Preferred View at BWV-what can we expect

[Disneymama1]

I am confirmed at BWV with a preferred view (renting points) There was no Boardwalk view available, so we asked for a garden, rather than a pool, view. It will be my grown daughter and me and we would prefer a more quiet time, rather than the noise we might get with a pool view.

My question is, if we get the requested garden view, what might we be looking at and how might we be facing?

Also, for anyone that has stayed at BWV and had a garden view, can you suggest room numbers we might ask for?

Thanks very much for replying.

 

[goofy4tink]

First of all...don't ask for a particular room number. You more than likely won't get it, and someone else's idea of a 'great' view might not be the same as your's. So.... a garden/pool view is just that....either a view of one of the pools, or a view of landscaping/gardens. I had a terrific pool view on one trip. The villa was waaaaay at the end of the resort, but on a top floor overlooking the quiet pool/community hall and the canal. It was wonderful. The other villa that I have loved being in (and actually got twice by chance) has a 'garden' view but is above Muscles and Bustles, the health club. It looks out on the Village Green, with a nice view of the boardwalk. You could see the high IllumiNations fireworks from the room also.
The standard view rooms all look out on the entranceway to BW...I don't have any problem even with those rooms.

 

[MiaSRN62]

This is a little tricky. I had a preferred room in 8/2003. Our main view was that of the valet parking lot-----though we could see the TOT IF we were standing out on the balcony only (and looking to the right). I was in room 4131. I actually ended up calling both Member Services and BWV (I'm a DVC Member). I questioned whether or not they made a mistake and put me in a standard view by mistake ? They both assured me that I was indeed in a preferred room. This room location is very close to the end of the hallway (about as far from the elevators as you can get). Upon coming home and coming to these boards with my experience, I found out that rooms just 4-5 doors away from me (in the direction of the elevator), were indeed considered standard. Alot of people were suprised that my view was considered preferred and told me to call back and complain----which I did---and got nowhere.
I am not sure what I had---garden or water view. I did have a view of a canal (water) under me and could catch a glimpse of the Friendship boat off to the far right. But 85% of the view was the valet parking lot and a service area driveway where work vehicles came and went during the day. I walked around the resort that trip and felt we would have much preferred a pool view----though that may have been a bit noisier. We just felt the view was nicer than that of a parking lot. I've actually seen pictures of a few standard views at BWV that I thought were much nicer than my preferred view. I wish I had a pic of my view. At the time I did not think it worthy of even taking out my camera. But in hindsight, I wish I had so I could show others what DVC and BWV considers "preferred".
If you look at this map : http://www.mcdanieldesk.com/dvc/bwvmap.jpg
my room 4131 was on the left side (BWV side) and all the way at the bottom where the resort makes a "J" shape (the yellow area). You can see where the parking lot is from the map. I was toward the far outer corner of the J shape part of the building. I wouldn't have minded this room had it been standard view. But if there's a next time at BWV, I think I'll request a pool view.
Hope my experience helps a little. While the BWV have some wonderful views of the boardwalk, those rooms are far and few in between unfortunately.

 

[Disneymama1]

Yikes! That sounds disapppointing. I had asked my original question because I have never stayed at BWV before and was hoping to avoid the exact situation you described. At least I am now armed with your information and hopefully will have a better room assignment. I also think if I do end of with something like you, I may call the front desk right away to see if something else (better view) was available.

Thanks for sharing your story with me.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Thanks for sharing your story with me

You're welcome Disneymama.....
I asked about room locations before I had left for this trip in 2003. Noone here on the DIS (I asked on the DVC boards), mentioned anything remotely close to a description of this view to me. And honestly, most thought this was strictly a standard view. As for the standard view, I actually have seen several of these and think they were nicer----some face the front of the resort. I don't know where BWV draws that imaginary line on that side of the hallway. As far as I could tell, the view would be the same for 4131 as it would for a room 4 doors down ? Have a fantastic trip---the pool views are actually very nice.

 

[Keara'sMom]

DisneyMama,
We had a pool view this past January, and it wasn't noisy at all! Granted, we were on the 5th floor, so we were pretty far away from the action, but really, there was little noise, and it certainly didn't bother us. Frankly, that pool view was very festive!

