BCV that bad?

[Deb & Bill]

We stayed at BCV last June and last year in July. It was wonderful both times. We're looking forward to staying there again in about 2 years ( we've used all our BCV points until 2005, I think). I love the quiet pool view. It's a nice quiet resort, close enough to the action, but not right there.

 

[Mooobooks]

It's hard to imagine that someone would expend so many words complaining about the bellman wanting to help him transport all of his baggage and groceries to his room.
WAIT! That's what the famous Disney service is all about ... you step out of your car and in moments a smiling bellman brings a cart to your car and helps you unload everything. Now free of all the heavy stuff, you check in and in a few minutes all of your stuff magically reappears in your room.
I love it! That's what I want in a hotel. I don't want to have to drag the stuff up to the room myself. The only excuse for doing otherwise is if you want to avoid having to tip the guy a few bucks.
As for the other post regarding the Beach Club Villas being poorly designed, I find that statement hard to believe. Not only is it beautifully designed, but it functions well, too. I have never seen the public rooms remotely crowded, so I can't imagine that it would have been necessary to build more of them, or larger ones.
The restaurants are no busier than at any other resort, and there are additional restaurants at The Yacht Club a few steps away.
Yes, Storm-Along Bay does get crowded, that's why they've stopped pool hopping at that location and have stepped up enforcement of the guest-only entrance by using wrist bands. All of this has kept it within manageable limits. The person commented that the new quiet pool is small. Considering the number of people I've seen using it, it's just the right size! Not overwhelmed with people, it remains (happily) a QUIET pool.
And, yes, sometimes it's a long walk to your room ... a very long walk. This is true at every Disney hotel with the exception of Old Key West (which is, and apologies to the OKWesters out there who love it, the least themed resort on property). There is no getting around this other than to build multiple check-in desks at various locations around the hotel. And the logistics for NOT doing that are obvious. Since rooms are often assigned at the last minute, you wouldn't know which desk location to drive to.
The only back-ups I've seen are at check-in, and this is usually due to a few inexperienced staff members not moving through the process quickly enough, or people checking in who decide that the perfect moment to ask every question they have about their vacation is when they check in with dozens of other people in line behind them.
Don't let any crabby folks dissuade you from buying into one of the most beautiful and well designed resorts at Walt Disney World. You'll love it ... particularly if you don't have the unrealistic expectation that every second of every day is going to be perfect in every way. T'ain't so, and most grown-ups learned that a long time ago.

 

[MickeyCrazed]

I felt the same way as you when we purchased BWV in 1999. Seemed liked everyone dwelled on the negative and I was scared that we were making a major mistake.
Well, we went though with it anyway and guess what???
We don't have any regrets. In fact, we love DVC and the fact that we can share our time in WDW with family and friends.
If we never purchased those points we would have missed out on some great memories and invaluable family time.
Go ahead with your purchase. I'm sure you will be happy....
The BC Villas are beatiful!

 

[SlyHubby]

As for the other post regarding the Beach Club Villas being poorly designed, I find that statement hard to believe. Not only is it beautifully designed, but it functions well, too. I have never seen the public rooms remotely crowded, so I can't imagine that it would have been necessary to build more of them, or larger ones.

How is it so hard to believe? You just reiterated the fact. The public rooms they have there are not used, the small pool there is not crowded - where do you think the people are...using SAB and the Beach Club facilities...POORLY DESIGNED. Those Beach Club facilities were designed over 10 years ago and their number and size were based on BC, not BC + BCV.

The restaurants are no busier than at any other resort, and there are additional restaurants at The Yacht Club a few steps away

I guess you've never been to Cape May Cafe or Beaches and Cream before BCV was there. From my experience (been to BC 3 prior times) there is a big difference.

The only back-ups I've seen are at check-in, and this is usually due to a few inexperienced staff members not moving through the process quickly enough, or people checking in who decide that the perfect moment to ask every question they have about their vacation is when they check in with dozens of other people in line behind them.

Now this is the joke. You were clearly wearing those rose-colored glasses while you were checking in.

Yes, your resort is the best my friend - there are no problems there and everything is splendid.

The people looking to buy should get the bad with the good so they can make the proper decision.

 

[DeDixie]

We stayed at BCV this past June/July for a week. We had a wonderful time. My DH and I had some long talks sitting on the balcony about buying more points.

IMHO I think some people getting hung up on everything being PERFECT while at Disney. We don't ask for a lot when we go. We take whatever room is offered, only asking for non-smoking. If I get the choice I usually try different views, floors, ect.

We always have a great time and we have never dissapointed in any of our visits to DVC. I keep a list of our magical moments on each trip, and truly the less magical moments slip away. I can tell you all the great things that happened to us on this last trip, I would have to think long and hard to come up with any problems.

