Just Back, ded 2br BCV, SAB info (LONG)

[jennypenny]

Hi. I'm exhausted so ask questions if I forget to mention something. And let me just say, we had a great time, great weather, loved BCV. So anything I say from this point on is just for info purposes--I'm not harping on DVC or BCV

Had room 233, dedicated 2brd. Had two queens (my mom and sister ) and the connecting door was by the front door. Had a huge balcony, but didn't really face anything (some woods, BC, road in distance). I thought the laundry trucks were more annoying than the road noise. All week we commented that they were driving really fast and then--crash--one tipped over on a curve with three bins in tow. Took them a while to clean up the mess. Room was in decent shape. I did notice it needed sprucing up more than our boardwalk room last year and our WL room in August. Not sure why. I think the dings are more noticable on light colors (explains WL) but BW has a similar color scheme. Housekeeping was very nice. Didn't get a full cleaning because my son was really sick, but they did a nice job on the bathrooms and were really quiet since he was really sick.

I will say this about the room at BCV, even though it's basically the same size as the boardwalk, it feels smaller, and the fridge is much smaller. It's not a full size fridge, it's more like an apartment style fridge. When we got there, we couldn't fit all of our frozen stuff in the frezer and had to cook some of it so we could keep it in the fridge. We got over it (our BIG balcony sure helped) but if you're used to BW, you'll notice.

Check in was very quick. They had preassigned our rooms (I had two reserved, one starting Sun and one starting Tues). She said they were preassigned because we were noted as a "family group" and she also said that was probably why we got the large balcony. Check in lasted all of 5 minutes.

SAB slide area (pool closest to BC) is still closed. They don't expect it to open until this weekend or sometime next week. Since it was supposed to rain there alot this week they thought the end of next week was the most likely time. The little slide is open.

I peeked into the store renovations and chatted up the staff. It's gutted right now. But they said they are adding a sandwich place and some chairs. I asked if it would be like Roaring Forks and they said no, there would be no grill, but premade sandwiches and snacks, tables, and a place to refill your mugs all day. One CM made it sound like they were going to remove the refill area at beaches and cream when the store was done, and rework the take out area to add a *little* more seating, but no major changes. The store will be more convenient in the afternoon when Rip Tide closes.

We travel during Feb every year and I have never seen so much contruction. I consider it a trade off for the beautiful Feb weather, but it was hard not to notice it.

My inlaws stayed at SSR. It was nice. BIG. It's as spread out as OKW, but you don't get that impression at first (I guess because it's on the lake). But after you walk it a little you realize it's just like OKW. The rooms were nice. Not my style so don't take my advice. And I got a rookie at the front desk late one night when my son was sick and I needed a cab, so that didn't help either (she offered to transfer me to a cab company--thanks ). If you like/use downtown disney, it's a great location.

As far as DVC rumors I couldn't get much info. I was told that DVC is "rethinking" the Bonnet Creek resort since Fairfield opened their "Bonnet Creek" resort. And the CR plans seemed like just a rumor based on the people I talked to. They all seemed to think the Treehouse Villas were a more likely "conversion" based on what they'd heard (they are in the "DVC area" and could share transportation).

Ugh, this got long. All in all it was great. Perfect weather really helped. Bus transportation was good. Only had a BW/YC/BC/Sw/Dol bus once during the day to/from downtown disney. I did have a mini meltdown with the front desk staff one day. My son was really sick the whole time (afraid he would have to be hospitalized) and we were waiting for his new prescription to be delivered. Waited and waited, then called. Was told it had been there all day but no one called. Then he told me I'd have to come down and get it "they aren't a delivery service" (I was alone in the room with my son). I think they were a little horrified at this condition when we arrived at the front desk for his medicine. I said I understood that no one could stop what they were doing and bring the medicine right up to the room (I was the one in a hurry) but a simple phone call to tell me it was here didn't seem like a big deal. Especially since they were all standing around a talking when I got there. He was barely conscious, and I had to try and squirt the medicine down his throat right then and they were all aghast. Good. Maybe next time a rush delivery arrives from Turner for a child they'll call! BTW, Turner drugs was wonderful.

