ceejay13
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 16, 2000
- Messages
- 1,540
I am late in getting this out but wanted to report on our 12 day trip we just returned from, beginning October 28th. This is the longest I have been away from these boards, and I have missed all this wonderful information.
We had a great trip! After hearing many of the fears and concerns about the cutbacks, we were a little concerned. Our stay, however, was just as magical as all of our other trips. The first few days of the trip we stayed at All Star Sports, much to my DH's dismay. There were 13 of us and for $49 a night we couldn't pass it up. We had never before stayed at the All Star resorts but I was very pleasantly surprised and we felt like it worked great for the big group. It certainly isn't DVC, but still had that Disney magic. When we checked into the BWV, we got 2 "Welcome Homes", one from the valet and the other at the front desk. We were hoping for a BW view and got a great one on the 5th floor, room 5041 to be exact. We had a 1 bdr as it was just my DH and I for the remainder of the trip. The only complaint we had were the bird droppings on the patios, but the room was in great shape. We had a very nice view of the fireworks every night, and the room was incredibly quiet. As has been reported, there are lots of refurbishments taking place. During our stay they completed the painting of the walkway into the building, and scaffolding was up on other parts of the building as they began the outside painting. From our hallway, we could look down on part of the 4th floor and they were replacing a section of the carpet a couple of days, we noticed. The crowds were very low the first week of November but began picking up the second week. We had heard on the evening news that the occupancy the first week we were there had been 56% at the Disney resorts and had increased to 82% the next week. This is still down from their normal occupancy rates. Beginning the first week of November and running through the middle of December, CM's were given a 40% discount on all purchases, so the increase in shopping was noticeable. By the time we checked out, they had the Christmas trees up in the lobby and the outside had been decorated. It was gorgeous.
Last year as new members we stayed at VB and OKW as we couldn't get into our home resort, BWV. We have loved all of them for different reasons and can't wait for our next trip, which I just booked Friday for October of next year.
We had a great trip! After hearing many of the fears and concerns about the cutbacks, we were a little concerned. Our stay, however, was just as magical as all of our other trips. The first few days of the trip we stayed at All Star Sports, much to my DH's dismay. There were 13 of us and for $49 a night we couldn't pass it up. We had never before stayed at the All Star resorts but I was very pleasantly surprised and we felt like it worked great for the big group. It certainly isn't DVC, but still had that Disney magic. When we checked into the BWV, we got 2 "Welcome Homes", one from the valet and the other at the front desk. We were hoping for a BW view and got a great one on the 5th floor, room 5041 to be exact. We had a 1 bdr as it was just my DH and I for the remainder of the trip. The only complaint we had were the bird droppings on the patios, but the room was in great shape. We had a very nice view of the fireworks every night, and the room was incredibly quiet. As has been reported, there are lots of refurbishments taking place. During our stay they completed the painting of the walkway into the building, and scaffolding was up on other parts of the building as they began the outside painting. From our hallway, we could look down on part of the 4th floor and they were replacing a section of the carpet a couple of days, we noticed. The crowds were very low the first week of November but began picking up the second week. We had heard on the evening news that the occupancy the first week we were there had been 56% at the Disney resorts and had increased to 82% the next week. This is still down from their normal occupancy rates. Beginning the first week of November and running through the middle of December, CM's were given a 40% discount on all purchases, so the increase in shopping was noticeable. By the time we checked out, they had the Christmas trees up in the lobby and the outside had been decorated. It was gorgeous.
Last year as new members we stayed at VB and OKW as we couldn't get into our home resort, BWV. We have loved all of them for different reasons and can't wait for our next trip, which I just booked Friday for October of next year.
