Getting into the theme of a DVC resort...

[lenshanem]

I bought at BCV. Despite my aches and pains for not owning at VWL from time to time, I'm glad I bought BCV. I think it was a wise choice, resales are few and go fast. (I know I have to take into account it is small and fairly new, too.) I think it has fab trading power - closest to Epcot for special events like Food & Wine and it has SAB!!! But....
Does anyone else feel it is lacking in the getting into the theme department? Like, do you feel submerged like you do when you're at VWL? I sometimes think it does feel like it was just stuck on and I really wish it had more quick dining options. It is just that lobby at WL...
I think I would feel the same way about BC even before BCV was added on. Besides SAB, it just doesn't have that wow factor when you walk into the lobby.

Since I've yet to stay at OKW or BWV I'm wondering about feelings regarding being submerged into theme there? Especially OKW. Is it hard to get into the theme when there is no grand lobby to walk into?

I wonder how SSR will stack up in this department?

I'm the type of person I like to park my car and never see it again for the rest of the trip. I want to feel miles away from reality. Never leave WDW property. That is what I like. I remember telling jaysue it threw me off when I saw a Days Inn sign in the distance from the bus walkway at AKL. Like, OMG! Reality!!! And here I thought I was in Africa....

 

[carone0318]

I do not own at BCV, but I did visit during their open house about 2 yrs ago. I really digged the theme, but I guess that may be because I am from NJ. I really enjoyed walking around and looking at the pictures of the victorian homes and being able to name them considering they are located in Cape May. I loved that personal connection, but I guess not everyone would see it my way.

I feel the same way about BWV (where I do own.) I love the lobby. It's not a VWL, but it has it's own taste. I find it very elegant with a beachy feel too. There is this feeling I get when I walk into BWV to check in, I can't explain it, but there is nothing better in the world than that feeling .

 

[MiaSRN62]

I can really appreciate the themeing of each and every DVC resort though I haven't actually been to BCV or SSR yet. It's true----it's pretty tough to beat the awesome WL lobby though. When we decide to do an add-on this is where I'd like it to be. But whatever resort I'm checking into I feel totally immersed in the Disney atmosphere. I own an offsite timeshare as well as my DVC so I can tell you first-hand that anywhere on property feels distinctly different than off property.

Especially OKW. Is it hard to get into the theme when there is no grand lobby to walk into?

Absolutely not---for us we love the warm, homey feeling of the OKW lobby and resort. I really feel each DVC resort has something unique to offer to the "disney experience".

As for a car----we like to have access to it since we do not stay exclusively on WDW grounds. It doesn't matter whether I'm at BWV or OKW etc, we use our car at least 50% of the time. I have several family members who live in FL within a 90 min drive and we visit with them every time we're in WDW since this is pretty much the only time we get to see them. We always schedule in a couple extra vacation days to accomodate for this.
Also, we use our car for going to the water parks, mini golf and theme/resort areas off-site. I have 2 dd's (11 and 13) and a ds(17). My ds really prefers US/IOA being the age he is and craving thrill rides. So for our family, our car gets alot of use and we really enjoy the freedom it gives us. We can navigate very well around the Orlando/Lakes Buena Vista/Kissimmee area. We do our grocery shopping at Publix and enjoy hitting the Belz Mall in the beginning of our trip.
So to answer your question about themeing----we love the feeling the different DVC resorts give us and the fact that we can escape reality during our time there

 

[colleen costello]

Beach Club is gorgeous and it's where we own, but it's not near my favorite. I love OKW and the Lodge. I think it's just personal preference. Friends of ours own at Boardwalk and LOVE it, and they tease us for staying at OKW "with the old timers." I have no desire to stay at Baordwalk, although I enjoy visiting. there. Some of the resorts just "strike a chord" with us -- maybe even we don't understand exactly WHY.

 

[crisi]

Its interesting that one of your complaints is the dining options.