Ok, that's enough. Any questions, ask away!

Jenny

 

[Jenn]

Thanks for the reviews! I hope your son is feeling better.... if you don't mind my asking, what happened?

 

[DisneyPhD]

SAB slide area (pool closest to BC) is still closed. They don't expect it to open until this weekend or sometime next week. Since it was supposed to rain there alot this week they thought the end of next week was the most likely time. The little slide is open.

I peeked into the store renovations and chatted up the staff. It's gutted right now. But they said they are adding a sandwich place and some chairs. I asked if it would be like Roaring Forks and they said no, there would be no grill, but premade sandwiches and snacks, tables, and a place to refill your mugs all day. One CM made it sound like they were going to remove the refill area at beaches and cream when the store was done, and rework the take out area to add a *little* more seating, but no major changes. The store will be more convenient in the afternoon when Rip Tide closes.

We travel during Feb every year and I have never seen so much contruction. I consider it a trade off for the beautiful Feb weather, but it was hard not to notice it.


Jenny

SO sorrry to hear about your son. I hope he is doing fine now.

I have a few questions for you since we are heading there in 2 days.

Is the enitre store on Beach Club side closed? If that is true what a bummer! It is quite the walk over to YC and I awalys liked the BC store better anyway. Good news about the renovations, but still doesn't help us now!

I know the original date on the slide renovations was supost to open Feb 25th (the day we get there) I was hopping it would be on time. (not good news about the weather, oh well.)

What do you mean by little slide? I have been to SAB a few times (with a todler) and we love that place, but I have never seen a kiddie slide. If they had one that would be GREAT!

We love BCV and can't wait to get there (now all I need to do is pack and keep everyone healthly!)

I am also concerened about the amount of renovations. This is not normal for Feb/ March, because of the 05-05-05 celebration they are trying to get everything fixed up by then. Not so great for us going now, but what are you going to do? Normally there is a bit of construction, but never to the amount there is going on now.

 

[jennypenny]

Hi again.

Jenn--My son got a bad ear infection from the flight down, but he has trouble fighting infections and they spread through his body easily. He was finally good enough to go out a little on Friday, but we took it easy. I took him over to playhouse disney and the LM show Saturday morning, and we walked epcot with him Sunday. He did get to play at the pool a little over the weekend. We did MANY laps around the lake during the week with the stroller.

DisneyPhD--yes, the whole pool by the BC is closed. We found it easiest to walk down to the beach, and then enter through the exit by the YC. The small slide is open. It's by the entrance to the big slide. There is a small store set up in the kids' club. If you don't see something you need, ask. They had quite a few things. I only had to walk over to the BW store once (for half and half).

I wouldn't count on SAB being open during your stay. I heard one of the lifeguard managers tell a lifeguard March 5th was the most likely date.

And I don't want to bring you down, but you should plan accordingly--the weather forcast for Fri/Sat/Sun was upper 60s and rain.

Jenny

 

[lllovell]

Thanks for the details about your trip.

Glad your son is feeling better too! Poor guy - being sick on vacation is not fun at all!

 

[Beca]

jennypenny...I am so sorry to hear about your poor boy!!! I had to have my dd (who was 11 months at the time) hospitalized during one of our WDW vacations...it was awful, and scary!!!

Not to excuse the BCV staff...they were just wrong!!! But, I think sometimes people want so much done for them, and act so "helpless" on vacations, that it is difficult for the front desk staff to tell a "real emergency" from a real emergency.

When we were there last Dec. DD (at this time, almost 3) got her usual round of infections at WDW. The antibiotics the dr. put her on caused diahrrea, which in turn gave her a UTI. She woke up one night screaming because she was trying to pee, but it was killing her.

We were at the end of the hall, and our living room was right next to a stairwell. I scooped her up, took her to the living room and closed the doors to the bedroom and bathroom to try and minimize the noise our neighbors would hear. As soon as dh got dressed, we went down to the valet stand and sat on a park bench. The bell hop came to us and said, "She seems pretty sick. Why didn't you call us, and we would give you a call back when your car was here waiting for you?" I said, "With the way she is screaming at 2 AM? I felt so bad for the people next to us...I just wanted to get her out of the room before she ruined someone else's sleep."

