comparing BCV and BWV

[mjc2003]

We are BCV owners, but just stayed at BWV for the first time. There is a lot of conversation comparing these two resorts, with varied opinions. I thought I would give my feedback now that I can say we've actually stayed at both locations.

Firstly, we bought BCV this past spring after staying in villas on cash the past two years. We have been to other DVC resorts, but never stayed. We felt confident that, no matter what, BCV would be hard to beat. We love everything about the place.

We also stayed one night at AKV this past trip.

With regards to BWV, we really liked it. I did feel the distances around the resort were a bit tiring; walking from our room back by the main pool just to get a cup of coffee and a muffin in the morning took 20 minutes. However, we really enjoyed our room location and the tradeoff with all that walking is that there are a lot of things to walk to! Having the Boardwalk right down the hall was great. We have pretty much eaten at every spot on the Boardwalk now, and they all have their strengths. We like buffets, so having pretty much only sit down service lends to more planning. Of course we could have walked over to Cape May, but for comparisons sake I am only referring to what's part of BWV.
The main pool at BWV is just ok. We enjoyed it the first few days, after that it got a bit tiresome. It's just too kitschy for me, and it needs more genuine character. The "kid" pool is 10 inches deep and went unused pretty much our whole stay. The whole area is very "concrete", and lacking texture, for lack of a better word.
My wife suggested that they should have a sandy area, a la BCV. Not an entire sandy pool, just a little "beach", maybe over by the kids area and playground. After all, this is the "boardwalk" and the boardwalks here in Jersey are next to the sand!
I did like the pool bar. I think SAB could use an improved bar/counter service spot. The current setup is ok, but it's nice to be able to sit down and have a drink instead of standing in line to order one.

The biggest difference between the two resorts is obviously the pools. We really like coming back early from the parks and spending a lot of time around the pool, and SAB never gets old to us. That said, I thought we might have a hard time not being able to use SAB but the reality is you can and will enjoy wherever you are. We never once thought, "I wish we were over at BCV". Enjoying the moment and the fact that you are on vacation, away from the daily grind and spending time with your family is what makes vacation fun.

BWV was very nice, and the two resorts really share a similar decor. I think BWV is the kind of place where you have to give a few days to get comfortable. Once you realize the shortcuts and nuances, it definitely grows on you. For example, we didn't even realize for the first 2 days that you could cut through the back of the pool area by the arcade to get over to the boardwalk. We kept going back up to the second floor, down the hall, and through the lobby.

Cape May is a huge plus for us. Of course, the real beauty of the two resorts is that the restaurants are "shared services".

We much prefer the smaller size of BCV, but we were not overwhelmed by the size of BWV.

We came away from this trip confident in saying that we will be thrilled to stay at either AKV or BWV again. In a broader sense, we sort of came to the realization that we will probably have a blast at any DVC property. They ALL have strengths, and once you start visiting some of them for the first time you realize why people are so passionate about their favorites.

We will be at BCV in November, and can't wait.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I'm glad that you own at BCV, since that's where you prefer. We own at both, and like each at different times of the year! For us, the biggest plus for BWV is the point value when we book standard view points. We especially use this for NYE. When the family comes and we need a two bedroom the point savings is just tremendous, plus we do like being right on the boardwalk. They have a Village Green party on Halloween and on NYE. It's great being right there.

We own a home in Cape May NJ, and the pictures and details in the BCV villas make us homesick for the real one, and we all enjoy the Cape May Cafe's food, breakfast and dinner!

Bobbi

 

[crisi]

We stayed at BCV our last trip - and I could have posted what you wrote from the opposite angle.

We thought the distance between the pool (SAB) and our room was far too long (we did have an 'inconvienent' room). We don't do buffets if we can avoid it, and find the continual wait at B&C to be intolerable, so liked the Boardwalk restaurants better. And to top it off, our kids were homesick for the clown pool! It was a lovely resort - I wouldn't mind getting 'stuck' there, but we ended up being happy we were BWV owners.

BWV DOES take some getting used to with the "shortcuts" - once you figure them out - particularly if you don't mind the stairs - the resort becomes a lot "smaller." - I dislike the kiddie pool - and try and steer people with young kids away from BWV because of that - and the resort being MUCH more convienent when you can take stairs - which strollers makes hard to do, but my kids are way too old for that to be a concern. And if we were "refillable mug" people, it would be a horrible resort for that - but we are coffee in the room folks.

 

[Granny]

Despite the fact that BWV and BCV are so close to each other geographically, they really are more different than they are alike. I appreciate the candid feedback on every resort, and can see how the same thing can be attractive to one person and not liked by the next person.

