Help me decide- 1 Bedroom Villa at Bay Lake Tower or Kidani Village

[gryphon3261]

Hello!

My group of 4 adults is planning a short (4 park day, 3 night) stay at one of these two resorts by renting DVC points. I've never stayed at either resort. It'll be a whirlwind trip with late nights in the parks, and I've adored staying on the monorail loop before, but we much prefer the theming and food options at AKL. For cost, Bay Lake Tower would just be a standard view, so I'm curious if anyone can weigh in on how much that would take away from the experience. At AKL we'd probably spring for Savannah view, which comes in at like $100 more than Bay Lake Tower standard view, but really the costs are almost identical. So I'm stuck...please weigh in and help me decide!

Basically here's the pro con list:

Kidani Village:
PROS
- Animal Theme! (We are huge animal lovers)
- Beautiful resort theming in general- definitely more my style
- Animals outside the window and a guaranteed good view
- Excellent dining for adults
- Nice looking pool (not super important since the trip is in January)
- Close to AK, which is quite possibly my favourite park

CONS
- Technically (barely) the more expensive option if we spring for Savannah view
- Far from everything except AK (significant given the short nature of our trip)
- Multiple bus stops on the way to everywhere
- We may not spend a ton of time back at the room so perhaps no point to Savannah view?

Bay Lake Tower
PROS
- Incredible location, walkway to MK
- Monorail access to EPCOT and MK
- Transportation in general....the location just makes so much more sense for a short trip
- Technically (shockingly) cheaper?
- The one bedroom villa rooms do look quite lovely? Even if not my typical style?
- Would allow me to complete the satisfying trifecta of having stayed at all 3 of the monorail resorts (I LOVE the Poly and GF, but the former has no one bedroom villas and the latter is cost prohibitive this time around and close to the Poly DVC construction)

CONS
- I'm really struggling with the theme. It reminds me of non-Disney hotels too much- unless anyone can assure me it still feels really Disney immersive?? (Contemporary was not a resort I thought I'd ever stay at because for the price I'd just rather be at the Poly or GF....never imagined booking it over those two)
- Is it worth the cost for only a standard view? While some rooms look like a pleasant surprise on Touring Plans, a lot of the standard views are pretty unfortunate, esp. compared to a Savannah view room...
- Basically no food options in Bay Lake Tower, seems there are several at Contemporary but they don't seem as appealing as the Kidani/AKL ones?
- Pool seems inferior to the Kidani one based on pictures? In size and theming? I could be wrong, please correct me if so

Would love some insight, especially if anyone has stayed at both resorts!

 

[starry_solo]

Two bathrooms at Kidani for the win!

 

[gryphon3261]

Two bathrooms at Kidani for the win!

See this was what I thought too! But then I looked at the floor plan for Bay Lake Tower, and it has a second bathroom too! So now I'm extra stuck! The bathroom absolutely would have been the deal breaker otherwise

 

[starry_solo]

See this was what I thought too! But then I looked at the floor plan for Bay Lake Tower, and it has a second bathroom too! So now I'm extra stuck! The bathroom absolutely would have been the deal breaker otherwise

wait, it does??

hmm, well if it’s a whirlwind trip with late nights in the parks, will you even have time to eat at AKV?

 

[MartyParty]

Did you say 4 parks in 3 days? If that’s the case BLT will give you easy access to MK and Monorail to Epcot. You won’t spend much time in the AK Lodge viewing the animals. Alternatively, you could scale back a couple of parks and have more time at AK Lodge. Good luck.

 

[gryphon3261]

wait, it does??

hmm, well if it’s a whirlwind trip with late nights in the parks, will you even have time to eat at AKV?

This is a good point, in all likelihood we'll do a lot of quick service with perhaps the odd table service reservation in-park. Dining may not be the factor I think it is!

 

[gryphon3261]

Did you say 4 parks in 3 days? If that’s the case BLT will give you easy access to MK and Monorail to Epcot. You won’t spend much time in the AK Lodge viewing the animals. Alternatively, you could scale back a couple of parks and have more time at AK Lodge. Good luck.

It's true- it seems hard to justify the extra cost for animals without time to enjoy them! Perhaps the AKL stay is better reserved for a future trip that's more stretched out

 

[Genie+]

This is a good point, in all likelihood we'll do a lot of quick service with perhaps the odd table service reservation in-park. Dining may not be the factor I think it is!

