Our maximum anxiously-awaited Walt Disney International room reimagining at a hotel we’ve come to like, and for which we’ve got a newfound appreciation as folks of a child, simply wrapped up after over a 12 months of labor. It was once additionally a challenge that was once lengthy past due, as the unique rooms were having a look worse for put on for no less than 7 years.
Walt Disney International’s new marvelous Mary Blair rooms we’re reviewing nowadays are at Bay Lake Tower, which is technically the nearest hotel to Magic Kingdom. BLT is even nearer than the principle A-frame tower of Disney’s Recent Lodge or the Lawn Wing in the back of it, shaving valuable mins from the entire strolling time that’s already underneath 10 mins from resort door to Magic Kingdom’s primary front.
After a top-to-bottom laborious items refurbishment that impacted all spaces of the hotel, the remaining of Bay Lake Tower’s visitor rooms have now reopened, with the outcome being modernized rooms that function utterly other designs, a brand new glance, and up to date format. This stocks pictures of the redone rooms, plus our ideas on how those evaluate to their predecessors and different Disney Holiday Membership studios.
Bay Lake Tower (BLT) was once arguable from the instant its “secret” building started just about 20 years in the past. Many lovers seen it as an eyesore that distract from the Recent, and it stays reasonably divisive amongst Walt Disney International diehards to at the present time for its sterile or un-Disney design that does little to tell apart the tower from actual global accommodations.
It’s honest to mention that this controversy has cooled through the years, particularly as extra egregious towers had been constructed round Walt Disney International. The charitable viewpoint could be that no less than BLT is healthier than the ones. Or that it has transform acquainted to lovers, so it doesn’t stick out as a lot anymore.
The extra important view could be that Bay Lake Tower set a perilous precedent, and those that argued that it was once a slippery slope had been vindicated with the likes of Island Tower on the Polynesian or Lakeshore Resort over by means of Citadel Barren region.
After all, we don’t seem to be right here to relitigate the architectural deserves of Bay Lake Tower. Our view is that what’s executed is finished, particularly when that challenge was once accomplished in 2009. If we’re dredging up decades-old choices, in all probability it’s time to query whether or not it was once a mistake to near the Hen of the Sea Pirate Send & Eating place and the Wizard of Bras?!
Atmosphere apart the outside deserves, the recently-completed laborious items refurbishment at Bay Lake Tower was once badly wanted.
The rooms at Bay Lake Tower had been poorly built within the first position and constructed a couple of decade ahead of the present ‘wave’ of leading edge lodging that marry space-saving types with well-themed ones. The studios also are small by means of Disney Holiday Membership requirements, particularly when contrasted with different lodging across the monorail loop.
In consequence, BLT is the hotel that would get advantages essentially the most from receiving a room reimagining. And one was once anticipated for a number of years previous to it in reality going down, which brought about us to many times prolong go back remains. In truth, our remaining keep at BLT previous to returning was once again in 2021. Upon getting a coarse room then, we swore it off till the refurbishment was once completed.
That would possibly not appear that lengthy to head between remains, however we do numerous resort remains for analysis and to refresh evaluations, and intention to do no less than one keep each and every different 12 months. There are just a few outliers (Saratoga Springs, Outdated Key West, Riverside) the place we haven’t stayed within the remaining 3 years. Remains at the preferred inns are extra not unusual, particularly when issues are converting.
This isn’t going to be a complete Bay Lake Tower evaluate, however I’d remiss if I didn’t no less than recognize the hotel’s greatest promoting level: location.
No longer simplest is Bay Lake Tower the nearest hotel to Magic Kingdom, but it surely’s extra compact than the remainder of the Recent. You’ll stroll out the entrance door of the resort and be within the Magic Kingdom lower than 10 mins later.
There are few issues extra fulfilling at Walt Disney International than hitting the crosswalk to Magic Kingdom with none wait after which breezing during bag-check and not using a prolong. No different WDW resort is that this shut, and each and every minute issues on the finish of a protracted night time or whilst you’re racing to reach for the beginning of Early Access.
Throughout this keep, we had a flooring degree room at BLT. Up to now, we’d’ve been vulnerable to make a strategic room request on a top flooring to get a partial view, however after this, I’m a flooring flooring convert.
A minimum of, whilst we’ve got a child. There’s something doubly fulfilling about making the above stroll and not using a delays and in addition making it again to the room with out waking a dozing kid.
That seems like an ‘success unlocked’ second, and on my own is sufficient to promote me on long run remains at BLT. Really, there’s not anything else I want from this hotel. There are different misgivings and quibbles with Bay Lake Tower, however that location and go back and forth time to Magic Kingdom is without equal trump card.
