Buy BWV or BCV

[varns529]

Lookin at adding a Crescent Lake resort to my DVC collection. I haven’t stayed at either of them. We have 4 kids 10 and under. Which resort should we look at buying?

 

[GoingSince1990]

Most people will say BCV because of SAB (Stormalong Bay, the huge pool with beach areas and a lazy river). Main drawback is there are no 3 bedroom Grand Villas there (which BWV does have). The short walk from BCV to Epcot is an absolute joy (especially when you are striding past the Skyliner line at the end of the day); the walk from BWV is a little bit longer (but for DHS, the walk from BWV is a bit shorter than from BCV).

 

[JackosinDIS]

I would go with BCV. The rooms are far easier to get at the 11 month mark, as opposed to the standard view studios which are almost impossible at BWV! Plus it is a nicer resort in my opinion especially with young kids (once they can all swim).

 

[intamin]

IMO Beach Club is much harder to book than Boardwalk as I’ve been able to 7 month my way into BWV much more frequently. I also like that Beach Club is a closer walk to Epcot. We tried Stormalong Bay during a recent trip though and we weren’t blown away.

Boardwalk has better views, nearby food options and point charts but again I really haven’t felt the need to own there because if it came down to it I wouldn’t mind booking 1BRs to get in there. So far I haven’t even had to book a pool/garden studio. We’ve stayed either Boardwalk view studio or standard studio only without owning there. If I cared about getting a consecutive week during F+W in a studio then you can make that argument but we’re flexible with our dates with Boardwalk and haven’t had much problems stringing together 3 nights and then spending the rest at Riviera or an MK area resort or AKV.

I did like Beach Club and would probably opt to make that my home resort between the two for the sole reason that it is harder to get into but both resorts are fantastic.

 

[Chili327]

For the kids, I'd think BCV for the pool. Other than that, i think you can't go wrong with either.

 

[CarolynFH]

For a family of 6, you’re looking at 2BR. BWV has only lockoffs, so that during the most popular times when studios book up quickly, the 2BR disappear with them. So I’d buy BCV, where you can choose between 2BR dedicated (2 queen beds in second BR, no door to hallway from there) and 2BR lockoff (queen bed plus Murphy, kitchenette, and door to hallway), since your needs and desires might change as kids age.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Lookin at adding a Crescent Lake resort to my DVC collection. I haven’t stayed at either of them. We have 4 kids 10 and under. Which resort should we look at buying?

You really need to watch YouTube videos on both to get a feel for which one your family would like more.

Some follow up questions that need to be asked before a recommendation can be made:

How much time do you spend at pools?

Are you more of a “free range” or “protective” parent? (I.E ability to see all kids in the pool at once)

Size of accommodations? Is a view important?

EPCOT or Hollywood Studios?

How far do you plan in advance?

How soon are looking to make the purchase to plan for your next trip?

How upfront cost price sensitive are you?

 

[pianomanzano]

Go with BCV. Sounds like you’re a party of 6 and BWV doesn’t have any dedicated 2BR villas.

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

The answer is YES!

But seriously, the 2 bedroom availability is important. BCV for the win.

 

[Chili327]

You really need to watch YouTube videos on both to get a feel for which one your family would like more.

Some follow up questions that need to be asked before a recommendation can be made:

How much time do you spend at pools?

Are you more of a “free range” or “protective” parent? (I.E ability to see all kids in the pool at once)

Size of accommodations? Is a view important?

EPCOT or Hollywood Studios?

How far do you plan in advance?

How soon are looking to make the purchase to plan for your next trip?

How upfront cost price sensitive are you?

You and all your sensibilities... We're enablers here, just pick one.


For real tho, these questions could definitely make a big difference in the 2, especially if any of the answers were important or top priority. I wouldn't even have thought of the 2bdrm issue.

 

[AstroBlasters]

You and all your sensibilities... We're enablers here, just pick one.


For real tho, these questions could definitely make a big difference in the 2, especially if any of the answers were important or top priority. I wouldn't even have thought of the 2bdrm issue.

