The Valley of Indecision: Which Villa 4 Me?

[1313WEBFOOTWALK]

I don't know about Stormalong Bay, but we were at BWV last year during Food & Wine and it was fine. Busy but not nearly so much as during spring break.

Thanks for the info. BWV is back in the mix, I think.

 

[Donald is #1]

Will you have a car? If so, then don't worry about the size of SSR because if you don't want to walk, you can easily drive to the Springs area and park across the street from the pool.


OK here is another angle to approach it from: Are counter service meals at the resort important to you? If so, then definitely check out the menus. When I stayed at OKW in October, the only drawback I found was the availablity of breakfast foods without having to do a sit down meal. Here is my personnal rating for the counter service places geared towards breakfast because I normally eat lunch & dinner in the parks. Also please note that BWV & BCV aren't listed because I haven't stayed there yet.

1) tie: WL/VWL & AKL -> I like the options at both Roaring Fork and Mara
2) SSR -> I think that what annoyed me the most here was the breakfast hours (7:00 for continental, 7:30 for hot food). I remember that when I moved from SSR to AKL, I went into Mara the next morning and liked it much better than SSR
3) OKW -> The meal choices are definitely limited here. However, if you want a sit down breakfast, then the food at Olivia's was awesome.

 

[hematite153]

Now that food has joined the discussion, it occurs to me that food costs could offset accommodation costs.

If you get a 1BDR, you'd have a full kitchen. Even though the CS breakfasts are generally reasonably priced, you could feed the whole family eggs and toast in the room for less than the price of 1 adult CS breakfast.

And that's just breakfast...

...add in some lunches and dinners, make sandwiches that you take with you for the day, and that's a pile of savings.

With 5 people eating, you could easily save more money on food by having a kitchen than you spent to upgrade from the BCV studio (83 pts) to the OKW 1BDR (131 pts). Yes, this works out to more than $400 overall, but it's only $72 a day (or less than the cost of a character lunch).

So, with the 1BDR, you'd have much nicer accommodations and less exciting food (although this could be good if your boys are picky eaters). With the studio, you'd spend less on your accommodations, be a bit more crowded, but have more money to spend on food.

So, what will your family appreciate most?

 

[1313WEBFOOTWALK]

Will you have a car? If so, then don't worry about the size of SSR because if you don't want to walk, you can easily drive to the Springs area and park across the street from the pool.


OK here is another angle to approach it from: Are counter service meals at the resort important to you? If so, then definitely check out the menus. When I stayed at OKW in October, the only drawback I found was the availablity of breakfast foods without having to do a sit down meal. Here is my personnal rating for the counter service places geared towards breakfast because I normally eat lunch & dinner in the parks. Also please note that BWV & BCV aren't listed because I haven't stayed there yet.

1) tie: WL/VWL & AKL -> I like the options at both Roaring Fork and Mara
2) SSR -> I think that what annoyed me the most here was the breakfast hours (7:00 for continental, 7:30 for hot food). I remember that when I moved from SSR to AKL, I went into Mara the next morning and liked it much better than SSR
3) OKW -> The meal choices are definitely limited here. However, if you want a sit down breakfast, then the food at Olivia's was awesome.

No we won't have a car. People laugh but one of the things I love about Disney is not having to worry about anything, including driving. So the efficiency of a good bus system is important to me. I remember how annoying it was to ride the bus frm POR because of the number of bus stops...kinda wanted to avoid that if possible.

Food Courts are kinda important, I'll admit. I like the idea of getting snacks there and it not being too much of a hassel. I remember being really pleased w/ POR in this area and also POFQ when I visited there, years ago. It's not an absolute requirement though because we usually bring cereal bars or cereal for breakfast. SO we seldom use the hotel's food court.

Anyway, thanks for all your info. I think we've decided on AKV after all. When the confusion became too much for me, I just asked my seven year old and he settled things then and there. "Mommy, I want to see the animals". And there you go. I love the food choices there, the atmosphere is whimsical but cozy, and the bus system seems to be pretty efficient from what I've heard.

 

[1313WEBFOOTWALK]

Now that food has joined the discussion, it occurs to me that food costs could offset accommodation costs.

If you get a 1BDR, you'd have a full kitchen. Even though the CS breakfasts are generally reasonably priced, you could feed the whole family eggs and toast in the room for less than the price of 1 adult CS breakfast.

And that's just breakfast...

...add in some lunches and dinners, make sandwiches that you take with you for the day, and that's a pile of savings.

With 5 people eating, you could easily save more money on food by having a kitchen than you spent to upgrade from the BCV studio (83 pts) to the OKW 1BDR (131 pts). Yes, this works out to more than $400 overall, but it's only $72 a day (or less than the cost of a character lunch).

So, with the 1BDR, you'd have much nicer accommodations and less exciting food (although this could be good if your boys are picky eaters). With the studio, you'd spend less on your accommodations, be a bit more crowded, but have more money to spend on food.

So, what will your family appreciate most?

Thanks for your tips but I really am set on NOT cooking. I actually cook almost every night so cooking is so not an option. Ha. Plus, we're anxious to try the Dining Plan. We bring breakfast with us though, cereal bars and cereal and then we get milk and juice at the hotel. It works for us just fine.

I really don't think the studio is going to be a problem. We really spend so little time in our room when we're there because our vacations usually are relatively short (around six or seven days at the most) and we've got a full itinerary. As long as there is space to sleep, we're fine.

 

[hematite153]

I really am set on NOT cooking.... As long as there is space to sleep, we're fine.

Sounds good.

It sounds like you've figured out what will make your family's trip most magical for you. Have fun!