Series of BLT Questions for Owners and Frequenters!

[NeutralNovice]

Can't wait for my first BLT stay in December!

• Is there a dedicated "official" group thread for BLT Owners and Lovers like there are for VGF, CCV, and HHI?
• What do you normally do to get to MK? Do you take the Monorail, walk, or alternate between the two?
• If you normally rent a vehicle, normally take the Monorail to EPCOT or just drive?
• For Owners, do you love or regret your decision to buy into BLT? If so, why?
• I know that Steakhouse 71 reservations can sometimes be difficult to get---do they also offer standby? And if so, do they notify by text for when table is ready?
  • What's your favorite food to get there?

I appreciate any and all answers!! Thank you.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

1. Yes, but I can't find it right now.

2. BLT is all about walking. You take the long way if walking to MK.

3. eh.

4. eh, I don't own there.

5. Most of Disney offers standby right now, but in my experience 71 bookings aren't that hard at 60 days out.

 

[cheryl.UK]

1 Yes
2 Walking to MK is why we bought there
3 Monorail because we like it buy the bus can be quicker if you just miss the Epcot monorail
4 Not for a second
5 Never been but we loved 'The Wave'

 

[tachyonbb]

We own at Bay Lake Towers. We usually walk to Mk but sometimes take the monorail for the experience. We take the monorail to EPCOT. Love owning there (we also own at GF). We try to eat at the California Grill at least once when we visit. Wonderful food and great view.

 

[ngl]

We always walk to MK and back. We take the monorail to EPCOT. We are extremely happy with our BLT ownership (about 10 yrs now and also Vero Beach owners). I use ************ when there are reservations I really want to get.

 

[UberClaire]

Walk to MK, monorail to Epcot.

 

[Lumpy1106]

The monorail goes CCW towards TTC so walking is quicker to get there. Nice thing is, after a long day, the monorail get you back very quick.
Monorail to EPCOT. Bus lines can be disorganized @ Contemporary so be aware of that. Back in 2020 when the bus capacity was reduced and the monorail wasn't running to Epcot we resorted to walking over to MK, taking the bus to RIV and Skyliner to Epcot. That's the other nice thing about being so close to MK - you can get ANYWHERE by bus pretty easily - no need to travel to a park to get to a different resort.

 

[KTownRaider]

1. Yes, but it hasn't been touched in a while

https://www.disboards.com/threads/bay-lake-tower-owners-group.2027988/
2. Walking- it's 8-10 min walk. Monorail would take longer as it's going the opposite direction from MK

3. I had a vehicle on my last trip- still took the monorail

4. ZERO regrets- Love BLT!

5. Bacon and Eggs is still the best dish (holdover from The Wave). Need to try the burger on my next visit. I had a reservation when I went in January. Not sure about walk-ups. There's a pared down bar menu if you can't seated in the dining room.

 

[NeutralNovice]

Thank you all for your responses!

If I go without family, I'll just walk to MK but if I got my parents or grandparent, maybe monorail might work til we're able to rent a wheelchair/scooter for them at the park.

I love me the monorail so I'll probably just take that to Epcot! Too bad there isn't a direct train but that's ok.

TY for the link to the lovers' thread!

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Thank you all for your responses!

If I go without family, I'll just walk to MK but if I got my parents or grandparent, maybe monorail might work til we're able to rent a wheelchair/scooter for them at the park.

I love me the monorail so I'll probably just take that to Epcot! Too bad there isn't a direct train but that's ok.

TY for the link to the lovers' thread!

There are various scooter companies that deliver to the resorts. We just used Walker Mobility in Orlando and there are various other good ones.

 

[NeutralNovice]

There are various scooter companies that deliver to the resorts. We just used Walker Mobility in Orlando and there are various other good ones.

Thank you! It's been awhile since I've been to Florida with fam so I don't remember how we rented a wheelchair/scooter for my grandma

 

[CarolynFH]

If I go without family, I'll just walk to MK but if I got my parents or grandparent, maybe monorail might work til we're able to rent a wheelchair/scooter for them at the park.

Be aware that to access the monorail from BLT means walking across the overhead bridge to the CR, across the CR lobby to security, and up the escalator or elevator to the monorail. Once the monorail arrives at MK, there's a pretty good walk down the exit ramp and across the entrance plaza to the far side, where the wheelchair/scooter rentals are. Incidentally, the wheelchair/scooter rentals are on the side where the walkway from BLT enters the entrance plaza. All that is to say, I'm not really sure that it's a shorter walk using the monorail than it is using the walkway directly from BLT to MK. So you might want to investigate renting one for delivery at BLT.

 

[kboo]

• Is there a dedicated "official" group thread for BLT Owners and Lovers like there are for VGF, CCV, and HHI?
• What do you normally do to get to MK? Do you take the Monorail, walk, or alternate between the two?
• If you normally rent a vehicle, normally take the Monorail to EPCOT or just drive?
• For Owners, do you love or regret your decision to buy into BLT? If so, why?
• I know that Steakhouse 71 reservations can sometimes be difficult to get---do they also offer standby? And if so, do they notify by text for when table is ready?
  • What's your favorite food to get there?

I appreciate any and all answers!! Thank you.

1. I know there is, but it's not super active. But welcome!
2. We walk. Access to the monorail with a stroller and/or scooter (we've done both at the same time, ouch) is a little tricky with the elevators and tight turns, so if its possible to walk, we do it whenever we can, in both directions. We take the monorail to Epcot or just hold off on Epcot until we are staying at a resort that gets us in through WS.
3. We rely almost exclusively on Disney transportation, especially for EP and MK. Sometimes we will Uber to AK. If going from BLT to EP we take the monorail because it's an enjoyable ride and you get through initial security at the Contemporary, rather than having to do it at the park entrance. That said, we still prefer the WS entrance because it is so much calmer.
4. Love, but I wish we would have bought more points to start. We got enough points to alternate a yearly trip in a studio and a 1br (we'll just dip our toe in, we said) but we had never seen the BLT studio in real life. We've since stayed in a studio just the 2 of us on a short adults only trip, but it would be really a tight squeeze for our family of 4. (We do stay in studios, sometimes, at VGF and RIV) (<-- went from "we'll just dip our toe in," to "go big or go home" in about 2 years)
5. You can eat in the lounge, but so far we have had good success stalking the app if we don't get something at 60 days. They do notify by text. And the steak is very good, but I'm glad they kept the bacon and eggs appeetizer. We usually order 2 for our family of 4.

 

[bumbershoot]

Be aware that to access the monorail from BLT means walking across the overhead bridge to the CR, across the CR lobby to security, and up the escalator or elevator to the monorail. Once the monorail arrives at MK, there's a pretty good walk down the exit ramp and across the entrance plaza to the far side, where the wheelchair/scooter rentals are. Incidentally, the wheelchair/scooter rentals are on the side where the walkway from BLT enters the entrance plaza. All that is to say, I'm not really sure that it's a shorter walk using the monorail than it is using the walkway directly from BLT to MK. So you might want to investigate renting one for delivery at BLT.

That's definitely what I was thinking. Sometimes what we think will be easier really isn't.