BLT rooms and views with picture links! Last update of post #1 10/21/2015

[wdrl]

So the announcement today of Free Wi-Fi at deluxe Disney Resorts DOES include Bay Lake Towers? They specifically mention Contemporary, but not BLT, so I was just wanting to confirm.
Thanks!

Yes, the wi-fi is being set up at BLT. We were in our room when a technician came in to set a switch on a control box in our room. He said most of BLT already had access to the wi-fi and all the rooms would have it soon. When I asked the tech if that meant "by next month", he said "more like within the next day or so."

I can't speak for all the villas at BLT, but #8108 definitely has wi-fi.

 

[disneygrandma]

We never give the desk a credit card. For us, it's much easier to use a credit card at the time of purchase and not have to worry about what nightmares might be created with the cc tied to our room key. This is especially true if we have the DDP. We don't have to worry that it was incorrectly charged to our room (our cc), instead of to the DDP.

If I'm reading this correctly, it sounds like you could have had a room key for your stay that would have said you were a DVC Member & also let you in to your room. The problem was putting the cc on your linked reservation. Has that been the case the other times you had this problem? If so, next time why don't you just forget about putting the cc on your room key, and see if things go more smoothly for you. Yes, I agree that everything should go smoothly to begin with, but as you said, you wasted a lot of time on the phone with MS, and at the desk, not to mention the stress. If it was me, I would just forget about giving the desk a cc to charge to the room.

 

[aprincesswannabe]

Yes, the wi-fi is being set up at BLT. We were in our room when a technician came in to set a switch on a control box in our room. He said most of BLT already had access to the wi-fi and all the rooms would have it soon. When I asked the tech if that meant "by next month", he said "more like within the next day or so."

I can't speak for all the villas at BLT, but #8108 definitely has wi-fi.

 

[LJD2143]

Yes, the wi-fi is being set up at BLT. We were in our room when a technician came in to set a switch on a control box in our room. He said most of BLT already had access to the wi-fi and all the rooms would have it soon. When I asked the tech if that meant "by next month", he said "more like within the next day or so."

I can't speak for all the villas at BLT, but #8108 definitely has wi-fi.

Well, that is SPECTACULAR news since we will be checking in next Saturday and now I can leave the router at home!

 

[poohj80]

We never give the desk a credit card. For us, it's much easier to use a credit card at the time of purchase and not have to worry about what nightmares might be created with the cc tied to our room key. This is especially true if we have the DDP. We don't have to worry that it was incorrectly charged to our room (our cc), instead of to the DDP.

If I'm reading this correctly, it sounds like you could have had a room key for your stay that would have said you were a DVC Member & also let you in to your room. The problem was putting the cc on your linked reservation. Has that been the case the other times you had this problem? If so, next time why don't you just forget about putting the cc on your room key, and see if things go more smoothly for you. Yes, I agree that everything should go smoothly to begin with, but as you said, you wasted a lot of time on the phone with MS, and at the desk, not to mention the stress. If it was me, I would just forget about giving the desk a cc to charge to the room.

This was the first time we had an issue with charging privileges on our room cards. We may just avoid any possibility of a problem next time.

 

[loadsapixiedust]

8412 2 Bed (dedicated) Lake View accessible 14th floor North Side
This had the most awesome view, we were totally blown away by it and we spent a lot more time in there than we normally would at our resort because it was just so lovely to sit in the lounge or on the balcony and gaze out at MK and Bay Lake. I don't think I could ever tire of that view it was beautiful at all times of the day. The view of the fireworks was perfect and we could even hear the whistle on the train.

I managed to grab the first pic just as the sun went down

and next morning as MK woke up

looking to the right over Bay Lake

in the lounge

and kitchen

master bedroom

3rd bathroom (off the hallway)

 

[WhenYouWish]

Just returned from our week stay at BLT. We booked a 1BR standard view and requested a "north facing highest floor available" and received 7304. The view is very similar to 7504 previously posted pictures (we received 7504 with this same request in April 2010).

Can't say enough about the convenience of the BLT location. So easy to get to the MK and Epcot. The bus service for the Studios and AK was better this stay (or maybe our timing was better).

Can't wait for our next trip, June 2012. We're going to try BCV this time.

 

[poohj80]

Views from 1 BR LV 8436...

Direct view from balcony...

View to the right...

View to the left...

Epcot

Wilderness Lodge

Everest

 

[Haley Whippet]

WOW, Those are assume pictures, you must have one heck of a camera!
We have a lake view & arrive in 26 days. This will be our 3rd BLT stay..

 

[poohj80]

WOW, Those are assume pictures, you must have one heck of a camera!
We have a lake view & arrive in 26 days. This will be our 3rd BLT stay..

It's actully just a point and shoot but a good zoom.