Towards that backdrop, let’s check out the brand new usual studio rooms on the Bay Lake Tower…
Long gone is the unique mid-aughts trendy taste with one usual mattress frames and a pull-out sofa. The room was once utterly gutted for the redesign, with all-new decor, ground, partitions, panels, curtains, furnishings, and beds.
Whilst the entire furniture and fixtures had been changed, essentially the most notable alternate is the alternative of the settee sleeper with a pull-down Murphy sleeper this is by hook or by crook each a comfy sofa and a comfy queen mattress.
Those rooms are DVC’s newest designs, slightly very similar to what was once first pioneered at Disney’s Riviera Lodge. That taste of room has since been presented to many different Disney Holiday Membership inns which have been renovated, and for just right reason why, member pleasure surveys give those rooms very top marks.
Those studios have made nice strides in space-saving design and including leading edge options just like the pull-down Murphy sleeper this is by hook or by crook each a comfy sofa and a comfy mattress. That is the end result of numerous classes realized by means of DVC during the last decade.
They iterate on previous successes, overlook previous screw ups, and are available in combination completely. They’re a pointy distinction to the outdated rooms, that have been no longer the worst–however undoubtedly weren’t the top of themed design at Walt Disney International.
Despite the fact that this era of room designs started with Disney’s Riviera Lodge, the brand new rooms at Bay Lake Tower proportion nearer bloodlines with the Villas at Disneyland Lodge. Apart from format and thematic variations, there’s substantial overlap between the 2. That is almost certainly meaningless to numerous you, however for DVC participants, it could be offering a just right reference level. On the other hand you’re feeling about the ones, you’ll almost certainly really feel in regards to the new BLT rooms.
The largest drawback of those new rooms is the loss of a fifth sleeper.
As Walt Disney International has redone different inns, they’ve changed tables and chairs or space for storing with pull-down fifth sleeper beds for children or smaller adults. The ones beds would normally be underneath the tv, and rather than a table.
Bay Lake Tower didn’t obtain the fifth sleeper remedy, which I guess comes all the way down to to be had area. Those rooms are small, and having the fifth sleeper would imply no table and no cloth cabinet under the tv. Even then, it can be too tight of a have compatibility.
This additionally may just’ve been a mindful determination on Disney’s phase, in all probability for the sake of selection. It’s great to have some rooms with desks–I’m extra vulnerable to guide Bay Lake Tower on account of this selection than a fifth sleeper.
It’s additionally imaginable that this was once executed to recognize the sensible truth that this studio is just too small to house 5 visitors with ease.
I will’t consider cramming that many of us into this room. Without reference to sq. photos, the studios at Bay Lake Tower in reality really feel extra just like the duo studios on the Villas at Disneyland Lodge than they do the common studios there.
I do want the table had a standard chair versus somewhat stool, although. I’m no longer certain what this development is set, however the loss of a again at the chair makes the table unusable for operating prolonged classes of time.
I’m guessing the main objective is having this be a make-up table, however I’m no longer certain how hanging on make-up is incompatible with having a chair with a again. Who on earth prefers a backless chair?!
I think loopy staring at this development play out that makes completely no sense in any respect. Or am I only a dinosaur?
Bay Lake Tower nonetheless has a separate room for the kitchenette.
“Room” would possibly overstate what that is. It’s extra like a cubby or glorified walk-in closet. This area is so cramped that it’s tricky to seize even with my extremely huge perspective lens. (I attempted with the fisheye however the distortion offers it a madhouse really feel.)
I’m no longer certain what the consensus is in this “room,” however I’m no longer a fan. It will make sense if the Bay Lake Tower usual rooms had a humiliation of sq. photos wealth that may be allotted all willy-nilly. I may just see this sort of function being added at Outdated Key West or the Poly, for example.
At BLT, squandering the already restricted area on a separate room/giant closet for the kitchenette turns out ill-advised. Kind of like the large bogs and closets within the duo/tower studios at Riviera and Disneyland Lodge.
After seeing simply how a lot more spacious the more moderen Island Tower and DLH studios really feel with, necessarily, a identical setup however out within the open, I want Disney Holiday Membership would’ve executed the similar right here. In fact, I didn’t be expecting them to knock down a wall all the way through the refurbishment and entirely reconfigure the kitchenette.
Now that may’ve been somewhat the reimagining! I’m talking within the grand scheme of items, for the ones questioning in regards to the BLT rooms as opposed to similar possible choices.
Taste-wise, I do like what was once executed with this area. The brand new inexperienced tile makes it pop, provides new texture, and furthers the mid-century trendy sensibility of the brand new rooms. At the different aspect, there are ancient pictures of Walt Disney International. At all times a great addition.
