mjlass11
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2008
- Messages
- 244
Six of us from different parts of the country met in Orlando airport for a 4 night stay at BWV from 3/11-3/15. Originally it was supposed to be 2 nights at 2 BR in SSR and 2 nights in 2BR at BWV, however a waitlist came through so we were able to spend first 2 nights in a GV at BWV and second two in the 2 BR, thus spend all 4 nights at the same resort.
Check in was a breeze for the ME, except it only had 4 of us in the system despite the fact that I had called several times to verify all 6 were on the reservation because I had to add 2 people at a later date than intially booked. Every time that I had called prior to arriving, MS gave me the names so I know that they were in there somewhere..... We were able to get a 5th floor GV close to the elevator, and this place was incredible!!!!! It was huge with 4 separate balconies all with great views of MK and EPCOT's fireworks. We weren't able to get into the room right away (I think we arrived around 1PM), but this was no big deal because we all packed a change of clothes so we were off to AK. I do agree with other posters who have said that BWVs are getting a little worn and dated, so at some point it could use an overall (carpets dirty, chipped paint). I was surprised by the small TVs (19 inch), but we weren't there to watch TV anyway. The size of the GV again was amazing, and we all wished that we could just live there
.
Whomever gave the tip about the Hess Express, THANK YOU!!!!! While it may look small from the outside, it has a lot of things at a much more reasonable price than the General Store on the Boardwalk. You could buy a 12 pack of soda for the price of 2 cans. I was really no more than a 5-10 minute walk and wish that we would have stocked up a little better so we didn't have to make more late night runs.
The parks were wonderful as always, except when one CM yelled at us, and I mean yelled, for crossing a street during a pause in a parade eventhough there were a lot of people doing it. Guess we were just the lucky one to get singled out. Wait times were very short for transportation (buses and boats), and I'm talking less than 5 minutes. The only time we had a long wait was in Downtown Disney, which we waited over 45 minutes then finally took a bus to the Contemporary then the monorail to EPCOT. Wait times for rides were short as well, the longest being 70 minutes for Soarin.
Our problems started when it was time to change rooms. The night before, I had checked at the front desk to see if there was an opening to stay in the same GV(I have enough points) so we wouldn't have to change rooms. Plus, the GV was really awesome. She told me that she didn't have access to this and that I would have to call member services, which of course was closed for the night. This just seemed very odd to me that the front desk couldn't check hotel availability. I called MS first thing the next morning, and she found that there was a GV open, but she had to call the front desk to see if it was the one that we were in, or if we would need to change rooms. I told her that our only reason to keep the GV was to stay in the same room, otherwise the change would be fine. Twenty minutes later she called and said that we need to change to a different GV. I told her again that if we needed to change rooms, we would just change to the 2BR as originally planned, which was fine. I went down to the front desk to check if the 2BR was ready, in which of course it wasn't, so she told us that we needed to bring all our luggage and everything down to bell services while we "checked out" and were waiting for the new room to "check in". I thought that bell services moved your luggage for you, but not apparently when changing rooms in the same hotel despite there being a 6-7 hour difference in room availability. This was fine, so we just lugged everything down to the front desk so we could be issued new door keys for the new room.
The problem was that 3 members of our group had their hopper passes transferred to their room keys and we had to get new room keys. In order for this to be corrected, they needed to bring their old and new room keys to concierge. Well, 45 minutes later, she still couldn't get it corrected and finally went to get a manager. The manager wasn't of much help either, and between the both of them they reissued them at least 8 different room keys, none of which had the hopper passes. Then the "manager" went to find a higher manager (we're now waiting over an hour) who was able to get 2 of the keys "fixed, but not the other. He then said that he would just get her a one day comped hopper pass and she would have a separate room key. Well, then he said that they were out of comped passes, so he would have to call a park and either have us pick it up there or wait while they brought it to us(we're pushing 1 1/2 hours now). I was getting angry by this point, so started raising my voice, then "magically" a one day hopper pass appeared and we all got one fastpass for our trouble. This experience basically ruined one entire day because by the time we were able to leave, the whole morning was gone so our plans for the day were shot. I guess my best advice is that if you have a split stay and have hopper and not annual passes, do not have your hopper pass transferred onto your room key. It will save a big hassle. Sorry to keep blabbering on about this, but it really did ruin an entire day and that time could never be recouped. Also, we weren't the only people having issues with concierge services, which I think may be related to antiquated computer systems.
