another great trip

[Steve@BWV]

Just got back from a week at the BWV. We had a standard one bedroom. The unit was nice and clean but seemed on the edge of needing refurbishing. There was nothing that would take away from the trip, just some loose ends (torn back edge of couch cushion, stained underside of chair cushion, dozens of scratches on bottom of the furniture, etc). Overall I would rate the room an A-. Much more good than bad.

I was amazed to see the BWV will need to be painted soon. It seems like every time we are there it is being painted or is in need of paint. But everything else there was in great shape. There was the full compliment of performers on the Boardwalk every night. This sure helps liven the quiet nights.

I saw activity above Jelly Rolls on most nights. What is this area used for?

We got stranded for two extra nights due the storm in the northeast. We could only get a studio at Saratoga, the only room on property available. Since we are out of points (we have a new kid on the way in June and tried to use them up) we had to pay the $225 per night. Ouch. This amounted to an extra day (a day with a high temp of 50 degrees no less) as we left Monday morning at 5 am to catch out plane. And effectively doubled our budget.

But on the bright side, we got to stay at SSR. I believe this is now our favorite stand-alone resort. The location is wanting. I do not care to see the Hilton and others towering overhead. Or the bus to everywhere. Or the traffic whizzing by the one section. But the resort is beautiful. The pool is great and the play areas for the little ones are terrific. My 2 1/2 year old wanted to leave the MK to go back to the playground. The rooms are laid out great (with the sole exception of the bathroom door hitting the closet door if both are open, and they both were more often then not). The decor is formal, but not stuffy. The common areas are fabulous. Very well done. We may buy points here now.

Got to ride Everest! Twice!

Dinning was good overall, Boma great again, Bongo's terrible.

 

[loveswdw]

Did you at least get a DVC member discount on the cash rate? $225 sounds low for a studio. Although for me that's still OUCH! That's what we bought DVC for, right? To not pay the crazy cash prices! But glad that they could find you a room.

Glad you had a good trip! And good to hear that Saratoga got a thumbs up in several categories.

 

[Steve@BWV]

The $225 was the DVC discount + tax. After 8 years of paying with points only, Ouch indeed. I spoke with central reservations and they had no availability elsewhere. He even checked outside WDW, some program called the good neighbors. Nothing there either. The cheerleaders were in town for the weekend, this may have something to do with it.

 

[twotoohappy]

I saw activity above Jelly Rolls on most nights. What is this area used for?



Dinning was good overall, Boma great again, Bongo's terrible.

I don't know about JR. Anybody? Karen?

Bummer about Bongo's. I had a great dinner there last summer. Boma's is our favorite too!

Just noticed your # of posts.....

 

[TLinden16]

I saw activity above Jelly Rolls on most nights. What is this area used for?

They call that space about Jellyrolls the Attic. From my understanding, it's used for private events.

 

[pigby]

Or the traffic whizzing by the one section.

Thanks for the quick review on SSR - I assume that the section with the traffic whizzing by would eb in the Paddocks - is this therefore an area to be avoided if possible?

 

[byoung]

Thanks for the report.

 

[Steve@BWV]

The area we stayed in was the paddocks. After rereading my post, I may have overstated the traffic problem. The traffic was not a big issue, more of a slight annoyance. We could here trucks at night, not loud enough to wake us up, just enough to remind us of the road. It was not enough of a problem to ask to be moved. It just seemed with such a large area to build on (the resort is HUGE) why push the buildings up against the road?

The long walk to Artist Pallet was a bigger downfall of the location. In order to get there you need to cross a long foot bridge across a pond. Sea gulls congregated in this area. There were 50+ sitting on the hand rails. While my 2 year old son enjoyed chasing them away, my wife didn't enjoy getting pooped on.

I liked the easy access to the rooms from the parking lot. But the concrete floor in the hall area really amplifies the sound of foot steps (mostly running). But the amount of traffic going by your door compared to the standard hallways is minimal, so the overall noise is less.