We just returned from an eight day trip, staying at our home, BWV, in a BoardWalk view 1 BR for seven of the eight days. We switched to a 1BR standard view for the last night. (Long story. It has to do with purchasing a new add on a few months ago with 2007 points on it. Had to use those points, you know!)
We were very pleased with the crowd levels -- for us, not for Disney, unfortunately, I think. We always do morning early entry, and we walked on to every ride in all four parks virtually every day (including on Christmas morning in MK). We had ridden everything we wanted to -- Space Mountain, a few other rides in Tomorrowland, Pooh and Sleeping Beauty in Fantasyland, BTM and Splash Mountain, Pirates, the Jungle Cruise, and a few others by 10:30. I don't understand why people don't use early entry more, but I'm glad they don't!
We enjoyed the Candlelight Processional on Christmas Eve. It was an inspirational way to spend the evening.
As always, we loved our BoardWalk view, and we were in 2017, which has a huge balcony. We spent lots and lots of time out there... even had a little party out there one evening. (We were finished before 10:00 p.m., so we wouldn't disturb anyone, though.) At first I thought I wouldn't like it because it had a solid railing, but we ended up loving it because it was just so roomy up there. (We had about seven people out there comfortably at one point.)
Now for the bad: DS (age 13) got the stomach bug that has been going around. Boooooooo. So, we spent a lot of time in our villa. We got to know it really well. It took about three days for DS to recover enough to go out.
What we learned about our room while we were in it for so long: It really needs to be refurbished. The draperies don't cover the windows all the way. One poster referred to the stoves. They really are kind of sad. But most of all, things just looked a little shabby and worn. Don't get me wrong. We loved it and enjoyed ourselves and wouldn't have stayed anywhere else than at the BWV. It's home. But it is time for them to do some major refurbishing. There was another major leak down the hallway from our room that soaked the hall. (I'm thinking it was like the one that happened a few years ago.) They need to get in there and fix those pipes. The paint on the walls was bubbling up while the water was dripping down it. (This was on the 2nd floor about three rooms down from 2017.) That's the kind of thing that seems to be happening too often.
On a positive note: A spectacular young man named Andy at the front desk at BWV helped us stay in our villa one extra day. (We were supposed to have only six nights in our BW view room. We ended up having seven nights thanks to Andy.) He tried to get us that last night but was unable. We didn't see a single CM with a frown, even the ones who were working on Christmas day.
Also, thanks to those of you on the disAbilities boards for recommending Randy's Mobility. When DS finally got well, he was very weak. We ended up renting a wheelchair from Randy's (on recommendations received there). I have rarely gotten such prompt and spectacular service.
All in all it was a great trip. We did some different things. We spent a lot of time sitting on our balcony. We even spent a good deal of time sitting on the rocking chairs on the balcony off of the lobby. It was relaxing in a way that our trips aren't always. It was good to be there, but it's good to be back.
Have a Happy New Year!
Julie
We were very pleased with the crowd levels -- for us, not for Disney, unfortunately, I think. We always do morning early entry, and we walked on to every ride in all four parks virtually every day (including on Christmas morning in MK). We had ridden everything we wanted to -- Space Mountain, a few other rides in Tomorrowland, Pooh and Sleeping Beauty in Fantasyland, BTM and Splash Mountain, Pirates, the Jungle Cruise, and a few others by 10:30. I don't understand why people don't use early entry more, but I'm glad they don't!
We enjoyed the Candlelight Processional on Christmas Eve. It was an inspirational way to spend the evening.
As always, we loved our BoardWalk view, and we were in 2017, which has a huge balcony. We spent lots and lots of time out there... even had a little party out there one evening. (We were finished before 10:00 p.m., so we wouldn't disturb anyone, though.) At first I thought I wouldn't like it because it had a solid railing, but we ended up loving it because it was just so roomy up there. (We had about seven people out there comfortably at one point.)
Now for the bad: DS (age 13) got the stomach bug that has been going around. Boooooooo. So, we spent a lot of time in our villa. We got to know it really well. It took about three days for DS to recover enough to go out.
What we learned about our room while we were in it for so long: It really needs to be refurbished. The draperies don't cover the windows all the way. One poster referred to the stoves. They really are kind of sad. But most of all, things just looked a little shabby and worn. Don't get me wrong. We loved it and enjoyed ourselves and wouldn't have stayed anywhere else than at the BWV. It's home. But it is time for them to do some major refurbishing. There was another major leak down the hallway from our room that soaked the hall. (I'm thinking it was like the one that happened a few years ago.) They need to get in there and fix those pipes. The paint on the walls was bubbling up while the water was dripping down it. (This was on the 2nd floor about three rooms down from 2017.) That's the kind of thing that seems to be happening too often.
On a positive note: A spectacular young man named Andy at the front desk at BWV helped us stay in our villa one extra day. (We were supposed to have only six nights in our BW view room. We ended up having seven nights thanks to Andy.) He tried to get us that last night but was unable. We didn't see a single CM with a frown, even the ones who were working on Christmas day.
Also, thanks to those of you on the disAbilities boards for recommending Randy's Mobility. When DS finally got well, he was very weak. We ended up renting a wheelchair from Randy's (on recommendations received there). I have rarely gotten such prompt and spectacular service.
All in all it was a great trip. We did some different things. We spent a lot of time sitting on our balcony. We even spent a good deal of time sitting on the rocking chairs on the balcony off of the lobby. It was relaxing in a way that our trips aren't always. It was good to be there, but it's good to be back.
Have a Happy New Year!
Julie
