lovedisneyworld7
Registered: October 2011
Location: NYC
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Mon October 3, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Beautiful views, close to the Magic Kingdom
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Cons:
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Stayed at Bay Lake Tower over the summer, and everything was wonderful. The views are amazing, and it's a short walk to the Magic Kingdom. It's convenient having the Monorail right next door in the Contemporary. Everything was clean, and the rooms are huge!
I loved my stay at Bay Lake Tower!
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jdduncan
Registered: October 2011
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 7
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Review Date: Sun October 2, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Close to the Contemporary
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Cons:
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MK View not the best
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Our party of seven stayed for five nights between 9/15 and 9/21/11. My wife and I are not DVC members, in part because the average DVC property is extremely spread out, has few dining options on site, and the fountain drink/coffee machines are not plentiful. We took my wife's parents and sisters on their first WDW trip and decided to stay here because we thought it was the best of both worlds: spacious rooms with a living area coupled with the amenities of the Contemporary Resort.
We were right on staying here! Because the Tower is a tower, it has a small footprint and therefore close to the Contemporary, which is precisely what we wanted. So for those of you that are staying on a cash basis and get the Disney Dining Plan, your refillable mugs will get plenty of use.
The only downside to this resort is the "Magic Kingdom" view rooms. Because of the shape and location of the building, you are looking sideways at the castle. One of our balconies in the two bedroom villa gave better views than another. A minor point, but one worth noting. Otherwise, we cannot say anything negative about this place; it was great!
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robalzas
Registered: February 2011
Location: pennsylvania
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Wed September 7, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Close to MK
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Cons:
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Bus service to other parks
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My family and I stayed at BLT from August 17-21. We had a 2 bedroom villa which suited our needs as we have 4 adults and 2 kids. I called DVC member services and requested a high floor and close to the elevators. I got the close to the elevator part. Not the high floor. We were actually close to the walkway from the Contemp. to BLT. We had a sideways view of MK, but good enough to view the fireworks from our balcony.
This time around check-in went much smoother and the CM was both helpful and gracious. When arriving we were greeted and escorted to a waiting CM. Our room wasn't ready and was given a choice to get a phone call or a text I opted for a text. An hour later I got the text and we headed to the room. It was very clean and the view was okay.
We had our own vehicle and drove that most of the time or used the monorail. Our DS took the bus to DHS and Ak but had to wait some 40 minutes for the bus. The walk to MK was very pleasant and time efficient. I really love the monorail ride to Epcot, its realy soothing to me.
We were on the dining plan but didn't eat at any of the Contemp. restaurants although we did use the refillable cups and used snack credits at the Contempo Cafe.
My Husband and I went to the Top of the World lounge to watch the fireworks and they still have the same magic as all the other times. All in all another great stay at WDW.
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mv9393
Registered: August 2010
Posts: 5
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Review Date: Tue September 6, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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LOCATION
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Cons:
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Meal options
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My wife and I and our 2 girls ages 1 ½ and 3 ½ stayed at Bay Lake from August 16th through the 23rd in a 1 bedroom villa. We are not DVC members. Unlike at Old Key West 2 years ago, we were not tabbed as outcasts upon our arrival (the comment was “Oh, you’re renters” we were referred to at OKW). On the other hand, to our surprise when we checked-in we were changed from a pool view to the Magic Kingdom view. On the 3rd level (room 7310) the view of the castle was blocked by trees but every night we saw all of Wishes from our porch. So nice that you can turn to Channel 19 to listen to Jimmy Cricket as you hear him on Main Street.
The convenience to be able to walk to Magic Kingdom was spectacular especially traveling with a stroller and 2 girls under 4. And actually was much quicker than taking the monorail. A 10 minute walk compared to heading over to the Contemporary, getting on the monorail, stopping at the TTC, stopping at Polynesian and stopping at Grand Floridian. Walking easily saved us at least 15 – 20 minutes each time.
We were on the Quick Service Plan and I will once again suggest that if Disney is going to continue to market these great deals and make the DVC resorts available to all, the quick service offerings need to be expanded at these resorts. I do not understand why if I wanted to buy a hot dog I need to go to the Contemporary pool bar (which closes at 7) to find it.
Everything else was a HUGE thumbs up….if you can I highly recommend the resort. I always said that I would have a hard time paying for a “monorail resort” but with our children’s ages the location could not have been better. And I should note that the price difference from Bay Lake to Old Key West for the 7 nights for the same dates was just over 300 bucks….again, WELL WORTH IT!
