BLT standard view or......

[RooRach0906]

We are having trouble making up our minds for our first DVC members vacation... originally we were going to try for the THV... now we are thinking BLT might be better
Our group will be DH, myself, DD who will be 2 1/2, and friends, which is a husband and wife their almost 5 year old and possibly his 16 year old daughter
We are planning on doing doing 6nights/7 days sometime in the first two weeks in Dec2012. Our pts are at SSR.
What do you Guys think?
Is standard view horrible?

 

[bobbiwoz]

Standard view is not horrible, but most likely wouldn't be available for you to book at 7 months. It seems to be very popular with BLT owners. If you can go for lake view that MAY be possible, but the first two weeks in December are very popular and you may not get into BLT at all, maybe on a wailist.

We are the DGP of a family who really enjoy our THV stays. I would book one if I could, and then try for BLT, you may get it!

 

[Granny]

December is a challenging booking time for non-home resorts. You might not be able to get either of those options for a 2BR.

My strong suggestion is to book SSR at your 11 month window and be prepared to spend your trip there. Hopefully you like SSR a lot as it is your home resort.

Then at 7 months go for your optimum resort choice for that trip. My understanding is that Standard View at BLT goes very quickly, so there probably won't be availability at that time. Be prepared with a list of options when you call MS as they may have to check several resorts before you hit on what you want.

I'm not saying that you won't get BLT SV, but I wouldn't get my heart set on it. None of the views are "horrible", and if you don't think you'll spend a lot of time on your balcony it won't matter much anyway.

Good luck!

 

[Deb & Bill]

I agree with Bobbi that early Dec at 7 months a standard view at BLT may not be possible. Book your THV with your SSR points in January. Then see if you can change at 7 months out.

 

[RooRach0906]

Thank you for all your advice... it was mainly a proxminity(sp?) thing when we were thinking BLT, you know walking distance to MK and monorial for Epcot. We love SSR and that is why we purchased there!!! We will have no problem staying there bascially wanted to know my odds at other places. I knew december was big for DVC members... Are they all that busy???
The thing is we would really like to eventually do all the resorts and I will say we normally go in Sept... The only reason we are doing Dec is because I DEMANDED it.... hahaha I want to see all the Christmas decorations.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thank you for all your advice... it was mainly a proxminity(sp?) thing when we were thinking BLT, you know walking distance to MK and monorial for Epcot. We love SSR and that is why we purchased there!!! We will have no problem staying there bascially wanted to know my odds at other places. I knew december was big for DVC members... Are they all that busy???
The thing is we would really like to eventually do all the resorts and I will say we normally go in Sept... The only reason we are doing Dec is because I DEMANDED it.... hahaha I want to see all the Christmas decorations.

I don't blame you one bit for wanting to see the Christmas decorations. DH and my family (we're the Grandparents) hadn't known about WDW's Christmases until 2001 and since then we go back in December every year!

Even though early December is busy, there are people who get into other than home resorts at 7 months. So, try...it doesn't cost anything to waitlist. There is the association meeting sometime in the first week, or maybe the second week, I've never been able to go due to school schedule, exam time. That adds to the people trying to get in.

Bobbi

 

[DenLo]

Only 10% of the villas at BLT are standard view. There is nothing wrong with a standard view. The ones on the first floor have a patio that's open similar to the ones at SSR. But you could get a standard view as high as the fifth floor. All of the standard views are either parking lot views or views of the foliage.

You can check out this thread by work2play about BLT views. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2257082

However, I think your best chance for a room at BLT will be a lake view as 70% of the rooms at BLT are lake view. Like others have said you should book your villa at SSR at the 11 month mark and at 7 months if BLT is not available you could WL for a Lake view 2BR.

Have you considered AKV for December trip? We love Kidani Village. There's nothing like a savanna view. We stayed in a Kidani 2BR in June and it was great. We only had five in the room (one guest was a no show) but 2 nieces and a nephew from another villa were always in our room. It seemed pretty roomy. And everyone loved the view of the animals. So if you really want to try something different that could be an option. Since AKV is a larger resort more rooms might be available.