One of the few thinks I hate about WL is the dining options. I despise Roaring Forks - too small, too crowded - and the options aren't great. Plus it seems like a million miles from the Villas. Whispering Canyon is fun - once a trip. And while Artist Point is a great restaurant, you can't eat there with kids. Its a hike to get over to Ft. Wilderness to eat, and getting to the other resorts involves transportation.

One of the thinks I love about the BW area is the dining options. No fast food like Roaring Forks inside either resort, but you can seriously WALK into Epcot or MGM to get some (farther than Roaring Forks from the Villas, but at least you are prepped for the walk!). Plus it isn't a big deal to walk to Tubbi's. And being a DVC resort, the stores carry donuts and cereal and milk - which is what we'd end up with in the morning over at Roaring Forks anyway - and the prices at the store are almost reasonable compared to a donut from Roaring Forks.

I haven't been in the lobby at the BC - the only DVC resorts I've seen up close and personal (except in pictures) are BWVs and VWL (and there we stayed in the Lodge, not the Villas). The Lodge Lobby is impressive (as is the similarly modeled AKL lobby). The GF lobby also sends shivers down my spine. And the wonderfuly themed Poly lobby. I'm a huge fan of Stickley style furniture, and we really enjoy it at WL.

The BWV lobby doesn't have the same soaring expanse. Its gracious like GF with its Victorian style furniture, but cozier with lower ceilings and doesn't have guest rooms overlooking it. Not as impressive, but just as nice as the other lobbies in their own way. And, while not everyone enjoys the BW theme, the resort does seem to be well themed. You really don't realize how well themed until you start looking at old pictures from Coney Island.

When we first looked at DVC, we just missed buying into VWL through Disney by three weeks (they later opened up more points, and we probably should have done the "but we want to own here" ploy) - and BC didn't really interest us at all - I think because we drove buy while it was being framed and it really looked to us like "freeway view" would be the most common (I believe landscaping has helped).

 

[SharonS]

Lenshamen, I tend to agree. I don't think any of the resorts at WDW, Grand Floridian included can compare to the theme at WL and AKL. In my opinion, these 2 resorts are the most heavily themed.

I own at BWV, and I love it there. I really like the location, and laying in my bed looking at Spaceship Earth is wonderful. We stayed at WL many times before they built DVC, and we truly loved the theme. I still get that special feeling when I walk in that lobby. Yet, I opted to BWV, and I am glad I did that.

 

[palmtreegirl]

We own at BCV and took our first trip home last month. The thing I thought the BCV lacked for us, were really great views, with a WOW factor.

We had a woods view, which was Ok but nothing special except, at night, we had a partial Illuminations view. We had family facing Epcot on the 5th floor and I didn't find that view great either because of the road. With the crappy weather during our stay we didn't use SAB and it was ctually depressing walking past that thing and not using it.

We stayed at the BWV afterwards and loved it! We had a village green view and it was great.

So we decided that if we go down to WDW during a warm/hot weather month we'll definitely stay at the BCV because we just love that darn pool. But if it's during a cooler time of year it'll be the BWV for us or maybe the VWL.

 

[lenshanem]

So Tubbi's is close enough to walk to from BWV, but wouldn't that be a far walk from BCV?

 

[Simba's Mom]

Originally posted by colleen costello
Some of the resorts just "strike a chord" with us -- maybe even we don't understand exactly WHY.

So true!

 

[Pa@okw95]

When you walk into the OKW breeze way hearing the music being played, you get hit with the theme of OKW right there. What that theme is exactly I do not know or care, but it is relaxing to me. Most of the DVC resorts have a theme that you can see from the start it is not just DVC. All of the DVC resorts have a nice place to dine except OKW. Olivias is not a place for fine dinning. I can get into my car and quickly drive to any of the fine restaurants around WDW. By the Artist Point allows children, one poster said you can not go there with children. Artist Point is a very nice place to eat and just a short drive from OKW as is California Grill, Yachtman Steak House right over near BCV. If you stay at OKW I would put out of ones mind that getting into a car somehow breaks the theme situaion, waiting and riding a bus from OKW to anywhere is a real theme breaker reminding me of when I was a small child and living in a inner city is not a theme I want to remember. They all have themes.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

The VWL/WL theme is why we bought there. What can I say??? If someone has never seen it, they would not believe it.
Please understand that I believe all DVCs are great in their own way, but VWL's greatness comes in the form of theming. (among other things)
Comparing the theming of other resorts to VWL is not a fair fight!

