BW Villas Still The Best

[CrayzeeDiz]

I just returned from my stay at the BCV and had a great time. The BCV are beautiful and the rooms are fabulous. But there are some drawbacks to BCV. The views are mostly of a service road in the back and a small quiet pool in the front. The Villas are also somewhat behind the rest of the resort adding to the amount of walking to and from stormalong bay. The pool was fabulous and these are very minor drawbsacks to a tremendous vacation. I think the BWV are a little better if only for the convenience of the villas to the boardwalk , the pool and the views that they have. The room layouts are very similiar and the service is great at both resorts. Does anyone else agree or disagree ? I actualy own the VWL and both of these blow away that place.

 

[travelbug]

I can't really offer an opinion, because I haven't actually been to either BWV or BCV yet. But those are the two resorts where I have ownership, and I'll be heading to both of them within the next few months (see countdown timers below! ).

I just wanted to say thanks for your perspective on both places. Sounds like the good points far outweigh the few minor drawbacks. I'm glad you had a great stay at BCV. Can't wait to try out both places myself.

By the way, welcome to the boards!

 

[jml145]

i've stayed at all of the dvc resorts, includind the BCV on two recent trips. I found the BCV to be about as good as it gets. The self parking is very close to the rooms. And the overall location can't be beat. It all depends on what you're looking to do on that stay, and what your favorite parks and restaurants are. For someone like me , who loves to play golf during the day, and dine at Epcot at night, you can't beat BCV.

 

[mmmcq]

I realize this probably warrants a new thread....and maybe I'll copy it into one. But with your personal review and the comments added here, maybe all of you can help me. We own at BWV and love the location and the facility. We stayed at the Yacht Club this past summer, however, because we had to use points from a holding acct (trip cancelled post 9/11). Now that there is no pool hopping and we've stayed at the Yacht Club, we're having a tough time deciding where to do an add on.

My heart says BWV. We looked at BCV and don't think the location of the resort and general facilities matches up with BWV. But I have a 3 yr old that absolutely lived for SAB this summer and I can honestly say that I loved being on that side of the water so close to the Epcot entrance. So I can't decide if owning at two resorts is worth it just to have access to SAB on some trips. What I'm ultimately trying to do is get us up to enough points so that once every 4-5 years we would have enough pts to do a Grand Villa at BWV or OKW and invite the whole family.

Anybody have thoughts?

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Originally posted by CrayzeeDiz
I actualy own the VWL and both of these blow away that place.

CrayzeeDiz, thanx for your opinion. Personally VWL is by far my favorite, and IMO, it is the most detailed in terms of theming.

That being said, all DVC resorts are very well done, and I wouldn't mind owning them all! Isn't it great to have variety for all tastes?!

 

[MarkRG]

What is a kungaloosh!?

This is an intersting viewpoint. We've been thinking of going in a couple or three years down the road, just to compare it to 'home', just to see how different it is. Now, there probably isn't any real reason to, if BCV and BWV are that equal.

 

[trishy]

Since the topic is the comparison of BCV and BWV, I gotta agree that BWV is just tops for that particular area. I've been to the BCV and was kinda disappointed - there's really no theme to speak of - the highlight of BCV is the ability to take a long walk to SAB or a short walk to Epcot. I just love the atmosphere (very lively at times) of BWV. I agree with Mastre Gracey that VWL is absolutely gorgeous and themed meticulously. I love that place. Completely different in comparison to other resorts, but as they say "variety is the spice of life".

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Originally posted by MarkRG
What is a kungaloosh!?

It is the verbal part of The Adventurers Club salute. If you spend a few hours at this club, located at Pleasure Island, you will get very familiar with this term. It really is a very funny place, and a great time!

Have Fun, and... <marquee direction="right" align="middle" behavior="alternate"><font face="comic sans ms">KUNGALOOSH!</font face> </marquee>

 

[Punkswife]

I just have to say that "There's no place like home". We own at BWV and we are staying at BCV in Nov. I don't know whether to be excited or disappointed. I have heard that there are no more points available for the BWV, so you might want to check into that.

