Notice the subject isnt just back we (me, DW, DD) got back a week ago but am not just getting around to getting on the DIS catching up on work, Halloween, life. Anyway
For background, this was our first stay at BCV, 2nd year staying in the Oct 20s for my bday (2009 also). We own at BLT and VGC and have previously stayed at BLT (1BR and studio) and VB (1BR), and a whole lotta GF before joining DVC. We were just at WDW in August for a long weekend for DDs bday, so we werent rushing all over to get everything in this was planned as a fairly relaxing trip (for us).
We stayed in a 1BR (165) first floor facing the woods/sevice road. We checked in around 1:00 and our room was ready. I didnt really want 1st floor we had 1st floor at BLT once and didnt like it because we couldnt keep the curtains open with people walking by looking in. Asked about another room, but no others were available. We decided to take the room instead of wait and switch. The 1st floor didnt end up being a problem because BCV actually has sheers, and there wasnt much, if any, foot traffic by our room.
Our first impressions of the room were a little lackluster. The room décor was fine it reminded us of VB (beach themed). But the space seemed cramped, at least from what we remember of BLT and VB. I dont know if we had a normal room layout or not. But there seemed to be a lot of space wasted in the entry area that I would have used in the kitchen/living room). And the walkway into the living room between the kitchen counter and the dining table was extremely narrow the tables seat had to be pushed under the table to have a normal width path through. The bedroom/bathroom setup was a little odd too no closet in the bedroom, it was on the other side of the tub part of the bathroom (and the closet had a breaker box in it first time I remember seeing that). I actually liked the bathroom being broken up into 3 rooms toilet in one, shower and sink in two, sink and tub in the 3rd that was nice for the 3 of us. Oh, the dishwasher was beeping at us when we first got in and we couldnt figure out how to shut it off (had to call mousekeeping). And the carpets in the kitchen/living room area were damp not sure what mess might have been on the floor needing a shampoo. So we were okay with the room, but no wowed with it.
The resort grew on us over the week though. We got used to the room, even liking our 1st floor room because it was so close to the door to the outside and close to the parking lot (we rent a car). The hallways are kept frigid and coming in from the pool to what felt like the 60s was quite a shock good to get in the room quickly. Regarding the pools, we were a little underwhelmed with SAB at first seems to be hyped way more than what it is. Yeah, it was big, and it had a sand bottom. But lazy river? I dont think so. So we actually spent the next 3 days (I think) at the BCV pool. There wasnt many people at it and it was right there. The water was pretty cool though (air temp was in the upper 80s) and DD wasnt enjoying it. So we went back to SAB in case it was warmer and started enjoying SAB more (SAB takes a LOT of lifeguards to patrol it). I read people saying the slide isnt that great, but we thought it was the best out of the ones weve done. We had a great CM lifeguard one afternoon helping to pass the wait time on the slide shed ask Disney movie trivia questions and would douse you with a small pail of water if you missed it (adults too). And we discovered the whirlpool, which was fun to play in for a while. We spent 2-3 hours at one of the pools every day just enjoying the weather.
Location-wise the resort was fine for us. The Epcot walk was quick (probably quicker than BLT to MK), which was nice with our increasing visits to Epcot. We walked over to the Boardwalk twice (easy), but didnt make the walk to MGM (we actually drove over the 2 times we went). We drove to MK too once for EE (so we had a nice, close parking spot), once for the evening after Citricos (valeted at GF), and once after Park Fare (valeted at GF again).
All of the CMs we encountered were fine a couple going beyond (lifeguard and one of the bellhops who really went out of his way helping us).
Overall, well give BCV a thumbs up and would stay here again in the future.
For background, this was our first stay at BCV, 2nd year staying in the Oct 20s for my bday (2009 also). We own at BLT and VGC and have previously stayed at BLT (1BR and studio) and VB (1BR), and a whole lotta GF before joining DVC. We were just at WDW in August for a long weekend for DDs bday, so we werent rushing all over to get everything in this was planned as a fairly relaxing trip (for us).
We stayed in a 1BR (165) first floor facing the woods/sevice road. We checked in around 1:00 and our room was ready. I didnt really want 1st floor we had 1st floor at BLT once and didnt like it because we couldnt keep the curtains open with people walking by looking in. Asked about another room, but no others were available. We decided to take the room instead of wait and switch. The 1st floor didnt end up being a problem because BCV actually has sheers, and there wasnt much, if any, foot traffic by our room.
Our first impressions of the room were a little lackluster. The room décor was fine it reminded us of VB (beach themed). But the space seemed cramped, at least from what we remember of BLT and VB. I dont know if we had a normal room layout or not. But there seemed to be a lot of space wasted in the entry area that I would have used in the kitchen/living room). And the walkway into the living room between the kitchen counter and the dining table was extremely narrow the tables seat had to be pushed under the table to have a normal width path through. The bedroom/bathroom setup was a little odd too no closet in the bedroom, it was on the other side of the tub part of the bathroom (and the closet had a breaker box in it first time I remember seeing that). I actually liked the bathroom being broken up into 3 rooms toilet in one, shower and sink in two, sink and tub in the 3rd that was nice for the 3 of us. Oh, the dishwasher was beeping at us when we first got in and we couldnt figure out how to shut it off (had to call mousekeeping). And the carpets in the kitchen/living room area were damp not sure what mess might have been on the floor needing a shampoo. So we were okay with the room, but no wowed with it.
The resort grew on us over the week though. We got used to the room, even liking our 1st floor room because it was so close to the door to the outside and close to the parking lot (we rent a car). The hallways are kept frigid and coming in from the pool to what felt like the 60s was quite a shock good to get in the room quickly. Regarding the pools, we were a little underwhelmed with SAB at first seems to be hyped way more than what it is. Yeah, it was big, and it had a sand bottom. But lazy river? I dont think so. So we actually spent the next 3 days (I think) at the BCV pool. There wasnt many people at it and it was right there. The water was pretty cool though (air temp was in the upper 80s) and DD wasnt enjoying it. So we went back to SAB in case it was warmer and started enjoying SAB more (SAB takes a LOT of lifeguards to patrol it). I read people saying the slide isnt that great, but we thought it was the best out of the ones weve done. We had a great CM lifeguard one afternoon helping to pass the wait time on the slide shed ask Disney movie trivia questions and would douse you with a small pail of water if you missed it (adults too). And we discovered the whirlpool, which was fun to play in for a while. We spent 2-3 hours at one of the pools every day just enjoying the weather.
Location-wise the resort was fine for us. The Epcot walk was quick (probably quicker than BLT to MK), which was nice with our increasing visits to Epcot. We walked over to the Boardwalk twice (easy), but didnt make the walk to MGM (we actually drove over the 2 times we went). We drove to MK too once for EE (so we had a nice, close parking spot), once for the evening after Citricos (valeted at GF), and once after Park Fare (valeted at GF again).
All of the CMs we encountered were fine a couple going beyond (lifeguard and one of the bellhops who really went out of his way helping us).
Overall, well give BCV a thumbs up and would stay here again in the future.
We stayed at BCV the first week of October, and seriously - you could freeze meat in the hallways!!!
