Just got back from a 7 night stay at WBC booked via Vacation Strategies. I'll jump to the chase, that everything went beautifully.
Now some details...
First, let me thank everyone that posted their honest reviews not only of WBC, but of VS as well. About 8 months ago I stumbled across WBC, and requested a price via VS. They were great. But I mentioned my skepticism that I could get such a great place for $100/night (2BR), so they pointed me to this thread. I then read 1000/s of posts, and felt comfortable booking.
Things went very smooth. Paid my deposit when I booked, then the rest 30 days before our arrival date. They even called me 1 week before arrival to see if I had any questions.
Now about WBC...
Arrived on Saturday 9/27 around 1pm and didn't have to wait for check in, but I didn't get my room until around 3pm. I told the clerk that I knew they didn't take requests, but asked for high up, and a view of the lake. Ended up in room 1003 (10th floor, bldg 6) overlooking the pirate pool. It was very nice. I decided I'd brave the sales pitch, and get my parking pass and welcome packet. It was not a big deal. Yes, they were persistent, but they were also polite. I just kept things real light (smiling, etc) and was 100% honest and said I wasn't interested. After I declined the $150 gift cert, the breakfast, and the lunch, she handed me the packet.
The room is great. You know the saying "happy wife, happy life", well my wife was happy. She's frugal, and told me that we'd never stay on-site again (stayed at both WL and Poly) because the prices have gone so high (400+/night for Poly) that there was no "magic" in that. About the "magic", I agree that not being on-site does lessen the overall experience, but for me, that's comparing it to the Poly. I suspect staying at a "bus only" resort would be just about the same as having your own car. (BTW, I used Priceline and got a great deal on the rental). And I need to add something I don't see much on this thread...we spent 2 days at Universal, so the Disney busing wouldn't have helped up. This made WBC even more of a perfect choice. Sure, if $$ was no matter, I'd stay at the Poly every time, but for me, it does matter. Even more so this time, as my parents came alone, and that would have meant a 2nd room if I stayed on site.
Regarding the room itself, the only hic-ups were: 1) the door key reader stopped recognizing our key, and they had to replace it, and 2) there wasn't a blow dryer in either of the bathrooms (we managed without).
The positives included the size, and 2 bedrooms/bathrooms, the pools (all of them), and we even had pizza one night from the on-site place (thanks for the tip to not use the coupon that was slid under our door). We all agreed the prices was "reasonable", considering, and tasted pretty good. An added perk was that since bldg 6 is right next to bldg 5 (which was being renovated) there was alway plenty of parking, so we never had to use the garage, even when coming back late at night. We say no bugs the whole week. And I did notice those dust mite covers on the mattress and most pillows. That was a nice touch. We also went to a water park one day, and used the towels from WBC. Saved us $2/person, not having to rent towels at the park.
Another thing I really liked was eating breakfast in the room. Not only is it more economical, but things just go smoother. When we stayed on-site, we'd have to goto the resort's restaurant (which could take some time) or got the counter service, where's it's sort of a madhouse, then back to the room to regroup, then to the bus stop. At WBC, we just got up, had breakfast, then when to the car...easy peasy.
I forgot to add that the elevators are great. 6 of them, and they are fast. Strangely, I guess because the 10th floor is in the middle, many times when going down, we'd press the button and the elevator would be right on our floor...very nice.
We'd definitely (and will) stay there again.