BWV - question about categories

[Best Aunt]

At BWV, the point chart shows 2 categories:
1) Standard View
2) Boardwalk/Preferred View.

But when I go to check availability, there are 3 categories:
1) Standard View
2) Garden or Pool View
3) Boardwalk View

I assume if someone has their heart set on seeing the Boardwalk when they look out the window, they choose Boardwalk View, and should know that there may be noise outside the window that you don't get in other rooms.

If someone doesn't care at all what they see when they look out the window, they can choose Standard View and save the points.

So why choose Garden or Pool View? Is the view that much nicer than Standard View to justify spending as many points as someone does to get the Boardwalk View?

Are there any other Pros or Cons to consider when choosing a category at BWV?

 

[Splashboat]

Most of the rooms are pool/garden view. If all 3 options are available I don't think many will pick the pool/garden view for the reasons you mention (save points stay standard, spending points want BW view).

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

For us it's more about the availability. If you don't have home resort priority then you may not even have standard view or boardwalk view as options so pool/garden is what it is.

One thing about standard view is that the rooms closer to the lobby also are right above the luggage check-in and I've heard they can be quite noisy also. Another thing is that none of the boardwalk view rooms are right next to the lobby - that's a few of the standard view (the more noise ones) and pool/garden view so if being right by the lobby and the elevators was of utmost importance then the pool/garden view will give the best possibility of that. But that's only a request. And pool/garden views will usually be a bit closer to the pools.

Overall if booking far enough in advance we'll choose standard or boardwalk view. If we had small children I might consider pool/garden in an attempt to be right by a pool.

 

[benji2012]

We always book pool/garden view--intentionally. We don't want the noise of the Boardwalk, but we want a better view than a parking lot. We usually request to be near the quiet pool.

 

[castle1]

We once had a pool/garden view overlooking the canal with views of the Swan/Dolphin. It was very pretty and peaceful.

 

[Splashboat]

OP, just be aware, the main pool area can be loud too. We only had a pool view once (all that was available). The room had a great view but there was a lot of noise from the pool area.

 

[n2mm]

We always choose standard view because we like stretching our points. Since standard view is only 20% of this resort it is difficult to get standard rooms unless you are an owner. I have to book standard rooms at the 11 month window to get in. This is the same for guarantee boardwalk view. The pool/ preferred/garden view area makes up 60% of this resort and is the easier room to get. I bought bwv because of the value of booking standard view and own at BLT for the same reason.

 

[DebbieB]

The CRO reservations usually get pool/garden view even though their reservation shows standard. So that takes up some of them.

I've only done pool/garden once and that was because it was all that was available. I actually liked it. I was on the 5th floor above the main pool about 3 or 4 doors from the elevators. It was in November last year and it was loud in the afternoon due to pool games.

I still prefer the boardwalk view. The only time I had a noise problem was when I was on the second floor above Big River. It was June and people we out late talking.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

We typically stay Garden/Pool view because it is all that is available when we book. We do get Standard or Boardwalk view when booking at the 11 month window; I like the Boardwalk view in the more mild months when we can spend quite a bit of time on the balcony.

Honestly, I'm just happy to be at BWV so the view doesn't matter much. We've found things we've liked about every room.

 

[CocosMeme]

I booked standard last week for our trip for the opening weekend of F&G (it is DH's birthday weekend). I had the option of anything I wanted at 7 months and was surprised. We stayed in quiet pool view room last year the 1st week of December and loved it. We looked out at the Tower of Terror. What should I request for the March trip to avoid the noisy luggage area?

 

[DebbieB]

I booked standard last week for our trip for the opening weekend of F&G (it is DH's birthday weekend). I had the option of anything I wanted at 7 months and was surprised. We stayed in quiet pool view room last year the 1st week of December and loved it. We looked out at the Tower of Terror. What should I request for the March trip to avoid the noisy luggage area?

For standard view, I always request top floor, across from the bus stop. That puts you away from the entrance and you get a decent view of the fireworks if there's not a tree in the way.

 

[Dean]

At BWV, the point chart shows 2 categories:
1) Standard View
2) Boardwalk/Preferred View.

But when I go to check availability, there are 3 categories:
1) Standard View
2) Garden or Pool View
3) Boardwalk View

I assume if someone has their heart set on seeing the Boardwalk when they look out the window, they choose Boardwalk View, and should know that there may be noise outside the window that you don't get in other rooms.

