BW view?

[lisareniff]

Hi all,
I'm gifting a WDW trip to my DS and snagged her a BW view studio. I have never stepped inside BWV, so.... I have a couple questions about this coveted catagory.

First, are all the BW view rooms located on the boardwalk or are some overlooking the village green area?

I know all the BW GV's are located above the boardwalk and they must take up a lot of the BW view spots. How many GV's are there? Are the GV's located in one area? If I know where they are, I'll know where the studio's aren't!

Is their any bad BW view studio or area? Is there any down side of having a BW view room? (besides the possible noise) Or is it all sunshine and roses?

TIA to all you BWV guru's

 

[DebbieB]

I had a boardwalk view 1 bedroom in December that actually faced the village green, it was the first room closest to the boardwalk in the yellow section.

 

[CarolMN]

IMHO, the only downside to a BW view in addition to the "noise" factor, is that the best views (those that have best IllumNations views) are from the rooms farthest from the elevator.

Neither the noise (we didn't really notice any) nor the walk bother us. (I still prefer standard view, though - best bargain on site, IMHO).

Best wishes -

 

[szymcl]

We had a 2 bd on the 2nd floor right under the boardwalk sign. This included a lock off studio. I don't think you could go wrong with a boardwalk view. The 2nd floor had good fireworks views from Epcot and we happened to have a very large balcony in studio part. It did not seem like any of the boardwalk views would have a very long walk from the lobby. We found stairs that quickly took us to the main pool. The noise was not at all loud Sunday thru Thursday, but by Friday, we did hear Big River close at 1:00am. We watched all the entertainment from our balcony. It will be great!

 

[dvcfamily41801]

We were lucky enough twice to have a boardwalk view!!! We were room 3001 and 2001 and they were located right above the old DVC offices in the Crest of the Wave section. They were as far as you can get from the elevators, in fact the last room on the floor, but in our opinion, worth EVERY step!!!

 

[disneyberry]

[SIZE=+0]AFAIK, all 3rd, 4th, and 5th Floor Boardwalk View studios should be located between the area above Big River Grille and the end of the building (Crest O' The Wave). On the 2nd Floor, there are a bunch of Lockoff 2bdrms in the section between the General Store and Big River Grille, so it's possible to get a studio in that area if you get put on the 2nd Fl.

The Village Green rooms are supposed to be Preferred Pool/Garden View. However, I do recall someone reporting here that they got put in one of those when they were supposed to have a Boardwalk View room. I don't know if that was a fluke or not.[/SIZE]

 

[jekjones1558]

We stayed in a BW view 2 bedroom where the studio part had a balcony that was shingled and very high. No child could ever see and an adult would need to stand to see. It was worthless, IMHO. Luckily it was part of a 2 bedroom and the other half had an extra large covered balcony. I hope that they rarely, if ever, split up this unit into 2 rooms because it would be really sad for the studio people.
Sorry, don't remember room number.

 

[MAGICX2]

We were lucky enough twice to have a boardwalk view!!! We were room 3001 and 2001 and they were located right above the old DVC offices in the Crest of the Wave section. They were as far as you can get from the elevators, in fact the last room on the floor, but in our opinion, worth EVERY step!!!

dvcfamily41801, Do you have to request BW view or just preferred view? In the points chart there is no listing for a BW view only preferred. Was the walk from your room REALLY far, or just seemed that way. One more thing, could you see the fireworks from your balcony? Sorry this is so long. We are taking our DS for his 5th Bday, DD(then 2.5), Gma and Gpa for a seven night stay in May of 2006. Never stayed at BWV before and we are trying to get the best we can. We are staying in a 2bdrm villa but I am trying to figure out what I should request as far as location. Also, were your rooms anywhere near a bus stop? Thanks!!!

 

[lisareniff]

Thanks Guys!

I think I have the layout figured out to some degree. Those GV's are on the 3-5 floors over the Screen Door General Store (3 - 1 floor) and Thimbles and Threads ( 2 - 1 floor and 2 - 2 floor). The rest of the area is various smaller units. There might be room for a 1 bedroom between the the two groups of GV's.

So it could be a walk from the very end rooms (x001). Are there any stair wells near the end rooms??

 

[CarolMN]

Yes! There are stairwells scattered through out the resort. As long as you aren't traveling with strollers, ECVs or wheelchairs, the stairs are a great way to get in and out.

Best wishes -

 

[DebbieB]

dvcfamily41801, Do you have to request BW view or just preferred view? In the points chart there is no listing for a BW view only preferred. Was the walk from your room REALLY far, or just seemed that way. One more thing, could you see the fireworks from your balcony? Sorry this is so long. We are taking our DS for his 5th Bday, DD(then 2.5), Gma and Gpa for a seven night stay in May of 2006. Never stayed at BWV before and we are trying to get the best we can. We are staying in a 2bdrm villa but I am trying to figure out what I should request as far as location. Also, were your rooms anywhere near a bus stop? Thanks!!!

