Lisa F
is a very wise woman
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2000
- Messages
- 11,129
My husband and I just got back from a LONG trip to WDW with a 7 night cruise in the middle. 1 night at USF (Portofino Bay), 5 at BWV, one night at the port, 7 night cruise, then 2 more nights at VWL. It was a lot of moving around but it really wasn't too terrible.
The reason I mention the Portofino Bay is because it compared very closely with DVC. When we got there, we were upgraded to a "deluxe villa room" whatever that meant. The room reminded me a lot of the bedroom portion of a 1 bedroom. It had a king bed (very tall and comfortable, pretty much the only thing it had over DVC) and the bathroom layout was very similar with a separate tub and shower and a "window" to the bedroom from the tub. The tub, however, was not a jacuzzi and just a standard sized tub and the shower was a very small cramped corner shower. Oh, what has DVC done to me that I get an upgraded room at a regular hotel and I still find it lacking compared to DVC?
The room was beautiful though!
We drove over to BWV late sunday night and I noticed that a large part (maybe 1/3) of the standard rooms had scaffolding in front of them. When we checked in we found out that we had been upgraded to a preferred view. I am assuming that this is only because of the number of standard rooms out of service. We had a nice view of the canal but I was once again reminded of why I won't pay extra for that view... it was really not much better than the usual standard view. The room was in great condition, with no complaints whatsoever about it, but the carpet in the hallway is already looking very worn. I wish they would bring back the boardwalk carpet and make it a more durable weave! This carpet is only around a year old and already looking crappy. We felt extremely spoiled having the 1br to ourselves (couple without kids) and it was nice when friends stayed over with us NYE to have the privacy. I did take a nice hot whirlpool bath every night and it helped my aching feet and body more than I can describe... ah, the luxury!
Our two nights at VWL were also wonderful. We got there early (right after the cruise) but our room was not ready til after 4. We went to the MK for the day/evening and enjoyed light crowds. When we got back and found our room, it was gorgeous and once again everything was perfect. It was on the 5th floor so it had cathedral ceilings. Just a word of caution about those 5th floor rooms though.. My husband is VERY tall and on the dormer window side, the ceiling comes down quite low right over the telephone table. I'm not sure how but he managed to bang his head (quite hard) 4 times in 2 days doing various things where he bent over and then stood up without thinking. Ouch! As pretty as the room was I am not sure I'd request it again given how clutzy my hubbie turned out to be about it. After the fourth time hitting his head I stuck a chair there so he couldn't get close enough to the low parts to hit his head again, I was afraid he'd give himself a concussion!
Overall it was another wonderful DVC vacation and made me look forward to many more!
Lisa
The reason I mention the Portofino Bay is because it compared very closely with DVC. When we got there, we were upgraded to a "deluxe villa room" whatever that meant. The room reminded me a lot of the bedroom portion of a 1 bedroom. It had a king bed (very tall and comfortable, pretty much the only thing it had over DVC) and the bathroom layout was very similar with a separate tub and shower and a "window" to the bedroom from the tub. The tub, however, was not a jacuzzi and just a standard sized tub and the shower was a very small cramped corner shower. Oh, what has DVC done to me that I get an upgraded room at a regular hotel and I still find it lacking compared to DVC?
The room was beautiful though!We drove over to BWV late sunday night and I noticed that a large part (maybe 1/3) of the standard rooms had scaffolding in front of them. When we checked in we found out that we had been upgraded to a preferred view. I am assuming that this is only because of the number of standard rooms out of service. We had a nice view of the canal but I was once again reminded of why I won't pay extra for that view... it was really not much better than the usual standard view. The room was in great condition, with no complaints whatsoever about it, but the carpet in the hallway is already looking very worn. I wish they would bring back the boardwalk carpet and make it a more durable weave! This carpet is only around a year old and already looking crappy. We felt extremely spoiled having the 1br to ourselves (couple without kids) and it was nice when friends stayed over with us NYE to have the privacy. I did take a nice hot whirlpool bath every night and it helped my aching feet and body more than I can describe... ah, the luxury!
Our two nights at VWL were also wonderful. We got there early (right after the cruise) but our room was not ready til after 4. We went to the MK for the day/evening and enjoyed light crowds. When we got back and found our room, it was gorgeous and once again everything was perfect. It was on the 5th floor so it had cathedral ceilings. Just a word of caution about those 5th floor rooms though.. My husband is VERY tall and on the dormer window side, the ceiling comes down quite low right over the telephone table. I'm not sure how but he managed to bang his head (quite hard) 4 times in 2 days doing various things where he bent over and then stood up without thinking. Ouch! As pretty as the room was I am not sure I'd request it again given how clutzy my hubbie turned out to be about it. After the fourth time hitting his head I stuck a chair there so he couldn't get close enough to the low parts to hit his head again, I was afraid he'd give himself a concussion!
Overall it was another wonderful DVC vacation and made me look forward to many more!
Lisa
