Tell me about BLT

[MEK]

I stayed at BLT in a studio last September (1 year ago). I have also stayed at SSR, Kidani, Vero Beach, VWL, and BC. I will be staying at HH and OKW in the next several months.

Pros:

1. Location can not be beat. It is a short walk to MK and I found my "own private running path" by continuing to run along the lagoon in the morning. Awesome!
2. Monorail transportation - love it!
3. Food - Love all the restaurants at the contemporary and they are definitely NOT a far walk. Even the counter service (Contempo cafe?) is yummy!
4. Top of the World Lounge 'nuff said
5. Proximity to the Poly and the GF for pool hopping. This was seriously one of the highlights of my trip. Go swim there. The GF is amazing!
6. The view - even without a MK view (I scored a lake view with a side view of the castle)- just being able to look our the window and seeing the castle on a regular basis was lovely. The lake view was also beautiful! Sunrise over the lakes - gorgeous!
7. Costumer service - very good!
8. Large balcony on the studio
9. Fun pool slide

Cons:

1. Studio was very small. It felt too cramped for my girlfriend and I. If it had just been my DH and me it probably would have felt more spacious. I also did not like the setup at the time - with the sink outside the BR. But didn't they change that?
2. Ikea-esque furniture - just not my personal taste.
3. Pool - yeah the pool was a little underwhelming mostly because it was shallow. It looked amazing from the 9th floor, but was just "eh" when we got there.


So - as you can see - the Pros far outweigh the Cons! I did feel like the things they didn't do well (the size/layout of the studio) was a conscious decision because it was felt that the location was the top draw for the resort. It was a money saving tactic.

Will I stay there again? - of course, but it will most likely be a short stay during off season. The point upcharge for the larger units does not make it "point friendly" IMHO. There are so many other great places to stay!

ENJOY!!!!!

 

[andreadoiron]

What is this water pageant you speak of?

I knew that I needed to buy DVC, so that I wouldn't be the poor cousin, taking in other people's laundry so that I could stay in over-priced room anymore!

i haven't seen the water pageant but it is on the lake that connects the poly, GF and BLT (i forget the name of the lake) and i've been looking forward to finally seeing it

and i agree about buying dvc because paying $400 a night is too much! i laugh at myself that we would never pay the rack rate for the 1 bedroom villa that we stay in but we paid $20k for a dvc ownership! it doesn't seem as bad when you don't have to pay the per night rate though!

 

[Greysword]

What is this water pageant you speak of? I am staying at BLT in January for a couple of nights and am really looking forward to it. I am one of those "poor garden wing guests" that you spoke of. We stayed there one night and it cost $400, as it was a last minute decision after an off-site stay, and I knew that I needed to buy DVC, so that I wouldn't be the poor cousin, taking in other people's laundry so that I could stay in over-priced room anymore!

Fortunately, BLT is essentially the North Garden Wing of the Contemporary, so all us owners are poor cousins, too . Of course, I was pointing out the garden wing, since people who stay there pay a solid nightly rate and don't seem to mind walking to all the CR's shops, restaurants, pools, and other activities.

Oh, and info on the nightly water pageant can be found here:
http://allears.net/tp/ewp.htm

... I found my "own private running path" by continuing to run along the lagoon in the morning. Awesome!

You know, any body of water in Florida, regardless of size, has a real possibility of being home to an alligator. As a former Floridian, I've seen them at apartments "lakes", parks, and other spots where people live and frequent on more than a few occasions. Please be careful...just sayin'

3. Pool - yeah the pool was a little underwhelming mostly because it was shallow. It looked amazing from the 9th floor, but was just "eh" when we got there.

Did you hop to the CR pool? How was it compared to BLT? Was it far?

 

[spiceycat]

I have to admit its just on google earth, so you are correct about the turns and shortcuts you may encounter. Try it out though-very fun. Just zoom in, hit tools, ruler, path and in feet or yards etc, then click from one spot to the next.

sometimes google uses the straight line method and you can't go that way....

 

[spiceycat]

Did you hop to the CR pool? How was it compared to BLT? Was it far?

you can definitely hop to the CR pool.
it is bigger and deeper. and most of the time almost empty - the kids were at the slide and I was at the other end.

it is definitely a little longer to it than the BLT - but not that far. maybe a 60 yards???

 

[jade1]

sometimes google uses the straight line method and you can't go that way....

The path method can get very close with enough "points", I plan to check the other site as well for comparison.