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tloach
Registered: September 2011
Posts: 4
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Review Date: Sat September 3, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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View, walk to MK, restaurants
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Cons:
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one housekeeper, mislabeled room view
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We just got back from an awesome vacation at Bay Lake Tower from August 23 to 30. We were in a dedicated 2 bedroom villa with a Bay Lake view. There were 5 of us (3-year-old, parents, and grandparents). There was plenty of space for everyone.
First the good. The view was great. We were in room 7444, which is 4th floor on the corner facing the Contemporary resort. We had a great view of Bay Lake, we could see the top of Wilderness Lodge and some of the higher Illuminations fireworks. We also had a very nice nightly viewing of the Electric Water Pageant. Magic Kingdom is a 10 minute walk, and then Contemporary is the first stop after Magic Kingdom on the monorail, so we could walk there in the morning and monorail back when we're tired. The view of Magic Kingdom from the link to the Contemporary is fantastic, as is having all the Contemporary stores and restaurants just a minute away.
There were just a couple of hiccups in our stay. They first gave us a room on the 2nd floor overlooking the pool, which couldn't actually see Bay Lake due to the trees. We let them know that we didn't have the view we had paid for, and gave them the option of giving us a different room or refunding us back to the standard view rate. They moved us right away and the new view was great. The other problem was only on our last day there. The housekeeper did a very poor job, leaving the towels on the floor in the bathrooms and creating a mess in the sink that we couldn't scrub out. We were staying on cash so had full cleaning each day, and other than the last day the housekeeping was great.
Also, it wasn't an issue for us since there were only 5 of us, but the bathroom door in the common room did have a large crack you could see through. All the bathroom doors had a locking mechanism, however.
Finally, Bay Lake Tower had lots of extra amenities, such as an extra beach, pool and splash pad, and access to wonderful things like hammocks and hotel-run marshmallow roasts.
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kimmygme
Registered: August 2010
Location: Aurora,Il
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Thu August 18, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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You will get spoiled staying here
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Cons:
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none
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We are DVC members and had a one bedroom lake view room. I have to say, it was awesome staying here!!! We requested a higher floor, even numbered room on the north side of the building and our wish was granted. We had a partial view of the Magic Kingdom.
The staff was wonderful from when we arrived. We were escorted to the express check in desk and the person stayed with us until the person behind the desk was ready to check us in. Our room was not ready yet. After several hours,we checked in with the front desk to see if it was since we had not received a text stating it was. The staff said not yet, but this room was worth the wait. Shortly after that, we got the text. We were on the ninth floor near the elevator and the staff was right! It did not disappoint! We were able to view fireworks from MK every night.
We visited the Top of the World Lounge several times while we were there. The staff is courteous and friendly. We viewed fireworks from there also and were able to view the Electrical Water Pageant from the deck behind the bar. The views from both sides are spectacular, especially at night when everything is lit up.
It is a very short walk to the Magic Kingdom and we only waited a short time for buses when not taking the monorail, and even then we did not wait. All dining and shopping is at the Contemporary. We would take the bridge over. We did not mind the walk at all. It was very short. The food court was never busy and always had plenty of seating. The pools were great! We went between BLT and Contemporary. Mid day the pools were a little crowded, but never for any length of time. We used the boat rental also and the staff was very helpful with showing us how to use the equipment. We rented a pontoon twice. We asked how long it would take to go around Discovery Island and to the Seven Seas Lagoon and back. The question must be asked a lot because they said it takes about 45 minutes. (Pontoon rental is $45 for half an hour).
You will definitely get spoiled staying here. Very short walk to MK, monorail service to both MK and Epcot, the ability not to fight crowds after the fireworks because you can view them from the resort, friendly staff, clean and spacious room...I can go on and on! Bay Lake Tower will not disappoint!
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nipper
Registered: October 2008
Location: erie, pa
Posts: 4
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Review Date: Thu July 28, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Location, size, housekeeping
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Cons:
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Room was the farthest from the elevator,no separate temp control in the master bedroom.
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My husband, son, his wife and their 2 and 6 year old shared a 2 bedroom villa in the BLT from 7/13 to 7/21. We had no problem with the bathroom doors being sliders. From the previous reviews, I expected huge gaps but the doors gave plenty of privacy. It took a day to realize that pulling up on the bedroom door handle locked the door.
The bathrooms were spacious and clean. My son did comment on the force of the showers in the other two bathrooms but we loved our rainshower in the master bath and the jacuzzi tub.
Beds were comfortable, plenty of pillows, extra blankets.
