DH and I just got back yesterday from a very quick trip to WDW for my bday this past weekend (2/9 - 2/11) and just wanted to share our experience. This was our first stay at a DVC resort (we just bought in December) so we were really excited to check things out. We had a BW view, and were put in room 2045 (a studio), which was just a quick 15 second jaunt off the lobby! I was so excited about this, after hearing how long the walks can be. In fact, I remember I had stayed with my family at the BWI a month after it had first opened and we had gotten lost for 15 minutes trying to find our room that time, so this was a great location.
We definitely noticed the wear and tear on this resort - it's such a shame! The hallway carpet is so dirty that instead of yellow, it's now a nasty gray shade. Our room was clean, but there were tons of nicks and scratches in the cabinets and furniture. Everything was just dingy - which is so sad, because it's such a pretty resort. But like I said, our room WAS clean, and it wasn't an issue at all, just something we noticed when we first walked in.
Also, has anyone else noticed how SLOW the buses here are? It was excruciating! When you get picked up, you have to then stop at the Yacht, the Beach, the Swan, and finally the Dolphin before you can be on your way - and then when you return from the parks, the BW is the last stop, so you have to hit all the other hotels first. We had stayed at POR the last three times we went down, and even that resort (with it's zillions of bus stops) was much faster than the BW. Oh, we saw the Breathless being zoomed around the lake, which was neat. I guess it's back in service! DH discovered Community Hall, and loved it. We went in to rent a movie, and he wound up playing video games and ping pong with the CM there who had nothing to do and said she was bored because no one was coming in. When we got back to our room we realized we didn't have a DVD player, so we called the front desk and one was brought in immediately.
Let me tell you, it was PACKED down there this weekend. I was shocked by the mass of people we encountered in every park. The wait times seemed to reflect that, however, they were never accurate. For example, Everest had a wait time of 50 minutes when we got there in the afternoon, but we waited more like 25. Same thing with Space Mountain - first thing in the morning it already had a 10 minute wait, but was more of a 3 minute walk and then you hopped right on. Nemo had a 10 min wait posted, but we think that's just how long it takes you to walk to the ride! And TT posted 20 minutes, but was more like five. So... not sure what all those people were doing, but they were't on the rides!
And just a few more observations - when driving around the DTD area we noticed the road signs still all say MGM, instead of Hollywood Studios. The miniature train in Germany wasn't operating, and all of the houses were gone. In fact, parts of the track had been ripped up, too. The sign said it was coming back, but didn't indicate when. And has anyone else noticed the refurb walls in Adventureland/Frontierland behind the fry stand? They were there in September when we went, and I didn't think anything of it, but they were still there this past weekend, and there's no notice on it at all. I wonder what's going on behind there...
I'm most likely going to do a dining review over on the Restaurant review board, but I probably won't do a whole trip report, so if you have any questions I'll try my best to answer them!
We definitely noticed the wear and tear on this resort - it's such a shame! The hallway carpet is so dirty that instead of yellow, it's now a nasty gray shade. Our room was clean, but there were tons of nicks and scratches in the cabinets and furniture. Everything was just dingy - which is so sad, because it's such a pretty resort. But like I said, our room WAS clean, and it wasn't an issue at all, just something we noticed when we first walked in.
Also, has anyone else noticed how SLOW the buses here are? It was excruciating! When you get picked up, you have to then stop at the Yacht, the Beach, the Swan, and finally the Dolphin before you can be on your way - and then when you return from the parks, the BW is the last stop, so you have to hit all the other hotels first. We had stayed at POR the last three times we went down, and even that resort (with it's zillions of bus stops) was much faster than the BW. Oh, we saw the Breathless being zoomed around the lake, which was neat. I guess it's back in service! DH discovered Community Hall, and loved it. We went in to rent a movie, and he wound up playing video games and ping pong with the CM there who had nothing to do and said she was bored because no one was coming in. When we got back to our room we realized we didn't have a DVD player, so we called the front desk and one was brought in immediately.
Let me tell you, it was PACKED down there this weekend. I was shocked by the mass of people we encountered in every park. The wait times seemed to reflect that, however, they were never accurate. For example, Everest had a wait time of 50 minutes when we got there in the afternoon, but we waited more like 25. Same thing with Space Mountain - first thing in the morning it already had a 10 minute wait, but was more of a 3 minute walk and then you hopped right on. Nemo had a 10 min wait posted, but we think that's just how long it takes you to walk to the ride! And TT posted 20 minutes, but was more like five. So... not sure what all those people were doing, but they were't on the rides!
And just a few more observations - when driving around the DTD area we noticed the road signs still all say MGM, instead of Hollywood Studios. The miniature train in Germany wasn't operating, and all of the houses were gone. In fact, parts of the track had been ripped up, too. The sign said it was coming back, but didn't indicate when. And has anyone else noticed the refurb walls in Adventureland/Frontierland behind the fry stand? They were there in September when we went, and I didn't think anything of it, but they were still there this past weekend, and there's no notice on it at all. I wonder what's going on behind there...
I'm most likely going to do a dining review over on the Restaurant review board, but I probably won't do a whole trip report, so if you have any questions I'll try my best to answer them!
