Few more BLT questions - planning trip

[BoardwalkSuzy]

A friend of mine and I are thinking of purchasing BLT and are planning a visit there, she has family of 3 and I have family of 4, with occasional extended family of 7, for a total of 10 people traveling together.

? #1: How high are the ceilings, old standard 8 ft, or they more like 9 or 10 ft?

? #2: Would family with 2 little kids be more comfortable in a 1BR or a 2BR, ages 4 and 6? Are the fold out beds comfortable for them, or should we go with a 2 bedroom? Our 4 year old rolls out of beds - do the fold out beds act as bed rails? We don't want more space than we need, or to feel cramped either.

? #3: Standard views: looking at availability charts, I see standard views go first. We really want a view of the monorail, nothing else really matters - for our son who loves the monorail and that's really the #1 attraction for him at WDW or DL, Finding Nemo submarine ride comes in 2nd place. Do standard view rooms have views of monorail, or is this a preferred view to request?

? #4: What exactly is stocked in the kitchen cabinets? Do we need to order paper towels, napkins, dish clothes, etc. Does anyone have a standard list made up with items to pre-order? We plan to cook about half our meals - son has special needs diet, and pretty much will only eat food I prepare. Does the kitchen sink have a garbage disposal or not?

? #5: Are there any grand villas that are single story at BLT - we don't like interior stairs, and may be bringing kid's grandma sometimes who can't do stairs? We would love to have a 3-br, but not if it has stairs.

? #6: Are there ice makers in the refrigerator, or do we need to go get ice from ice machine? What floors have ice machines?

? #7: Are the tubs in master bathroom for single person, or couples sized?

? #8: Are the beds pillow-topped, or do the different rooms have various types of mattresses?

? #9: Is there really just one hot tub at the pool area, and how many people can it fit? Is it heated for kids about 100 degrees, or heated for adults about 104? We have a local pool we go to where the hot tub is for all ages, not heated as hot as adults only hot tub, so hoping Disney thought of doing that. My 4 year old only wants to go in kid friendly hot-tubs - doesn't like cold swimming pools.

? #10: What temperature is the main pool heated to? 82 degrees is what most pools are heated to, wondered if Disney heats a little warmer maybe for little kids? Have they gotten the insect problem under control by the pools - read there were lots of insect littering the water in pool.

? #11: Hear the current BLT promotion from Disney is $114/pt ($6 off from $120/pt) for direct purchase. I read someone bought at $96/pt resale and it passed Disney ROFR. What are chances of deal going through Disney's ROFR if get a contract at $96?

? #12: Where in the BLT can we watch fireworks and not hear them too much? Our son is too sensitive to firework sounds, but loves to watch them. Is there a good spot in the building where we can just look out a window to watch firework show, if say we don't get a preferred view where that is possible? We don't need chairs, or cocktail service, just a good window where we won't be in the way.

 

[kenny]

? #1: How high are the ceilings, old standard 8 ft, or they more like 9 or 10 ft?Didn't pay much attention to them when we were there but looking at my pictures would say at least 10feet

? #2: Would family with 2 little kids be more comfortable in a 1BR or a 2BR, ages 4 and 6? Are the fold out beds comfortable for them, or should we go with a 2 bedroom? Our 4 year old rolls out of beds - do the fold out beds act as bed rails? We don't want more space than we need, or to feel cramped either.I am 6'3 and sleep on the pull out couch fine. There are no bed rails but you can request them. We are a family of 4 and were fine in a 1 bedroom but it would be your preference. I personally don't like my kids in the main room. Too near the front door for me, but that is personal preference.

? #3: Standard views: looking at availability charts, I see standard views go first. We really want a view of the monorail, nothing else really matters - for our son who loves the monorail and that's really the #1 attraction for him at WDW or DL, Finding Nemo submarine ride comes in 2nd place. Do standard view rooms have views of monorail, or is this a preferred view to request?Some do, some don't. There are standard rooms on outside and inside (mk side and lake side) so it depends where you were put.

? #4: What exactly is stocked in the kitchen cabinets? Do we need to order paper towels, napkins, dish clothes, etc. Does anyone have a standard list made up with items to pre-order? We plan to cook about half our meals - son has special needs diet, and pretty much will only eat food I prepare. Does the kitchen sink have a garbage disposal or not?There are pots and pans for cooking. They give you 1 roll of paper towels and there is a dish towel. No napkins.

? #5: Are there any grand villas that are single story at BLT - we don't like interior stairs, and may be bringing kid's grandma sometimes who can't do stairs? We would love to have a 3-br, but not if it has stairs.Think they are all 2 story. I think only AKV has 1 story GV's.

