TheWho
DIS Veteran'
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2000
- Messages
- 439
First of all, it's me, my wife and two daughters, 5+ yrs. old and 18 months yrs. old.
After a co-worker sold me points for a brief Sun-Thur OKW stay in 1998, I've been curious about DVC and have been lurking these wonderful boards since then. We finally brought last October at BW. Our first stay was at BWV last week in a one bedroom, standard view. In a word, the stay was fantastic. My high expectations were more than met. Let me post some thoughts that came to mind when I was there:
LOCATION. Boy did we take advantage of that. Having two kids in strollers can be a pain the a** when dragging onto buses, trams or a rental car. So many nights we walked to EPCOT for a quick bite. (fish & chips in the UK, nachos in Mexico, pretzels and beer in Germany, or crepes in France). The MGM walk seemed slightly longer but was still feasible. When we used the boats, you are able to stroll the strollers right onto them. A nice perk. Also at night, we also walked to the Beach Club area and ate at Beaches n' Cream or hung at the beach or played in the arcade.
POOL at BWV. My older daughter is 5 1/2 yrs. old and was able to use the slide with "swimmies". This is a kid who barely swims and is just starting to go under water. She loved the slide. Because of this, I didn't wander off to SAB to test the "Pool Hop Ban" which seemed in a high state of alert at BW. My daughter was loving our pool all week.
ONE BEDROOM, STANDARD. We were in room 3075, overlooking the valet area. I saved on the points so I'm happy. Although, I think a BW view would be nice to try once. However, I guess it's a bit of a gamble since some preferred views are better than others. The 48 points I saved does feel good today.
VALET PARKING. I'm one of those people that never use valet parking. As a matter of fact, I usually get my own luggage cart and lug all the stuff up to the room. However, I really enjoyed the pampering w/ valet parking. I know there is a hidden fee called the "tip", but I enjoyed it. The guys were real nice and earned all the tips.
STUDIO vs. ONE BEDROOM. I had guests visit one night and I reserved a studio for them (they were real impressed). I might be in the minority, but the studio might be fine for our next trip. I know many people have posted and said it is diffilcult going from a one bedroom to a studio. However, I am seriously considering staying longer (like ten days) in a studio than one week in a one bedroom. Granted, I would miss the jacuzzi and the washer/dryer, but the point saving would be great. The four of us did stay at AKL for one night and did fine with the room. (of course, the studio has more , the refrig, microwave etc.)
FINALLY, THOSE THREE CRANES AT BEACH CLUB WERE ALWAYS LOOKING AT ME. Like a lot of people after their first trip, I regret I didn't buy more points initially. Although, every where I went, the constuction cranes at the BC villas were yelling at me to save money for next year. I don't know what the exact cost will be or the point structure, but the location is perfect and it's associated with a first class resort. A nice combination.
By the way, when I stayed at OKW in '98, I also loved the feel of the place and plan to go back in future visits. We also checked out WLV and were impressed. The wooded area looked like a great place in the summer heat. Another future visit once we get BW out of our system.
Also, did not use the buses. I got scared off with all the recent negative posts. We drove to MK, Downtown Disney.
I have a lot of other thoughts about kids stuff, eating experinces, etc. As usual, ask any questions or comment freely. Later.
Dave
After a co-worker sold me points for a brief Sun-Thur OKW stay in 1998, I've been curious about DVC and have been lurking these wonderful boards since then. We finally brought last October at BW. Our first stay was at BWV last week in a one bedroom, standard view. In a word, the stay was fantastic. My high expectations were more than met. Let me post some thoughts that came to mind when I was there:
LOCATION. Boy did we take advantage of that. Having two kids in strollers can be a pain the a** when dragging onto buses, trams or a rental car. So many nights we walked to EPCOT for a quick bite. (fish & chips in the UK, nachos in Mexico, pretzels and beer in Germany, or crepes in France). The MGM walk seemed slightly longer but was still feasible. When we used the boats, you are able to stroll the strollers right onto them. A nice perk. Also at night, we also walked to the Beach Club area and ate at Beaches n' Cream or hung at the beach or played in the arcade.
POOL at BWV. My older daughter is 5 1/2 yrs. old and was able to use the slide with "swimmies". This is a kid who barely swims and is just starting to go under water. She loved the slide. Because of this, I didn't wander off to SAB to test the "Pool Hop Ban" which seemed in a high state of alert at BW. My daughter was loving our pool all week.
ONE BEDROOM, STANDARD. We were in room 3075, overlooking the valet area. I saved on the points so I'm happy. Although, I think a BW view would be nice to try once. However, I guess it's a bit of a gamble since some preferred views are better than others. The 48 points I saved does feel good today.
VALET PARKING. I'm one of those people that never use valet parking. As a matter of fact, I usually get my own luggage cart and lug all the stuff up to the room. However, I really enjoyed the pampering w/ valet parking. I know there is a hidden fee called the "tip", but I enjoyed it. The guys were real nice and earned all the tips.
STUDIO vs. ONE BEDROOM. I had guests visit one night and I reserved a studio for them (they were real impressed). I might be in the minority, but the studio might be fine for our next trip. I know many people have posted and said it is diffilcult going from a one bedroom to a studio. However, I am seriously considering staying longer (like ten days) in a studio than one week in a one bedroom. Granted, I would miss the jacuzzi and the washer/dryer, but the point saving would be great. The four of us did stay at AKL for one night and did fine with the room. (of course, the studio has more , the refrig, microwave etc.)
FINALLY, THOSE THREE CRANES AT BEACH CLUB WERE ALWAYS LOOKING AT ME. Like a lot of people after their first trip, I regret I didn't buy more points initially. Although, every where I went, the constuction cranes at the BC villas were yelling at me to save money for next year. I don't know what the exact cost will be or the point structure, but the location is perfect and it's associated with a first class resort. A nice combination.
By the way, when I stayed at OKW in '98, I also loved the feel of the place and plan to go back in future visits. We also checked out WLV and were impressed. The wooded area looked like a great place in the summer heat. Another future visit once we get BW out of our system.
Also, did not use the buses. I got scared off with all the recent negative posts. We drove to MK, Downtown Disney.
I have a lot of other thoughts about kids stuff, eating experinces, etc. As usual, ask any questions or comment freely. Later.
Dave
Is Van Saun Park IN Paramus? Brought my kids there last year to see where I went when I was growing up. 
