Just back from BCV

[jd99]

Just arrived home from the airport after a one-week stay at WDW, including four nights at the BCV -- our home resort -- for our first DVC stay since buying a resale this summer. Family of four - Dad, Mom, DD 6 and DD 11 months. Just a few quick notes:

The Good
1. The BCV 1-bedroom exceeded our expectations. After reading so many negative posts here, I had set our sights kinda low, but our unit was wonderful. A few nicks on the tables, but that's going to happen unless they replace each of these items weekly. The unit was immaculate and I can't imagine having a better location - we had room number 420 with a straight on view from the large balcony off the bedroom of illuminations. It really blew us away.

2.We attended MVMCP not once, but twice during our trip because it was truly a highlight. The parade, the shows, the short ride lines..and the SNOW on Main Street blew us away. Everyone was in a festive mood, including all the CMs we encountered. My six year old loved it so much on Sunday night that she asked very nicely to come back if we could. When we entered the MK on Thursday morning and saw the signs saying tix were available we said, let's do it - used Disney Rewards Card to pay for tix, so it was free! ;-) Even our 11 month old loved this party. We have attended the Halloween party one time (last year) and didn't like it much at all. This was a great time, however. The first night we had dinner at the Liberty Tree and it was great. The second visit we had dinner at Tony's and it was good as well, but not quite as much fun as the character dinner at Liberty Tree.

3/ We were lucky enough to get reservations for the Cinderella Breakfast and it was as magical as we had hoped. We had Cinderella, Snow White, Princess Aurora, Belle and Mary Poppins. We had a table overlooking the park. Really it was great.

The Bad
1. Housekeeping at the BCV was very messed up. We asked at the front desk on checkin about getting full housekeeping service for three of our four days there (we have an infant so it was important). The first day, we returned from the parks at about 6 p.m. and they hadn't touched it. We called and they said they'd do it right away which they did after we left for dinner. Ditto the second day - exact same situation. Third day, they came but just did trash and towels and we called yet again and they said "it was listed in the system as trash and towel only." We said forget it since we were checking out the next day and they said we wouldn't be charged. Of course on checkout, we were charged for three days of full maid service. Annoyed CM at the desk credited whole 90 bucks (even though we didn't ask them to, which was nice) but she also told me that we should have reserved housekeeping upon reservation. I didn't realize that.

2. While we love Christmas and we love Disney and we love Christmas decorations at Disney, going at this time was simply too much for our family - with the exception of the Christmas Party. Lesson learned for us. back to our November visits.

3. We stayed at the Poly for first three nights and found it to be a bit disappointing this time. No specific reasons...just because it wasn't what we had hoped for.

That's it for now. Too tired to continue. Feel free to fire questions my way.

Jeff

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Thanks for the nice report. I have never heard about reserving houskeeping when making a reservation either. We used to get trash and towel every day and no one ever told me that I needed to reserve it in advance.

HBC

 

[Skip Wiley]

2. While we love Christmas and we love Disney and we love Christmas decorations at Disney, going at this time was simply too much for our family - with the exception of the Christmas Party. Lesson learned for us. back to our November visits.

Jeff

We're thinking of planning a trip during the holidays next year to see the decorations, could you elaborate on this comment?

Thanks!

 

[tinkgrl]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing!!!!

Allison aka Ms. Sparrow

 

[jd99]

We're thinking of planning a trip during the holidays next year to see the decorations, could you elaborate on this comment?

Thanks!

I think because we have two small children that it was just too overwhelming. Think of the excitement surrounding Christmas when you have a six year old..and the excitement of a Disney trip and then combine them into one huge package two weeks before Christmas. Our DD had just a few more meltdowns than we are used to because, I'm sure, of the overstimulation of it all and the building excitement for the holidays at home. I saw lots of kids really having a tough time and could relate because at times I just wanted to go somewhere and cry. Combine that with the little bit of stress we were feeling missing two weekends at home to prepare for the holidays and it was a recipe for a more stressful vacation than we are comfortable with. I know that others handle it just fine, but I think for my family it was too much. The decorations are up in November, and we have gone b4 Thanksgiving in the past, and I think we will return to that schedule to get the best of both worlds.

 

[caracarn]

I think because we have two small children that it was just too overwhelming. Think of the excitement surrounding Christmas when you have a six year old..and the excitement of a Disney trip and then combine them into one huge package two weeks before Christmas. Our DD had just a few more meltdowns than we are used to because, I'm sure, of the overstimulation of it all and the building excitement for the holidays at home. I saw lots of kids really having a tough time and could relate because at times I just wanted to go somewhere and cry. Combine that with the little bit of stress we were feeling missing two weekends at home to prepare for the holidays and it was a recipe for a more stressful vacation than we are comfortable with. I know that others handle it just fine, but I think for my family it was too much. The decorations are up in November, and we have gone b4 Thanksgiving in the past, and I think we will return to that schedule to get the best of both worlds.