He looked at my like I had just slapped him in the face! He said, "Wow, a WDW guest who actually THINKS about other guests?!! You're a rare breed."

Well, he was the NICEST bell hop to us on the whole rest of the trip!! If he saw us coming, he would stop other bell hops to come and help us. He also knew which car was ours (since it was a grey rental car...I NEVER could tell which one it was), and when we pulled up....he would come get us, even if we were a few cars back in the line.

I couldn't believe it!!! He was SO blown away by the fact that we were "considerate" of other guests....it made me SOO sad!!! He remembered her name, and was soo sweet to her....but, I can only imagine the "crap" they must have to put up with if we were "Amazing" for trying to let others sleep.

Oh, the other "guest" problem I ran into was this. On checkout day, I was standing in line at BWV waiting for a clerk to "open up". A person left one of the CM's, but she was still doing paperwork, and I was waiting for her to call me to the counter. A man behind me said, "Are you going to stand there all day? She's open." I said, "She's still doing paperwork. She'll call when she is ready to assist someone." He replied, "You'll never get anywhere in life with that kind of attitude". And, he went around me. Sure enough, she looked up, he was there, and she helped him. I guess he was right and I was wrong....but, it's still not going to change me.

Sorry to "hijack" your thread...I really didn't mean to.

Now, back to our "regularly scheduled programming"


Beca

 

[MermaidsMom]

AHHHH!! Who was this jguy who went in front of you while you were doing the right thing???? Where do these people come from-they are the ones who push others at the airport, restaurant lines, etc. Where do they get the nerve?

 

[DisneyPhD]

Hi again.

DisneyPhD--yes, the whole pool by the BC is closed. We found it easiest to walk down to the beach, and then enter through the exit by the YC. The small slide is open. It's by the entrance to the big slide. There is a small store set up in the kids' club. If you don't see something you need, ask. They had quite a few things. I only had to walk over to the BW store once (for half and half).

I wouldn't count on SAB being open during your stay. I heard one of the lifeguard managers tell a lifeguard March 5th was the most likely date.

And I don't want to bring you down, but you should plan accordingly--the weather forcast for Fri/Sat/Sun was upper 60s and rain.

Jenny

I thought everything but the slide pool was open, not SAB. If all of SAB is closed I might just have a heart attack. We won't miss the big slide and deep pool so much since we have younger kids, but my 13 year old niece would like it. (she plays with the younger kids alot though) Also she can swim at BCV pool too. However I was counting on the Feb 25th date.

The weather forcast keeps changing on us. So much so my DH is going crazy looking at it. We are paking for all kinds of weather (no snow hopefully, we have that here.) and hoping for the best (and at least a few sunny days to swimm.)

Thanks for the update. What Dr. did you use while at WDW? We used Centra Care when DD was sick (twice, once at 9 months, allergic reaction to penicilin taken before we left) and ear infection 2nd time.

They both seem fine, but were sick a few weeks ago. I keep wondering if I should take them in to the Dr. to get checked out, but then they might pick something new up. DH has an ear thing and can use it pretty well, and said their ears look clear now. (harder to see the babies well.) Runny noses are over too, just linger cough sometimes.

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

I am so glad that your son is ok now and that he got to have a little fun on his vacation!

I'm upset about the lack of compassion re the front desk CMs not calling you NOR rushing the medicine over to you once it arrived...I think you should write a letter to management...seriously.

What if there was an emergency...and someone lost their life because CMers were not willing to 'take a little step' above and beyond their cited duties?
Please consider writing to Disney about what happened. Stress that you don't WANT any recompense...it is just you are very worried about policy and how in this age of multi million dollar lawsuits...that you would hate Disney to be sued megabucks cause someone's nitroglycerin tabs were sitting behind the counter waiting for a heart attack to happen to the poor SOB who was walking down to the front desk to get them.

I'm REALLY concerned here that you had to make a choice to either leave your baby alone or drag him down to the front desk...and I am glad that you made them watch him take his medicine! and hope you make them take theirs.

