Bay lake tower one bedroom standard view or beach club one bedroom for july 2021?

[€lairebear]

Would you stay at BLT standard view one bedroom or beach club one bedroom for 10 nights in July? based on offerings and things to do. Family of 4 with two little ones ages 2 and 6. We will be visiting all 4 parks.
i have also included other options. We have only been to Disney world twice and had stayed at copper creek and riviera which we currently own and love it but would love to try other resorts.
husband is a foodie! Trying to think of best resort that will cater to everyone.
we will not have a car and will be relying on Disney transportation.

 

[ValW]

My thoughts: Stick with a 1-bedroom (10 nights and 2 littles you just can't beat having a washer and dryer in the room along with a full kitchen). If you have Park Hoppers, staying at BWV or BC is great for a foodie - we love to walk into Epcot in the evening for dinner. BC has the best pool. Will you be spending more time at MK? If so, BLT with the extra bathroom and proximity can't be beat. I'm not a fan of AK just because of the distance to all of the parks, but it is a beautiful resort and the savannah view is really nice, but honestly, the little ones got bored with that fairly quickly.

 

[Sandisw]

I’d do a split stay with each 1 bedroom for 5 nights. so that you can do MK every easily for much of the trip and then do BCV for the pool and ease to Epcot and DHS, especially if DH is a foodie as it would give access to different options in World Showcase,

The day of the split, plan to sleep in, check out at 11 am, go to lunch somewhere, and then head to the new resort and enjoy the pool until room is ready.

Best of both worlds.

 

[holden]

BLT 1BR wins in my book. Walk to MK plus an extra bathroom and laundry...priceless.

 

[Shellyred8]

I’d do a split stay with each 1 bedroom for 5 nights. so that you can do MK every easily for much of the trip and then do BCV for the pool and ease to Epcot and DHS, especially if DH is a foodie as it would give access to different options in World Showcase,

The day of the split, plan to sleep in, check out at 11 am, go to lunch somewhere, and then head to the new resort and enjoy the pool until room is ready.

Best of both worlds.

OP: A split stay with each 1 bedroom for 5 nights would be my vote too. Plan your park reservations around where you are staying to minimize the need to use the buses.

Our move days usually look like this when we split between BWV and BLT: Since we usually have to take a bus at some point on our move day, we usually make this our Animal Kingdom day (since we have to take a bus there from both BWV and BLT). We get most stuff packed up the night before and then finish packing up in the morning. When we are ready to head to AK, we drop our luggage with bell services and ask them to move it to our new resort. Then we head off to AK for the day. At the end of our AK day, we just hop on the bus to our new resort. Since it's later in the day when we get back to the resort, our room is usually ready.

This is just another option to consider, in addition to what @Sandisw mentioned.

10 nights sounds like a grand time!!!

 

[Timandalicia]

I tend to find that the term “standard” in Disney speak means “no”.

 

[kboo]

I’d do a split stay with each 1 bedroom for 5 nights. so that you can do MK every easily for much of the trip and then do BCV for the pool and ease to Epcot and DHS, especially if DH is a foodie as it would give access to different options in World Showcase,

The day of the split, plan to sleep in, check out at 11 am, go to lunch somewhere, and then head to the new resort and enjoy the pool until room is ready.

Best of both worlds.

OP: A split stay with each 1 bedroom for 5 nights would be my vote too. Plan your park reservations around where you are staying to minimize the need to use the buses.

Our move days usually look like this when we split between BWV and BLT: Since we usually have to take a bus at some point on our move day, we usually make this our Animal Kingdom day (since we have to take a bus there from both BWV and BLT). We get most stuff packed up the night before and then finish packing up in the morning. When we are ready to head to AK, we drop our luggage with bell services and ask them to move it to our new resort. Then we head off to AK for the day. At the end of our AK day, we just hop on the bus to our new resort. Since it's later in the day when we get back to the resort, our room is usually ready.

