Which Grand Villa?

[sarcasticblonde]

We are considering booking a Grand Villa for next October 2009. It will be a group of people in the their mid-20's...no children. I have a few questions regarding them:

1) Which one have you stayed at and how did you feel about it?

2) Where are the Grand Villas located at BWV, AKL, OKW, SSR? Are there any "handmade" maps with these GVs specifically marked?

3) I know that there are pictures on allears but can people please post their own pictures of the grand villas?

For us, we know that SSR has the most availability, OKW is the cheapest amount of points, BWV are the most limited and AKL is the most aesthetically pleasing. Other than that, we need help making our decision.

(Oh and my fiance owns at OKW and SSR so yes, I know we'd have the 11 month window as opposed to the 7 month at AKL and BWV.)

 

[Dopey Sharon]

We stayed in a Grand Villa at OKW and LOVED it! We were in building 48 right near the South Point bus stop. We loved our location. Here are some pictures:

entry

the living room

the dining room and kitchen

looking down into the livingroom

one of the upstairs bedrooms

bathroom that went with the bedroom above

the third upstairs bedrooms

third bedroom's bathroom

master bedroom

master bath

master bath's jacuzzi

fourth bathroom (downstairs)

huge deck

huge laundry room (off kitchen)

beautiful view

 

[sarcasticblonde]

We stayed in a Grand Villa at OKW and LOVED it! We were in building 48 right near the South Point bus stop. We loved our location.

Thanks for your reply! When did you stay there? Just trying to get an idea of how well kept the OKW villas are. We stayed in a studio at OKW last October and it was somewhat worn looking.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

December 2005. It was in pretty good shape as far as I can remember. If it wasn't, I know I would have remembered that.

I don't remember ever staying in any DVC rooms that weren't in good shape. I guess we've been lucky!

 

[GDUL]

We are considering booking a Grand Villa for next October 2009. It will be a group of people in the their mid-20's...no children. I have a few questions regarding them:

2) Where are the Grand Villas located at BWV, AKL, OKW, SSR? Are there any "handmade" maps with these GVs specifically marked?

Here's a map of OKW. Grand Villa locations are coded in yellow.

 

[Wigit12]

AKV GV @ Jambo have a pool table. Should be fun for 20's groups.
Not sure if there'll be on @ Kidani GV.

 

[jimmacmn]

We are considering booking a Grand Villa for next October 2009. It will be a group of people in the their mid-20's...no children. I have a few questions regarding them:

1) Which one have you stayed at and how did you feel about it?

We have made a number of trips in Grand Villas. Most have been at OKW but we did do SSR in Dec '06. Our latest GV stay was last October. We were in one that overlooked the tee on the island hole on the LBV golf course (bldg 15). The unit was in excellent shape as have all the GVs we have stayed in over the years. Most of our GV trips have been with 2 other couples all 50+ and we had great times.

I really like the OKW units both for the points cost and the space. The SSR units are very elegantly appointed, but we found the master BR to be sadly lacking in storage space for our clothing. Certianly far inferior to the storage at OKW.

The number of GVs is very limited at all of the resorts and the common thinking is that they are all reserved 11 months in advance. That doesn't mean that there won't a GV available at 7 months, but it is very very unlikely. To get a GV, it will probably have to be at your home resort and it will need to be booked the first day you can do the booking.

 

[RAD]

Last October we did a GV at BWV, room 5047. This was a 1 story GV, vs the 2 story ones, it was showing it's age a bit, marks on the wood floor, one of the speakers in the stereo broken, that type of stuff. This GV basically is the entier 5th floor over the Screen Door general store in the red building, kind of nice looking up at it and think it's all ours Many nites we sat on the balcony overlooking the BW and Epcot with a glass of wine and think life doesn't get much better then this.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

I was blessed enough to get an OKW GV at the 8 month window for the last week of January 09. I am renting the ressie, and the DVC owner pretty much told me it would not happen. The next morning I get a call and we are in!!

SWEET!

Good luck, and have a great trip!

