Opinions on Top of the World

I think it would be great if they would open it to all DVC! I would definitely go for at least one evening.. That's one of the main benefits (besides of course the close proximity to MK) of why I would want to stay there.. Unfortunately, there has been no availability when we book at 7 mos. out. Maybe in Nov. after F and W? I still have one more month to wait, but here's hoping maybe!!
 
IMO it was intended as a BLT marketing tool and when they are done marketing BLT, they will close it to members. Disney will rent the area out for private functions, weddings, and parties. This was their intention from the start, that's why they have a large bar area and no kitchen. Private events will be catered.

:earsboy: Bill

I agree with your assessment. Why would Disney turn away thousands a dollars a night in potential rental fees on this gorgeous space? It was listed right in the BLT contract that the Top of the World area is not part of the DVC.

Let's face it; weddings are big business in Disney.
 
was that a confession?

facts, not personal opinions was my reference point. i drive a
1986 ranger, i use for our "recreational land" & work. but i would never
attempt a blt trip. at least, if someone local was a blt owner, &
using their work truck , i would think they would have clean the
trash from the bed. as for the cooler, why would you need a cooler
if you're staying @ blt & has fridge? now if i saw a limo in my woods
would be just as suspicious. especially dropping "someone" off.


what i saw made me realized, blt needs some real security personnel.
i think some have already figured this out that there isn't staff around,
and some activities are for making extra $. a cm, supposedly doing
turn-down services very late, (2230), let himself in. he acted very surprised.
the front desk had no idea about any turn down services. & what dvc told us
is not acceptable, that it was a mistake by a new cm. it bothered me,
since my wife's name is on our primary revs.. ,


if i was in charge, i would request they review the videos, & take
safety measures where needed.


if disney opened it up for special events, then i would expect them
to be escorted & additional security be assigned to prevent any
intrusions. if they assigned staff, i wouldn't mind others enjoying
the lounge. but i don't want to keep seeing the type of activities
that i saw this past time. [ though my sons were all for it...we/
parents were not. ] . disney restrict the top based on fire codes.
if there had been a fire , many would have not have made it out.
disney can separate the lounge & viewing areas. they could also
divide the viewing areas into sections.

children do not bother me. young people / young adults need a
place to hang together. i really liked the disney cruise suggestions.
that is possible. when we brought our points, we knew this was
not included. it is why we adjusted our points to have the mk
views.


safety issues. dvc didn't invite us. we went to them, motivated
for seeking a safer place due to the problems we saw by the
brazillians tours. i am really concern with blt. "out of place" was
common. now someone driving pick ups or having cooler is the
issue. what is, those using them as cover to seek out victims.
nothing is more important in my life, then my wife & 3 children.
our daughter, draws alot attention because she is very tall
for her age and has her mother's beauty. my parents raised all 10
of us....& we had no money. yet we all have been successful ,
in that we can go to to wdw anytime we desire. make no
mistake, we have no interest on putting on the ritz, and we don't
throw a penny away. & as parents, we were taught 2 major roles.
we are educators & protectors of our children. i don't want anything
bad happening to my family or anyone else @ blt..

this is similar to those sneaking onto the bridge to watch the fireworks.
the issue isn't keeping anyone watching fireworks, but the fact so
many are pass the security door. many blt owners we met, were
shocked by how many were getting in & not staying there.
 

I think it might be quite nice to allow guests of owners staying at BLT to be 'signed in'. We are having our VR at WDW in May, and I own at both BLT and AKV. I have banked and borrowed and managed to use my points to pay for 5 days accomodation for all my guests. We have sixteen guests, and only six will be staying at AKV and the rest will be at BLT. After our reception dinner at Citrico's, it would have been lovely to have everybody take the monorail over to TOTWL to get a drink and watch 'Wishes'. I cannot do this, however as six guests (four adults and two children) will not be staying at BLT.
It's such a shame as it would have been a lovely end to the day and a good amount of money would have been handed to them over the bar!!
I don't know if they make exceptions at all, but I can't seem to find an e-mail address to contact a manager or anything to enquire. :confused:
 
I think it might be quite nice to allow guests of owners staying at BLT to be 'signed in'. We are having our VR at WDW in May, and I own at both BLT and AKV. I have banked and borrowed and managed to use my points to pay for 5 days accomodation for all my guests. We have sixteen guests, and only six will be staying at AKV and the rest will be at BLT. After our reception dinner at Citrico's, it would have been lovely to have everybody take the monorail over to TOTWL to get a drink and watch 'Wishes'. I cannot do this, however as six guests (four adults and two children) will not be staying at BLT.
It's such a shame as it would have been a lovely end to the day and a good amount of money would have been handed to them over the bar!!
I don't know if they make exceptions at all, but I can't seem to find an e-mail address to contact a manager or anything to enquire. :confused:

I don't think it would hurt to try. After our first trip which was when BLT was brand new, we've never shown more than one room key.
 
