BWV - decided to try - disappointed

[Muushka]

And I thought it was going to be a complaint about the loooooong hallways!

 

[bevis]

WOW. How cheap are these Castmember Rates!!!

 

[disneynutz]

We've done more than a dozen dvc trips and have never NOT gotten our room early. We always check in during the morning, sometimes have been given the room right away, other times we leave, call, and get in by 2 pm. Most of the regular dvc-ers will tell you that they've gotten a room before 4 pm at least a few times. I think it's odd that your friends said they NEVER get in before 4 pm.

More often than not we don't get our room until 4:00 PM or later. Maybe it's the room size, resort, or time of year. Last month we had a 2 bedroom at BWV, we new that it was on the 5th floor due to a comment made at the Front Desk when I checked in at 8:00 AM. Our room was the last to be cleaned on the 5th floor and several Mousekeepers were working on it so they could go home. We were in the room at 4:45.

Our record was at SSR last year, 6:15 PM for a 1 bedroom. We were told that the delay was caused due to a Manager requesting a VIP cleaning. Due to the late check in we were made the "Family Of The Day". We got a certificate, some balloons, and badges to wear.

 

[np4gp]

I have only stayed on our points twice since closing in October but we checked in at 12ish at SSR for a one night stay for MNSSHP and then we checked in at 9AM 2 weeks ago at SSR for a 5 night stay. I was shocked, but very very pleased.

 

[Missy Bruin]

Hey everyone,
My family and i were came down to the world and stayed at boardwalk in june at the beginning July and had a horrible time and will never go back again.

Well we i had the earl flight out of providence at 6 am i know i was not going to check in until 4pm.Here was dvc's first mistake when we called to make the reservation eleven months ago for a two bedroom i was suppose to get a boardwalk view well when i got there in the morning i was told there were no more boardwalk views available.Totally not acceptable.So instead my family which is a party of eight a two bedroom was given a pool view to me i consider that the back of the house.I would rather of had a view of the swan and listen to the boats go by then listen to kids screaming by a pool all day and night.

So as the trip went on i would say about the second day we came back from one of the parks and we were getting ready to go to the pool well i went to use the bathroom and the toilet started overflowing water was coming every where.Well maintenance was great came right down and fixed the problem.Well the very same same day we all came back started taken showers and getting ready for are dinner ressies and i started to blow dry my hair and i noticed that the blow dryer was making stranger noises all of a sudden the blow dryer was on fire.I unplugged the blow dryer threw it into the sink and then the flames were gone i called once again down to the front desk and the ask me if i need fire and rescue we said no everyone was fine the sent maintenance down for a second time that day to replace the blow dryer.My thoughts about the boardwalk LOCATION ,LOCATION,LOCATION that's about all it's good for.

I did put in a complaint with dvc and they apologize for what happen.They noticed i had a reservation for the food and wine festival this past october we had a blast.Well they promise us some first class VIP TREATMENT we are still waiting for it.By the way we stayed at saratoga springs our home resort.
I JUST LOVE IT THERE.

Talk to you all soon
MISSY AND FAMILY

 

[vicki_c]

Well, we thought our Food & Wine stay at BWV (1 BR) was wonderful last month! No complaints at all!

Booked on short notice and got the room through a waitlist (our home is SSR), room was clean, comfortable, location was of course, great -- we have no complaints. I didn't even notice the size of the TV -- we did watch it, but I'm not really focused on my TV when I'm at Disney. Oh, and our room was ready when we arrive around 11 AM. We've had 3 DVC resort stays this year and our room was ready at every location when we arrived, which was much much earlier than the 4 PM check in time (SSR - 7 AM, VWL - 1 PM, BWV - 11 AM). I don't ever expect it to be ready before 4 PM, because that's the published policy, but my experience so far has been excellent.

Overall it was a great trip -- just like every Disney trip!

 

[Dean]

Hello All -

I'm posting here because I'm surprised with the Boardwalk Villas.

DH and I decided to stay for half of our vacation at the Villas at Boardwalk and the second half at Boardwalk Inn. We own a Marriot timeshare and thought we were curious.