MG

 

[donmil723]

I agree that the lobby of the WL is fantastic but I happen to feel the same way about the BC lobby. When I step through those doors and see Art and that huge array of flowers in the center of that circular bench, I just melt. I think it even has that wonderful seaside--salty/sandy--smell. I think all of the Disney deluxe and home away from home resorts are themed well and I feel very fortunate to be able to choose which one appeals to me the most!

Donna

 

[SheriB]

I do think it's a personal preference thing. While I can enjoy and appreciate the theming of all the resorts, in my opinion, WL and AKL, while spectacular, are too dark and depressing for me. I like the bright and airy themes of BCV, BWV and OKW. But that's just me. I'm also from New Jersey, so the beach/tropical themes appeal to me like "home".

Sheri

 

[ClarabelleCow]

One of the few thinks I hate about WL is the dining options. I despise Roaring Forks - too small, too crowded - and the options aren't great. Plus it seems like a million miles from the Villas. Whispering Canyon is fun - once a trip. And while Artist Point is a great restaurant, you can't eat there with kids. Its a hike to get over to Ft. Wilderness to eat, and getting to the other resorts involves transportation.

Funny how ones opinion can be so different, we bought at VWL for the reasons you dislike!! Just a short boat ride away is Ohana at the Poly, Chef Mickeys at the Contempory, Trails end at Fort Wilderness and the restaurants at the GF. We enjoy the "ride" to dinner, or the quick snack/coffee in the Lobby of the WL, these are the things I disliked about OKW, not being able to run down and grab something. Even if we decide to go eat at Epcot or Boardwalk area, we turn it into fun, boat to Contemporay, Monorail to TTC, then Monorail to Epcot, yes its alot, but easy unless your lugging littles in strollers! What I hate are the buses!!! All the waiting and pushing, it drives me nuts!

 

[crisi]

I mistyped. You can eat at Artist's Point with kids. I can't eat at Artist's Point with my kids yet. I'm too nervous they will misbehave and be loud, although they are pretty well behaved kids, on the off chance they pick that evening to be particularly squirrelly or tantrum prone, I don't take my kids to Artist Point (or California Grill, or Flying Fish or.....).

 

[crisi]

I should mention my hatred of Roaring Forks is probably irrational. It is probably a perfectly nice little fast food snack bar - but we ate there too often on our first trip with children when the kids and their mother were tired and cranky and their mother really wanted something other than a burger or chicken fingers while surrounded by other families with tired and cranky children. My husband finds me irrational in this respect - but if you've ever gone to a place and just had one bad experience with it - not really the restaurants fault - just emotionally bad - that's me and Roaring Forks - but it was like five emotionally bad experiences in a week.

My husband has since learned that the bars at Disney hotels will serve their drinks to go and that if he feeds me snack bar food when I'm tired and hungry, a night on the balcony when the children are asleep with a glass of wine will - well, I'll still regret having chicken fingers for dinner, but I'm less likely to take it out on him.

(Its a shame, Disney has some of the best chicken fingers, and I can't even look at them anymore).

(And we take cabs now rather than buses for a lot of our trips - especially dining - or we go the long way, boat-monorail, or use our feet)

 

[rocketriter]

For me, WL is just a bit too bombastic. We've stayed their twice and we're in no hurry to go back. The sound-track is thrilling at first, but after a few hours it gets repetitious and insistent. In the end we bought at BCV precisely because of its subtlety. It lets us relax rather than demanding that we relax.

Does that make BCV better than VWL? Of course not. I'm only pointing out that there are different strokes for different folks. Saying that one resort is "lacking" in theme compared to another is a value judgement. It's more accurate to say that its theme is subtler.

