Bay Lake Towers or Grand Floridian

[merrittmom2]

Hello! We have booked our staying for December at the Grand Floridian. We have had a change of heart and think we want to do BLT because it is right next to the MK. Anyone have any thoughts on these 2 resorts for December. Pros/Cons, etc.??
Thank you

 

[CMOORE185]

Grand Floridian is my favorite resort so you will get no support for a switch from me. MK is a very short monorail ride from GF as well.

 

[OKW Lover]

The big advantage of BLT is the ability to walk to/from the MK. You can't do that from the GF.

 

[Kidanifan08]

Hello! We have booked our staying for December at the Grand Floridian. We have had a change of heart and think we want to do BLT because it is right next to the MK. Anyone have any thoughts on these 2 resorts for December. Pros/Cons, etc.??
Thank you

I think the biggest con in your case is that there is NOTHING available at BLT (and essentially every other WDW-DVC) 6 months and 6 days from now. You should hang on tightly to that VGF reservation!

You may get lucky with a waitlist for BLT, but if it is for more than 1-3 nights, the likelihood of the WL coming through is pretty low. Additionally, you are almost a month behind many other people who have WL's for BLT for that same timeframe.

Enjoy your holiday stay at VGF. There are many who envy your reservation!

 

[merrittmom2]

I think the biggest con in your case is that there is NOTHING available at BLT (and essentially every other WDW-DVC) 6 months and 6 days from now. You should hang on tightly to that VGF reservation!

You may get lucky with a waitlist for BLT, but if it is for more than 1-3 nights, the likelihood of the WL coming through is pretty low. Additionally, you are almost a month behind many other people who have WL's for BLT for that same timeframe.

Enjoy your holiday stay at VGF. There are many who envy your reservation!

Actually, we have been on the waitlist for BLT for about 5 or 6 weeks. When I checked the availability this evening for when we were going, I can go ahead and get 3 of my 6 nights. I just can't decide if I even should go ahead and get those nights and do individual WL for the other nights....if that makes sense.

Thanks

 

[Kidanifan08]

Honestly, I think GF has more of a traditional Christmas feel than CR/BLT. The one advantage to BLT would be walking home after MVMCP. Otherwise, the monorail service from MK to GF is reliable.

We have not stayed at VGF yet, but the rooms look amazing compared to BLT. If you do change, you are going to make someone else very happy!

 

[merrittmom2]

Have you ever stayed at OKW??? Just checked there and we can stay for 3 more nights for only 4 more points. GF is our home resort, we just bought and I have never stayed onsite...so this will be my first time staying onsite.
I keep thinking that this might be my one shot to stay there (because we have bonus points and what not). I don't know if I am making any sense, but I do know that wherever we decide to stay will be AWESOME because we will be in DISNEY hehe

 

[Kidanifan08]

Have you ever stayed at OKW??? Just checked there and we can stay for 3 more nights for only 4 more points. GF is our home resort, we just bought and I have never stayed onsite...so this will be my first time staying onsite.
I keep thinking that this might be my one shot to stay there (because we have bonus points and what not). I don't know if I am making any sense, but I do know that wherever we decide to stay will be AWESOME because we will be in DISNEY hehe

We have only stayed at OKW once, and it was in August. We were doing the parks commando style for that 2 night stay, so we did not get a real feel for the resort. We were not big fans of the bus system at that resort, but it is a nice option for conserving points. The rooms are considerably bigger than comparable rooms at all other resorts. There is a sticky at the top of the DVC boards called "DVC Resource Center" that compares the room types and sizes at the various resorts.

What size room are you staying in at VGF? How many nights do you have now? I agree, this may be your one chance for a blowout stay at VGF for the holidays, and you may want to stick with it. If you are looking to add more days to your visit, you could consider doing a split stay. We are personally not big fans of split stays if our visit is less than 8 days. We have done a few with 4 days at one resort and 4-5 days at another. It it fun to try more than one resort, but it is a little bit of a pain to re-pack everything mid-trip and then have to unpack. This is especially true since we have an Owner's Locker that is bursting at the seams!

 

[merrittmom2]

Right now we are staying for 5 nights. We were going to tack on to either the beginning or end of our trip. But like you, I am not very keen on having to uproot and stay somewhere different for 3 more nights...I am SO torn, the hubs is fine doing OKW because he wants to stay longer and it won't cost any more points or money out of pocket. UGH...decisions, decisions

Thank you for all your advice!!! I really do appreciate it

 

[kda]

We've had 2 fantastic stays at BLT lake view, so I'm a fan, but if you're looking for a real Christmas feeling, the GF is beautiful. If you don't care about Christmas decorations, ignore this post.

 

[Geomom]

VGF!

We've never stayed at BLT, but did stay at a VGF standard studio this past February--it was gorgeous. We have 2 girls (14 and 9 at the time), the younger one slept on the pull out bed under the TV--she loved that bed! VGF has a very luxurious feel to it. From our standard view balcony, we could see the fountain, part of the 'beach pool' and a little bit of beach. The villas are very close to the Beach Pool with the water slide/pool activities and the pool bar/snack bar. With this past Feb. trip, we made ADR's at various Grand Floridian and Polynesian restaurants--very easy walk to both hotels.

