Any THV reviews?

[LoveMickey]

We are hoping to stay at THV next year. I was just wondering if there were any reviews or suggestions you folks might have. ie. Best area to request, transportation system, etc.

Thanks,

 

[spiceycat]

several people love it.

others did not - I think mainly because of the transportation system.

the buses don't take you to the parks - just to SSR - when you then get on a bus to go to the parks.

 

[Pakey]

We stayed there last year. We are one of the few parties who did not care for it. We were a party of all adults.

Since almost everyone loves the THV, please take my opinions with a grain of salt. We have stayed at every DVC property except BLT and this was our least favorite.

Transportation is a pain. I would not stay here without a car. It took a great deal of time to get anywhere. I'm not just talking about the parks. We are pool people and it was a long trek to get from THV to a decent pool at SSR (the THV pool is just like our backyard one, not what we want to hang around on vacation). Or it was a long trek to the store, the bar, etc. You can request a villa close to Grandstand which shortens the walk but if you are the type (like us) who are going to make this walk more than once a day, it's still a pretty long walk. Unfortunately, we were not close to Grandstand so our hike was long enough to become annoying.

The villas themselves are nice enough but for our group, it didn't really work. Minor issues: the size of the bunk beds (great for kids, but not for adults), mosquitos, maintenance issues were slow to get addressed.

These minor things were not a big deal to us but the transportation and the pool were.

 

[kendzee94]

Here is my trip report from January with lots of THV pix.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2651483

We love them if you can't tell from my report! That was our second stay there. We've stayed 8 nights, 5 nights, and have a 10 night coming up at Christmas! With that said, out of the last five trips, we've stayed there (or will be there) three times! We've had villas 7030 and 7039.

We travel with no car, use ME, and decide once we get to the shuttle stop, no shuttle, we walk to the grandstand. Shuttle, take it! If we are not on aa time constraint and don't feel like walking, we just wait for the shuttle. I can't wait to stay there at Christmas with the level 10 crowds at the parks. It will be nice to go and get away from the hustle and bustle and craziness and have our own home that we don't have to share with anyone, won't have to hear our neighbors next to, above, or below us!

 

[alanapapa]

We loved our stay there last Xmas week. We did have issues with transportation, but we had expected them. We were two families, 9 people, with 4 kids and 5 adults. Next time we stay we will have less people, 9 is a bit crowded.

 

[bmalonef45]

While I could see that transportation could be annoying it wasn't that bad for us. We did have a car that we used part of the time but we also used the busses. But we walked to the main resort busses instead of taking the THV bus. The villas were really nice. Especially the bathrooms. We had two families of 4 sharing the room and it was perfect for us. If you don't like stairs or feeling like you are staying in a forest you probably won't like THV. But if you like something a little different than the normal DVC you'll be fine. I would also say if you like the decor of VWL you'll like the THV.

 

[LoveMickey]

Thanks for your inputs, both good and bad.

We do love VWL and are planning on having a vehicle. I will also request a Villa near the Grandstand walk way. We usually only use the vehicle to go to the parks in the am and rely on the busses to go back at night.

Thanks for the tip about using the Grandstand bus stop, that's probably better then waiting for the THV bus to come.

Thanks again guys, you are great.

 

[Cee]

The THV are OUTSTANDING. We loved everything about it. Enjoy!

 

[FindTheMickeys]

Stayed in a THV (#7002) in October. Farthest from the pools and the Grandstand. Approximately 1 block from the North bus stop. Once we got the schedule down (the THV buses run every 20 minutes), we had no problem! Love, love loved them and it was just 3 50 year old women. We all had our own bedroom. I wouldn't do a THV if I had my grandsons with me as there is A LOT of walking but when it was us adults and we could stroll, I'd do it again in a heart beat!!!

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Another vote for "love it!" We stayed there two summers ago, and have one reserved again for this coming August. Here's my trip report from last time. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2249094

You may also want to check out this recent thread in which several folks (myself included) gave pros and cons of the THV. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2709084

 

[DisneyMama27]

We stayed in THV for 10 nights last July and LOVED them! We had #7035, which is very close to the Grandstand walkway as well as the bus stop (which we never used - we drove our car or used the Grandstand bus stop). We had no problem with the walk to the main pool, gift shop, etc. Did it several times a day - when you're walking miles and miles around the parks, another 1/2 mile isn't going to kill you!

We also found a nearby walkway to Downtown - the West Side. It's a long walk, but not any further than walking to West Side from Congress Park.

We loved the deck, did not have a lot of trouble with mosquitos (I worried about that more than I needed to) - had a beautiful view of the golf course and Grandstand area. We were also across from the THV pool - during the day we'd go to the big pool, but late at night it was a great place to cool off!

We'd definitely stay again - loved the roominess, location, etc. Not sure it would be perfect for everyone, but we thought it was wonderful!