First....why on earth do you wait until 4 pm to checkin? I have never waited that long for a Marriott property - even during Christmas! We were not allowed into our room until 4:35 ( checked the watch ) and friends didn't get into Animal Kingdom Villas until 6 pm......the night of the Christmas Party.

Yes, I know it's staffing....we spoke with Management. So hire more mousekeepers.

We were just surprised so many of you think that's OK! It isn't anywhere else we have stayed on points.


Second, we were surprised how small the 1 bedroom villa is compared to others in the WDW area. Jacuzzi was nice...king bed was nice....but overall they were much smaller the comparable villa's outside WDW.


Finally.....wow is it outdated. We called our little electric stove .... "the little stove that could". Not all the burners worked and it was rusty.....very sad little thing!

The televisions are old....please......a cash paying guest could pay up to $649 p.night according to the notice on the door.....and you have an old 13" television in the bedroom!!!!

Scuffs and holes in the walls....leaky shower head that was not fixied in spite of 2 calls to maintenance. Mousekeepers that can't manage to find their way to our villa until after 3 pm each day.

I hope these are schedled to be updated very soon. We pay castmember rates but I know the going rate for DVC points and this simply isn't worth it.


Next....we moved to the Boardwalk Inn and we were so glad we ended our stay there. The rooms are freshly updated......flat screen televisions, new furniture, new drapes, carpet, wallpaper and the new Disney bedding is SCRUMPTIOUS after a long day in the parks.

Our room at Boardwalk Inn was always cleaned right after we left in the morning - windows were not smudged - everythng spotless.

What a comparison.


What I don't understand is.......why do DVC members allow their invenstment to become so tired....and.....Why on earth do you put up with hidious room availability at 4 pm on arrival day. When I have arrived at a Marriott property, even if my assigned room is unavailable, they simply switch me to something that is ready. Honestly, the latest we have gotten into a room is before noon. I don't understand why you guys put up with this.

Oh yes, what's with the double points for weekends? I have never heard of this before either!!!

We gave DVC a try....just seems way too much $$$ and trouble to spend for a week (when you add the weekend points). Marriott is so much easier to manage and rooms offer far more luxury.

If you are looking for a GREAT room......just walk over to the Boardwalk Inn and sink into some REAL luxury!!! We will keep our castmember rates and stay there!!

Some of your criticims are appropriate, others show a lack of understanding. I am wondering the breadth of your previous experiences but I'm guessing you have no more than 5 or 6 Marriott stays under your belt. The rooms are smaller but not tiny, much like the Marriott's in more in demand places like HI and Aruba or even the new lakeshore reserve in Orlando will not be that much larger. Certainly BWV is due for an update with flatscreen TV's and nicer appliances. Check in at all of the Marriott's I know of are 4 as well and it's not been uncommon to be 4 or after in my 10 years of experience. IMO, Marriott does generally handle it better than DVC but the difference is not as great as you suggest. IMO, anything after 4 PM should be the exception so it is NOT ok with me for DVC to take liberties beyond 4 pm.

As for weekend vs weekday point, you obviously have not experience with timeshare points systems, only Marriott reward points. This suggests you likely bought retail and believed the party line from Marriott in that area. Marriott rewards points are worth AT MOST 1 cent a point. You can generate a better value on paper by using them for places like Paris, London, Rome and Sydney. Or you could have traded a Marriott studio or 1 BR in to DVC through II for a much smaller cost overall.

I love Marriott and I love DVC and they both have their good and bad points. Once you have more experience and a better diversity using your Marriott ownership you will be a little more forgiving of a single bad stay. I own both and have for many years and use each of them for their benefits and avoid each in their areas of weekness whenever possible.

 

[jpeka65844]

Hello All -



The televisions are old....please......a cash paying guest could pay up to $649 p.night according to the notice on the door.....and you have an old 13" television in the bedroom!!!!

Here's the kicker. I was a cash paying guest at BWI over the weekend and paying $550 for a deluxe room and yes, those have a flat screen but no DVD player! The concierge CM told me the suites are the only ones that have that. For a stay with DS 3, I'd rather have the "19 and a DVD player than a flat screen and none. I'm still not even sure why they did flat screens b/c Disney gets no HD channels.

