Back from 5 nights at BCV

[travelbug]

Here I am, trying to adjust to being back in the real world after 3 Disney trips within 9 weeks. How spoiled I've been!!! This last trip was 5 nights in a BCV studio with one of my sisters.

We arrived on Wed. night about 10 PM. Got 3 "welcome homes" by the time we got to our room. Kind of nice!

We were in room 375. I'm not very fussy about room location, within reason of course. But since some are more particular, let's see if I can give some specifics about the location. Good points about this location were: partial view of Spaceship Earth, good view of Illuminations fireworks, close to a set of stairs. Drawbacks about this location were: very far from the main elevator and therefore from gift shop, SAB, etc., and it overlooked the road. The road noise didn't bother us in the least while we were in the room, but I did wish it would go away while I was trying to hear the Illuminations music out on the balcony.

Our room was clean and well kept. The only thing we struggled with was the thermostat. Can a person even do anything to control it? The room always felt stuffy when we got back from being away. Seems like no A/C circulates in the bathroom and sink area, but it can be freezing over by the sliding glass door.

I know that some have complained that the water pressure is poor at BCV and the water only lukewarm. But we did not find it that way. We thought the water got plenty hot, and the shower had enough pressure to suit us.

Although we had brought our swimsuits, we wound up not swimming in SAB this time. We got busy doing other things, and the timing just never worked out to swim. The water slide was still being worked on as of the morning we left (Mar. 3).

All the CMs around the BCV were very friendly. We especially appreciated the help of the front desk staff. They made several PS ressies for us, and were very patient with some of our questions that probably were kind of dumb.

We had a wonderful time at BCV! My next trip will take me to a 2BR at BWV, my other home resort, just after Christmas. I'll be keeping an eye on my countdown timer, which has a LLLLOOOOONNNNGGGG way to go.

 

[CarolMN]

Thanks for the mini trip report. Glad to hear you had a good time. Three trips in nine weeks! I am very jealous. Hope you adjust to being back home soon.

 

[Lady Hiss]

Travelbug,

I enjoyed your report on the room. As I posted earlier, our experience with the thermostat was frustrating as well. I'm sure there's a trick to it, but I'll just have to return a few more times to learn it.

 

[travelbug]

Thanks, Carol. I do think that my co-workers wish I'd quit singing "It's a Small World". It probably also bugs them that at the end of every work day, I say, "Now, as you exit, please gather your belongings and take small children by the hand."

Yup, time to re-enter the real world.

 

[travelbug]

Hi, Lady Hiss. My reply criss crossed with yours. You're right. The only way to conquer the mysterious thermostat is to make repeated training trips to practice!!

Hmmm, let me check my calendar and change my countdown timer....

 

[disny4ever]

MY home? I have not been there for awhile. Is everyone taking care of it for me?

 

[Chadm]

Wow, there are some serious coincidences here. We have just returned from BCV yesterday and we stayed in room 475 (obviously, directly above travelbug). Also, we have taken 3 Disney trips since mid-December. Oh yeah, I'm also at work trying to re-adjust to the "real world."

There were 4 of us (wife and I, MIL and niece[7]) in a studio. The room size was fine for the amount of time we spent in it. The room was stuffy when we returned to it every night, but cooled off quickly enough that we were all comfortable pretty quickly.

Being right above travelbug we had the same view, just a few feet higher. We had a good view of Spaceship Earth (I think the trees didn't block us as much as travelbug) and could see the back of the Land and Imagination. We could also see the top of Canada. We did not see Illuminations from the balcony because we had dinner every night at that time. However, I would imagine the Illuminations view was very good. The road noise was evident when on the balcony, but we didn't pay much attention to it. I have to concur that the water temperature and pressure was fine.

We swam at Stormalong Bay the first afternoon and had a great time. We also swam in the quiet pool every night after dinner.

The CM's were all very friendly. We got several welcome homes. The girl who checked us in was especially helpful. I wish I could remember her name. She was a pretty young girl with a slightly crippled right hand. She helped us greatly with a confusing park ticket situation. My MIL and neice had passes with days left on them from previous visits. The CM cashed in the value and applied that to park hoppers for them. I wasn't sure how that would work and she made it all very simple and convenient. She also helped us make some PS's. She was an example of the type of CM that makes Disney so special. She went out of her way to help us understand what we could do and did it all with a smile, even though it took a long time to get it all sorted out. She is definitely proof that not all the magic is fading.