This is just another option to consider, in addition to what @Sandisw mentioned.

10 nights sounds like a grand time!!!

I am an avid split-stayer with 2 kids 9 and 5. We've been DVC since the the younger one was a baby, and we regularly split between MK and the EP/HS area to walk and avoid folding the stroller. We often do AK on move day for the very same reasons.

My thoughts: Stick with a 1-bedroom (10 nights and 2 littles you just can't beat having a washer and dryer in the room along with a full kitchen). If you have Park Hoppers, staying at BWV or BC is great for a foodie - we love to walk into Epcot in the evening for dinner. BC has the best pool. Will you be spending more time at MK? If so, BLT with the extra bathroom and proximity can't be beat. I'm not a fan of AK just because of the distance to all of the parks, but it is a beautiful resort and the savannah view is really nice, but honestly, the little ones got bored with that fairly quickly.

If split stay between BLT and BWV were an option, that's what I'd pick. But if you are going to only do 1 resort, with kids aged 2 and 6, I would pick BLT. The extra bathroom and the separation of the master bedroom are invaluable. The soaking tub in the 1BRs is also more fun for bathtime for the kids. If you request an even-numbered room, high floor, you have a decent chance of getting a partial MK view (which also comes with a good slice of parking lot, but I don't mind that for the points of a standard.)

BCV has a great pool, but unless your kids are planning to be olympic swimming contenders, your 6 and 2-yos will be limited to the shallow sandy bottom area. And my younger one when she was almost 2 wanted to toddle all around the sandy bottom area, which in some places was too deep for her still. Did not make for a relaxing time at the pool. Now that my kids are 5 and 9 and strong swimmers for their age, we are going back to BCV and planning to spend some time at the pool there. But it was NOT fun 4 years ago. For toddlers and little ones, BLT/Contemporary has a better water play and slide setup (as does BWV). And even though the sensory overload of MK makes me a little crazy, my kids love it and would spend most of their time there, so ... we are hanging on to our BLT and VGF contracts...

The Village green and Boardwalk at BWV are great open spaces for little kids to walk, skip, wander, play. The walk to HS is much easier and shorter too.

 

[nelsonkg]

If the monorail to EPCOT was functional I would maybe choose BLT?. But if not I would choose BCV because you can walk to two parks and there are more more dining options. SAB was a favorite when the kids were little for playtime in the sand And when you find it to be too much you can use the quiet.
I have done split stays in the past when my children were young and I personally would never do it again to me having to pack up again and waste vacation time was a huge inconvenience especially when they are young and you have more necessities with you not to mention packing up your kitchen and moving food. I have done it twice and hated it. If your room at the second resort is not ready until 4 pm it is very inconvenient I think.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

I voted BLT. With kids your age I assume your trip will be heavy on the MK days. Walking from BLT is just a huge benefit....especially during the hot summer months when I am assuming a nap/pool time will be prevalent. The fact that you own at Riviera you have many years of Epcot resort area trips in your future so I would use the benefit of a close walk to MK while it's of (greater) benefit.

 

[WRLeGrand]

If you can split, that would be ideal. Hard to pass up the walk to MK, but also the pool at BCV would really appeal for your age of children.

 

[ElizabethG]

I would stay at either BLT or AKV. I love them both so much! I wouldn't do a split. I like split stays fine. We have one on our 2021 trip (8 nights / 7 nights). However, I do them if I add on days to the vacation and can't get them at the same resort or if I don't have enough points to cover a particular room for the entire time. It is a bit more relaxing to just settle in.

I like the second bathroom at BLT and AKV. The rooms at both are great. AKV works better if you have a car. The bus trips can get long for the toddlers. BLT location is great and it is easy to access other restaurants on the monorail. My first stay at BLT was on opening day. We bought points there right after.

I agree with the poster that said having little kids at the BCV pool was NOT relaxing!