We are in the process of our add on. We are on the waitlist for BWV, deciding on BW mainly because of the lower point structure.

I can't imagine that you would ever regret your purchase.

 

[skoi]

for all the replies from both sides. The papers are sent in, and now dh is the enthusiastic one. He's the sort of person that makes the best out of everything, unless it's really bad. It's a good balance to me, who always seems doom and disaster-- maybe we should post under Tigger and Eeyore or something, since that's who were like.

Like I said, we'll be making a short visit on borrowed points in Sept and can't wait.

Julie

 

[allforpooh]

We love BCV and had a wonderful time on our first trip home, never ran into any of the problems that some have posted about. We we got back we decided to add on 100 more points, just overnighted the paperwork Monday.

Denise

 

[ObieTrice]

Hi All,

I would like to thank everyone for sharing your thoughts on BCV with me and the rest of the board. It has been very helpful in easing my anxiety over this decision.

Yes, there are some tasty resales out there, but at this point I am going to go ahead and submit our paperwork for BCV. I am sure that a year or two down the line there will be a resale that calls to me to buy it, but at this time in my life, I need to do this the easy way.

DH (who is internet-phobic) sat down and read the whole thread last night, and couldn't believe that people would actually take the time to share their opinions and give encouragement a total stranger.

Thanks again for your help!

Jackie

 

[Suzi Q]

We added 108 points at BCV and stayed there in January. We had a wonderful view of Epcot and a huge balcony. We found everyone to be very nice and even got our "Welcome Home" at both the gate and check in. It was so convenient to Epcot which is our favorite park. I think you will be very satisfied. The studio room is a bit smaller than BWV, but not that much.

 

[smvdelv]

it is WONDERFUL!!!! We (me, hubby, 2 teen sons, ages 15 and almost 18 and 2 of their friends) checked in on Sunday,and we have only been to Epcot for about 2 hours and MGM for 2 hours. Why? Because we are thoroughly enjoying the resort and all it has to offer. It is VERY crowded, but we still have no problem finding chairs at the pool every morning. We ate at Cape May the other night and it was superb! Beaches and Cream has a long line as usual - but no longer than I have ever seen it. We had points at OKW last year and sold them to buy more BCV points - and we are not at all disappointed that we did.
Housekeeping has been great - we needed a spatula and a sponge and they were delivered within 15 minutes. The unit - room 454, a 2 bedroom, is immaculate, with a huge deck, and a view of the quiet pool and the MK fireworks!
Sign the papers, and don't worry at all. This is, by far, our favorite DVC resort (we have stayed at OKW and BW).
Enjoy and Welcome Home!!!!

 

[KNWVIKING]

I had a similar experience at VWL, only on departure day,not check-in. I had one of the carts,heading back to the Villas wing when a bellhop came running up and quite rudely snatched it away. After I had packed my van up without the aide of the cart it occurred to me that I should have let him do the work anyway and just stiffed him for the tip.

MooBooks: I can't speak for gofish7490, but I simply don't like people handling my luggage, especially when it includes a few thousand dollars worth of laptop and vidcam.

VB and HH both make these carts availible, I don't see why on-site resorts shouldn't also. Most DVC members are not your typical Deluxe resort guest. We don't expect daily housekeeping. Many will cook and eat in. We do things for ourselves.

 

[dcfromva]

We stayed at BCV over New Years last year (2BR dedicated). Not EVERYTHING was perfect, but we had a wonderful time. We had such a good time DH said he wanted to go to WDW for New Years again this year! (DH doesn't normally express an opinon about when we go to WDW--so this was a big surprise. Luckily, we were wait listed for our New Years ressies back in Feb and we were able to get our confirmed ressies by April 1st )

DH loves having a kitchen. I love having room to stretch out and 2 bathrooms. In addition--we could walk over to the World Showcase in a matter of minutes and have dinner at a restaurant, if we didn't want to cook. After Illuminations is over, it is so lovely to have a leisurely walk back to our vacation home--no worries about fighting crowds/waiting for transportation.

We also love OKW--but when we stayed there during the Food and wine festival, we really would have enjoyed the convenience to pop over to EPCOT for a few minutes--while the rest of the family enjoyed other entertainment options.

I would love to have a baggage cart available to members because I don't like to tie up the bell staff with all of our groceries, et'c (especially when we overbuy and have to take a lot of stuff back home--maybe we will get better at this during subsequent visits ). It would be nice to have an option to get help if you wanted or a cart if you don't want the help.

