Trying to decide on which resort

[DisneyWishes14]

We've stayed at BCV and BWV during refurbs and never had an issue. We always request a "quiet room away from construction" and it has been honored.

Just a note on BWI, if you are worried about noise from the Boardwalk, either book a standard room or, if booking another category, request a different view. If you book BWV with cash through Disney, you won't get a Boardwalk view (we've typically gotten a view of a quiet pool).

With BC, just note some rooms do not have full balconies and, if that is important to you, you would need to make a request, though not guaranteed.

 

[FSU Girl]

Since my top concern is getting a king bed I'm afraid to make any other request. So if I book a villa with cash they don't usually give you the good rooms?

 

[KonaKaiTom]

I've never eaten at Narcossees before. I have one night where I'm undecided of where to go and was thinking of Citricos or Yachtsman Steakhouse, should I change it to Narcossees?

All the rooms above were they king rooms?

Several of the rooms were 2 queens as there were 3 of 4 of us, depending on how many of the kids could go - they range from 18-26 so they aren't really kids. I prefer Narcoossee's to Citrico's and Shula's steakhouse (at the Dolphin) to Yachtsman -- but those are just my personal preferences.

Tom

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Since my top concern is getting a king bed I'm afraid to make any other request. So if I book a villa with cash they don't usually give you the good rooms?

Yes, they are great rooms. Just make sure when you book, you know what your view may be, if it matters to you. At BCV, it will most likely be woods, a courtyard or the BCV pool. At BWV, we've always either gotten a view of the Swan/water view or a view of the quiet pool. If you book a 1-bedroom villa, you are guaranteed a king, so you could certainly put a view request in. To see room locations and views, you may want to subscribe to Touring Plans. They have a whole "hotel room view" section and you can actually see what the view will look like from any given room. You had expressed concern about noise from the Boardwalk, so I wanted to reassure you that, if you book a 1-bedroom villa at BWV, your chances of being directly over the Boardwalk are slim to none. That doesn't mean the 1-bedroom you may be in isn't good.

I would really suggest narrowing down your choices to resorts that have king bed as a guaranteed, bookable category. It sounds like you will be really disappointed if you do this as a request and it is not granted.

 

[FSU Girl]

That's why I'm strongly leaning towards getting the one bedroom villa since it guarantees a king. I've just always wanted to stay at the Grand Floridian and its next to impossible to get one of their villas. I'm thinking of either risking it and getting a room there or doing the beach club or boardwalk villas.

 

[Nancyg56]

There are one bedroom villas available for 2 nights in the middle of my vacation at the Villas at Grand Floridian. Would it be crazy to do three different hotels so I could stay there? I'm thinking my boyfriend would never go for it, I wish that hotel had availability the entire time of my vacation. I'm guessing that place books up really fast at the 11 month marker.

LOL! I am with your BF. I woudl never go again if you did this to me..

I have stayed at the Grand, the Poly, the CR and the BC. Personally, I think if your heart is set on the Grand, and if you can afford it without breaking your budget, I would do it. It is stunning, and the services are well worth the cost. WIth that said, I am sitting in the airport having just left teh Beach Club, and I honestly cannot say enough wonderful things about that resort. Lets forget location and just talk about the staff and the condition of the resort and rooms. Awesome.... Impecable, and spotless. If you add location, it is a perfect spot for a couple to have fun. Restaurants, lounges and easy access to two parks.

Which view do you normally request there? Standard?

I stay outer building standard view. I was upgraded to castle view one time and it was lovely, but unless I had children who were going to be in bed or in the room early, I am too cheap to pay for that view.

 

[Pink Pajamas]

For the Boardwalk, if your room is near the restaurants or clubs is it really noisy? I don't think we'll want to stay up to 2am every night.

I noticed on the Disney site for the Epcot resorts they have construction warnings. I think Yacht Club is having their rooms redone and Boardwalk mentioned touch ups and parking might be an issue. Has anyone noticed any of this would it be a huge inconvenience to pick a resort going through refurbishment?

The Boardwalk is busy from around 5PM until 10PM. It's usually pretty quite after 11PM. We often take walks around the lake loop (of which the boardwalk is part) and there are very few people to be seen. Jelly Rolls can be rowdy at night but it dies down on the early side. Unless you're a super light sleeper it's not going to be an issue. I actually think the standard view rooms are the noisiest because there is generally staff activity in those areas at all hours.

I stayed at Wilderness Lodge when the current DVC conversions began and I stayed at Yacht Club on club level while the lounge was being refurbished. Work was limited to the hours of 9AM-5PM. Effort was made by the workers in both cases to not inconvenience guests, although some of the loud conversations and chit chat were not exactly appropriate for my kids.

 

[DizDaD7]

I would love to hear people's opinions on where they think I should stay for my birthday trip in May with my boyfriend. I keep going back and forth on what's practical and what I really want. I have a couple months to finalize everything, but wanted to hear what people on here thought.

So a little background info. I really really want a king bed. It's my only request. From talking to people on here and doing some research it seems my best bet at getting one is either booking a one bedroom villa or a king bed room from a moderate or the very expensive one at Grand Floridian.

