Just back from BWV any ?"s and comments

[SHELL]

Just back from 9 days at the BWV.
First let me say it was a magical vacation. We had no waits at the parks and the food was great. I will be willing to answer any questions. Went to the Halloween party on Friday it was excellent, Universal on day, and saw the Phillharmagic, and the new firework show at the Magic Kingdom, which was awesome.
Also wanted to let people know that I actually was booked in the same room as last year? What are the odds? 4041. I love that room. We did have a VCR/DVD player that worked great!!!
Now for a few slight problems:
I was one of those reservations that requested BW view back in November and my reservation was never converted to the guaranted bw view. So MS did there best to convert it 2 weeks before we left but couldn't get me one night in the middle of my trip. So they booked me in two reservations with a pool view on day 5 only. After 3 days after we arrived of worrying about moving, they called to tell me that I could stay in my room the entire trip!! A little magic there I think!!!
The parks had a lot of limited hours but it really didn't effect us. They were not checking ID's at the pool and we found every day people were crashing from other non DVD hotels esp the Dolphin and Swan.
Also noted that we checked in on Friday Sept 26 and were susepose to have full housekeeping on Tuesday. However we never got that. I checked with the front desk on Tuesday morning, wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon only have houskeeping on Friday before we left on Saturday!!! unbelievable. They said the front desk never informed them of my request (2 different reservations that wern't linked) and the front desk said they linked them and houskeeping never looked in the computer. Either way no-one wanted to own up to the mistake!!!
Otherwise a great trip. Had a problem with the refillable mugs. Nothing is open in the morning at the BW except for the bakery. And the line is huge and it is off season. That was the only downfall for the mugs. I think the BW should have somewhere to get coffee in the morning. Having one place on the boardwalk for the entire BWI and BWV is crazy.
Also the buses. I complained the last time about the combination of the buses with the D & W and Y & B. However that didn't matter cause they are still combining. If you can believe after the Halloween party on Friday night, we were the only stop that was combined and it took 1 hr and 15 minutes to get home and that was after we were already on the bus. It took 3 buses to come before we could actually get on board. We were the only bus stop that had people waiting for buses. It was horrible!!!
Any questions or info I can give please ask!!!

 

[beattyfamily]

Thanks for sharing with us!

I'm really bummed to hear yet another complaint about the buses from BWV!!

This December is my first trip "home" at BWV after staying for 3 years in a row on the monorail for the convenience to MK since I have young DD's. Now I'm dreading getting to our favorite park, especially EE mornings and for MVMCP!

But again, thanks for the warning.

 

[BEACHCLUBVILLAS]

We have found the way to get the best use of the buses is to get on the bus at BW and get off the bus at Swan and walk back to BW. I have no suggestions if the line is so long you have to wait three buses to get on. There is no excuse for that unless, there are extra buses running and the wait between buses is not long.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by SHELL
I think the BW should have somewhere to get coffee in the morning. Having one place on the boardwalk for the entire BWI and BWV is crazy.

Never stayed DVC yet, but are there coffee makers in the rooms? Where you in a studio?

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by BEACHCLUBVILLAS
We have found the way to get the best use of the buses is to get on the bus at BW and get off the bus at Swan and walk back to BW. I have no suggestions if the line is so long you have to wait three buses to get on. There is no excuse for that unless, there are extra buses running and the wait between buses is not long.

Do you know what the order of stops are for buses to MK, AK & DTD?

We've stayed at the Swan and Dolphin and seemed to have more luck with buses at the Swan.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Originally posted by SHELL
... Had a problem with the refillable mugs. Nothing is open in the morning at the BW except for the bakery. And the line is huge and it is off season. That was the only downfall for the mugs. I think the BW should have somewhere to get coffee in the morning. Having one place on the boardwalk for the entire BWI and BWV is crazy...
Any questions or info I can give please ask!!!

Was there no coffee and continental breakfast service at the Bellevue Lounge on the BWI side? They had resumed this when we were there in June. You could refill your mug there at that time.

Ralph

 

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by CRSNDSNY
Do you know what the order of stops are for buses to MK, AK & DTD?

Just returned today also from BWV. Shell, we had 3031, so I think you may have been above us. Did you have a little one with you? May have heard you last night!!!! I loved sitting on that porch.

Anyway, to answer the question about the buses. For MK they pick up Swan, Dolphin, YC/BC & then BW. So on the way to MK it's great because you go straight there but on the way back I would also suggest getting getting off at the Swan & walking back to the BW - it's actually quicker if you don't mind the walking, which I don't because I need to work off all the snacks I eat while I'm there.

