Would you allow others to join you at BLT Top of the World Lounge

[Daddio]

The following tread sparked my curiosity about whether you have, would, never have, or never would invite friends to join you at the Bay Lake Tower Top of the World Lounge (assuming you are staying there but they are not).

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2561822

What are your feelings on this matter?

 

[dianeschlicht]

While I would love the opportunity to do this, I am not ever likely to stay at BLT, and would feel I should NOT be able to do this if I'm not staying there.

 

[rentayenta]

I don't see our family staying at BLT but if we did, yes, I would invite our friends to join us. Honestly, it's not the White House. It's a lounge.

 

[WDWMom]

I haven't read the other thread, but we invited my brother and family up to the TOTWL last April. But we did it thinking it was OK. Had a couple drinks, watched the fireworks. It was not busy either and it was the week after Easter.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Well, the rule right now says DVC members staying at BLT and the guests staying with them at BLT. So that's what we would do.

But if they changed the rule, we'd follow the revised rule.

 

[TDC Nala]

I've both been a guest and brought up guests. I wasn't aware that it wasn't allowed. I think it SHOULD be allowed, to answer the question at the top of the poll. As for whether I'd do it in the future, most likely, unless told by the lobby host that they can't come up with me without keys.

 

[vicki_c]

Well, the rule right now says DVC members staying at BLT and the guests staying with them at BLT. So that's what we would do.

But if they changed the rule, we'd follow the revised rule.

+1 to this. I'm a rule follower, so I will do whatever the rules say.

I saw that other thread earlier or last night - right @ the beginning, and I was surprised David that you said it was okay, but decided I didn't feel like offering a counter opinion! I'll have to go check out how that thread evolved!

 

[Deb & Bill]

As for the rules, if DVC doesn't intend for members to follow the rules, why do they bother? It's not up to us to determine which rules we follow and those we don't.

I don't think it's fair to other members to just arbitrarily follow rules or not.

 

[CMOORE185]

I am also a rule follower. I am thinking the rule is their so it does not get to crowded with people not staying at the resort. If it is not getting crowded and they want to change the rule that is fine. In the mean time I for one will follow the rules.

 

[Ln42]

We would be tempted to as we travel mostly off season but I think once you take that mentality, the flood gates open. Then people think its ok any time and I would be very disappointed if I were staying at the BLT DVC and got bumped out because others were breaking the rule. So no, I would not invite them up. The rule is there to protect the members.

 

[Daddio]

I was surprised David that you said it was okay, but decided I didn't feel like offering a counter opinion! I'll have to go check out how that thread evolved!

Just to clarify, in the other thread, the OP was renting points from someone and asked if they had access to the lounge. The 'rules' state the if you are a DVC member, OR a guest of a DVC member staying at BLT on points, then you are eligible to access the lounge. As the OP is a guest of a member, staying at BLT on points, they would be qualified to enter the lounge.

For definition purposes, any person(s) registered at a DVC resort using points from a member, is considered to be a guest of that member.

David

 

[Brian Noble]

My understanding was that renters were supposed to be so identified to Member Services at the time their names were added to the reservation. If they are so identified, they would not be treated as "guests of the member". For example, their keys would not say "DVC Member" on them.

Naturally, most landlords "forget" to identify their renters, for obvious reasons, so it's likely a moot point.

 

[tjkraz]

I'm a rule follower, too, so I probably would not do it.

There have been reports of CMs asking to see room keys for every single person being allowed into the lounge. If nothing else, my fear would be them turning us away if we couldn't produce keys for everyone. We have a 9 and a 7 year old and corny as it may sound, I wouldn't want to have to explain to the kids that our plans were derailed because we tried to break the rules.

That said, it would be nice if Disney would tweak the rules in some way to allow more people to use the lounge. Some of the cynics out there are already predicting that lounge access will eventually be revoked. DVC reportedly pays for members to have access to the lounge. But its hard to imagine them continuing to operate the lounge in its current format if they can only draw a couple dozen people per night. We plan to stop by one night during our upcoming BLT stay but I honestly can't imagine staying very long or spending much money there with our villa being just a few floors below.

