VWL and BWV 4/15 - 4/23 L...O...N...G...

[twotoohappy]

Just back from the House of Mouse and we had a great time!

Arrived at VWL at 10:30am Friday to check into a studio. Asked for top floor, N/S (I have asthma ), and view of pool. We got room 5039. The room was ready upon arrival All requests were met (well it was a stretch over the balcony to see the small pool ). It was a great view. We could see the water parade through the trees at night and the high Wishes fireworks over the top of the lodge at night!! The room was a dedicated studio in great shape. The Cast members were pleasant at check in and I was greeted by Ranger Stan! He's still the friendliest person at Disney in my opinion.

The parks were crowded, but manageable with a fass pass. Monday
night MK closed at Midnight and at 11pm the "mountains" were a walk-on.

The bus service/boat service at VWL was ok. The mornings over to MK were not good. Several days we waited a half an hour to fourty-five min. for a boat. What was happening was that the big boats would go to Fort Wilderness first and then were suppose to come to WL next, but they would fill up and bypass WL. I got a little steamed when 2 large boats went straight to FW and then to MK and we were left stranded. Isn't WL a deluxe? You would think they'd stop there first. Oh well, on the way home WL gets dropped off first.

We ate at LTT, Le Cellier, Chef Mickey's, and RC at DTT. All were good.

We did the hoop dee doo and loved it! We sat center stage, one table back. Got to meet DisneyRon and his son which was a hoot! We also did the Spirit of Aloha dinner and thought it was really good. We got center stage, front row seats. My dd9 loved it. The food was good at both. The chicken was great at HDD and the ribs were wonderful at Aloha. I'd recommend both.

My Sil checked into VWL on Monday and got 5060 the dumpster room. Not a pleasant view. She was only there one night and was just happy that it was N/'S.

Went Horseback riding Tues. am. Lots of fun. I rode Dominoe and my sister got Zeus. Both were well behaved.

Checked into BWV Tues am at 11am for a 1bedroom. I requested N/S, MGM view/ pool view/ high up. Again, the room was ready ! We got room 5089 and loved it! All of my requests were met. I was traveling with my Sil and her twin 1.5 year olds. We found that you could fit both port a cribs in the closet by the jucuzzi! They had their own room and it made for more room for us. The room was immaculate and showed little wear and tear. This was my first trip to BWV and hands down they are the friendliest castmembers ever! I own at VWL and BCV and I wish I had stayed at BWV before buying at BCV because I would have bought BWV instead. The mousekeepers were very friendly and the front desk people were great. On our check out, on of the guys sang us "So long, farewell, etc" as we were leaving. He was too funny!!!! My dd loved the Coaster slide. All the cm were great. I was glad that they were moving people's towels off the chairs because there was at times no place to sit and every chair had a towel on it and nobody was using them. My mom needed a place to sit and watch my dd swim and was happy that a cm removed other peoples towels. I think a half an hour without using the chairs your stuff should be moved. Others may disagree, but I enjoy the policy. They weren't doing it at WL and there were no places to sit by the big pool.

We did an illumations cruise Wed. with another disfamily and had Capt. Jeff and Thurs. with another disfamily and had Capt. Ron. Both Capt. were great. We enjoyed meeting fellow disers. FYI there is no more pick ups for illuminations cruises at BW they are all at BC. The cruises were wonderful, had a great view and no we weren't bothered by smoke or ashes. I hope to get another boat in Aug. to share with a fellow diser.

My only thought now is how long of a wait to get an add on to BWV!
Feel free to ask any questions.

 

[donmil723]

Thanks for your trip report.

I noticed CMs at SAB removing towels from the chairs in March but not every 30 minutes which is a little quick, I think, especially as the weather gets hotter and people are in the pool for longer periods of time. I have always found it more difficult to get a lounge chair at BWV's Luna Park pool than at SAB. I always figured it was because it was smaller and they had fewer chairs.

Glad you had a great time. All these trip reports are making me wish the next 3 weeks would fly by.

Donna

 

[ztam3]

My hubby and I are going to Disney in December for a celebration trip. We are trying to decide between the Wilderness Villas and the Boardwalk Villas. We would want a studio with a King bed and a pull out. We want the pull out for the sofa function not the pull out. Which would you recommend? We love the theming of the Wilderness and we like the location of the Boardwalk. We never mind to wait for transportation so that would not be a problem. I am having a really hard time with this decision. Would you say the room sizes are about the same? Also, do all the rooms at each location have a balcony regardless of the view? I know these are a lot of qustions, but we have only stayed at the OKW villas, so we have no clue. I have visted all the resorts, but not seen the rooms. I know that both of these would be a lot different from the OKW. Any information you may have would be truly appreciated. Also, if you have any pictures of either of the resort rooms, I would love to see them. Glad you enjoyed your trip. THANKS!!

 

[Muushka]

We would want a studio with a King bed and a pull out.

Gosh if they had those we would not have had to add on to our contract!
Sadly, the studios (at VWL, BCV, BWV) have a queen size bed and a sofa bed.

Would you say the room sizes are about the same?

Yes

Also, do all the rooms at each location have a balcony regardless of the view?