If someone doesn't care at all what they see when they look out the window, they can choose Standard View and save the points.

So why choose Garden or Pool View? Is the view that much nicer than Standard View to justify spending as many points as someone does to get the Boardwalk View?

Are there any other Pros or Cons to consider when choosing a category at BWV?

IIRC when BWV first opened it was all "preferred view". It wasn't until a year to two later when they broke out the standard vs preferred. There is some discussion whether the standard view was intend all along and not brought in until later. I don't recall when BW view became a booking category rather than a request. They could raise the points and lower the others a little if they wanted.

 

[crisi]

IIRC when BWV first opened it was all "preferred view". It wasn't until a year to two later when they broke out the standard vs preferred. There is some discussion whether the standard view was intend all along and not brought in until later. I don't recall when BW view became a booking category rather than a request. They could raise the points and lower the others a little if they wanted.

I bought in 2002 and it was a request - but requests back then were assigned by the room requester and were first come first served - so it was functionally a booking category. By the time we took our first trip in October 2003 it had switched to a booking category. At the time, there was some speculation and a few stories about people throwing a fit to get the Boardwalk View when it had not been assigned to them - and if a front desk CM gave in, the person who had made the reservation earlier would find themselves looking at the scary clown (or something else) - and if that person had made a reservation right at eleven months - it was going to be hard to convince them that they hadn't managed to snag a Boardwalk View.

I personally suspect that additionally there is a piece of promotional literature "owners will get first stab at these fantastic views" or something of that nature. Something DVC put in writing during the BWV sales process that obligated the switch. But that might just be my jaded nature.

ETA: Our first DVC trip might have been 2004 instead of 2003 - probably was in fact. So somewhere probably early in 2004 the switch was made.

 

[DebbieB]

I bought in 2002 and it was a request - but requests back then were assigned by the room requester and were first come first served - so it was functionally a booking category. By the time we took our first trip in October 2003 it had switched to a booking category. At the time, there was some speculation and a few stories about people throwing a fit to get the Boardwalk View when it had not been assigned to them - and if a front desk CM gave in, the person who had made the reservation earlier would find themselves looking at the scary clown (or something else) - and if that person had made a reservation right at eleven months - it was going to be hard to convince them that they hadn't managed to snag a Boardwalk View.

I personally suspect that additionally there is a piece of promotional literature "owners will get first stab at these fantastic views" or something of that nature. Something DVC put in writing during the BWV sales process that obligated the switch. But that might just be my jaded nature.

ETA: Our first DVC trip might have been 2004 instead of 2003 - probably was in fact. So somewhere probably early in 2004 the switch was made.

I think it was sometime in 2003. I went the first week of December every year and 2004 was the first time I got it so I would have booked it in early January 2004. Before that I was booking standard view because I didn't want to roll the dice after not getting boardwalk view on my first trip.

Here's what I recall. DVC went to a "room ready" system. They would not assign rooms in advance, they would assign them when you checked in. They would look for a room that was ready for occupancy that met at least one of your requests. If you didn't like what they had, you could come back later to check-in to see what was open.

I called member satisfaction because when I bought, I was told room requests were filled by date of reservation, thereby by booking at 11 months you had a good chance. One of the reasons I chose BWV as my home resort. With this system, someone who booked one month before and got there first could get it. The cm explained the room ready system as I posted above. I could only imagine how a system like that could create chaos at BWV, people hounding the front desk to see what was open.

A month or two later, the split booking categories were announced.

 

[crisi]

I called member satisfaction because when I bought, I was told room requests were filled by date of reservation, thereby by booking at 11 months you had a good chance. One of the reasons I chose BWV as my home resort. With this system, someone who booked one month before and got there first could get it. The cm explained the room ready system as I posted above. I could only imagine how a system like that could create chaos at BWV, people hounding the front desk to see what was open.

One of the stories I remember was someone saying that when they checked in their were multiple groups camped out in the lobby waiting for the Boardwalk View room to suddenly become "ready."


I know the whole switch occurred between the time we made our first reservation - we had no Boardwalk View, but made the reservation at eleven months so had a "really good chance" to the time we checked in when they had actually changed our reservation to a guaranteed view. And there was a few weeks/months in there were it was dicey on if we'd get it or not with the switches being made - sometimes they seemed to be assigning for that case, sometimes not. Didn't end up making a difference to our trip as it was all resolved - but I feel sorry for those people who traveled while DVC was once again proving that they don't even bother to anticipate consequences.