The new 2BR was a 1BR with a studio lockoff. This is nice because there's 2 coffee makers, ovens.... but makes it look deceivingly small. Boardwalk view which was very nice, but again needs some updating. Location of BWV can't be beat. 5-10 min walk to EPCOT, 10-15 minute to HS and 5-10 to Hess. We really had a wonderful time, despite how I went on about the room issue, and Disney really helped relieve a lot of the stress from the economic times we're under. I can't wait to return this December, and this time it will all be in the same room in the same resort
Check in was a breeze for the ME, except it only had 4 of us in the system despite the fact that I had called several times to verify all 6 were on the reservation because I had to add 2 people at a later date than intially booked. Every time that I had called prior to arriving, MS gave me the names so I know that they were in there somewhere..... We were able to get a 5th floor GV close to the elevator, and this place was incredible!!!!! It was huge with 4 separate balconies all with great views of MK and EPCOT's fireworks. We weren't able to get into the room right away (I think we arrived around 1PM), but this was no big deal because we all packed a change of clothes so we were off to AK. I do agree with other posters who have said that BWVs are getting a little worn and dated, so at some point it could use an overall (carpets dirty, chipped paint). I was surprised by the small TVs (19 inch), but we weren't there to watch TV anyway. The size of the GV again was amazing, and we all wished that we could just live there
.Whomever gave the tip about the Hess Express, THANK YOU!!!!! While it may look small from the outside, it has a lot of things at a much more reasonable price than the General Store on the Boardwalk. You could buy a 12 pack of soda for the price of 2 cans. I was really no more than a 5-10 minute walk and wish that we would have stocked up a little better so we didn't have to make more late night runs.
The parks were wonderful as always, except when one CM yelled at us, and I mean yelled, for crossing a street during a pause in a parade eventhough there were a lot of people doing it. Guess we were just the lucky one to get singled out. Wait times were very short for transportation (buses and boats), and I'm talking less than 5 minutes. The only time we had a long wait was in Downtown Disney, which we waited over 45 minutes then finally took a bus to the Contemporary then the monorail to EPCOT. Wait times for rides were short as well, the longest being 70 minutes for Soarin.
Our problems started when it was time to change rooms. The night before, I had checked at the front desk to see if there was an opening to stay in the same GV(I have enough points) so we wouldn't have to change rooms. Plus, the GV was really awesome. She told me that she didn't have access to this and that I would have to call member services, which of course was closed for the night. This just seemed very odd to me that the front desk couldn't check hotel availability. I called MS first thing the next morning, and she found that there was a GV open, but she had to call the front desk to see if it was the one that we were in, or if we would need to change rooms. I told her that our only reason to keep the GV was to stay in the same room, otherwise the change would be fine. Twenty minutes later she called and said that we need to change to a different GV. I told her again that if we needed to change rooms, we would just change to the 2BR as originally planned, which was fine. I went down to the front desk to check if the 2BR was ready, in which of course it wasn't, so she told us that we needed to bring all our luggage and everything down to bell services while we "checked out" and were waiting for the new room to "check in". I thought that bell services moved your luggage for you, but not apparently when changing rooms in the same hotel despite there being a 6-7 hour difference in room availability. This was fine, so we just lugged everything down to the front desk so we could be issued new door keys for the new room.
The problem was that 3 members of our group had their hopper passes transferred to their room keys and we had to get new room keys. In order for this to be corrected, they needed to bring their old and new room keys to concierge. Well, 45 minutes later, she still couldn't get it corrected and finally went to get a manager. The manager wasn't of much help either, and between the both of them they reissued them at least 8 different room keys, none of which had the hopper passes. Then the "manager" went to find a higher manager (we're now waiting over an hour) who was able to get 2 of the keys "fixed, but not the other. He then said that he would just get her a one day comped hopper pass and she would have a separate room key. Well, then he said that they were out of comped passes, so he would have to call a park and either have us pick it up there or wait while they brought it to us(we're pushing 1 1/2 hours now). I was getting angry by this point, so started raising my voice, then "magically" a one day hopper pass appeared and we all got one fastpass for our trouble. This experience basically ruined one entire day because by the time we were able to leave, the whole morning was gone so our plans for the day were shot. I guess my best advice is that if you have a split stay and have hopper and not annual passes, do not have your hopper pass transferred onto your room key. It will save a big hassle. Sorry to keep blabbering on about this, but it really did ruin an entire day and that time could never be recouped. Also, we weren't the only people having issues with concierge services, which I think may be related to antiquated computer systems.
The new 2BR was a 1BR with a studio lockoff. This is nice because there's 2 coffee makers, ovens.... but makes it look deceivingly small. Boardwalk view which was very nice, but again needs some updating. Location of BWV can't be beat. 5-10 min walk to EPCOT, 10-15 minute to HS and 5-10 to Hess. We really had a wonderful time, despite how I went on about the room issue, and Disney really helped relieve a lot of the stress from the economic times we're under. I can't wait to return this December, and this time it will all be in the same room in the same resort
Its my fav!!
