BLT first trip home 8/23-8/28! Report and pics (Standard View Studio)

[pditullio]

Let’s just get this out of the way: we LOVED this resort. Sure we had some concerns/suggestions for improvement, but overall? Just wow. My family bought in to DVC in 1992, and I still think of OKW as our first home, but I have to say that unless we really wanted to stretch our points, or needed the extra square footage if we brought a larger party, I can’t see myself staying anywhere else but BLT in the near future (we’ve stayed at all WDW resorts but SSR now).

Being on the monorail loop just really does it for me. I think it’s the combination of nostalgia (earliest trips to Disney as a child in the 70s), accessibility (“let’s just hop on the monorail and head over to the Poly for lunch!”), and convenience and proximity to grand concourse while still being in a quieter space. It just has everything we need.

So, on to the report for this specific trip… Our checkin date was Sunday 8/23, and we flew in the night before and pricelined a night at the Regal Sun. We are early birds, and had done online checkin, and had requested a 9am arrival. We got there at 9:30, planning to spend the day at the pool if the room was not ready, but it was!!

We could not believe our room. We had made the decision to stick with standard view for this first trip home while we scoped it out and decided just where our sweet spot was at this resort. When we got to our room (second floor studio, 7218), we were amazed to discover that we could see the castle and astro-orbiter and space mountain perfectly. Not by leaning over the railing, but sitting on the bed!


(crane was only there briefly)

And we confirmed that it was a standard view, and not an upgrade or anything. I was relieved to discover that the room was not considered MK view, because it sort of made me feel like maybe the MK view rooms were *really* premium, which is good to know. I’d be annoyed if I spent the extra points on MK and got what we got, because it was a lesser view than the higher floors. Still, so much more than I ever expected for standard. I sincerely hope that they categorize each room individually, rather than by floor, etc. Because I think we’ve already seen the wide variation in the reports so far.

Here are some more views:

To the left:


Sunset:


Wishes (from our room):



I have pics of other stuff, too, but here are the rest of my impressions, first...

Size:
It’s me, DH, and DS (9), so when it’s just us (as opposed to us and the grandparents), a studio is fine for us. These studios are definitely small, but still more than adequate for us. We did fold up the sleep sofa every day, but only because I am completely OCD and not because it would have been a big obstruction. The sleeper mattress was hard, but in a good way. The three of us were actually fighting over it every night. It is not the kind with the bar.

The joint kitchen space and bathroom sink didn’t pose too much of a problem. It was tight for us to both be in there at one time, but if one person stationed themselves at the far end to brush teeth, do hair, etc., there was room for the other to be at the kitchen sink. I still prefer this arrangement to having the sink in the bathroom proper with the toilet and shower.

Speaking of the bathroom, the door thing had my DH so nervous before we went after reading it here, but it turned out to be okay. Since the bathroom is far from the living area, it’s not like someone would be sitting outside the door while you are indisposed. Still, I agree it was a strange choice. A pocket door would have worked just as well. Another bathroom oddity - no shelves in the shower! Not even a soap dish. All the shampoo bottles and razors and such were on the tub edge and constantly being knocked off by the shower curtain. Also, the fan is on a motion sensor and if you take a shower that lasts longer than five minutes it goes off and the room steams up.

Top of the World was great, as has been well-documented. Like others, we did not experience a huge crowd there. We went up twice: once in the early evening for snacks and drinks, when we were three of about 7 or 8 people up there; once for drinks pre-fireworks, and again only maybe 8-12 people until the show started, then about 30 or so came up to the deck for Wishes. Everyone had a spot at the railing. As I mentioned on another thread, there is a definite safety issue with people lifting their small children up to see over that wall with the sheer 16-story drop. It gave me the willies. We also watched Wishes from the sky bridge one night. I liked the view from my room best, as it was lower which I preferred to looking down on the show. Just me.