 

[donutz022]

Just returned from a 5 night stay at BLT lake view dedicated 2 bedroom room 7305. Let me preface my comments with this this was our third time staying at BLT never really had an issue with the room or housekeeping before. Upon arrival we did online checkin and the room was ready at 11 am. When I arrived at the room the only half of the room was cleaned. So I call the front desk and a cm answers the phone wilderness lodge. I know when you dial the front desk it's not the actuall front desk. So I proceed to tell the cm that only half the room is cleaned. She obviously dosent understand the whole dvc thing how rooms are set up and says to me so what my problem. So I explain again and get told well you know check in is at 4 and it's only a little after 11. Like I'm in the wrong that the room was not cleaned properly and it's my fault they gave me the room early not complete. So a trip down to the front desk was now in order and the whole room cleaning fiasco was solved. I was told that the housekeeper was not aware it was a dedicated room so since the door was closed to the dedicated room she only cleaned the living room and master bedroom. Next issue with housekeeping on trash and towel day my mother stay behind as we all went out the housekeeper entered the room didn't know she was there when she saw her she just drop the towels on the table and left never changed took the trash or resupplied the bathrooms with anything.
Now for the room according to the map on this thread this is the lowest floor lake view room on the inner part north side. Well the view really is if the pool and the courtyard and shuffle board court because your so low it's not really a great view of the lake and let's just say when the palm trees grow a little more in a few years its gonna be a palm tree view.
The room itself the fridge had dents in the door like someone was stabbing it not only on the lower half where a small child could reach but on the freezer part as well. The sofa had stains on the seat cushions the chair in the master bedroom was stain. The best was the master shower there is grout missing on the bottom where the tile meets the shower pan the shower seat obviously was worked on but I don't know who did the work because it looked like a 4 year old try to caulk the seem and there was hole in the caulking which will only lead to more water damage. That whole part of the shower looks as though they has a problem and had to replace it but whom ever did it was not skilled in tileing grouting and caulking. Last off in there was a area in the ceiling in the master where where the paint was bubbling from water damage.
Let me finish this long rant by saying this was our 3rd stay at bay lake and never had an issue and I will continue to stay there, but I expect better craftsmanship from maintenance for the price we pay for dues. Second there is a real disconnect between the contemporary and BLT when it comes to housekeeping and maintenance.

 

[WiscBill]

My DD and I stayed in this room for three nights at the end of September. We were very pleased with the room and layout. We have stayed in all the DVC resorts at Disney World with the exception of Kidani village and this layout was the most spacious with the exception of OKW. We really appreciated having the extra bathroom in one bedroom. The sleeper chair was also nice since we did not have to move the coffee table and open the sofa.

We had requested a high floor, even number room. The view, as you can see, was ok. We had a little noise from the main pool, but not enough to disturb us while sleeping.

When we started check-in (which went smoothly), the room was not available (we arrived at around 2 PM), but it opened up before we finished all the paperwork. I didn't notice any wear or tear in the room beyond normal, but I travel a lot so I see a wide variation of hotel rooms. This was near the top in my experience. The only problem at check-in was that we did not get a copy of the resort activities nor a portable perks. This was easily remedied later in the day when we went to the pool.

The location was very good for getting around to the parks (we did not go to Animal Kingdom however). We had used the magical express, so we did not have a car. We brought some food with us (crackers, cereal, etc) and bought the rest at the market in the Contemporary. Prices are, of course, very high compared to a grocery store, but still cheaper than renting a car or taking a taxi. We just didn't have enough needs to justify using a shopping service, but I think we would have done that if we stayed longer. The price of soft drinks and beer are the most outrageous markups, but still cheaper than using the bars or vending machines. The first night we ate at the Contempo Cafe, but did not choose wisely from the menu. I had the roast beef sandwich, which consisted of about two slices of deli style roast beef dipped into a flavorless dark broth and then placed on a dried out roll. My daughter had the pizza kids meal, which had a "pizza" slightly larger than an english muffin. We eventually want back to the marketplace and bought a frozen pizza for $5 which we made in the room. We went to the campfire that night and roasted marshmallows , followed by viewing the fireworks from the Top of the World. On our last night, we ordered differently at the Contempo after talking with some of our fellow guests, and this time it was better with a good grilled chicken sandwich and a decent flatbread pizza.

The Top of the World lounge was great. I wish we had more time to spend there. The service was great and the drinks and snacks were excellent. I hope they do not take away this perk for DVC members.

Views from the balcony below:

 

[spiceycat]

Let me finish this long rant by saying this was our 3rd stay at bay lake and never had an issue and I will continue to stay there, but I expect better craftsmanship from maintenance for the price we pay for dues. Second there is a real disconnect between the contemporary and BLT when it comes to housekeeping and maintenance.

you need to write to DVC and tell them. the maids work for BLT not CR and should definitely know which is which. or at least they did. they could have changed their policy.

