Feeling or location??

[Lorilais_mommie]

I seen many comments here about how stunning and amazing some resort rooms can be or at other resorts how you can't beat the location.
However a lot of those location resorts seem to be lacking some disney Magic..
(BWV, POLY,and BLT seem to have the widest complaints)

So if you had to choose would you choose location or Ambience (the feeling) the resort gives?




What we have noticed is even tho BWV gives you a great location, not having that Disney feeling really makes a differance to us..

We have owned DVC since 2013 and We Recently went on a trip and did a spilt stay between BWV And GVF.. And another stay at AKL.. I know many other love the BWV, but it seems so plain on the inside... There are no disney touches in the rooms and When compared to GFV/AKL the BWV really fell short.

Hubby and I both agreed the feeling the resorts/room gives us is worth more at the end of the day then the location.

 

[PAcpl]

We were big Boardwalk fans and then had a little bit of an issue at the resort so they switched us to AKV. We were happy they did because it forced us to get out of the location mindset and check out other resorts. AKV was our home resort and thought it was amazing. That being said, we try not to stay there because it is so far off the beaten path. It is just DW and I so we like to stop back at the room mid day for a couple of hours to freshen up and either head back to the same park or hit a different park. Being in the middle of everything makes that much easier.

I also take into consideration how big the resort is. We are at OKW this week and as beautiful as it is, it's big and I prefer a smaller resort. So far we have liked BLT the best, but it is the only MK DVC we have stayed in.

 

[DVCjj]

Been going for 40 years and now only bringing adult children (or just DH and me) so Magic is not a big deal.
To us it's location, location, location. A split between an Epcot resort BCV (own) and MK resort BLT cannot be beat.
The parks have enough Magic.

For cash, nothing beats the elegance of Yacht Club or GF. Definitely no Disney Feeling but oh so classy. I like classy.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We always drive, so parking is important to me. I've found some parking spots are closer to the VWL than others. I find parking at BWV to be lacking. Parking is great at OKW, SSR, AKV-KV and BCV. I look at the number of points I have to use, so GFV and Polynesian are out. I only like one bedroom villas or bigger, but will stay for a few days at an OKW studio since it has two queen beds. I like the calm and quiet at OKW and SSR. I like walking from BCV and BLT. And I can get to anywhere in Lake Buena Vista and Orlando either by car or Disney transportation, so no problems there. Walking to a park is nice (BCV and BLT).

 

[Donna M]

We travel to WDW once a year, twice on a good year, and since we plan to return every year we don't do the parks a lot. Spending time at the resort becomes more important, so the feel and amenities available take precedence over location. After staying at VGF we are finding that having a lobby and 24 hr fitness center comes in handy for dh who is on a third shift schedule for the beginning of our trips and has a place to go without waking the rest of us.

Some resorts don't have the Disney vibe that we like. It's nice that there are so many to choose from now, something for everyone.

Having a car makes location less important for us too.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

We travel to WDW once a year, twice on a good year, and since we plan to return every year we don't do the parks a lot. Spending time at the resort becomes more important, so the feel and amenities available take precedence over location. .

Exactly what we are finding out. When love the parks and however since every trip is a min. Of 7 days we are spending more and more time at the resort.
For the amenities alone AKL really impressed us. Not once did I hear "I'm bored". My girls could animal watch for hours! Pools are amazing and they have fun things for kids to do (which have been hit or miss at other resorts)
The location could be better, but thats a choice we are willing to make..

 

[suebeelin]

Location must important for us . Then again I lived in manhattan for 17yrs of my adult life... I had no choice but to prioritize location

 

[crisi]

Theming and the "Disney feel" is in the eye of the beholder. We find BWV to be Disney enough, where I find SSR to be completely lacking in magic and disliked the OKW feel. I like VWL best, but a lot of people really can't stand the theming.

That said, theming is important to us. Otherwise, stay offsite for less money.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

Bump.. Would love read some more comments

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

AKV Jambo is my favorite. It is so beautiful and peaceful.

 

[Dean]

I seen many comments here about how stunning and amazing some resort rooms can be or at other resorts how you can't beat the location.
However a lot of those location resorts seem to be lacking some disney Magic..
(BWV, POLY,and BLT seem to have the widest complaints)

So if you had to choose would you choose location or Ambience (the feeling) the resort gives?




What we have noticed is even tho BWV gives you a great location, not having that Disney feeling really makes a differance to us..

We have owned DVC since 2013 and We Recently went on a trip and did a spilt stay between BWV And GVF.. And another stay at AKL.. I know many other love the BWV, but it seems so plain on the inside... There are no disney touches in the rooms and When compared to GFV/AKL the BWV really fell short.

Hubby and I both agreed the feeling the resorts/room gives us is worth more at the end of the day then the location.

It's really all about personal preferences. We enjoy all resorts and find issues with all of them. One thing I'd caution is making long term decisions based on variables that could easily change like room assignments, management or personnel issues.