One plus in regards to the kitchenette is that it’s no longer out within the open, so whoever is within the kitchenette isn’t in the way in which of everybody else within the room. Subjectively, it’s in reality simple to peer a use-case for this area as a guardian to a child.
I typically get up ahead of Sarah and Megatron, and creating a cup of espresso with out waking them up is a tall activity. I’m beautiful adept at stumbling round, making accidental noise ahead of I’m totally caffeinated. (Because of this, the espresso maker all the way through a contemporary keep at Disneyland Lodge was once relegated to the toilet.)
Talking of espresso, one giant delightful marvel with the brand new BLT room is the dual-use Keurig machines, that may both brew a unmarried cup by means of pods or whole cups of espresso.
This can be a super improve from the standard Cuisinart espresso makers, and I nearly wonder whether it was once within the studios by means of mistake. I may just see this being usual within the higher rooms, however was once shocked that it’s presented in studios. Regardless, I cherished this.
The kitchenette additionally has a mini-fridge (no longer only a beverage cooler), sink, microwave, and a variety of space for storing.
Whilst affordable minds would possibly range about just about each and every different facet of room designs, there’s close to unanimous settlement in regards to the new pull-down Murphy beds. They’re a lot more comfy that settee sleepers due to having a standard bed, and the distance freed up when transformed right into a sofa makes the room really feel higher.
The Inova Murphy beds had been a large hit with almost about each and every Disney Holiday Membership member we all know. This taste has unfold to each and every unmarried Disney Holiday Membership room (and past!) that has been renovated in the previous few years, and for just right reason why, member pleasure surveys give those rooms very top marks.
The largest win of the brand new rooms is the mid-century trendy stylization and the art work. Long gone are the pop artwork Mickey Mouse prints that appear to be one thing you may to find at the cabinets of TJ Maxx. (That’s a little harsh–they weren’t that dangerous.)
Instead, there’s new artwork in every single place the room that’s by means of artist Joey Chou and impressed by means of Disney Legend Mary Blair. That is directly trendy, fashionable and elegant, upscale, and distinctly Disney. It assessments each and every field and is pitch easiest for Disney’s Recent Lodge.
My simplest slight stylistic grievance is that I want there have been extra artwork above the mattress. I in reality most popular the outdated headboard, which created a spot to intensify a work of art work. General, although, the classy of the brand new rooms is some distance awesome.
The brand new art work makes use of a colourful colour palette and lines scenes from Magic Kingdom and the Recent. It seems like a love letter to the unique Holiday Kingdom of the International, and self-referential to the resort as an entire.
That is differently Bay Lake Tower feels so much like Disneyland Lodge, which is mainly Disneyland: The Lodge–a love letter to Walt Disney’s unique magic kingdom and its lands.
Walt Disney International had already long gone on this course with the brand new foyer of the Recent, and we’re ecstatic to peer this taste persevered in Bay Lake Tower. That is going to be an enormous hit with DVC participants and Disney diehards. My simplest request: end the activity, Disney!
You’re so with regards to restoring the Recent to its complete former glory. Stay up this power with a cohesive taste within the Grand Canyon Concourse. Take away the layers of junk that experience gathered over time. Eliminate the Incredibles IP injection. You’ve discovered the easiest taste for the resort as an entire–that is it!
As long as you don’t have a birthday party of four adults doing a week-plus keep, there will have to be a enough quantity of space for storing within the BLT usual studio. There’s garage within the cloth cabinet under the tv, underneath the increased queen mattress, in a closet throughout from the toilet, underneath the espresso desk, and different puts I’m almost certainly forgetting.
Regardless of how a lot space for storing Walt Disney International provides, it’ll by no means be sufficient for some events. I am getting that, however the counterpoint is that those rooms are simplest so giant, and the whole lot is a tradeoff. What’s a suitable quantity of area devoted to degree? For my part, that is it.
There’s additionally a ton of energy shops and USB ports (A and C) all over the room. For some time, Walt Disney International resort rooms had no longer “stuck up” to the proliferation of gadgets that wish to be charged each and every night time, however that’s not the case.
I don’t have any main lawsuits about those new rooms at Bay Lake Tower.
On the contrary, I feel those are an enormous step ahead that can most probably accomplish the uncommon and bold feat of being extra interesting to each informal visitors and diehard Walt Disney International lovers.
The outdated rooms had been not anything particular. They’d touches of Disney, however weren’t exemplars of themed design. That was once an issue since BLT was once very elementary just about far and wide else, too.
In relation to serve as, there will have to be little marvel that those rooms are an improve. That’s just about a given at this level, as all new rooms are emulating the way of the Riviera Lodge rooms, with each and every next design getting its personal little iterations and defining design options.