DVC won't improve BLT until the members tell them their policy toward it is unacceptable. then they will change things.

 

[poohj80]

you need to write to DVC and tell them. the maids work for BLT not CR and should definitely know which is which. or at least they did. they could have changed their policy.

DVC won't improve BLT until the members tell them their policy toward it is unacceptable. then they will change things.

I submitted an e-mail with the issues we experienced during our recent stay. I received a response that based on the nature of my comments, my message was forwarded to a Member Correspondence team for further review. I was supposed to be contacted within 5 business days, but have yet to hear from anyone.

I'll keep you posted...

 

[dmband]

WOW
Nice thread collection

 

[poohj80]

We stayed at BLT last week in 1BR LV #8436 (will post pix over the weekend). Our room was fine although we did not get the location requested, however we experienced issues at check-in that were unbelievable. Here's the short version...

We are DVC Members who were staying at BLT on points with a linked reservation. This was our 6th stay at BLT and we have yet to stay at BLT without some kind of issue at check-in, but this visit tops them all.

Usually, we are told we have to check-out then check back in with a linked reservation, but after we explain this shouldn't be necessary and they consult with a manager, the issue is usually cleared up. This time, however, the confusion reached a whole new level.

When we checked in during our most recent stay, there was an issue with adding the charging privileges to our room keys with the linked reservations. Don't know why as we have stayed at other DVC Resorts with linked reservations without an issue.) We were given room keys to access our room so we could get settled, but new keys with charging privileges would need to be delivered a bit later. This was not a problem at all, but it wasn't until several days into our trip we realized what had been done to our reservation at check-in.

Our linked DVC reservations were cancelled and a new reservation was created for the length of our stay so that we would no longer have a linked reservation. However, this made our reservation appear to be a cash reservation. We did not realize this until we tried to access the Top of The World Lounge and were initially denied because our room keys did not reflect we were DVC Members staying on points (as is required for access). This is when we called the front desk and were informed that our reservation did not appear to be made using our points. The person I spoke with put me on hold while they tried to contact DVC, but they were left on hold so long they just told me I would need to call DVC to clear up the issues.

I then called DVC and told the Cast Member I spoke with that our concern was not only access to the Top of the World Lounge but also whether we would be charged for our room and for internet access (which is supposed to be complimentary for DVC Members staying on points). He told me that he spoke with someone in the back room at the Contemporary and she said everything would be cleared up and we would not be charged for internet access.

On our check-out day, we received our account statement which showed a cash charge for each night followed by a large credit which kept us from having to pay for the room, but we were charged for internet access even though after speaking with DVC we were assured this would be corrected. I called and spoke with the back room and she was able to fix our account so it was finally correct.

What's frustrating to us as DVC Members is that we had to spend countless vacation hours on the phone with multiple Cast Members trying to fix a problem that we did not create. Bay Lake Tower has been open for over 2 years now and the front desk at the Contemporary still doesn't seem to understand how to deal with DVC reservations.

Just curious is we are the only DVC Members who continue to have these type of issues when staying at BLT?

Just wanted to update everyone on our experience. I received a call from a representative from DVC management to clarify what happened to us. He was very apologetic and reassured us that the CMs who "adjusted" our reservation (he could tell in the system everyone who had touched our reservation) would be told that was not the way to handle such an issue and be taught the correct way. Basically, he said all the CM at check-in had to do if they had an issue was to call DVC and ask them to make the adjustments for them. Seems simple enough.

I was also pleasantly surprised that he offered to refund our most expensive night of points as compensation for our frustration (which was 45 BLT points). I responded this was totally unnecessary as when I wrote I was just trying to help this from happening to the next family, but he insisted. He also helped me make our next reservation which we had already been thinking about since it was going to involve a linked reservation again. He made it a seamless reservation in hopes nothing like this happens again.

I am very pleased with the outcome and hope it keeps any of you from experiencing the frustrations we had on our last trip.

 

[londonderrydisneyfan]

I'm glad that worked out for you, that must have been frustrating to deal with.

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

I'm so glad everything turned out so well for you, Pooj80! That's wonderful.

 

[aprincesswannabe]

We just returned from Bay Lake Tower - and we consider ourselves very lucky!
Room 8012, a one room LV, but what a view we had of the Magic Kingdom. We had requested an odd numbered room but didn't complain one bit when we saw the room.

Once again, a great stay at BLT. We are already looking forward to the next time we travel "home".

 

[work2play]

Thanks everyone for more photos! I have undated the first post with the links. We are really looking forward to getting back to BLT! We have a couple days booked the week after Thanksgiving, and then a week in late January. I can't wait to try out the WiFi! Hopefully we will not need to bring out own router!