 

[mmmcq]

We're looking at a resale of which there are very few, but when they come up the points tend to be 100-300 which is what we're looking for and the price is lower than BCV even with closing costs added. I don't have time to stay at BCV before the price goes up...so we really only have a few weeks to make up our minds to go one way or the other. I feel like we should buy more points at BWV sometime in '03 and then later add on at BCV thru another resale....

 

[DeeP]

We own at BWV and love the location and the facility. We stayed at the Yacht Club this past summer, however, because we had to use points from a holding acct (trip cancelled post 9/11). Now that there is no pool hopping and we've stayed at the Yacht Club, we're having a tough time deciding where to do an add on.

mmmcq,
I am a real die hard BWV fan. I absolutely love this resort, it's location, atmosphere, villas, amenities etc., there is nothing about BWV that I do not love. It is my DVC home and for me it is the best resort on WDW property. I am currently on a wait list for add on pts at BWV but there are 60 people ahead of me!!! So the chances of getting an add on at BWV through Disney does not look good. But I must say I also like BCV very much, I admit that many of the rooms do not have the greatest views, but it is a beautiful resort, has the BEST pool on property and is located in the super Epcot resort location which is sooooo convenient. I am now in contact with my DVC guide regarding an add on at BCV and I am waiting for the papers to arrive. I have looked at the resales at BWV but have not seen anything lower than 150 pts and they are all sales pending. Anything higher in pts than that is just too many pts for me since my children are now young adults and I no longer have a need for a 2 br villa. I think if you love BWV you will be just as happy at BCV, the 2 are about as similar as you are ever going to get with 2 DVC resorts. Also at times it will be nice to be on the other side of the lake and look over at the boardwalk and the lights and action, also the BCV will be a little less crowded (since it is a smaller DVC resort) and I am sure the parking lots will not be as crowded since it will mostly be resort guests parking there and not people coming to the boardwalk and also hopefully not those people that park against the rules and use BWV parking to go to Epcot!

 

[stephcm]

Originally posted by mmmcq
So I can't decide if owning at two resorts is worth it just to have access to SAB on some trips
Anybody have thoughts?

We have points at OKW, BW and BCV. After staying at the BCV this past summer (with our teen boys who LOVE SAB!), we have decided to sell our OKW points, if we can, and buy more BCV points. I have 3 contracts at OKW and one has just sold (in less than 2 weeeks!). So I called my guide today and added on 60 BCV points to replace the 60 OKW points we just sold!

IMHO, yes, it is worth having points at BCV for SAB and the location to Epcot.
We have 250 at BW and 160(now with the add-on) at BCV. Hopefully, if we can sell the rest of our OKW points, we will ultimately end up with 250 at BW and 280 at BCV.

 

[mmmcq]

You've summed it up nicely, thanks. Hubby and I were just discussing the merits of owning at two resorts vs two use years at BWV thru a resale. The BWV resales go fast, so I'm not expecting to be able to do it right now......but we have to make a definitive decision before the price goes up at BCV. The resales are definitely more points than I would like to buy right now, but ultimately I'd like to end up with close to 400 so we can occasionally do a GV (which BCV doesn't have) or take a cruise. My kids are 13, 11 and 3 with lots of younger cousins out West so we'll definitely use the points over the years. I can come up with a million ways to use them......believe me. It's affording them that's the problem, of course!

I also called my guide this week to discuss the options. And today we got an email with his name on it from DVC regarding the upcoming price increase. So we've got lots to discuss.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

 

[mmmcq]

stephcm,

Thanks for your thoughts too....and to CrayzeeDiz for starting this thread which really got me going on this. I'm not sure why it clicked today.....just did.