 

[CarolAnnC]

I notice the OP did purchase a Marriott timeshare rather than DVC, and being a castmember that is an interesting choice. I know castmembers do receive a nice discount, or at least they used to, on DVC purchases.

I don't believe trading it into DVC will be a choice for them anyway, now that they are switching to RCI for a partnership in 2009.

I would, like others, suggest that to judge the whole DVC group of properties and villas based on this one stay would not be prudent. As we can see from others' experiences here, they vary widely for Marriott as well as Disney.

Lastly, I would like to remind everyone to please remain civil in this conversation, and do not berate nor argue with others who may not share your opinion. After all, we are a discussion board and do welcome various opinions on any given topic. Thanks all!

 

[marshmallow]

Hello All -

I hope these are schedled to be updated very soon. We pay castmember rates but I know the going rate for DVC points and this simply isn't worth it.
............

If you are looking for a GREAT room......just walk over to the Boardwalk Inn and sink into some REAL luxury!!! We will keep our castmember rates and stay there!!

I work for another timeshare company and my husband works at Disneyland so we purchased DVC at cast member prices.... incredible deal. Our first visit to a DVC resort will be in Jan at SSR.

The resorts in my company pay attention to the source of a reservations. Priority is given in room assignments to Owners and Exchanges(they want those high ratings) Employee rentals get the worst rooms. That may have happened here.

However the owners do have the responsibility to make sure the board of their resort is spending the assessment fees to properly maintain and refurbish the property.

 

[Sammie]

I do have to agree that Disney does a much better job of rehabbing and maintenance to thier Resorts than DVC does and that is a shame.

 

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

We have never done a marriot timeshare but I do know that whether you are paying cash or using points you can still wait for a room until after 4pm depending on the season. We were actually plesantly surprised from our trip this past week....we checked in at 11am and our room was ready at SSR. Gorgeous room, 4th floor, DTD Disney view. It couldn't get any better! In fact, with all of our DVC stays, we have never had to wait past 2 for a room and we do not wait at the hotel...we go our merry way and call to see if it is ready.

I think you should give DVC another chance. It is the best value, in my book because there is no way I would pay $300/night for a room. I top out at $200 even in NYC. Of course Passholder rates are great at $169/night for DVC resorts!

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

Some of your criticims are appropriate, others show a lack of understanding. I am wondering the breadth of your previous experiences but I'm guessing you have no more than 5 or 6 Marriott stays under your belt. The rooms are smaller but not tiny, much like the Marriott's in more in demand places like HI and Aruba or even the new lakeshore reserve in Orlando will not be that much larger. Certainly BWV is due for an update with flatscreen TV's and nicer appliances. Check in at all of the Marriott's I know of are 4 as well and it's not been uncommon to be 4 or after in my 10 years of experience. IMO, Marriott does generally handle it better than DVC but the difference is not as great as you suggest. IMO, anything after 4 PM should be the exception so it is NOT ok with me for DVC to take liberties beyond 4 pm.

As for weekend vs weekday point, you obviously have not experience with timeshare points systems, only Marriott reward points. This suggests you likely bought retail and believed the party line from Marriott in that area. Marriott rewards points are worth AT MOST 1 cent a point. You can generate a better value on paper by using them for places like Paris, London, Rome and Sydney. Or you could have traded a Marriott studio or 1 BR in to DVC through II for a much smaller cost overall.

I love Marriott and I love DVC and they both have their good and bad points. Once you have more experience and a better diversity using your Marriott ownership you will be a little more forgiving of a single bad stay. I own both and have for many years and use each of them for their benefits and avoid each in their areas of weekness whenever possible.

Sorry ..... but I'm out of town 2 weeks out of four each month (though that level of travel IS getting old). I travel for work, with my husband AND another friend who ALSO has Marriott points (and a disgruntled DVC member who did not get into his room until later than WE did).

I cannot remember getting into a room in the last 2 years any later than maybe 2 pm....EVER.