 

[spiceycat]

location is important to me - walking to the MK - vs bus or monorail/trans/car - too is much better. for me it has Disney feel - Mickey mouse is all over the place.

it is quieter than the CR because the monorail does not go through it and no restaurants or gift shops - so I love BLT.

yet CR is just down the skywalk - so really close by.

Now love BCV - but stayed with BWV when could have sold BWV and kept BCV - but I am cheap. with the standard view at BWV - that wins most of the time over BCV.

you have to decide what is more important for you. If you don't mind driving - then might go with an offsite timeshares - they are alot cheaper that say their maintenance fees are not that much lower than DVC. the maintenance fees are what you will be paying forever - so make sure you know what those costs will be over the long time.

now for me the value resorts especially Pop and Aoa have alot more the Disney feeling than any of their deluxe resorts. now I still love Pop - but Pop on a busy day can be a mad house - BLT never gives that feeling.

 

[ZebraDomeCrazy]

Our home resort is AKL. We love, love, love everything about both jambo and Kidani. Last trip we went non-DVC trip, and decided to stay at BWI. It was just Dh and myself, and wanted to walk to Epcot, hang out on the boardwalk, etc.. Well, after barely 2 days, we realized it just was not for us, and transferred back to AKL! While the resort is lovely, and location to Epcot can't be beat, it just didn't have the "feeling" that the lodge has for us. Ambiance is everything on vacation, whether we're talking Disney or anywhere else! Vacation is all about relaxing for us, and we just didn't get that at BWI.

 

[rcs]

For us, it’s an “it depends” answer.

During the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival, it’s all about location for us. We will not have a car and we want convenient access to/from EPCOT throughout the day. We purchased points at the Beach Club Villas for just that reason. The fact it has a great pool is nice, but not the primary factor.

When the (younger) grand kids are with us, proximity to the Magic Kingdom is all-important because we want to get in easily at rope-drop, and be able to return quickly to resort for a mid-day break before heading back to the park for the evening.

However, at other times, we want the resort experience (like you get at the Animal Kingdom Villas). However, when not staying really close to where we intend to spend a lot of time, we always rent a car. We tried the busses twice. Wow, you can kill an absurd amount of time waiting for a bus to arrive and then stopping at other resorts on the route before you get to your intended destination. Vacation trips are too short to waste that much time waiting for a bus.

 

[com_op_2000]

We have found something we like at every DVC resort we have stayed in. Each is different and each we stay at one over another for each stay depending on what we are "doing" that particular trip. We say, "Hey we are on vacation, let's relax and enjoy our time away from the rest of the world."

 

[LSchrow]

our perfect resort would be elegant with quiet interiors & only subtle Disney touches, fantastic staff, great views from our balcony (NO seeing, hearing, smelling cars), pleasurable walking access to at least 1 park, nearby activity options other than going on rides (mini-golf, entertainment, dining, CH).....
since we spend much more time at our resort than the parks, a resort greatly affects our vacations. & BWVs definitely increases our WDW vacation enjoyment
there are certain DVC resorts that we would absolutely stay at again (notably, SSR, or AKV for a night or 2) and others that we really don't care for (GFV - tho we loved our stays at the GF proper, OKW, BCV), and others that we will likely try again.

thankfully, there is no "one size fits all"

 

[Anal Annie]

We love to resort hop so that each trip is different from the last and enjoy of our DVC stays because they are always different…almost all of the resorts have their own set of pluses. We are also "points challenged" so really try to plan and manage how we're spending our points. If we had to choose between SSR and OKW we would choose SSR without a second thought (OKW is our least fav of all of them). If we were paying CASH for a trip we would choose the cheapest option available - especially if it were a last minute (bonus) trip. That's just the way we have to budget.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

Don't get me wrong
I also love that there is no "one size fits all" in DVC.. And that should my family's needs change I can use my points to stay at other resorts (with that 7mo window)
For now my family of 4. With 2 young kids at that magical age value the feeling more than location..

I love reading how others feel about the DVC resorts they have stayed at.. Keep them coming..

 

[eliza61]

Interestingly I think all the deluxes have the "disney" theme. I love that the Deluxe's don't have that "cartooning" feel to them. I agree with other posters, when you go to the wdw annually the resort becomes super important. Definitely for us because we tend to go in August when it's africa hot so we spend hours at the resort.

We've stayed in all of them except BLT and the new Polynesian.

 

[Simba's Mom]

For us, it’s an “it depends” answer.

During the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival, it’s all about location for us. We will not have a car and we want convenient access to/from EPCOT throughout the day. We purchased points at the Beach Club Villas for just that reason. The fact it has a great pool is nice, but not the primary factor.

When the (younger) grand kids are with us, proximity to the Magic Kingdom is all-important because we want to get in easily at rope-drop, and be able to return quickly to resort for a mid-day break before heading back to the park for the evening.

However, at other times, we want the resort experience (like you get at the Animal Kingdom Villas).

I completely agree with this post-up to this point. For us, we've never minded the bus. We only rent a car when we're staying at OKW, where we can park right out front of our unit.