Have a great mother-daughter trip! I'm looking forward to those when my dd9 is older!

 

[loveFL]

we are members at the bwv. if i were you, i would either ask for a quiet pool view, or a canal view (specifically over the croquet lawn).

 

[Disneymama1]

Thanks loveFL. When you've never stayed at a particular resort before, its so hard to know the best locations. This is a very special trip with my daughter and I am hoping to make it as special as I can. I know nothing can be perfect, but I want it to be magical for both of us.

I am making note of your suggestions. Do you suggest I change my requests now, or try to get them when I check in?

 

[loveFL]

i would have the requests be put on the reservation, because everytime we have stayed at the bwv, we have always been just given our room number, never the option of choosing from multiple rooms. it seems that they do assign them in advance.

 

[MiaSRN62]

or a canal view (specifically over the croquet lawn).

But that's what my bad view was....a canal view. Sure we saw the canal, but we also saw the parking lot for the most part. So be careful to word that request with "over the croquet lawn", otherwise, you could end up with "over the valet parking lot".

 

[CharityLynn]

When are you going? We aren't going until the end of October and they are all out of Boardwalk views for then too We are renting points from the in-laws, which we can't actually even get a reservation til the end of this month.

 

[Disneymama1]

CharityLynn, we will be there 10/18-25. We are so excited, its all my daughter and I talk about. The rest of our family thinks we have lost our minds - oh well!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Yikes! That sounds disapppointing. I had asked my original question because I have never stayed at BWV before and was hoping to avoid the exact situation you described. At least I am now armed with your information and hopefully will have a better room assignment. I also think if I do end of with something like you, I may call the front desk right away to see if something else (better view) was available.

Thanks for sharing your story with me.

If you request a change of room at a DVC resort for non-maintenance reasons, you will be charged an extra fee for changing the room.

We had a Luna Park view (dead on center) and it was not noisy. There are a few rooms with a bit less of a view than others and someone will get those rooms. For what you are paying by renting a reservation from a member, it will beat a pool view at the All Stars anyday.

 

[goofy4tink]

CharityLynn, we will be there 10/18-25. We are so excited, its all my daughter and I talk about. The rest of our family thinks we have lost our minds - oh well!

My dd and I will be there from 10/21-26!!
As far as a canal view and that croquet lawn view goes....I think we're talking apples and oranges here. I've had a true canal view and it is a good view. But I also got a room (1 bedroom) that was in the corner overlooking what was going to be the croquet lawn. It was not a great room. All we could see was the tree in front of the balcony and the bedroom window looked out onto the next door (but around the corner) neighbor's balcony. We would never have been able to open those curtains!! So, we asked for a change in room, saying that it really wasn't a preferred view. The CM said they had had other complaints about that room also, and gave us another room, which was overlooking the quiet pool, community hall and the canal. A wonderful villa. There are some rooms, on the front of the resort that do look out to the valet parking lot, with that watery area (for lack of a better word) that is considered preferred view. And no one can figure out why!! If you can actually see the canal from those rooms, it is truly a 'peek' at the canal. Not what I would consider to be a canal view.
Just goes to show that there are not so great rooms/views in every catagory. If you have a preferred room, I would request it be close to the elevator and on a higher level. That should make it pretty safe for you.

 

[Disneymama1]

Thanks Goofy4Tink. I think I will call and request close to elevator, higher floor. That seems to be a safer view. If we can get those requests, I think we would avoid the whole valet parking/canal issue. I know my daughter pretty well, and she will just be thrilled to be there, but if I can make it just a little better than a parking view, I will do my best to do it.

This trip is a dream come true for us and I'm looking to make it truly magical. At this point, I'm not sure anythng could spoil that for us. My biggest concern now is that our expectations are so high, I hope we're not setting ourselves up for a letdown.

 

[DebbieB]

When are you going? We aren't going until the end of October and they are all out of Boardwalk views for then too We are renting points from the in-laws, which we can't actually even get a reservation til the end of this month.

That is Epcot Food & Wine Festival time, very popular. I booked Oct 22 to 27 right at the 11 month mark (got boardwalk view).