Bwv

[Patty3]

We have points at both BWV and BCV. We have not stayed at the BWV for two years. I have read and experienced personally the damage and problems that has been happening at BCV. I still really love this resort for many many reasons. My question is since I have not been to the BWV in over two years, what can I expect there. Are they experiencing the same problems with damage and wear and tear? We are taking friends with us and I want them to really like this place. They may even buy.

 

[Granny]

We have enjoyed our stays at BWV and haven't seen any excessive wear and tear. While the negative reports about room conditions are accurate, they do represent a small percentage of total stays at DVC resorts.

I wouldn't think twice about going there. In fact, we will be doing just that in five weeks.

 

[timC]

We were at BWV 2 weeks ago; it was in fine form... as always.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

The BWV is currently the 5th highest rated timeshare in the world according to TUG. I believe that says a lot about the BWV's and should ease your mind.

HBC

 

[minniestheone]

The resort was beautiful-no signs of any wear and tear. However they were not impressive in the customer service area.

 

[Like to Dis]

I have to second the report of the unimpressive customer service!!!!!!!!!
We just returned from a trip to BWV with 11 people and it was not the “Magical Gathering” they advertise.
When we checked in at 9:30 AM we were told that our rooms were not ready (not unexpected) but that we would be next to each other (as was requested many times before the trip). We were given a resort map with circles indicating the proximity of the rooms to each other (right next to each other), and told to call later in the day. We called at 2:00 PM and told that the studio was ready but the 2BR takes longer to prepare (not unreasonable). We called again at 4:00 PM and were told the room was still not ready. Arrived back at the resort at 5:30PM and told the room was ready. We were on the 2nd floor and the rest of our party was on the 4th floor, on the other side of the resort. We advised the CM that we were told we would be together in the AM but now we were a resort apart. We were told that was impossible so we produced the map from the AM check-in. We asked if they gave our room away and were told no but were given no other explanation except they can’t always accommodate requests. Well 1 ½ hours and a manager later we at least managed to get rooms on the same floor (although no where close together) so much for “Magical Gatherings”.
We stayed 5 nights on points and one night for cash so on the 5th day we checked out and checked back in. They did accommodate us and kept us in the same room. I asked if someone was going to go into the room and restock supplies, towels etc and told “of course”. When we returned back at 4:30 the room was not touched so we called house keeping and explained, they said they would send someone up. We again returned at 11:30PM and found only the beds had been made and nothing else so again called down to house keeping. They sent someone up with a stack of paper bowls and a bag of decaf coffee (we requested regular). I accepted it at the door and we went to bed. In the morning we went into the bathroom to find they had not even restocked toilet paper so I went to the front desk to speak to a manager. !/2 hour later and no manager I gave up and left, before I got back to the room the house keeping manager called our room and spoke to my wife and said he would look into it, that was the last thing we heard about it.
I am not one to complain and have never written a letter to complain but, we may well do that. We thought we would wait and see if we felt better after returning home but, so far not really.
It was a very nice place but the customer service was by no means up to Disney standards and we have stayed at most resorts on Disney property in about 30 trips.
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest, maybe this will help.

This was also the other families first trip to Disney.

 

[minniestheone]

I am glad to see we weren't the only ones. Last week was our 25th trip and I have never seen service, or lack of, like we had.

WE were told at 12:30 our room would be ready in 30 minutes. We were surprised and excited. The room was ready at 4:10. We checked twice and they said "about 20 more minutes", "definitely at 3:00". The third time we called someone nastily said that by contract the room didn't have to be ready until 4:30. The lobby was filled with guests who were all told the 30 minutes story. They were a lot of irritated people around.

We requested 2 extra sets of towels-it took them 2.5 hours to bring the towels.

They couldn't find someone to open the door of the storage area-where our shipped box was-then couldn't find it. It took 5 hours to bring that to the room. They told us this was becasuse it was Sunday.

We wanted to exchange our E-ride tickets to the next date, due to a lightening storm and the front desk told us we had to go to the MK to do it. We went to the room, called the main Disney number and they told us to bring them to the front desk- they can do it. The girl at the front desk didn't know how-it took 40 minutes.

They called us to tell us to empty our dishwasher as they were replacing it. Come to find out they did it the day before.

