BWV View question

[Boardwalkin]

Hi! I am looking for honest opinions about Boardwalk views and what you think about paying extra points for rooms with blocked balconies. I recently stayed in a boardwalk view room which was booked 11 months out and requested a room with a slatted balcony. Instead of an open balcony we received one of the solid ones which I have a picture of below. As you can clearly see there is no view of the boardwalk when sitting down. Now I know all the rules about booking and that nothing is guaranteed so please don't preach to me about requests are only requests. What I want to know is if you think these rooms should really be considered boardwalk view? Yes, you can see the boardwalk while standing, but do you really want to only see a view if you have to stand? BTW we did move night 2 to a room with an open balcony.

 

[drusba]

I have had one of those rooms (as a 2BR). Yes, the view is blocked if sitting but you can stand and see. Personally, I was fine with it because I liked having the much larger porch. To me, there are much worse boardwalk view rooms than those -- there are the first floor rooms in the Crest O' the Wave section which hardly have any porches at all and are at boardwalk level so anyone walking by can see into the room if the curtain is open. I have mostly avoided those rooms by simply making one request when I reserve: higher floor.

Boardwalk view was a late creation. When BWV opened and for many years thereafter, there was only standard and preferred view. Getting a boardwalk view room was merely a request when reserving preferred view and you could end up elsewhere. The separate boardwalk view booking category was created later but the points remained the same as preferred (now pool/garden) view. The change that you would seek today would be to simply make those board-sided balcony rooms preferred view without having points change.. The severe problem I would have with making such a request is that it would give DVC the excuse it needs to raise the points required for boardwalk view while classifying those boarded rooms as only preferred. I can hear its usual words now when DVC does something to screw members: "Due to overwhelming feedback from members, we have adjusted the point requirements for boardwalk view while reclassifying certain rooms on the boardwalk as preferred view."

 

[crisi]

Remember as drusba said, its no more points than for preferred view. If you want to save the points, you can book standard - views are fine - if standard is available. If standard isn't available, we usually book Boardwalk (we usually book Boardwalk anyway). I don't use the balcony that much, but seeing out to the lake and Epcot through the windows is nice - and we've been able to do that even with the high walls. In fifteen years, we've never had preferred view because why, if we are booking at eleven months and the other views are available.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Your request was just a request. You were lucky to get to move to a different villa on Day 2.

 

[Marionnette]

Hi! I am looking for honest opinions about Boardwalk views and what you think about paying extra points for rooms with blocked balconies. I recently stayed in a boardwalk view room which was booked 11 months out and requested a room with a slatted balcony. Instead of an open balcony we received one of the solid ones which I have a picture of below. As you can clearly see there is no view of the boardwalk when sitting down. Now I know all the rules about booking and that nothing is guaranteed so please don't preach to me about requests are only requests. What I want to know is if you think these rooms should really be considered boardwalk view? Yes, you can see the boardwalk while standing, but do you really want to only see a view if you have to stand? BTW we did move night 2 to a room with an open balcony.
View attachment 403983

I was in a studio with one of those balconies in April. Yes, I was disappointed that I couldn’t sit and watch the boardwalk traffic while having my coffee in the morning. But I also know that somebody had to get that room. TBH, it didn’t matter in the long run. We weren’t in the room enough for the view to make a difference.

 

[Granny]

What I want to know is if you think these rooms should really be considered boardwalk view? Yes, you can see the boardwalk while standing, but do you really want to only see a view if you have to stand?

These are two different questions.

As for whether I think those rooms should be considered boardwalk view, my response is yes. The view from the balcony (when standing) is of the boardwalk, Crescent Lake and EPCOT with the best view of Illuminations or its replacement.

As for whether I really only want to see a view if I have to stand...for me it is absolutely no big deal.

I can certainly understand why some would be disappointed with the solid balcony, but since honest opinions were requested, I can't say that I would be disappointed in getting that room or that view.

 

[Simba's Mom]

For what it's worth, I also had the 1 BR part of a room with a balcony like that. The room was HA. I also requested, and received a move after the first night. It wasn't so much the balcony that made me request a move. Nor was it the fact that it was HA. What bothered me was that I'd asked the CM at the front desk "Is this room HA?" (just because I'd gotten HA rooms the last 3 visits) and she said "Oh, no it isn't!" They later said the front desk CMs didn't know, but what if someone arrives who needs a HA room, how can the CM be sure the room meets the requirement.

 

[LSchrow]

We almost always book BW view at 11 months, and request a closed balcony - yet 9 out of 10 times, we still get a slatted balcony
For us, the closed wall offers so much more privacy (we don't have anyone in a wheelchair or little ones), and love that we can go outside in our PJs with no one the wiser. It always struck us as odd that with so many requesting NO closed wall, we have so much difficulty getting one of those rooms.

