Attached to resorts--or "stand alone" DVC

[Sammie]

Sammie, although we certainly don't eat at YSH every night of our trip, I do make an AR at least once per trip(we don't always make it however). We usually hit B&C for lunch or a quick dinner for our son. We now have a tradition of having a meal at Crew's Cup usually on our last night. We still don't go to YCGalley very often but I hope to change that as it's another good choice for B,L or D. You can now even get good sandwiches, pastries and gelato at the BC Marketplace. We can reach all of these from our villa without going out in the rain. To us, that is one more advantage of BCV. It is important to us.

Entertainment at night means nothing to us. If we're not at a park, we're reading in our villa. But again, different things are important to different families.

I understand your comments completely as they are based on your preferences and facts.

The following comments are based on previous comments in this thread and comments in general about SSR and OKW.

I don't understand some of the comments made by others that are not fact based about SSR and OKW simply because they are different from the attached resorts. If someone states they prefer an attached resort to a stand alone because they prefer what is offered to be under one roof, they have stated a fact.

I just wish at times there would be no need to put down one resort down to make another look better.

BW is the best resort for going to MGM, but I am not sure the dining options there or the entertainment truly appeal to the majority of owners if they would be honest. The choices are expensive, you must leave the building and go outside to get to them, and the entertainment is not necessarily family oriented. Transportation to other parks is not good at all.

BCV has a great pool for older kids, but not necessarily the best for young children. Again there are no good options for quick affordable food. The marketplace at BC has helped, but it is certainly not as good as Artist's Pallette. BCV has the best location for going to Epcot, but most owners here drive to MK and AK.

WL is great for getting to the MK and water recreational activities, but if I had to eat more than one meal at WCC during my trip I would be insane. Too expensive and too loud, Artist Pointe has a very unique and expensive menu. Everyone complains about the transportation to other parks.

My point again is no resort is perfect and when comparing them it would be nice if some could see their home resort for what it truly is and not act like they are describing their children where all their faults are nonexistent

 

[MiaSRN62]

BCV23 says : Don't you have to walk to the bus? From some places in WS, it is shorter to walk to the BCV than to the buses at the front of Epcot.

That's probably the nail on the head right there for me. The kids don't really like spending that much time in the Worldshowcase (they find it boring...lol). So most of our time at Epcot is spent in Future World, thus making the busses much more convenient for our way of park touring. I know it's different strokes for different folks, but really the walking is only convenient to and from BWV when in the Worldshowcase and we don't spend much time there (except Food and Wine !). It's a hike to BWV from Future World in our opinion. And we find the bus definitely more convenient from MGM to say OKW as an example. The walk to and from BWV/BCV from MGM is def longer. To be fair, I do like the boat from BWV to MGM though.

and luggage delivered to the room

We can have this at OKW as well.............

 

[BCV23]

I understand your comments completely as they are based on your preferences. I don't understand some of the comments based on untruths about SSR and OKW simply because they are different. If you state you prefer an attached resort to a stand alone because you prefer what is offered to be under one roof, you have stated a fact.

I just wish at times there would be no need to put down one resort down to make another look better.

BW is the best resort for going to MGM, but I am not sure the dining options there or the entertainment truly appeal to the majority of owners if they would be honest. The choices are expensive, you must leave the building and go outside to get to them, and the entertainment is not necessarily family oriented. Transportation to other parks is not good at all.

BCV has a great pool for older kids, but not necessarily the best for toddlers. Again there are no good options for quick affordable food. The marketplace at BC has helped, but it is certainly not as good as Artist's Pallette. BCV has the best location for going to Epcot, but most owners here drive to MK and AK.

WL is great for getting to the MK and water recreational activities, but if I had to eat more than one meal at WCC during my trip I would be insane. Too expensive and too loud, Artist Pointe has a very unique and expensive menu. Everyone complains about the transportation to other parks.

My point again is no resort is perfect and when comparing them it would be nice if some could see their home resort for what it truly is and not act like they are describing their children where all their faults are nonexistent

I don't believe I have ever stated any untruths about DVC resorts. I also never said I prefer attached over stand alones. In fact, BCV is our favorite but I also very much like OKW. The other three are way down our list but strictly because of our own and perhaps odd preferences.

Perhaps I haven't been on the DVC boards enough but I see more negative and condescending posts about BCV and BWV than I do about OKW or SSR.

I almost always agree with your points, Sammie and I certainly do about not putting down others' preferences. One point I disagree about is SAB for toddlers. I think it is great for them. It is the in between kids I worry about there. Old enough to want to be adventuresome but not strong enough swimmers to be on their own in that pool.

