CL or Villa, what would you do?

[magic1106]

I need some advice. Any and all opinions are welcome.

We will be going to WDW in Oct for F&W staying at BC. The cast is myself(40th Bday trip!), husband and daughter(13), this will be our 4th trip, 1st @ BC. Joining us will be my limited mobility parents, each with their own ECV and this will be their first trip.

We currently have 2 1Bdr villas booked at BCV but I am debating on changing our room to a CL @ BC. Because of having the ECVs, needing a full kitchen and having the overall extra space, my parents need a villa. We, on the other hand, don't need the villa but do like having the extra space, whirlpool tub, fridge, and washer/dryer available to us.

My husband, daughter and I just got back to our first trip to US/IOA staying at Royal Pacific CL. It was not quite up to WDW resort standards but the level of service was amazing, and having access to the lounge was a huge perk. We ate breakfast everyday in the lounge, picked up snacks and drinks throughout the day and ate dinner there 5 out of 7 nights.

Now for my debate:
+We were ok not having the extra space as we were never in the room. Usually at WDW we stay 10 day and spend a lot of down time in our room but this trip will only be 7 days.
+We could use the washer/dryer in my parents room(we paid to use the one at RP).
+Plan on F&W for lunch and my parents will have separate dining ADRs for at least 3 of our meals
-Is is as much food as RP?
-Would it be awkward us having access to the lounge and my parents not?
-It will cost more, will it be worth it? Works out to about $30/day per person extra; thinking about $15-20 for breakfast, $5 snack, $10-15 drinks would cover the difference, maybe?

Does anyone have experience with this type of situation? What would yo?u do and why?

 

[cmdg]

I need some advice. Any and all opinions are welcome.

We will be going to WDW in Oct for F&W staying at BC. The cast is myself(40th Bday trip!), husband and daughter(13), this will be our 4th trip, 1st @ BC. Joining us will be my limited mobility parents, each with their own ECV and this will be their first trip.

We currently have 2 1Bdr villas booked at BCV but I am debating on changing our room to a CL @ BC. Because of having the ECVs, needing a full kitchen and having the overall extra space, my parents need a villa. We, on the other hand, don't need the villa but do like having the extra space, whirlpool tub, fridge, and washer/dryer available to us.

My husband, daughter and I just got back to our first trip to US/IOA staying at Royal Pacific CL. It was not quite up to WDW resort standards but the level of service was amazing, and having access to the lounge was a huge perk. We ate breakfast everyday in the lounge, picked up snacks and drinks throughout the day and ate dinner there 5 out of 7 nights.

Now for my debate:
+We were ok not having the extra space as we were never in the room. Usually at WDW we stay 10 day and spend a lot of down time in our room but this trip will only be 7 days.
+We could use the washer/dryer in my parents room(we paid to use the one at RP).
+Plan on F&W for lunch and my parents will have separate dining ADRs for at least 3 of our meals
-Is is as much food as RP?
-Would it be awkward us having access to the lounge and my parents not?
-It will cost more, will it be worth it? Works out to about $30/day per person extra; thinking about $15-20 for breakfast, $5 snack, $10-15 drinks would cover the difference, maybe?

Does anyone have experience with this type of situation? What would yo?u do and why?

We just went through a similar dilema, but because our son is so young (2.5) we decided the extra space, fridge, and washer/dryer would be the way to go. We have never stayed CL anywhere but WL, but that was really nice.

 

[TaraPA]

We go back & forth on this debate every family trip! Space is our number one priority, and I also LOVE having the washer & dryer. We only travel with carry-ons so laundry is a must for me. But my kids LOVE CL, and we do use the lounge for breakfast, snacks & drinks every day.

I have never stayed at RPR so I can't compare CL's. BC CL lounge was great but you mentioned having "dinner" at RPR. There are only a few hot appetizers at BC between 5-7, and none of us could have made "dinner" out of them. The snacks in the afternoon were only things like Swedish fish, cookies & chocolate covered pretzels - again nothing worthy to us for a hearty snack.

