As part of some extended time in Florida we wanted to take a staycation and review Extended Evening Hours, a new perk available only to guests of deluxe Disney hotels. A stay at Disney’s Bay Lake Tower—a DVC property at Contemporary Resort—was the perfect way to do this. In this post we review our experience in a one Bedroom Lake View Villa at Bay Lake Tower.
About Bay Lake Tower
Bay Lake Tower is the DVC property at Contemporary Resort. As a DVC property, its rooms are “villas” equipped with varying sizes of kitchens. These rooms are bookable online like any hotel rooms, but DVC members can also book them using DVC points. And, like we did and will discuss below, you can rent points to book them.
Guests staying at Bay Lake Tower—including those renting points—get access to the full range of parks benefits for Disney hotel guests. We used Early Theme Park Entry (available to guests of all Disney hotels) and Extended Evening Hours (available only to guests of deluxe hotels) as expected with no problem, including on both arrival and departure days. You can read specifically about our experiences at Extended Evening Hours at Magic Kingdom and Extended Evening Hours at Epcot, since many guests of deluxe hotels particularly care about this new perk.
Because of its proximity to Magic Kingdom, Bay Lake Tower is a good option for a split stay. You could book, say, two nights here and three nights at a resort on the Skyliner. This would give you two nights with direct walking access to Magic Kingdom (we walked over for the Magic Kingdom Dessert Party, for example) and three nights (at the other resort, not Bay Lake Tower) with convenient Skyliner access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.
Guests staying at Bay Lake Tower have their own feature pool, and they can also use the pools over at Contemporary. We had a fine time at the pool and pool bar one afternoon.
Bay Lake Tower uses the same transportation as Contemporary:
walk or monorail to Magic Kingdom
monorail (with transfer) to Epcot
buses to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom
Separate criticisms about the buses aside, I’m not a fan of making guests take two monorails in order to get to Epcot. A bus option should be offered.
Bay Lake Tower has its own pool bar (Cove Bar), the DVC member-only Top of the World Lounge, and easy access to all the dining options over at Contemporary.
Booking and Price
I booked by renting DVC points via David’s Vacation Club Rentals. We’ll have a post on that experience (all positive) shortly, but our cost situation requires a bit of explanation.
These two nights in the One Bedroom Lake View Villa would cost $2196 booked directly through Disney. Renting points, the cost would be $1330. However, I was actually booked in a studio that cost $722 renting points (versus $1604 booked directly through Disney). We were given a surprise upgrade by Disney from the studio to the one bedroom. So we wound up paying $722 for two nights that would cost $2196 booked directly through Disney.
Our One Bedroom Lake View Villa
This section includes a video walkthrough and several galleries that you can click through using arrows on either side of the images.
As I mentioned, I had booked a studio so was entirely surprised when we wound up in a one-bedroom villa. This was a surprise upgrade (i.e. not one I requested) and presumably a result of room availability (i.e. I’m 100% certain Disney has no special interest in giving me an upgrade, particularly not on a rented DVC stay).
Needless to say the One Bedroom was very spacious. There’s a bedroom and master bathroom, living room / kitchen, second bathroom, balcony, and closet with washer / dryer.
I can’t speak to all DVC rooms (but if you’re considering them, I’m flagging this for you to look more into), but this one was very well stocked with dishes and basic cooking supplies.
I’m not a fan of carpet in hotel rooms, but it’s a pretty small complaint. That said, at Disney carpet is a sign of an older room, and that meant a lack of well-placed outlets or bedside USB ports. Again, the rack rate for this room was over $1000 per night, so I feel fine nitpicking.
The room had an obstructed view of the Electrical Water Pageant…
and a stunning view during sunrise:
If you’re paying $361 per night and get upgraded to a room with a rack rate of over $1000 per night, it’s not polite to complain. But I’m not here to be polite because I’m not in the business of getting upgrades, I’m in the business of reviewing hotel rooms.
Do I think the room could be better? Definitely. I’d like more modern touches like hardwood and USB ports. But overall my complaints are small, and I think the key question for the room comes down to price.
Disney hotels come with a premium because of their perks. In the case of the DVC properties you’ve got both Early Theme Park Entry (daily) and Extended Evening Hours (select nights). Plus you have the ability to purchase and book Lightning Lanes 7 days in advance of your trip, rather than 3 days in advance of your visit date.
When you’re talking about any of the resorts along the monorail, you’ve also got a location / walkability premium. Being able to walk to Magic Kingdom is a huge perk, particularly if you’ve got small children who need a midday nap or with whom you just don’t want to transit for 20 minutes to get back to the hotel.
Altogether these premiums make the $1000+ per night rack rate more palatable. And if you look at, say, a two-night February 2022 stay you can find the following rates:
Bay Lake Tower 1 Bedroom — $1842
JW Marriott Executive Suite — $1651
Waldorf Astoria 1 Bedroom — $1627
Those rooms are probably a slightly better quality, but you’re going to lose the well-stocked kitchen that comes with the DVC room. Of course, the overall Waldorf and JW Marriott experiences might be more upscale than Bay Lake Tower, which as a DVC property trends more toward “home away from home.”
The other thing you could do is look at, say, the Residence Inn Orlando at FLAMINGO CROSSINGS® Town Center, which has one bedroom suites for under $200 a night. Now, if you’re comparing the Residence Inn to the JW Marriott, you’re talking about two completely different hotel experiences, the latter being a true resort and the former being a place to put your head.
I don’t think Bay Lake Tower (which, for this purpose, includes the amenities / restaurants at Contemporary) quite rises to the level of the JW Marriott or Waldorf Astoria, but it is a more complete resort experience than you’ll get at a Residence Inn.
Conclusions
Overall, I have to admit this room seems…pretty appropriately priced. I think we can quibble over whether the luxury / resort group is overall overpriced in the area, but if you accept there’s a gap between luxury and non-luxury hotels, then the pricing of Bay Lake Tower’s one-bedroom suites aren’t too bad.
If you’re renting DVC points for the room and paying closer to $650 per night, you’re definitely getting a good deal.
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