BLT - 1st time family trip

[COseb]

Hi!

We are taking our children (5 and 7 now) on their very 1st vacation (to WDW!!!)

We will be renting points to BLT in first week of May 2014 for the 2 bedroom villa (if we are lucky enough to secure) - theme park view, as our research steers us in this direction.

Our criteria is to have the kids closer to the Magic Kingdom (as they call it Mickey's house). We would like a kid friendly (given their ages) and unforgettable experience on the "main" grounds (MK/Epcot/monorail)

To all the experience out there - are we making the right choice directionally both on time of year and location? Anything else we should consider in our criteria?

Apologize if this might be redundant to other posts - we are new to the forum and appreciate any insight.

Gary

 

[kate2961]

Hi Gary! Welcome

Sounds like a great vacation. We have stayed at BLT and loved the easy walk over to MK. The views of MK are fantastic.

Not sure you need to have a 2 bedroom villa for your young family but if you can afford it, why not?

I see you will go in May. That's a great time to visit. If we go in May we prefer to go when they have Star Wars weekends at HS, but that may not interest your family. The weather is typically very nice. Consider spending a day at the water parks (Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach) if time permits. In any case, you will have a wonderful pool at the resort.

Be sure to check out Flower & Garden at Epcot. We loved the food booths in WS this past year.

Consider doing the Pirate & Pals fireworks voyage. We loved it. It leaves from the Contemporary.

Hope you have a magical vacation!

Kate

 

[beer dave]

Hi!

We are taking our children (5 and 7 now) on their very 1st vacation (to WDW!!!)

We will be renting points to BLT in first week of May 2014 for the 2 bedroom villa (if we are lucky enough to secure) - theme park view, as our research steers us in this direction.

Our criteria is to have the kids closer to the Magic Kingdom (as they call it Mickey's house). We would like a kid friendly (given their ages) and unforgettable experience on the "main" grounds (MK/Epcot/monorail)

To all the experience out there - are we making the right choice directionally both on time of year and location? Anything else we should consider in our criteria?

Apologize if this might be redundant to other posts - we are new to the forum and appreciate any insight.

Gary

Welcome!

Blt is my/our personal favorite because of the location mostly. IMO the time of year is excellent. You should have no problem with the res-- theme park rooms seem to go last, especially 2 beds. Request the highest floor you can get-- some of the views from the lower floors are more of a parking lot view. We don't bother with TPV any more. It's nice, but lakeview is a guaranteed good view. (and less points)

 

[COseb]

Welcome!

Blt is my/our personal favorite because of the location mostly. IMO the time of year is excellent. You should have no problem with the res-- theme park rooms seem to go last, especially 2 beds. Request the highest floor you can get-- some of the views from the lower floors are more of a parking lot view. We don't bother with TPV any more. It's nice, but lakeview is a guaranteed good view. (and less points)

Thx for thoughts... as to the lakeview versus TPV - a) can kids get out on deck and see fireworks on either? and b) absent our adult point of views! - would you think young kids get a kick out of TPV, lake view at ~ 5-7 years age - or indifferent?

Also - do all BLT rooms have a balcony?

thx to all for the help - we are looking forward to the magic!

Gary

 

[DizBub]

Yes all BLT rooms have a balcony unless you have a ground floor room then it's a patio. 2 bedrooms have 2 balconies.

Theme park views are all pretty much parking lot views too. You probably won't notice it as much if you are on a higher floor. Lake view rooms are easier to get and 1 bedrooms are the last to go.

Good luck getting your rental!

 

[COseb]

Yes all BLT rooms have a balcony unless you have a ground floor room then it's a patio. 2 bedrooms have 2 balconies.

Theme park views are all pretty much parking lot views too. You probably won't notice it as much if you are on a higher floor. Lake view rooms are easier to get and 1 bedrooms are the last to go.

Good luck getting your rental!

Thank you for the feedback.

Generally I hear higher better, and Lake view might not be a bad option - seeing that TPV can be construed as "parking lot" as well. Can u see fireworks outside a Lake view room by chance?

Also - would we know (or have the choice if multiple available rooms) - as to which room we would be reserving once we found available points and owner set it up for us?

Thx again for the education!

 

[x5x5x5x5x5]

I don't believe that you will be able to see any MK fireworks from the lake view rooms but you may be able to use the viewing deck at California Grill in the Contemporary or the Top of the World in the actual Bay Lake tower. The problem imo with the theme park rooms is that unless you are relatively high, the parking lot is pretty up close and personal. It's super neat to see MK in the distance but lake view rooms are very nice with calm water views from just about all of them. As far as knowing your specific room when you rent points from a DVC member - unfortunately, no. The only thing you will know is what type of view you are getting (ie standard, MK, lake). You can make requests about height, proximity to elevator etc. but those are not guaranteed of course. You will love the location of BLT - it's GREAT to be able to walk to MK, especially with young children!

 

[alnem112]

We just booked a 2 bedroom villa at BLT lake view renting points! We are also going first wk of May! What a coincidence! Check the DVC rent/trade board there's lots of owners renting points right now we got a great deal. As far as time of year, according to yourfirsttrip it's the 5 th best week of the yr to go so we are very excited. According to the crowd calendar on undercover tourist it also won't be crazy busy at the parks. We are so pumped to go! It'll be our first family trip as well and the convenience of BLT will be great. Walk to MK, monorail to EP, and we will take a cab to and from HS (it'll be money well spent from what I hear about buses lately). Lots of dining options as well since you're on the monorail line so you can resort hop and see the sites and try all the different restaurants. Happy planning! (It's so much fun lol)

PS - requests aren't guaranteed but we will be requesting 5 th floor since that's easy access to the bridge to Contemporary.

