Just back from the Boardwalk Villas - a few observations

[lissawynn]

We stayed at the BWV from June 5-12 in a one-bedroom villa. Our villa was #1093. Our villa was facing the quiet pool. It was very clean, and the access to the pool (one hop over a very short hedge) was wonderful. The resort is beautiful, and it was our first time staying at an Epcot resort. We loved walking to DHS and Epcot. It was also great to be able to explore the neighboring resorts. The hotel is beautiful; we loved the lobby and appreciate the decor, as we've travelled to the south Jesery shore every year of my life. The quiet pool was wonderful, and we swam each day.
Some disappointing things - I do not believe deluxe resorts should share buses. It was 20-30 minutes between the arrival of MK buses. Also, we stopped at the Swan and Dolphin to pick up guests before arriving at the MK. We were told there are only two elevators for the entire resort. This wasn't too much of a problem since we often walked to the Boardwalk and accessed our room from there. There was a leaking ceiling in one of the hallways leading to our room for at least six of the days we stayed there. A hole was cut in the ceiling, and a plastic wastecan was placed underneath the leak to catch the dripping water. The carpet underneath was totally saturated with water daily. We couldn't believe a deluxe resort would have this left go for so long. Another issue was valet parking. My sister and I had the valet bring our car around on our first night to retrieve some water for the parks. After we got the water, we headed back to the room. We sort of waited to see if the car would be returned to the lot. It wasn't. It sat, running, for almost 10 minutes. I finally went to the valet stand and asked when the car would be returned to the lot. My sister was not happy. The car was eventually returned, but from that night on, she was hesitant to use the valet service. The folks in Disney management really need to consider the benefits of having a quick service restaurant at the Boardwalk. If you went to the bakery first thing in the morning, you could get your mug filled (in our case paper soda cups - they rarely filled our mugs). However, if you waited until later in the morning, the line snaked out the door and down the boardwalk. The breakfast offerning there were minimal at best. They need more options.
All in all, we had a great time at BWV and would probably stay there in the future.

 

[DebbieB]

There's some kind of health law regarding the refillable mugs. They are not allowed to take them behind the counter, that's why they put it in a paper cup for you to put in the mug. If they had a self serve like the food courts, too many people would take advantage. I agree that Boardwalk needs more quick service.

 

[OThopeful35]

Glad you enjoyed your trip despite some of the minor bumps. We will be staying at the BC and I am definitely not prepared to share busses with the other resorts

 

[fla4fun]

You will have a 20-30 minute wait at any resort for a bus, whether they are shared or not. That is how they are scheduled. The main issue with shared buses is whether they get over crowded or not. I have not had that issue staying at any of the Epcot resorts, but I tend to travel at less busy times, and I'm not usually on the bus for rope drop or closing. So I wouldn't base a stay at any Disney resort on just the bus system.

I do agree that they need a QS option for BW/BWV. I'm sure they consider the kiosks to be their version of a QS restaurant, but as the OP found out, they are not available for any kind of breakfast food. None of the Epcot resorts have a really great QS breakfast option, so I usually try to have something in the room I can eat for breakfast so I don't have to worry about it, or I just wait until I reach the park for the day.

I agree that highly visible maintenance issues, such as a water leak in a main hallway, should be fixed as soon as possible. Unless they were waiting for a part or something (not knowing if it was general plumbing or a sprinkler system that was leaking), they should have had it repaired within a day or two. However, I've seen the same thing at other resorts as well. Does Disney no longer have people on staff who can do those kinds of repairs? Are they outsourcing plumbing now?

I don't do valet parking, so I can't really comment too much on that issue, other than to say that when I have bell services unload the car, I have them unload everything. I wouldn't have left water in the car to have to get later. I prefer to just get everything into the room at once. Did they know you just wanted something out of the car, or did you just ask them to get the car for you? They may have assumed you wanted to drive it somewhere, so that's why it was left running. They may have been as confused as you were.