At check out, the valet put the luggage in the car and my husband tipped him. But we couldn't find the keys to the car. All the valets are telling us to move the car as there was a traffic jam-no one had the keys! A few minutes late a valet named Jose, who was standing there watching, walks up and says he has the keys. When I go to get them he pulls them back and says"I was the one who brought down your car" He held the keys to get his tip!
They need customer service training. I think the resort is large and they don't have that personal touch.

 

[Cruelladeville]

I just don't think it is unreasonable to have to wait for a room. If the lobby is filled with people waiting, why would you be given one when they are still waiting? You didn't have a basis for complaint until 4:00, IMHO, but at that time you should have had your room.

Did you give Jose a tip? He did not deserve one, and I hope you told him why. Hey, you are the guest-- just blow him off!

Why did you wait 2.5 hours for towels, and why would you time them in the first place??? Wouldn't your time have been better spent doing something else, and when you returned to the room, the towels would have been waiting?

I'm confused as to why you let such petty things ruin your vacation--did something else happen that started things off badly, and these examples were just the icing on the cake??

I do agree that customer service has generally gone down at all the resorts. I had a wheelchair waiting for when I checked in last April, and yes, they certainly had it--locked up,and no way to access it until 7 am. How does a handicapped person get to their room without it?? And the CM on night duty couldn't make keys for anyone checking in after 11 pm!

 

[minniestheone]

I am sorry you seemed to be offended by my post. I was just piggybacking the previous post with my BWV experience. As I said in my post, we have visited WDW 25 times, our last trip in February, and this was the first time we ever experienced poor customer service. I guess we have been lucky. We have stayed at the GF, Poly, Contemporary and VWL and expected the same quality of service from the BWV. I am sorry I hit a nerve but I was just relaying my experiences. If you had read my earlier post you would have read how I complemented the physical aspects of the resort.

I totally agree it is not unreasonable to wait for a room , but everyone in the lobby was being told "your room will be ready in 30 minutes" no matter how early they checked in. That is poor customer service. And then they kept saying that same time over and over again. People were sitting on the floor of the lobby, a large family of England sat there for hours. We didn't complain, but many and I mean many did rather loudly. They should tell people the truth, so expectations are met.

No I did not tip Jose, but again that was poor customer service, and definitely not the Disney way. Neither is taking 2.5 hours to bring 2 sets of towels. We aked for the towels as soon as we got in the room, went to the grocery and then had to wait 2.5 hours for them to arrive-so I was being generous in the my original post.

We had a wonderful vacation, but I find nothing wrong in posting my experiences for those headed to the BWV so they have a heads up. Once again, I am sorry you took it so personally.
I guess we were spoiled the past 24 times!

 

[mickeymouse710]

Wow, after reading comments from Like to Dis and Minniestheone, we are now wondering if we should stay at BWV. We have this resort booked for our next trip but will change resorts if necessary. We do not want to stay at a resort with problems.
Should we change our BWV reservations to another resort??? It seems as though BCV and BWV have the most problems and the most unhappy guests!!
What should we do??? Switch resorts, or stay with what we have booked?

 

[madoug]

We stay 4/26-29 in a studio. Room was lovely. However, 4 different CM gave us erroneous information. Called front desk for location of closest Ice machine and was told we had to go over to the INN side (turns out it was about 50 feet away from our room in the other direction). Valet CM told us the the world showcase entrance to Epcot would not be open for early entry so we would need to take a bus to the main entrance. 2 other questions that I cannot now specifically recall.

 

[minniestheone]

Like I said the physical plant and aspects of the resort are lovely. We had a 2 bedroom overlooking the Luna Pool and it was very nice. We had three teenage boys with us and they liked it a lot-especially the large number of teenage girls around! We had a great time!

For the past 8 times we have visited WDW we stayed at the WL and VWL and I honestly believe that because it is a smaller resort they are more in tune to their guests' needs. BWV is very large, and with the convention center, they have a lot more to deal with. So even thought the resort is beautiful, the customer service is not up to par-at least not what we have previously experienced at other resorts. If you know what to expect, and are Disney veterans it will be fine. Your experiences might be totally different. We might have just experienced new Summer team members. Like I said before, I guess we have been spoiled on our past 24 trips!

