Hilary
There's always something new to learn!
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2000
- Messages
- 6,483
We got home on Saturday after two weeks in Florida, including eight nights in DVC accommodations. Here's a run-down:
Our first five nights were in a GV at OKW. Last year we had a Studio here and liked the resort, so I was really looking forward to experiencing the GV luxury! I'd looked at as many photos of GVs as I could find on the web so I wasn't totally surprised when I opened the front door, but it was still very impressive.
There were 12 of us staying there and DDs had opted to have air-beds on the floor in the master bedroom with us, rather than use the sofa-bed in the living room, so they wouldn't get disturbed if anyone was up late at night / early in the morning. There was plenty of room for the two air-beds, and DH and I managed not to fall over either of them
!
We were in the Southpoint area and our balcony looked through the trees to the golf course - very quiet and relaxing. We were very near the bus-stop and only a two minute walk to the quiet pool, so although I'd requested a location near to Hospitality House, I was perfectly happy with the location we were given.
One small gripe would be that there weren't enough plates / bowls / sets of cutlery, etc. for all of us to eat at the same time. Not enough chairs around the dining table either, but I knew about that in advance. It was never a real problem for us as we only had 'casual' meals in the villa (no real cooking!), but it could have been difficult if we'd planned a special dinner in the villa. I'm sure housekeeping would have brought extra equipment if we'd asked, but it seemed strange that it wasn't there to start with.
From OKW our group of 12 transferred into three separate Studios at VWL (our first stay in our Home Resort Villas, although we've stayed in the Lodge before). The Studio was slightly larger than I expected, as I was assuming it would be more like the regular Lodge rooms, and I knew it would be smaller than the OKW Studio we'd had last year. I preferred the mini-kitchen area here to the one in the OKW Studio - there seemed to be more counter top space and bigger cupboards.
We didn't get a Dumster view (!) from our ground floor patio, but we didn't sit out on the patio because it was very overgrown all around the edges and I was a bit concerned at what might be lurking in the undergrowth!
I'm sure I would have enjoyed sitting out on a balcony as we had a really nice view into the wooded area.
From VWL we went down to the Gulf coast for a few days, returning for our final night in Florida to a Studio at BWV. I confess to not really being too bothered about staying here, although I was looking forward to trying out another different DVC resort. I freely admit to being very impressed! I think I had more of a 'Wow!' moment walking in to our Studio here than I had when I saw the Grand Villa at OKW! I love this resort, and I loved our Studio! Of the Studios at OKW, VWL and here, this is my favourite, and the mini-kitchen seemed the largest of the three.
I did get a bit fed up with the trek to the parking lot (now I know what all those comments on the US DVC board are about!), but I could easily forgive that for our view over the Boardwalk towards Epcot with the geosphere right in the middle of our view. Our (preferred view) Studio was on the fifth floor over the 'village green' and I spent quite a while out on the balcony just watching people walk by underneath.
Transportation was great at all the resorts, and we loved the very secluded walk back to BWV from Epcot at park closing - there couldn't have been more than a handful of other guests leaving via International Gateway with us. I don't think we waited longer than ten minutes for any bus or boat anywhere all the time we were there.
This was only meant to be a quick resume, so sorry for going on so long! If you have any questions, I'll be happy to try to help if I can
Our first five nights were in a GV at OKW. Last year we had a Studio here and liked the resort, so I was really looking forward to experiencing the GV luxury! I'd looked at as many photos of GVs as I could find on the web so I wasn't totally surprised when I opened the front door, but it was still very impressive.
There were 12 of us staying there and DDs had opted to have air-beds on the floor in the master bedroom with us, rather than use the sofa-bed in the living room, so they wouldn't get disturbed if anyone was up late at night / early in the morning. There was plenty of room for the two air-beds, and DH and I managed not to fall over either of them
!We were in the Southpoint area and our balcony looked through the trees to the golf course - very quiet and relaxing. We were very near the bus-stop and only a two minute walk to the quiet pool, so although I'd requested a location near to Hospitality House, I was perfectly happy with the location we were given.
One small gripe would be that there weren't enough plates / bowls / sets of cutlery, etc. for all of us to eat at the same time. Not enough chairs around the dining table either, but I knew about that in advance. It was never a real problem for us as we only had 'casual' meals in the villa (no real cooking!), but it could have been difficult if we'd planned a special dinner in the villa. I'm sure housekeeping would have brought extra equipment if we'd asked, but it seemed strange that it wasn't there to start with.
From OKW our group of 12 transferred into three separate Studios at VWL (our first stay in our Home Resort Villas, although we've stayed in the Lodge before). The Studio was slightly larger than I expected, as I was assuming it would be more like the regular Lodge rooms, and I knew it would be smaller than the OKW Studio we'd had last year. I preferred the mini-kitchen area here to the one in the OKW Studio - there seemed to be more counter top space and bigger cupboards.
We didn't get a Dumster view (!) from our ground floor patio, but we didn't sit out on the patio because it was very overgrown all around the edges and I was a bit concerned at what might be lurking in the undergrowth!
I'm sure I would have enjoyed sitting out on a balcony as we had a really nice view into the wooded area.From VWL we went down to the Gulf coast for a few days, returning for our final night in Florida to a Studio at BWV. I confess to not really being too bothered about staying here, although I was looking forward to trying out another different DVC resort. I freely admit to being very impressed! I think I had more of a 'Wow!' moment walking in to our Studio here than I had when I saw the Grand Villa at OKW! I love this resort, and I loved our Studio! Of the Studios at OKW, VWL and here, this is my favourite, and the mini-kitchen seemed the largest of the three.
I did get a bit fed up with the trek to the parking lot (now I know what all those comments on the US DVC board are about!), but I could easily forgive that for our view over the Boardwalk towards Epcot with the geosphere right in the middle of our view. Our (preferred view) Studio was on the fifth floor over the 'village green' and I spent quite a while out on the balcony just watching people walk by underneath.
Transportation was great at all the resorts, and we loved the very secluded walk back to BWV from Epcot at park closing - there couldn't have been more than a handful of other guests leaving via International Gateway with us. I don't think we waited longer than ten minutes for any bus or boat anywhere all the time we were there.
This was only meant to be a quick resume, so sorry for going on so long! If you have any questions, I'll be happy to try to help if I can
