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DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2000
- Messages
- 2,791
Just got back last night from 5 days at BWV and 2 days at WL (lodge, not villas). We had a 2 BR for me, DH, and DSs 14 & 16. All in all, it was a great trip! Here are a few highlights (and a few nit-picky observations as well!).
We arrived on Sunday(2/19) at about 5 pm. We had booked a preferred room since all standard views were taken by the time I made my reservation. BW views were gone as well, so I wasn't sure what I would end up with. As we were checking in, I asked if we could please not be put by the main pool, thinking it would be too noisy. The CM said our room was already assigned, and it was indeed a pool view room on the ground floor. I usually request top floor, but didn't this time. We didn't say anything else to the CM, since it was my own fault for not making any requests. So, DH and I just kind of grumbled to ourselves on our way to our room. Boy did I feel stupid for griping because this turned out to be my favorite room I've had yet at the BWV!
I can't say enough good things about the room! There was enough distance from our room and the pool that noise was never even the slightest problem. There were shrubs in from of our patio that gave us a cozy sense of privacy. We could keep an eye on the pool in the morning, and know exactly when to head out to get a good spot. We always got chairs close to our room which was so convenient. Our room was the closest room to an outside exit, so we just walked out, turned right, and we were on our way to the pool. No long hallways or waiting for an elevator. It was perfect! Here are pictures of our view:
In the early morning:
In the afternoon:
Looking at our room from the pool (the lower right 3 patios):
The only problem with this room was the trash in the bushes. There was a beer can, beer bottle, cigarette box, and few other little things in the bushes on our day of arrival. DH was going to call and have them clean it up for us, but I wanted to wait it out to see how long it take for them to do it themselves. They never did. It's disappointing that Disney does not seem to take care of the grounds like they used to (I noticed this in the parks as well). I find it equally, if not more, disappointing that guests treat the resort with such disrespect. How sad.
A couple of other things I noticed - when we first got to our room, only the studio side room keys worked. We could not get into the 1 BR side. When we called, they said we needed to come down and pick up a new set - they were too busy to bring the new keys to us. Also, when I went to charge a purchase at Downtown Disney to our room, it rejected my card as well as DH's. The only card that worked was my 16 year old's! Of course, he thought it was pretty funny that we were both rejected and he had to sign for our purchase.
The only other thing that was kind of annoying was we experienced more "technical difficulties" than we ever had. We finally reached the front of the line at "Dinosaur" only to have the ride shut down. Everyone was sent on their way. Minor technical dfficulties occurred while we were riding Buzz Lightyear and Small World. Buzz was shut down on another day due to technical difficulties. Finally, we were stuck on the monorail one afternoon. It didn't move at all for about 20 minutes, then it sputtered along until we had to get off at TTC and took the ferry to MK.
I only mention these issues because I think it is important to tell the good along with the not so good. We had an awesome trip, and none of these things interferred with our fun at all.
Back to the good things! Expedition Everest was fantastic, and may be my new favorite coaster! We went to the Adventurer's Club for the first time and had a blast! Liberty Tree Tavern was a great character dinner, and breakfast at Whispering Canyon was a lot of fun. We spent more time lounging around the pool and just hanging out than we did at the parks. The weather was great for most of the week and we really did a lot of relaxing in the sun.
When we moved to WL, I realized how much we have been spoiled by DVC. We were quite cramped after spending the previous five days in a 2 BR! While the lodge is absolutely beautiful, we had a standard room with the most aweful view we have ever had. I'm not kidding, take a peek:
The only good thing to this room location was we could see the fireworks at night. It would have been better if we stayed at WL at the start of our trip, and ended at BWV.
That's it for now. I have suitcases to unpack and a ton of work to do! It was such a nice trip, I miss it already!
We arrived on Sunday(2/19) at about 5 pm. We had booked a preferred room since all standard views were taken by the time I made my reservation. BW views were gone as well, so I wasn't sure what I would end up with. As we were checking in, I asked if we could please not be put by the main pool, thinking it would be too noisy. The CM said our room was already assigned, and it was indeed a pool view room on the ground floor. I usually request top floor, but didn't this time. We didn't say anything else to the CM, since it was my own fault for not making any requests. So, DH and I just kind of grumbled to ourselves on our way to our room. Boy did I feel stupid for griping because this turned out to be my favorite room I've had yet at the BWV!
I can't say enough good things about the room! There was enough distance from our room and the pool that noise was never even the slightest problem. There were shrubs in from of our patio that gave us a cozy sense of privacy. We could keep an eye on the pool in the morning, and know exactly when to head out to get a good spot. We always got chairs close to our room which was so convenient. Our room was the closest room to an outside exit, so we just walked out, turned right, and we were on our way to the pool. No long hallways or waiting for an elevator. It was perfect! Here are pictures of our view:
In the early morning:
In the afternoon:
Looking at our room from the pool (the lower right 3 patios):
The only problem with this room was the trash in the bushes. There was a beer can, beer bottle, cigarette box, and few other little things in the bushes on our day of arrival. DH was going to call and have them clean it up for us, but I wanted to wait it out to see how long it take for them to do it themselves. They never did. It's disappointing that Disney does not seem to take care of the grounds like they used to (I noticed this in the parks as well). I find it equally, if not more, disappointing that guests treat the resort with such disrespect. How sad.
A couple of other things I noticed - when we first got to our room, only the studio side room keys worked. We could not get into the 1 BR side. When we called, they said we needed to come down and pick up a new set - they were too busy to bring the new keys to us. Also, when I went to charge a purchase at Downtown Disney to our room, it rejected my card as well as DH's. The only card that worked was my 16 year old's! Of course, he thought it was pretty funny that we were both rejected and he had to sign for our purchase.
The only other thing that was kind of annoying was we experienced more "technical difficulties" than we ever had. We finally reached the front of the line at "Dinosaur" only to have the ride shut down. Everyone was sent on their way. Minor technical dfficulties occurred while we were riding Buzz Lightyear and Small World. Buzz was shut down on another day due to technical difficulties. Finally, we were stuck on the monorail one afternoon. It didn't move at all for about 20 minutes, then it sputtered along until we had to get off at TTC and took the ferry to MK.
I only mention these issues because I think it is important to tell the good along with the not so good. We had an awesome trip, and none of these things interferred with our fun at all.
Back to the good things! Expedition Everest was fantastic, and may be my new favorite coaster! We went to the Adventurer's Club for the first time and had a blast! Liberty Tree Tavern was a great character dinner, and breakfast at Whispering Canyon was a lot of fun. We spent more time lounging around the pool and just hanging out than we did at the parks. The weather was great for most of the week and we really did a lot of relaxing in the sun.
When we moved to WL, I realized how much we have been spoiled by DVC. We were quite cramped after spending the previous five days in a 2 BR! While the lodge is absolutely beautiful, we had a standard room with the most aweful view we have ever had. I'm not kidding, take a peek:
The only good thing to this room location was we could see the fireworks at night. It would have been better if we stayed at WL at the start of our trip, and ended at BWV.
That's it for now. I have suitcases to unpack and a ton of work to do! It was such a nice trip, I miss it already!
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