Crystal_27
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2007
- Messages
- 3,215
Just wanted to do a quick post regarding my impressions of our first stay at BLT. We booked a lake view studio for one night (September 25th) just so we could check out our new DVC home before we went on a cruise. I completed the online check-in a week before our stay, although I never was able to get the room request section to work properly. However, I wasn't really concerned about any particular section in that I haven't really seen a bad view at BLT yet.
We checked in at the Contemporary right at 4:00 p.m. and our room was already assigned and ready (and, after being on the road since 6:00 a.m., that news was certainly welcome). We were assigned room 7932 (9th floor). Check-in was easy as pie and in only about 10 minutes we were parked at BLT and getting ready for our first look at our room.
Our room location was right off the elevators on the 9th floor, so it was very convenient. I thought the room was fine. It felt like a typical studio room, and, although it certainly felt smaller than, say, a studio at the Poly, we didn't find it at all cramped (although keep in mind our DD is 5, so maybe with older children or more children that wouldn't be the case).
The bed was comfy, and our DD didn't have any complaints about the sofa sleeper. I actually didn't even have any issues with the sliding door to the bathroom either. Although there is a gap there, the door seemed to close flush with the wall. However, about the (infamous) kitchenette design, I agree that the sink in the kitchenette is just odd. Literally, if you turn one way you have your kitchen appliances, and if you do an "about face," your bathroom sink and mirror are right there. I don't need a lot of prep time in the mornings and I don't use products or hair dryers or anything, but for those who do, your kitchenette is going to get gunked up pretty quickly. I actually ended up brushing my and DD's hair in the hallway just so I didn't get any hair in the kitchen area. It's not a "deal-breaker" but, as has been said many times, what in the world were the architects thinking??
Also, even though we didn't use our kitchenette, I investigated all the cabinets and found that we were provided paper plates and bowls instead of real ones (although there were real glasses in the cabinets). I thought that all villas had real plates, etc. so I thought that was worth noting (but, not a big deal for us since we don't plan on eating meals in our rooms; paper would suffice for anything we would need).
Finally, the view.... I have seen a lot of beautiful views, even from the "standard" view villas, so I was expecting to be WOW-ed by the lake view. We had booked a lake view simply because our waitlist came through for the lake view first, not because we really cared either way. Let me also state that we are standard-view-type people. Stated another way, we don't plan on ever paying more for lake or (God forbid) MK view. Still, because I had seen such great views, even from those with standard views, I really was expecting a beautiful view of Bay Lake. Basically, our view should have been categorized as a Contemporary view, in that the Contemporary was what we saw, and we had to lean waaayyyy to the left to see any portion of Bay Lake (although, in fairness, we could actually lean waaayyyy to the right and see a portion of MK too). Had I intentionally used the extra points to book a lake view, I would have been disappointed. Maybe not disappointed enough to truck back to the Contemporary to complain and demand a room change, but disappointed enough that I'm already convinced that we'll never book another lake view again. I was expecting a nice, peaceful view, and what I got was just pure hecticness. Once I get my pictures downloaded, I'll post the pictures of my view, for those who care.
Wrapping up, after staying at BLT, I'm glad that we bought there. The decor was beautiful, we loved having the monorail, and I think that we'll be happy staying there for many, many trips to come. For our next trip, we'll be staying at BLT for 2 weeks at Christmas, 2010, and DH and I are debating on whether or not to book the studio or spring for the one bedroom. I honestly think that we'll be happy with the studio, though. Also, if anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to respond.
Thanks for reading (this got a lot longer than I initially thought - LOL).
p.s. DH did have one other issue...no BLT pins in sight. Kind of a bummer since DH wanted to display our DVC home proudly on his lanyard, but I'm sure we'll have plenty to chose from in 2010.
Thanks again for reading. 
We checked in at the Contemporary right at 4:00 p.m. and our room was already assigned and ready (and, after being on the road since 6:00 a.m., that news was certainly welcome). We were assigned room 7932 (9th floor). Check-in was easy as pie and in only about 10 minutes we were parked at BLT and getting ready for our first look at our room.
Our room location was right off the elevators on the 9th floor, so it was very convenient. I thought the room was fine. It felt like a typical studio room, and, although it certainly felt smaller than, say, a studio at the Poly, we didn't find it at all cramped (although keep in mind our DD is 5, so maybe with older children or more children that wouldn't be the case).
The bed was comfy, and our DD didn't have any complaints about the sofa sleeper. I actually didn't even have any issues with the sliding door to the bathroom either. Although there is a gap there, the door seemed to close flush with the wall. However, about the (infamous) kitchenette design, I agree that the sink in the kitchenette is just odd. Literally, if you turn one way you have your kitchen appliances, and if you do an "about face," your bathroom sink and mirror are right there. I don't need a lot of prep time in the mornings and I don't use products or hair dryers or anything, but for those who do, your kitchenette is going to get gunked up pretty quickly. I actually ended up brushing my and DD's hair in the hallway just so I didn't get any hair in the kitchen area. It's not a "deal-breaker" but, as has been said many times, what in the world were the architects thinking??
Also, even though we didn't use our kitchenette, I investigated all the cabinets and found that we were provided paper plates and bowls instead of real ones (although there were real glasses in the cabinets). I thought that all villas had real plates, etc. so I thought that was worth noting (but, not a big deal for us since we don't plan on eating meals in our rooms; paper would suffice for anything we would need).
Finally, the view.... I have seen a lot of beautiful views, even from the "standard" view villas, so I was expecting to be WOW-ed by the lake view. We had booked a lake view simply because our waitlist came through for the lake view first, not because we really cared either way. Let me also state that we are standard-view-type people. Stated another way, we don't plan on ever paying more for lake or (God forbid) MK view. Still, because I had seen such great views, even from those with standard views, I really was expecting a beautiful view of Bay Lake. Basically, our view should have been categorized as a Contemporary view, in that the Contemporary was what we saw, and we had to lean waaayyyy to the left to see any portion of Bay Lake (although, in fairness, we could actually lean waaayyyy to the right and see a portion of MK too). Had I intentionally used the extra points to book a lake view, I would have been disappointed. Maybe not disappointed enough to truck back to the Contemporary to complain and demand a room change, but disappointed enough that I'm already convinced that we'll never book another lake view again. I was expecting a nice, peaceful view, and what I got was just pure hecticness. Once I get my pictures downloaded, I'll post the pictures of my view, for those who care.
Wrapping up, after staying at BLT, I'm glad that we bought there. The decor was beautiful, we loved having the monorail, and I think that we'll be happy staying there for many, many trips to come. For our next trip, we'll be staying at BLT for 2 weeks at Christmas, 2010, and DH and I are debating on whether or not to book the studio or spring for the one bedroom. I honestly think that we'll be happy with the studio, though. Also, if anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to respond.
Thanks for reading (this got a lot longer than I initially thought - LOL).
p.s. DH did have one other issue...no BLT pins in sight. Kind of a bummer since DH wanted to display our DVC home proudly on his lanyard, but I'm sure we'll have plenty to chose from in 2010.
Thanks again for reading. 
If we are going to book here again I think my first choice would always be a standard view!
Thanks for sharing your experience.
After my solo trip last month in a standard view, I have been calling every day to see if we can downgrade our MK View to standard view. We have Saturday night in a Stan View and then 3 nights in a MK View. Im tempted to ask for them to leave us in the Stan view and upgrade somebody else to our Mk view!