We walked to the Boardwalk every night for Dinner (Spoodles, ESPN and Flying Fish) and rode the surrey bikes. Dinner was excellent every night and we thought Spoodles was the best combination of quality and value.

Overall, the trip was fantastic. We had absolutely no complaints!

Our next trip is to the BWV in April. We are bringing another couple and staying in 2 preferred view studios. After that, we are coming back to BCV for a week in a 1 BR in October.

 

[todsue99]

Thanks for the reports guys. I do not know if you know this or not, but we had the same problem with the A/C and call the front desk. The thermostats are on a motion sensor and if there is not any movements in the room it does not go on. That is why when you wake up it is muggy in the room. Unless you move around in your sleep alot. Just thought I would let you know, in case you didn't know.

 

[travelbug]

Wow, Chadm, that is an amazing coincidence! Nice to have you for upstairs neighbors. You were very quiet up there. We never heard a sound. Glad you had such a nice trip! I'm very jealous that you get to go back in April and October. That sounds just wonderful! I can't gripe too much, though, since I'll be back down in Florida for 10 days in April. Not at Disney this time; going to Fort Myers instead. Then back to WDW in December.

Thanks, todsue99, for the info about the thermostat. I had read about the motion sensor, but never saw a little light anywhere that would seem to go with a sensor. I'm still wondering about the purpose of the thermostat and its various buttons if there's little that a person can control. Oh well, it was really not a big deal, and certainly nothing that took any magic out of our trip.

 

[disney4me4ever]

We are also just back from a 5 night stay at BCV. We loved it! In fact, DH decided we didn't have enough points and we did an add on while we were there!

We had a wonderful 1BR villa~336. It faced the quiet pool and was right in the center of the complex. Shower pressure and water temp were fine. The only aggravation was the #$%$% thermostat. I get cold easily and froze every night. Even turning up the temp to 74 didn't do much good after we went to bed. I will monitor to the boards.....eventually someone here will figure it out....LOL!

Thanks to the folks here, we also had the easiest car rental ever, using National's Emerald Aisle service.

All in all, a great vacation. We can't wait to get back to BCV.
Nancy

 

[Donald Duck 57]

Hi Nancy,
The one bedroom you were in 336. Was it close to an elevator? How was the balcony. Did you have a long walk to get to SAB and to eat? We are staying there in August and are looking for a good room request. Thanks for any info you have.

 

[Chadm]

Originally posted by travelbug
Wow, Chadm, that is an amazing coincidence! Nice to have you for upstairs neighbors. You were very quiet up there. We never heard a sound. Glad you had such a nice trip! I'm very jealous that you get to go back in April and October. That sounds just wonderful! I can't gripe too much, though, since I'll be back down in Florida for 10 days in April. Not at Disney this time; going to Fort Myers instead. Then back to WDW in December.

Glad to hear we didn't disturb you. We were out of the room all day, every day except for some quick trips back to the hotel. The one thing I enjoyed this trip (besides all the other things I listed earlier) was the fact that we took the time to swim and do some non-theme park things. We really enjoyed the Boardwalk area and took advantage of a lot of those activities. Before the DVC, we would not have done that. Now, I know we'll be back soon, so I don't feel guilty about missing something.

We liked the BCV so much that we decided to stay there again in October instead of the VWL. We'll be there for the food and wine festival, so being close to EPCOT will be nice. In April, we are doing the BWV with another couple. That will be fun because we can enjoy more of the night life with friends. Sooner or later, we will get to the VWL and I'm sure it will be wonderful. It just hasn't worked that way yet.

 

[disney4me4ever]

Hi~

Room 336 was not far from the elevator. As far as the balcony, it was rather small. Only room for the 2 chairs and table that were on it. DH was kept entertained for hours trying to figure our the rhyme and reason of the size of the balconys vs. the type of room. But then, he's an engineer and way too analytical. (But why couldn't he figure out a way to beat that thermostat??)

In terms of walking to SAB~~very close. We cut thru the Solarium, which makes it a small hop, skip and a jump to SAB, Beaches and Cream or the boat landing. SAB was quite crowded, however, and we wound up just staying at the quiet pool at BCV.
Enjoy your trip! We already can't wait to go back!

Nancy

 

[Donald Duck 57]

Thanks Nancy,
We can't wait to go!!!!!!