Mike
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 23, 1999
We just completed our first stay as DVC members. We stayed the first 7 nights at our home resort OKW and then moved over to the BCV for the final 5 nights. It was me, DW, DD10, DS8, and DS3 and we stayed in a 1BR unit. Overall, the trip was great but we seemed to run into a lot of technical difficulties at the parks (more on that later).
OKW was absolutely beautiful and the room was larger than I had expected. We stayed in 1825 and had an excellent golf and water view and we could see the new slide off in the distance. We had an easy walk to the Millers Rd. bus stop and the walk to the HH area and pool was only about 5 minutes. I thought this was a great location.
The room was in fantastic condition and the grounds were lovely. It was a very relaxing stay. We found the bus transportation to be excellent when we used it although I still prefer to drive. Only once did we wait a long time for the OKW bus at Epcot. We decided to skip IllumiNations to get a jump on the crowd and we got to the bus stop at about 8:25. The bus didnt show up until 9:10. We were actually watching the fireworks from the bus stop.
The pool slide was a lot of fun but the rest of the pool was ok not much to it. We ate at Olivias one night. The food was pretty good but the service was average at best. I dont think our waiter was having a good night. In fact, the first and only time he was pleasant was when he brought the bill. The kids loved the community hall especially during the rain storms. All in all I was very happy with OKW.
We checked out on Sunday and used bell services to transfer our luggage to the BCV. This did not go as smoothly as I had anticipated keep reading. I checked in around 10:00am and was told that my request of upper floor facing Epcot could not be met. I was given the choice of a pool view on the 2nd floor which was available right away or I could wait for a smoking optional wooded view on the 4th floor. I took the pool view because it was ready. While waiting in line to register a CM was walking around asking if he could answer any questions for us in line. The guy behind me said you dont want my opinion right now and I immediately thought about all of the threads here a while back about problems at the BCV. It turns out that this guy had used his points for some of his employees to stay at the BCV. They all checked out before him and all of their room charges ended up on his bill. He was not happy. I didnt stick around to see how it ended but the manager was being called.
We went up to our room and my first impression was that I should have been wearing 3D glasses because I had just entered WDWs latest attraction Honey I Shrunk the Room. I was not prepared for the size difference between OKW and BCV. I knew it would be smaller but . I made a comment to my wife about being able to sit out on the balcony and grab a beer from the fridge without moving. She said you dont even drink beer what are you talking about. I told her that a wise man I once knew made that statement.
The room was in ok shape a couple of loose handles on the cabinets and light switches that werent working. The mattresses on the King bed and pull out were terrible. I was very disappointed about that. We got an egg crate for the pullout but it was still bad.
We returned to our room and called for our luggage at 7:00 pm. They couldnt find it and said they would call back. About 20 minutes later I got a call saying that the luggage was not there it was logged as being delivered from OKW and then logged as being delivered to our room. The CM assured me it was not in the luggage room as he had checked several times. I asked if that meant it was in another guests room and he said that was very possible and he was going to check guests with similar names. I was not happy about this at all but I remained calm. About an hour later the luggage was brought up to our room and the only explanation I was given was that it was moved to a different area in the luggage room and not logged properly. No big deal but it was an interesting 90 minutes.
I warmed up to the BCV as the week went on. I never did get over the room size but the location was great (especially the short walk to Epcot) and the pool was fabulous a real hit with the kids. We got the Kitchen Sink at B&C and we ate at Cape May for dinner and breakfast. The new Marketplace is nice too. We will continue to split our stays between OKW and BCV in the future although I am bit nervous about next years trip when we will have 8 people in a 2BR. The common area in the BCV 2BR may be a problem.
Now to the technical difficulties at the parks . We seemed to hit our fair share and then some on this trip. At one time or another, the following attractions were shut down due to technical difficulties the new stunt show (twice), the backlot tour, Tower of Terror, Its a small World, Cinderellabration, Pooh, and Test Track. In addition, the gates at the International Gateway entrance to Epcot were not working one night. After making us stand there and wait in a crowd for about 10 minutes, they finally decided to just let everybody go in (it was 8:00pm). Another thing was that the pool pumps at Stormalong Bay were not functioning so they were not able to cool the water. The water temp was 93 deg and the lifeguard told me the normally keep it at 86. Lastly, all of the change machines in the arcade were not functioning correctly on one night which created a run on quarters at the front desk and the Marketplace. The CM I went to at the Marketplace was going to give me $10 in quarters until his manager yelled at him right in front of me to not sell her quarters. He apologized and gave me $3 instead.
We had a great time and are already looking forward to our next trip. Staying at a DVC resort was heaven compared to our previous experiences at the moderates, Wilderness Lodge and the Holiday Inn Family Suites. We spent more time at the resort than we normally do and we really enjoyed them. I am very happy that I finally bought my DVC contract.
