Bay Lake Tower vs Beach Club Villas (with small children)

[Sim4242]

Hi! We are starting to plan our next DW trip - when we go our kids will be 7,5,3. We know we will most likely do 2 days at MK so that's where the desire to stay at Bay Lake Towers comes from. However I've heard great things about BC and their pool - but I also heard that it's more fun and better if your kids are older... I read somewhere that you can't see the whole pool at one time and it just seems geared towards older kids...is this true? How is the pool at Bay Lake Towers? We usually split our time between parks and pool so I'm just having a hard time deciding. Also, I know walking to Epcot and HS is awesome but I think we will just spend 1 day at each since again, our kids are small. Thank you for any help or input!!

 

[OKW Lover]

Lets take this in small bites.

As far as convenience to the parks goes;
BLT is easily walkable to/from the MK. Its a monorail ride to Epcot or a bus ride to DHS, DAK or Disney Springs So, walk to MK 2 days, ride the monorail one day, bus two days.
BCV is easily walkable to/from Epcot. Its also walkable to DHS, but perhaps the boat is easier for your family. Its a bus ride to the MK and DAK. So, walk to a park 1 day, ride a boat another day, bus to the park 3 days.

As far as the units go;
BLT is newer but the rooms are smaller. Some don't care for the layout, some like it.
BCV has larger rooms

As far as the pool goes;
BLT has a fairly standard pool. No fancy theming, but a nice pool
BCV has a very large, almost water park, pool and it also has a quiet pool. Storm along bay is very spread out and it will be difficult to keep an eye on all your children at once. I won't say it was geared to older kids though as there are areas for everybody.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Given the amount of time you will spend at MK, I would choose BLT.

SAB is a bit sprawling. They have a wonderful children's pool but to get to the slides (including the one for small children), you have to exit the pool and go across a path to the beach area. If you have enough adults to possibly split up and monitor the kids in different areas, it's workable, but if you'd rather stay in a central location, I would choose BLT.

 

[HM2012Butler]

The beach club pool will b a draw BUT the view at BLT is spectacular if you get Theme Park View (lake view is nice too). It can also be a great location to quickly get back to if you're spending a day in MK. changes of clothes, naps, etc can be handle by walking to taking the monorail back.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

you can't see the whole pool at one time

This is true.

Several parts of the pool are not suitable for young or short people, even with life jackets, in my opinion. This would include your 5 and 3 year old. The shallow sand area and the play area down near Hurricane Hanna's are fine, but the lazy river isn't especially lazy (it's 8 feet deep).

The pools at BLT/CR are a lot more controllable with 3 children and 2 adults, IMO.

 

[aggiedog]

I spent 20 minutes looking for my 10yo at SAB last week, enough time to start to get worried even though he is a strong swimmer. There are lots of nooks and crannies for kids to play in and he was tucked into a corner that I kept missing. There are 3 hot tubs tucked into rocks that are completely invisible until you get to the entrance to them. The lazy river is deep - 50% is 6-8 feet deep, with a very strong current. Treacherous for bad swimmers.

That said, the sand bottomed pool at SAB is fantastic for little kids. There is a very shallow area, and there is one section by the lifeguard where you can dig a shallow in the sand and create your own "private" pool. If your kids are not the type to run off, and will stay where you tell them to stay, it would be doable. If they tend to wander, I'd try to avoid SAB until they are older and can hold their own in the water.

 

[Gillyrose779]

We have 5 and 6 year old boys and absolutely love the pool at BC. My kids are so young I watch them the whole time wherever we are so the size of the pool doesn't matter. When my youngest was 4 he went down the slide by himself- had a lifevest on and dad at the bottom to catch him- he LOVES it- he is scared of everything but LOVES that slide.

Walking to MK from BLT is wonderful but we like to spend a lot of time at Epcot so the back entrance from BC to Epcot is wonderful.

 

[johnsonet]

BLT! My niece stayed there when she was 3 and still talks about it (9 now). Great villas - and incredible location for MK.
I've always felt SAB is overrated. It's nice - but all the Disney pools are nice. Plus it's very spread out to be keeping an eye on three children.
BCV looks lovely, though, especially with the room renovations.