I'm not opposed to staying in a villa. I stayed at Bay Lake Towers for two days before and thought it was really nice. I want to try somewhere new so I wouldn't stay there again. I'm also not sure if it'll detract from the overall deluxe stay feel. When at BLT I didn't like how far it was from the main hotel and all the restaurants and shops.

My dream hotel is Grand Floridian, I've always wanted to stay there. It's just incredibly expensive and the slightly cheaper rooms are all separate from the main building. I'm not sure if the weather at the end of May will be a lot of rain which would make getting to the monorail in a downpour unpleasant.

The majority first two days of my trip are going to be spent at restaurants at Grand Floridian and Magic Kingdom, then the remainder of the trip is Epcot and Hollywood Studios (Mostly Epcot). Would it make sense to stay at the Grand Floridian for the first two nights and then switch to an Epcot resort? The whole trip is only 5 nights. Or should I just pick one of the Epcot resorts? I've never stayed at any of them, is there one that is the best for couples? If I picked one of the villas there would it be a really far walk from everything?

This has gotten really long I apologize and would love to hear what people think!

With only 5 nights, I personally wouldn't S/S...
Crunch the #'s & see if it works out for you at GF... If not I'd go for Either BCV or BWV...The walks to the 2 parks there are a nice plus, & you can also hop on the monorail over to MK.....Also BWV has a dedicated Bus to MK, so no more waiting....

Either that or go for the closeness to MK & GFV, with CR/BLT....Then you'll be close t everything that you're looking 4.

 

[FSU Girl]

I'm actually a very light sleeper so staying near the bar/club would not be ideal. That's good to know that the construction isn't too much of an inconvenience, normally I wouldn't really care but I'm planning on a lot of resort down time.

I've stayed at both the CR and BLT and really liked both, but I want to try a new hotel that I've never been to before. I'm such a Disney fan I feel like I have to experience all the hotels.

 

[fla4fun]

Since my top concern is getting a king bed I'm afraid to make any other request. So if I book a villa with cash they don't usually give you the good rooms?

It's not that you don't get "good" rooms, but that the Boardwalk view villas are usually reserved for points only reservations, not cash reservations. I've stayed at BWV many times on cash reservations and had views of the quiet pool, the feature pool, the garden area that faces the S&D, and the village green area. The only view I haven't had is the parking lot. I have made room requests for top floor, ground floor, lobby level, etc., and my requests have been met. The only thing I wouldn't recommend is asking for a room near the elevators if you are looking for a quiet room, just because of the extra traffic in the hall.

One thing to keep in mind when considering resorts and which ones may be quieter than others, is that 99% of it depends on who your neighbors in the adjoining rooms are. Most of my noise issues have been with other guests, not construction (and I have stayed in a LOT of Disney resorts during rehabs - sometimes you can get a really good rate). People who use their "outdoor" voices indoors, kids bouncing a ball off my door repeatedly while playing in the hallway, people walking and running in the room above me, etc., can make a room in a "quiet" area very noisy indeed. The only time I really experienced construction noise was a few years ago when I stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas. They had the entire floor above me closed for construction and it sounded like they were using a jackhammer on the floor for a couple days, THAT was noisy. I believe most of what they are doing at BWV right now is painting the exterior, which isn't a particularly noisy job.

 

[Jules76126]

I have stayed at both BCV and BWV and I love BCV. We just stayed there last month for a bachelorette party. We stayed in a 1 BR villa and we definitely had a king bed. I also requested a full balcony and it was granted. Our view was of the BCV pool and it was lovely. Although there were guests out there at all times of the day, they were never loud. We were away from the elevators and never had a problem with noise. I find that with the BCV rooms, you don't really hear the hallway noise. The only times we ever heard any other guests was when we were out on the balcony as you could hear guests next door who had their balcony doors open. However, I would expect that at any resort. I personally prefer Stormalong Bay over the Boardwalk pool - that clown is very freaky. And I love the lazy River at SAB. Plus the theme at the BC/YC cannot be beat.

You also mentioned that you are planning on eating many meals in Epcot. The walk from BCV is very short and convenient. We went over all the time. We also had very short waits for the busses to AK/MK as you only share a bus with YC (not like before when bus was shared with all EP resorts - that was a pain). In short, I would totally pick BCV if you are going to be spending a lot of time in EP and at the resort.

 

[dlavender]

Yacht Club was very nice and fun.

Go Noles!

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

It's your birthday, go with the splurge! We love the Grand and the Contemporary is a favorite as well. We recently stayed in a suite at the Coronado and the King bed was to die for, the service was amazing and even though it rained a lot, we stayed dry because our location was so close to the main building that we were covered the entire time

 

[FSU Girl]

I wish it wasn't over a grand a night for the king specific Grand Floridian room otherwise I'd do that hands down lol. Most likely it'll be between the Beach Club Villas or Boardwalk Villas. All of this is very helpful!

 

[justme0729]

That's why I'm strongly leaning towards getting the one bedroom villa since it guarantees a king. I've just always wanted to stay at the Grand Floridian and its next to impossible to get one of their villas. I'm thinking of either risking it and getting a room there or doing the beach club or boardwalk villas.

I thought it would be impossible too but for early June, a one bedroom was available for at least a week after the 7 month mark. Or, you could find someone who owns at Gf and they could book at 11 months out. If you aren't going in October-December, maybe it will be available!