Like crisi, we found SAB to be much more inconvenient to the DVC rooms than the BWV pool. And we like the relatively short walk to two parks as opposed to the really short walk to one park and a significantly longer walk to the other park.

But we loved the convenience of BCV parking, and the counter service at the market place there.

Thanks for sharing your impressions. It's always nice to hear that someone owns at a resort that they really love.

 

[deedisneydream97]

We never go to the clown pool...to crowded and noisy. Did you know about the "quiet pool"? You just meander a little further on the sidewalk towards Hollywood Studios. There is also a smaller and quieter hot tub there, too, along with community hall (free video games! airhockey, free DVD rentals for DVC members). And sometimes the quiet pool gets noisy....so the other option is to use the other pool, on the BoardWalk Inn side. Seems like nobody is ever there.

We own BWV, SSR and BLT. SSR being my least favorite, but we almost never stay there and use those points for BWV. BWV and BLT I loved equally. Love the one-bedroom at BLT because of the extra bathroom. Love walking to MK. Love having a MK view from our balcony. Love BWV because of its location and being able to save on points with the standard view.....and we love standard view. I like having coffee in the a.m. and people watching.....the valets running up and down the driveway, people hurrying for the bus. We did stay at BCV once. The room was nice, but I was really missing the Boardwalk. Did you kow you can refill your mug at the clown pool bar?

Glad you had a good experience at BWV. We are going next month....can't wait.

 

[VrBchJ]

For your morning coffee and muffin the Belle Vue lounge at BWV has continentel breakfast items available. It's a very pleasant area and a bit closer than walking to be Boardwalk Bakery.

 

[Sandisw]

For your morning coffee and muffin the Belle Vue lounge at BWV has continentel breakfast items available. It's a very pleasant area and a bit closer than walking to be Boardwalk Bakery.

Learned something new! Thank you!!!

 

[momtwoboys]

Can you tell me how your view was from a standard studio? It is 160 points for the standard and 200 points for the boardwalk view..... wondering how bad the standard view and locations are thanks

 

[crisi]

Can you tell me how your view was from a standard studio? It is 160 points for the standard and 200 points for the boardwalk view..... wondering how bad the standard view and locations are thanks

Standard View views aren't bad at all. They face the driveway and parking lot - but for most of them their is a wide expanse of grass before the room. Most of our "standard views" have looked out into trees.

Boardwalk view overlooks the boardwalk.

Most of the resort is preferred view - 60% of it. These are usually what is left longest and for non-Boardwalk owners, what you are likely to get at seven months for much of the year (or BWV owners who wait to book). They are views of the pools, the laws, or the canal between the BW and the S&D.

 

[BUDDYBEAR]

BEACH CLUB #1 IN OUR BOOK

 

[MinnieGi]

Can you tell me how your view was from a standard studio? It is 160 points for the standard and 200 points for the boardwalk view..... wondering how bad the standard view and locations are thanks

We love the standard view rooms. We have had views of the entrance to BW and also on the canal. When you face the entrance you can see the tops of Illuminations. We've also had a villa on the first floor that had a patio and grassy lawn. My kids loved it - it was like a front yard for them to play!
I either book boardwalk view or conserve the points for standard.

 

[deedisneydream97]

I've only stayed in a standard studio once at BWV, the rest of the time was a onebedroom standard. I have a phobia about ground floor rooms, so I always request non-ground floor. Someone mentioned the nice patio and lawns. Also, the higher up you are facing parking lot, the better the view of Illuminations. Unless, of course, you have a big tree in front of you. They really need to do some major pruning of some trees!!!! You don't get to see much of anything if you have a tree. But I see that people with pool views have the same problem. I don't really mind not having a b/w view.....since I can always mosey on down to the boardwalk with my coffee in the morning. Our first stay ever at B/W was when the first opened, we reserved a 1 bedroom standard view. When we got there, we were upgraded to a b/w view.....and that is why we are now DVC members! I think they knew what they were doing with that upgrade! They are wonderful views, but I'm a point hoarder.

 

[wulfekamp]

I think both resorts are great. When we stayed at BWV the water in the pool always seemed cold but the bar was great. At BCV we are not big fans of the main pool area we prefer the quet pool. The ESPN club just rocks. We do really enjoy Cape may. Ok its a tie.

