BLT owner here...thoughts on our first trip home

[thelionqueen]

As I sit here tonight in our 1BR MK view BLT villa, I decided to jot down the pros and cons of the resort I am ultra proud to call home!!

I have been waiting and saving to buy BLT for many years (even while Disney denied it's conception) and bought the second it went on sale. Just letting you know the background so you can take my comments how you see fit

Pros...I LOVE THIS RESORT!!!!!!! LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION
The pictures I've seen do this place absolutely NO JUSTICE, it is TRULY breathtaking!!
I love the layout of the room
I love the comfortable beds as well as the sofa pull-outs-extremely comfortable
The MK view is truly the only view I will ever book from now on...there is nothing else like it on earth
Watching monorails from my balcony is my new favorite pastime

The staff went SO FAR ABOVE AND BEYOND I cannot even tell you. It was, BY FAR, the best I've been treated at any Disney property..KUDOS BLT CM's!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the exculsivity of this resort! I TRULY feel special owning here, and very "safe". Just knowing that most people who are around me are CM's or other guests, makes me feel more comfortable.

PLENTY of parking!! This was something I was afraid of, but I found a good spot every single time I came and went...very pleasantly surprised!

Cons...What is up with the TV???
Seriously, the remotes don't work, and when they do, there is a 10 plus second delay. The channels volumes are RIDICULOUS!!! Some are SUPER loud, some not, but NONE can be changed in less than 2 minutes..SO ANNOYING!!

The community hall staff are AWFUL!! We went 3 different times, with some different CM's and all were not welcoming or helpful. This was a HUGE disappointment to our kids who were SPOILED ROTTEN by SSR's CH.

The pool is not my favorite by a long shot. I realize they did the best they could with the theming and location of the resort. It was adequate enough, just nothing to draw me there at all.


Overall, I can say that BLT is EASILY my favorite DVC resort (haven't stayed @ GCV yet..so you never know) to stay at in any other season than summer (I would have to pick Beach Club for a summer stay solely due to SAB). It is clean, contemporary (and I'm a "down home" kinda' girl) and plush. I knew I would love it as I am self-proclamed "monorail spoiled" but I had no idea how wonderful it really is.

I just bought more BLT points on this trip, as I knew after staying here a week I would need them The MK view is worth EVERY POINT it takes to get one.

Just wanted to share my observations..if you have any questions or comments, feel free to ask/post. I LOVE MY BLT DVC!!!

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Thanks!

I can't wait for our first trip "home" to BLT in May. We reserved a GV but it's not MK view. Just so many more points! I did tell DH that sometime when we go without extended family we have to do MK view.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I'm happy that you're so happy with your purchase!!! Here's hoping the CMs at the Community Hall improve. I've read good things about them, really, your comments are the first negative ones I've read. We're staying at BLT with family in January, and I actually forwarded pictures of the Community center and comments to my family from the Resort board on the Dis. The DGC are hyped and so are we about our upcoming stay!

Bobbi

 

[Tony-NJ]

It's so nice to hear you are pleased with your decision! I plan on experiencing BLT soon, but my other hjalf hates the CR - so not sure we could own there

 

[appleorchard]

We're also new BLT owners who just completed our first visit there; we've owned at BWV for almost 10 years. As much as I wanted to love BLT(we also bought the minute it became available,) we're seriously considering selling and buying more points at BWV. Here's our pros and cons:

Pros-extra bathroom in the 1 BR. LOVED it--HATED the gap and no locks. Yes, this is a near deal breaker for us. My DH said he wouldn't have bought there if he'd known about the no locks.

No long elevator walks. Loved the elevator setup at BLT, esp. compared to the long halls at BWV.

The kitchen set up--very nice and love the granite and SS appliances.

The bed--very comfortable. The 1 BR and bath setup is overall better than BWV.

Cons-The locks, the high high vanity in the master bath(we're short), the lack of towel bars. The color of the living room couch-it's going to look dirty very quickly.

I found all the LR furniture uncomfortable, but that's a personal choice.

Didn't care for the MK-parking lot view. Yes, we could see the castle, but we had to look past the cars.

Monorail--it was always crowded and didn't thrill me as much as I'd hoped it would.

Overall-
We missed the Boardwalk at night, and the walk home from MK wasn't as magical as walking back from Epcot. Crossing a road just does something to the magic.BLT is really gorgeous, and the setup is VERY nice, but I guess we're Boardwalk people. I also found the BLT pool less than thrilling.

I'm really very sad that we didn't love it--I got the T shirt and everything lol. But we both felt exactly the same way about it. Good thing we at least think alike!

 

[DVC Mike]

I'm glad to hear you love BLT.

We do too.

 

[Lexxiefern]

Thanks for sharing your pros and cons! I cannot wait to stay at BLT but DH is less than thrilled. The location and the views just seem wonderful!

