Hi all, just back from our first stay at BC and I think we're converted! Some thoughts (both positive and negative below)
1. Loved the general relaxed resort vibe. Having an amazing pool meant we wanted to make use of it and for once we felt relaxed on a Disney trip. The consumption of a few Banana Cabana's from Hurricane Hannah's might have helped with that
2. We booked a standard view room, I requested a large balcony with a nice view and we ended up with a view of Spaceship Earth! Every evening we made time to sit on the balcony and watch the lights and just take in the view and atmosphere. (Room 3698 if you're wondering...)
3. Toiletries wise, I agree that they are definitely trying to get rid of the backstock of H2O stuff as our room was opposite one of the Mousekeeping "offices" and every time we came out of the room, even if it wasn't our mousekeeping day, we were given more toiletries. I now have a massive pile of H2O stuff in our bathroom at home (and I think its the cause of my luggage being slightly over weight coming home!)
4. While we didn't eat at the resort, we did make sure to have an ice cream or two from the Beaches and Cream to go window and to be honest that was enough for us, but does mean we will probably make a proper Beaches and Cream reservation when we're next back.
5. Mr Eskimo wanted a hot chocolate a couple of times when it was torrential rain, and the machine in the market place wasn't working but the staff directed him to Cape May where they made some up for him for free, which was amazing customer service.
6. One little thing I didn't like was the new "resort TV". I loved the classic rolling info channel with the instrumental Disney music playing, telling me the park hours each day. But we just had the resort page, with separate "pages" for each park that you had to select. On a day when it was raining we noticed that the classic channel was playing on the TV in the solarium, so Mr Eskimo went and asked at the front desk about it. They told us we could find the classic version on Channel 1, except channel 1 was blocked on our TV. Someone came up to look and couldn't explain why the channel was blocked. Again, a really minor thing that didn't detract from our stay really but was something that left me a little disappointed.
7. The logistics of getting to our room was a little laborious, especially if there were a queue of people trying to use the lifts. We weren't near a set of stairs (in fact the stairs were almost at the opposite end of the resort to us) so it was lifts or a very long walk. I think we only really waited 5 minutes max for a lift but did find ourselves going up and down between floors in that lift at least once a day, especially if there were a lot of people going to and from the club lounge. We don't mind taking the stairs usually but it would have been a lot longer in distance for us; just something to consider if you have mobility issues (or have a kind of busted ankle like Mr Eskimo!)
8. Final thing, that walk across to the slide entrance bothered me more than I thought it would. I'm not the most body confident person at the best of times, but walking in my swimwear across the public walkway made me feel really uncomfortable occasionally when "the public" were actively staring at me. I usually love sides and I'm fine in waterparks, but there was just something about walking past people on the bikes, and going to and from Epcot in "normal" clothes that just didn't sit right with me. I can see that the logistics of the slide design mean that this was the easiest way to deal with it but still, not the best Disney.
All in all we loved it, and definitely think that if we want a more "relaxed" trip then we'd stay here again because the higher price was worth it for the facilities and the convenience of being that close to 2 parks. The minor niggles were just that, minor things that didn't really have any bearing on our trip but were things I just wanted to mention for those who may be thinking about those things (or who are stuck in the mud like me and don't want Disney to change).
Glad to be part of the BC family now but think Mr Eskimo want's to go back to Port Orleans, but stay in French Quarter next time
