two*little*birds
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,161
CHECK-IN: Quick and efficient, our room was ready about an hour after arrival – so shortly after lunch, I’d say 12:30’ish.
ROOM REQUEST: They were not able to accommodate our fireworks view. That being said though, our assigned unit was absolutely amazing! We were located in Building #6, an end unit on the 8th floor facing the lake.
TIMESHARE SOLICITATION: As mentioned here on the disboards, when registering for our parking pass we simply selected the lowest income bracket on the form. We were never bothered after that, only once did we received an invitation under the door to attend a presentation (and were offered $125).
STAFF: Extremely friendly, always welcoming and very accommodating.
AIR CONDITIONING: I know people have experienced issues with the A/C at WBC so I thought I would share our experience. Indeed the A/C is motion-censored, so unless you’re in the unit your A/C won’t be on. We had a 3-bedroom unit so had two A/C thermostats; one near the master bedroom / living room and the other one located near the two extra bedrooms. We never experienced any issues, and our unit cooled down quickly when needed. On some of the hotter days the hallways outside our unit did seem a little muggy / warm, otherwise we were always comfortable.
ON-SITE DINING: One afternoon we tried the nachos (with chicken) offered at the pool bar at Building #3. I’ll be honest, we had to wait quite a while for our order and they weren’t very good. Very bland and the chicken had no flavor. We tried the little eatery at the main building (Puerto de Leon) twice, both times having grilled chicken burgers, chicken strips and hamburgers/onion rings/fries. The food here was quite good actually. We also took a look at the new hotel (Grand) but it was quite expensive and they didn’t offer take-out.
SERVICE REQUESTS: The only service requests we made were through the on-line concierge system; which was a touch screen computer in our unit (supposedly only Building #6 has these). We requested additional laundry detergent about 4 times, and each time we received a reply right away and typically within 30 minutes housekeeping had delivered the additional packages. We even requested some additional Crystal Light and that was honored as well.
CLEANLINESS: Our unit was very clean, and very well maintained. As we stayed two weeks, we also had a mini-cleaning halfway through our visit. This consisted of changing the sheets and bringing all new towels. Honestly we were unaware that WBC was going to do this, so we were surprised to come back one evening to see that this had been done. The resort itself is spotless, and every morning you will see and hear all the “busy bee” staff cleaning, gardening, etc. We even saw staff in the lake fixing / cleaning the fountains and staff spraying a mixture on algae in the lake. Also if you plan on using the grills / BBQ’s they clean those every morning. Honestly, this place is spotless!
COMFORT OF FURNISHINGS: All the furniture is of good quality, and in our experience had very little wear. Everything was clean and comfortable. The only thing I would change is the one wicker loveseat in the living room. I wish it was leather (or pleather) like the sofabed. I would also add a second end table on the other side of the sofabed. One of the things we liked most was the room darkening curtains. Such a treat to block out the hot afternoon sun, or sleep in if you want. The mattresses and pillows were very comfortable. The duvet covers they provided kept slipping off though, so eventually we just pulled them off completely. One of our TV’s (family room) was really blurry when first turned on. Eventually it would warm-up and be fine, but it never bothered us enough to actually put in a service request.
NOISE LEVELS: As with any type of “hotel” setting and the closeness of units, you will undoubtedly hear some noise. We could hear our neighbours door slam the odd time, or the occasional chit chat of people walking down the hall or above us. We could also hear the excitement of children / adults playing in the pool below. Although we could hear these things, in no way would I describe them as loud. We were never bothered by any real noise.
SECURITY: The guards at the gate are great, and they always check for your parking pass. On some nights they make you use your room key to enter the resort, as opposed to just visually checking for your parking pass. We often saw security near the main building (Puerto de Leon) and around the grounds on their segways.
SHUTTLES: Can’t comment as we rented a car, but we often saw others taking the shuttle and / or waiting for it.
PARKING: We could always find a spot, only late at night did we have to park within the parking garage (as all the outside spots we taken).
LOCATION: All I can say is WOW! I thought staying in a rental home was great, but this really was right smack in the middle of everything. Literally it took us mere minutes to get to anything. Downtown Disney was maybe 3 minutes, Epcot 4-5 minutes, DHS 4-5 minutes, Magic Kingdom 8 minutes and Animal Kingdom was about 8 minutes as well. SeaWorld was about 8-10 minutes and Universal was 15 minutes tops.
SMOKING: O.K. this will be one of the downfalls for us. Although there are areas within the resort designated for smoking, you will find the odd guest ignoring this. As a non-smoking family I do wish the resort monitored this a little more closely and enforced their policy – especially in areas where there are children (a.k.a. the pools).
POOLS: My kids absolutely loved the pools! We visited every pool except Building #2 and #4. The spas were very nice, especially at the end of a long day. The only thing I didn’t like about the spas were the amount of kids in them, and the high level of chlorine (but this is understandable). The pools were kept very clean and there were always enough chairs / tables to accommodate everyone. We only ever saw a lifeguard at Building #3 by the blue water slide, and there was always a staff member at the slide located at Building #6.
OVERALL PROS: Location, price, amenities and resort-like setting (as compared to a rental home).
OVERALL CONS: Lack of on-site dining options. In-room whirlpool is too powerful, splashes everywhere!
