Questions re: Bay Lake Tower Grand Villas

[rudetreehill]

Hey, gang! I had this posted in the general resort area, but it was recommended I'd have a better chance of getting answers over here... so here I am! My family isn't in the DVC, but we DO have a reservation at Bay Lake Tower. So here we go:

This will probably be directed more to people who've actually stayed there than those who've read about it on the web. I've been doing a lot of surfing, seen some amazing pics on various sites... but before my clan drops a cool $20 grand on a week's stay in one of the Villas, I'd like a first-hand report from someone. Maybe they could even ask a couple questions:

1) One member of our party (likely me... oh, who am I kidding... definitely me!) will wind up sleeping on one of the sofa beds. I BELIVE there are two... one in the upstairs loft area and one in the main living room. Is that right?(I'd rather stay on the first floor, where the master bedroom is, as it'll be the "adult" floor, with all children relegated to the second floor. Frankly, I kinda wish they'd reversed the floor plan, putting the TWO bedrooms downstairs, and the master bedroom upstairs... but I digress, as always).

2) Anybody slept on one of the Villa's sofabeds? Will I regret it? I ain't exactly a spring chicken (45, going on 21, if only in my head).

3) I've stayed in resorts (not at Disney, but in St. Thomas, etc) where you could arrange in advance for someone to stock the kitchen for you. (You fax them a shopping list, poof! the food arrives the day you do). Any idea if there's a service like that here? (I can always have the car service stop at a grocery, but I'd much rather have everything "magically" appear!)

4) We're going to have grandma and grandpa with us. Generally, with all the walking, we get a wheelchair for her. (Gramps just sits on a bench and watches the world go by, perfectly content...) I'm wondering how far it is from the Grand Villa's (it would be lake view, not MK view) to wherever the monorail/bus is. I assume you have to get the monorail over in the actual Contemporary. But how do you get from one to the other, and how far is it? Do busses stop at the Villas AS WELL as the Contemporary, or only at the Contemporary?

Okay, that'll do it for now... although once I find out you've actually stayed in one of the villas, don't be surprised if I pester you with a few more questions...

Thanks in advance!

Richard

[CarolAnnC]

Originally Posted by rudetreehill

Hey, gang! I had this posted in the general resort area, but it was recommended I'd have a better chance of getting answers over here... so here I am! My family isn't in the DVC, but we DO have a reservation at Bay Lake Tower. So here we go:

This will probably be directed more to people who've actually stayed there than those who've read about it on the web. I've been doing a lot of surfing, seen some amazing pics on various sites... but before my clan drops a cool $20 grand on a week's stay in one of the Villas, I'd like a first-hand report from someone. Maybe they could even ask a couple questions:

1) One member of our party (likely me... oh, who am I kidding... definitely me!) will wind up sleeping on one of the sofa beds. I BELIVE there are two... one in the upstairs loft area and one in the main living room. Is that right?(I'd rather stay on the first floor, where the master bedroom is, as it'll be the "adult" floor, with all children relegated to the second floor. Frankly, I kinda wish they'd reversed the floor plan, putting the TWO bedrooms downstairs, and the master bedroom upstairs... but I digress, as always).

2) Anybody slept on one of the Villa's sofabeds? Will I regret it? I ain't exactly a spring chicken (45, going on 21, if only in my head).

3) I've stayed in resorts (not at Disney, but in St. Thomas, etc) where you could arrange in advance for someone to stock the kitchen for you. (You fax them a shopping list, poof! the food arrives the day you do). Any idea if there's a service like that here? (I can always have the car service stop at a grocery, but I'd much rather have everything "magically" appear!)

4) We're going to have grandma and grandpa with us. Generally, with all the walking, we get a wheelchair for her. (Gramps just sits on a bench and watches the world go by, perfectly content...) I'm wondering how far it is from the Grand Villa's (it would be lake view, not MK view) to wherever the monorail/bus is. I assume you have to get the monorail over in the actual Contemporary. But how do you get from one to the other, and how far is it? Do busses stop at the Villas AS WELL as the Contemporary, or only at the Contemporary?