 

[J. Iminy]

I agree with what everyone else above said, but I would just add a slightly different angle. One of the pros of BC is that, in my mind, you can effectively avoid the buses for 2.5 of the parks. As mentioned, you can walk to Epcot very easily and can also walk (or boat) to HS. If you are avid walkers or are used to exercising, then that walk to DHS is really not bad, but you can take a boat in any event. However, another hidden benefit of staying at BC (or BWV) is that, while you have to take a bus to MK in the morning id you are hitting RD, if you leave the park early and otherwise have PHs, then you can monorail back to Epcot in the early evening and walk through Epcot back to your hotel. My wife and I do this on our trips with our young children. Getting on a bus can be really hard late at night. The ease of either walking/boating to a resort or taking the monorail can't be oversold. You can take your stroller right on and your kids can sleep through the whole monorail/walk/boat. Packing up the stroller to get on a bus, especially at night, is one of my least favorite things about using Disney transportation.

Of course, we basically start at the parks at rope drop and push the kids until they are done (around 7 or so). If we wanted to go back to the room in the middle of the day, we might think differently. And, if we stayed to close at MK, we might run the risk of not being able to walk through Epcot on the way home, nixing the Monorail option. But our kids are young, so we don't tend to close the parks other than Illuminations since it is so close to the resort.

One of the nice things about BC is that you can also leisurely walk (and partake in drinks) on the boardwalk or around WS in Epcot at night while your kids sleep in a stroller. We really like that. It gives us some adult time without being confined to a room. Not sure whether you can necessarily do that at BLT.

 

[StefR]

I have only been to BLT once but I was appalled at how run down it was considering the per night cost. It's hard to beat the convenience of being on the monorail but I would not stay there again unless they refurbed.

The apartment itself was very spacious and I loved having the washer dryer but other than that, a huge let down.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

BLT is doing a soft goods refurb right now.

 

[mkla2015]

Have you considered a split stay? We did a BC/BLT split on our last trip and it worked out perfectly. We spent most of our time at EP and HS while staying at BC and more MK time while at BLT.

I love BLT. I have 2 young kids and we spend most nights at MK. It's great to be able to walk back to the room at night and not have to wait in the long bus lines. We were there 3/12-3/21 and didn't find it run down. We were in a 1 bedroom and thought it was very nice.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You will need at least a one bedroom villa at BLT since the studios only sleep four. At BCV, if you get a renovated studio, you can sleep five, but it will be crowded. If you get a one bedroom at BCV, you'll need to bring something for one of your kids to sleep on . There is only one king bed and one queen sleeper sofa at BCV in the one bedroom villa. The studio will have one queen bed, one double sleeper sofa and a murphy bed if you get a renovated room. If you don't, you won't fit in the studio.

 

[Jfsag123]

We stayed at BLT last year and my kids (4 and 7 at the time) LOVED it. The pool doesn't have a lot of theming, but it's a nice area and gorgeous overlooking the lake. We had pool time pretty much every day and my kids still talk about how much they enjoyed it. This year we decided to try for the best of both worlds and are doing a BCV/BLT split. Looking forward to trying SAB for the first time.

 

[aggiedog]

If you get a one bedroom at BCV, you'll need to bring something for one of your kids to sleep on

We used the cushions from the sleeper sofa to make a pallet for my son. It worked like a charm. They were flat, sturdy, and large enough for my 90th percentile 10 yo. I wrapped a sheet around the pillows to keep them in place, and put a blanket over them. A word of caution, though - housekeeping kept taking my extra sheet and blanket. I had to start hiding them in a drawer so they'd still be there when we got back from the park.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We used the cushions from the sleeper sofa to make a pallet for my son. It worked like a charm. They were flat, sturdy, and large enough for my 90th percentile 10 yo. I wrapped a sheet around the pillows to keep them in place, and put a blanket over them. A word of caution, though - housekeeping kept taking my extra sheet and blanket. I had to start hiding them in a drawer so they'd still be there when we got back from the park.

The cushions on the sleeper sofa at AKV has turns on the end - they aren't flat. They fit into the back of the sleeper sofa.

 

[TinkFan74]

While staying at BLT one of our favourite action cities was taking the boat to Ft. Wilderness, there your kids can run around, go see the horses, or you could rent a canoe. It is definitely our favourite place to go and relax away from the crowds.

 

[dansdad]

While staying at BLT one of our favourite action cities was taking the boat to Ft. Wilderness, there your kids can run around, go see the horses, or you could rent a canoe. It is definitely our favourite place to go and relax away from the crowds.

Don't you just LOVE auto correct?

 

[clapton]

With 3 small children I agree with others that BLT would be the best choice for you. Just being able to walk to MK is great with kids. The Contempo Cafe is great for quick service meals and you can always hop on the monorail and eat at the Poly or GF. You won't be disappointed with the BLT. Have a great trip!!

 

[Minniesgal]

The BCV 1 and 2 bedroom villas are a lot smaller than those at BLT. The extra bathroom in BLT is fab as is the location. For us BLT hands down