I'd agree that it just depends on what you are comfortable with. We just got back last week from a trip with a 6,4 and 1 year old. We were there for two weeks and about the last 3 days, the kids were just awful. Nothing seemed to calm them down and I do think it was simply too much overload. We have come one other time two years ago at this time with two children and had a similar experience. On the other hand, I do think the Christmas as Disney experience is worth a little fuss, so definitley keep that in mind when making your decision. Going in November is nice crowd wise, but not having all the decorations and special events going on is really a downer for us.

 

[Skip Wiley]

I think because we have two small children that it was just too overwhelming. Think of the excitement surrounding Christmas when you have a six year old..and the excitement of a Disney trip and then combine them into one huge package two weeks before Christmas. Our DD had just a few more meltdowns than we are used to because, I'm sure, of the overstimulation of it all and the building excitement for the holidays at home. I saw lots of kids really having a tough time and could relate because at times I just wanted to go somewhere and cry. Combine that with the little bit of stress we were feeling missing two weekends at home to prepare for the holidays and it was a recipe for a more stressful vacation than we are comfortable with. I know that others handle it just fine, but I think for my family it was too much. The decorations are up in November, and we have gone b4 Thanksgiving in the past, and I think we will return to that schedule to get the best of both worlds.

Thanks for the insight, I appreciate it! I can certainly understand your reasoning; it makes a lot of sense. I think next year may be the best time for us to try a Disney Christmas with DS (he will be almost two) before we add on to the family in 2006 (hopefully that is, and not a DVC add-on either, well, maybe that too ). However, judging from how not ready we are for Christmas this year, I can see where going to Disney right before Christmas next year may create a lot of holiday stress, definitely something to think consider.

P.S. I noticed your location -- Go Steelers!

 

[nydizfan]

hey jeff .. we were in the same room two weeks prior.. nice view huh...dave

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Just arrived home from the airport after a one-week stay at WDW, including four nights at the BCV -- our home resort -- for our first DVC stay since buying a resale this summer. Family of four - Dad, Mom, DD 6 and DD 11 months. Just a few quick notes:

.

The Bad
1. Housekeeping at the BCV was very messed up. We asked at the front desk on checkin about getting full housekeeping service for three of our four days there (we have an infant so it was important). The first day, we returned from the parks at about 6 p.m. and they hadn't touched it. We called and they said they'd do it right away which they did after we left for dinner. Ditto the second day - exact same situation. Third day, they came but just did trash and towels and we called yet again and they said "it was listed in the system as trash and towel only." We said forget it since we were checking out the next day and they said we wouldn't be charged. Of course on checkout, we were charged for three days of full maid service. Annoyed CM at the desk credited whole 90 bucks (even though we didn't ask them to, which was nice) but she also told me that we should have reserved housekeeping upon reservation. I didn't realize that.



That's it for now. Too tired to continue. Feel free to fire questions my way.

Jeff

Jeff- we had the same problem with mousekeeping management. The mousekeepers who actually cleaned the room were great. They did a fantastic job! They also credited us for the trouble. Looks like they lost a lot of money because of poor management.

Other than that, we have a wonderful time at BCV

 

[DVCPAM]

We found mousekeeping to be right on top of things. We broke a glass one night and (forgetting we had a vaccuum) someone came up right away to vaccuum the floor and carpet. Then Monday night (12/13) my daughter vomitted all night on the bedroom and bathroom floors and two different beds. Every time someone came right away to help clean and give us new linens, etc. We were so appreciative since it was such a mess!
I could not have been more pleased, however we did not 'schedule' any services!
~Pam

 

[jd99]

Dave - Yes the view was something else. Now that I have been in this unit, I can't imagine being anywhere else at BCV. But it's funny because after you watch illuminations from the room the first night...and then a second, you almost forget it is there. We were probably in the room three different nights when it was going on and the first night we watched the whole way through, the second, we watched pieces..and the third, i think i saw the beginning and the end. So, I guess being in another unit won't be that much of a problem. It's just I KNOW this unit now, and it will feel more like home.


Regarding Mousekeeping - If i sounded like i was complaining about the folks who actually came up to clean the rooms, I wasn't. The problem was clearly with management. The folks who did the actual cleaning did a fine job on the days that they were able to clean - but it was the timing of the cleaning and the non-cleaning that we had arranged to have -- that were the problems. That wasn't their fault - that was the folks in the office. We'll try again next time, I'm sure it will be better.