In answer to the question about coffee in the rooms - we were in a studio & they supplied coffee & coffee maker (we didn't use them though). There was also a toaster, microwave & small fridge.

 

[Disney Doll]

What new fireworks show at the MK?????

 

[MinnieGi]

Hi Shell, thanks for your trip report! We are staying at BWV for the first time later this month and are very excited, excpet for that but situation! I was wondering what time you left MNSSHP? Was it at close or after a parade or the firworks? Three buses before you could bored is horrible! I'm just trying to figure out a time we could exit our MNSSHP party on the 30th and hopefully not have a three bus wait.

Glad to hear mostly good things though about your stay!

 

[DeeP]

This December is my first trip "home" at BWV after staying for 3 years in a row on the monorail for the convenience to MK since I have young DD's. Now I'm dreading getting to our favorite park, especially EE mornings and for MVMCP!

I think you will be fine. I stay at BWV approx every 3 months and we have never had any real major transportation issues with the buses. Yes there have been times when we had to wait for a second bus but the second bus not only came within 10-15 min, I can also count on one hand the number of times this has happened during numerous trips over the years. I will admit having all the Epcot resorts share buses can be a pain, but all disney resorts either share buses or for the largest resorts they have their own buses but also have numerous bus stops.
We also get off at the Swan most of the times, the walk over the bridge to BWV is nothing and it's actually a very pretty walk also you definitely beat the bus or even the Friendship boat back.
I honestly feel considering the number of people Disney moves in the course of a day, they do an amazing job.
One of the great things about the MK and Epcot resorts is that at least one major park and numerous restaurants are accessible without relying on Disney buses which also makes transportation much easier from these resorts, imho.
Just an FYI but during special hard ticket events like MVMCP and the halloween party etc, transportation to the parks from all the resorts is taxed to the max many times, so it is a really good idea to plan accordingly especially if you are going to MK from a non monorail resort.

 

[SHELL]

Ralph& Pan We didn't see anything for coffee at the BWI. They did have a private breakfast coffee thing for the partners of Delliott that were there on a conference. But yes we did have a coffee maker in the room with enough coffee for one pot. We were therer 9 days so it becomes a pain to buy coffee and cream to make coffee when you already paid for a refillable mug to get free refills.
Melsmice I can't believe you were below us. What a small world Like I said before this was our second trip to the BW and our second stay in the same room. I love that location. Not to far from the elevators and a great view!!! We did have a 5 year old with us and the Friday before we left we got home from the Halloween party at like 12:30 so sorry if she was a little awake!!!
beattyfamily the bus were running fine in the morning. They have an employee checking you in in the morning and makes sure a bus comes right away to pick you up. I did find more times than not esp on early entry days the bus was empty as I think they run a separate bus for BW on early entry days. It is the come back that is always the problem. Two years in a row.
Crsndsny The stops are Swan/Dolphin, Y&B then BW. I did get off at the Swan several times and walk to the BW but for the price we are paying we shouldn't have to do that. There were very few if any people ever getting on or off at the Swan. I just think it is terrible to combine so may delux hotels to one stop every day.
Minniegi We left the halloween party after the second parade and last show at the Center stage, so I would say about 11:30-11:45 is when we left. To go we went down to the bus stop about 6:30 and there had to be about 40 people at our bus stop alone going to the party. They had 2 full busses come picking up about 5 people each before the second bus driver called in and they had a special bus for the rest of us. Again being combined with the other hotels and being the last stop it was a nightmare. We were still at the park about 7:15 which considering wasn't too bad!!!
All in all it was a great trip and I would hope they would do something about the bus situation. Esp leaving the Animinal Kingdom we had to go to Blizzard Beach then D&S and Y&B then BW so that trip took about 1 hr to get home. Hope they improve this sometime!!!
Any more questions please ask

 

[tinkgrl]

Originally posted by Disney Doll
What new fireworks show at the MK?????

Disney Doll,

There is a new show @ MK starting sometime this month. It's a 3D show!!! Looks really neat! You can read about it @ the bottum of the main disboards page. I can't wait to go in May.

Allison an associate

 

[RweTHEREyet]

Please tell me more about the Halloween Party. I have never been adn we have tickets for the night of Oct 19. Will be 3 adults attending, will we have fun and what are the "must-do's"

Glad you had some magic on your trip to offset the little glitches.

 

[MinnieGi]

Thanks Shell for the MNSSHP bus update. I think we'll take our car over to the party, it sounds like we will probably get in and out quicker that way!

Thanks!
Gi