We also had a strange two-day crisis with our DVD player. On our first night there, we got a DVD at Community Hall, but our DVD player didn’t work. It took three phone calls and two days before it got fixed, and the story is a longer saga than that, but I won’t go into the details unless someone is interested. It was really random. On the subject of DVDs, Community Hall only has about 20 or so titles, because they are in the process of “building their collection.” Seriously, this is sort of silly. Disney can’t shell out a grand or so for a core collection? I know it sounds like a petty complaint, but I get annoyed by things that are easy fixes that are left undone.

Last (and I saved the biggest issue for last), we spent a lot of time this trip just hanging out at the resort (and less time in the parks) and spent a chunk of every day at the BLT pool. Pool hoppers are a serious problem. Over the course of my stay, I personally witnessed and overheard many people who were very obviously not staying at the resort. The gates to the pool area did not lock, or were not locked, the whole time we were there. There is no asking for KTTW cards or wristbands. Seriously, I am thinking about posting a separate thread to start a discussion about this, because I think that of other owners notice this trend, too, we should start pressing the matter with MS. The BLT guests-only pool was a feature that was heavily marketed to us before we added on, and was a big draw for us – not for exclusivity as much as capacity – to have the guarantee of a pool that would not be shoulder to shoulder. I am curious to see if others see this as a problem as well.

Anyway, let me know if you have other questions. There is so much else that I could include here, but it would be [even] longer. I know the posts from the folks who went earlier in the month were really helpful to our planning…

[Muhlenberg]

Wow! That's a great view from a standard view! I'm of the "not concerned with the parking lot" camp...there's the same view at the CR. I booked a lake view studio for my parents and I for February. I get very excited with every trip report!

Would there be room in the studio for a scooter (or two) (near the lock-off door)? That's another thing I've been thinking about, as they're 85. Is there an outlet near there?

Also, are there outlets near the table? Is that also where the internet connection is?

[locodemickey]

Thanks for the info. It's so great to see all the wonderful standard views. I wonder if there are any bad ones. We are staying in a 1br standard in December and I can't decide whether or not to request a location. I do remember that the 1brs are wider in the living room on the MK side (but the laundry room is smaller). Can't wait till Dec

[oakmanner]

Very nice TR. I'm surprized they consider that a standard view. Good for BLT owners!

[locodemickey]

[QUOTE=pditullio;33371652]
Last (and I saved the biggest issue for last), we spent a lot of time this trip just hanging out at the resort (and less time in the parks) and spent a chunk of every day at the BLT pool. Pool hoppers are a serious problem. Over the course of my stay, I personally witnessed and overheard many people who were very obviously not staying at the resort. The gates to the pool area did not lock, or were not locked, the whole time we were there. There is no asking for KTTW cards or wristbands. Seriously, I am thinking about posting a separate thread to start a discussion about this, because I think that of other owners notice this trend, too, we should start pressing the matter with MS. The BLT guests-only pool was a feature that was heavily marketed to us before we added on, and was a big draw for us – not for exclusivity as much as capacity – to have the guarantee of a pool that would not be shoulder to shoulder. I am curious to see if others see this as a problem as well.
QUOTE]

This is one of the things that really makes me mad I follow our DVC rules and do not hop where I'm not supposed to, but they do not enforce it when people do break the rules We stayed at Kidani in July and the door was broken the whole 19 days we were there (they did try to fix it but to no avail). I saw several different cars park in the lot next to the pool and walk in. Now granted, they could have been from Jambo, but I'll bet not all of them were. And that pool is not very big. It was crowded with only about half occupancy. I hope they do start enforcing their rules - I can hope can't I?

