Detailed Trip report at http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=407937
We went home to BCV for the first time 7/13-18 and it was very pleasant stay. We own at BWV and BCV and I had agonized over whether to add on at BCV or take a lot more points at BWV, but we're happy with the decision to buy at BCV and own at two resorts.
We had Villa 173 (and 171 for one night) which is way down the hall towards the canal and the parking lot. The hike with a toddler was way too long, but it was close to the pool and very quiet. We had adjusted to the long walk to SAB by mid-week and had our shortcuts down pat. The only caution I would have about this room is that the traffic on the access road above the canal outside gets busy in the early am. For me as a light sleeper it was a bit noisy, but no one else in our family noticed the noise at all. The villas overall were lovely, in perfect condition and very clean. I saw one spider all week!
I was, however, taken aback a bit by the lack of a full closet. My recollection of BW is that it was a "real" perhaps walk-in closet, but I haven't been there since '00.....so maybe I'm dreaming. The closet in BCV has a door but it's like a hall way with the first 3 feet used as a utility room with circuit breakers on one wall. You couldn't put anything on the floor and still close the door. At the far end is a 2 ft deep by 4 ft wide closet under which is a high chair and a vacuum. There was little space to hang anything, let alone store suitcases. We had to leave those in the main room or along the wall in the MBR. I would have preferred to have them out of sight....so I didn't have to think about all the packing I'd have to do on our departure day!
We had several housekeeping issues....and the response was generally good. We arrived at 1pm and they told us the room was ready so we moved right in. But my kids took off their shoes and discovered that the carpet from the front door to the table to the entrance to the MBR was soaked and the quickly had to shed their socks. Wouldn't have been a problem if our luggage had arrived in Orlando with us.....but all our socks and clothes were still in Providence (That's a story for the Southwest Airlines thread). We left for Epcot and lunch ressies figuring the rug would dry by 7pm. But upon our return it was still sopping wet. It took three calls to get housekeeping up to the room to suck the water out and then to return again with towels to leave down for us to walk on. We had already made footprints into the kitchen and bathrooms with our shoes. They agreed to wash the floors the next day and change the towels out without a charge. They were pleasant on the phone and had smiles on their faces when they came to the door....they just were too busy to help us with our little pool of water.
I also had to call 3 times over 3 days to get a "stopper" for the sink. I don't know if someone threw it out or what, but we couldn't wash dishes in the sink until they delivered a new one. It was a small annoyance....but I do like to keep the sink tidy...even on vacation.
Overall, I thought the CM's at the resort were friendly and gracious. I had my DD's count how many "welcome homes" we got and there were many.
The only issue I had was when our luggage finally did arrive at 9pm our first night. The airline had called to say it left the airport at 5:30 and it was due at the hotel 7:30-9:30. At 7:30 the bellman desk called to say it had arrived. A half hour later we called down to say we were leaving for dinner and wondered when it would be up. "Next in line" they said. It took another 1/2 hour - 45 mins to come up. And then the CM was all flustered saying they had had so many check-ins that day, etc. I was apologetic, thanked him profusely and tipped him well.....I just got the impression that he was feeling "put out". Sorry, but I had left Boston at 5am......and without luggage at WDW for 8+ hours. I don't think we were out of line calling the front desk twice looking for it. We just thanked him for the bags and changed our socks, etc. and went out the door for dinner.
There were lines all week everywhere and Beaches N Cream was packed...but the resort was full. Yet, when we were in our room or at the "quiet" BCV pool you never knew how many other guests were there with you. All in all we had a great 5 nights/6 days and wish it had been a longer trip. We're already making our list of things we want to do next April. I'll post a trip report on the appropriate board.
We went home to BCV for the first time 7/13-18 and it was very pleasant stay. We own at BWV and BCV and I had agonized over whether to add on at BCV or take a lot more points at BWV, but we're happy with the decision to buy at BCV and own at two resorts.
We had Villa 173 (and 171 for one night) which is way down the hall towards the canal and the parking lot. The hike with a toddler was way too long, but it was close to the pool and very quiet. We had adjusted to the long walk to SAB by mid-week and had our shortcuts down pat. The only caution I would have about this room is that the traffic on the access road above the canal outside gets busy in the early am. For me as a light sleeper it was a bit noisy, but no one else in our family noticed the noise at all. The villas overall were lovely, in perfect condition and very clean. I saw one spider all week!
I was, however, taken aback a bit by the lack of a full closet. My recollection of BW is that it was a "real" perhaps walk-in closet, but I haven't been there since '00.....so maybe I'm dreaming. The closet in BCV has a door but it's like a hall way with the first 3 feet used as a utility room with circuit breakers on one wall. You couldn't put anything on the floor and still close the door. At the far end is a 2 ft deep by 4 ft wide closet under which is a high chair and a vacuum. There was little space to hang anything, let alone store suitcases. We had to leave those in the main room or along the wall in the MBR. I would have preferred to have them out of sight....so I didn't have to think about all the packing I'd have to do on our departure day!
We had several housekeeping issues....and the response was generally good. We arrived at 1pm and they told us the room was ready so we moved right in. But my kids took off their shoes and discovered that the carpet from the front door to the table to the entrance to the MBR was soaked and the quickly had to shed their socks. Wouldn't have been a problem if our luggage had arrived in Orlando with us.....but all our socks and clothes were still in Providence (That's a story for the Southwest Airlines thread). We left for Epcot and lunch ressies figuring the rug would dry by 7pm. But upon our return it was still sopping wet. It took three calls to get housekeeping up to the room to suck the water out and then to return again with towels to leave down for us to walk on. We had already made footprints into the kitchen and bathrooms with our shoes. They agreed to wash the floors the next day and change the towels out without a charge. They were pleasant on the phone and had smiles on their faces when they came to the door....they just were too busy to help us with our little pool of water.
I also had to call 3 times over 3 days to get a "stopper" for the sink. I don't know if someone threw it out or what, but we couldn't wash dishes in the sink until they delivered a new one. It was a small annoyance....but I do like to keep the sink tidy...even on vacation.
Overall, I thought the CM's at the resort were friendly and gracious. I had my DD's count how many "welcome homes" we got and there were many.
The only issue I had was when our luggage finally did arrive at 9pm our first night. The airline had called to say it left the airport at 5:30 and it was due at the hotel 7:30-9:30. At 7:30 the bellman desk called to say it had arrived. A half hour later we called down to say we were leaving for dinner and wondered when it would be up. "Next in line" they said. It took another 1/2 hour - 45 mins to come up. And then the CM was all flustered saying they had had so many check-ins that day, etc. I was apologetic, thanked him profusely and tipped him well.....I just got the impression that he was feeling "put out". Sorry, but I had left Boston at 5am......and without luggage at WDW for 8+ hours. I don't think we were out of line calling the front desk twice looking for it. We just thanked him for the bags and changed our socks, etc. and went out the door for dinner.
There were lines all week everywhere and Beaches N Cream was packed...but the resort was full. Yet, when we were in our room or at the "quiet" BCV pool you never knew how many other guests were there with you. All in all we had a great 5 nights/6 days and wish it had been a longer trip. We're already making our list of things we want to do next April. I'll post a trip report on the appropriate board.