Okay, that'll do it for now... although once I find out you've actually stayed in one of the villas, don't be surprised if I pester you with a few more questions...

Thanks in advance!

Richard

We stayed at BLT this past October in a one bedroom, so I can answer some of your questions.

My daughter slept in the queen size sofa bed in the living room. There is no bar in it, but it did take the two of us to open it up. She said it was a firm but comfortable mattress. She said it is far better than the sleeper sofa in BWV.

We have had groceries delivered by Garden Grocer for a couple of our DVC stays and were very pleased with them. Check www.gardengrocer.com They will deliver to your villa on your arrival day and you can choose the items from their online list and prepay with a credit card.

The bus stop is shared by the CR as well as BLT. It is in between, a bit closer to the CR side though. You may want to rent a wheelchair or ECV for your length of stay. Our DISabilities Board here on the DIS can provide you with lots of information on that, if you so desire.

To ride the monoral you will enter it in the CR via elevator. The bus stop will be accessed via walkway from BLT.

The buses do not stop directly at BLT..hope this helps!

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Originally Posted by CarolAnnC

To ride the monoral you will enter it in the CR via elevator. The bus stop will be accessed via walkway from BLT.

The buses do not stop directly at BLT..hope this helps!

Don't you mean when going to the Resort Monorail the OP can use the skybridge to the 4th floor of the Contemporary and then go right to the Monorail station.

As for the buses basically what the OP should know is they will not say Bay Lake Tower on them since they don't have their own station, so as long as they get on the one which says the Contemporary they will be ok.

[wdwnut]

just another thought- can you put that $20k toward buying into dvc? That way you could enjoy WDW for the next 50 years. You could bank and borrow points to accommodate the grand villa trip. It might be something to consider.

[YourEveryDayAdam]

Originally Posted by wdwnut

just another thought- can you put that $20k toward buying into dvc? That way you could enjoy WDW for the next 50 years. You could bank and borrow points to accommodate the grand villa trip. It might be something to consider.

Agreed.

A LV grand villa, depending on the time of year you want to go, is 744 points for 7 nights. If you're willing to wait a little bit, you could bank a past years points, and borrow a current years points to get 750 points in a single use year. This would mean you'd need about 250 points to purchase.

Purchasing 250 points would be $28,750. (at $115 per point)

So, if you use that $20k for a downpayment, you could finance the rest. Then you'd take your vacation, and for $8,750 more, you would be able to go for the next 50+ years.

If you're willing to leave off a friday or saturday night from your 7 night trip and turn it in to a 6 night/7 day trip, then you would only need 592 points for the trip. So, 200 points would be enough to buy if you bank and borrow to get the 600 points you need. That would be $23,000 for that.

Just some food for thought.

Another option, instead of the Grand Villa, would be to get a One bedroom, plus a two bedroom villa at the same time.

The two bedroom villa is 350 points for a full week, and the one bedroom is 276. That's 626 points for a full week's stay, and this arrangement would give you two master bedrooms, two kitchens and living rooms, and 3 full bedrooms. All told, it would sleep 14 people. Then you could have an adult villa and a kids villa.

[CarolAnnC]

Originally Posted by CR Resort Fan 4 Life

Don't you mean when going to the Resort Monorail the OP can use the skybridge to the 4th floor of the Contemporary and then go right to the Monorail station.

No I do not. I did not mention the walkway from BLT to the CR as it sounded as if he knew the Monorail did not run through BLT itself. The OP will have a handicapped individual with him in a wheelchair. I am myself, and we had to take an elevator both up and then back down to the monorail station in the Contemporary when we rode it. Was there another way for a wheelchair to get on there?

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Originally Posted by CarolAnnC

No I do not. I did not mention the walkway from BLT to the CR as it sounded as if he knew the Monorail did not run through BLT itself. The OP will have a handicapped individual with him in a wheelchair. I am myself, and we had to take an elevator both up and then back down to the monorail station in the Contemporary when we rode it. Was there another way for a wheelchair to get on there?

Well no there is not because the elevator to the Monorail station is great for anyone in a wheelchair or an ECV.