The bottom line is Disney could do better they just choose to NOT do better - payroll the largest controlable expense in a hospitality budget by the way. I suspect if you DVC folks started to push the point.....you would not have to wait until 5 o'clock to check in.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

I work for another timeshare company and my husband works at Disneyland so we purchased DVC at cast member prices.... incredible deal. Our first visit to a DVC resort will be in Jan at SSR.

The resorts in my company pay attention to the source of a reservations. Priority is given in room assignments to Owners and Exchanges(they want those high ratings) Employee rentals get the worst rooms. That may have happened here.

However the owners do have the responsibility to make sure the board of their resort is spending the assessment fees to properly maintain and refurbish the property.

Employees get the WORST rooms in DVC....yet another reason to skip it.

I cannot remember getting a bad room at WDW or DL.....I guess we have been lucky or maybe we just bring more Pixie Dust with use when we travel at WDW. Our BWI room two weeks ago was one of the best we have had at WDW.

Oh by the way.....we LOVED the location of our room at BWV. They had given us the location of our room and we actually found it HOURS before it was ready.....there was not a mousekeeper ANYWHERE on the entire floor.....we know....we checked.

 

[tjkraz]

Sorry ..... but I'm out of town 2 weeks out of four each month (though that level of travel IS getting old). I travel for work, with my husband AND another friend who ALSO has Marriott points (and a disgruntled DVC member who did not get into his room until later than WE did).

I cannot remember getting into a room in the last 2 years any later than maybe 2 pm....EVER.

Seems to be an interesting failure to communicate developing here...

In this one thread you've got posts from multiple Marriott owners who have not received their room until much later than 2pm. At the same time there are also many DVC owners who got into their room much earlier than 5pm (I have personally never had to wait any later than 1:30pm to get into a DVC room, but I'm sure others have.)

Continuing to make broad assumptions based upon your ONE DVC experience simply is not productive.

The bottom line is Disney could do better they just choose to NOT do better - payroll the largest controlable expense in a hospitality budget by the way. I suspect if you DVC folks started to push the point.....you would not have to wait until 5 o'clock to check in.

In your own post you claimed that there were 50 housekeeping CMs on duty to clean 200 rooms. That's an average of 4 rooms per CM. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. You can't expect Disney to hire 200 people to each work one hour per day.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

Seems to be an interesting failure to communicate developing here...

In this one thread you've got posts from multiple Marriott owners who have not received their room until much later than 2pm. At the same time there are also many DVC owners who got into their room much earlier than 5pm (I have personally never had to wait any later than 1:30pm to get into a DVC room, but I'm sure others have.)

Continuing to make broad assumptions based upon your ONE DVC experience simply is not productive.



In your own post you claimed that there were 50 housekeeping CMs on duty to clean 200 rooms. That's an average of 4 rooms per CM. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. You can't expect Disney to hire 200 people to each work one hour per day.

I expect Disney to hire adequate mousekeepers to care for their guests. One day our mousekeeper came to our room at 4 pm to clean the room....unacceptable.

Oh by the way, I have a handful of DVC friends....one in particular is a DVC-aholic owning at.......Vero Beach, AKV, BWV, WLV, will buy at Grand Cali in California......he is at WDW at least once each month for a Jiko dining event.....and he said he never gets into his accommodations until late in the afternoon.

I don't consider that one event exclusively.....he was the the DVC guest who was meeting us for the Christmas Party and got his AKV room after closer to 6 pm. THAT is unacceptable.

 

[tjkraz]

I expect Disney to hire adequate mousekeepers to care for their guests. One day our mousekeeper came to our room at 4 pm to clean the room....unacceptable.

Is there a published standard for the appropriate time for room cleanings?

Oh by the way, I have a handful of DVC friends....one in particular is a DVC-aholic owning at.......Vero Beach, AKV, BWV, WLV, will buy at Grand Cali in California......he is at WDW at least once each month for a Jiko dining event.....and he said he never gets into his accommodations until late in the afternoon.

With a published check-in time of "after 4pm", that seems perfectly reasonable to me. Certainly 5pm and later IS unacceptable and I suspect those occurrences are quite rare in the grand scheme of things.

