Just back from my first stay at BCV - Quick comments

[beattyfamily]

Well, I've now stayed at the DVC resorts 3 times; BWV 2 bedroom, then 1 bedroom (both standard views), and now the BCV 1 bedroom.

So far I've gotten my request all 3 times; close to the elevators. I'm very happy about that.

Both BWV trips, the rooms were ready upon check in (about 12:00p) but the BCV was not ready until 4:00p.

Sorry to say we were not impressed with BCV (in comparision to BWV). I like the decor and the layout of BWV better (the bedding/curtains and the closet for example). The dining table at the BCV was beat up too.

There was a light bulb blown out in the bathroom and the door to the master bedroom would not close all the way, it got stuck. Also, you could not lock both doors when taking a shower, only one door locked. Is that the norm?

I also wasn't really impressed with the main pool. I know everyone thinks it's great and amazing but it was actually just too big. I'd found a place to put our stuff and then when I finally found a shallow end for my girls, it was a big deal to go find our stuff. I also didn't like the sand everywhere I went; I thought it was only in the kiddie area but it was definitely in more areas. I ended up just going to the BCV quiet pool. We enjoyed that one very much.

I also didn't like that I had to leave the main building to get to it. Is WLV like that too? I actually couldn't find our room because we went in the main building elevators at first! I didn't realize it was a completely separate building.

All in all we had a great trip but we'll probably stick with BWV in the future although I do want to convince my DH to try WLV once, but after our BCV experience, I doubt I can get him to try it for awhile!

I hope I didn't offend any BCV owners. Just being honest with our experience and opinion.

 

[kda]

VWL (which is the smallest of the DVC properties) has a quiet pool beside the villas and it's barely a 2 minute walk to get to the WL main pool.

 

[Doctor P]

I, too, will be honest. We have stayed at BCV, BWV, and OKW among the on-site DVC resorts. I can't tell you how disappointed I was with BWV and how, somewhat to my surprise, happy I was with BcV. I found BWV to be very sterile, the decor to be garish and, in places, gaudy. I found the pools to be nice, but nothing spectacular. The lack of in hotel food service was quite inconvenient, and the hotel shops were the worst of ANY of the hotels I have seen at Disney (All Star Movies, Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club, Yacht Club, Old Key West are my main comparisons on this point). That said, I found the staff a little better overall at BWV than BCV, and the maintenance of the rooms were were in to be a tad better at BWV. But I found the room at BWV to be very disappointing, and certainly did not find BCV disappointing on that dimension and found BCV unbeatable for access to Epcot. And Stormalong Bay is simply the best hotel/resort pool I have ever seen (though I must say the feature pool at Polynesian is pretty spectacular too).

 

[beattyfamily]

I am so sorry if I offend any BCV lovers. I am just being honest on my first experience there. I really thought I'd LOVE it. It was alright. I did love the walk to Epcot. That was the biggest plus I'd say.

I was actually really surprised that myself and my girls were not impressed with Stormalong Bay as that was one of the main reasons I chose to stay there.

I only wanted to post a trip report on BCV. Sorry if I hit a nerve. To each their own.

 

[queenof4hearts]

Thanks for posting your honest opinions. Glad to hear you still had a good trip.

I too thought that SB was difficult, at first. W/ 3 boys at different ages I was overwhelmed. But once we all got used to it and we had a "home Base" we absolutely loved it.

We love BWV too.

 

[Doctor P]

No one hit a nerve. Just expressing my honest opinion, too. Frankly, I'm glad that people prefer BWV or other resorts over BCV. It will make it easier for us who like BCV to get rooms!

 

[MAC3]

Hi,

No hurt feelings here. I actually understand what your talking about (as far as SAB is concerned) we didn't care for it either. So don't feel bad. To each their own. Everyone has an opinion and I like hearing all of them.

As far as the decor & room layout, I found it similar to BWV. And if I'm not mistaken you have to go outside @ BW to get to the villas too don't you?

Or am I confused? I've only stayed there twice.

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by MAC3
Hi,

No hurt feelings here. I actually understand what your talking about (as far as SAB is concerned) we didn't care for it either. So don't feel bad. To each their own. Everyone has an opinion and I like hearing all of them.