Again, glad that it all resolved and son is healthy. (BTW, our daugher's ear infections were best treated with Cipro instead of the usual one they give (amoxicillan, maybe) THo it is much more expensive...it seemed to work VERY fast. Actually, I've found that it works well for me too, so now I request it for any antibiotic need I have.

colorado belle

 

[jennypenny]

We didn't use a doctor in WDW--worked with doctors at home. He already had an infection when we left, got in his ears after the flight, changed medication, ears cleared up but he still has other infections going on (he got checked out here today). Our doctor said not to take him to the clinic because of his weakened immune system.

I didn't give him the medicine in the lobby to make the point. I had until a certain hour to get his fever under 102 (ibuprofen not working) or the doctor said I had to get him to the hospital for the night. I was just trying to get the medicine in his system as fast as possible to avoid the ER.

After I did it and saw the desk's reaction I was glad they were watching. All I wanted was a phone call when the medicine arrived, that's all. They knew the prescription was for a small child because of the new policy of taking all names and ages at the front desk during check in.


DisneyPhD--the deep pool and big slide are closed, everything else is open. It's just annoying because it's the beach club side. The DVC pool is open (and usually not crowded).

Jenny

 

[off to neverland]

Thanks for the info on BCV. We're staying in May, and some of your info is useful for me. I'm especially to happy to hear they are moving the soda refill location..............

 

[DisneyPhD]

We didn't use a doctor in WDW--worked with doctors at home. He already had an infection when we left, got in his ears after the flight, changed medication, ears cleared up but he still has other infections going on (he got checked out here today). Our doctor said not to take him to the clinic because of his weakened immune system.

I didn't give him the medicine in the lobby to make the point. I had until a certain hour to get his fever under 102 (ibuprofen not working) or the doctor said I had to get him to the hospital for the night. I was just trying to get the medicine in his system as fast as possible to avoid the ER.

After I did it and saw the desk's reaction I was glad they were watching. All I wanted was a phone call when the medicine arrived, that's all. They knew the prescription was for a small child because of the new policy of taking all names and ages at the front desk during check in.


DisneyPhD--the deep pool and big slide are closed, everything else is open. It's just annoying because it's the beach club side. The DVC pool is open (and usually not crowded).

Jenny

I know what you mean about the pool, it can be hard to get in there. With the side closest to BCV being closed that is even harder. I am still hopeing for it to be done sometime during our tirp. We are there until March 4th.

When DD sick our peds would not prescribe anything for us. They said they could not do out of state Rx in FLA. Even when we knew DD was having an allgeric reaction and all I needed was a few doses or cortizone. I wonder if PA is different.

It also sounds like your situation with DS is different and you have a close relationship with your PED.

 

[tinkgrl]

Hi,

Thanks for the report!!! Glad you had a good time!

Allison

 

[manning]

jennypenny...




A man behind me said, "Are you going to stand there all day? She's open." I said, "She's still doing paperwork. She'll call when she is ready to assist someone." He replied, "You'll never get anywhere in life with that kind of attitude". And, he went around me. Sure enough, she looked up, he was there, and she helped him. I guess he was right and I was wrong....but, it's still not going to change me.


Beca

Like you I wait until called. However that man would never have gotten by me and would be wilting with embarrassment after I got done with him. I don't push but don't allow to be shoved.

 

[maminnie]

DisneyPhD:

All of Stormalong Bay was open as of Friday morning, Feb. 25 except the slide. The lifeguards were going to test the slide out that morning but as of when we left the hotel around 11:30am, it was still not open.

 

[DisneyPhD]

I was there too. We did get some swimming time in, but the weather was iffy some days. Some of the members of my party went down the slide. It was great to have the whole pool open. We had a good time.

Trip report as soon as I can get to it.

 

[GrammieMame]

I am horrified at the front desk reaction to your problem. If it had been my grandchild, I would have blown my stack. True, they might not be able to leave their front desk posts, but there are bellmen coming and going all the time, and I think medicine should be delivered whenever it arrives.