This past June, our extended family took a fabulous vacation to Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, the new Disney Vacation Club resort that opened in 2009. Our family had purchased points in DVC in June, 2010, and this was the first time we had stayed at at DVC resort. Let me tell you, we were not disappointed by Bay Lake Tower! Let’s take a look at the Pros and Cons of staying at Disney’s Bay Lake Tower at Contemporary Resort!
Pros:
- BLT is a brand new 16 story modern resort. On the top floor they have the Top of the World Lounge, a special dining and rooftop viewing location for the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. We were fortunate enough to stay in room 8141, which was on the south side of the building, with a lake view, overlooking the pool area. This photo at the beginning is one of the shots of the pool that I took off of our balcony.
- Being a DVC Resort, it falls under the class of room categorized as Deluxe Villas. Our 2 bedroom suite was huge, had 3 full bathrooms, two balconies, a full kitchen, and a washer and dryer. We were able to sleep nine with no problems!
- The pool is a zero entry pool, and was a lot of fun. The slide on the right side of the pool is great, and was something that we did time and time again!
- BLT has a special walkway over to the Contemporary Resort. Called the Skyway, it is a great way to get over to the Contemporary to get some food, catch the monorail, buy some gifts, and just hang out.
- Lastly, the Top of the World Lounge is, as I mentioned previously, a great place to watch the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. They even pipe over the music of the show for you to enjoy. This special venue is only available to people that are staying at Bay Lake Tower.
Cons:
- Because it is a DVC resort, within walking distance of the Magic Kingdom, staying at Bay Lake Tower can be quite expensive if you don’t have points to use. If I wanted to get a 2 bedroom suite at BLT for our next vacation in June for one week, the quoted price on the DisneyWorld.com website is $7,403 for a Lake View (add $800+ dollars for a Theme Park view!)
- One thing to keep in mind is that Bay Lake Tower, other than the lounge at the top of the resort, doesn’t have any amenities directly in the building for food. All of the restaurants are the ones located at the Contemporary Resort. This isn’t a big deal to me, but it might be to some people.
- Because it is located next to the Contemporary Resort, BLT does not have any intricate theming associated with it. It is intentionally modern, and while it’s not a deal breaker for me by any stretch, it is still something that I missed when we stayed in June.
We had a great time staying at Bay Lake Tower, and will consider staying there again. How many of the Chip & Company readers have stayed at BLT? What did you think of it?
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We just returned from a 10 day stay at BLT.We were less than impressed with our stay,and quite frankly the bloom has fallen off the Disney rose for us.
For a brand new facility,it seemed that the carpet,at least in our room was quite worn.The layout was a little strange,and it was funny that the pantry,and the bathroom were side by side,not opposite of each other.The bed was suppose to be Queen sized,but was more the size of a double bed.There are 16 floors in BLT,but only 3 ice machines? Does that seem possible? The staff there for the most part seemed clueless to even the most simple things.We couldn’t get a clear answer on where to take the shuttle bus for a special early morning Africa Trek at Animal Kingdom,after asking 4 concierge employees so we just assumed it was in the normal bus area,and we were right.For every problem we encountered,when we lucky enough to find someone in the tiny BLT lobby,they referred us to The Contemporary.
Did I mention the bugs? there were bugs EVERYWHERE! We were not able to use our balcony at all.We had a great view of the lake,but the few times we ventured out there the room filled with flying bugs swarming in.The bugs also infiltrated the lobby,the elevators,ect.One night we asked the BLT staff what we could do about it,and they told us to call the Contemporary and they would send someone over to vacuum.
I will add a couple positive comments,just so I’m not labeled as a complete”Grumpy”.
The walk to MK was nice,and to be able to do it at any hour of the day or night was special.Just being able to do that opened up a lot of variables for transportation to and from other resorts,and parks.The other resorts we visited were very nice,and I think it’s Old Key West for the next trip in September. The dining,as usual,was spectacular.New favorites include Artist Point,and Yachsmans Steakhouse.If you dare try the 24oz. porterhouse,and ask for Sam,he is the BEST waiter in WDW!
We joined DVC in June with Kidani Village being our home resort. It was a diificult decision, because I absolutely LOVE the idea of being in walking distance to MK. The theming and pool area of Kidani (very narrowly) won out in the end tho – just not as into the modern look of BLT, but it’s something that I’m sure we’ll try at some point.
As DVC members, BLT is our home resort. We have only stayed there once and it was 2 years ago just after it opened. We were very impressed. I agree with all of the pros listed above. Being in walking distance to Magic Kingdom is awesome. Being on the monorail is also great, having access to EPCOT as well as the other resorts. We had no problem with no food facilities in the BLT building. We bought some supplies as the rooms have at least some form of kitchen. It was about 5 minutes from leaving our door to getting into the Contemporary resort where there are many options for food. I would highly recommend staying here if you get the chance. We can’t wait to get back there.
We joined the DVC back in July and our home resort is the Bay Lake! 🙂 Out first trip is coming up in January and we can’t wait! We had the points to get one of the one-bedroom villas with the Magic Kingdom view this time and I’m looking forward to watching the fireworks from the room.
Great list of pros & cons, Mike! As to the lack of in-building eating, I’m actually sort of glad. After all, we will have a full kitchen in our room, and it will keep us from eating out every night. My wife wants to cook a roast in the room just so she can say she cooked a roast at Disney World lol.
My only regret is that we won’t likely be using the pool in January. However, I’ll gladly trade that for the light crowds and the short escape from winter in northern IL.
What I would do to stay at Bay Lake!
BLT is on my “bucket list” of places to stay in the World. One day I will stay there, and I will want a theme park view room! LOL
Thanks for the comments! The biggest pull for Bay Lake Tower is the proximity to the Magic Kingdom, if that’s your main park to visit, then you’ll have no problems with BLT!
I would love to try it out and see if it is one that my family would enjoy. I am sure we would, but I guess we don’t know til we try it.
I’m hoping that BLT is for my family! We are planning another trip in January or May 2013, and since my husband was less than thrilled with the bus system when we were there this past January, staying at BLT will alleviate some of that problem for us. We’re currently saving for our trip so we can splurge on a theme park view for our girls who are nearly 4 and 2.5 and #3 on the way!