 

[LSchrow]

The biggest difference between the two resorts is obviously the pools.
.

we own at both (plus SSR), and find the biggest difference to be the views (ranging from the incredible BW view to pretty standard view -for a great point bargain at the BWV, versus mostly poor views at the BCV) - after WDW frequent vacas, we enjoy our villas, the views, and relax most of the time we prefer not seeing cars, parking lots, and busy roads unless we are going off site at that time - otherwise, we would rather not to have the real world intrude our perfect bubble

we find SAB too crowded (too much like a crowded public pool - we enjoy actual swimming) vs luna park. the BW lobby is so quiet and elegant, while the BC/YC lobby has been noisy and chaotic every time we visited (side note: we love the yacht club - we just avoid the pool and lobby when we stay there). love the BW entertainment in the evenings - we grab an ice cream cone, watch a few shows, and it's just a very short walk to our room (or we can normally watch some shows, and the bball, water gun, and lobster pot games from our balcony). and watching illuminations with a loved one from our balcony never gets old also, community hall at the BWV is a treasure, imho.
but, cape may has always been one of our favorite restaurants, and art will always be in our hearts (teena is wonderful also). plus hurricane hannah's has good burgers.
just 28 more days til our happy place.....

 

[mjc2003]

we find SAB too crowded (too much like a crowded public pool - we enjoy actual swimming) vs luna park. the BW lobby is so quiet and elegant, while the BC/YC lobby has been noisy and chaotic every time we visited (side note: we love the yacht club - we just avoid the pool and lobby when we stay there). love the BW entertainment in the evenings - we grab an ice cream cone, watch a few shows, and it's just a very short walk to our room (or we can normally watch some shows, and the bball, water gun, and lobster pot games from our balcony). and watching illuminations with a loved one from our balcony never gets old also, community hall at the BWV is a treasure, imho.
but, cape may has always been one of our favorite restaurants, and art will always be in our hearts (teena is wonderful also). plus hurricane hannah's has good burgers.
just 28 more days til our happy place.....

Funny b/c we found Luna park too crowded. Could not get a seat anywhere near the pool, and the pool itself was full of people. Lots of kids jumping off the side as well, one landed on my daughter and I thought we were going to have to go to the hospital. I found it very hard to relax. At SAB, we usually find seats on the beach side over by the kid pool. I guess a big factor for us is having two small kids, they love SAB. I also like how you can get away from the afternoon activities at SAB but at LP they are right on top of you, and you can't hear yourself think with the music and megaphones blasting. It's nice that they have a "pool party", but it was really in your face. There was also a lifeguard who was really nice, but he kept jumping in the pool and splashing kids?!? I found this strange, and he scared my older daughter quite a bit by doing a cannonball right in front of her. I also am recovering from neck surgery and had to leave the pool one afternoon for about 30 minutes b/c they had some game going on with a GIANT ball being hit around, and there were about 100 people participating, jumping all over to keep the ball from touching the water. Looked fun, but I almost got hit a couple times and had to get out until they stopped. Too hectic, too loud....and not visually appealing. I really liked BWV, but I would have to say that the pool, in my humble opinion, was not a highlight.

I feel like we are never on our balcony. I understand people who are so inclined might find the BCV views boring. I agree with that. BWV does provide better views.

As for the lobby, I didn't see much of a difference. They both "feel" the same to me. BWV lobby was very crowded, there were wedding parties shuffling through, and the line for checkin actually made it hard sometimes to get by with a stroller. While I am familiar with a similar scene in the BCV lobby, I don't recall it being any more active or hectic. I think lobbies in general are a tough thing to critique; you can walk through right after a ME bus arrives and it'll appear "hectic", but 10 minutes later you might be the only one there.

I will say that I found the concierge at BWV less than helpful on the two occasions I had to stop and ask questions. One lady was sort of rude when I asked her a question about some dining options at the Swan, and when I asked a guy about where the TIW card could be purchased he basically shrugged and said "I really don't know". Uhmm....could you ask somebody, or look it up, or make a phone call? Why are you sitting there if the best you can muster is, "I really don't know?"

 

[mjc2003]

Despite the fact that BWV and BCV are so close to each other geographically, they really are more different than they are alike. I appreciate the candid feedback on every resort, and can see how the same thing can be attractive to one person and not liked by the next person.

Like crisi, we found SAB to be much more inconvenient to the DVC rooms than the BWV pool. And we like the relatively short walk to two parks as opposed to the really short walk to one park and a significantly longer walk to the other park.

But we loved the convenience of BCV parking, and the counter service at the market place there.

Thanks for sharing your impressions. It's always nice to hear that someone owns at a resort that they really love.

I agree that SAB is a bit further, but to me the tradeoff is that we find ourselves spending more time there then at Luna Park. You are right about the walk to two parks, but again, this is where it's really a personal thing; after our last trip we basically swore off DHS. We were there for about 2 hours and were bored. Conversely, we love Epcot and are there about 50% of our evenings, so the proximity to BCV really is a plus for us. Again, just our preference.