We've been down to Disney once at Thanksgiving (stayed at SSR as it was the only thing available) and had dinner at 1900 Park fare one night--I think it would be worth staying at VGF in December just to see the full size Gingerbread house in the lobby of the Grand Floridian! I imagine that the villas would be decorated for Christmas as well.

 

[merrittmom2]

We've had 2 fantastic stays at BLT lake view, so I'm a fan, but if you're looking for a real Christmas feeling, the GF is beautiful. If you don't care about Christmas decorations, ignore this post.

VGF!

We've never stayed at BLT, but did stay at a VGF standard studio this past February--it was gorgeous. We have 2 girls (14 and 9 at the time), the younger one slept on the pull out bed under the TV--she loved that bed! VGF has a very luxurious feel to it. From our standard view balcony, we could see the fountain, part of the 'beach pool' and a little bit of beach. The villas are very close to the Beach Pool with the water slide/pool activities and the pool bar/snack bar. With this past Feb. trip, we made ADR's at various Grand Floridian and Polynesian restaurants--very easy walk to both hotels.

We've been down to Disney once at Thanksgiving (stayed at SSR as it was the only thing available) and had dinner at 1900 Park fare one night--I think it would be worth staying at VGF in December just to see the full size Gingerbread house in the lobby of the Grand Floridian! I imagine that the villas would be decorated for Christmas as well.

Yall are killing me!! I thought I was maybe on board with the hubs about being able to stay longer with not breaking up the trip...now I really want to stay at VGF!!! Well, maybe yall aren't killing me, but the hubs will be now

I have got to figure out a way for us to stay a few more days and not drain the pocket book!!!

 

[nalajms]

I have got to figure out a way for us to stay a few more days and not drain the pocket book!!!

If you're set on staying longer, I think your only choice would be whatever's available. You can waitlist, but there's no guarantee that it will come through. That's the one downside of DVC, it's hard to add on a night or two on short notice.

You'll have the option to book at VGF next time, at the 11m window. Studios should be booked right at 11m regardless of season. The other rooms are mostly available right before 7m, except for busy DVC and holiday times. I've learned to just book more days than expected at the 11m window, so we don't run into this problem

 

[merrittmom2]

If you're set on staying longer, I think your only choice would be whatever's available. You can waitlist, but there's no guarantee that it will come through. That's the one downside of DVC, it's hard to add on a night or two on short notice.

You'll have the option to book at VGF next time, at the 11m window. Studios should be booked right at 11m regardless of season. The other rooms are mostly available right before 7m, except for busy DVC and holiday times. I've learned to just book more days than expected at the 11m window, so we don't run into this problem

I didn't realize that about the room size, thank you!! Yeah, I realize that we probably won't be able to do a DVC and if so it would completely drain our point account, that's why I was looking at just regular rooms and it would at that point drain the pocket book! LOL! So if anyone is feeling generous and wants to donate a couple of nights to someone, let me know

 

[jade1]

Take the 3 at BLT, then 3 at BCV or BWV-minimal buses all week for us.

 

[CMOORE185]

If you stay at GF, as I recommend you do, have dinner at Ohana at Poly, it is a great place!

 

[Geomom]

If you decide to do a split stay at OKW (to save pts) and VGF, do OKW first as VGF will look more spectacular.

We did our first split stay last summer, I wouldn't do less than 3 nights at each, but it worked for us. The trip seemed to go by really quick though, but it was a good way to experience VWL and Jambo house which we'd never been to before...that trip we discovered that we really love VWL and that we prefer Kidani to Jambo which was a surprise to us.

 

[jdmn2010]

You really can't go wrong no matter what you decide. While BLT is my favorite place to stay because it is walking distance from MK, we recently stayed at VGF and it was gorgeous. We had a beautiful 2 bedroom and the kids loved the pool and even the lobby is super nice. And while we couldn't walk to MK, the monorail makes life easy and we took advantage of being able to walk to the Polynesian and had some meals there.

 

[lisaviolet]

Grand Floridian is my favorite resort so you will get no support for a switch from me. MK is a very short monorail ride from GF as well.

Ditto.

 

[lisaviolet]

Yall are killing me!! I thought I was maybe on board with the hubs about being able to stay longer with not breaking up the trip...now I really want to stay at VGF!!! Well, maybe yall aren't killing me, but the hubs will be now

I have got to figure out a way for us to stay a few more days and not drain the pocket book!!!

Stay there. I just got back. It is beyond a peaceful and lovely resort as a whole. I could have not left the property and had an outstanding time. Also, this might seem ridiculous but it's how I feel - I would choose a studio at VGF over the equivalent points for a one bedroom elsewhere (just two in my room though). Seriously, with zero issues. The upgrades are just way above anything.

And I'm sure someone has already said this but don't forget about the MK - GF access by boat. Also, the Polynesian is a nonsense walk from the Villas. Just a great location, especially for a busy time.

I will now go and dream of riches coming my way to buy there!