 

[Lexxiefern]

We're also new BLT owners who just completed our first visit there; we've owned at BWV for almost 10 years. As much as I wanted to love BLT(we also bought the minute it became available,) we're seriously considering selling and buying more points at BWV. Here's our pros and cons:

Pros-extra bathroom in the 1 BR. LOVED it--HATED the gap and no locks. Yes, this is a near deal breaker for us. My DH said he wouldn't have bought there if he'd known about the no locks.

No long elevator walks. Loved the elevator setup at BLT, esp. compared to the long halls at BWV.

The kitchen set up--very nice and love the granite and SS appliances.

The bed--very comfortable. The 1 BR and bath setup is overall better than BWV.

Cons-The locks, the high high vanity in the master bath(we're short), the lack of towel bars. The color of the living room couch-it's going to look dirty very quickly.

I found all the LR furniture uncomfortable, but that's a personal choice.

Didn't care for the MK-parking lot view. Yes, we could see the castle, but we had to look past the cars.

Monorail--it was always crowded and didn't thrill me as much as I'd hoped it would.

Overall-
We missed the Boardwalk at night, and the walk home from MK wasn't as magical as walking back from Epcot. Crossing a road just does something to the magic.BLT is really gorgeous, and the setup is VERY nice, but I guess we're Boardwalk people. I also found the BLT pool less than thrilling.

I'm really very sad that we didn't love it--I got the T shirt and everything lol. But we both felt exactly the same way about it. Good thing we at least think alike!

This is how I think we will be as well. We just love the BWV and we always miss it when we stay elsewhere. Thanks for sharing your opinions!

 

[thelionqueen]

Thanks to everyone for letting me post my preferences and the like, I LOVE getting input from everyone!!

Bobbi-I was also surprised at our dislike of Community Hall and specifically the CM's there. I truly hope we just had bad timing and caught the CM's at a bad time. My boys and I agree that SSR is the best CH for activities and the best CM's.

Surprisingly, after staying at nearly every DVC now, SSR is in all of our "top 3 DVC resorts" lists. In fact, it was #2 in 3 out of 4. That was truly the most surprising DVC to date, and I'm very surprised how much we all love it! I would NEVER (and I do mean never) have stayed there if I didn't have our BLT developer points to do so, and boy would we have missed out.

I just wanted to add that we are spending the 2nd half of this trip @ VWL. This is our first stay here as well, and I will be sharing those thoughts in an upcoming thread...stay tuned..

Let's just say that I wish we would've stayed here first before BLT. The ambience is great, but the rooms are just absolutely not even close to the comfort, opulence and size of BLT. So glad we got to experience is, the CM's are great, but I am a fully, self-proclaimed BLT spoiled DVC owner

 

[arthur06]

Glad to hear your enjoying your stay!

 

[gotrojansgo]

We may not be the most experienced DVC members (we've stayed at OKW, BCV and SSR a number of times), but BLT is much, much more than we could have asked for. The room (we had a 1B regular view...fans of stretching the points here) is bigger than we thought (though not quite as big as OKW).

The location alone is enough to make us want to come back. Personally, we felt the BCV were kind of out of the way from the main lobby and secluded from the rest of the resort, but the BLT is just a hop, skip and a jump away from the lobby. We haven't experienced the bad CMs that thelionqueen was talking about, but maybe that was because we caught them on a good day...and we were just checking out a DVD!

One thing we really appreciated was that it's almost the end of the year and the place still smells new--it seems like the staff is really dedicated to the upkeep of this place. It's super convenient being on the monorail and being a stone's throw from all most of our favorite holiday/dining traditions (Kona Cafe for Tonga Toast at the Polynesian, gingerbread house at GF, California Grill at CR, Whispering Canyon Cafe at WL, Hoop-De-Doo Revue at FW)...it's our dream come true!

It did take a lot of getting used to being on the north end of the property, though. My mom and I are confessed outlet shopaholics and getting to the nearest malls from SSR is considerable easier than from BLT. And, I will agree with what a lot of people said here in that the walk back from the Magic Kingdom is not nearly as magical as the walk back from Epcot with the nice view. With that said, it's nice to close out Epcot and head over to MK for some late-night fun knowing you'll be feet away from your hotel rather than being a bus ride away. It might be the lazy college student in me, but it's just a nicer feeling.

Unfortunately, it's been too cold here to go swimming, so I can't attest to the pool (though it looks nice from the outside!). I can say that our whole family loves the area in and around WL and FW and I enjoy being a boat ride away so I can run there every morning, rather than trying to figure out where to go everywhere else.

We're definitely looking forward to staying at BLT another time...whether or not it will be the next time we come down is a good question (my mom insists THV are calling our name). Props to Disney, though, they did a fantastic job with the new property; definitely our favorite out of the ones we've stayed in.