 

[Kristineamb]

BWV DOES take some getting used to with the "shortcuts" - once you figure them out - particularly if you don't mind the stairs - the resort becomes a lot "smaller." -

Did you know about the "quiet pool"? You just meander a little further on the sidewalk towards Hollywood Studios. There is also a smaller and quieter hot tub there, too, along with community hall (free video games! airhockey, free DVD rentals for DVC members). And sometimes the quiet pool gets noisy....so the other option is to use the other pool, on the BoardWalk Inn side. Seems like nobody is ever there.

Did you kow you can refill your mug at the clown pool bar?

BWV is the kind of place where you have to give a few days to get comfortable. Once you realize the shortcuts and nuances, it definitely grows on you. For example, we didn't even realize for the first 2 days that you could cut through the back of the pool area by the arcade to get over to the boardwalk. We kept going back up to the second floor, down the hall, and through the lobby.

We are staying @BWV for the FIRST time EVER next March! We have rented DVC points and have reserved TWO standard studios. I would VERY much appreciate any info, tips, advice, shortcuts any BWV owners/experts can share!

 

[Granny]

I agree that SAB is a bit further, but to me the tradeoff is that we find ourselves spending more time there then at Luna Park. You are right about the walk to two parks, but again, this is where it's really a personal thing; after our last trip we basically swore off DHS. We were there for about 2 hours and were bored. Conversely, we love Epcot and are there about 50% of our evenings, so the proximity to BCV really is a plus for us. Again, just our preference.

I bolded the key part of your comment...all DVC resort preferences really are subjective. DHS is probably our favorite park, so the shorter walk becomes more important to us.

That's why I find it so challenging to respond to "which resort is best..." kind of threads. And why I tend to ask those who start such threads some questions about what they want in a WDW resort experience. Otherwise, we are all just trumpeting our favorite resorts which gets a little repetitive if you read these boards a lot.

 

[LSchrow]

well we certainly can agree to disagree
(btw, we go rather often 2-3x a year, for 10-14 days at a time, at almost all the WDW resorts, pretty much since 1988 - and we visited repeatedly from opening. perhaps that is why we enjoy a more relaxed atmosphere and vacation than some might - we stopped any form of rope drop or early b'fasts years ago. funny, even my 2 kids and 2 nephews have made their preference for the laidback atmosphere, with activities close when you want it, of the BWV, very, VERY clear).
thank goodness there are so many choices

 

[deedisneydream97]

Sorry that this thread is going off the original topic, but wanted to give Kristene a few hints she was asking about.

Laundry....free laundry on gound level, get off elevator, make a right....it's there somewhere. You need detergent. did you know purex now makes a 2-in-one sheet...contains detergent & softener, perfect to bgring in suitcase if you are flying.

Bus transportation: If you are staying in the wing furthest away from lobby, take the corner staircase to get to the bus stop quickly. You come out by the turrent-shaped part of the resort, and the bustop is not to far. But you also share a bus with Swan & Dolphin and sometimes Yacht & Beach and it can get kind of annoying and a long trip, so plan ahead.

Walking to Hollywood Studios can be easier and faster than walking to the boat to go to hollywood studios, because it stops and yachet & beach, then swan and Dolphin. Again, if you are in the wing furthest from the lobby, take the staircase all the way down at the end of the building and you will come out on the sidewalk next to the canal (of course if you have strollers, using the stairs is not fun).

Food and fluids, cheapo style. You can walk over to the Hess gas station/market. Bring your rolling suitcase. Buy a case of water or soda and beer and wine. Buy bagels and stuff you can eat in your room for breakfast. Or if you have a car, a quick trip to the Winn dixie.

The boat to epcot. If we don't see one approaching (they come across from the Yacht & Beach) and if it is not too unbearably hot, we walk it. One of my favorite things about BCV and BWV is being able to go into the back was for Epcot.

Community Hall by the quiet pool. Awesome. Life jackets for kids, sometimes they have those pool "noodles", they do a different craft every day (small fee involved), free video games, air hockey and big screen tv. If you are a DVC owner, free DVD rentals for your room.

Magic Kingdom fire works. If you sit on the big veranda, you can see the castle in the distance along with fireworks (check times).

Illuminations....depending on where you room is, you can see alot of the illumiations from your deck. We've even seen them while enjoying our jazcuzzi.

The little store by the lobby has some nice things and things you may have forgotten (bandaids, razor, etc.), but the downstairs store has everything from food to souvineers. And I think that during the week you can get a free newspaper by the bellhop.

Big River brewworks has some very good lunches, as does the boardwalk bakery.

Hope this helps.