BWV room request

[tom1944]

We will be staying at BWV in August and I figured we would take the boat to both Epcot and HS.

Is there a certain area of BWV that I would request for easier access/distance to the boat?

TIA

 

[aceshigh73]

Anything near the lobby (village green view) is very close. Take elevator to the first floor (pool/gym level), then go out doors, take a right thru the “tunnel/walkway” towards village green and walk to boats

Edit to say this is assuming u have a pool/garden view.

 

[BlueGreen5]

We will be staying at BWV in August and I figured we would take the boat to both Epcot and HS.

Is there a certain area of BWV that I would request for easier access/distance to the boat?

TIA

We have stayed at BWV many times over the years. The only "more convenient" rooms to EPCOT/HS are either the rooms on the first floor or the rooms nearest the elevator. Slightly less convenient than those rooms would be rooms nearest the stairs, if you are a stairs person.

The lobby is on the second floor. Bus transportation is on the second floor (so, if MK or AK are in your plans, the second floor will be slightly more convenient). The boats, walking paths to EPCOT/HS, boardwalk, pools, gym, and arcade are on the first floor. There is only one bank of elevators.

With all of that said, our personal choice is to pick the room we want, not the room that's most convenient. For example, we had no regrets staying at the end of the hall on the fifth (top) floor during busy season for the view. Sometimes things like "long hallways" and "few elevators" aren't nearly as dramatic as people make them to seem.

IMO, unlike many resorts, the location of every room at Boardwalk is a bit unique and has pros and cons. It's hard to say that there are rooms that are universally considered "better."

 

[tom1944]

We have stayed at BWV many times over the years. The only "more convenient" rooms to EPCOT/HS are either the rooms on the first floor or the rooms nearest the elevator. Slightly less convenient than those rooms would be rooms nearest the stairs, if you are a stairs person.

The lobby is on the second floor. Bus transportation is on the second floor (so, if MK or AK are in your plans, the second floor will be slightly more convenient). The boats, walking paths to EPCOT/HS, boardwalk, pools, gym, and arcade are on the first floor. There is only one bank of elevators.

With all of that said, our personal choice is to pick the room we want, not the room that's most convenient. For example, we had no regrets staying at the end of the hall on the fifth (top) floor during busy season for the view. Sometimes things like "long hallways" and "few elevators" aren't nearly as dramatic as people make them to seem.

IMO, unlike many resorts, the location of every room at Boardwalk is a bit unique and has pros and cons. It's hard to say that there are rooms that are universally considered "better."

We are doing a split stay this trip. While at BWV the plan is 2 Epcot days and 1 HS day.

I figured my 5 year old granddaughters would enjoy the boat rides to the park instead of walking.

 

[CarolynFH]

We are doing a split stay this trip. While at BWV the plan is 2 Epcot days and 1 HS day.

I figured my 5 year old granddaughters would enjoy the boat rides to the park instead of walking.

Because there’s only one bank of elevators, “near elevators” would be the request that serves for “near boat dock.” When you exit the elevators on the ground floor, you can turn right and walk through the breezeway to the BW boat dock that’s on the walkway to Epcot. Or you can turn left and walk through the Luna Park pool area to the bridge over to Swan/Dolphin and catch the boat there to DHS. Same boat both places, but if you’re going to DHS the boat will go from BW to Yacht & Beach and then to Swan & Dolphin and finally to DHS, so catching it at Swan & Dolphin might save a little time. That said, DH and I always catch the boat at the BW dock, because we enjoy the ride and aren’t in a hurry to get to the park!

ETA: there are relatively few BW villas that are truly “near elevators,” so be prepared to walk if you don’t get one. And if you end up on the far back wing near the tennis courts, if walking down stairs is at all possible, take the stairway at the end of the hall, and you’ll be halfway to DHS already. No boat needed, except on the journey home.

