ReneeQ
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2000
- Messages
- 1,164
DH and I just returned from 5 nights in a Boardwalk View Studio at BWV. Here are my reviews/observations.
Arrival/Check In - We arrived around 4 PM on Sun. 11/8 (we live close enough to drive), and knew in advance that valet parking was no longer free for DVC members. We were given our parking pass at the guard shack, and DH drove up to the door to drop me and the bags. This was our first time not using valet. It was an absolute zoo, we had to wait in line to pull up close enough to unload. There were maybe 5 valet workers there, one approached our car and asked if we wanted to valet. My husband said no, and we were shown where to pull up. DH unloaded and left me and bags at the curb. We were never asked if we wanted help with the bags (we didn't).
DH drove away to park, and I had about 20 minutes to stand there and observe. I have stayed at BWV 10 times, and will say up until this trip we had always valet parked, so I never really stood around before, but my first thought was how non-upscale (for lack of a better word) it all felt. There was very little sidewalk/curb space that was not being occupied by people like me, standing with their bags, while I'm guessing the DH/Dad was parking. LOTS of Moms and kids, lots of big boxes of diapers sitting on the curb with suitcases, LOTS of plastic grocery bags spilling over. It all just seemed very "messy." There were about 5 valet drivers working, and though they were busy approaching cars and directing them where to "park" and unload, I saw not one car being valet parked. There were little kids EVERYWHERE, all in the street, in the loading area, out in the area where Magical Express pulls in, etc. I was so worried someone was going to get hit.
Why I had so long to notice all this is because DH went to the closest self park lot, across from the busstop, and was told by the attendant to park across the street behind the Hess Station. He got over there, and that attendant told him no, there was no way the first parking lot he had tried was full, so he sent DH back to the first lot he tried. DH had to go back through the guard shack (long line of cars), and then wait a bit until he could turn right (at the busstop) because of the long line of cars trying to get to the front door. DH was quite ticked off by this point, which was the fault of the first parking lot attendant, but DH was ultimately pleased to be in the closer lot. He did note there were only about 10-15 open spots after he parked.
(Sorry this part is so long, but I know the BW parking situation is important to many, and wanted to share my observations.)
Once we got in, check in was a breeze. I waited maybe 2 minutes. I had checked in online, but it would not take my credit card info. They had everything already printed for me, and she just issued me new cards with charging privileges. I was at the front desk a total of maybe 3 minutes.
THE ROOM - We were in room 3031, a Boardwalk View Studio. It was directly over the Big River Brewery. At first I was slightly disappointed because the balcony was tucked back, with a grand villa balcony to the right and the wall of the brewery to the left. But after a bit I grew to love the location. Relatively close to the elevators, could see most of the Epcot fireworks, and the balcony felt very private. We never saw another soul on their balcony the entire time, and I stayed on the balcony ALOT.
This room was recently refurbished! New bed, new sofa, flat panel TV, DVD player, all new curtains, comforter, shower curtain, etc. Very nice and clean! This is also a Studio Plus, so had the child size daybed. My only complaint is I could have really used a coffee table (why don't the BWV studios have them), and I really need an end table on my side of the bed. (I turned one of the trashcans over and used that).
CROWDS - I can't comment too much on crowds, because this trip was really for us to relax, so we didn't have much park time. We did go to Epcot on Thurs 11/12. Some areas were virtually empty, and others were ridiculously crowded. At 2PM both Future World boat rides (Mexico and Norway) were walk ons, literally. But around 4 PM the line to get pastries in France was out the door and about a block long!
TIP - We were paying for our food this trip with our Disney Visa Rewards Points. I gave my credit card so we'd have charging privileges, and we charged everything to the room. The night before check out I went down and transferred everything charged thus far to the Disney Visa Rewards card. But that night's dinner hadn't posted yet, so they told me to come back the next morning, and they would not charge it to my Visa.
The next morning we get the "bill" under the door, and, you guessed it, they charged the dinner to the Visa! So I went down to get it corrected. That's when the CM told me, in the future, when you leave a credit card for charging privileges, be sure you are NOT set up for express check out. If you have express check out, it charges to your Visa, but without it, it won't. True, you'll have to go down and "check out," but you have to go in person anyway to "pay" your charges with your Rewards points, so it just saves the hassle of having to get the Visa charge reversed.
Let me know if I can answer any questions. I'll try to add some pictures when I get them loaded.