 

[robinb]

Well, shoot. I thought that I could bring guests up with me. It turns out that my friends (also DVC members, but staying at BWV) won't be arriving until after we check out so I don't have to face the shame of breaking a rule.

 

[Starshine]

We did it in May, BUT (isn't there always a BUT ) I had full intentions of adding our friends to our room reservation for the night. It was just DH and I in a studio and our friends were another couple so we would have been within the room occupancy. The only reason I didn't add them is that I happened to ask the BLT lobby CM if I needed to go over to the Contemporary to add them so that they could come up to the TotW and she said if they didn't need room keys for anything else she would just let them go up with us.

So yes I did it, but I wouldn't have done it without asking or if it had been more than our room occupancy allowed.

 

[Kane07]

If that is the rule then it should be followed and enforced. I know that if I was staying at BLT and could not get into the lounge area because it was filled with people who were not guests I would be pretty upset.

 

[Brian Noble]

Slightly OT, but...

I can see why Disney (specifically, DVD) would prefer not to open it up to just anyone. But, if they instituted a cover charge for anyone but those guests currently eligible, it might help make the lounge a viable space commercially, preserving the "perk-iness" of the space, without the risk of having it be over-run.

It's hard to imagine it will continue in its current form forever; it *has* to be losing money with such sparse attendance.

 

[Daddio]

This is a post from another board:

I asked the CM the night before if it was ok to bring up guests, because I did not want to disappoint our friends if the answer was going to be "No".

I was told, "Of course! This is your home. You invite guests to your home, right?" On the night in question, I showed by room key to the attendant and off we went, no questions asked.

If that is the rule then it should be followed and enforced. I know that if I was staying at BLT and could not get into the lounge area because it was filled with people who were not guests I would be pretty upset.

You make a good point. I beleive that DVC makes rules that they only enforce 'if it is to their benefit'. Because the lounge is EMPTY all the time, it does them no good to STRICTLY enforce the rule.

My understanding was that renters were supposed to be so identified to Member Services at the time their names were added to the reservation. If they are so identified, they would not be treated as "guests of the member". For example, their keys would not say "DVC Member" on them.

Naturally, most landlords "forget" to identify their renters, for obvious reasons, so it's likely a moot point.

It doesn't matter how you describe your guests to Member Services, they make no differentiation. Trust me on this one.

There have been reports of CMs asking to see room keys for every single person being allowed into the lounge.

I have not heard of this.

That said, it would be nice if Disney would tweak the rules in some way to allow more people to use the lounge. Some of the cynics out there are already predicting that lounge access will eventually be revoked. DVC reportedly pays for members to have access to the lounge. But its hard to imagine them continuing to operate the lounge in its current format if they can only draw a couple dozen people per night. We plan to stop by one night during our upcoming BLT stay but I honestly can't imagine staying very long or spending much money there with our villa being just a few floors below.

This was a discussion at last year's member meeting, which all started with a complaint of having to go to the reception desk on the ground floor everytime one wanted to go up to the lounge. DVC claimed they were looking into it and would probably make some modifications to the rules. Their initial plans included processes for what they expected to be a very busy area of the resort. They agreed that the lounge and viewing deck is never overcome with patrons.


David

 

[ssawka]

Keeping TOTW exclusive makes no sense to me, but I do understand the "rules are rules" mentality. I just think it would be in Disney's best interests to drop this rule, especially during slower periods. The rule was written before BLT opened, and Disney thought TOTW was going to be so popular that they would need to turn guests away. Reading posts on here, that does not seemto be the case. There are often reports of people going up to TOTWL and being the only one in the place. Disney should be filling the lounge to capacity in order to maximize revenue. It just seems like such a waste to have an empty lounge, not to mentioned missed tips for the CMs working up there.

 

[Sammie]

I am with the rule followers. If the DVC changes the rules, then fine with me.