 

[Pa@okw95]

Crisi-that was nice to hear that you are thinking about other guests at Artist Point. We have eaten there many times, only once did a child disturb us but the baby was far enough away not to be a real problem. The mother thought it was ok to let the baby cry its lungs out while she ate, then she took care of the baby. It is very nice to hear someone like yourself that thinks of others. It is a good thing to keep your children away from the gormet restaurants until they are ready. Have a nice day!!

 

[jaysue]

I remember telling jaysue it threw me off when I saw a Days Inn sign in the distance from the bus walkway at AKL. Like, OMG! Reality!!! And here I thought I was in Africa....

I do remember that one - it has taken its place in the classic comments I have heard during my travels.

Shan, you are right - getting into the theme is a big part of enjoying the reality denial of a WDW resort vacation

Here is what we have done (where we have stayed)

WL/VWL - the visual appeal of driving up and then the lobby just hits you in the head - nothing subtle there - it is just amazing - plus the bubbling water and the bridge - easy easy to get in the theme of this one

BC/BCV - for sure more subtle - the pastels of the building, the understated lobby - takes more warming up. It hits us when we see (don't laugh) the carpeted hallway with the nautical theme weaves and the bed spreads/decor in the rooms

OKW - for us, it hits us the moment we get out of the car/transport to check in at HH - the caribbean theme music, the costumes of the CM's and the "lush" tropical feeling - I feel like I am in the Caribbean somewhere at the HH entrance and then the walk through to Turtle Krawl - all very stimulating - the lobby is subtle again - more of a coach house type check in as opposed to in your face

BWI/BWV - we really like the lobby here - the chandeliers, the outlook over the Village Green, the Rollercoaster model and of course the massive couch in the front entrance - we get into this theme as we drop the car off at valet thinking of what the CM's wear and then continues into the lobby

CR - the visual cues for the CR are all outdoor based - seeing the monorail come in and out of the building and hear it whoosh by are great cues for the theme. The kicker is the 4th floor level - totally wide open, shops, monorail, restaurants etc. It definitely hits the theme of a contemporary/sleek modern type resort

ASMovies - not much to see driving up/busing up - you get glimpses of the over the top statues/figures etc. but it does not hit you until you are walking the grounds and see the larger than figures, the way the walkways are decorated and laid out etc. Then you hear the noise down by the pools and see the kids with all the energy in the world and you know you are at a fun maybe almost too energetic/frantic resort

AKL - save the best for last - I thought WL was the best until I stayed at AKL - driving up was just breathtaking - I stood in the lobby for a good five minutes just taking in the lobby, the high windows, the little touch of smoky aroma in the air etc. A CM came up beside me and said it is something else isn't it? I just turned and looked at her, smiled like a fool, nodded and kept looking around. The lobby puts the theme of the resort right in front with no subtlety.


thanks
jaysue

 

[dianeschlicht]

We stayed at WL many times before they built DVC, and we truly loved the theme.

Are you sure VWL was built before Disney Vacation Club? I am quite sure the first DVC was built either before or around the time of Wilderness Lodge. I know we stayed at WL when it was quite new, and we had already visited the Disney Vacation Club site and saw the "light house" on the corner.

That aside, I think ALL of the resorts at Disney are wonderful with their themeing . The nice thing about the diversity of all the on-site DVC resorts is that none are themed alike! While OKW was a different feel from those that are hotel like accommodations, it is still very well themed and tells a "story" like most Disney sites do. I don't care for the beach club theme, but that is just me. DH doesn't like the BWV lobby. He always thinks tuffted Victorian furniture looks like "early *****house" decor. His words, not mine! We love the WL and AKL lobbies, and the themeing of the commons area at VWL is wonderful, albeit a bit dark. The pictures of SSR didn't particularily send warm fuzzies to me. I'll have to reserve judgement on that until I see it in person. I don't necessarily think a grand lobby is important to a theme. There is something very warm and homey about the OKW lobby. It truely makes you feel like you are a member of an exclusive club, and not just a hotel resident. GF, lobby leaves me a bit cold too, but I love to go there and listen to the late afternoon light jazz combo that plays.