Which Villa and why?

[STACEY1378]

We are surprising my children and parents with a trip for September (4 adults and 3 children). This will be my girls 3rd trip and my sons first. There is a medical issue thats why we need a kitchen in a villa. We have stayed at Kadani in 2011 loved it but the bus situatuation was not great( I was prego and it was hot). We waited for over an hr most days but liked being first for the pickups and drop offs. I would love a easier way of transportation to and from the parks. Any comments are appreciated.

 

[jimandami]

If transportation is important to you, I would go for either BCV/BWV so you are in the Epcot area or BLT so you can walk to MK and take the monorail to Epcot. We have stayed at all 3 and enjoyed them!

 

[Wood Nymph]

We are surprising my children and parents with a trip for September (4 adults and 3 children). This will be my girls 3rd trip and my sons first. There is a medical issue thats why we need a kitchen in a villa. We have stayed at Kadani in 2011 loved it but the bus situatuation was not great( I was prego and it was hot). We waited for over an hr most days but liked being first for the pickups and drop offs. I would love a easier way of transportation to and from the parks. Any comments are appreciated.

We have stayed at the Beach Club Villas and loved them. They are a very easy walk into Epcot. There is a boat that takes you to Hollywood Studios and across the bay to the Boardwalk. It can take you to Epcot, too, but the dock is farther than the Epcot gate from the Villas. And the SAB swimming pool is the best pool ever.

 

[letsgoreds]

If sharing bathrooms is a problem, then BLT or AKV-Kidani are your best bets (3 full baths). I LOVE BLT, but it is harder to book. We are staying at AKV-Kidani next Jan. Honestly, the room decor of many of the other villas looks dated to me, especially after staying at BLT with its modern decor.

I have never stayed at BC (would like to sometime), but also love WL (first deluxe resort we stayed in).

Good luck! I don't think you could go wrong with any of them.

 

[nolanboys]

You may also want to consider OKW. Although not next to a park, it is very centrally located to all the parks, so none of the bus rides is bad. Also, the villas are the largest, giving you plenty of room to spread out. We've stayed there twice with 8 people and never felt like we were on top of each other.It is also less expensive than the other villas.

 

[Pakey]

I own at BCV but it would not be my pick with that many people. And except for the walk into the World Showcase, I don't think it's that convenient for park access as you will have shared resort buses to 2 parks and a long walk to the boat dock for DHS.

I'd probably go BLT for the 3rd bathroom or OKW for the larger villa. OKW's 2 bedrooms have such a great floorplan and I love that you get a real dining table that seats a lot of people plus the table/chairs on the balcony. And although you have to bus to all 4 parks from OKW, none of the rides are long and we have always had great service.

 

[twinboysmom]

Hi OP. I would pick your resort based on which parks you believe you will spend the most time (and your budget and availability). BLT is my favorite resort. It has 3 bathrooms like Kidani. We enjoy being able to walk to the MK (much quicker than the monorail) and enjoyed the monorail to Epcot. It was also very easy to take the monorail to other monorail resorts for meals. The BCV and BWV offer easier access to Epcot and DHS. We will not stay at either resort again though because we have had horrible experiences with bus service here. Each time we stayed here we have always shared buses with all of the Epcot resorts (swan, dolphin, YC/BC). I have stroller aged children (and I assume you do as well) and it was a mess.

As for bus wait times, it can happen for sure and each resort will have complaints on these boards. We had stellar bus service when we stayed at Kidani (I was pregnant as well and it was the hottest May on record, go figure). We did have some issues this September as well at BLT. We have also had issues at SSR and then our next stay had perfect bus service so you never know. We did stay at OKW which has huge villas and we did have fantastic bus service there as well but it only offers bus service to parks.

Edited to add: I recommend OKW cautiously because the majority of the buildings do not have elevators and getting stuck on the third floor is no fun with young children. If you stay here then I would request a first floor room if you think it is needed.

 

[GrumpyBelle]

Kidani is my favorite . We have stayed at BWV and loved being able to walk to DHS/EPCOT. The also offer boat transportation to these parks. From EPCOT, you can take the monorail to TTS and to MK.

 

[andrencau]

BLT is great. Its the closest to MK. The best part to me is walking to MK but when kids are exhausted hop on the monorail and it is the first stop.

 

[goofy4tink]

It all depends on what parks you tend to spend the most time in. Here's a breakdown, sort of..
BLT....smallish pool area, quick walk to MK, monorail to Epcot (have to transfer at TTC).

VWL....nice pool area, decent food court if needed, kids seem to love the theming, lobby is incredible (both WL and DVC area), boat to MK, buses everywhere else.

BWV....love, love this resort. Nice pool areas. Boat to both Epcot and DHS. Nice walk around the lake. Walk to Epcot...under 10 mins. Walk to DHS...under 20 mins.

BCV...great pool for kids, nice cheery theming. Quick walk to Epcot...about 6 mins. 20+ walk to DHS. Boats to both.

OKW..larger than normal villas. But I find it to be confusing in there and the car traffic makes it sometimes a bit dangerous.

SSR..have yet to stay here. Far removed from the parks.

Kidani...love this resort as well. The addtl bathroom in the one bedroom villa is a huge plus. And the pool area is terrific.

The buses at all the DVC resorts tend to be less than wonderful. Yes, the BWV buses will also stop at the S/D, and there will be times they will also be combined with the YC/BC guests.

If it were me, and I was looking for a villa for your group, I would recommend either BWV or BCV. It will still be hot in Sept, so the pools will be a huge draw. I like the ability to get to two parks easily. A two bedroom villa will be perfect.....a master bedroom in the one bedroom, with the sleep sofa in the living room. Then the queen bed and the sleep sofa in the attached studio. I would imagine that one set of adults could take the master, the other two the studio with the kids. If one of the kids in under 3, you can use the pack and play as the bed, in that studio. That would keep the living room free from sleepers.

But in all reality?? There are pros and cons to each of the DVC resorts. What some lack for in transportation, they make up for in park proximity. Or some theming may appeal to you while others don't.