Bay Lake Tower 1BR TPV or WL Deluxe Room CL

[gioiamama]

I realize this is comparing apples and oranges but I'm completely torn for our March 2018 trip. We usually stay in a 1BR CL at CR but the two weeks we are looking at are sold-out.
We love the convenience of walking to MK from CR and that the 1BR suites at CR have 2 bathrooms which makes getting ready in the morning a piece of cake.
Do we give the villa a go? Or is the Deluxe room at WL (despite its one bathroom) a better choice?
Not to add fuel to the fire, but we're also considering Disneyland for the first time ever, but I just don't know if I can give up my WDW!

 

[oceanmarina]

I would definitely go with the 1 bedroom at Bay Lake. Not only will you have the extra bathroom, but the 1 bedrooms have a washer/drier in your room so you can pack lighter. It's also a shorter walk to MK from bay lake. Keep in mind you will have a full size fridge/ kitchen in the 1 bedrooms as well. So what we do is order snacks at garden grocer - that might be helpful as you won't have the club snacks/meals.

I've no doubt club level is fantastic but I loved the extra room and pull out couch in the 1 bedrooms so much that I never went back to a regular room after staying in one. Also I felt like I saved $$ with all the drinks/snacks I bought from garden grocer (since you get a full size fridge in your 1 bedroom villa). I have stated in both resorts (WL is our family's favorite due to the theming and MK is a quick bus ride away - buses being the preferred mode as the monorail is unreliable in my opinion). But you can't beat the convience of walking to MK from bay lake - our only dislike from our stay there was that DH thought there was a lack of theming and it was a longish walk to our room from the lobby)

 

[Regan117]

You usually get a 2-bedroom suite and are looking at a villa? There's a big difference there in terms of amenities and space, in addition to being in an entirely separate building from everything else.

I'm a fan of WL too, but if you're stuck on the walk you MK, then go with BLT. You'll only have one bathroom at WL and a much smaller room.

 

[gioiamama]

You usually get a 2-bedroom suite and are looking at a villa? There's a big difference there in terms of amenities and space, in addition to being in an entirely separate building from everything else.

I'm a fan of WL too, but if you're stuck on the walk you MK, then go with BLT. You'll only have one bathroom at WL and a much smaller room.

The square footage will be a big drop for sure. Not to mention the bathroom situation. The 1-br suite has 2 baths at CR...sorry for the confusion.

I'm thinking it with it being one of the busiest time of year we'll want to be close to walk to MK (DD will be 5) and not have to worry about transportation. In the meantime, I'll keep hoping someone cancels at CR!

 

[Regan117]

The square footage will be a big drop for sure. Not to mention the bathroom situation. The 1-br suite has 2 baths at CR...sorry for the confusion.

I'm thinking it with it being one of the busiest time of year we'll want to be close to walk to MK (DD will be 5) and not have to worry about transportation. In the meantime, I'll keep hoping someone cancels at CR!

Yes I'd agree. I've stayed in both a CR suite and a BLT villa, and there's a noticeable drop between the two. But at a busy time, the convenience outweighs everything. And the size of the deluxe room at WL is really small in comparison.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I realize this is comparing apples and oranges but I'm completely torn for our March 2018 trip. We usually stay in a 1BR CL at CR but the two weeks we are looking at are sold-out.
We love the convenience of walking to MK from CR and that the 1BR suites at CR have 2 bathrooms which makes getting ready in the morning a piece of cake.
Do we give the villa a go? Or is the Deluxe room at WL (despite its one bathroom) a better choice?
Not to add fuel to the fire, but we're also considering Disneyland for the first time ever, but I just don't know if I can give up my WDW!

Question, are you talking about the CR 1BR Garden Wing Suite or the CR 1BR Tower Club Suite (14th floor)? Don't think my response matters either way, just curious.

I have stayed in both the 1BR Tower Club Suite and a WL Deluxe Room, all within the last year. No comparison AT ALL. I'm with @Regan117, the WL Deluxe Room is VERY small relatively speaking. While we are WL fans, we were not really fans of this room type primarily given 1) size and 2) distance to the CL lounge. There just wasn't anything particularly compelling about this room type for us - we're only 4 and we were on top of each other. A CR 1BR on the other hand....

This link goes to my thoughts on the room back when we stayed there, including some pics. Scroll through a few pages as my posts aren't back to back: CL Thread - WL Deluxe Room Thoughts

I haven't done BLT so can't answer that part of your question.

But my gut given what you've stated above is that you might not be happy at WL.

We did really love WL CL though... fantastic food and beverage offerings - probably the best of the MK resorts we've experienced in the past year.

Hope that helps!

 

[gioiamama]

Question, are you talking about the CR 1BR Garden Wing Suite or the CR 1BR Tower Club Suite (14th floor)? Don't think my response matters either way, just curious.

I have stayed in both the 1BR Tower Club Suite and a WL Deluxe Room, all within the last year. No comparison AT ALL. I'm with @Regan117, the WL Deluxe Room is VERY small relatively speaking. While we are WL fans, we were not really fans of this room type primarily given 1) size and 2) distance to the CL lounge. There just wasn't anything particularly compelling about this room type for us - we're only 4 and we were on top of each other. A CR 1BR on the other hand....

This link goes to my thoughts on the room back when we stayed there, including some pics. Scroll through a few pages as my posts aren't back to back: CL Thread - WL Deluxe Room Thoughts

I haven't done BLT so can't answer that part of your question.

But my gut given what you've stated above is that you might not be happy at WL.

We did really love WL CL though... fantastic food and beverage offerings - probably the best of the MK resorts we've experienced in the past year.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for your input! We usually stay in the tower for the 14th floor CL. Really hard to compare I know. We definitely want to stay in the MK area as our daughter is 5 and it's where we spend most of our time. The size of the suite makes it easy for us to stay all together (husband, myself, daughter and grandma). I really don't want to go over $1500/night which makes GF out of reach and we really enjoy walking to MK vs waiting for monorail. Polynesian is out of question as we live in Hawaii and get enough of that here! I'm going to keep checking and hopefully we'll get lucky with something!!!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Thanks for your input! We usually stay in the tower for the 14th floor CL. Really hard to compare I know. We definitely want to stay in the MK area as our daughter is 5 and it's where we spend most of our time. The size of the suite makes it easy for us to stay all together (husband, myself, daughter and grandma). I really don't want to go over $1500/night which makes GF out of reach and we really enjoy walking to MK vs waiting for monorail. Polynesian is out of question as we live in Hawaii and get enough of that here! I'm going to keep checking and hopefully we'll get lucky with something!!!

Have you tried calling? I'm assuming you know this but some of the Tower Club options are only available by phone. You can book the Bay Lake view 1BR online but you have to call for the TPV ones. Sorry if you know that, just making sure.

Also there are the 1BR or Hospitality Suites in the Garden Wing if available.

FWIW that 1BR CR Tower Club Suite is causing me problems too. Having stayed in one in April, it has spoiled us for life!

 

[gioiamama]

Haven't ventured to a garden wing suite. Not sure how much I'd use the lounge having to walk through the lobby and up the elevator. Nothing like the price of convenience right!?!
We also prefer bay lake view in our room as you can enjoy the TPV from the lounge so you essentially get to have both at anytime!