 

[RLevy29]

Wow, after reading comments from Like to Dis and Minniestheone, we are now wondering if we should stay at BWV. We have this resort booked for our next trip but will change resorts if necessary. We do not want to stay at a resort with problems.

mickeymouse710- I wouldn't worry about your stay. All resorts have problems and maybe the "Magical Gatherings" needs to have some kinks worked out. Just take everything that you read with a "grain of salt." You find both positive and negative threads about any resort and people are very opinionated about what resort is the best.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Originally posted by mickeymouse710
Wow, after reading comments from Like to Dis and Minniestheone, we are now wondering if we should stay at BWV. We have this resort booked for our next trip but will change resorts if necessary. We do not want to stay at a resort with problems.
Should we change our BWV reservations to another resort??? It seems as though BCV and BWV have the most problems and the most unhappy guests!!
What should we do??? Switch resorts, or stay with what we have booked?

As I stated earlier, the BWV is the 5th highest rated timeshare in the world according to TUG. If you feel the need to change resorts based on a few poor reports on an internet chat forum, then so be it. That will leave more room for those of us who love it there.

Don't worry. Keep your plans.

HBC

 

[crisi]

What Disney used to be really good at was managing expectations. If they told you a line was 45 minutes, it was usually 30. If they told you it would be a thirty minute wait for dinner, you were seated in 20. If they told you your room would be ready in 30 minutes, you'd be in your room in 30 minutes.

We noticed the biggest change from our last trip was they had seemed to have gotten out of the business of setting reasonable expectations and exceeding them. Part of it I blame on us - our expectations for magical are occationally out of whack - but this is a good example of Disney themselves forgetting how to "underpromise."

If I'm told the room will be ready in 30 minutes - I'd wait, make sure my luggage got in, and then hit the parks or the pool. Its just nicer to change in your room, or get the stuff dropped off and not have to deal with Bell Services after Fantasmic at 9:00pm. If its going to be three hours, that's ok, but I won't wait - and I'll deal with Bell Services. If they say 30 minutes and it turns out to be three hours, that's bad. Likewise, if the line for Splash is 40 minutes, I'll get in. If its an hour and a half, I'll do something else. If they say its 40 and it turns out to be an hour and a half, now I'm not happy.

 

[CarolMN]

crisi - Couldn't have said it better myself! ITA.

 

[Mic]

I personally appreciate people posting their experiences with anything at the Boardwalk Villas. I don't think it is done to convince folks to stay elsewhere, but rather as information that may be useful to someone else in the future. I had a horrible experience there 2 weeks ago, but I am not ready to go out and sell my BWV points. That being said, I do feel the customer service could and should be better, but that is more of a Disney issue than a DVC issue at the front desk. As for the room ready policy, I was informed, rather nastily, too, that my contract says 4:30 PM. Regardless of whether it is 4 or 4:30 PM, no guest should be talked to rudely. I wonder if my dues would go up if I suggested the front desk take a few more customer-service training courses?

 

[pumpkinboy]

Yes, BWV is terrible and you shouldn't stay there, especially the Standard view and Boardwalk view rooms in October and November ; these should be avoided at all costs. By all means cancel your ressies for the times where we have these rooms waitlisted

 

[OneMoreTry]

Late may 2br at BWV was very nice. Dishwasher needed repair and repairman was there within 10 minutes (literally) of our call. Otherwise the room was in great shape. but my kids thought the sleeper sofas were quite uncomfortable.

Valets and bellmen were great. (They get tipped.)

Front desk seemed burned out and not happy to be there, but were courteous.

Lifeguards were nice but not what you'd expect at Disney. CMs at the DVC clubhouse were probably the most friendly at the resort.

 

[jmatias]

We are at BWV in studio 3052 right now

We are having a wonderful time and every CM we have encountered has been very friendly and helpful.

The 2 weeks prior we were at Marriott Grande Vista in a 3 bedroom with DH's family. They went back home and then we moved to BWV. We were a bit concerned since we were moving from a 3 bedroom to a studio.

But....DH & I both agreed that we would stay at the BWV studio any day over a 3 bedroom at the Marriott.

We LOVE being BWV owners