otterpop
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2008
- Messages
- 1,026
We just got back last nite from a split stay at BCV and BLT for our first trip "home".
Background: We stayed in two studios, 4 nites at BCV and 3 nites at BLT. Our home resort is actually OKW, but because my Mom was coming, I wanted to stay at resorts near parks to make it easy on her.
Here's a brief review of our stays, based on our opinion/perspectives.
BCV:
The rooms were "basic", nothing fancy. My wife commented how she liked the rooms at POR better (we stayed there last year); I disagreed.
We all loved the resort surroundings, lobby, and location.
Although I read many complaints about some rooms being a long walk away from the elevators and stormalong bay, it really didn't seem to be an issue with us. I was thinking we would have to walk for miles and miles, but it was nothing.
We all liked that you could take a 5-10 minute walk to epcot or a 15 (?) minute boat ride to HS. We also liked the fact that you could take a 10 minute walk over to the Boardwalk.
We had no issues with bus transportation to AK and MK.
The hotel had an overall relaxing and "welcome home" feeling to it.
BLT:
My Mom loved her room. It was a 2nd floor studio facing the lake/beach/Contemporary.
I liked our room as well. Although you could definitely notice that it smaller in size, I liked that it felt more like a modern/fancy resort (and newer). Our view was okay, overlooking the tennis courts and a little bit of beach front/lake.
My wife did not like the room because of the small size and one of her main complaints was that the bathroom sink was too high for her (she's about 5ft tall)!
We all loved the fact that is was about a 12 minute walk to MK and a 3-4 minute monorail ride back.
We had no problems with rooms as many have been complaining about.
We liked TOWL for casual drinks and to view the fireworks (although it can't compare to actually being in MK to view the fireworks).
I was thinking that since it was a "monorail" resort, it would be convenient for Epcot as well. That didn't seem to be the case as I forgot that you had to take the monorail to the transportation center then switch monorails. On the way back, the same, but you had to stop at the Poly, then the GF, then MK, before getting back to BLT. Although we didn't take the bus, it seemed like a bus would have been quicker and easier.
We all felt that the hotel lacked "personality" and did not feel like "home". We very rarely saw anyone, the pool was always empty and the hotel just seemed like a separate entity to the contemporary.
Not to rip into BLT, because I did like the room better than BCV, but BLT just didn't seem like a family resort. I felt like I should have been wearing a tie and "members only" jacket.
On a side note, I found that the new way of splitting up the dining plan was actually a disadvantage for us. Instead of having to use up all of the credits by the end of the week, we had to make sure that we used them up by the end of each resort stay. In addition, on our "switch" day, I had planned on going to MK the whole day and then checking into our rooms. But, I had to go to the hotel around lunch time to check-in, so that our DP would be activated for the BLT stay and we could then use those credits later in the day. Kind of a hassle.
Overall, although both resorts are nice and we did enjoy both of our stays, we felt that BCV just had more of a "vacation" feeling to it.
I think for our next trip we might do split stay between OKW and Boardwalk.
Background: We stayed in two studios, 4 nites at BCV and 3 nites at BLT. Our home resort is actually OKW, but because my Mom was coming, I wanted to stay at resorts near parks to make it easy on her.
Here's a brief review of our stays, based on our opinion/perspectives.
BCV:
The rooms were "basic", nothing fancy. My wife commented how she liked the rooms at POR better (we stayed there last year); I disagreed.
We all loved the resort surroundings, lobby, and location.
Although I read many complaints about some rooms being a long walk away from the elevators and stormalong bay, it really didn't seem to be an issue with us. I was thinking we would have to walk for miles and miles, but it was nothing.
We all liked that you could take a 5-10 minute walk to epcot or a 15 (?) minute boat ride to HS. We also liked the fact that you could take a 10 minute walk over to the Boardwalk.
We had no issues with bus transportation to AK and MK.
The hotel had an overall relaxing and "welcome home" feeling to it.
BLT:
My Mom loved her room. It was a 2nd floor studio facing the lake/beach/Contemporary.
I liked our room as well. Although you could definitely notice that it smaller in size, I liked that it felt more like a modern/fancy resort (and newer). Our view was okay, overlooking the tennis courts and a little bit of beach front/lake.
My wife did not like the room because of the small size and one of her main complaints was that the bathroom sink was too high for her (she's about 5ft tall)!
We all loved the fact that is was about a 12 minute walk to MK and a 3-4 minute monorail ride back.
We had no problems with rooms as many have been complaining about.
We liked TOWL for casual drinks and to view the fireworks (although it can't compare to actually being in MK to view the fireworks).
I was thinking that since it was a "monorail" resort, it would be convenient for Epcot as well. That didn't seem to be the case as I forgot that you had to take the monorail to the transportation center then switch monorails. On the way back, the same, but you had to stop at the Poly, then the GF, then MK, before getting back to BLT. Although we didn't take the bus, it seemed like a bus would have been quicker and easier.
We all felt that the hotel lacked "personality" and did not feel like "home". We very rarely saw anyone, the pool was always empty and the hotel just seemed like a separate entity to the contemporary.
Not to rip into BLT, because I did like the room better than BCV, but BLT just didn't seem like a family resort. I felt like I should have been wearing a tie and "members only" jacket.
On a side note, I found that the new way of splitting up the dining plan was actually a disadvantage for us. Instead of having to use up all of the credits by the end of the week, we had to make sure that we used them up by the end of each resort stay. In addition, on our "switch" day, I had planned on going to MK the whole day and then checking into our rooms. But, I had to go to the hotel around lunch time to check-in, so that our DP would be activated for the BLT stay and we could then use those credits later in the day. Kind of a hassle.
Overall, although both resorts are nice and we did enjoy both of our stays, we felt that BCV just had more of a "vacation" feeling to it.
I think for our next trip we might do split stay between OKW and Boardwalk.
Last edited:
Thanks for the TR. Glad you had a nice time. We stayed in a BLT studio last August and although we enjoyed it, we felt as you that it was not as "homey" as the other resorts. Thanks also for the weather report. We will be arriving next Fri. and are hoping for the high 70s to low 80s as well.