I don't consider that one event exclusively.....he was the the DVC guest who was meeting us for the Christmas Party and got his AKV room after closer to 6 pm. THAT is unacceptable.

I agree...that incident IS unacceptable. But let's not act as if that's the norm for DVC because it is not.

 

[Dean]

Sorry ..... but I'm out of town 2 weeks out of four each month (though that level of travel IS getting old). I travel for work, with my husband AND another friend who ALSO has Marriott points (and a disgruntled DVC member who did not get into his room until later than WE did).

I cannot remember getting into a room in the last 2 years any later than maybe 2 pm....EVER.


The bottom line is Disney could do better they just choose to NOT do better - payroll the largest controlable expense in a hospitality budget by the way. I suspect if you DVC folks started to push the point.....you would not have to wait until 5 o'clock to check in.

So you don't even own a timeshare? have you ever stayed at one before? As I noted, I agree they could and SHOULD do better, however timeshares are much different than hotels and one cannot extrapolate well from one to another. Also, if you travel that much you're likely in the highest category for your rewards such as Platinum elite with Marriott and as such you are usually given preferential treatment and as such your experience is skewed. I have traveled extensively with Marriott Timeshares and it's unusual that the rooms will be ready before around 3:30-4 pm. Keep in mind it takes a lot longer to clean a timeshare room than a hotel and due to the kitchen and whirlpool, it's a lot more than just sq footage. I do agree with you that it should always be by around 4 but to expect it prior is unreasonable. I own 4 different Marriott's and have a lot of info in this area from HH Marriott's as I have a friend who is a resort manager with Marriott and was Manager at Marriott's Grande Ocean for a few years. Marriott on HH has had trouble getting people to work for what they are able to pay so they're brought in crews from the islands for busier times.

It sounds like timeshare are not your thing so you should likel avoid them as they have inherent compromises and it doesn't sound like you think the inherent benefits are worth it.

 

[CarolA]

Here's the kicker. I was a cash paying guest at BWI over the weekend and paying $550 for a deluxe room and yes, those have a flat screen but no DVD player! The concierge CM told me the suites are the only ones that have that. For a stay with DS 3, I'd rather have the "19 and a DVD player than a flat screen and none. I'm still not even sure why they did flat screens b/c Disney gets no HD channels.

OMG... I cannot imagine paying that for ANY Disney room

I just checked... The Ritz Carlton Club Level room for next Sat night is $349 And Disney wants $510 for a room that's not as nice. That's almost $200 for LOCATION??? Actually it's more then $200 for location. You are losing a star or two (depending on rater) in the rankings.... WOW! Got to hand it to Disney for getting that. The Ritz basic room is $249! I am just amazed at what Disney pricing is doing. Welcome to the REAL Fantasyland!

 

[Brian Noble]

When I book a unit---as a conventional rental, an internal timeshare booking, or an exchange---I'm told when check-in time is. Generally, the room is ready by then, or soon after. I don't expect it to be ready earlier. If it is, it is strictly a bonus. As noted, timeshare resorts are less likely to have their units ready early, for a variety of reasons---higher overall occupancy rate, a few "common" turn days, etc.

Dean makes a good point. Timeshares aren't hotels. They operate fundamentally differently. DVC timeshare units are more "hotel-like" than most, for a variety of reasons, and that can be good or bad, depending on your perspective. But, still, they are not the same as hotels.

Some people are hotel people. Others are timeshare people. Furthermore, some find DVC units wonderful, others perfer more traditional timeshare units and resorts. That's why Baskin Robins has 31 flavors.

Got to hand it to Disney for getting that.

Never underestimate the marketing prowess of the Mouse. Mickey isn't selling you a hotel room---ever. He's selling you a "vacation experience"---the whole thing. Here's an analogy: the European tour. You can book "a tour" from a tour operator, that bundles lodging, transportation, guided tours, and even some meals. Or, you can put those things together yourself. The latter is almost always less expensive, all things being equal, but the former provides a single sales point and a seamless experience, without ever having to learn even a few words of the local language.

Again, different people find value in different places, 31 flavors, blah blah blah.