Pros & Cons of Bay Lake Tower | The DVC Show | 03/30/20 

We need Jackie's positive energy right now :)

No need to correct Jackie when she said the train "from" Magic Kingdom. It was perfectly clear what she was talking about. Saying 'around' doesn't make sense. Sorry but correcting someone's speech is pompous and rude in my opinion.

The monorail passing through that hotel with that massive inside area as a small kid was one of the things which struck me most first time I remember going to Disney. Its was almost like a Star Wars-esque type thing.

Absolutely loved it. Had a lake view with a beautiful view of the contemporary and wilderness lodge. The room was a great aesthetic and location couldn’t be beat

So happy BLT is one of our home resorts! Contemporary not normally our style. But that one bedroom is huge, extra bathroom is a great plus, and when we have Theme Park View, we leave the bedroom curtains open so if we wake during the night, we see the castle lit up. Ahhh...perfection! All that plus 10 min walk to MK can’t be beat!

I’m right there with you with needing coffee first thing before I’m human. Love your idea for using Top of World in the AM. Would solve problems for lots of folks staying at BLT. In my case, coffee maker is set up before I go to sleep. Pressing start button on my way to shower. Coffee on the balcony before I’m chatty! Great review!

Bay Lake Tower is our home resort and we love it. We've stayed in both the theme park rooms, the lake view rooms and what they call obstructed view rooms, and we love the lake view rooms the best.

I love the contemporary. Stayed there dozens of times. Our children grew up at the pool and we always loved it.

I disagree about it being a pain to go over to the Contemporary. We found it extremely convenient, we felt like it was part of our hotel. And when you compare it with the distance you have to walk outside at most other resorts - POR, all three All Stars and Pop, Art of Animation, depending on where you’re located at Wilderness Lodge, SSR and AKL etc. - I think BLT is actually one of the most convenient in terms of access to food and drinks.

Im from Australia we used the dvc rental store and we were so happy with everything at blt. Will definitely use them again

We love BLT. We don't stay theme park view but we love the feeling of walking across the skybridge and seeing the MK. The pool does lack a bit, but its a trade off for the location-walk to MK and have easy access to 3 other great resorts for dining. plus the Epcot monorail.

I, too am an owner here, and i LOVE IT. Proximity!, The shops in the Contemporary being very convenient and with great merch; the restaurants (saving CF), THREE bathrooms in the two bedroom units. In a studio, the alcove type kitchen with fantastic storage is very much superior to other studio kitchen arrangements. Lake on one side, Park on the other. While the Magic Kingdom is not my favorite park, I love being able to walk (or in my case, roll) to the park.

One bedroom is the best. Can’t beat having two full bathrooms for a family of 5

BLT is my favorite DVC resort. Some thoughts before I give my pros and cons. Resort mugs can be refilled at the Cove Bar at the BLT pool. BLT can be a great resort stay for when you don't have park tickets or are in AP blockout periods due to being able to watch fireworks from Top of the World Lounge and the ability to resort hop. It is actually the most, "connected," DVC resort using Disney transportation. The biggest perk is being able to walk to Magic Kingdom, but you have the Monorail resorts, Wildernss Lodge and Fort Wilderness by boat, and it is a quick walk to the Magic Kingdom bus terminal which can take you to ANY resort. No other resort has as many free resort hopping options. PROS: Walk to Magic Kingdom. Best overall views of any Disney resort. Sorry folks, but even the view of the parking lot has some view of the monorail or Contemporary Resort. Top of the World Lounge -get the 7 layer cake! Unique studio set up with separate kitchenette. 1 bedrooms to grand villas are large and some of the best on property. Best combination of resort trasnportation options, especially for resort hopping. Like AK Jambo/Kidani or Riviera/CBR, BLT is a 2 in 1 resort being connected to the Contemporary. CONS: Small overall size of the studios. "Sterile" environment. Pool could be better and bigger. No quick service, or convenince store in the tower itself.

Stayed there for my son’s 5th bday 2 1/2 years ago. Studio theme park room. I enjoyed it, but we didn’t really stay in the room much. Didn’t even see the pool. It’s ok. I understand the sterile complaints. We did it for the MK proximity.

I stayed in blt during the marathon weekend. Having to walk all the way over to the contemporary for some food after running was pure hell

I agree. They could probably easily make the Top of the World Lounge just like the Belle Vue Lounge for breakfast. They have coffee out to fill your mugs, they sell orange juice, muffins, fruit. The basics, but it's perfect.

I love the style/theme of BLT. The Contemporary is one of my top three favorite resorts so being adjacent is great. Love the restaurants there. My issue is that the Studios are too small. Especially the bathroom- yikes! There is no way I could stay in one with a second person. It was fine for me by myself - but I'd never book it with someone else. Also neither the one bedrooms or the Studios have any pull down bed options - so I wouldn't even stay in a one bedroom for more than a night or two with my daughter.

Our only issue of BLT is that when you check in they always seem to put us in a low floor and we’ve in the past had to take a low room for the first night then move rooms. We LOVE the hotel though.