I think my teen girls like their toddler sister will love SAB for a couple more years and buying direct thru Disney at BCV is a little easier for us to manage right now administratively. Like you, we could always go back and buy more points at BWV later from a resale privately or thru Disney off the waitlist.

I have plenty of friends who have stayed at BCV and BWV and swear that OKW is their favorite of all time, so I'm sure you'll have no problem selling your other contracts there. Good luck.

 

[stephcm]

Originally posted by mmmcq
stephcm,
I think my teen girls like their toddler sister will love SAB for a couple more years .

The decision to sell at OKW didn't come without a family discussion, which was held at Beaches and Cream during our August trip! The boys told me they can't imagine staying anywhere where they couldn't swim at SAB! As a matter of fact, when we bought our BCV points, we got the 3 free nights incentive. I booked the Poly, thinking it would be nice for a change, but the kids asked me to change it to YC (which I did)! The way I see it, even when staying at BW, you could swim at SAB in the evening, since I have never seen anyone checking ID's after about 4 or 5.
Good Luck with your decision.
Any other questions or if you just want to chat about this, feel free to email me at smvdelv@aol.com

 

[Niagara2]

Too bad Richyams doesn't own at one of these two resorts...this could bring the debate of the best DVC location to a new level!!

 

[Jillpie]

Steph, I would love to know what your teens love about SAB. We are going for the very first time (BCV owners) this April. We have 3 boys, ages 14, 10 and 9. I really hope my 14 yr. old can possibly find a few friends at SAB to hang with or just enjoy the pool with us...this is a tough age, he wants to be independent now (not cool to hang with little brothers and Mom and Dad, you know?). Anyway, I'd love to know exactly what your kids love about SAB so I can tell him, thanks!

 

[DeeP]

Jillpie,
My kids are now young adults but they spent many of their vacations during their teen years at YC/BC/BWV and they loved everything about SAB. It is an amazing pool with a great slide, deep parts, lazy river parts, whirlpool parts, places to lay out and catch some rays, a wonderful snack bar with good food, a nice arcade just off the pool, Beaches and Cream for great burgers and great ice cream cones, sundaes etc. My kids did tend to meet more teens to hang out with at SAB at night when the parks closed, they would have a blast at the pool at this time and then form friendships and would then make plans to meet up with their friends the next evening. At SAB in the daytime it is a lot of families with younger kids and some teens but the families are always coming and going to parks, etc. During the day when my teens would come back to our room from the parks they either hung out with the family at the pool, hung out at the arcade or stayed in the room to watch tv, rest, etc and then in the evening they would meet their frends at the pool. Definitely there are always more teens and young adults at SAB after the parks closed but I have found this true at all the WDW resorts. I hope this helps.

 

[stephcm]

Jillpie,
DeeP said just what I would have said! The pool is HUGE, and there are so many parts to it. And definitely - my kids LIVED for going to the pool after dinner. There were always other teens there or at the arcade, which, by the way, is HUGE!
Have you seen pictures of the pool? There are lots of sites that have great pictures that you can show your kids. I have tons of pictures of the pool as well. If you would like I could email some of them to you...
smvdelv@aol.com

 

[mmmcq]

I'm sure Steph will weigh in later this am.....but my teen and "almost teen" girls loved the fact that there were 3-4 different "parts" to the pool - the overhead slide from across the pathway, the tube pool.....and the fact that they could get food from the carry out place next to the slide and Beaches & Cream. Also that it was so close to our Yacht Club room and that we were able to swim there so late in the pm during late August.

After our August trip I realized that even though we had the Ultimate Hopper Passes....we never got to Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach. We didn't need to for the first time in 4 trips! SAB was all they needed. That may change again in a few years and an occasional trip to a water park wouldn't kill us, but I find going "off-site" from BWV or the BCV area to the water parks kills a lot of time at Epcot, MGM or MK.

I was actually able to give them more "freedom" at SAB than I would have done at the water parks (because of the crowds).