I haven't stayed in water view, but I was in the YC standard view in early August. We checked in early (before 11) and despite having made room requests on our reservation (asking for: 1) a room near the lobby, 2) non-parking lot view, 3) full balcony and 4) non-smoking), we got a dark room that was quite a walk from the lobby and with a parking lot view! The room was also not cleaned thoroughly (we noticed hair on the bathroom floor). DM, who planned on staying in the room a lot during the day, was a little unhappy, so we went downstairs to ask for a different room -- one that was brighter and closer to the lobby. Since it was still very early, a nice CM gave us a choice of two standard rooms on the 4th floor that were very close to the elevators. One was overlooking the wedding gazebo and the other overlooked the back entrance and the lagoon. We chose the back entrance view, and it was beautiful. Looking straight out from the balcony, we could see the brick patio with the flowerpots, and all the people coming in and out of the resort. If we stood to one side of the balcony and looked right, we could see the boat dock and lagoon. So standard room views are really the luck of the draw, but it helps to make your requests at check-in and to check in early!