Preferred pool/garden and Preferred boardwalk view are the same points but you specifically reserve one or the other.

Most of the boardwalk view rooms are in the opposite direction of the bus stop. The ones closest to the lobby would be closest to the bus stop.

There are stairs at the far end (fire escape), we used them when we stayed in 3002 but they led out to an area near Jellyrolls dumpster. It said cm's only but we walked through and out another door to the path to MGM. It might actually be closer to the Swan bus stop that way. Now that the DVC office building is gone, it might be different.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

We've had 4007/4009 and 5007/5009, and enjoyed both. These are 2BR's in Crest O' the Wave, and they are almost at the end of the hall, but have great views. Very quiet section of hallway, too.

 

[MAGICX2]

We've had 4007/4009 and 5007/5009, and enjoyed both. These are 2BR's in Crest O' the Wave, and they are almost at the end of the hall, but have great views. Very quiet section of hallway, too.

CaliforniaDreaming, Were these rooms Preferred Pool/Garden or Preferred Boardwalk views? Could you see EPCOT and/or Illuminations from your balconies? One more thing, how far to the lobby from these rooms, 5/10 mins?
Thanks.

 

[CarolMN]

CaliforniaDreaming, Were these rooms Preferred Pool/Garden or Preferred Boardwalk views? Could you see EPCOT and/or Illuminations from your balconies? One more thing, how far to the lobby from these rooms, 5/10 mins?
Thanks.

I'm not Cali, but I do know that those rooms are Preferred -Boardwalk view. The view of IllumiNations from the balconies in that area is very good.

Unless you are a very slow walker, none of the rooms in the BWV are a 5 minute walk to the elevator bank. I'm sure the farthest is at most a 2 - 3 minute walk. (We can get to the MGM turnstiles from the Luna Park area in 10 -12 minutes at an average pace and that is a LOT farther than the distance from the elevators to the end of the BWV hallway). IMHO, the walk is overestimated, but I am used to other hotels and resorts that are set up in similar manners. YMMV.

Best wishes -

 

[Stitch 626]

Neither the noise (we didn't really notice any) nor the walk bother us. (I still prefer standard view, though - best bargain on site, IMHO).
-

Ok, newbie question. What does the "standard view" look at? Why such a large point differential?

 

[CarolMN]

Ok, newbie question. What does the "standard view" look at? Why such a large point differential?

Standard view rooms overlook the hotel entrance and the driveway leading up to it. You can also see the parking lots and the BWI wing. There is quite a large area of lawn / landscaping / flowers between the Villa building and the driveway and other Blacktop areas, though. Many of the standard view rooms have a view of the higher level fireworks from IllumiNations from the balcony. (Request higher floor across from the bus stop if that interests you). None of the PV rooms except the guaranteed BW view rooms can say the same.

When BWV first began selling, I've been told that DVC received many complaints about the view from what are now the standard view rooms. Apparently, the view was considered inferior to the pool, boardwalk and canal views. In response, DVC redid the point requirements to decrease the number of points for those rooms. (They could do this because the resort wasn't sold out - I assume they adjusted the total number sold to account for this, but of course I do not know that for sure).

Anyway, we like the standard view rooms.

HTH.

 

[Stitch 626]

Thank you for your quick reply

We have walked up the driveway on that side and found it quite nicely landscaped so I would agree that it seems to be well worth the point discount to stay in the standard view rooms. With such a point differential, I was concearned that it was dumpster view or something equally unattractive. I should have known better as Disney tends to hide the ugly things in life really well.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

CaliforniaDreaming, Were these rooms Preferred Pool/Garden or Preferred Boardwalk views? Could you see EPCOT and/or Illuminations from your balconies? One more thing, how far to the lobby from these rooms, 5/10 mins?
Thanks.

As Carol said, they are preferred-boardwalk views. I'd say it was maybe a 3 minute walk to the elevator, it wasn't bad at all. I wouldn't hesitate to stay in this area again. We could see both EPCOT and IllumiNations.

 

[MAGICX2]

THANKS! Can't wait!!!!!

 

[jekjones1558]

BW view rooms also have a view of Wishes fireworks at MK. But my personal favorite part of BW view is mornings. Just after dawn Spaceship Earth looks so beautiful illuminated against the morning sky. Watching the joggers and first boats of the day, seeing folks coming from and going to the bakery and to conferences at Swan and Dolphin. We no longer have to do commando-style park visits, so we enjoy the view from the balcony more now than in earlier years. BWV is a great place for low points in SV and the feeling of REALLY being at WDW when we stay in BW view. (Now I'm making myself wish that my upcoming trip would be at BWV! But gotta love those OKW rooms and parking!)