As far as the decor & room layout, I found it similar to BWV. And if I'm not mistaken you have to go outside @ BW to get to the villas too don't you?

Or am I confused? I've only stayed there twice.

Thanks.

Yes, the decor and layout was similar but I believe the BWV closet was bigger. It also seemed that the area between the dining table and the kitchen had less space than at BWV.

For both of my stays at BWV, I just walked from the check-in desk to the elevators to get to my room...no going outside. You do have to go outside, though, to get to the stores.

Oh and one more thing I did like about BCV was that the toilet was in a room by itself...at BWV, it's in the same room as the shower.

 

[Doctor P]

At BWV, you do not need to go outside to get to the villas, however at both BCV and VWL you must at least go through a covered outside walkway to get to the villas. In fact, BWV is the only DVC resort, I believe, that you do not have to go outside to get to your room (though I can't speak for Vero Beach). Even at HH, the rooms inside the Lodge are entered from covered outside walkways and all others require a walk outside.

 

[MAC3]

Gee I must be taking the long way! I always remember going outside by the gym to go inside. Humm, I'll have to check this out next time.

 

[laceemouse]

We love SAB, but my oldest 3 kids are older than yours and are water park veterans. We can give them a little freedom, and I really just concentrate on DD7. Maybe your kids will like it more when they are older. As far as decor, well that is just personal preference and it is a good thing DVC has so much to choose from. We own at BCV and had a great trip there, as well as a great one at OKW. We just bought VWL points and plan to try there next. I would like to try all of the DVC resorts in time. Have a great day! Lacee

 

[SleepyatDVC]

Thanks for your opinions and comments.

It's a good thing that everyone has their preferences. Otherwise all 80,000 DVC members will always be trying to get into the same resort each time!!!

That being said, I understand and agree with SOME of your observations.

I actually prefer BWV slighty over BCV.

Unlike you, I do like the decor at BCV, maybe because I always loved the beachy theme at BC which was my favorite WDW resort before we joined DVC.

The best aspects of BCV (for me) was the short walk to Epcot, the separate toilet, the door to the lock off is in the hallway, and the BCV quiet pool.

While I have always loved SAB and I DO like the sandy bottom, I really hate the 2 mile walk through the hotel lobby and complex from the villas to the shallow end of the pool. The walk isn't too bad if you intend to spend all day or at least a few hours at the pool. But we usually like to just take the kids for a quick swim in the late afternoon before dinner - anywhere from 20 minutes to 90 minutes. The long walk round trip takes up at least 15 minutes of the alloted time and not worth it to even go swimming. So, we wound up just going to the quiet pool most times.

I agree with you about the smaller closets. I think the closet by the door is missing because of the connecting door unless you have a dedicated 2 bedroom, In that case, there's a huge closet in the studio portion where the 2nd entrance usually is. I noticed that the closet in the master bedroom by the sink is totally useless. I think the iron board and laundry basket are stored there as well as the safe. I don't think you can put anyting else in the closet because the door gets in the way when you try to close it unless you leave the closet door open and put luggage in front of it.

What "pushes" me over to a preference for BWV is the Community Hall, the friendlier (in my experience) CM's, the easier proximately to the pool towing little kids (even with the 5 mile long hallways), and the availability of std view and bdwk views when you have the 4 month booking advantage.

As long as there is availability at the "INN" anywhere at WDW and I have the points, then I am a happy camper!!!

 

[ErinC]

I'll chime in on the SAB issue. My DD8 just made it to the 48" mark on our last trip. The sandy bottom left her unsure about walking around in the pool. She was always afraid that her next step was going to be off into somewhere over her head. She is not a good swimmer, so she didn't care for SAB. The only area that we found that was not sand bottom, is the childrens slide area. DH and I ended up hanging around this area with the girls, and watching them go down the kiddie slide over and over. It is a tough pool with multiple kids. We will probably enjoy it more when they are older.

 

[beattyfamily]

Well, I'm glad it's not just me regarding SAB. I think I was just overwhelmed and my kids are only 5 and 8 and not swimmers. I also didn't have a lot of time to swim. Just the time right before dinner.

