DisLaw
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2008
- Messages
- 274
Had a great time this past week. Weather was beautiful! Never ever thought I'd complain of being cold at Disney but boy was it chilly at night! Days were warm and sunny with NO HUMIDITY!!! So wonderful! Really the best weather ever for this kind of trip. Swimming was a little chilly if you didn't go right at midday but otherwise totally ideal weather 
Had a standard room booked at BC and great surprise was upgraded to ?garden or? Lagoon view. Not sure but we could see crescent lake and the fireworks from HS. We were behind the volleyball net area. So nice! Great view and we had like a little porch almost. No daybed though and room seemed a little smaller than other rooms is stayed in there. But very clean and bright. We were close to the elevators to the lobby. Just a perfect spot. Loved it!
Second half at GF garden view. I was so worried about the standard room at BC like that I would get a horrible view and it turned out perfect!(had a standard view once at WL which overlooked the loading area for trucks and at 5:30 am each day we heard "beep,beep,beep....." As trucks backed in) So I was less concerned about GF view since it was garden view. I had only requested "high floor" and figured I leave the rest to chance.
So we were put in Sago Cay which would not have been my first choice but it was fine. Close to the main building which was good. The room was lovely! No connecting doors and so spacious! But we looked out at the convention center which I was not thrilled about. Then the next morning early I hear "beep...beep....beep" oh no! More trucks backing up! Not what I was hoping for at my dream resort! So I went down to the front desk and asked to be moved. No problem they had a room in the same building or I could pick another. I decided to stay with sago because I was tired of moving and figured it would be easier. This room faced the marina and was further away from the service area. We looked straight at a tree but it was fine I preferred that than looking out at the grass and the monorail. This way we could see more of the grounds too. Felt more like what I thought being at the GF I guess.
At first we thought maybe we preferred the "vibe" at the BC but I think it was because it was more familiar to us. After the first day we were loving the "grand" life! Best part for us was how close it was to MK. Can't beat a 10 minute ride to the front of MK! Our favorite transport was the boat from MK and monorail to MK.
Resort is stunning and so beautiful to walk around in. And not too big. I was told it wouldn't seem like too much walking and that is right. But the weather was so nice I didn't mind any of the walking anywhere. We were at POR last July and absolutely melting from our walk to and from the bus. Never mind going to the food court! We never went because the hot walk seemed just torture. I could see the walking being more manageable here even in the extreme heat.
So some takeaways and impressions/thoughts:
BC-
Loved walking to Epcot
Pool is awesome (but so cold at night this week!)
Rooms very fresh and bright! Smelled like new carpet and paint but in a good way not a smelly way haha
No quick service meal place really which I missed
Nice feeling to the resort-classy but not stuffy
We had a great room location
No bathroom fan
GF-
Didn't think there was a bad room location there but my service area view room proved me wrong!
Best transportation to MK
Wonderful quick service place
Staff super friendly
Got a late checkout!
Felt very special but not $700/night special! Kids said it was like a nice Hampton inn haha! (I had a discount so not paying $700 but that was close to the rack rate)
Kids thought the people staying there looked "classy" Don't know what that means about how we looked
There was a bathroom fan(a pet peeve of mine! Gets so humid if there is no fan plus I enjoy some white noise)
Not really turndown service, but left us chocolates and propped up the pillows up at night.
No little green chair in second room.
Overall I'd go back to both in a heartbeat! Once we settled into GF I think we liked it better than BC. But it would have to be at a very significant discount for us to do it again. Location there was key but the boardwalk area is a great area too. It's close call between the 2 resorts and will probably come down to price when it's time to go again. You can't go wrong with either!!
Had a standard room booked at BC and great surprise was upgraded to ?garden or? Lagoon view. Not sure but we could see crescent lake and the fireworks from HS. We were behind the volleyball net area. So nice! Great view and we had like a little porch almost. No daybed though and room seemed a little smaller than other rooms is stayed in there. But very clean and bright. We were close to the elevators to the lobby. Just a perfect spot. Loved it!
Second half at GF garden view. I was so worried about the standard room at BC like that I would get a horrible view and it turned out perfect!(had a standard view once at WL which overlooked the loading area for trucks and at 5:30 am each day we heard "beep,beep,beep....." As trucks backed in) So I was less concerned about GF view since it was garden view. I had only requested "high floor" and figured I leave the rest to chance.
So we were put in Sago Cay which would not have been my first choice but it was fine. Close to the main building which was good. The room was lovely! No connecting doors and so spacious! But we looked out at the convention center which I was not thrilled about. Then the next morning early I hear "beep...beep....beep" oh no! More trucks backing up! Not what I was hoping for at my dream resort! So I went down to the front desk and asked to be moved. No problem they had a room in the same building or I could pick another. I decided to stay with sago because I was tired of moving and figured it would be easier. This room faced the marina and was further away from the service area. We looked straight at a tree but it was fine
I preferred that than looking out at the grass and the monorail. This way we could see more of the grounds too. Felt more like what I thought being at the GF I guess.At first we thought maybe we preferred the "vibe" at the BC but I think it was because it was more familiar to us. After the first day we were loving the "grand" life! Best part for us was how close it was to MK. Can't beat a 10 minute ride to the front of MK! Our favorite transport was the boat from MK and monorail to MK.
Resort is stunning and so beautiful to walk around in. And not too big. I was told it wouldn't seem like too much walking and that is right. But the weather was so nice I didn't mind any of the walking anywhere. We were at POR last July and absolutely melting from our walk to and from the bus. Never mind going to the food court! We never went because the hot walk seemed just torture. I could see the walking being more manageable here even in the extreme heat.
So some takeaways and impressions/thoughts:
BC-
Loved walking to Epcot
Pool is awesome (but so cold at night this week!)
Rooms very fresh and bright! Smelled like new carpet and paint but in a good way not a smelly way haha
No quick service meal place really which I missed
Nice feeling to the resort-classy but not stuffy
We had a great room location
No bathroom fan
GF-
Didn't think there was a bad room location there but my service area view room proved me wrong!
Best transportation to MK
Wonderful quick service place
Staff super friendly
Got a late checkout!
Felt very special but not $700/night special! Kids said it was like a nice Hampton inn haha! (I had a discount so not paying $700 but that was close to the rack rate)
Kids thought the people staying there looked "classy" Don't know what that means about how we looked
There was a bathroom fan(a pet peeve of mine! Gets so humid if there is no fan plus I enjoy some white noise)
Not really turndown service, but left us chocolates and propped up the pillows up at night.
No little green chair in second room.
Overall I'd go back to both in a heartbeat! Once we settled into GF I think we liked it better than BC. But it would have to be at a very significant discount for us to do it again. Location there was key but the boardwalk area is a great area too. It's close call between the 2 resorts and will probably come down to price when it's time to go again. You can't go wrong with either!!
when we were in our room packing!! We usually aren't in the room at that time! It is indeed a GV!