Good point. Another plus to BLT is close proximity to Poly and GF so you could pop in to share food options at those as well.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

If you won’t be at the room much then the view, the dining, the room theming, and the pool wouldn’t be enough of a draw for me to spend more. I’d actually probably be annoyed that I booked it all and didn’t have time to enjoy any of that, especially the animal viewing.

 

[10CJ]

While I love AKL, I think BLT makes more sense for this trip from what you have described. I have not stayed in a standard view at BLT, so can not comment on that. Have you priced out the lake view?

 

[Shadeaux]

One bedrooms at BLT also have two bathrooms. I love both resorts so I'm not much help in your decision.

 

[glocon]

Maybe see what the rest of your party would prefer.
There may be a clear winner that way.
BLT seems more convenient tho.

If you’re gonna be at the parks all
day then the pools, views and food options don’t really matter.
Well, maybe breakfast will matter if you plan on that at the resort.

I say take a vote with the group!

 

[sndral]

We always go for 10+ days & my go to resorts are AKV & VGF, I’d never stay at BLT because we like a slower paced vacation & to stay in a resort w/ spacious/interesting grounds. But for a short, park commando type visit BLT works better if the park you’ll focus on the most is MK which you can walk to w/ Epcot as your second most visited park via monorail. If, instead, you’ll be spending more time at DHS w/ Epcot second I’d look at BWV w/ their reasonable point charts & walkability to DHS & Epcot.
AKL doesn’t have multiple bus stops to everywhere, btw. The park buses pick up/drop off at Kidani first then stop by Jambo & the next stop is the park they’re going to. I think BLT/contemporary sometimes shares w/ WL.

 

[BrianLa]

We've stayed at both and agree with what others have said about not being in the room often enough to justify the Savanah view. TBH after staying in a Savanah view room once, we would no longer pay-up for that view. There are other public places at the resort to see the animals and we aren't in our room much. We love the BLT for the convenience of walking to the Magic Kingdom as well as dining at the Contemporary (Steakhouse 71), Polynesian and Grand Floridian. Most of the time we have a Lake view room when staying at BLT but we have had 2 different Standard views. One was inward facing room on 3rd floor which had a view of the pool and the lake just above the palm trees and the other was a north facing outer room facing the trees with a little MK view.

 

[Anthony1971]

Standard view at BLT is very difficult to get I would plan on starting the rental process 12 months in advance so they can find a BLT owner willing to make the reservation at the 11 month mark. If that time has passed I would be aiming for Kidani village if you want the extra bathroom with BLT as a huge maybe. If you have someone with a standard 1br at BLT you better take it now if it’s this November.

 

[Debbie Jean]

Agree that for your trip BLT makes more sense. Without knowing your timeframe, however, availability on a 1 bed standard may be an issue. You may need to budget Lake view since lower point rooms tend to book first. Something to keep in mind.

 

[Bjaiken77]

These are kind of on the opposite ends of the spectrum, right? I think you have a good pros and cons list, and people have provided some good suggestions. To me, it just sounds like what type of vacation you want to have, as you see value in both. To me, it sounds like you’ll be out of the room a lot, so if it’s that style of trip, you can’t beat a monorail resort. The discussion opens up a lot more if you plan to spend a lot of time in your room. Also, monorail gives you the food options of GF and Poly with relative ease. That’s my $0.02. Good luck!

 

[KalamityJane]

If you won’t be in your room that much, I’d book a studio.

 

[RoseGold]

The 1BR Kidani won't be a problem to book with any points at 7 months, so it might be a little cheaper.

BLT standard view 1BR is a room that is walked and booked. You might not be able to get it at all. I would bet on having to get lake view.

I'd put Boardwalk 1BR pool view in the mix. It's not impossible to get, and good point value. It's the room I book the most. Hard to argue with walking distance to two parks. Short a bathroom and desperately needs a makeover.

 

[eksmama01]

Another BLT vote. Easy park access. Great restaurants on the loop. 2 bathrooms. The view shouldn't matter for this trip. We just did a similar quickie and never even used our huge balcony with a great DS view at SSR.

Just good luck getting what you want no matter what you decide!