Boardwalk 1BR Villa or Beach/Yacht 1BR Villa?

[jjbuster2]

I'm sure they are both really great properties but this may be the last Disney trip for a while and I want it to be as fabulous as possible so any details/advise is so appreciated. We are thinking of renting points and hoping to hit the tail end of Food & Wine November 2016.

A little history: Family of three. Have been going to WDW since daughter was 3...13 trips, maybe (a little embarrassing when you count out loud ). Have been for many F&W + Halloween parties (favorite time of year), once at Valentine's, once on Thanksgiving, once near Christmas, once on hubby birthday (September), several during spring (anywhere from March to May)...But this would be the first ever daughter's birthday trip (she'll be turning 15...what happened to my baby!). Past resorts include: long ago a studio DVC at Old Key West, 1 at AKL, a couple at POP, 1 CBR, 1 WL, and everything else at POFQ...love that one (small resort, price difference b/w Moderate and Deluxe...I could go on).

But this will be a lot of F&W activities so we'd like to be close (walking distance) to EPCOT, a 1 BR would give us lots of space, and we like it to be special since I'll be retiring the following May (we'll have to count our pennies for future trips )...so any details about the pools/slides, rooms, good (and bad) buildings for location at each resort, how's the boat transport; we know the buses are a bit lacking but we will have a car and the monorail for Epcot to MK. Any help would be great!

 

[mbtohill]

We've stayed in a 1bdr at the BC a number of times with our 2 DD's. The resort is in my humble opinion the BEST! Stormaway Bay is hands down the best pool complex on property from the sandy bottom to the water slide and it is HUGE!! The villas are very nice, the one bedroom is plenty big for a family of 3.

As far as location you already know you can't get any closer to EPCOT, and for F&W it's perfect. My wife and I have stayed at BC in a studio for F&W and it's ideal.

The boat transportation to Hollywood Studios is very nice. Just one stop at Swan & Dolphin and you're there. We always have a car but have taken the bus to MK on occasion and it's always been a short wait.

I can't think of an argument against the BC, especially if you are going to do " a lot of F&W activities"

ENJOY

 

[jjbuster2]

Thanks for the info on Beach. I know you're thinking "a lot of F&W activities" is just drinking but we eat the food too! There will be beer and wine sampled by me and the hubby but usually we all end up with a favorite food dish. One year the leek soup at the Ireland stand was awesome (and the next year there was something different because it was gross), and one of the last times we did F&W there was a pot sticker in China that was to die for. We even got DD to try a few new things (everyone agreed the Polish doughnut was just plain nasty) but last time she would have eaten 50$ worth of some kind of chicken on a stick in China and the time before that there was a pound cake at the champagne and dessert stand that she wanted to eat her weight in.

Seriously the pool is a big factor so I'll tell them what you said.

 

[mbtohill]

Thanks for the info on Beach. I know you're thinking "a lot of F&W activities" is just drinking but we eat the food too! There will be beer and wine sampled by me and the hubby but usually we all end up with a favorite food dish. One year the leek soup at the Ireland stand was awesome (and the next year there was something different because it was gross), and one of the last times we did F&W there was a pot sticker in China that was to die for. We even got DD to try a few new things (everyone agreed the Polish doughnut was just plain nasty) but last time she would have eaten 50$ worth of some kind of chicken on a stick in China and the time before that there was a pound cake at the champagne and dessert stand that she wanted to eat her weight in.

Seriously the pool is a big factor so I'll tell them what you said.

That is the beauty of F&W, you get to try SO many things, good and not so good. Haven't taken our daughters yet, but we take them to Flower & Garden and they get a taste (no pun intended) of what F&W is like.

If the pool is a big factor then the Beach Club is a NO BRAINER!

 

[TXDisney]

BC villa for us. My last 2 stays have been at boardwalk and bc. Bc was way better for us. Stormalong bay is worth it in itself. The convenience to Epcot is equal, and we surprisingly didn't do things on the boardwalk as much as we thought.

 

[JohnWD]

We stay at the BWV and always get a BW view. We love the view of the Epcot fireworks, plus people watching, especially the games. That said, the BC pool is the best. So it just depends on what you want - both are great!

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

We stay at the BWV and always get a BW view. We love the view of the Epcot fireworks, plus people watching, especially the games. That said, the BC pool is the best. So it just depends on what you want - both are great!

You can see the EPCOT fireworks? Or just part of it?

 

[jjbuster2]

You can probably see fireworks a whole lot better from the Boardwalk than my last "fireworks view" room.

We were checking in to WL that one time and the girl at check in was like "oh, you should have a nice view of MK fireworks from your room". We had not paid for any kind of a view so I was like "ok, great, bonus". So one night we were actually in the room early and saw the fireworks...kind of. You could see little bits of light through the tall, TALL trees. It was probably a great view 20+ years ago...

 

[DisDadWoz]

If the pool is most important then go for the Beach 1br. The BWV pool is good and the slide is growing on my two daughters but still not as fun as stormalong. We have had Boardwalk views with a high floor and you do get a decent viewing of fireworks, but still not the same as being there. We walk to HS from both resorts so the few extra steps you save at Boardwalk is nice too. If you do take the boat you can also get off at the Swan/Dolphin and just walk across the bridge.

 

[jjbuster2]

I think I am leaning to the Beach Club...I may have to sway DD with online pictures of the pools.

 

[sgtmgd]

Boardwalk is our favorite resort but if pool is a factor Beach club wins with storm along bay...which is why we are staying there vs the Boardwalk in December

 

[JohnWD]

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You can see the EPCOT fireworks? Or just part of it?

 

[jjbuster2]

Boardwalk is our favorite resort but if pool is a factor Beach club wins with storm along bay...which is why we are staying there vs the Boardwalk in December

I think I'm a little afraid that with my luck, we'd get a 2nd floor right above Big River Grille or some other busy establishment.

 

[sgtmgd]

I think I'm a little afraid that with my luck, we'd get a 2nd floor right above Big River Grille or some other busy establishment.

Boardwalk view rooms are FANTASTIC, sitting on your balcony as the sun sets or rises watching the activities are amazing views, we had a few rooms right above the bakery, Cat Coras(when it was Cat Coras) and the like you wont hear any more noise in your room.