As far as Artist Palette compared to BCMarketplace, I certainly wasn't comparing them. Can't do that as I've never been to Artist Palette. But then there are so many other choices at Y&BC including the snack bar at the pool. For families that like to cook some meals or prefer to eat in the parks or offsite, it doesn't matter of course. It does to some of us.

BTW, has anyone talked about having spa right on site. I enjoy having a salon that I can walk down to at BCV but SSR lovers must delight in the spa. I know I would enjoy that more if my "home" were near it.

 

[Sammie]

I don't believe I have ever stated any untruths about DVC resorts. I also never said I prefer attached over stand alones. In fact, BCV is our favorite but I also very much like OKW. The other three are way down our list but strictly because of our own and perhaps odd preferences.

Perhaps I haven't been on the DVC boards enough but I see more negative and condescending posts about BCV and BWV than I do about OKW or SSR.

I almost always agree with your points, Sammie and I certainly do about not putting down others' preferences. One point I disagree about is SAB for toddlers. I think it is great for them. It is the in between kids I worry about there. Old enough to want to be adventuresome but not strong enough swimmers to be on their own in that pool.

As far as Artist Palette compared to BCMarketplace, I certainly wasn't comparing them. Can't do that as I've never been to Artist Palette. But then there are so many other choices at Y&BC including the snack bar at the pool. For families that like to cook some meals or prefer to eat in the parks or offsite, it doesn't matter of course. It does to some of us.

BTW, has anyone talked about having spa right on site. I enjoy having a salon that I can walk down to at BCV but SSR lovers must delight in the spa. I know I would enjoy that more if my "home" were near it.

You did not state any untruths, others have. And you are probably right about the age of kids for SAB, Toddlers I guess can enjoy the shallow pool area. I quoted you then proceeded to comment about other comments in this thread and previous threads, sorry if that came across as you said it, I should have been more plain. I will correct my previous comments, thanks for bringing it to my attention, which is what I get for typing and watching TV at the same time.

 

[NMW]

some people are more attached to their cars.....I HATE other people to drive my car!!!

LOL, you are just like my mother. I went with her to a bridal luncheon in Philly 2 weeks ago in her Acura and we had to use valet parking. Well, when we left she complained the entire drive home about how the driver moved her mirrror and maybe her seat too and did it smell like smoke in here? He must have been a smoker and stunk up her car or maybe his clothing just smelled like smoke, etc. Of course she also wont let my father drive her car either, or me for that matter!

 

[BCV23]

Sammie, thank you for the clarification.

 

[SoCalKDG]

BW is the best resort for going to MGM, but I am not sure the dining options there or the entertainment truly appeal to the majority of owners if they would be honest.

I think Fantasmic is the best night time show at WDW, followed closely by Illuminations(we watch fireworks at DL all the time, thus limited attraction for our family at WDW). To me that is the advantage of the Epcot resorts. Now if I was in my 20's with no kids, then SSR being near DTD sounds like lots of fun.

Someone asked how far the longest walk was at BWV from the farthest away room. It is about .11 miles, or approx. 3-4 minutes to the boardwalk, then another 1-2 minutes to a number of places to eat.

Now I'll ask what would the longest walk be from OKW or SSR to the main restuarant? To an area with 4 or 5 restuarants?

 

[MiaSRN62]

Now if I was in my 20's with no kids, then SSR being near DTD sounds like lots of fun.

Now see, I have kids 12, 14 and 18 and they LOVE DTD and would love being able to walk there. I think alot of kids this age group would enjoy the SSR area. My dh and I are in our early 40's and enjoy this area very much as well.

Now I'll ask what would the longest walk be from OKW or SSR to the main restuarant? To an area with 4 or 5 restuarants?

I think SSR, particularily, is close (walking distance) or a boat ride to many dining options at DD. We also find the some of the dining a little more affordable in DD. My kids were not thrilled with the Spoodles dinner menu and Flying Fish is pretty pricey when you're on a budget for dining with a family of 5. I def couldn't see us eating at either of them more than once and probably wouldn't do Flying Fish at all. We all do enjoy Cape May Cafe , but no more than we enjoy Olivia's at OKW. So for us, even the dining options don't seem "all that" on the Boardwalk for us.

 

[paults]

attached to: if only for more dinning options.

OWK 1 rest---stand alone yes they have DTD boat ride
SSR 1 counter-stand alone yes DTD-boat ride
BWV and BCV --attached a lot of dinning options
VWL 3 options

if I missed something ,sorry. Don't know about HHI and VB

 

[MiaSRN62]

BWV and BCV --attached a lot of dinning options. VWL 3 options

I agree with the above options, but, I just wonder how many times one can afford to dine at places like Flying Fish (BWV) or Artist Point (WL) during the course of a week's stay (even Spoodles is not something we prefer to do more than once when staying at BWV)? Besides, my kids find these type of places too fancy/stuffy and don't enjoy the menu. We do like the food court at WL (Roaring Forks) & my kids love Whispering Canyon.
DD has more practical dining options in our opinion, thus making SSR and OKW in a slightly better locale for dining option (or at least even with BWV/BCV) for us.
Happy Thanksgiving all

 

[jade1]

DD has more practical dining options in our opinion, thus making SSR and OKW in a slightly better locale for dining option (or at least even with BWV/BCV) for us.

