Final Decision for our first trip home! Need advice please

[jiggerj]

Since this will be our first trip home to the BWV, I decided to change from a studio to a preferred Boardwalk view one bedroom. Do all the BWV rooms have full balconys? Do I have to request it? Really, really would love to have a view of Illuminations at night is that possible and is that something I should request as well? I know that requests are not a given but it doesnt hurt to try! All advice would be so appreciated! I cant wait to stroll out on the Boardwalk and hit the bakery in the am!!

 

[CharlesTD]

From what I have heard on here is that some preffered rooms have a high balcony that is solid and you can't see through it or even over it if you are sitting in a chair on the balcony.

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

I decided to change from a studio to a preferred Boardwalk view one bedroom. Do all the BWV rooms have full balconys? Do I have to request it? Really, really would love to have a view of Illuminations at night is that possible and is that something I should request as well? I know that requests are not a given but it doesnt hurt to try!

I think I may need some clarification from you, but I'll try to answer anyway.

When you say "Full Balcony" I assume you mean a large balcony that spans from the living room to the Bedroom. The answer is no, some 1BR's have 2 separate smaller balconies, one off the Living room and one off the bedroom. I have had both and do prefer the one long one. But just in case you didn't mean that, if you're asking if all the rooms have balconies, the answer is yes, all the rooms have balconies.

The way you worded it has me unsure of what you reserved. When you say "preferred BoradWalk view" did you ensure the ressie is for a "Guaranteed Boardwalk View? If the ressie is for a "Preferred View" at BWV it won't be a Boardwalk view.

If it's not a guaranteed Boardwalk view you may or may not see the Epcot Fireworks from you room, depends on your luck. As you say, it can't hurt to ask for what you want, but some things are just not available as requests. I am pretty sure full size balcony and Illuminations view are in that category. Someone will correct me if I am wrong, no doubt!

One bit of advice I learned from these boards that has helped me tremendously:
Don't get too hung up on the view thing, this will be the first of, hopefully, many great trips to WDW and BWV. If the room isn't "perfect" this time, maybe it will be next time, but it can't always be. You'll have a great time no matter what, BWV is a great resort, my kids and I just love it. 88 more days for us!

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[tamu91]

These 'balconies' are nice but not much room out there. It's barely enough for one person, usually, and two definitely is a crowd IMO

 

[DebbieB]

The way you worded it has me unsure of what you reserved. When you say "preferred BoradWalk view" did you ensure the ressie is for a "Guaranteed Boardwalk View? If the ressie is for a "Preferred View" at BWV it won't be a Boardwalk view.

My reservation for late November reads "1-BEDRM BOARDWALK VIEW".

Our boardwalk view 1 bedroom last year only had a living room balcony and it only had room enough for 2 chairs and a small table. It was very open. I actually prefer the longer closed in ones, more privacy. Plus if it rains you can still sit out.

 

[jiggerj]

I think I may need some clarification from you, but I'll try to answer anyway.

When you say "Full Balcony" I assume you mean a large balcony that spans from the living room to the Bedroom. The answer is no, some 1BR's have 2 separate smaller balconies, one off the Living room and one off the bedroom. I have had both and do prefer the one long one. But just in case you didn't mean that, if you're asking if all the rooms have balconies, the answer is yes, all the rooms have balconies.

The way you worded it has me unsure of what you reserved. When you say "preferred BoradWalk view" did you ensure the ressie is for a "Guaranteed Boardwalk View? If the ressie is for a "Preferred View" at BWV it won't be a Boardwalk view.

If it's not a guaranteed Boardwalk view you may or may not see the Epcot Fireworks from you room, depends on your luck. As you say, it can't hurt to ask for what you want, but some things are just not available as requests. I am pretty sure full size balcony and Illuminations view are in that category. Someone will correct me if I am wrong, no doubt!

One bit of advice I learned from these boards that has helped me tremendously:
Don't get too hung up on the view thing, this will be the first of, hopefully, many great trips to WDW and BWV. If the room isn't "perfect" this time, maybe it will be next time, but it can't always be. You'll have a great time no matter what, BWV is a great resort, my kids and I just love it. 88 more days for us!