Welcome home😍

Thanks for the content! I just recently had a bad experience with Dave's my next DVC point rental will come through you! The contemporary is a great resort! The walk to MK is spot on!

I have never stayed at BLT or Contemporary, but I am curious to give it a try! I do like the Contempo cafe and it is original Disney.

I'd love to stay at Bay Lake Tower! Maybe one day.

You can refill mugs at the pools while it's open.

Location, Location, Location. Easy walk to MK. Nice boat ride to Ft Wilderness. Monorail to Epcot.

Pete is right I hate the adaptive brightness settings that change on their own.

I don't like contemporary design however we love BLT the location food options. The only con is the pool area

Awesome

No grab and go. The peace in the lobby is wonderful. Pack some coffee

Liza from the Betty Ford Clinic. 😁😁😁

I like BLT but my 1 issue with is is the lighting in the rooms. The last time we were there, which is 1 year ago, the lighting in the 1 bedroom Theme Park view was terrible. The lightbulbs were replaced with LEDs, which is great but these bulbs were significantly shorter than the previous bulbs. You could look up into the light canister and see a 1/2 inch gap between the bulb and where the bulb should be nesteled. Since the bulbs were all behind the cannisters, most of the light was going into the area above the ceiling. While this isn't too terrible in the living space, it is terrible in the bathrooms. I've yet to meet the person who likes to put on their makeup in a darker room. Maybe/hopefully this has been fixed in the last year.

I remember walking into the Contemporary for the first time and thinking: "wow Mickey has his own AIRPORT." And after all these years, it still feels like Disney's MCO Land. Albeit with better restaurants.

Love BLT, stayed in a 1 bed at New Year, 1 beds are amazing. Top of the World lounge fireworks for New Year were outstanding. Both room and fireworks on my RU-vid channel if you want to see what we had over New Year 2019. Great memories hopefully won’t be that long before we can repeat. Pete’s mantra of taking your coffee stuff again! His coffee is very important to him as he says this on nearly every resort review (he loved the machine at Villas at Grand Floridian lobby I recall him saying many times, he will not be happy it’s apparently gone. Suspect that may have been a revenue decision.)

Does anyone know if the DVC Cast Members will continue to be paid regardless of whether the other cast member won't? Supposedly WDW cast members are to be paid through the middle of April. But as a DVC member, don't our dues cover at least the resorts? So... shouldn't they be paid regardless of how long DVC resorts are closed?

With WDW probably closed till May 31st, that's 2 months and a half of reservations that are going to be rebooked through 2020, or at least most of them will, shouldn't Disney offer DVC members rooms at non DVC resorts (for less points obviously) just to make sure everyone gets to do the vacation they had planned for this year?

The walk to food at the Contemporary doesn’t take much (if any) longer than walking to food from most of the DVC rooms at any resort. I’m not sure why the focus on that. I would love for someone to measure the actual distance from the furthest room to a quick service location at every DVC resort. I am pretty sure BLT would not be the longest distance at all!

I think it would make a great Grand Hyatt.

What Pete ? You must own almost all the resorts. Lol I don’t like the studio way to small. Comparing to the other resorts. I’m from New York it’s like a city apartments. I enjoyed that I can walked to MK. Otherwise i love that I can eat at the Wave. I’m not impress with the style at all. We did the lake view the studio seemed old. Good luck Pete

Hope this isn't a stupid question, but how much of a walk is it from the tower to the main building?

Any thoughts to the recent redo with the Incredibles? I think it is awful.

Nixon made his famous “I’m not a crook” speech from the Contemporary.

Wonder when this was taped?

You don't take your Keurig with you

Dis Unplugged, Walt had so much to do with the design of the Contemporary and Polynesian hotels.The pool is so 70's in design.Just for Pete his Top of the World breakfast. You could get his style of breakfast up there from 8-11 a.m. adult $ 3.25 The Champagne Brunch 9 a.m. - 2.30 p.m. ( Sunday ) adult $6.95. 1974 prices. Evening Dinner Show was dinner $ 13.95 + Entertainment charge of $7.50 per adult 2 shows nightly. Ladies evening wear, Gentleman coats and ties please.If you turned up without a tie you would be offered one. At evenings end most men purchased the tie. They sold more ties than they did on Main St. In 1974 you could make dining reservations 60 day's out. The Top of the World then the Contemporary is where they bedded in 90 day reservations in 1976. Even so a lot of dinning options ( i.e. Hoop -de- doo, etc ) couldn't be made till on property. The Contemporary has gone from " ugly duckling '" to a swan of an hotel over the years. These day's it's talked about in the same breath as the hotel shaped like a Sail in Dubai. Cheers, Chris Perry.

Everytime I watch one of these Pros and Cons videos I want to stay at that property 🙂 Except maybe Saratoga Springs, no interest there.

My wife hates BLT. Which stinks for me. BLT is by far my favorite.

I have never heard someone say they get warm feelings by staying at Saratoga...That place is the worst disney resort. Outdated rooms feels like I am staying at a 1990's Days Inn...YUCK

Con: surrounded by views of parking lots and concrete

Not my favourite DVC resort. Far from it.