Many of us have AP or have been in the parks during the day, that means the parks are food options as well. The boat at VWL is 2 minutes to Contemporary which gives you another larger food court and 3 great restraunts and I think its closer by boat to all the MK food choices than the boat from OKW to DTD. Same goes for BCV and BWV to endless EPCOT choices in minutes.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Many of us have AP or have been in the parks during the day

True, we do not have AP's so I guess that is why it does not benefit us that much. We're very happy with the dining options at OKW and DD and feel the boat ride is a very nice (maybe 10 min) ride to DD. I know many staying at SSR can walk to DD in 10-15 min I know it takes 10-15 min to walk to Epcot so distance is not a factor for us.

 

[jade1]

True, we do not have AP's so I guess that is why it does not benefit us that much. We're very happy with the dining options at OKW and DD and feel the boat ride is a very nice (maybe 10 min) ride to DD. I know many staying at SSR can walk to DD in 10-15 min I know it takes 10-15 min to walk to Epcot so distance is not a factor for us.

I'm just pointing out if you are going to count a 15 minute walk to DTD as dining options for the stand alone SSR or a 10 minute boat ride to DTD as dining options for stand alone OKW, you need to consider that same scenario for BCV/BWV/VWL above and beyound what is available at these attached resorts. BCV can take a boat right across the lake in about a minute be at all the BW choices, BWV can walk over to all of the BC choices, both can walk or boat to EPCOT and MGM in the same time your are comparing, VWL can boat in a couple minutes to all the CR, POLY and GF choices by monorail as well as MK.

 

[MiaSRN62]

BCV can take a boat right across the lake in about a minute be at all the BW choices, BWV can walk over to all of the BC choices, both can walk or boat to EPCOT and MGM in the same time your are comparing, VWL can boat in a couple minutes to all the CR, POLY and GF choices by monorail as well as MK.

And I wasn't disagreeing with you. It's simply that I don't feel as a family, we would personally eat more than once at Spoodles or even at all at Flying Fish (pretty pricey there !) It's a one-trip splurge kind of meal if you ask me. For those that don't have AP's such as ourselves, going into the parks for meals isn't an option either. You mentioned "many of us have AP's"---which I'm sure is true, but I believe many also do not have them. So being within walking distance to Epcot/MGM is no perk in this regard for us and others that don't have AP's as far as dining options go. I totally agree about VWL---in fact, we much prefer the dining options there to BWV/BCV. I wish all the DVC resorts had food courts/indoor counter service actually. Also, the MK is our favorite park, so again VWL is a plus for us. Though we love OKW, I have a feeling we would have been tempted to buy at VWL had it existed when we became Members.

 

[jade1]

You mentioned "many of us have AP's"---which I'm sure is true, but I believe many also do not have them. So being within walking distance to Epcot/MGM is no perk in this regard for us and others that don't have AP's as far as dining options go. I totally agree about VWL---in fact, we much prefer the dining options there to BWV/BCV. I wish all the DVC resorts had food courts/indoor counter service actually. Also, the MK is our favorite park, so again VWL is a plus for us. Though we love OKW, I have a feeling we would have been tempted to buy at VWL had it existed when we became Members.

But ANY day you do use a park gives you the park options even if its a hopper pass, if you only visit parks 1 or 2 days per trip then I see it as not much of an advantage-point taken.

Since the OP was asking about stand alone and you and I agree that VWL has some great food options and great location to MK, I am curious what you think about a possible DVC at Contemporary-since it wouldn't be standalone?

 

[MiaSRN62]

But ANY day you do use a park gives you the park options even if its a hopper pass, if you only visit parks 1 or 2 days per trip then I see it as not much of an advantage-point taken.

Again, agreed........but during the course of say a 7 day week, we may only visit the main parks 4x at most. And if we're in a park, we do tend to dine there. Our park commando days are over, and we have in recent years been setting aside just 2-3 "downtime", water park, visiting nearby relatives or relaxation days and hang at the resort or go shopping etc. This is just our personal touring after so many visits to WDW. Friends of mine are returning from wdw shortly after staying at the VWL and I know they talked about doing the same----setting aside at least 2-3 days for them all to unwind and hang by the pool. He joked about not wanting the kids to have a park "meltdown". His kids are younger than mine.