The person may say “we want to stay in 3 bedroom villas in the future so that everyone has their own bed as they get older”. Beach Club doesn’t have those.

The person may say that their kids are like fish and pool time is incredibly important…. OK well the Beach Club wins that….

The person may say that they know they need to get larger accommodations and so the buy in price is important….. well Boardwalk can be purchased at a significant discount to Beach Club and has more inventory at larger point levels….

They may say that their kids love Toy Story and Star Wars and that World Showcase isn’t a draw for the forceable future…. ok then Boardwalk being closer to Hollywood Studios probably wins…

They may say that beach theming, a 2BD villa, and being steps to world showcase is the dream…. Ok… I’d go for Beach Club contracts first…..

Or they may say that they plan to get 2 studios and one parent stays in a room with 2 kids to make it more affordable….. ok…. Board Walk has more inventory….

So many questions and that really should be asked and answered before someone gives a recommendation….

 

[AstroBlasters]

Go with BCV. Sounds like you’re a party of 6 and BWV doesn’t have any dedicated 2BR villas.

We have a reservation for a 2BD lockoff at BW…. I don’t think it’s a huge deal vs a dedicated…. I’d rather have a dedicated…. but it’s not a huge deal…..

 

[pianomanzano]

We have a reservation for a 2BD lockoff at BW…. I don’t think it’s a huge deal vs a dedicated…. I’d rather have a dedicated…. but it’s not a huge deal…..

It becomes a huge deal when people walk the studios.

 

[matt and beth]

We own BWV because it’s our favorite. We sold our other memberships and bought there because it 100% speaks our language. We like walking to both Epcot and HS. Those are our favorite parks. We love the nightlife when we return. We love the restaurant options there. BCV is quiet at night. The walk to the room seems long and boring, with the exception of Minnie talking in the elevator. We wouldn’t own at BCV.

However, with the 4 young kids I’d be very tempted with the pool at BCV. That might actually be better for this stage in your family. Lazy river and cool slide. But… I can’t stop thinking of that sandy bottom kiddie pool as one giant litter box. I think it’s absolutely disgusting.

 

[matt and beth]

Double post sorry

 

[AstroBlasters]

It becomes a huge deal when people walk the studios.

For Pool and Garden view? Do you feel that’s an issue for owners within the home resort booking window?

 

[CarolynFH]

For Pool and Garden view? Do you feel that’s an issue for owners within the home resort booking window?

I don’t think it’s an issue at 11 months for P/G view. I don’t book studios at BWV and rarely book 2BR there, so I’m not sure how P/G view might be when it’s late in home resort booking period for the most popular times - for instance, I have no idea how availability is for the first two weeks of December at 7 1/2 months!

 

[BuzzLightyr]

Compare the point charts during the week you are planning to travel.

Looking at travel period 6 which covers most spring breaks but not Easter.
Weekly rates 2 beds for comparison but you can book daily.
Boardwalk Standard View - 313 points
Boardwalk Pool/Garden/Boardwalk View - 365 points
Beach Club (no view difference) - 350 points.

For this week, if you can fight off the commercial renters and book standard view, you save quite a bit vs beach club in both number of points required and price per point. If you can't book standard view at boardwalk - Beach club is fewer points.

Buy the resort you like better. The numbers end up being really close depending on how often you can book standard view.

 

[ehh]

We recently went through the same BCV vs. BWV exercise. We have stayed in both (fairly recently) and it was a tough decision for us. We chose Beach Club.

The specific stay we wanted points for is a 1BR for a few nights around NYE. Neither was available at 7m this year (well...BWV G/P was technically possible with walking+overborrowing, but it might as well have been unobtainable), so 7m availability was kind of moot for us.

