Bay Lake Towers-DVC only?

[garthbarth1]

Hello all! Curious, can you stay at BLT if you are not a DVC wonder, or are these rooms only for DVC members? I tried to look online at the WDW site and it didn't seem like a resort that you could book not as a DVC member. Thanks for any info!

[garthbarth1]

Now I see online they are offered From my understanding they are villas only, correct? Not just standard hotel rooms...we do not need a kitchen or extra fold out bed...

[LynneM]

Any DVC resort can be booked by a member of the general public, subject to availability, of course. If you didn't see BLT as a bookable option, there was probably no availability for your dates.

Disney retains ownership of a very small percentage of room inventory at all DVC resorts - less than 10%. You'll see these available for booking as a cash reservation, unless they need to swap rooms out for maintenance.

Also, villas from the member inventory can be sent over to be booked as a cash reservation if a member is using their points to exchange out to RCI, for a DCL cruise, that sort of thing. That cash reservation pays for the member's exchange.

At about 60 days out, member inventory that still hasn't been booked is also sent to CRO and made available for cash reservations. If a member calls to book in that time frame, a villa can be pulled back from CRO into the member inventory .

Long story short, yes, DVC villas can be booked by the general public - but, they are available in very limited numbers.

[LynneM]

Yes, villas only. The studio villa is closest to a standard hotel room, it has one queen bed, a sofabed, and a kitchenette with microwave, fridge, toaster, coffeemaker and a small sink.

It will sleep up to 4 plus one child under the age of 3, but I'd never attempt to put that many people in a BLT studio. They're smaller than other DVC studios , and there's very little room to move around when the sofa bed is open.

[garthbarth1]

Thanks for all the helpful info! I really appreciate it. For those of you who have stayed, is it worth the higher price? It looks pretty fantastic!

[DizneyRox]

It's a legal requirement to have rooms available to non members. They don't have to be cheap, just available. There are no standard hotel rooms for DVC, studio, one eed room, two bedroom, etc. Thats the nature of the business.

[BrerGnat]

Thanks for all the helpful info! I really appreciate it. For those of you who have stayed, is it worth the higher price? It looks pretty fantastic!

The higher price comparing a Studio to a Contemporary Resort room? No. If it's a cheaper option than staying in the tower, and you want those views, then maybe.

The Contemporary Resort proper has much larger and nicer rooms than the BLT Studios. ALL of the hotel amenities are over at the Tower. However, guests of BLT are allowed to use both pools, so there is that advantage.

I would not pay more to stay in a DVC studio over a resort standard room. The draw of the DVC resorts is the larger, villa like accommodations of the 1 and 2 bedroom rooms with full kitchens, washer/dryer, etc. I would pay more if I wanted that type of room setup. Otherwise, you should know that the villas are a step down, quality wise, than their respective resort hotel rooms (in terms of the quality of the room furnishings and such).

[Goofster]

If you can't book a DVC studio room using points (either owned or rented) then it's not worth the extra cost to pay it in cash through Disney.