I am curious what you think about a possible DVC at Contemporary-since it wouldn't be standalone?

Because the MK is our favorite park and where we prefer to spend the most time, this would be tempting, but not sure I'm going to like the "theme" because the Contemp is not one of my fav resorts (it's actually pretty far down). Plusses are proximity to the MK and GF/Poly, and the downsides are themeing/views/attached to noisey resort. Definitely something we'd have to think on.

 

[BCV23]

That's probably the nail on the head right there for me. The kids don't really like spending that much time in the Worldshowcase (they find it boring...lol). So most of our time at Epcot is spent in Future World, thus making the busses much more convenient for our way of park touring. I know it's different strokes for different folks, but really the walking is only convenient to and from BWV when in the Worldshowcase and we don't spend much time there (except Food and Wine !). It's a hike to BWV from Future World in our opinion. And we find the bus definitely more convenient from MGM to say OKW as an example. The walk to and from BWV/BCV from MGM is def longer. To be fair, I do like the boat from BWV to MGM though.



We can have this at OKW as well.............

Maria, your post makes it look as if I said OKW and SSR had no luggage service. I most certainly didn't say that!

Anyway, from parts of FW, I think the walk to BCV (not BWV) is as close as the bus stop. Test Track and Imagination(I know that is not the name but the old song is ringing through my brain) for instance. And once the walk to BCV is over, you're home. No bus trip, multiple stops, etc. And as I said, we really like having so many different dining options under one roof.

But if you would consider CR, it sounds as if you're like us. It is not the stand alone or attached issue but the overall package.

 

[jade1]

Again, agreed........but during the course of say a 7 day week, we may only visit the main parks 4x at most. And if we're in a park, we do tend to dine there. Our park commando days are over, and we have in recent years been setting aside just 2-3 "downtime", water park, visiting nearby relatives or relaxation days and hang at the resort or go shopping etc. This is just our personal touring after so many visits to WDW. F
QUOTE]

I can see your point. We were in a very similar boat until the AP is about break even at 8 days. Therefore if we are only going once a year we buy the AP anyway and stager the week to get in 2 trips (3 next year gives us about 25 park days on one AP including hopping which we like). For the same price of 4 parks a trip you could have 7 each trip and never have commando mode once-it becomes much more relaxed, we tend to sleep in a little longer, take longer swim breaks, stay later at night, maybe go in just for dinner, a couple rides and a night show. We even do US one day and come back and go to Fantasmic. Downtime is great around Orlando, but for the same price (or less) we love having the rides, shows and food options at our fingertips.

As for CR, quiet scmuiet, theming scheming. Walk to MK, view Wishes from the quiet pool on top of the DVC Tower, great food court, 3 good restraunts, 2 minute boat ride to WL for dining and pool hopping, monorail to POLY and GF dining and pool hopping, monoral to EPCOT etc etc ect.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Maria, your post makes it look as if I said OKW and SSR had no luggage service. I most certainly didn't say that!

Sorry if I misunderstood your statment BCV23.

BCV23 says : But if you would consider CR, it sounds as if you're like us. It is not the stand alone or attached issue but the overall package.

I suppose we are so happy with the overall package at OKW and this is why I voted "stand alone". True, we would consider a Contemp DVC, but I would much prefer the neighborhood/community styling of an OKW/SSR type stand-alone resort over one that is attached to a hotel if a DVC would be built near the Contemp. If I had the choice---which I do not unfortunately.

jade1 says : Therefore if we are only going once a year we buy the AP anyway and stager the week to get in 2 trips (3 next year gives us about 25 park days on one AP including hopping which we like). For the same price of 4 parks a trip you could have 7 each trip and never have commando mode once-it becomes much more relaxed,

I most certainly can agree with the benefits of an AP. No debate there. Unfortunately, now that my kids are older (one is in college), going more than once a year is just too difficult. This year we went in August, but next year we're not going until Oct so an AP would not have worked for us. This is the problem---we cannot consistantly travel the same times each year to make it worth it. Between my dh and my work schedules and the kids' school schedules (and transportation costs), doing more than 1 trip a year is just too difficult to plan. When they were little (and pre-college tuition days ! lol) we had AP's and used to go 2-3 times a year. Ahhh, those were the days........

 

[BCV23]

Maria, it wasn't that you misunderstood me. Rather you had two quotes in a row. The first was correctly attributed to me. The second looks as if it was my quote since it is unattributed. Someting about luggage being delivered to the room. The only thing is I never said that. I don't know who did but I bet you were just being kind to him/her when you refuted that incorrect statement after the quote.

But don't worry about it. I'm sure I'm being way too sensitive!!!

I miss Richyams posts too. So very funny.