[Muhlenberg]

[quote=locodemickey;33371926]

Originally Posted by pditullio

Last (and I saved the biggest issue for last), we spent a lot of time this trip just hanging out at the resort (and less time in the parks) and spent a chunk of every day at the BLT pool. Pool hoppers are a serious problem. Over the course of my stay, I personally witnessed and overheard many people who were very obviously not staying at the resort. The gates to the pool area did not lock, or were not locked, the whole time we were there. There is no asking for KTTW cards or wristbands. Seriously, I am thinking about posting a separate thread to start a discussion about this, because I think that of other owners notice this trend, too, we should start pressing the matter with MS. The BLT guests-only pool was a feature that was heavily marketed to us before we added on, and was a big draw for us – not for exclusivity as much as capacity – to have the guarantee of a pool that would not be shoulder to shoulder. I am curious to see if others see this as a problem as well.
QUOTE]

This is one of the things that really makes me mad I follow our DVC rules and do not hop where I'm not supposed to, but they do not enforce it when people do break the rules We stayed at Kidani in July and the door was broken the whole 19 days we were there (they did try to fix it but to no avail). I saw several different cars park in the lot next to the pool and walk in. Now granted, they could have been from Jambo, but I'll bet not all of them were. And that pool is not very big. It was crowded with only about half occupancy. I hope they do start enforcing their rules - I can hope can't I?

I'm with you on that! This world would be a whole lot better if people would follow the rules.

[DVC Mike]

Originally Posted by pditullio

Let’s just get this out of the way: we LOVED this resort. Sure we had some concerns/suggestions for improvement, but overall? Just wow... I can’t see myself staying anywhere else but BLT in the near future.

Glad to hear you loved BLT. So did we!

[Crystal_27]

Woo-Hoo - what a great "standard" view (I have to agree with your supposition that the MK views must really be spectacular). And, thank you very much for your honest review of the resort. I'm honestly very surprised to read about the pool hopping. I mean, the lounge is so heavily "guarded"; it surprises me that, knowing in general how many people pool hop on the monorail resorts anyway, that DVC didn't make the pool access restricted...as they promised. It sounds like this is an issue that we're all going to have to be very diligent to keep on BLT management about.

[courtneylauren]

Can you request room numbers??
I absolutely LOVE your view, and we were planning on staying in a standard studio.

[pditullio]

Originally Posted by Muhlenberg

Would there be room in the studio for a scooter (or two) (near the lock-off door)? That's another thing I've been thinking about, as they're 85. Is there an outlet near there?

I think you could do one in that corner by the lock-off door. There's a nice square space just inside the door that is bigger than it looks. We kept our empty suitcases, shoes, and a bunch of stuff there. Don't know if there was an outlet, but I wasn't looking. Sorry. Two scooters won't fit in that spot, though. No way. If you kept the sofabed folded up (if they only needed the one bed I mean), you could fit one by the door and one by the sliders. But it would be crowded. So I'd only recommend it if you weren't planning to be in the room a lot.

Originally Posted by Muhlenberg

Also, are there outlets near the table? Is that also where the internet connection is?

There are lots of outlets near the table, and along the wall against the TV unit. Don't know where internet was, as I was using my phone for internet.

Originally Posted by courtneylauren

Can you request room numbers??
I absolutely LOVE your view, and we were planning on staying in a standard studio.

I think you can, but I remember someone here recommending against it, mainly because if that room is not available, they don't really know what it was about that room you were after, so it's tough for them to give you an alternative. I would think it would be better to ask for "facing MK" or "near North elevators"? Maybe someone here can advise more...

[suzycute]

What a great trip report - thanks for sharing it!
Makes me so excited - we check in to a BLT studio with lake view 3 weeks today!

[Sandisw]

Originally Posted by pditullio

I think you could do one in that corner by the lock-off door. There's a nice square space just inside the door that is bigger than it looks. We kept our empty suitcases, shoes, and a bunch of stuff there. Don't know if there was an outlet, but I wasn't looking. Sorry. Two scooters won't fit in that spot, though. No way. If you kept the sofabed folded up (if they only needed the one bed I mean), you could fit one by the door and one by the sliders. But it would be crowded. So I'd only recommend it if you weren't planning to be in the room a lot.