 

[tom1944]

Because there’s only one bank of elevators, “near elevators” would be the request that serves for “near boat dock.” When you exit the elevators on the ground floor, you can turn right and walk through the breezeway to the BW boat dock that’s on the walkway to Epcot. Or you can turn left and walk through the Luna Park pool area to the bridge over to Swan/Dolphin and catch the boat there to DHS. Same boat both places, but if you’re going to DHS the boat will go from BW to Yacht & Beach and then to Swan & Dolphin and finally to DHS, so catching it at Swan & Dolphin might save a little time. That said, DH and I always catch the boat at the BW dock, because we enjoy the ride and aren’t in a hurry to get to the park!

ETA: there are relatively few BW villas that are truly “near elevators,” so be prepared to walk if you don’t get one. And if you end up on the far back wing near the tennis courts, if walking down stairs is at all possible, take the stairway at the end of the hall, and you’ll be halfway to DHS already. No boat needed, except on the journey home.

We can easily take the stairs.

Thank you for this information.

 

[CarolynFH]

We can easily take the stairs.

Thank you for this information.

That’s good, because it opens up the possibility of walking in the air conditioned hallway to a stairway and exit door, bypassing various lengths of outdoor walkways! Some of the exit doors are one-way out, but others have tap points so you can enter that way, too, and make your way back to your villa out of the heat and humidity - even if you walk to the elevator to take you up instead of climbing the stairs.

 

[BlueGreen5]

We are doing a split stay this trip. While at BWV the plan is 2 Epcot days and 1 HS day.

I figured my 5 year old granddaughters would enjoy the boat rides to the park instead of walking.

That sounds wonderful! Enjoy!

 

[crisi]

We love Boardwalk, its home, but it has a huge issue in "convenient" rooms. Boardwalk level rooms are not on the lobby level, lobby level rooms are a story above the Boardwalk and pool. One set of elevators near the lobby. Boat on Boardwalk level (along with the walkway to Epcot and DS), bus stop out the front door on the lobby level. Five floors from the Boardwalk to the top level. We take the stairs a lot, but that isn't great for anyone who has a stroller or can't take the flights of stairs up to their room (fifth floor can get rough for us). And Boardwalk has been the absolute worst in meeting any requests - in 20+ years of stays we've had a request met ONCE.

Since you can take stairs, I'd figure out where stairs are convenient to your room and then ask for something on a lower floor.

 

[kboo]

IMO, unlike many resorts, the location of every room at Boardwalk is a bit unique and has pros and cons. It's hard
to say that there are rooms that are universally considered "better."

I totally agree with this. If you have a pool/garden view, one of my favorite views is of the village green: its super close to the elevators, it's almost a boardwalk view, and because it's convenient to the elevators, it's easy to the boardwalk, shops, boat dock, etc.

ETA: there are relatively few BW villas that are truly “near elevators,” so be prepared to walk if you don’t get one. And if you end up on the far back wing near the tennis courts, if walking down stairs is at all possible, take the stairway at the end of the hall, and you’ll be halfway to DHS already. No boat needed, except on the journey home.

This is so true! We are out of strollers, at last, so last summer, we had one of the rooms facing the parking lot/tennis courts at the end. We used the elevators when checking in/out with luggage, but the rest of the time we used the stairs. It's the closest walk to the bus stop (won't matter for you, but was great when going to AK and MK), also a very short walk to both pools, and shortest walk in AC to DHS. It was a really noticeable difference. We are too impatient to take the boat, but as @CarolynFH has said, if you catch it coming from DHS and get off at the Swolphin stop, you're a short walk on the boardwalk back to your resort. I think the family and I tested a few routes and if you walk on to the boat and it's *right there*, it is faster than walking. Otherwise, a moderate walk speed is faster. Walking is *definitely* faster than taking the boat all the way to the BW stop. Both are faster than the skyliner when staying at BWV, but it's a fun trip, so we've done that too.

In short: if you are in p/g view, "village green/near elevator" is the shortest walk to Epcot, and a fine walk to DHS. If you want to cut short the walk to DHS and don't mind a longer walk to Epcot, we liked the end of the hall by the tennis courts.

BWV is one of our favorite DVC resorts, even though the layout and kitchen are not our favorite. (Much prefer the door to the second bedroom near the front door rather than in the living room.) We can't wait to stay there after the refurb; right now seems to be the plan to stay in every DVC at the latest possible time *before* refurb starts (going to BLT in late August, woot!)