Just back... Stayed @ BCV and Dolphin!

[wdwphanatic]

We were at WDW last week and stayed one night at the Dolphin and the other 4 at Beach Club Villas. We thoroughly enjoyed both places. We were on the 15th floor (I believe our room number was 093) at the Dolphin with a phenomenal view of the fountains, MGM and even a bit of Epcot. The room was in pretty good condition and the bed was very comfortable. We had a king room with a pullout sofa. It was a pretty long walk to the pool area, but very pleasant nonetheless. My kids really enjoyed the pool, though my only criticism was that there weren't enough shaded areas for people who didn't want to be in full sun. I struggled to find a lounge chair near a shady spot for my infant.

On our second day we went over to register at the BCV. The only major problem was that they didn't show our reservation in the system... YIKES! I We had booked 2 studios (1 for my mom and 1 for dh, me and our kids) through a DVC owner and I panicked! I ran back to the Dolphin (where we'd left our luggage and paperwork) and tracked down the reservation number. Once I gave them the confirmation number, they miraculously located the reservation and all was in order... PHEW! I had visions of all of us having to reocate to a budget motel off the highway or something! Anyway, the next hurdle was that my mom was given a gorgeous room with a pool view and a huge balcony (room 260) while we were given a room overlooking the road (which I'd heard from these boards was very noisy in the morning) with a miniscule balcony. I told the front desk that this was unacceptable. They relocated us to a room a bit further down the hall from my mom that had a "wetlands" view (room 231). This was MUCH better. For those of you staying at BCV, I highly recommend that instead of requesting an Epcot view as we did that you request a wetlands view. It was very quiet, closer to the main elevator and just as nice as the Epcot view we'd had in the past.

All in all, it was a pretty good trip. Not as good as some others we've had but ok nonetheless. I guess I have learned my lesson about going during the warmer months -- it was waaaayyyyyyy too hot for my taste. I think we'll revert back to February trips starting next year. May is just too hot and more crowded that we like.

If anyone has any questions, I'd be glad to answer them!

Happy trails,
Sarah

 

[Boots]

Glad you managed to get everything straightened out. We always have our reservations handy too. We have stayed at WL three times. Our last time there I noticed our light on the phone blinking the morning we were leaving. The front desk was saying we owed them $50 more a night for each room, we had two. If I hadn't had my reservations showing how much our rooms were and saying we had paid in full I don't know what would have happened. Also the front desk people were not very nice about it. Their attitudes ruined an otherwise wonderful vacation.

 

[wdwphanatic]

I guess it is important to take those confirmation letters with you. I almost didn't bring mine this time, but remembered at the last minute... THANK GOODNESS I DID!!!

The other thing was that our reservation was apparently in my dh's name despite the fact that I was the contact person for the reservation... Weird. This caused numerous problems when anyone called the BCV looking for me. We had a babysitter cancel our reservation for the night of my mom's special birthday dinner because when she called to get our room number, she was told by BCV that I wasn't registered at the hotel... Boy, was I upset!! It all worked out, but I just can't understand how stuff like that can happen at a deluxe resort like BC.