 

[crisi]

We almost always book BW view at 11 months, and request a closed balcony - yet 9 out of 10 times, we still get a slatted balcony
For us, the closed wall offers so much more privacy (we don't have anyone in a wheelchair or little ones), and love that we can go outside in our PJs with no one the wiser. It always struck us as odd that with so many requesting NO closed wall, we have so much difficulty getting one of those rooms.

I suspect that the front desk does not have that information at hand when they assign you a room. They don't know which rooms have which balconies, and it isn't like they have time to embark on a research project to figure it out. So its an ignored request - insufficient data to process.

 

[LSchrow]

I suspect that the front desk does not have that information at hand when they assign you a room. They don't know which rooms have which balconies, and it isn't like they have time to embark on a research project to figure it out. So its an ignored request - insufficient data to process.

Both our MS (& most recently, also faxed) requests state that we prefer solid wall balconies, and include the villa numbers that correspond with our booking.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

I guess this is the problem with not having every room/balcony exactly the same. On the other hand this makes for an architecturally appealing design from the outside of the structure. There are rooms, one and two bedroom units that don't have any balcony access from one of the rooms. I have had those rooms in the past and they wouldn't have been my first choice but I still had a good view from the window. I guess what I'm saying is that there are worse things then getting a room that has the closed balcony or for those that prefer that, getting a room with the "open" balcony. JMO

 

[DebbieB]

I was in 2013 about a month ago, solid balcony. Didn’t bother me. I was more concerned about noise (requested top floor), but that wasn’t a problem.

I had a 1 bedroom once that only had access to the balcony from the bedroom (4011). Another time only a small balcony from the living room, window in the bedroom (5051).

 

[crazywig]

I had a 1 bedroom once that only had access to the balcony from the bedroom (4011). Another time only a small balcony from the living room, window in the bedroom (5051).

5051 is on the green too! I was so angry when I got that room, imo it should not be bw view.

4017 also has the access only from the bedroom and it was very annoying. We had this room last Dec as part of a 2br. It's an actual door but sealed.

 

[DebbieB]

5051 is on the green too! I was so angry when I got that room, imo it should not be bw view.

4017 also has the access only from the bedroom and it was very annoying. We had this room last Dec as part of a 2br. It's an actual door but sealed.

I was going to say something about 5051, it was the first time I booked boardwalk view after it was separated, but I had my mom with me and she wasn't in good health, so I figured it was best to keep it because it's close to the elevators.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I was going to say something about 5051, it was the first time I booked boardwalk view after it was separated, but I had my mom with me and she wasn't in good health, so I figured it was best to keep it because it's close to the elevators.

5051 is the only Boardwalk view room I take some issue with. Or maybe 4051 is the same too? Then I take issue with it too. Just from the category name it seems like the room should at least directly face the boardwalk if they are in that category. And just for haha’s it has that one tiny balcony. I went back to the front desk certain they had put us in a pool/garden view. When they insisted it was a boardwalk view I got online to confirm. We’ve also gotten one of the village green studios which is preferred view and it just wasn’t that different. Anyway now I know. Honestly if it at least had a better balcony I wouldn’t have minded so much although it isn’t as good as the other boardwalk view rooms since you can’t see the entire boardwalk.

 

[sethschroeder]

Not fully on topic. We dont own yet so I can't check myself.

Can you book a boardwalk view? Or are you just simply booking preferred and hoping to not get a garden/pool view?

One last question is garden and/or pool views still under preferred or are they under the standard category now?

Thanks!

 

[Marionnette]

Not fully on topic. We dont own yet so I can't check myself.

Can you book a boardwalk view? Or are you just simply booking preferred and hoping to not get a garden/pool view?

One last question is garden and/or pool views still under preferred or are they under the standard category now?

Thanks!

A boardwalk view is a bookable category for owners. For cash reservations thru CRO you can only choose a preferred view which will most likely be a garden or pool view.

The garden/pool view is still its own booking category. It takes as many points as a boardwalk view. Standard views take considerably fewer points.

 

[crisi]

And standard view is about 20% of the resort and usually books first. Boardwalk view is another 20% and books next. The remaining 60% is preferred view. At seven months, it's usually just preferred that is available, if anything.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The standard view on points is usually along the front drive overlooking the parking lot. They go quickly at 11 months out because they require a lot fewer points than the Preferred/Garden/Pool view or the Preferred/Boardwalk view. If you book a standard view for cash through Disney Reservation Center (formerly known as CRO - Central Reservations Office), you'll get the Preferred/Garden/Pool view. Boardwalk view is not available for cash reservations.

 

[crazywig]

Funny enough, after complaining about 5051 upthread I received that room again on July 6th! However I had booked a standard one bedroom so this was an upgrade and I was certainly not complaining.

I checked my account and on my checkin day they had cancelled and then rebooked my room with no point change so I'm assuming they did that for some internal reason of their own.