BLT or VB for late July?

[disneypoor]

Hello! We are taking my extended family (18 people total) on a Disney vacation at the end of July using our membership. We are currently booked at BLT in two 2 bedroom units. Initially, I booked this so we would for sure have a place to vacation to, but in the back of my mind, I was planning to try to switch to VB at the 7 month mark.

So, next month will mark my 7 month mark, and I'm beginning to second guess myself. The reason I wanted to switch to VB was so all of the kids could enjoy the beach and we could just relax. We all absolutely love Castaway Cay, so I thought the beach would be wonderful. However, now my own kids who are taking friends are also wanting to go to the parks. My plan was to try to get a beach cottage and a couple of studios at VB, but I'm not sure how likely it is that we will be able to get those, so any input would be greatly appreciated.

My main questions are: would you stick with BLT, switch to VB if the beach cottage is available, or try to do both and stay a couple of days at BLT and then move to VB. We are only staying for a total of four nights. If I do this, would I have to completely cancel my current BLT reservation or would I be able to just cancel some of the nights?

TIA for any advice! This is our first reservation since joining DVC, so I'm just getting my feet wet.

Susan

 

[Samaya]

Yes, you can just cancel some of those nights at BLT, last year we cancelled 2-nights of a 5-night stay and kept the same reservation number.

But we wouldn't think about moving if we were in your shoes, you would probably loose half of one of your four vacation days in packing, travelling and checking in and you might not be able to get into the beach cottage until 4pm. So with 4-days and a party of 18 we would choose one or the other and our choice would be BLT where you can play and also relax (if you find the time).

We've just booked 8-nights at Vero Beach and while on the phone to Member Services we checked on the availability in a Beach Cottage for the end of July and from the 19th, 5 nights is available, the 24th and 25th is fully booked and from the 26th, 5-nights is also available. Studios available for all nights from the 19th.

Good luck with your planning, Samaya

 

[disneypoor]

Thank you for your reply! You stated the exact reason why I really didn't want to split our stay between the two places--we'd waste an entire day of our vacation just moving from one to the other and getting checked in.

Ironically, we are wanting a beach cottage from July 26th-30th, so if it's still available when we can call and book it in December, that would work great! I wasn't sure if staying at BLT and just hanging out there would be quite as relaxing as having the beach. My husband and kids love to go to the parks, but some of my extended family wouldn't want to do that every day, so it would limit the amount of time we all spent together. Sometimes that's a good thing though.

I guess I'll just call MS in December and see if VB is even available. If it is, that's what we'll go with. It would likely be a lot cheaper for everyone involved if park tickets didn't have to be purchased, and I think we'd spend more time together than we would if we all went to BLT. I do want to stay at BLT eventually though!

Susan

 

[Halle]

We have stayed at both places and were lucky enough to secure a beach cottage, which was phenomenal. The pool area at VB is IMHO the best of all DVC resorts. I don't know the ages of the kids or their swimming skills but I must point out that there aren't any lifeguards on the beach at VB. Chair and umbrella rentals are extremely expensive. Only other drawback is that you have to drive to restaurants if you want to eat somewhere other than the resort.

 

[disneypoor]

Thanks for the tips about VB. I figured the older kids could enjoy the beach while the younger ones would probably primarily stay at the pool area for much of the time. I really hope we can get a beach cottage. If not, I will probably leave our reservation at BLT. Decisions, decisions..... Sure glad I get to make these kinds of decisions though!