? #6: Are there ice makers in the refrigerator, or do we need to go get ice from ice machine? What floors have ice machines?Yes

? #7: Are the tubs in master bathroom for single person, or couples sized? Depends on the size of the adults

? #8: Are the beds pillow-topped, or do the different rooms have various types of mattresses?Beds were comfy but don't think they were pillow topped. Could be wrong though.

? #9: Is there really just one hot tub at the pool area, and how many people can it fit? Is it heated for kids about 100 degrees, or heated for adults about 104? We have a local pool we go to where the hot tub is for all ages, not heated as hot as adults only hot tub, so hoping Disney thought of doing that. My 4 year old only wants to go in kid friendly hot-tubs - doesn't like cold swimming pools.Yes 1 hot tub. Sign said with 10 or 12 max (don't remember). Water is 100 degrees in hot tub.

? #10: What temperature is the main pool heated to? 82 degrees is what most pools are heated to, wondered if Disney heats a little warmer maybe for little kids? Have they gotten the insect problem under control by the pools - read there were lots of insect littering the water in pool.As for pool standard asnwer I got from life guards were all WDW pools are between 80-85.


? #12: Where in the BLT can we watch fireworks and not hear them too much? Our son is too sensitive to firework sounds, but loves to watch them. Is there a good spot in the building where we can just look out a window to watch firework show, if say we don't get a preferred view where that is possible? We don't need chairs, or cocktail service, just a good window where we won't be in the way. Lounge on the 16th floor

 

[Snurk71]

? #3: Standard views: looking at availability charts, I see standard views go first. We really want a view of the monorail, nothing else really matters - for our son who loves the monorail and that's really the #1 attraction for him at WDW or DL, Finding Nemo submarine ride comes in 2nd place. Do standard view rooms have views of monorail, or is this a preferred view to request?Some do, some don't. There are standard rooms on outside and inside (mk side and lake side) so it depends where you were put.

I'm trying to remember the layout of the U, but wouldn't MK views always be able to see the monorail too - or at least the far majority of them?

 

[texhanddoc]

Can I hijack this and ask a question?

Has anyone actually timed the walk from BLT to MK? It looks a little further than the contemporary.

 

[BoardwalkSuzy]

Saw some photos and looks like only the outside of the "C" shape of building has monorail view, and then only one side of the outside of the C. Guess we just have to be careful to ask. Since monorail is at floor level 5, along with the walkway, wonder if they actually have rooms looking directly into the monorail. That could be interesting. Still I don't know if that classifies as standard or preferred.

Doing the math using path measurement on Google, it looks like if a child walks 3.3mi/hr, and the distance from the BLT (measured from swimming pool) to the main MK entrance - 0.60 mi, then it should take a child 11 minutes to walk, adults 9 minutes at 4.1 mi/hr. Looks like have to walk along road most of way. I use Google maps all the time for real estate appraisals to make estimates.

Does anyone know if BLT has 1 bedroom units with 2 queen beds in the bedroom? That way we don't have to be folding up beds every morning in the living room for the kids, and just share the bedroom, like we do in most hotel rooms, but have that extra living room for watching TV while kids sleep. All the room descriptions make it seem like only king beds are available in the BLT 1-bedrooms?

Is there a link to an updated aerial photo of the BLT and Contemporary? Google Earth still has an old image with the old buildings so can't see anything? Love Google Earth, but disappointed there's no BLT on there yet.

 

[kenny]

I'm trying to remember the layout of the U, but wouldn't MK views always be able to see the monorail too - or at least the far majority of them?

MK views always have a view of the monorail but OP was asking about standard views. From what I could tell on another thread that shows the layout of what room types are where, there are stand view rooms on the outside of the C (which would have monorail view) and inside of the C (which would face the pool). Try this for map of rooms http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2257082

Saw some photos and looks like only the outside of the "C" shape of building has monorail view, and then only one side of the outside of the C. Guess we just have to be careful to ask. Since monorail is at floor level 5, along with the walkway, wonder if they actually have rooms looking directly into the monorail. That could be interesting. Still I don't know if that classifies as standard or preferred.

BLT has 3 room categories:

Standard - Generally 1st 2 floors but sometimes 3rd floor as well. Outside C would have Monorail view

Lake View - Inside the C and outside edges of C on North and South end

Magic Kingdom View - 3rd floor and above on outside of C. All have view of monorail.

There is no "preferred view".

Depending on how fast you walk it takes about 7 minutes or so to get from MK to BLT. Walked it every day last week. definitely much quicker than taking the monorail and a closer walk then CR to MK.

Does anyone know if BLT has 1 bedroom units with 2 queen beds in the bedroom?