Here's our breakdown of thinking:

General moot points (for us)

• 7m availability, see above
• Points charts
  • BWV G/P & BW views and BCV are close enough to make no meaningful difference
  • BWV SV is definitely lower, though we'd probably elect for BoardWalk View at BWV
• Dues
  • They're really similar currently, and while future dues are hard to predict, I expect BWV to be slightly lower longterm as BWV might be able to get away with avoiding a future hard goods refurb
• The pools
  • SAB is very cool, but we're simply not pool people
• The walk to DHS
  • We're not going to walk to DHS

Beach Club Advantages (for us)

• Slightly shorter walk from EPCOT back to the room
  • See amusing-to-me story below about this*
• Slightly shorter walk to the Skyliner (which we might take to DHS, or to Topolino's)
• Typically shorter walk to the parking lot where we park (we drive to most places at WDW)
• Slight preference for the current in-room theming
  • Potential upside with a hard goods refurb in 6-7 years
• Preference for BCV 1BR layout vs. BWV 1BR layout
  • BCV bedroom door arrangement in a 1BR is much, much better
    • This is more of a BWV con, but I'm trying to avoid a list of negatives, but that BWV 1BR bedroom door is so annoying
  • Preference for the BCV 1BR bathroom layout
• Preference for BCV's quick service options
  • BWV's Pizza Window and Bakery are fine, but menus are limited
• Easier to find a contract in the size range we wanted (140-150pts)
• I think we just prefer being at Beach Club a little bit more

BoardWalk Advantages (for us)

• The views
  • We really like BoardWalk view, find it way better than any BCV view (most of which would qualify as Standard View, imo)
    • On the other hand, losing the BW view booking race at 11m and having to book G/P was a real risk for us as it was only available for our stay this year via walking at 11m
      • G/P might be our least favorite view in all of DVC as the odds of a decent-to-us view are low and the points are exactly the same as the vastly preferred-to-us BW
  • Standard View available if we ever want to save on points that trip, or wanted to risk it for a -123 room
• Grand Villas exist
  • We knew we were going to buy slightly too many points for our needs, as we wouldn't need the full points allotment every year depending on how the calendar fell...and it might have been possible to splurge on a BWV GV once every few years
• Slightly prefer the exterior theming
• Upfront cost is slightly lower (typically)

As others have pointed out, if you're a family of six then you should be seeking a 2BR. For 2BR specifically, BWV has a distinct disadvantage: all BWV 2BR are lock-offs, so you're competing with (often very aggressive) Studio-seekers in addition to 2BR-seekers for booking. At some times of year it's unlikely you'll have success booking Standard View or even BoardWalk View without ramping up your own aggressiveness.

I would lean to BCV for this reason alone, if I were in your shoes.


* During a recent stay we were staying at another resort but had parked at Beach Club for the day (I won't answer how) and finished our day at EPCOT to watch fireworks. As we were walking back past the Skyliner queue we got to the 'shortcut' gate at Beach Club and politely asked if we could get to the gate.

A grumpy gentlemen didn't understand our request and thought we were asking to cut the line, "line starts way back there!" while he pointed to a line that extended to the pathway to Beach Club's lobby.

Someone in his group leaned over to him and said, "I think they're staying here" and gestured at the gate.

"OH! ...oh..." as, I'm guessing, he realized that he had a long queue ahead of him just to take a Skyliner while thinking we were already "home".

 

[atthebeachclub]

We own BWV because it’s our favorite. We sold our other memberships and bought there because it 100% speaks our language. We like walking to both Epcot and HS. Those are our favorite parks. We love the nightlife when we return. We love the restaurant options there. BCV is quiet at night. The walk to the room seems long and boring, with the exception of Minnie talking in the elevator. We wouldn’t own at BCV.

However, with the 4 young kids I’d be very tempted with the pool at BCV. That might actually be better for this stage in your family. Lazy river and cool slide. But… I can’t stop thinking of that sandy bottom kiddie pool as one giant litter box. I think it’s absolutely disgusting.

Yes to this! And this is why I love Beach Club…the quiet at night is so relaxing! But I actually love the sandy bottom kiddie pool. It is shallow and warm when the big pool is freezing and I don’t have to worry my youngest will drown there.

For me the biggest reason I like BCV over BWV is the quiet at night, and there is more quick service availability right there (not saying it is necessarily good…). If you stay at BWV you had better plan for cooking or sit down meals; there is a bit of quick service but you have to go outside to access it I believe, so hope for no storms. But BWV beats BCV on the points chart.