We just got back last night, and even though we are exhausted I just had to post!! We started out with two nights in AKL-we loved it. It made the whole AK experience great.
On Sunday we checked into BCV for a 2 bedroom. At 11:30 our room wasn't ready, so we headed over the DD and played over there for a while. I called about once an hour to see if our room was ready( I know, I'm a pest, but I was anxious). By 2:30 it wasn't ready but dh was itching to watch the NASCAR race so we decided to go ahead and park and see if we could find a tv somewhere to watch it. We found the Drawing Room and dh sat and watched the race while ds(2 1/2 yrs old) and I explored the resort and visited the model room. At 3:58 our room was still not ready. Dh got a little aggravated at this point, but by 4:15 it was ready. We got to our room and I noticed that the layout was a little different than the model room, but didn't take much notice of it, and sat down on the couch to look through our Welcome Home packet. Dh walked in the room and said "Did you see the shower? The bathroom we had last night was a lot nicer". Uh-oh. I walked in and realized we had been given a handicapped room. This wouldn't have bothered me, but it was a significant difference in the room. The bathroom was one room with toilet sink and shower all in one. The drain in the shower section was nasty, and there wasn't much room as there was a seat to fold down. I panicked. Even though we are DVC members, we had still shelled out a lot of money for this trip, and this was definitely going to hinder it. I did something I've never done before-I called and asked for a room change. I was scared to death we wouldn't get it, but they did find us another room. WE were put in room 274 and 276, which was a long haul from the main elevators but wasn't too bad of a walk if you learned the tricks like cutting across the pool to go to the busses, and taking the back way around the villas to walk to EPCOT( a 5 minute walk!). This new room was much better-there was a bar, and just the whole layout was better. I don't want to sound harsh-I know they need handicapped rooms, but just as regular rooms are probaby a hindrance to those with special needs, this handicapped room would have been a hindrance to us. With a two year old, you don't want everything to be closer to the ground! Other than that, it was GREAT! We will probably be adding on points at BCV. DH and I decided we needed a few more to get us by!!!
We ended our stay at the Poly, and while we loved the surroundings and the room was nice enough, I think we are spoiled by the villas. The rooms were clean and nice, and it was cool to see the monorail go outside our balcony doors, but the buildings seemed dated. However, I would stay there again-we stayed there for the proximity to the MK for the Halloween party and it was nice-and the staff were extremely nice. They were actually nicer than the staff at the villas. We got a lot more "aloha"'s there than "welcome home"'s at the villas!
We had a great vacation and I would be glad to try and answer any questions!
One more FYI-we rented DVD's a few nights and were always told to have them back by 11:00 AM the next day or we'd be charged. The last morning, I brought one back at 10:10 and the cast member said, "These were supposed to be back by 10:00". I said "Well, they told us 11:00". And she argued with me for a minute, and after I told her that we had been told 11:00 the last three times we'd rented, she pulled out the book where they check out and it had something marked out with 10:00 am marked over it. So it might be something that has just changed, but the Cast members may not all know it yet! The ones that checked them out to us didn't!
Jennifer
On Sunday we checked into BCV for a 2 bedroom. At 11:30 our room wasn't ready, so we headed over the DD and played over there for a while. I called about once an hour to see if our room was ready( I know, I'm a pest, but I was anxious). By 2:30 it wasn't ready but dh was itching to watch the NASCAR race so we decided to go ahead and park and see if we could find a tv somewhere to watch it. We found the Drawing Room and dh sat and watched the race while ds(2 1/2 yrs old) and I explored the resort and visited the model room. At 3:58 our room was still not ready. Dh got a little aggravated at this point, but by 4:15 it was ready. We got to our room and I noticed that the layout was a little different than the model room, but didn't take much notice of it, and sat down on the couch to look through our Welcome Home packet. Dh walked in the room and said "Did you see the shower? The bathroom we had last night was a lot nicer". Uh-oh. I walked in and realized we had been given a handicapped room. This wouldn't have bothered me, but it was a significant difference in the room. The bathroom was one room with toilet sink and shower all in one. The drain in the shower section was nasty, and there wasn't much room as there was a seat to fold down. I panicked. Even though we are DVC members, we had still shelled out a lot of money for this trip, and this was definitely going to hinder it. I did something I've never done before-I called and asked for a room change. I was scared to death we wouldn't get it, but they did find us another room. WE were put in room 274 and 276, which was a long haul from the main elevators but wasn't too bad of a walk if you learned the tricks like cutting across the pool to go to the busses, and taking the back way around the villas to walk to EPCOT( a 5 minute walk!). This new room was much better-there was a bar, and just the whole layout was better. I don't want to sound harsh-I know they need handicapped rooms, but just as regular rooms are probaby a hindrance to those with special needs, this handicapped room would have been a hindrance to us. With a two year old, you don't want everything to be closer to the ground! Other than that, it was GREAT! We will probably be adding on points at BCV. DH and I decided we needed a few more to get us by!!!
We ended our stay at the Poly, and while we loved the surroundings and the room was nice enough, I think we are spoiled by the villas. The rooms were clean and nice, and it was cool to see the monorail go outside our balcony doors, but the buildings seemed dated. However, I would stay there again-we stayed there for the proximity to the MK for the Halloween party and it was nice-and the staff were extremely nice. They were actually nicer than the staff at the villas. We got a lot more "aloha"'s there than "welcome home"'s at the villas!
We had a great vacation and I would be glad to try and answer any questions!
One more FYI-we rented DVD's a few nights and were always told to have them back by 11:00 AM the next day or we'd be charged. The last morning, I brought one back at 10:10 and the cast member said, "These were supposed to be back by 10:00". I said "Well, they told us 11:00". And she argued with me for a minute, and after I told her that we had been told 11:00 the last three times we'd rented, she pulled out the book where they check out and it had something marked out with 10:00 am marked over it. So it might be something that has just changed, but the Cast members may not all know it yet! The ones that checked them out to us didn't!
Jennifer