Really!!! What do others think? Do you think that they would allow 16 of us up there with only one owners card? Although 10 of us will be staying at BLT, the only owner is me!!! I would love to think this might be possible, but would not flout the rules!!! Does anybody know of an e-mail address where I could contact a manager or somebody to ask if this would be possible??
Thanks so much for any help!!!
 
You dont need an owners card, just a room key from BLT thats says "DVC Member". And with 10 keys, you should have no problem taking folks up there. :thumbsup2
 
Really!!! What do others think? Do you think that they would allow 16 of us up there with only one owners card? Although 10 of us will be staying at BLT, the only owner is me!!! I would love to think this might be possible, but would not flout the rules!!! Does anybody know of an e-mail address where I could contact a manager or somebody to ask if this would be possible??
Thanks so much for any help!!!

I don't think you have any chance of DVC giving you written approval to violate an established policy.

As for sneaking everyone in, that depends upon the CM working the lobby desk. I have heard stories of them being very stringent and insisting on seeing a card for every person. Other times one room key for a group is fine.

Bottom line is you wouldn't know for certain until everyone has made the trip out there. If they insist on a BLT key for each individual, some simply will not get in. The policy is BLT guests only and despite your specific circumstances, they do have every right to turn some folks away. Don't mean to sound cruel but I'm sure there are others who will be staying at different resorts who would like to visit the lounge, but the current policy prohibits that from happening.
 
I don't think you have any chance of DVC giving you written approval to violate an established policy.

As for sneaking everyone in, that depends upon the CM working the lobby desk. I have heard stories of them being very stringent and insisting on seeing a card for every person. Other times one room key for a group is fine.

Bottom line is you wouldn't know for certain until everyone has made the trip out there. If they insist on a BLT key for each individual, some simply will not get in. The policy is BLT guests only and despite your specific circumstances, they do have every right to turn some folks away. Don't mean to sound cruel but I'm sure there are others who will be staying at different resorts who would like to visit the lounge, but the current policy prohibits that from happening.

Thank you!!
I am certainly not making myself out to be a special case!! Far from it. I realise I am just a BLT owner like everybody else. In fact, if you read my first post, you will know that in this post I was simply answering (IMHO) the question the OP asked!!! At this point I hadn't even thought that I would be able to get my six extra guests up to the lounge and wasn't intending on 'sneaking' them in (as you put it). I repeat that I will not flout the rules and never intended to do so!!! If we were to try to gain access to the lounge, I would be totally honest with the CM on duty!!
My trip notwithstanding, I still think that it is a shame that an owner isn't allowed to sign guests in, period. Especially, since the lounge is under used, it's possible that this is one way it could tun over more money!!
Out of the sixteen guests, four are under sixteen years old and have not ever been trusted with a room key in the past. Being from UK, those who don't have APs will have ticket media purchased in the UK and, thus, the children will not need a KTTW card to gain entry to the parks. If the CM at the lounge were playing strictly by the book, would they be refused entry because they don't have a room key? I admit that this is my first trip home to BLT and don't know whether the restrictions there mean that even small children need a KTTW card. It certainly isn't the case at AKV.
Thanks for you imput.
 
Let's be honest here. How many people are actually talking about the lounge itself when they are saying they want access to the ToTW?? The vast majority are actually talking about the viewing deck, outside the lounge.
The ToTWL is really no different than the vast majority of lounges throughout WDW..at the nicer resorts. Yes, it has a terrific view, but I didn't see anyone sitting in the lounge, watching the fireworks. The very few people I did see in the lounge got there about 20 mins before the fireworks, got one drink and then went outside to watch. When the show was over, they were gone!!

Really....in the times I have been up to the lounge itself, there have been very few others in there, enjoying the lounge itself....maybe 3 people actually sitting with a drink and some food. Our group of four went up at about 8:00....a good hour before the fireworks. Nobody in there..not a soul.
I will say that when I'm there with my dd in Dec, we will be sitting and enjoying the lounge well before the fireworks. We love the atmosphere there...and the viewing of the fireworks is an added perk.

Perhaps Disney will start allowing those with DVC cards to access that area. The issue??? BLT is supposed to be locked off to any without BLT room keys.
There is only so much room out on that deck...if it werer to be opened to anyone at all, the crowd could be way too large. As it is, the crowd is just right. BUT....that doesn't do anything to increase business in the lounge itself. It's the view that is the draw, not the lounge. And that's too bad because the lounge is terrific, with absolutely wonderful CMs!!
 