Loved the 3d bathroom. It makes it so convenient if you have people staying in the living room because they don't have to enter one of the other bedrooms to use the "facilities".
The kids stayed on the fold out couch in the living room but I did try it out and it was very comfortable.
Kitchen was clean and well stocked with glasses, dishware and utensils.
We were in room 7202 and our housekeeper or keepers were excellent. I always leave a Mousekeeping envelope daily because I don't know if the same person will be cleaning our room each day. The kids had towel animals in their bathroom every day and the characters were arranged on the beds. We even got a towel fish in the master bathroom one day. Some of those creations took a lot of work and they were really loved and appreciated. We asked for housekeeping before noon and our room was always cleaned before we returned for lunch or naps.
My only little complaint was that I enjoy a cold bedroom to sleep in and without a separate control for the MB I had to keep the AC set higher so the grandsons didn't freeze in the living room.
We had a lovely stay and I will absolutely stay here again.
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jbmcdm
Registered: August 2008
Location: Long Island NY
Posts: 13
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Review Date: Sun July 24, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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location and views
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Cons:
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We stayed here June 22-29th and loved it!! We had a lake view and it was very nice. We were on the 11th floor and looked out onto the pool and the lake from the middle of the building. Last time, April 2010, our lake view included the Magic Kingdom. Both were great!
No problem at all with check in and we had 3 different arrival dates for different members of our party. Front desk helped with car rental for my son and transport to emergency care for hubby, when he came down with swimmers ear. Everyone that hepled us was professional and knowledgeable.
We had a two bedroom lockoff and it was perfect for the group we had. The main bedroom is very spacious as is the bathroom. We used garden grocer for the first time and that worked out very well. The kitchen and living area have plenty of space, though I'm not a fan of the modern decor, it was tasteful and worked well for us. Love the pull out chair, one more body!! The second bedroom was a studio and my boys loved having their own room, fridge microwave and all!!
We rented boats one day and the kids had a blast. Only down side is the size of the pool, the zero gravity walkin takes up half the swimming area, but we went to the Contempary pool a few times and that was fine. The location to the MK is great. We let my older kids go late night and felt ok with it (cell phones help too). All in all, we really enjoyed this resort.
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Opa
Registered: June 2008
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 11
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Review Date: Thu July 14, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Proximity to Magic Kingdom & Monorail; Views
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Cons:
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LR furniture is not comfortable
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We stayed at BLT from June 27 to July 2. What can I say about this resort? If you're a DVC member, it's worth it to splurge every now & then and stay here. We had the Magic Kingdom view and it was worth it.
Other positive aspects? It's a 4/10 mile walk to the Magic Kingdom (less than 10 minutes). The views from the "Top of the World" observation deck are also spectacular. I could see Spaceship Earth, the Dolphin hotel, the Sorcerer's Hat, and a number of other sights. For now, only DVC members staying on points have access to the top floor lounge and observation deck. I don't know if it will be open to everyone at any time in the future. For now, though, it's worth staying at BLT just to see WDW from this height.
The villas themselves SEEM larger somehow than the other newer DVC resorts. I don't know why. They've also added a lock on the 3rd bathroom door after a number of guest complaints.
This resort is quiet. And secure.
You need your room key to enter the building, and the pool, and even the bathrooms once you're in the pool area. I liked this aspect since it gave me a feeling that I was exclusive in some way.
(yet...somehow...the local pizza shops all managed to slip their menu under my door every night)
One final positive: the parking lot is very close to the tower, if you drove.
Negatives? Just one. The furniture is uncomfortable. I suspect it's because it's a convertible sofa and chair, but I could never get comfortable.
Highly recommended, even if you only stay here once. You won't be disappointed.
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Patroclus
Registered: March 2009
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Fri June 24, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Close to Magic Kingdom,
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Cons:
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Plumbing
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Just got back from 3 nights at Bay Lake Tower. The bathtub was developing a clog and took forever to drain after a shower. The bathroom door in our studio was sliding, which took a little getting used to. We had a great view of the Magic Kingdom from our balcony on the north side of the building. The pool & hot tub are fantastic. The exterior windows in the elevator lobbies need some cleaning (dead bugs everywhere).
