Just back - 12 days VWL /BCV

[Danny and Erica]

well we are back from our first DVC trip. the dw and I went for 12 days (3 days VWL and 9 days BCV) May 11 - 23rd.
THE PARKS WERE PACKED !!!! We loved the VWL. It was so quiet, peaceful and everything was conviently close. The buses were quick with only one other stop along the way. The fitness center is in the villa building.

Then we went to BCV. It was packed, loud and nothing is close. The fitness center and food places were a nice walk away. And did I say crowded. LOL. But the one thing I hated was the buses at the BCV because there were too many stops back and forth. (swan, dolphin, yacht club and finally the beach club.)

YOU MUST GET THE PAL MICKEY,,,IT IS SOO COOL !

Here is the break down of the trip!

Day 1 VWL
-check in room was ready at 10:30am ..Awesome
-the room was 3563. All the way down the end of the hall...
-we stayed at the villa for awhile and checked out the place to see where everything was.
-pool at the report
- lunch at the roaring fork (bought the refillable mug) Food was your basic cafe food
-dinner at the whispering canyon cafe (they dont whisper at all...lol) Good food and a great time....
- electrical water pagent at the Bay lake... very nice

Day 2 VWL
- dw and i went the fitness center - No charge for DVC members. You must show your key and member card. Savings of $15 a person. very nice..
-blizzard beach. First time ..It was very cool...Alot of steps though...You can get a lift ticket for $31 a person...We walked...It was crowded. Bought a refillable mug $10. You can reuse it on different days for $5 more.
- Hoop De Doo revue...We had a great time. What an awesome show. It was $49 a person, but DVC save 20% at the 9:30 show only. So it was $78 a couple. Need reservations.

Day 3 VWL
Animal Kingdom - AM only ..Too crowded
Mickeys BBQ - Not recommended without kids. $78 per couple. Kid chaos..lol. Great chance to get pics with the characters. Food is your basic bbq food.

Day 4 BCV
Magic Kingdom - not busy , but HOT! - 5 minute wait for splash mt, thunder mt, jungle cruise, pirates and the haunted mansion. It was great. We doubled up on some and then left the park to go swimming.
Beaches and Cream - ICE CREAM !..Awesome, Prices are fair.
Took a DVC tour to see the different types of rooms. We stayed the studio. The one bedroom is very nice and it has a King size bed which is a plus. We also noticed that the BCV have the biggest TV's 25" compared to 19" in the rest of the villa's. Also the laundry facilities outside the rooms are free which is a nice feature.
Dinner - ESPN CLUB - I loved it and DW just smiled. They have a show every night at 6:30 where sport athletes come and get interviewed and take questions from the crowd. It was a nice time.
Room - I opened the door to check out the Epcot fireworks and a dragon fly flew into the room behind the nailed to the wall head board. I had to call the front desk and they sent pest control...lol..We had to leave the room b/c they had to spray stuff to get it out....What a joy...They need screens on the doors and windows...

Day 5 BCV
- dw and I went to the Fitness center(not as nice as the VWL. Less weight machines. Much more crowded. You cannot go before 8am.)
-Today was a lazy day and we met a friend who had moved from NJ 2 years ago.
-went Downtown to AMC movies to see the Matrix on opening night.

Day 6 BCV
-MGM Star Wars weekend (very, very, very crowded). We stayed for the SW parade and walked around to see the SW setup and left after lunch. It was a mad house. But lunch was awesome. We went to the 50's prime time. We had Auntie Claire and she was great!. I had the Pot roast (awesome) and the DW had the chicken caesar salad. She didn't eat enough so Auntie Claire did the airplane starting across the room with her food to have her eat more...It was so funny and we can't wait to go back there.
-went to SAB. The Slide is fun and b/c its so big it wasn't crowded in the pools. But forget about getting a chair.
Hint: wake up and run outside and put towels down or you wont get a good chair all day !