Arrival/Check In - We arrived around 4 PM on Sun. 11/8 (we live close enough to drive), and knew in advance that valet parking was no longer free for DVC members. We were given our parking pass at the guard shack, and DH drove up to the door to drop me and the bags. This was our first time not using valet. It was an absolute zoo, we had to wait in line to pull up close enough to unload. There were maybe 5 valet workers there, one approached our car and asked if we wanted to valet. My husband said no, and we were shown where to pull up. DH unloaded and left me and bags at the curb. We were never asked if we wanted help with the bags (we didn't).
DH drove away to park, and I had about 20 minutes to stand there and observe. I have stayed at BWV 10 times, and will say up until this trip we had always valet parked, so I never really stood around before, but my first thought was how non-upscale (for lack of a better word) it all felt. There was very little sidewalk/curb space that was not being occupied by people like me, standing with their bags, while I'm guessing the DH/Dad was parking. LOTS of Moms and kids, lots of big boxes of diapers sitting on the curb with suitcases, LOTS of plastic grocery bags spilling over. It all just seemed very "messy." There were about 5 valet drivers working, and though they were busy approaching cars and directing them where to "park" and unload, I saw not one car being valet parked. There were little kids EVERYWHERE, all in the street, in the loading area, out in the area where Magical Express pulls in, etc. I was so worried someone was going to get hit.
Why I had so long to notice all this is because DH went to the closest self park lot, across from the busstop, and was told by the attendant to park across the street behind the Hess Station. He got over there, and that attendant told him no, there was no way the first parking lot he had tried was full, so he sent DH back to the first lot he tried. DH had to go back through the guard shack (long line of cars), and then wait a bit until he could turn right (at the busstop) because of the long line of cars trying to get to the front door. DH was quite ticked off by this point, which was the fault of the first parking lot attendant, but DH was ultimately pleased to be in the closer lot. He did note there were only about 10-15 open spots after he parked.
(Sorry this part is so long, but I know the BW parking situation is important to many, and wanted to share my observations.)
Once we got in, check in was a breeze. I waited maybe 2 minutes. I had checked in online, but it would not take my credit card info. They had everything already printed for me, and she just issued me new cards with charging privileges. I was at the front desk a total of maybe 3 minutes.
THE ROOM - We were in room 3031, a Boardwalk View Studio. It was directly over the Big River Brewery. At first I was slightly disappointed because the balcony was tucked back, with a grand villa balcony to the right and the wall of the brewery to the left. But after a bit I grew to love the location. Relatively close to the elevators, could see most of the Epcot fireworks, and the balcony felt very private. We never saw another soul on their balcony the entire time, and I stayed on the balcony ALOT.
This room was recently refurbished! New bed, new sofa, flat panel TV, DVD player, all new curtains, comforter, shower curtain, etc. Very nice and clean! This is also a Studio Plus, so had the child size daybed. My only complaint is I could have really used a coffee table (why don't the BWV studios have them), and I really need an end table on my side of the bed. (I turned one of the trashcans over and used that).
CROWDS - I can't comment too much on crowds, because this trip was really for us to relax, so we didn't have much park time. We did go to Epcot on Thurs 11/12. Some areas were virtually empty, and others were ridiculously crowded. At 2PM both Future World boat rides (Mexico and Norway) were walk ons, literally. But around 4 PM the line to get pastries in France was out the door and about a block long!
TIP - We were paying for our food this trip with our Disney Visa Rewards Points. I gave my credit card so we'd have charging privileges, and we charged everything to the room. The night before check out I went down and transferred everything charged thus far to the Disney Visa Rewards card. But that night's dinner hadn't posted yet, so they told me to come back the next morning, and they would not charge it to my Visa.
The next morning we get the "bill" under the door, and, you guessed it, they charged the dinner to the Visa! So I went down to get it corrected. That's when the CM told me, in the future, when you leave a credit card for charging privileges, be sure you are NOT set up for express check out. If you have express check out, it charges to your Visa, but without it, it won't. True, you'll have to go down and "check out," but you have to go in person anyway to "pay" your charges with your Rewards points, so it just saves the hassle of having to get the Visa charge reversed.
Let me know if I can answer any questions. I'll try to add some pictures when I get them loaded.
. We'll be back in February in a standard view, I'm curious to see how I'll feel about it after the BW view we had. I do think the standard views are also very lovely. Happy Thanksgiving!