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cindynagel
Registered: July 2010
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Thu June 16, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Close to MK, lovely Bay Lake view, spacious 2 BR unit,
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Cons:
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Just returned from 6 night stay BLT, Room 8144. I was pleasantly surprised how large this 2 BR unit was I am not a fan of contemporary decor, I found the BLT decor fresh and crisp. Loved the pictures over the couch and beds. I had no problem with "lack of themeing". Carpet in hallways is full of Hidden Mickeys, pictures in halls and room were all Disney themes. View was great. End unit closest to Contemporary Hotel so we could see Bay Lake and watch all the boats come and go. Also overlooked their pool and could see all the major attraction, DTD Characters in Flight, Epcot Ball, TOT and Mickeys Hat and EE and the Tree of life. Amazing how far away everything is. I would not want to pay extra to see Cinderella Castle b/c really you are looking at the BLT parking lot.
Coffee they supplied did not taste good. Wonderful to be able to fix a big breakfast before heading out in the mornings. Refrigerator was not very cold at first so we called and someone there within 5 min to assist us.
Pool was nice and family enjoyed the Trivia games done by the CM's at poolside. Bar upstairs was nice for the fireworks. OK view though. A little off center. Also amazing to see how far away the fireworks are set from the castle. Looking at the Castle, you think they are really close.
Wish they would put another towel bar in the 2nd BR bath, only towel rack is in the shower. Folded clean towels on a shelf above the toilet and I was fearful the towels would fall in! Having 3 baths was great with 8 people in the room!
Also agree with below poster about the millions of little bugs by the door to the left of the main entrance. All over the floor and ceiling inside the building. The door to outside opens automatically if you just walk by it and then all the bugs come in. That should be fixed.
Not sure how I will ever go back to a hotel room after this stay at BLT. We were the invited guests of a DVC family member so I don't know how much this room cost. Would definitely recommend BLT.
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cyndisue726
Registered: September 2009
Location: orchard park, ny
Posts: 6
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Review Date: Tue June 14, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Beautiful resort and walking distance to MK
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Cons:
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Taking monorail to Epcot
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My husband and I stayed in a 1-bedroom villa from 6/6/11-6/13/11 for our honeymoon. We've visited Disney many times before and know what to expect. While Bay Lake is beautiful, I agree with other reviewers that it lacks that Disney "feel". Having recently joined the DVC, this was our first time staying on points. I was disappointed when I learned that we wouldn't receive housekeeping daily; however, I soon came to like someone not coming in our room everyday! Upon our early arrival, we were told our room was ready. We requested a Bay Lake view and had a wonderful view! We were on the 11th floor facing the lake directly! We can see how it would be frustrating to be on one of the ends as it appears as though you would be looking into someone else's room.
We were both grossed out by the hundreds (and I'm not exaggerating) of bugs that clung to the ceiling of Bay Lake's first floor lobby and hallways. We do realize that it is June in Florida and while this isn't necessarily a resort specific fault, were just surprised by the multitude of them.
Being able to walk to and from MK was great, especially at the end of the night when the busses are jam packed. However, it was aggravating to take the monorail to and from Epcot since we had to transfer at the ticket center and there were no other means of getting there.
As petty as this may sound, the biggest aggravation regarding our room was the fact that the TV was programed to turn on at an obnoxiously loud volume EVERY time we turned it on. Come on Disney, as if you don't bombard us with enough advertisements and themed merchandise throughout our stay! As with all of our previous stays, we are accustomed to theTVs being pre-programed to turn on to a Disney specific channel, but have never been in a room with such a loud TV.
We also couldn't figure out the system to using our room keys to access this resort. There were signs posted at all the entrances that basically only resort guests can enter Bay Lake as the room key is needed to enter. We found this to be the case when entering through the front door, but not with the others. Anyone can access this resort by crossing the bridge from the Contemporary as keys weren't needed. My husband and I didn't care about anyone being able to enter the resort, just thought it was silly to post the signs and only require a key for the main entrance.
Bay Lake was wonderful and all the cast members were helpful and courteous. We will be staying here again.
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sierrabeara
Registered: August 2010
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Fri June 3, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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LOCATION
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Cons:
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NONE
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We just returned from a Memorial Day weekend at Bay Lake Tower. We found the room to be in good condition. There were a few scuff marks on the dresser.
The location is great, and we enjoyed walking over to the Contemporary via the skybridge. Very convenient.
While Bay Lake Tower isn't themed much, it is elegant in it's own way. We especially liked the Top of the World Lounge!