I really like the Epcot resorts area (pretty much all the resorts equally), even with the shared buses and lack of QS breakfast.

 

[pigletto]

Thank you for the review. We're staying at BWV in August and appreciate hearing others opinions.
The bus options don't bother me too much...we've stayed other places that shared so I guess we're used to it.
I agree that a leaking ceiling and wet carpet shouldn't sit like that for almost a week

And it's helpful to know about the mugs. I'll be bringing my own coffee to make in the room. Lining up for yucky Disney coffee at 7 in the morning would not make me a very fun person

Glad you enjoyed your trip

 

[OKW Lover]

Two elevators? I recall three just off the lobby. Or do you mean there are two elevator locations? In which case I don't recall where the other one is at the Villas.

 

[bicker]

The resort is beautiful, and it was our first time staying at an Epcot resort.

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

I do not believe deluxe resorts should share buses.

I think the reason why it is that way is because so many fewer (by comparison) deluxe resort guests use the buses. It is wasteful to have buses operating consistently with such low load-levels. Deluxe shouldn't mean wasteful. By having the deluxe resorts share buses, it justifies having more frequent service.

And now, I feel that way doubly-so, since I'm almost directly paying the costs of supporting that bus service.

It was 20-30 minutes between the arrival of MK buses.

Imagine it being on a schedule, 90 minutes apart, midday.

They need more options.

Only if folks are going to use them, and make it financially worthwhile offering them. Much (though not all) of what you were referring to were things where guests were trying to save money - that's not necessarily consistent with a deluxe resort business model. I remember staying at a deluxe resort in Northern NE years ago, and in the evening I was puzzled by the lack of ice machines. I went to the front desk and asked about this, and they very politely informed me that we could order ice through room service.

For a fee.

That's deluxe.

 

[Bishope2]

My wife and I stayed in a one bedroom villa back in March. I had received an offer of 40% off so I took advantage of it. The room was nice. Funny thing, my wife thought it was a waste of space for 2 people. My only issue was the adult pool. It had young kids in it playing, running around, etc. I have no problem with kids but when we wanted quiet, we wanted quiet. The thing was that their parents were there. For the most part, sitting under the sign that said adults only. haha My wife and I had to go over to the Garden pool. We preferred that anyhow.

Anyhow, FYI, the Valets are not Disney employees. It is a private company that does it. They do have to take the Disney classes once they are hired by the private company. I know this because I was double charged for valet parking one of my days and the front desk could not take care of it. The CSA stated it was a different program or computer system. When I asked why, she then explained that Disney hired a private company to do the parking.

 

[OKW Lover]

Anyhow, FYI, the Valets are not Disney employees. It is a private company that does it. They do have to take the Disney classes once they are hired by the private company. I know this because I was double charged for valet parking one of my days and the front desk could not take care of it. The CSA stated it was a different program or computer system. When I asked why, she then explained that Disney hired a private company to do the parking.

The front desk CM you dealt with was incorrect about not being able to take care of it. We've been inappropriately charged in the past at BW (and other resorts) and the front desk has always been able to reverse the charge. I hope you got your money back.

 

[bicker]

It would be ridiculous if the front desk would be unable to correct the charge. They know very well that you can readily put the whole charge into dispute when you get home, if they don't resolve that one small portion.

 

[bitohoney]

Thanks for the review! I can't wait to see this beautifull resort. I've never even taken a peek at it in person! 1st time at an Epcot resort!
Sure glad I'm on the DxDP, not going to have a car and don't mind walking!

 

[Deb & Bill]

...Our villa was facing the quiet pool. It was very clean, and the access to the pool (one hop over a very short hedge) was wonderful. ....

You really aren't supposed to climb through the shrubbery to get to the pool. It tends to damage the landscaping. Plus you can't lock your patio door from the outside. Please use the main door in the future.

