Contemporary (or bay lake) stay, for Toddlers?

[_19disnA]

We stayed at the Contemporary last year and enjoyed the proximity to Magic Kingdom. The walk isn't that far compared to how much walking you will do in the park. We also liked the option to return via the monorail which is only 1 stop away. Resort theme/appeal seems to be mostly a matter of personal preference. Never had to wait very long for the elevators. Contemporary is the only resort where the monorail goes through the lobby which is still a great feature after all these years.

 

[Babsy]

The BLT 2 bedroom is a dream come true with small children!!! We stayed at BLT this past Dec with 10 people (4 small children). We had the two bedroom as well as a studio booked. The 2 bedroom is huge nd VERY comfortable. The studio was a TPV room and the 2bedroom was a lake view. We requested a north location for the rooms and a view of fireworks, if possible, from the lake view. Our request was granted and we had the best view from our lake view 2 bedroom! We could watch the MK fireworks from the balcony by looking left and could see the lake looking right. If booking lake view, I would make that request again.

We loved the convenience of walking a few minutes to/from the MK. With small children it was amazing! and having three bathrooms, in room laundry, two bedrooms, a living area, full kitchen and lots of space for everyone was awesome as well. We have stayed CR before, and I thought that I would miss staying in the CR tower, but we really didn't. The walk across from BLT was so easy - it felt just as good as the CR to us! LOVED BLT!!!

 

[philly_mcphillyface]

We've stayed at BLT twice with our two young kids. The walk is no problem at all, and to us a total lifesaver at night. Should you not get a park view you can still watch fireworks from other areas such as sky bridge. Monorail to Epcot is nice, and now with Skyliner from there to HS you only really have to (rope dropping Hollywood excluded I guess) take a bus to Animal Kingdom.

 

[Anthony1971]

I have to go with others the BLT rooms are small and have a poor layout at best... The walk is nice however. You can also easily roll a stroller onto a monorail at POLY or GF so do not rule them out as you will likely find yourself taking it most of the time to BLT as well....the walk is HOT midday...but fine early mornings and when the sun goes down. Both of the DVC units in those resorts will better fit your family and the POLY has 2 bathrooms which makes getting ready in the morning a lot faster but it does take away some of the room space but still larger than BLT. However both POLY and GF will cost you more than for both DVC and through Disney so if Budget is part BLT is still a great choice but the rooms will be a little tight.

 

[atlbraves49]

We've stayed at Contemporary twice now with littles (4 and 3 and 2 and 1) at the end of August. We absolutely LOVE the ability to walk to/from MK. The walk is easy and security check was easy as well. The BLT studio would be tight. We loved the theme park view room at the Contemporary but it was in the sun all day. We actually preferred the lake view room because we could be out on the balcony while the kids napped without being scorched by the sun and views of the water pageant at night. The theme park view room was nice when it came to watching the fireworks from the balcony though, especially the fireworks from MNSSHP, however, you could easily watch them from the public areas of the Contemporary.

Think the 2 room suite at bay lake tower would be a good fit for our group (3 young kids, the 2 parents, and 2 grandparents)? Overkill or just right?

 

[TCRAIG]

I have to go with others the BLT rooms are small and have a poor layout at best... The walk is nice however. You can also easily roll a stroller onto a monorail at POLY or GF so do not rule them out as you will likely find yourself taking it most of the time to BLT as well....the walk is HOT midday...but fine early mornings and when the sun goes down. Both of the DVC units in those resorts will better fit your family and the POLY has 2 bathrooms which makes getting ready in the morning a lot faster but it does take away some of the room space but still larger than BLT. However both POLY and GF will cost you more than for both DVC and through Disney so if Budget is part BLT is still a great choice but the rooms will be a little tight.

I would not consider 2 Poly studios in lieu of a BLT 2 bedroom unit - it really is great having 3 full baths, full kitchen and in room laundry!

 

[Deb & Bill]

You want a two bedroom villa, not suite. There are no suites at BLT.

 

[corgi_monster]

We stayed at BLT in January 2019 with a 2.5yo and a 7mo - it was GREAT! The walk to MK is short imo, and very pleasant. The biggest perk is that the walkway from BLT/CR to MK has its own security area and the line was never more than 1-2 groups deep. Security lines to access the monorail were also short, but the security people at this checkpoint were generally grumpy - not a magical way to start the day.

At the end of the night, it's nice to have the option to walk if the monorail lines are crazy long. If you do take the monorail, it's just one stop to the CR.

We stayed in a 1BR so having a washing machine and dryer in the room was very convenient. The 7mo only drank pumped milk via a bottle so it was AWESOME to have a full size refrigerator and freezer for storing milk and freezing ice packs. At DL, we had to take our ice packs to bell services every night and pick them up every morning.

One thing to note - our standard view room faced MK and I was constantly worried that the fireworks would wake up the baby. If I had to do it over again, I would pay a little extra to be on the side of the building that faced the water.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We stayed at BLT in January 2019 with a 2.5yo and a 7mo - it was GREAT! The walk to MK is short imo, and very pleasant. The biggest perk is that the walkway from BLT/CR to MK has its own security area and the line was never more than 1-2 groups deep. Security lines to access the monorail were also short, but the security people at this checkpoint were generally grumpy - not a magical way to start the day.

At the end of the night, it's nice to have the option to walk if the monorail lines are crazy long. If you do take the monorail, it's just one stop to the CR.

We stayed in a 1BR so having a washing machine and dryer in the room was very convenient. The 7mo only drank pumped milk via a bottle so it was AWESOME to have a full size refrigerator and freezer for storing milk and freezing ice packs. At DL, we had to take our ice packs to bell services every night and pick them up every morning.

One thing to note - our standard view room faced MK and I was constantly worried that the fireworks would wake up the baby. If I had to do it over again, I would pay a little extra to be on the side of the building that faced the water.

Fireworks noise can still be bad on the inside of the C.

 

[MrsDuck]

Definitely do-able and reasonable to walk back with kiddos!