We got home last night from our trip. We spent two nights at BWI CL and four at BC CL. It was our first time at both resorts, after five trips to YC (four of them CL, the most recent being May, 2012). I thought I would share our experience for those who are wondering about these resorts.
BWI CL: Our room was clean and overlooked the Boardwalk. We had a lovely view of YC across Crescent Lake. The lounge itself was a pleasant surprise. I was used to the much smaller YC lounge. The BWI lounge is much larger, and we never had to take food back to our room. We were always able to find a table for four in the lounge. The food was pretty standard, though BWI offered granola in the mornings and BC didn't. I liked that BWI had the coffee urns available for the duration of breakfast (possibly all day but I only remember breakfast because it's the only time I drink coffee), and there was no Nescafe machine. At dessert time in the evening, they put out a couple of desserts and chocolate chip and sugar cookies. On the down side, cans of soda were kept on ice instead of in a refrigerator. This meant warm soda when the ice had melted, and wet cans every time.
The Innkeeper's Lounge is located on the fourth floor. When you get off the elevator, you walk down a couple of corridors before you get to the lounge, which has keyed access. Once you open that door, the lounge is right there and there are more CL rooms. Our room was in this area and was a very short walk to the lounge. I don't think I would like the trek from the rooms at the other end of the fourth floor, especially when I haven't had my coffee yet
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The only frustration I had at BWI was with our keys. We went through five sets before they were right. We had issues with them not opening the lounge door, not opening our room door, and not having room charge available. For a two night stay, I spent WAY too much time dealing with key issues. After five CL members couldn't get it straight, I went to a manager and had her take care of it.
I had heard great things about the BWI CL CMs, but with one exception, I can't figure out why. They were pleasant but not terribly friendly, and the room key issues led me to question their competence. The exception was Pete, who was so sweet and genuinely friendly, especially to my kids. When he greeted us, it felt real.
BC CL: I walked over early on the morning of the 13th from BWI to check us into BC. Vilma and Hyacinth were on duty and got me checked in quickly. Our room wasn't ready (which I wouldn't expect at 7:00 a.m.) but we got the text around 11:30 that it was ready. We got an ungrade from a standard view to a garden view. We were at the end of the hallway so we didn't have another guestroom on one side. We had a great view of the Epcot fireworks from our balcony. Housekeeping was fine. We requested and received early housekeeping every day.
The lounge was very disappointing. It was small and there were fewer offerings than at BWI. The service is set up in a U shape and it felt congested when there were more than a couple of people there. The soda was refrigerated, which was a plus. Although they don't put them out, you can request bottles of water to take to the parks, which was another plus.
Coffee was an issue for me. From 6:30-7:00, there were carafes of coffee available on the table outside the closed lounge. This was fairly drinkable. Once the lounge opened at 7, the only coffee available was from the Nescafe machine, and the plain black coffee was horrible. It smelled like skunk and was totally undrinkable. I made this discovery our first morning there, and was very irritated to have to go downstairs to buy a cup of coffee from the Marketplace. I made sure I was up before 7 to scoot down the hallway to get two cups of coffee from the carafes for the rest of our stay.
My biggest issue with the lounge was that they didn't stay open for the advertised hours. We were having cookies and soda in the lounge one afternoon, and the scheduled closing time was 4:00. At ten of, they closed the doors to discourage others from entering. Then, even though there were guests in the lounge, they turned off the lights! It was clearly a signal to us to leave, and I thought it was very rude. Another night I sent my daughter to the lounge to get me some ice water at 9:40 (scheduled closing at 10) and the whole water set up had been cleared away for the night. This particular issue will likely merit an email from me to the hotel management. Guests pay a premium for access to the lounge, and I believe it should be available for the advertised hours.
As for pools, we enjoyed Luna Park as much as we enjoy SAB. It was much easier to get a chair at Luna Park than at SAB. I thought my younger daughter would really miss SAB, but she didn't. She liked the clown slide at Luna Park, despite her opinion that shooting out of a clown's mouth was kind of creepy.
Between the two hotels we just stayed at, I am more inclined to return to BWI if we stay CL again. Once the room key issues were resolved, I began to enjoy the hotel. Of the three Disney owned Epcot resorts, I still prefer the decor of YC over the others. If I could have YC decor, the BWI lounge, and the BC location, that would be perfect. If we decide to skip CL, it's a toss up among the three.