View from our balcony…
Pop Century to the left…
Swan / Dolphin hotel to the right…
Tower of Terror…
Looking up at Building #6…
Pirate Ship / Pool at Building #6…
Looking down at the pool area from our unit…
Inside of unit…
ROOM REQUEST: They were not able to accommodate our fireworks view. That being said though, our assigned unit was absolutely amazing! We were located in Building #6, an end unit on the 8th floor facing the lake.
TIMESHARE SOLICITATION: As mentioned here on the disboards, when registering for our parking pass we simply selected the lowest income bracket on the form. We were never bothered after that, only once did we received an invitation under the door to attend a presentation (and were offered $125).
STAFF: Extremely friendly, always welcoming and very accommodating.
AIR CONDITIONING: I know people have experienced issues with the A/C at WBC so I thought I would share our experience. Indeed the A/C is motion-censored, so unless you’re in the unit your A/C won’t be on. We had a 3-bedroom unit so had two A/C thermostats; one near the master bedroom / living room and the other one located near the two extra bedrooms. We never experienced any issues, and our unit cooled down quickly when needed. On some of the hotter days the hallways outside our unit did seem a little muggy / warm, otherwise we were always comfortable.
ON-SITE DINING: One afternoon we tried the nachos (with chicken) offered at the pool bar at Building #3. I’ll be honest, we had to wait quite a while for our order and they weren’t very good. Very bland and the chicken had no flavor. We tried the little eatery at the main building (Puerto de Leon) twice, both times having grilled chicken burgers, chicken strips and hamburgers/onion rings/fries. The food here was quite good actually. We also took a look at the new hotel (Grand) but it was quite expensive and they didn’t offer take-out.
SERVICE REQUESTS: The only service requests we made were through the on-line concierge system; which was a touch screen computer in our unit (supposedly only Building #6 has these). We requested additional laundry detergent about 4 times, and each time we received a reply right away and typically within 30 minutes housekeeping had delivered the additional packages. We even requested some additional Crystal Light and that was honored as well.
CLEANLINESS: Our unit was very clean, and very well maintained. As we stayed two weeks, we also had a mini-cleaning halfway through our visit. This consisted of changing the sheets and bringing all new towels. Honestly we were unaware that WBC was going to do this, so we were surprised to come back one evening to see that this had been done. The resort itself is spotless, and every morning you will see and hear all the “busy bee” staff cleaning, gardening, etc. We even saw staff in the lake fixing / cleaning the fountains and staff spraying a mixture on algae in the lake. Also if you plan on using the grills / BBQ’s they clean those every morning. Honestly, this place is spotless!
COMFORT OF FURNISHINGS: All the furniture is of good quality, and in our experience had very little wear. Everything was clean and comfortable. The only thing I would change is the one wicker loveseat in the living room. I wish it was leather (or pleather) like the sofabed. I would also add a second end table on the other side of the sofabed. One of the things we liked most was the room darkening curtains. Such a treat to block out the hot afternoon sun, or sleep in if you want. The mattresses and pillows were very comfortable. The duvet covers they provided kept slipping off though, so eventually we just pulled them off completely. One of our TV’s (family room) was really blurry when first turned on. Eventually it would warm-up and be fine, but it never bothered us enough to actually put in a service request.
NOISE LEVELS: As with any type of “hotel” setting and the closeness of units, you will undoubtedly hear some noise. We could hear our neighbours door slam the odd time, or the occasional chit chat of people walking down the hall or above us. We could also hear the excitement of children / adults playing in the pool below. Although we could hear these things, in no way would I describe them as loud. We were never bothered by any real noise.
SECURITY: The guards at the gate are great, and they always check for your parking pass. On some nights they make you use your room key to enter the resort, as opposed to just visually checking for your parking pass. We often saw security near the main building (Puerto de Leon) and around the grounds on their segways.
SHUTTLES: Can’t comment as we rented a car, but we often saw others taking the shuttle and / or waiting for it.
PARKING: We could always find a spot, only late at night did we have to park within the parking garage (as all the outside spots we taken).
LOCATION: All I can say is WOW! I thought staying in a rental home was great, but this really was right smack in the middle of everything. Literally it took us mere minutes to get to anything. Downtown Disney was maybe 3 minutes, Epcot 4-5 minutes, DHS 4-5 minutes, Magic Kingdom 8 minutes and Animal Kingdom was about 8 minutes as well. SeaWorld was about 8-10 minutes and Universal was 15 minutes tops.
SMOKING: O.K. this will be one of the downfalls for us. Although there are areas within the resort designated for smoking, you will find the odd guest ignoring this. As a non-smoking family I do wish the resort monitored this a little more closely and enforced their policy – especially in areas where there are children (a.k.a. the pools).
POOLS: My kids absolutely loved the pools! We visited every pool except Building #2 and #4. The spas were very nice, especially at the end of a long day. The only thing I didn’t like about the spas were the amount of kids in them, and the high level of chlorine (but this is understandable). The pools were kept very clean and there were always enough chairs / tables to accommodate everyone. We only ever saw a lifeguard at Building #3 by the blue water slide, and there was always a staff member at the slide located at Building #6.
OVERALL PROS: Location, price, amenities and resort-like setting (as compared to a rental home).
OVERALL CONS: Lack of on-site dining options. In-room whirlpool is too powerful, splashes everywhere!
View from our balcony…
Pop Century to the left…
Swan / Dolphin hotel to the right…
Tower of Terror…
Looking up at Building #6…
Pirate Ship / Pool at Building #6…
Looking down at the pool area from our unit…
Inside of unit…
