as I am sure the villas are even better. I would recommend it and gladly stay there again.

 

[JudithM]

Simba's Mom, glad to read you heard from a VWL front desk CM & are willing to stay there again .

 

[Simba's Mom]

Hey, wait a minute-a FREE night! Maybe I should reconsider this-I thought I was satisfied(LOL)!
PS. Congratulations! Guess we'll go back anways!

 

[spiceycat]

I posted the pictures of the VWL with a bad view - so you would know not to take that room - don't worry - the VWL is absolute beautiful - except as noted - and I don't think you will have problem -

request this - as high up as possible and near the elevators (the bad views are not near the elevators) - except to wait for these rooms however. if you want a room when you check in you might ask to see the room before you decide - if you can't live with it and change it.

 

[lawgs]

you will not be toast as long as you get what you want.....

being one who also posted on simba's mom thread about our VWL experience.....it was not the resort that was at fault....the resort itself is idyllic

it was the handling of the "issues" and "concerns" by the "front desk" or castmembers that seemed to "darken" the vacation experience....

after being urged by others on the board to send a letter to "those" concerned at disney ) i did so on june 28, 2002 by certified mail from buffalo....

with certified mail they can tell when the letter has been delivered since a signature is required according to their webiste....

as of today, there is no indication on the tracking site of usps.com other than .....we received your letter on june 28, 2002 at 8:36 am in buffalo, ny

so either the us post office is not good at delivery or disney is not signing for certified mail... no one can seem to tell me....although simba's mom said they had no record of the "letter" that she sent to the VWL even though she has now "talked" to someone from VWL....

we are now working through "DVC Customer Satisfaction" department to get our "message" to the general manager at WL who is responsible for the Villas also....hopefully we will finally get some "resolution" to our concern which by the way was verbally presented to the general manager when we were there as we had occasion to have him "show up" in our supposedly "not occupied room" mid way through our vacation

granny posts of good reviews and there are probably a lot of people who do not have to deal with the "concerns" that others have had to in their stays at VWL...but that does not mean, negative things do not happen

as with our visit, it usually is not the resort itself that is faulted .....but the "treatment" and misinformation that some times flows from those who should be knowledgeable and willing to make the stay at HOME as pleasant as possible....as that is one of the reasons we all probably bought into DVC .....that LITTLE extra attention ... maybe it all comes down to expectations ( as it was in our case since we were expecting the one bedroom we had seen in the model suite not the handicap unit they assigned to us based on our one request of "non smoking room" )

by the way we have been members since feb 1992 so have had a lot of interaction with stays at disney with any of them very pleasant so we do not have an 'axe to grind'