Grand villa reviews

[Monorail Bob's dd]

Hello! We are seriously considering getting a grand villa next year for our extended family party of 10. My top choices are BLT and BWV. Please tell me about your granddaughter villa stays, how the space worked out and what you liked and disliked about your grand villa stay. Thanks!

 

[disneynutz]

BLT GVs are 2 story, BWV has 1 and 2 story units. Due to the number of BWV GVs, you may have a challenge booking there unless you own there.

Bill

 

[OKgirl]

We recently stayed in a Grand Villa at Aulani with a group of 9. My husband and I had our 3 kids (ages 3, 9, and 11) and my parents and in-laws also went. It was our first Grand Villa stay and it was fabulous! We borrowed points to do it and I thought it was worth it! There was a huge dining table so we could all eat breakfast or other meals which was really nice. We don't cook a lot on vacation but it was nice to make several easy meals and not have to eat out so much. Everyone had their own space which made it so much nicer for us all. You will have a wonderful time at either of these wonderful locations - you can't go wrong with either BLT or BWV!

 

[Monorail Bob's dd]

We are looking to rent points through David's or the DVC Rental Company to get the Grand villa. We are over a year out at this point, I am hoping this works out.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

We are looking to rent points through David's or the DVC Rental Company to get the Grand villa. We are over a year out at this point, I am hoping this works out.

The problem with renting points for a GV is that you both need someone who owns at that resort, and who is renting a large number of points.

A week at the end of July, a BLT GV is 741 points; BW is 675. It is less common to find individual owners renting that many points. If you look at the DIS Rent/Trade, many times people renting 500+ points have them across multiple resorts, which means they can only be used together 7 months before check-in. Most other owners are renting smaller quantities (50-250 points).

I won't say it's impossible to rent a GV, especially at BWV or BLT, but I will say it is unusual and you have to be very lucky to have all the fates align to find someone with sufficient points to make your booking, at the right time, while the unit is available.

I would have back up plans.

 

[mouseclick1]

I have stayed in a GV at SSR, AKV Jambo, and BLT.

The Jambo House GV was incredible. The room was absolutely stunning, and the pool table was a nice bonus. Three huge balconies for animal viewing. The only minus here I can think of is getting to the parks is not as convenient as some of the other resorts. Also, it is pretty quiet at night, which would be great for some but a minus for those looking for things to do after dark. I don't know the actual square footage of the three GV's we've stayed in, but this one felt the most spacious. This was, by far, my favorite room I have ever stayed in!

We booked a lake view GV at BLT, and were given one of the rooms that also has a view of the castle. This view was the best view I have had on any WDW trip. Nothing like having your first cup of coffee in the morning, or a glass of wine in the evening, while enjoying the view of the castle from your balcony. We did go to the Top of the World Lounge once, but decided we preferred to sit on our own balcony instead. It was very convenient to get to MK since you could walk.

Our stay in a GV at SSR was fine, it just felt pretty ordinary, like you were visiting someone's house. The balcony was fairly small, and if I remember correctly, there was only one of them. The view from the balcony from was simply looking at rooms across the building. I love my balconies, as you can tell, but had very little interest in the one at SSR. Convenient if you wanted to spend time at Disney Springs, not as convenient getting to the parks.


I hope it works for you!

 

[DVCRSheridan]

We recently stayed in a Grand Villa at Aulani with a group of 9. My husband and I had our 3 kids (ages 3, 9, and 11) and my parents and in-laws also went. It was our first Grand Villa stay and it was fabulous! We borrowed points to do it and I thought it was worth it! There was a huge dining table so we could all eat breakfast or other meals which was really nice. We don't cook a lot on vacation but it was nice to make several easy meals and not have to eat out so much. Everyone had their own space which made it so much nicer for us all. You will have a wonderful time at either of these wonderful locations - you can't go wrong with either BLT or BWV!

GV at Aulani! Wow! That had to have been awesome. We've done ocean view studios at Aulani 3 times and that was amazing, so I can't even imagine the GV haha I also can't imagine the amount of point that must've been

 

[jekjones1558]

OP, maybe you can work with more than one owner and have back-to-back reservations for a GV. Good luck! The GVs are pretty awesome!

 

[Murron]

We've done AK Grand Villa, BWV and OKW. I found AK to be the most impressive of the three. BWV a close second. OKW, as another stated, was like being in someone's home...it viewed the 5th hole of the golf course and while very peaceful, it was equally boring.

 

[Halle]

We've done GV's at Aulani, top floor ocean view balcony was approximately 60 feet long. OKW, loved the extra bathroom on the first floor and golf course view., BLT Lake view, great view but the balcony off the main floor only seated 4 people. BWV, we have stayed there 3 times, once in a two story unit, all three have a large balcony. The one story unit has a very large laundry room with a full size washer and dryer, 2 story has a stackable unit upstairs at the end of the hallway next to a bedroom. We are BWV owners and always book there at the 11 month window. When we booked OKW we were owners there too.

 

[Pirate Granny]

We rented points for our first stay at OKW GV in March of 2010...we found owner on the Disboards and worked out fine....so fine that we now own at OKW, BCV and WLV...and we just rented points for a one night stay at AKL Jmabo House GV.

 

[DieHardJoe]

We have stayed at BLT (Lake View) and BWV GV's. Both are fantastic. What we considered the biggest advantage of the BWV was that it was 1-story and so much easier to get around within the villa. It seemed a much better use of space. That was a 4 night stay when our daughter was getting married, and some of the wedding party and family roomed there. 5 years later during a reunion we were at BLT and as mentioned, those are all 2-stories. By then there was a grandson under 2, and it was just not as easy getting around. And getting up and down the stairs with the little guy was a bit of a hassle. Hindsight - We could have all saved a ton of money and not gone to any parks, since we had a great view of the monorails going in and out of the Contemporary, and he would have been happy just watching them all day!!

 

[Regan117]

We've stayed in the GV at Aulani, AKL Jambo House, BLT and GF. BLT was really cool because of the two stories of windows and the theme park view. But our all around favorite was AKL. The balconies were huge and the theming is beautiful. Good luck booking! We aren't DVC but we have always had good luck getting grand villas on cash and we rented points once. We have a couple of GV stays coming up next year. It's really the best way to go if you have a larger group