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I guess my question concerning the balcony is are they full balconys where you can go outside and sit or are they like the dormer type balconys they have off some of the regular Beach club rooms? I checked out tagrels site that had a fantastic 1 bedroom tour of the BWV's. WOW!!! I have not received my confirmation as of yet but I will check to see if its noted as a guaranteed Boardwalk View. I doubt it since I dont think I was specific. I didnt realize that it could be requested! Thank you for your advice and insite!

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

These 'balconies' are nice but not much room out there. It's barely enough for one person, usually, and two definitely is a crowd IMO

The smaller balonies are not particularly roomy, but the ones that span from the living room to the bedroom are quite large IMO.

 

[jiggerj]

The smaller balonies are not particularly roomy, but the ones that span from the living room to the bedroom are quite large IMO.

Great photo! Thank you so much for posting it, looks wonderful! If you have any more BWV pics please post away! Totally off balcony topic but last May my DH took our 5 yr old swimming for a few hours when we stayed at the BC so I had time to myself so I wandered over to watch Off Kilter which I had never done before. They are great! Really enjoyed the show. When I see your posts with their pic attached makes me smile! So thanks for that too!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Great balcony and great pic, idratherbeinwdw I could def handle that view. I'm assuming it's a standard view because of the parking circle ? This view is even nicer than my preferred view was. Thanks for posting.

We only stayed at BWV once in a PV studio and it had a small balcony which didn't have a cover over it either. It rained most of the week we were there so we didn't use it much, but it was small---maybe 2 people could fit. Are the balconies for the 1 bedrooms larger than the studios ? Just curious.

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

You're right, chances are unless you asked you won't have a guaranteed BW view. You can call and see if it's still available for the time you are going. If it's not, and it's important to you to get a BW view, ask to be waitlisted for one. You'll keep the ressie you have, but if the BW view becomes available MS will let you know. Preferred and BW views are the same amount of points, so you have nothing to lose by waitlisting.

I can promise you a balcony you can actually stand on, but I can't promise the size. Out of 4 trips to BWV I got the long balcony that spanned from the LR to the BR 3 times, and two smaller ones once. As you can see, Debbie B posted she got only one small balcony with a 1 BR she stayed in. I'm sure eventually it will be my turn to get a room like that, but so far I've been fairly lucky. To answer Maria--I can't see how a Studio would have enough room outside for a large balcony without encroaching on the next room--but I've been wrong before LOL. You are 100% correct about the balcony pic being a standard view. Many folks won't stay anywhere but Boardwalk view, and I respect their preference/opinion, but I am quite happy with the standard view and more than happy to save the points.

Here's a link for info on the BW rooms, thanks to instimpres. You'll need adobe acrobat reader to view this:
http://members.aol.com/InstImpres/boardwalk.pdf

Woohoo Jiggerj, another off kilter fan! Do you know about this site, much better than the official one:
http://groups.msn.com/OffKilterShrine/home.msnw

And you asked for pictures, I have a bunch of good sites saved, here you go:

From Unofficial (but excellent) Sites (and yeah, isn't the tagrel stuff great?):

http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/wdwguide/4_Accommodations/BW_photo_tour.htm


http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/g_bwv.htm

http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/asp/costcalc.asp?pageFunction=researcher&year=&resId=BWV&submit1=go! (Be sure not to miss the 360 tour on this page, it's great)

My own personal pics, lots of BWV and Off Kilter, this link will get you to BWV pics, but if you click around you can get to the other ones too:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/idratherbeinwdw/album?.dir=f444&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

Forgot to say--Maria your pictures are great! I finally took the time to click on the link in your signature and I am glad I did. I particularly liked the one of the guys in the pool at BWV, everyone looks so happy.

 

[jiggerj]

Wow! Thanks so much for all links to the pics idratherbeinwdw!!! Im in heaven!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Forgot to say--Maria your pictures are great! I finally took the time to click on the link in your signature and I am glad I did. I particularly liked the one of the guys in the pool at BWV, everyone looks so happy.

Thanks, idratherbeinwdw ! Glad you enjoyed them. There had been a horrendous thunder and lightening storm just about 90 min before I took this pic. We had just checked in that day and the kids couldn't wait to get into the pool....so as soon as the weather cleared up, they were jumping in