Good luck getting the resort you want.

 

[RooRach0906]

Only 10% of the villas at BLT are standard view. There is nothing wrong with a standard view. The ones on the first floor have a patio that's open similar to the ones at SSR. But you could get a standard view as high as the fifth floor. All of the standard views are either parking lot views or views of the foliage.

You can check out this thread by work2play about BLT views. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2257082

However, I think your best chance for a room at BLT will be a lake view as 70% of the rooms at BLT are lake view. Like others have said you should book your villa at SSR at the 11 month mark and at 7 months if BLT is not available you could WL for a Lake view 2BR.

Have you considered AKV for December trip? We love Kidani Village. There's nothing like a savanna view. We stayed in a Kidani 2BR in June and it was great. We only had five in the room (one guest was a no show) but 2 nieces and a nephew from another villa were always in our room. It seemed pretty roomy. And everyone loved the view of the animals. So if you really want to try something different that could be an option. Since AKV is a larger resort more rooms might be available.

Good luck getting the resort you want.

I would love to stay at the Wilderness Lodge Villas, dunno if I could get DH to go for it tho.

We might be able to try for a Lake View at BLT (I might just ask my sister for a favor)

As for AKV, no we have not, although we do enjoy animals, we dont really want to stay there.... I guess its just not our taste. I know that DH would much rather stay at SSR over AKL.... he is VERY picky.

 

[taaren]

We're going for our first DVC WDW trip next December too! We have a similar crowd, two couples, 3 kids plus their uncle. Because we travel with them every year to our home resort, we know that we need the three bathrooms, so that's one of the reasons we're renting points for BLT (AKV was our other option but we ended up going for proximity). The THV's only have 2 bathrooms, though the 3 bedrooms would be nice. I'd reserve one then waitlist for a Lake View in your position.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I would love to stay at the Wilderness Lodge Villas, dunno if I could get DH to go for it tho....

VWL is difficult to get at 7 months out for December because of the holiday decor there. That is why we bought points there. To get the 11 month advantage for the holidays should we want it.

 

[Granny]

The thing is we would really like to eventually do all the resorts and I will say we normally go in Sept...

I think you will have no problem in securing 7 month reservations at WDW DVC resorts for September in the future. So your "resort sampling" plans should work out fine. We've stayed at all the WDW DVC resorts, and I would encourage others to try them all. Each has its own charm and beauty.

 

[spiceycat]

Thank you for all your advice... it was mainly a proxminity(sp?) thing when we were thinking BLT, you know walking distance to MK and monorial for Epcot. We love SSR and that is why we purchased there!!! We will have no problem staying there bascially wanted to know my odds at other places. I knew december was big for DVC members... Are they all that busy???
The thing is we would really like to eventually do all the resorts and I will say we normally go in Sept... The only reason we are doing Dec is because I DEMANDED it.... hahaha I want to see all the Christmas decorations.

you would need a dedicated 2-bedroom right? well those are in short supply in standard view BLT. think there are only 2 (now might be 5) - but these are in very short numbers. some of these are on the first floor - not a good place to be at BLT.

LV would definitely have more available than standard.

now I love standard - standard on the north side you can see the MK - you also see the service area. but I stay mostly in studios.

 

[n2mm]

OP, getting a standard during early December is nearly impossible. I find that when I go in early December I have to book a home resort. At the 7 month window it is slim pickings.

 

[RooRach0906]

We aren't picky and when we purchased our pts we picked a place we love... so if we have to stay there that's fine by us.
What are the chances if we got the tree house that a request to be as close to the carriage house as possible would be met??? I know they are never guarteed.u

 

[supersuperwendy]

I would book the treehouse at 11 months and request close to The Grandstand if you want to be close to the main part of SSR. Then at 7 months try for BLT if you can get it that would be so nice! Being able to watch Christmas Wishes from TOWL would be great! Good Luck!!