 

[n2mm]

My wife and I stayed in a one bedroom villa back in March. I had received an offer of 40% off so I took advantage of it. The room was nice. Funny thing, my wife thought it was a waste of space for 2 people. My only issue was the adult pool. It had young kids in it playing, running around, etc. I have no problem with kids but when we wanted quiet, we wanted quiet. The thing was that their parents were there. For the most part, sitting under the sign that said adults only. haha My wife and I had to go over to the Garden pool. We preferred that anyhow.

Are you talking about BWV? You can't possibly be talking about BWV. There is no adult pool

We own at BWV and have stayed there about 25 times now and I've never seen an adult pool, so please tell me where that is. The only BWV pool I know of is the one next to the community center. I can't believe there's an adult pool and I missed.

There is the main pool (clown pool). There's a pool for the BW side and there is a BWV pool....could this be the pool you're talking about? This is not an adult pool. However, most of us owners like to relax at this pool, because most kids would rather be at the slide/clown pool. But by no means is it an adult pool. My granddaughters get in this pool alot and while we try to remind them that people are relaxing and they should be using their quiet voices, I know that there is always the possibility kids would be there too and when you mix kids and water, you'll get laugher and screams.

 

[bicker]

I suspect that the pp is referring to the BWI pool.

 

[ParrotBill]

It is a misunderstanding that the second pool is an adult pool. It was supposed to be a "quiet" pool, but that is not observed or enforced. It's less noisy than the main pool most of the time though.

BWV is our home resort for DVC also. Agree with the OP about the valet situation; sloppy and annoying it is. Also agree that a better quick service solution is desperately needed... for dinner, too, as the table service restaurants also book up with no room for walk ins. (Walk over to the Swan and Dolphin, which have far better restaurant capacity and choices!)

I am more forgiving about the elevators and water damage. The elevators seem to keep up with usage and the water damage may have been very recent and you have to wait out some of those things to drain and dry.

The buses are actually far better than they once were. Before the Beach Club was expanded, some buses served all 5 EPCOT resorts... it was awful. many buses would arrive (last) at BW full.. or the driver would just skip it and the wait was sometimes an hour! They finally set it up so that during most times no more than 3 are served by a bus route (still 5 on some off peak times).

 

[Deb & Bill]

It is a misunderstanding that the second pool is an adult pool. It was supposed to be a "quiet" pool, but that is not observed or enforced. It's less noisy than the main pool most of the time though.....

Quiet pool has nothing to do with sound levels at the pool. It is "quiet" because it is unthemed.

 

[bicker]

Are there posted rules about noise at any pools (beyond "after 10pm" kind of rules)? I always thought the term "quiet pool" was a description: Those pools are described as quiet because they don't have slides or diving boards or a kiosk selling food and drink and blaring music, while the feature pools aren't "quiet" because they has some or all of those additional features.

 

[Jonell]

We BWV, but I do agree about the buses. I took us almost 1 hr to get back to the resort from DTD one afternoon. The bus stopped at all 5 resorts and BWV was the LAST stop! Trying to get to the waterparks is almost as bad. I don't understand why they all have to share buses being deluxe resorts. Although walking to Epcot or a 3 min boat ride is great

 

[Deb & Bill]

We BWV, but I do agree about the buses. I took us almost 1 hr to get back to the resort from DTD one afternoon. The bus stopped at all 5 resorts and BWV was the LAST stop! Trying to get to the waterparks is almost as bad. I don't understand why they all have to share buses being deluxe resorts. Although walking to Epcot or a 3 min boat ride is great

Next time get off at the Swan and walk across the foot bridge to BWV. You'll beat the bus back to BWV and have about the same distance to walk from the BW bus stop to your villa.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Thanks to the OP for posting their review.

Also not sure if they knew this but just before the elevators that go to the rooms on the Boardwalk Inn side, there is a location called the Belle Vue Lounge that sells a continental breakfast from 6:30 AM - 11:00 AM. So you have another option then the Boardwalk Bakery when having breakfast.
http://allears.net/menu/menu_bvl.htm