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minnieme2995
Registered: May 2009
Location: Clarksville, TN
Posts: 16
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Review Date: Thu June 2, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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pool, location, washer/dryers
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Cons:
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no dedicated front desk, restaurant
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We stayed here from 5/25-28/11. Went to check in at 7am and was suprised to find our room was ready, but we only got our keys and left straight for the parks so we didn't check on the room. Came back after a long hot day with all our luggage and 2 tired kids to find that our keys wouldn't work. Had to go down stairs to discover that the people at the front desk couldn't help us and we had to call over to the Contemporary for help. There was some mess up with the rservations and our room keys were inactivated (their fault, not ours). First told us that we could come down and pick up the new keys or someone would bring them up to us but it would be a while. They did offer to at least extend some dining credits we hadn't used up from our separate reservation from our 1 night stay at WL.
Several different calls were made through out the stay only to be told everything was handled at the Contemporary. From what I could tell the only reason the people at the front desk were there for was to sell time shares and escort people to the 16th floor.
Pool was wonderful. Clean, comfortable and the kids loved the big and small waterslides. Wished you didn't have to come down to the pool though or all the way to the Contemporary to refill drink mugs.
Restaraunts were also lacking at BLT. Again had to go over to Contemp. for this as well. Knew this going in, but didn't plan on doing this until we realized we couldn't make our other ADRs.
Room was clean and well kept. Assuming we had a handicap accessible room which we did not request. #7814. Was listed as lake view but it gave us a side view of MK and the lake overlooking the parking lot and dumpsters  . Great for viewing fireworks though for less $$. Closet was really small even for a studio due to the safe in the closet that took up all the hanging room for clothes. It was on a metal stand bolted to the floor? Not sure if that was to make it handicap accessible?? I thought the rooms had pull out pantries, but maybe that is just in the 1BR and larger rooms as ours did not have one. Spacious bathroom with walk in shower and a separate tub. All of the bars provided lots of space to hang towels and wet clothes.
Loved the free washer and dryer access (downstairs - not in the room).
Great quick acess to other locations on the monorail. We drove to most of the parks though since we had a rental car.
All in all we liked the room but DH preferred the WL. I would stay here again.
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BSC2000
Registered: March 2011
Location: Canada
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Tue May 24, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Grand Villa View, Modern Feel
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Cons:
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Monorail, one worker.
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Recently stayed in one of the lake view Grand Villas and WOW, what a great view. From our window on the 15th floor, we could literally see all of Walt Disney World, except of course the Magic Kingdom (different view). The Grand Villa itself was nice, very sleek and modern, with lots of space as would be expected. It was not as nice as Old Key West, but still very comfortable.
There were several small issues with the Grand Villa, mostly just regular maintenance, shelves a little loose, hooks and hangers needed to be tightened, not really a big deal for us as we stayed on points. However; if I was paying for this resort at the current rate of almost 2K per night, i would have been upset.
Walk to the Contemporary isn't that bad, nothing like the walk and wait for the elevators at the Boardwalk, and not having a "front desk" (which there actually is its just not the same as other resorts), is not really a big deal.
On to a few more serious negatives, we found that a number of "guest relations" people over at the contemporary were a little less than helpful. One worker in particular was either VERY undertrained or really did not like his job. On several occasions, we asked him to do little things for us, ie. put a credit card onto our room key, check on the status of our dining plan (how many we had used, had left), request name changes on our room keys as the name had printed out incorrectly, to all of which he simply replied, I can't do that sorry. This, of course, was a complete lie, as we had had all of these things done at one point. See, we stayed on different reservations so we had to get new keys several times, and each time had little issues, nothing serious, unless we were talking to this one man. Either he had no idea what he was doing, or he just didn't care, either one of those is not good. Worst of all, in order to get these issues fixed, we simply walked to another worker, how would that look? "I cant do that, oh but that person standing right next to me doing the exact same job as me can????" Thankfully we also had an excellent manager named Kristin who never once said I can't do that, and obviously really knew what she was doing. Thank you Kristin for all your great help, you made our trip.
Lastly and the main reason my family will NOT be staying near the Magic Kingdom anytime soon again, (which has nothing to do with the Bay Lake Towers or Contemporary resorts directly) is the complete reliance on the Monorail system to get back and forth from Epcot. We love to eat dinner in the World Showcase, so we need to be at Epcot. If you don't catch the monorail right on, you are in for a wait. At one point it took us almost an hour to get from our hotel to Epcot at around 5pm, way too long. Also getting back from Epcot was a chore too as you have to get off at the TTC then switch over and ride all the way around the track to get back to the Contemporary. On a good night it was 40 minutes back to the hotel from Epcot. We stayed for the fireworks once, and it was over and hour and half door to door.
All in all good hotel, nice decor, nothing special and not really worth the high price tag, but that's just me. Won't be back anytime soon, but not because of the hotel.
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