There are lots of outlets near the table, and along the wall against the TV unit. Don't know where internet was, as I was using my phone for internet.



I think you can, but I remember someone here recommending against it, mainly because if that room is not available, they don't really know what it was about that room you were after, so it's tough for them to give you an alternative. I would think it would be better to ask for "facing MK" or "near North elevators"? Maybe someone here can advise more...

We are going in Dec in a SV studio and have requested that we be put in an "even #'d room, facing the parking lot". Hopefully, I will get lucky.

[RLRDA]

Originally Posted by pditullio

And we confirmed that it was a standard view, and not an upgrade or anything. I was relieved to discover that the room was not considered MK view, because it sort of made me feel like maybe the MK view rooms were *really* premium, which is good to know. I’d be annoyed if I spent the extra points on MK and got what we got, because it was a lesser view than the higher floors. Still, so much more than I ever expected for standard. I sincerely hope that they categorize each room individually, rather than by floor, etc. Because I think we’ve already seen the wide variation in the reports so far.


Last (and I saved the biggest issue for last), we spent a lot of time this trip just hanging out at the resort (and less time in the parks) and spent a chunk of every day at the BLT pool. Pool hoppers are a serious problem. Over the course of my stay, I personally witnessed and overheard many people who were very obviously not staying at the resort. The gates to the pool area did not lock, or were not locked, the whole time we were there. There is no asking for KTTW cards or wristbands. Seriously, I am thinking about posting a separate thread to start a discussion about this, because I think that of other owners notice this trend, too, we should start pressing the matter with MS. The BLT guests-only pool was a feature that was heavily marketed to us before we added on, and was a big draw for us – not for exclusivity as much as capacity – to have the guarantee of a pool that would not be shoulder to shoulder. I am curious to see if others see this as a problem as well.

Glad to hear that you had a great trip!

From your picture it seems that your standard studio was on the front curve of the "C" - if you were one floor up, you'd be classified as an MK view. You had a beautiful view for Standard points - we were originally given a 3rd floor MK view 1BR (which stunk IMHO for the amount of points it took). Luckily we were able to change it to the 11th floor. As you said, for premium points people expect a premium view. I think a lot of SV and LV guests are going to be excited when they get the 'bonus' MK view at no additional points .

We also noticed that the lock on the BLT pool didn't work. The resort opened less than a month ago, how can it be broken already . The same thing was going on at the Kidani pool, too, although the entire lock seemed to have been taken apart to be repaired (again - it's only been open since May). I did not hear anyone saying that they were pool hopping, however. There were also times when the doors to the skybridge were stuck on 'open' (they open automatically most of the time) from one end to the other. This would allow anyone to wander over although there's no real access to anything but hallways.

Like you said, little things to remedy but overall a beautiful addition to DVC.

[Disney Princess]

Glad you had a great time! Thanks for the thorough trip report. I can't wait to try BLT out. I had to quote this line:

Originally Posted by pditullio

We did fold up the sleep sofa every day, but only because I am completely OCD and not because it would have been a big obstruction.

It completely sounds like me. I HATE having the pullout out all day long. It makes things seem "messy". Thankfully it is just DH and me in the studio, so I won't have to trouble him with the lifting. I just smiled because you reminded me of me.

[pditullio]

Originally Posted by Disney Princess

Glad you had a great time! Thanks for the thorough trip report. I can't wait to try BLT out. I had to quote this line:

It completely sounds like me. I HATE having the pullout out all day long. It makes things seem "messy". Thankfully it is just DH and me in the studio, so I won't have to trouble him with the lifting. I just smiled because you reminded me of me.

I know, right? Eew...chaos! I also make the (non-sleeper) beds every day. Even if we are going to be out of the room all day, I just can't stand coming 'home' to disorder.

I need order. Which is why I am a Librarian.