PPS - I've read if you get lake view and request a room ending in 02 you can somewhat see the fireworks from your room. Best of both worlds!

 

[COseb]

We just booked a 2 bedroom villa at BLT lake view renting points! We are also going first wk of May! What a coincidence! Check the DVC rent/trade board there's lots of owners renting points right now we got a great deal. As far as time of year, according to yourfirsttrip it's the 5 th best week of the yr to go so we are very excited. According to the crowd calendar on undercover tourist it also won't be crazy busy at the parks. We are so pumped to go! It'll be our first family trip as well and the convenience of BLT will be great. Walk to MK, monorail to EP, and we will take a cab to and from HS (it'll be money well spent from what I hear about buses lately). Lots of dining options as well since you're on the monorail line so you can resort hop and see the sites and try all the different restaurants. Happy planning! (It's so much fun lol)

PS - requests aren't guaranteed but we will be requesting 5 th floor since that's easy access to the bridge to Contemporary.

PPS - I've read if you get lake view and request a room ending in 02 you can somewhat see the fireworks from your room. Best of both worlds!

Thank you for your guidance! We as well look forward to May w/ the kids

We are torn between the calming lake and kids ability to watch fireworks from the balcony (given their younger ages)! I guess it comes down to personal choice! All of the posts here have helped us.

As to your points comment - I am in the market and boy they seem to go fast. I am seeing 12-13 as prices - in general terms - is this in the ballpark of what you considered a good deal - or did you do better? Not asking for specifics - just thought I'd ask generally!

Thx

 

[mrsp1030]

BLT and VGF are high demand properties so anything in 12-13 is a good rate.

 

[alnem112]

Well David's DVC rental site is $14/pt so I consider anything under a good deal lol!

 

[peaches0313]

We just rented points as well for our very first WDW trip-staying in a 1 bedroom at BLT next September! Can't come soon enough! Have fun planning

 

[jennifer in canada]

Early may is a fantastic time to visit!

BLT is a short walk from MK or a quick hop on the monorail.

We stayed several nights at BLT this past may after our disney cruise. My kids are 5 and 7 and we had a lake view room.We did not spend much time on the balcony but the kids LOVED watching the electric light parade go by the lake from our room, I would recommend it for that reason alone. As others have noted, the theme park view is mostly a parking lot view and we were able to watch the fireworks one night from the lobby near the elevator on a high floor, there was a bench there to sit on and watch from and the kids thought it was great.

 

[jennifer in canada]

Here are two views from our room

 

[DizBub]

To answer your question about a lake view being able to see fireworks, certain ones can. Our daughter and her husband got a 5th floor 1 bedroom lake view and were able to see fireworks from their balcony. Their view was of the lake shore and trees to the left and lake to the right. They could actually sit on the couch and see Space Mountain and fireworks. Very good view from the balcony but if you look down you could see the laundry area. Trade offs. They could not see the water parade.

The first week in May is an awesome time to go. In fact we will be at BCV then. But I did book my BLT standard 2 bedroom yesterday at my 11 month window for Oct 4.

 

[COseb]

Here are two views from our room

These are great pic's! Thank You

Does anyone have a picture of the Magic Kingdom view to share?

It really helps to see as all of you talk about your experiences

Thx again to all

 

[COseb]

To answer your question about a lake view being able to see fireworks, certain ones can. Our daughter and her husband got a 5th floor 1 bedroom lake view and were able to see fireworks from their balcony. Their view was of the lake shore and trees to the left and lake to the right. They could actually sit on the couch and see Space Mountain and fireworks. Very good view from the balcony but if you look down you could see the laundry area. Trade offs. They could not see the water parade.

The first week in May is an awesome time to go. In fact we will be at BCV then. But I did book my BLT standard 2 bedroom yesterday at my 11 month window for Oct 4.

Thank You

I am starting to believe there is no right answer!!! I will be sure to post my pic's and review when back to help others in my quandary!

 

[alnem112]

Here are two views from our room http://s465.photobucket.com/user/jennm_03/media/image-18.jpg.html http://s465.photobucket.com/user/jennm_03/media/image-17.jpg.html

Wow great pics! Can you hear the fireworks from BLT? Is the water parade loud? Just trying to prepare for my 2 lil ones and when they'll be asleep. They're pretty deep sleepers so hopefully it won't be an issue.

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

We absolutely LOVE TPV and given the ages of your children I would highly recommend it for a first time trip. There is something special about looking out to the Magic Kingdom and seeing Cinderella's Castle all lit up at night. You can watch the fireworks in your pyjamas with the music piped in on one of the TV channels. You can still see the electric water parade as it passes in front of the Grand Floridian Resort. The monorail making its rounds is also fun to watch as well as the coming and going of all the busses. While lake view is probably nice and calming for many people, our family does not go to Disney for calmness-we head to the beach for that. We enjoy the hustle and bustle for the 3-5 days we spend there every year. There is a thread with many pictures of the different views. I will try to find it and post a link for you.

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

I am still learning how to use my ipad and cannot figure out how to copy and paste a link but search the threads for the one that says "BLT rooms and views with pictures". Perhaps someone else will post the link.

Please take the time to do this as you will get a better idea of views are available.