Have you looked at the BC Deluxe CL Rooms? They are more $$ than the regular rooms but are much larger. We had one last year & it was very very nice. The only negative is that the Deluxe CL rooms are nowhere near the CL lounge, it was a hike to get there.

Our last family trip we did a split stay - CL at WL & then onto a 1BR villa at AKL. I will say we were much more comfy in the villa & we all agreed the space was better than having CL.

That being said, however, I did just book at Deluxe CL room at BWI for August. There are no BW view 1BR villas left, and for this birthday surprise trip having a BW view & space were priorities. The only larger rooms that guaranteed a BW view were the Deluxe CL. We'll be fine with this, and I will just do laundry in the regular laundry room while there.

I think you'll be fine in a CL room, having your parents' villa to relax in & do laundry. Just be advised though that the BCV are fairly far from the BC rooms, and you have to walk outside to go from one to the other. Will that matter to you? I've stayed at both BC & BCV & the décor is completely opposite as well.

I don't know if this helped or confused you more. Have a GREAT trip - BC is amazing!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I would never give up a one bedroom villa for club level. The club level rooms are just normal hotel rooms, where as the villa has a separate master bedroom, which would be great with a 13 year old. You can buy a lot of snacks and beer and wine and put it in your full size refrigerator and still spend less than club level would cost.

 

[pamkat1820]

I am the opposite I guess than everyone else. We have discussed a villa b4 and even considered renting points for our upcoming trip. We just couldn't do it. I think the rooms in the resorts are so much nicer than the villas. I feel like they look more worn down.

I like having a great room to come back to at the end of a long day at the park. We are staying CL on our trip and I'm looking forward to trying it out. I cook everyday and do laundry every day. I'm a stay at home mom. My daughter is in first grade and my son is 2 1/2. When I go on vacation the last thing I want to see is a kitchen or a washing machine lol.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I guess the separate living room, two television sets and a separate master bedroom with a king size bed and a door that locks is the most important to me when traveling with teens and older children. Oh, and the ten cup coffee maker is nice, too. We never really cook in the villa, just have breakfast food. You have three times the space (at least it feels like three times) of a standard hotel room, too. And you are guaranteed at least one balcony, sometimes two, in the villas.

 

[ElizabethB]

We have the same debate every year. Dh loves the DVC one-bedroom villas, so we always choose that for the two of us. We don't really use the kitchen other than to eat our take-out breakfast from the nearby restaurant.

But, when I travel with a good friend and her sons, we always pick CL. The boys love access to the lounge and snacks and we just like the overall convenience of being able to get a nice breakfast at a leisurely pace without fighting the noise and crowds in the restaurants. We also often enjoy the evening appetizers with wine or beer. We once decided we would try the villas instead, choosing Beach Club Villas. Everyone was rather disappointed. We felt the larger room did not make up for the lack of CL food and services. We switched back to CL for our next trip and everyone has been happy.

Frankly, I'd switch my parents to BC CL as well, unless dietary restrictions make a kitchen a total necessity. When I took my parents, we stayed in connecting rooms at GF main building CL, and on another vacation connecting rooms at AKL CL. The connecting rooms make the space seem more spacious. My parents were allowed to park the ECVs outside in the hall. Two rooms worked fine and my parents loved, loved, loved, the concierge lounge. They could hang out there, have snacks and drinks, etc., which was especially nice for the times they chose not to go with us to the parks.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[tinkermommyof3]

We just went through the same debate. We have been staying CL the past few trips at the Poly. For a 10 night trip with a family of 5, we felt we wanted more living space than a single hotel room even though Poly rooms are a little larger than other resorts. We decided that we wanted to stay in a one bedroom Villa at BLT as we prefer monorail resorts. We booked BLT but no discounts/availability came out for our dates of travel. Rack was too expensive for our budget so we are back at the Poly CL. It would have been nice to stay in the Villa with Washer/Dryer, 2 Bathrooms, Separate Sleeping Areas etc. However, price was a factor for us.