Disney Holiday Membership has even indicated that visitor pleasure rankings have greater by means of 20% amongst visitors who’ve stayed in new rooms at Saratoga Springs. The brand new room taste turns out just like the end result of numerous classes realized by means of DVC during the last decade–iterating on previous successes and pushing aside previous screw ups–into one thing that coalesces completely.
Imagineering truly were given the rooms proper with Disney’s Riviera Lodge and feature carried out the ones classes in different places. The ones designs make vital strides in space-saving design, which is particularly treasured at Bay Lake Tower because the rooms are at the smaller aspect.
Right here’s a have a look at the bogs within the BLT studios:
The bogs are undeniably cramped, with the whole lot in a single area. In case you have 4 other people sharing the room, that may well be an issue.
The bogs are only one transparent distinction between the remaining era of DVC rooms and the present one. Those don’t seem to be on par with the usual rooms at Island Tower or Riviera, and in truth, they aren’t at the same time as just right because the tiny tower or duo studios.
Evaluations at the new rooms at BLT will undoubtedly come down to border of reference. Are you evaluating them to the brand-new DVC rooms or their direct predecessors at BLT? The latter invitations a a lot more favorable comparability, while the previous goes to be harsher.
Those rooms are an evening and day growth over what was once right here ahead of. On the other hand, Walt Disney International has made super strides with brand-new rooms within the years since BLT, and there’s simplest such a lot that may be modified all the way through a retrofit as opposed to new building.
The pictures that observe are of the average spaces at Bay Lake Tower, introduced with out observation. A few of these had been redone, some have no longer.
Notice that this Bay Lake Tower room evaluate will have to NOT be construed as a advice to shop for into Disney Holiday Membership.
As mentioned in our Disney Holiday Membership Purchasing Information, there’s so much to believe when figuring out whether or not to sign up for DVC, and if this is the case, which house hotel to select. The positioning, transportation, environment, format, or different components of any hotel would possibly not enchantment to you.
There’s a reason why “take a look at before you purchase” and “purchase the place you need to stick” are in style adages amongst DVC Participants. No longer simplest that, however Disney Holiday Membership isn’t proper for everybody within the first position. For sure do your analysis!
There’s so much to like in regards to the overhaul of Bay Lake Tower. There’s a ton of artwork that will pay tribute to Walt Disney International historical past. The designs are on theme, with a transparent mid-century trendy affect.
There’s a ton of intensity by means of textures, patterns, or even such things as wallpaper. There’s likewise so much colour, and all of it works harmoniously with out ever really feel overly chaotic or garish.
Suffice to mention, the brand new BLT rooms are a vital departure from the drab designs for which Walt Disney International has been criticized with some hotel redesigns.
Bay Lake Tower sticks the touchdown on well-themed with out being overwhelming. They’re distinctly Disney and enchantment to me as a WDW diehard, and I may just simply see a first-timer discovering them sufficiently fashionable and complicated.
I might no longer cross so far as to mention those are my new #1 favourite Disney Holiday Membership studios, however they’re up there. That was once completely no longer the case prior to now–we had actively have shyed away from Bay Lake Tower for a number of years because of the rooms. They had been backside of the barrel ahead of.
In the long run, the brand new rooms at Bay Lake Tower accomplish precisely what they wanted for us to deem them a good fortune. Each the shape and serve as of the brand new rooms are main upgrades. They give the impression of being brisker, are extra on-theme, and in addition higher make the most of the restricted sq. photos.
Then there’s the preexisting proximity to Magic Kingdom, which is hard to overcome. BLT doesn’t want the number one rooms as it already had the number one location. It simply wanted satisfactory rooms, and it greater than cleared that bar. All issues regarded as, Bay Lake Tower is now within the operating for our first selection hotel for circle of relatives journeys to Walt Disney International.
Making plans a Walt Disney International commute? Find out about accommodations on our Walt Disney International Lodges Opinions web page. For the place to consume, learn our Walt Disney International Eating place Opinions. To save cash on tickets or decide which kind to shop for, learn our Guidelines for Saving Cash on Walt Disney International Tickets submit. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys submit takes a singular have a look at suave pieces to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney International Trip Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the most efficient position to start out is our Walt Disney International Commute Making plans Information for the whole lot you want to grasp!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What are your ideas on those new rooms at Bay Lake Tower? Have you ever stayed in at each BLT and the resort aspect of Disney’s Recent Lodge? Which do you favor? What do you bring to mind the rooms? The rest you don’t like in regards to the redesign? Agree or disagree with our review? Different ideas or issues? Any questions we will let you solution? Listening to your comments–even whilst you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please proportion your ideas under within the feedback!