I forgot about that missing closet by the door! That was another thing I missed.

I did LOVE the walk to Epcot though. That was a BIG plus and we did have a pretty view. We could see the fireworks and the Eiffel tower.

Nope, at BWV, you do not go outside to get to your room. You just hop on the elevators...when getting off the elevators at the bottom level (not the lobby level), you go toward the left and exit out the doors to head to the pool, gym, and the Boardwalk itself.

 

[twotoohappy]

Hi Beatty Family Thanks for the honest post. We just returned from a VWL/BCV trip last Saturday. Both VWL and BCV are my "homes" but BCV wasn't as jaw dropping to me as WL. Maybe because I'm on Cape Cod so the Cape theme at BCV is an all too familiar theme? Definately try VWL it's beautiful. You can't beat taking the boat to MK. ( I posted a problem at BCV about a dirty bathroom floor and was greeted with the same responses. Oh well.)
I'll have to try BWV sometime soon. I've got VWL/BCV trip in April and Dec. and a week in a 2bedroom at BCV in Aug., but afterthat..... I'll probably try BWV. How were the busses there? Our MK bus from BC took 45 min to come

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by twotoohappy
Hi Beatty Family Thanks for the honest post. We just returned from a VWL/BCV trip last Saturday. Both VWL and BCV are my "homes" but BCV wasn't as jaw dropping to me as WL. Maybe because I'm on Cape Cod so the Cape theme at BCV is an all too familiar theme? Definately try VWL it's beautiful. You can't beat taking the boat to MK. ( I posted a problem at BCV about a dirty bathroom floor and was greeted with the same responses. Oh well.)
I'll have to try BWV sometime soon. I've got VWL/BCV trip in April and Dec. and a week in a 2bedroom at BCV in Aug., but afterthat..... I'll probably try BWV. How were the busses there? Our MK bus from BC took 45 min to come

I remember your post about the bathroom floor!

I do really want to try WLV and even OKW but I don't think I can covenice my DH to do OKW any time soon as he doesn't like the location.

Well, I've heard many negative reports on the BWV buses but so far the times I have used them, the wait wasn't long. One example, our trip in August I booked an 8:20a PS at MK and the bus came right around 7:00a. There was even a CM there to make sure we got there in time. The bus was empty.

The bad stuff I've heard is that by the time the bus gets to BWV it's full because it's the last stop. That, thankfully didn't happen to us but we don't really use the buses that much normally because of what I've read. We did use it a bit in August for MK and DTD with no problems.

I forgot to mention that the boat to MGM at BCV on an EE day was a LONG wait with a line all the way back to the end of the dock! You'd think they'd have extras running on an EE morning. Some CM guy on a small boat pulled up asked us "so everyone came at the same time to go to MGM?" and we all said "no, we've been waiting over a 1/2 hour and every boat that comes from BWV is already full". So when the next boat came, he told the captain to take 65 people even though they normally only take 30 per dock. I guess that's so each resort gets 30 people on the boat to make it more fair. Well, after he let the 65 of us on (there were still at least 40 - 50 waiting) and we went to Swan/Dolphin, they only had about 5 people waiting!! What a difference, huh? I'm so glad that guy on the little boat was on top of things.

I think each resort can have it's transportation issues from time to time...it's all timing I think.

 

[Sammie]

Originally posted by beattyfamily
I am so sorry if I offend any BCV lovers. I am just being honest on my first experience there. I really thought I'd LOVE it. It was alright. I did love the walk to Epcot. That was the biggest plus I'd say.

I was actually really surprised that myself and my girls were not impressed with Stormalong Bay as that was one of the main reasons I chose to stay there.

I only wanted to post a trip report on BCV. Sorry if I hit a nerve. To each their own.

If anyone gets offended by your comments they are way too sensitive.

It is your opinion. Which some I agree with.

With smaller children, the pool is sometimes just too much and too spread out. Its beautiful and unique, but it really has no area where kids can play and adults can swim and all enjoy the same area within view of each other.

Yes BCV and WLV are simliar as they were added on after the main resort was built. Both have covered walkways linking them to the main resort but they are not part of the orginial building.

When BW was built both the DVC side and the Inn side were built at the same time.