 

[dec5girl]

We have stayed in the GV at BWV on the third floor. It is just like the other poster described about the fifth floor being over the entire General Store. It is unique though because it is the only one with two balconies in the Master. It has the front balcony over the Boardwalk, but it also has a small balcony over the courtyard around the corner from the Boardwalk where the stairs go up into the lobby. It's kind of fun to have both views.

The Master Bedroom

The kitchen

Dining room

Living room, entry, dining room

See to the left of the kids, the red section is where the GV is that we were in. You can barely see the one little balcony sticking out on the third floor around the corner in the courtyard.

I have no idea why some of my pics are big and some are small!

Have fun!

 

[Jaaron2]

Great Pics on this post....makes me want to stay at OKW. We are also looking to stay in a GV in Oct 09.....since we never have previously I am very interested to see the responses of those who have.

There will be 9 of us (4 adults 5 kids-13,13,11,9,7)

 

[WDWguru]

I posted this on another thread but got no answers, so since we're talking GV I'm going to temporarily hijack the thread to ask a quick question...

We have a BWV GV booked for October and will have 11 people total. My MIL uses an ECV but not all the time. She can get around and doesn't need full handicap access, but stairs might be an issue.

For those of you who have stayed in the one-level and two-level GVs at BWV - is there a huge difference in the layout? Should I request a one-level? I don't want to say it's for medical reasons in case someone in a wheelchair truly needs the handicap accessible GV while we're there, but I want to make it clear that we really do need it if it's available (if you all think we do). Any opinions?

 

[bonnielynn]

How many does a grand villa hold comfortably?

 

[RAD]

I posted this on another thread but got no answers, so since we're talking GV I'm going to temporarily hijack the thread to ask a quick question...

We have a BWV GV booked for October and will have 11 people total. My MIL uses an ECV but not all the time. She can get around and doesn't need full handicap access, but stairs might be an issue.

For those of you who have stayed in the one-level and two-level GVs at BWV - is there a huge difference in the layout? Should I request a one-level? I don't want to say it's for medical reasons in case someone in a wheelchair truly needs the handicap accessible GV while we're there, but I want to make it clear that we really do need it if it's available (if you all think we do). Any opinions?

IIRC, except for the master bedroom the other two are on the 2nd floor. I'd say to go for the one story unit.

 

[WDWguru]

Thanks RAD!
And bonnielynn, they sleep 12, though that puts two on the pull-out couch in the living room.

 

[bonnielynn]

We have 7 of us (3 couples and a 11 yr old)... we have a 2 bdroom at SSR, but I was thinking the grand villa would give us more room.. Can we fit in the 2 bdroom comfortably?

 

[Jaaron2]

We stayed in a 2 bedroom at SSR (this past Nov) and there was 7 of us as well. 4 adults and 3 kids (11,9,7). We had plenty of room. IMO you will have no problem with space in the 2 bedroom at SSR. The rooms are layed out very nice.

The only issue we did have was the eating area was small. If you plan on eating alot of meals at the room you just need to be prepared for that. They have a small counter that seats 2 and a table that seats about 3.

 

[WDWguru]

IIRC, except for the master bedroom the other two are on the 2nd floor. I'd say to go for the one story unit.

I emailed member services and asked whether I could add the request. They wrote back and indicated there is only ONE single-story GV at BWV and that it is the accessible one. So, I asked them to request it but to note that if someone comes in who truly needs the HA room to give it to them.

 

[RAD]

Sounds like you got a CM that doesn't have the facts straight. As dec5girl said she had a 1 story unit on the 3rd floor, I had a 1 story unit on the 5th, (room 5047). IIRC all the 1 story units are in the red section over the Screen Door general store.

 

[WDWguru]

I actually told them that some people had told me that they had stayed in units on both the 5th and 3rd floors, but whatever. All they're doing is noting a request on the reservation, which will be read by somebody at BWV anyway, so they'll know what to do. It's just a request anyway, so we may not even get it. I'm good with the way it turned out.