We just stayed in a vaulted room and the layout was different and a little disappointing. Standard Resort Studio Room #9528 (I thought I took photos but I can’t find them now.) The room was still beautiful! The entry was tight and narrow and the desk was connected to the dresser and didn’t have the mirror. We were only there for two nights so it wasn’t a huge deal, but having 3 daughters I was counting on that area for my teenager to be able to do her hair and makeup. We didn’t have any issues with noise inside the room. (I heard the walls were thin. Our room was NOT a connecting room.)
They were having a DVC Castmember party our first night and the music from it was so loud at the quiet pool. This was our night to enjoy the pool and watch the fireworks. We ended up walking to the dock to watch instead.
Then, the next morning (our morning to sleep in) we were awakened at 7 am by them roofing Boca Chica. We were in the room closest to it and they were roofing the end section closest to us.
We were able to enjoy Moonlight Magic at AK our second night. It was little crazy in the beginning with cast members not really knowing what was going on as far as the popcorn buckets, snack certificates, and complimentary ice cream (at least at the few places we tried). However, by the time the party actually started, everything seemed pretty smooth. We really enjoyed the evening! We were able to ride Expedition Everest 3x and Flight of Passage and Navi River Journey once. The bus situation back to VGF was also a little disappointing. At the end of the night, we waited over 20 minutes for a bus and the line was so long that the people in front of us made it on but we did not. We definitely had the longest line as I looked around. I think maybe because VGF and PVB share a bus.
Another bus came about 5 minutes later though and we had seats this way, so it was definitely worth waiting.
While our experience with VGF had its ups and downs, we all agreed that the room, hallways, and lobby were absolutely beautiful and we’re glad we stayed there! We loved how close the rooms were to the elevator and how close it was to the main building (although when it was raining, we did miss the covered walkway). As a family of 5, we prefer more space, but I wanted to try the the new rooms. In the future, we would probably book connecting rooms or stay in a larger villa in the original building. While we use all of the sleeping areas, the room did seem smaller than BCV (which we switched to after.). I was concerned after staying at VGF, we would be disappointed in the “tired” smaller studios at BCV. (We had only stayed in a 2 bedroom there previously.) The room had a lot more space in the entry (so much so that one of my girls slept on a twin size air mattress in that area so she didn’t have to share a bed with one of her sisters).
Our view from BCV wasn’t much better (we faced a road) than VGF, but it was quieter as there wasn’t any construction. I know someone has to get these rooms and we weren’t there long enough that we really used the balcony anyway. So again, not a big deal. Once again, we were close to the elevator which is nice when we were schlepping our bags back and forth to the car. This was a last minute trip (booked about 40 days out) that I was able to piece together by stalking the site, so I was happy that we were able to stay and make it work. (I did NOT make any room requests, so that may have been the reason that we had these views and rooms. Since I pieced the rooms together, I had to wait for Member Services to link them. I called three different times waiting about a week between each before they were able to just link them while I was on the phone since I was within 5 days at that point.) I never could get our 3rd night at VGF and our last two nights became available at BCV around the 7 day mark, so we decided to just switch so as not to have to move 3 times. My entire family enjoyed VGF. It was the first time all 5 of us had stayed there. (I had stayed previously with my oldest.) They even asked if we could just stay and not switch to BCV which says a lot because they LOVE Stormalong Bay.
We have now stayed at PVB, VGF2, and BCV in studios in the past year and think they all have their pros and cons, but would gladly stay in any of them again. (I have been saving our points for the VGF Grand Villa in December! I can’t wait to surprise my girls and nephew! It will be his first trip and is only a few days before his 7th birthday!
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I think trips are what you make them. We can focus on the negatives or the positives! Owning DVC has made it easier for me to know that we will be back and not feel like everything has to be perfect. I prefer to be Pollyanna and be thankful we were able to go and enjoy our time together as a family!! I can’t wait for December!
Love our view!
. I don’t need exact room numbers but if I could get a range of room numbers or best way to request this with member services I would be most grateful! I’ve tried touring plans images but am just not familiar enough with the building. 
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