BWI CL: Our room was clean and overlooked the Boardwalk. We had a lovely view of YC across Crescent Lake. The lounge itself was a pleasant surprise. I was used to the much smaller YC lounge. The BWI lounge is much larger, and we never had to take food back to our room. We were always able to find a table for four in the lounge. The food was pretty standard, though BWI offered granola in the mornings and BC didn't. I liked that BWI had the coffee urns available for the duration of breakfast (possibly all day but I only remember breakfast because it's the only time I drink coffee), and there was no Nescafe machine. At dessert time in the evening, they put out a couple of desserts and chocolate chip and sugar cookies. On the down side, cans of soda were kept on ice instead of in a refrigerator. This meant warm soda when the ice had melted, and wet cans every time.
The Innkeeper's Lounge is located on the fourth floor. When you get off the elevator, you walk down a couple of corridors before you get to the lounge, which has keyed access. Once you open that door, the lounge is right there and there are more CL rooms. Our room was in this area and was a very short walk to the lounge. I don't think I would like the trek from the rooms at the other end of the fourth floor, especially when I haven't had my coffee yet
.The only frustration I had at BWI was with our keys. We went through five sets before they were right. We had issues with them not opening the lounge door, not opening our room door, and not having room charge available. For a two night stay, I spent WAY too much time dealing with key issues. After five CL members couldn't get it straight, I went to a manager and had her take care of it.
I had heard great things about the BWI CL CMs, but with one exception, I can't figure out why. They were pleasant but not terribly friendly, and the room key issues led me to question their competence. The exception was Pete, who was so sweet and genuinely friendly, especially to my kids. When he greeted us, it felt real.
BC CL: I walked over early on the morning of the 13th from BWI to check us into BC. Vilma and Hyacinth were on duty and got me checked in quickly. Our room wasn't ready (which I wouldn't expect at 7:00 a.m.) but we got the text around 11:30 that it was ready. We got an ungrade from a standard view to a garden view. We were at the end of the hallway so we didn't have another guestroom on one side. We had a great view of the Epcot fireworks from our balcony. Housekeeping was fine. We requested and received early housekeeping every day.
The lounge was very disappointing. It was small and there were fewer offerings than at BWI. The service is set up in a U shape and it felt congested when there were more than a couple of people there. The soda was refrigerated, which was a plus. Although they don't put them out, you can request bottles of water to take to the parks, which was another plus.
Coffee was an issue for me. From 6:30-7:00, there were carafes of coffee available on the table outside the closed lounge. This was fairly drinkable. Once the lounge opened at 7, the only coffee available was from the Nescafe machine, and the plain black coffee was horrible. It smelled like skunk and was totally undrinkable. I made this discovery our first morning there, and was very irritated to have to go downstairs to buy a cup of coffee from the Marketplace. I made sure I was up before 7 to scoot down the hallway to get two cups of coffee from the carafes for the rest of our stay.
My biggest issue with the lounge was that they didn't stay open for the advertised hours. We were having cookies and soda in the lounge one afternoon, and the scheduled closing time was 4:00. At ten of, they closed the doors to discourage others from entering. Then, even though there were guests in the lounge, they turned off the lights! It was clearly a signal to us to leave, and I thought it was very rude. Another night I sent my daughter to the lounge to get me some ice water at 9:40 (scheduled closing at 10) and the whole water set up had been cleared away for the night. This particular issue will likely merit an email from me to the hotel management. Guests pay a premium for access to the lounge, and I believe it should be available for the advertised hours.
As for pools, we enjoyed Luna Park as much as we enjoy SAB. It was much easier to get a chair at Luna Park than at SAB. I thought my younger daughter would really miss SAB, but she didn't. She liked the clown slide at Luna Park, despite her opinion that shooting out of a clown's mouth was kind of creepy.
Between the two hotels we just stayed at, I am more inclined to return to BWI if we stay CL again. Once the room key issues were resolved, I began to enjoy the hotel. Of the three Disney owned Epcot resorts, I still prefer the decor of YC over the others. If I could have YC decor, the BWI lounge, and the BC location, that would be perfect
. If we decide to skip CL, it's a toss up among the three.
I always think of Kim for YC and MM for WL!
), so I'll be able to cover that one too! 
