Art of Animation vs. Bay Lake Tower

[CalifornianOrangeBird]

We are a family of five (all grown adults) coming all the way from California to celebrate my parents' 30th anniversary! We've been to WDW a couple times before, and have stayed off-site and at AoA. We're also doing a 7-night cruise on the Disney Fantasy beforehand, and are only able to stay for three days at WDW.

For the dates we're looking at, a 1-bedroom villa at BLT is about $1,000 more expensive than a Finding Nemo suite at AoA. Is that upcharge worth the convenience of location, bigger living space, and larger sleeping accommodations? Any other elements or intangibles I'm missing here? Thanks in advance for your help and responses!

 

[Nancyg56]

I cannot speak to the sleep surface configurations, but for any other aspect, I would go with Contemporary. I also would not turn my nose up at a moderate and book two rooms.

 

[cmoliver5]

In that your stay is reasonably short, the convenience of BLT could be a game changer. The walk to and from MK is effortless! Additionally the extra square footage of the BLT 1BR is also a real nice to have. We personally really enjoy having the flexibility of the full kitchen as well.

Ultimately I think it also comes down to what your park plans are. If you tend to focus more on MK and Epcot, BLT is fantastic. If you are more focused in AK, AoA is technically closer.

 

[FSU Girl]

BLT one-bedroom villas are awesome! My favorite room on property. Being able to walk to Magic Kingdom is really great and you can hop on the monorail to Epcot easily.

 

[beccasmom]

A one-bedroom BLT unit is wonderfully convenient. They have 2 full bathrooms and the location IMHO is unbeatable. I wouldn’t hesitate.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

AoA is the loudest, most uncomfortable resort I've ever stayed in. Especially with adults, there is NOTHING to do there. Stay at BLT, walk to MK, do a monorail crawl, eat great food. Hands-down BLT.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Won't a 1 bedroom only provide one "real" sleeping surface? You get a king bed, a queen sleeper sofa, and a sleeper chair. I slept on a sleeper sofa for one night in BLT and while it wasn't a bad sofa bed, it was still super hard. If you have people who prefer more cushiony beds they might not like having to sleep on a fold out. The second bathroom is really a great addition though, as well as the walking distance to MK and easy access to Epcot.

 

[MrsDuck]

For 5 grown adults, I'd do BLT.

 

[CalifornianOrangeBird]

Thanks for everyone's replies so far!

Won't a 1 bedroom only provide one "real" sleeping surface? You get a king bed, a queen sleeper sofa, and a sleeper chair. I slept on a sleeper sofa for one night in BLT and while it wasn't a bad sofa bed, it was still super hard. If you have people who prefer more cushiony beds they might not like having to sleep on a fold out. The second bathroom is really a great addition though, as well as the walking distance to MK and easy access to Epcot.

Current plan is mom and dad on the King, sisters on the Queen sofa, and myself on the sleeper chair. But we're flexible and can rearrange sleeping positions if people are uncomfortable (my dad and I can sleep pretty much anywhere, and he actually prefers harder sleeping surfaces).

AoA and BLT both have two bathrooms.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Thanks for everyone's replies so far!


Current plan is mom and dad on the King, sisters on the Queen sofa, and myself on the sleeper chair. But we're flexible and can rearrange sleeping positions if people are uncomfortable (my dad and I can sleep pretty much anywhere, and he actually prefers harder sleeping surfaces).

AoA and BLT both have two bathrooms.

Also, the general feeling of BLT is way more adult than staying in a suite themed like Cars or the like. Even with those harder bed options it's probably the best choice for a group of 5 adults.

 

[shocker]

This may not be an option with the cruise involved, but an air mattress on top of a sofa sleeper mattress is the bomb. Maybe there's options to deliver one to the resort??

 

[nkereina]

My vote went to BLT because for short trips, convenience is the most important factor and it doesn't get much more convenient than BLT. I think it's worth the cost, especially if you guys are splitting the price.

I'll echo PPs suggestion of two rooms at a moderate resort. Have you looked into that? My guess is that the cost would fall somewhere between AoA and BLT, so you'd have some savings and more comfortable sleeping situations for everyone.

 

[CalifornianOrangeBird]

My vote went to BLT because for short trips, convenience is the most important factor and it doesn't get much more convenient than BLT. I think it's worth the cost, especially if you guys are splitting the price.

I'll echo PPs suggestion of two rooms at a moderate resort. Have you looked into that? My guess is that the cost would fall somewhere between AoA and BLT, so you'd have some savings and more comfortable sleeping situations for everyone.

Thanks for your input!

We have looked at two rooms at the moderate resorts, and the price comes out to more than the BLT 1 bedroom villa, so that's not something we're particularly interested in.

 

[beccasmom]

I’d have to add that the king bed in the unit we last stayed in at BLT was beyond awful (mushy with zero support) and we had to change rooms because of it. I would sooner have slept on the floor. So I will add that caveat; we never experienced that before and that was disappointing, although thankfully easily resolved.

 

[CalifornianOrangeBird]

Thanks again everyone! We went ahead and booked the BLT 1-bedroom villa this evening! So excited for our trip!!

 

[beccasmom]

Enjoy! It is a great resort!