Yes, except for 1 studio at VWL (which we got on our very first stay and last stay in a studio due to queen size bed)

Adding that if you plan on staying at either, you better book fast!

 

[ztam3]

Thanks for your quick reply. We are hoping to book this week. Just out of personal opinion. If you were not traveling with children, which would you choose?
THANKS AGAIN!!

 

[Muushka]

Thanks for your quick reply. We are hoping to book this week. Just out of personal opinion. If you were not traveling with children, which would you choose?
THANKS AGAIN!!

We always travel without children-we don't have any! But in honesty, we are partial to VWL, it is where we own. We find it more relaxing than the other DVC resorts (except OKW). And at Christmas, well, really beautiful.
But we are biased!

Happy planning!

 

[tinkgrl]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing!!!! Glad you had a great time!

Ms. Sparrow aka Allison

 

[Granny]

Very glad that you enjoyed your trip so much! We haven't run into that boat waiting problem yet at WL but I can understand why you'd be steamed about long waits and FW seeming to be getting preferential treatment.

You could see EWP through the trees at night? I guess those hurricanes really did thin out the trees around VWL...bummer!

Sounds like a good time was had by all...thanks for sharing your experiences and impressions.

 

[twotoohappy]

You could see EWP through the trees at night? I guess those hurricanes really did thin out the trees around VWL...bummer!

You could see one float clearly at a time and the others were partially obscured by trees. It definately wasn't a clear view. You could see where lots of trees were before. It's more a scattering of trees now instead of the thick wall of trees like before.

 

[newholidayx2]

Welcome back Liz
looking forward to meeting you

 

[twinmomplus2new]

Looks like maybe we were next to you under the bridge for Illuminations! We were there Thursday as well. On the right side of the bridge parked to the left. Where you to the right of us? There seemed to be a full boat over there?

I have to ask you, when did they tell you to get the boat at BC? Becuase we hit major snafus with that. I had called to confirm time and was told to Be at Boardwalk at 8-8 fifteen. Of course they weren't loading at Boardwalk We called the Rec people in a panic and the guy was awful!!!!!! Told us to start running to BC or we would miss the boat. I was soooo MAd. Thankfully our driver was a sweetheart. But the fact is we lost half of our party in the run to BC... It definately was a real bummer!

 

[LIFERBABE]

Thanks for the great Trip Report!!

I think BWV has the best service so far. They were really great when we were there too!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Glad to hear that you had such a nice time!!!

Bobbi

 

[SoCalKDG]

My hubby and I are going to Disney in December for a celebration trip. We are trying to decide between the Wilderness Villas and the Boardwalk Villas. We would want a studio with a King bed and a pull out. We want the pull out for the sofa function not the pull out. Which would you recommend? We love the theming of the Wilderness and we like the location of the Boardwalk. We never mind to wait for transportation so that would not be a problem. I am having a really hard time with this decision. Would you say the room sizes are about the same? Also, do all the rooms at each location have a balcony regardless of the view? I know these are a lot of qustions, but we have only stayed at the OKW villas, so we have no clue. I have visted all the resorts, but not seen the rooms. I know that both of these would be a lot different from the OKW. Any information you may have would be truly appreciated. Also, if you have any pictures of either of the resort rooms, I would love to see them. Glad you enjoyed your trip. THANKS!!

Just back from a trip 4/9 to 4/19 at those two resorts. For us BWV won hands down. Transportation to all 4 parks was quicker, and evenings were a blast on the BW. Now if you love the mountains more than the beach/coast, VWL might be a better choice as they have done a great job giving you that mountain lodge feeling. I was disappointed I didn't like VWL more as I was thinking this would be where I'd get and add-on.

 

[wdwfan1]

VWL is awesome at Christmastime. Book quickly.

 

[twotoohappy]

Looks like maybe we were next to you under the bridge for Illuminations! We were there Thursday as well. On the right side of the bridge parked to the left. Where you to the right of us? There seemed to be a full boat over there?

I have to ask you, when did they tell you to get the boat at BC? Becuase we hit major snafus with that. I had called to confirm time and was told to Be at Boardwalk at 8-8 fifteen. Of course they weren't loading at Boardwalk We called the Rec people in a panic and the guy was awful!!!!!! Told us to start running to BC or we would miss the boat. I was soooo MAd. Thankfully our driver was a sweetheart. But the fact is we lost half of our party in the run to BC... It definately was a real bummer!

I had Capt. Ron that night (We were the boat with the 2 babies) and next to us was Capt Jeff. Jeff was tied to the railing at England. They're both great guys. I called to confirm about a week before we left and they told me then that there were no more boats leaving from the BW that we would have to go to the BC. I had Jeff as a driver the night before, who is TOO FUNNY, and apparently the BW took out the metal boat ties on the dock there. Both nights we got there at 8pm and were on our way soon after. Well except when the boat started to die in the middle of the lake (note to self..... if on an Illuminations cruise you hear a beeping noise... that would be you're losing power and to get ready to swim Jeff handled it great. He got us back to shore before we tossed him overboard

 

[TwingleMum]

Enjoyed your report thanks for sharing.