Day 7 BCV
-Epcot - not too crowded, but HOT!. We went on all the rides except TT.
- Quiet pool. Saw 3 gators in the lake on the side of the pool...
- E-RIDES - Magic kingdom - Great idea. Park was empty went on all the rides 2 -3 times. ($12 per adult).

Day 8 BCV
Animal Kingdom - very crowded. We went on the rapids (fp), bug show and had lunch (flame tree) and left. Lunch was ok. I am not a big fan of smoked ribs. The DW loved them though. I would go back to try something else.
- Dinner at Doplhin Tubbi's cafe - 20% disount for DVC member at almost all the Swan and Dolphin food places.

Day 9 BCV
- MGM late in the AM
- Sci-fi for lunch ) really nice place, fun !. $40 for 2 burgers and 2 shakes...You decide ....I would go back for the scenary and service.
- rained at night

Day 10 BCV
-blizzard beach. This time it was more crowded and we didnt stay as long but we still had a great time.
- dolphin fountain sop for lucnh( dolphon version of Beaches and Cream). We started to eat here b/c its less crowded than B/C and cheaper (especially with the DVC 20% discount).
- MGM - Fnatasmic . Awesome ! We went 1 hour and 20 mintues early and go center stage seats....Worth the wait ? You decide. Those benches are hard ...lol

Day 11 BCV
-shopping downtown
-lunch - RAINFOREST .... Not crowded, but cold....Food and service was good. 10% DVC discount.
- Epcot. Space Earth, snack (Fish and Chips ..great), ILLUMINATIONS...Always great !

Day 12 BCV
- Magic Kingdom. Could have been the most crowded I have ever set the park in the past 5 years. The dw and I walked around and watched the Cinderella show and left the park( really ran b/c it was crazy).
- RAIN, RAIN , RAIN
- B/C for ice cream.
- PACKED TO COME HOME

Day 13 we left..


The biggest thing that was accomplished was that I broke my commando atitude. The DW was in total shock that we slept and relaxed every day and always ended up in the pool. It wasn't hard not running in the parks all day because of the crowds and heat. The transfer btw villas was ok, except the luggage transfer took longer than excepted.

If there are any questions I will be sure to answer them for you .

 

[Melrosgirl]

great report! I agree with you regarding bus transportation at BCV. why on earth does BCV share the bus with 4 other hotels? That's crazy. That was my one complaint with BCV. (I was there 2 weeks ago.)

Did you really see THREE alligators? Are you sure it wasn't 2 turtles and one alligator, lol? I've never heard of anyone seeing more than one alligator.

 

[Danny and Erica]

Definately 3..One was a baby ....It was cute!

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Thanx for the great report. It is good to hear that the parks are getting busier.

PS- Don't give away our secret about the VWL fitness center (Sturdy Branches), or we may end up with a ban on 'fitness center hopping'!

 

[TIdoublegaER]

Thank you for the great report.

I have one question: you mentioned that at Blizzard Beach the lifts were $31 per person. Did I read this right? I ABSOLUTELY assumed that the lifts were a part of the park admission. Do you really have to purchace a separate ticket to use these? If you do not purchace them ... you are using the stairs all day?? Hmmm ... that just doesn't seem right ... what a racket!


Tig

 

[Mrs. Snowgod]

I was about to ask the same question as TIdoublegaER... Last time we went to BB was '97, and there was no extra charge to ride the chairlift - that was just part of the waterpark theme!!! That is just terrible!

I sure hope we misunderstood. If not, does anybody know when they started this?



Otherwise, great report - thanks for sharing! I think that is another benefit of DVC - you can lose the commando outlook since you know you are coming back!

 

[sheryl0521]

No extra charge for the lift at BB, I think the OP said the admission into BB was $31.
There should have been a DVC discount, I hope that was taken advantage of.

 

[Danny and Erica]

Yes, there was a separate charge for the lift tickets.....

128 steps each time. Sometimes with a single or double tube,,,

Have fun !!!

 

[Danny and Erica]

What did I read on the sign for Lift tickets ??????

 

[Doug Wolfe]

Loved Reading Your Report....