I'd be happy to answer any questions ....
OKW was absolutely beautiful and the room was larger than I had expected. We stayed in 1825 and had an excellent golf and water view and we could see the new slide off in the distance. We had an easy walk to the Millers Rd. bus stop and the walk to the HH area and pool was only about 5 minutes. I thought this was a great location.
The room was in fantastic condition and the grounds were lovely. It was a very relaxing stay. We found the bus transportation to be excellent when we used it although I still prefer to drive. Only once did we wait a long time for the OKW bus at Epcot. We decided to skip IllumiNations to get a jump on the crowd and we got to the bus stop at about 8:25. The bus didnt show up until 9:10. We were actually watching the fireworks from the bus stop.
The pool slide was a lot of fun but the rest of the pool was ok not much to it. We ate at Olivias one night. The food was pretty good but the service was average at best. I dont think our waiter was having a good night. In fact, the first and only time he was pleasant was when he brought the bill. The kids loved the community hall especially during the rain storms. All in all I was very happy with OKW.
We checked out on Sunday and used bell services to transfer our luggage to the BCV. This did not go as smoothly as I had anticipated keep reading. I checked in around 10:00am and was told that my request of upper floor facing Epcot could not be met. I was given the choice of a pool view on the 2nd floor which was available right away or I could wait for a smoking optional wooded view on the 4th floor. I took the pool view because it was ready. While waiting in line to register a CM was walking around asking if he could answer any questions for us in line. The guy behind me said you dont want my opinion right now and I immediately thought about all of the threads here a while back about problems at the BCV. It turns out that this guy had used his points for some of his employees to stay at the BCV. They all checked out before him and all of their room charges ended up on his bill. He was not happy. I didnt stick around to see how it ended but the manager was being called.
We went up to our room and my first impression was that I should have been wearing 3D glasses because I had just entered WDWs latest attraction Honey I Shrunk the Room. I was not prepared for the size difference between OKW and BCV. I knew it would be smaller but . I made a comment to my wife about being able to sit out on the balcony and grab a beer from the fridge without moving. She said you dont even drink beer what are you talking about. I told her that a wise man I once knew made that statement.
The room was in ok shape a couple of loose handles on the cabinets and light switches that werent working. The mattresses on the King bed and pull out were terrible. I was very disappointed about that. We got an egg crate for the pullout but it was still bad.
We returned to our room and called for our luggage at 7:00 pm. They couldnt find it and said they would call back. About 20 minutes later I got a call saying that the luggage was not there it was logged as being delivered from OKW and then logged as being delivered to our room. The CM assured me it was not in the luggage room as he had checked several times. I asked if that meant it was in another guests room and he said that was very possible and he was going to check guests with similar names. I was not happy about this at all but I remained calm. About an hour later the luggage was brought up to our room and the only explanation I was given was that it was moved to a different area in the luggage room and not logged properly. No big deal but it was an interesting 90 minutes.
I warmed up to the BCV as the week went on. I never did get over the room size but the location was great (especially the short walk to Epcot) and the pool was fabulous a real hit with the kids. We got the Kitchen Sink at B&C and we ate at Cape May for dinner and breakfast. The new Marketplace is nice too. We will continue to split our stays between OKW and BCV in the future although I am bit nervous about next years trip when we will have 8 people in a 2BR. The common area in the BCV 2BR may be a problem.
Now to the technical difficulties at the parks . We seemed to hit our fair share and then some on this trip. At one time or another, the following attractions were shut down due to technical difficulties the new stunt show (twice), the backlot tour, Tower of Terror, Its a small World, Cinderellabration, Pooh, and Test Track. In addition, the gates at the International Gateway entrance to Epcot were not working one night. After making us stand there and wait in a crowd for about 10 minutes, they finally decided to just let everybody go in (it was 8:00pm). Another thing was that the pool pumps at Stormalong Bay were not functioning so they were not able to cool the water. The water temp was 93 deg and the lifeguard told me the normally keep it at 86. Lastly, all of the change machines in the arcade were not functioning correctly on one night which created a run on quarters at the front desk and the Marketplace. The CM I went to at the Marketplace was going to give me $10 in quarters until his manager yelled at him right in front of me to not sell her quarters. He apologized and gave me $3 instead.
We had a great time and are already looking forward to our next trip. Staying at a DVC resort was heaven compared to our previous experiences at the moderates, Wilderness Lodge and the Holiday Inn Family Suites. We spent more time at the resort than we normally do and we really enjoyed them. I am very happy that I finally bought my DVC contract.
I'd be happy to answer any questions ....