No 1 Bedroom in any DVC resort has 2 queens. Only time there are 2 beds queens are OKW studio. All 1 bedrooms have king bed. BLT has queen size sleeper sofa and twin size pull out chair in LR.

 

[Snurk71]

I mentioned the MK views for the monorail since the OP mentioned that viewing the monorail was all that mattered. So if that's all that matters and they want to guarantee a monorail view, then I'd say it's time to put up the big points for the MK view (which can go pretty fast too).

 

[DenLo]

A friend of mine and I are thinking of purchasing BLT and are planning a visit there, she has family of 3 and I have family of 4, with occasional extended family of 7, for a total of 10 people traveling together.

? #1: How high are the ceilings, old standard 8 ft, or they more like 9 or 10 ft? 10 feet

? #2: Would family with 2 little kids be more comfortable in a 1BR or a 2BR, ages 4 and 6? Are the fold out beds comfortable for them, or should we go with a 2 bedroom? Our 4 year old rolls out of beds - do the fold out beds act as bed rails? We don't want more space than we need, or to feel cramped either. A 1BR would be great for your family. You can get bed rails and it has been reported here on the DisBoards that they work well on the pull out couch. It has also been reported that the arms on the pull chair act as chair rails for it.

? #3: Standard views: looking at availability charts, I see standard views go first. We really want a view of the monorail, nothing else really matters - for our son who loves the monorail and that's really the #1 attraction for him at WDW or DL, Finding Nemo submarine ride comes in 2nd place. Do standard view rooms have views of monorail, or is this a preferred view to request? Some of the standard view rooms do face the monorail, but they are not a guaranteed view, only a request. So you may or may not get it. There are also some lake view rooms that can see the monorail, but once again it would be a request and not a guarantee only the MK views guarantee a view of the monorails. Of course if you want to leave your room with your son, maybe not having a view of the monorail might be a good idea.

? #4: What exactly is stocked in the kitchen cabinets? Do we need to order paper towels, napkins, dish clothes, etc. Does anyone have a standard list made up with items to pre-order? We plan to cook about half our meals - son has special needs diet, and pretty much will only eat food I prepare. Does the kitchen sink have a garbage disposal or not?

Per the DVC website: One-Bedroom Vacation Home

Full kitchen includes: coffeemaker, dinnerware, glassware, flatware, pots and pans, microwave, toaster, stove, refrigerator, dishwasher and more.

We recently stayed at BLT and we had a roll of paper towels in the rack on the cabinet top and another spare in a drawer. We had a sponge with scrubber on one side, no dish cloths, one dish towel, a small bottle of dish soap. We were in a studio, but I understand you get enough dishwasher detergent for one load, and one packet for the washing machine. Don't know about the garbage disposal. The studio didn't have one. I understand that when you run of soaps out you might be able to get replacements from housekeeping. Others state you have to buy replacements when getting them on any day that is not your Trash 'n Towel or full cleaning days (day 4 and day 8).


? #5: Are there any grand villas that are single story at BLT - we don't like interior stairs, and may be bringing kid's grandma sometimes who can't do stairs? We would love to have a 3-br, but not if it has stairs. No, the only resorts with one story Grand villas are AKV (Jambo House) and BCV. There are elevators that can take anyone staying at the Grand villa at BLT to the 16th floor for the bedrooms. But then your kid's grandmother would have to leave the villa to go to the lower level. You could allow the grandmother to have the MBR on the first floor, then you stay upstairs with the kids in the second bedroom. Or you could get a two bedroom, you in the MBR, the kids in the living and grandma in the second bedroom.

? #6: Are there ice makers in the refrigerator, or do we need to go get ice from ice machine? What floors have ice machines? Yes. And there are ice machines on various floors. We were on the 10th floor and had to go to the ninth floor to get ice. The information in the room tells where the ice machines are.

? #7: Are the tubs in master bathroom for single person, or couples sized? Wouldn't that depend on the size of each person. A tall man would have problems sharing the tub.

? #8: Are the beds pillow-topped, or do the different rooms have various types of mattresses? European top -- foam built into the mattress. Really comfortable.

? #9: Is there really just one hot tub at the pool area, and how many people can it fit? Is it heated for kids about 100 degrees, or heated for adults about 104? We have a local pool we go to where the hot tub is for all ages, not heated as hot as adults only hot tub, so hoping Disney thought of doing that. My 4 year old only wants to go in kid friendly hot-tubs - doesn't like cold swimming pools. The hot tub was full of kids when we were there earlier this month. So many kids that there wasn't room for adults. Of course, it was cool out so not many people were using the pool. I thought all hot tubs were supposed to be 104 degrees so I was surprised that so many kids were using it as it would not be safe for them at that temperature. But I don't remember anything being posted regarding the temperature. About 8 adults could easily fit in the hot tub.