The place was packed in Dec when FL hit those record lows and it was too cold to stand on Main St. Also I think more people went up if they didnt have tickets to MVMCP
 
Let's be honest here. How many people are actually talking about the lounge itself when they are saying they want access to the ToTW?? The vast majority are actually talking about the viewing deck, outside the lounge.
The ToTWL is really no different than the vast majority of lounges throughout WDW..at the nicer resorts. Yes, it has a terrific view, but I didn't see anyone sitting in the lounge, watching the fireworks. The very few people I did see in the lounge got there about 20 mins before the fireworks, got one drink and then went outside to watch. When the show was over, they were gone!!

Really....in the times I have been up to the lounge itself, there have been very few others in there, enjoying the lounge itself....maybe 3 people actually sitting with a drink and some food. Our group of four went up at about 8:00....a good hour before the fireworks. Nobody in there..not a soul.
I will say that when I'm there with my dd in Dec, we will be sitting and enjoying the lounge well before the fireworks. We love the atmosphere there...and the viewing of the fireworks is an added perk.

Perhaps Disney will start allowing those with DVC cards to access that area. The issue??? BLT is supposed to be locked off to any without BLT room keys.
There is only so much room out on that deck...if it werer to be opened to anyone at all, the crowd could be way too large. As it is, the crowd is just right. BUT....that doesn't do anything to increase business in the lounge itself. It's the view that is the draw, not the lounge. And that's too bad because the lounge is terrific, with absolutely wonderful CMs!!

And I think that is the really tough part. How do you increase business in the lounge and not just add more to the fireworks viewing?

I guess what they coud do is charge a cover charge for DVC members not staying at BLT in which you pay something to go up and then get a ticket that can be turned in to a drink. This way, you are getting access but it is ensuring that money is being spent.

Not sure how well this would go over, but anyone who was just going for fireworks with no intention to spend money at all would not be allowed in. So, it remains a benefit to those DVC members staying at BLT (not having to pay anything) but also allows others to use it but ensures more revenue is coming in.
 
I still think cutting it down to perhaps 2 BLT guest exclusive nights per week would have a positive effect. They could designate days like Sunday and Wednesday--nights which probably are not in high demand for special events. Members who wanted to use the lounge could plan around those nights.

Having free lounge/deck access 2 nights per week would likely increase crowds--perhaps dramatically.

It may not have an overwhelmingly positive impact on business, but at least they would only have to cover 2 nights instead of 7, while keeping the attractive perk in place.
 
I still think cutting it down to perhaps 2 BLT guest exclusive nights per week would have a positive effect. They could designate days like Sunday and Wednesday--nights which probably are not in high demand for special events. Members who wanted to use the lounge could plan around those nights.

Having free lounge/deck access 2 nights per week would likely increase crowds--perhaps dramatically.

It may not have an overwhelmingly positive impact on business, but at least they would only have to cover 2 nights instead of 7, while keeping the attractive perk in place.
That might do it. The problem is this.....how large a crowd do you see at any lounge throughout WDW??? They just don't do a ton of business. You never see more than 7 or 8 people in any lounge area...at least I have't. Not unless there is something special going on.
So, maybe Disney does need to open it up to others for a couple of nights a week. Or, perhaps charge $5 per adult for a voucher that can then be turned in for a drink as sandi mentioned. that would get some dollars moving about. And it wouldn't be cost prohibitive for you to go up....but BLT people don't pay.

I would just hate to see it shut down. The lounge is a beautiful spot and being able to take your glass of wine out and watch the fireworks is priceless.
 
I think opening it up to all BLT guest and DVC members would bring in more business. I'm not a BLT owner but we did stay there last Feb. We visited TOTWL once during our stay. I planned on visiting it everynight during our stay but I was not happy with the service there so we did not return. We were able to watch Wished from our room and drink cocktails there in our PJ's so why visit the lounge. I don't think opening it up to just BLT guest would not help with business so much.
 
Personally I think they should open it up to all guests staying at Bay Lake Tower before allowing DVC members staying at other DVC Resorts to go up there. Since they started off by only allowing DVC members staying at Bay Lake Tower on their points shouldn't the next set of guests include non members already staying there? Maybe it would it give them another reason to become a DVC member. Plus they wouldn't have far to go and would DVC members staying somewhere else really drive, take a taxi or WDW transportation just to visit the Top of the World lounge?
 
I would not want it opened up to all DVC members staying anywhere unless they could ensure those members wouldn't drive to BLT and use all the parking. I am afraid it would turn into a BWV situation. I would be much more amenable to BLT cash guests before non BLT DVC guests.
 
trying to follow all the posts...So, if I have rented points from someone to stay at BLT, can we go up there?
 

















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