I personally find everything at BCV to be very close. Short walk to restaurants, Boardwalk and Epcot.

But this is why DVC is great. Everyone can find something they like. Obviously, in your case, stay with the Villas at Wilderness Lodge, you seem to enjoy them a lot.

I did Beach Club in 2002 and I'll try to report back on my Old Key West trip in July. Glad you had fun.

 

[Melrosgirl]

Originally posted by Danny and Erica
What did I read on the sign for Lift tickets ??????

not sure! There is no ticket needed for the ski lift. Just a long line to wait in usually. I used it once and never again. I'll walk up that huge mountain and work off some of those Beaches and Cream sundaes!

 

[westjones]

>>> - Hoop De Doo revue...We had a great time. What an awesome show. It was $49 a person, but DVC save 20% at the 9:30 show only. So it was $78 a couple. Need reservations.<<<<<<<<

I didn't realize we would get a discount on this show. How did you get your discounted tickets? Did you make reservations while you were at VWL? Did you call ahead of time and just give them your member number? Do you have to go pick up the tickets ahead of time? If so, where do you go?

We are staying (I hope) at VWL next March and thought it would be fun to go to this. The 9:30 show is a bit late, but for 20% it would be worth it.

Thanks for letting us know!
DJ

 

[melk]

Great trip report, thanks for posting! One question, you said your room at VWL was all the way at the end of the hall. Had you made any room requests? Good to hear you were able to get in at 10:30, though!

 

[Jillpie]

I'll be transferring to BCV's after one night at the Boardwalk. When you transferred, what did you do with your perishables from the fridge? Did you carry them over by yourself and store them in their fridge or did you rely on them taking them over and storing them?

 

[RobDoc]

When you transferred, what did you do with your perishables from the fridge? Did you carry them over by yourself and store them in their fridge or did you rely on them taking them over and storing them?

Since you will be so close to the BCV when you leave BWV- I'd just take the perishables over myself, have them stored properly and check-in at the same time.

Luggage is often not transferred until after 4pm and it's possible that the perishables might not be handled as you'd want. I'd just do it myself and know how they were handled personally.

It's a simple process and shouldn't be much of an inconvenience to have the confidence your food items are taken care of properly. The Bell Staff does a great job, but with food items, I'd rather take responsibility for the proper storage myself as much as possible.

Enjoy!

 

[Jillpie]

Doc, won't it look a little strange, if not really bulky to carry gallons of milk and oj etc. on the Boardwalk over to the BCV's? This is our first time staying here, is it like a 5 minute walk? I don't know, what would you do?

 

[Danny and Erica]

We called ahead and told them we were DVC members. They said we got a discount at the 930 show. We had to pickup and pay for the tickets at any guest services.

Have fun !

 

[Danny and Erica]

The walk in very short and carrying goods over the BCV would definately not be a big deal.
I would also pack a bag of clothes that you might need b/c the luggage transfer is done btw 1:30 - 3:00.

 

[Dizzie]

Thanks for the great trip report. Sounds like a relaxing trip. I'll be staying at VWL and BCV with my 70yo M & D so I hope I can step out of the commando touring mode while there.

 

[twinglefam]

Also enjoyed your report; to the point yet filled with particulars. Funny that your DW likes the ribs; it's the other way around here. I love the quiet atmosphere at VWL as well and the bus service.

WE also LOVE ESPN, both of us! Great atmosphere and we even figured out the Sunday morning line....you have to wait on it.
The kids get antsy there though. And they are not quite old enough to wander around the Boardwalk alone. Once they were in the arcade(in the adjoining ESPN store) and when it got crowded in ESPN, they weren't allowed back into the club section to get back to us!!! That was ugly. Maybe we'll try out one of the kids clubs this trip so they can have fun and we can have a bit of alone time.

We gave perishables to the clerks and they put them in a refrig. on our end, then transported them to a fridge on the other end to wait for the new room. We tried to finish milk before transfer so it wasn't an issue. Walking them over is another way though.