? #10: What temperature is the main pool heated to? 82 degrees is what most pools are heated to, wondered if Disney heats a little warmer maybe for little kids? Have they gotten the insect problem under control by the pools - read there were lots of insect littering the water in pool. All DVC pools are 80 - 82 degrees. I noticed swarms of insects around the pool and moved once from my lounge chair because of them. But they came and went, didn't stay there. You're on a lake so I don't think the DVC can prevent all of the bugs.

? #11: Hear the current BLT promotion from Disney is $114/pt ($6 off from $120/pt) for direct purchase. I read someone bought at $96/pt resale and it passed Disney ROFR. What are chances of deal going through Disney's ROFR if get a contract at $96? The ROFR thread does not show any bids passing at $96, but does show one at $95 for 225 points. In 2010 only one's listed are $103 - $105. First of all you have to find a member that is willing to sell you their contract for that amount. And since BLT is selling so well for Disney, I think they are ROFRing more BLT contracts. Here's the thread. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1960185&page=152

? #12: Where in the BLT can we watch fireworks and not hear them too much? Our son is too sensitive to firework sounds, but loves to watch them. Is there a good spot in the building where we can just look out a window to watch firework show, if say we don't get a preferred view where that is possible? We don't need chairs, or cocktail service, just a good window where we won't be in the way. Perhaps an elevator lobby on any of the floors above the monorail, perhaps 7 and up. The north elevator lobby would have a more direct view. You could still hear a little of the fireworks in our room but it wasn't that loud. I'd recommend you bring earplugs for him to be safe. Talk to your doctor about which ones to buy.

Enjoy your trip planning. And have a great time.

 

[spiceycat]

you really need a MK view - especially to see the monrails.

from your room (if you get a MK view) you can see the fireworks - just be sure your child is in the livingroom not out on the balcony and turn the TV up it plays the music from wishes and should drown out any noise that stills might bother him.

the picture windows in the MK view (1-bedroom and larger) should provide him a great view. just ask for above 7th floor. the higher the better view.

the MK view can be a view of the parking lot from a lower view.

the problem with the lounge is the outside balcony is there too - so if enough people are outside - don't know if the view is that great being inside.

the rooms are designed with small children in mind. so get at least a 1-bedroom MK view and you should not have any problems.

the views with MK and standard generally have something else - either a service area or tree in the way of the view. they get a best a side view of the monrail.

if your child only wants the monrail - then get a MK view - higher view.

the sofa beds don't have rails - but pretty sure you can ask for them when you check in. they are lower to the ground.

the sofa beds are pretty comfortable. if you want 2 queen beds you must ask for a dedicated not lock out. they have some dedicated 2-bedrooms. you must do this when you first make the reservation.

the MK view is the highest in points.

some 1-bedroom have the ice maker others do not. they are surpose too.

the ice is on the 4th, 9th and 14th floors - or that is what I was told.

some of the lakeview will see the monrail like the standard view off to the side. if you want the monrail then go for a MK view. yea expensive.

the 3-bedroom are all on 2 levels - the one I saw was a lakeside view not MK view. It sleep 14 not 12. So it does have advantageous.

if you go with a standard view - then just go to the elevator north side - 15th floor. you should be able to see the fireworks of course without a tv you can't heard it. you can heard it from the lounge/balcony area on the 16th floor.

 

[DenLo]

the 3-bedroom are all on 2 levels - the one I saw was a lakeside view not MK view. It sleep 14 not 12. So it does have advantageous.

Per the DVC website:

2-Story Grand Villa Vacation Home
Four full bathrooms: one is a Master bathroom with whirlpool tub
Sleeps up to 12
Master bedroom suite with king-size bed
Two additional bedrooms, each with two queen-size beds
Queen-size sleeper sofa in living room
Full-size sleeper sofa in upstairs sitting area (maximum occupancy is 12, but extra sleeper sofa adds flexibility for sleeping arrangements)

So although the GV could potentially sleep more, only 12 guests and one toddler under three in a pack 'n play are allowed. It looks like the group can really spread out.

 

[spiceycat]

Per the DVC website:



So although the GV could potentially sleep more, only 12 guests and one toddler under three in a pack 'n play are allowed. It looks like the group can really spread out.

ask the cm (sales person) showing us the GV - he say that it slept 14 and that MS should be aware that it does.

the other GV agree sleep 12. this is an exception. but it only on the lakeside not MK side.

this is what the guide showing the GV was saying.

that say it will also probably go the way of the BWV studio plus (it sleep 5 and still does) - but members can no longer request the studio plus.