I think that it is very healthy for folks to post information about things that go wrong and how to fix them when they do go wrong. It also helps keep the standards high for our property when problems are reported and brought to the attention of management.
As a result of reading tips on this board, I have had a couple of occasions (staying on cash ressies at other resorts-not DVC) where things were going wrong and I was able to turn them around and make my stay a wonderful experience. Before reading this board, I might have not said anything (or not even known how to get things fixed) and the overall vacation might not have been as wonderful.

-DC

 

[Mooobooks]

I always carry a laptop, and I always tell the bellman that the bag contains my laptop. They immediately put a "FRAGILE" tag on it, and they hang it from the rack on top rather than crushing it in with all the other luggage on the bottom. Never a single problem in all of my trips.
Why in the world anyone would want to push a cart with their own lugguge when someone else will do it for you for a few bucks is beyond my imagination.
As far as Disney not allowing you to handle your own luggage cart, it's possible that they are prohibited from doing this by their insurance company, because guests may have either damaged property or run into other guests in the past. If an employee does this it's one thing, but if a non-employee does it it's another matter.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I think the liability thing is likely, Mooobooks.

At OKW, we always have a car, and carrying our luggage from the trunk up to our unit, even if it is on the third floor, is no problem.

 

[KNWVIKING]

***"Why in the world anyone would want to push a cart with their own lugguge when someone else will do it for you for a few bucks is beyond my imagination." ***

Because I WANT too.

I don't undertand why people WANT to cook meals in their rooms when they are on vacation, but it's not beyond my imagination.

As for liability: Apparently VB and HH don't think there is a liabilty issue.

 

[Terry S]

I think the luggage thing has to do more with the fact that it is a deluxe resort and that is part of the deluxe resort amenities. On one of our trips our flight had to be changed so we came in the night before instead of taking a later flight that day, we ended up booking at the All Stars since nothing else was available. I called down the next morning to have them come pick up our bags and they told me they were busy and I could come get the cart myself. I was so surprised when they said that! The service of the deluxe resort, which includes the bell services and room services is one of the reasons I love to stay there.

I have no objection to those who want to carry thier own luggage, to each his own, that is just not what I want. And if the rules at the deluxe resorts are that the luggage carts are for the use of bell services only, than those are the rules and the bell services people have to follow them. I also don't think that pulling the cart out of someones hand was the proper way to handle the situation. The person should have said something like "I would be more than happy to help you with your luggage" and I think the peson would have gotten the hint!

I guess this is the reason they have all different levels of resorts at WDW.

 

[jbthi]

I am all for the bellhops being the only ones to use the carts for this simple reason: I am usually laid back on vacation and don't let things get to me, BUT in so many of the TS we stay in, people will get the carts the night before and put them in their rooms so they will have them in the morning. When we are ready to check out, no carts. We spend about 4 months in Florida, have a lot of luggage and I am not about to carry it without a cart. We were at HGVC at SeaWorld in Feb., couldn't find a cart, couldn't find any people that were using carts loading their cars. Finally got one of the employees to find one for us.

June

 

[dcfromva]

Originally posted by jbthi
I am all for the bellhops being the only ones to use the carts for this simple reason: I am usually laid back on vacation and don't let things get to me, BUT in so many of the TS we stay in, people will get the carts the night before and put them in their rooms so they will have them in the morning. When we are ready to check out, no carts. We spend about 4 months in Florida, have a lot of luggage and I am not about to carry it without a cart. We were at HGVC at SeaWorld in Feb., couldn't find a cart, couldn't find any people that were using carts loading their cars. Finally got one of the employees to find one for us.

June

I have to go with you on this one. It never crossed my mind that folks would take the carts back to their room and keep them there! I would definately be more annoyed at not being able to find ANY cart at all. Maybe that is why the bell staff is so protective of the carts since this is their livelihood.
I still feel guilty about tying up the bell staff when we have a LOT of stuff to load in our car . The last time we drove, the bellman brought the stuff to the car (which was waiting for us at the valet station) and DH asked him to just leave the stuff on the cart because DH had a loading plan. The bellman heartily agreed (I think he might have been worried about how he was going to get all that stuff in the car ). Our next trip will be carry on luggage only (thank goodness!).
-DC

 

[CaptainMidnight]

Originally posted by Terry S
...The themeing and atmosphere at the Beach Club is the best on property, in my humble opinion. I just love taking walks or sitting on that beach in the evening and looking out over the lights of the boardwalk. It is also soooo nice to be a 5 minute walk to Epcot to spend the evenings there and a 20 minute walk or boat ride to MGM.

I don't think you will regret you decision one bit!

I agree. I personally think it is the best resort onsite. We just returned from there and had outstanding service, a beautiful room, excellent transportation and a great time at SAB and Dunes Cove pools.

 

[invalid_char]

BCV is just too classy for some people.