Initial DVC trip- BLT

T

tom1944

DIS Veteran
Joined
Nov 14, 2022
We purchased our initial DVC contract resale for SSR closing in April. We immediately booked a week at BLT for August 17 departing August 24.

Our initial contract was only for 180 points, but we had 90 points that were carried over. This trip was 268 points.

We went into the trip knowing that we would be looking for a second contract but not knowing where.

We loved our stay at BLT for the convenience. The renovation when it comes will make it an even better experience, but we were fine with it as it currently stands.

We visited some of the other resorts we are considering. AKV and BWV but decided against both. We also toured GFV and it is beautiful but just not for us.

We will always try to book BLT for now so looking for a contract there makes sense. We stayed at a 1-bedroom lake view and my wife does not want to go to a standard view so that might make a case to not purchase BLT. I am comfortable that we can get the 1 bedroom during our August travel period the majority of the time.

My wife and daughter also loved going to Disney Springs so our next trip we will stay at SSR for at least 4 days with a 5-day portion at BLT. After that we will decide- do we want to add more SSR points or purchase at BLT. We are going to book a 2 bedroom at SSR so that may sway my wife to also want the 2 bedrooms at BLT which will mean we would buy at BLT for sure.

I should add I am really interested in the new POLY2 tower, but I really think the point chart will make that a most likely no for us.


All and all this trip really showed that becoming a DVC member was the right thing to do for us.
 
tom1944 said:
We purchased our initial DVC contract resale for SSR closing in April. We immediately booked a week at BLT for August 17 departing August 24.

Our initial contract was only for 180 points, but we had 90 points that were carried over. This trip was 268 points.

We went into the trip knowing that we would be looking for a second contract but not knowing where.

We loved our stay at BLT for the convenience. The renovation when it comes will make it an even better experience, but we were fine with it as it currently stands.

We visited some of the other resorts we are considering. AKV and BWV but decided against both. We also toured GFV and it is beautiful but just not for us.

We will always try to book BLT for now so looking for a contract there makes sense. We stayed at a 1-bedroom lake view and my wife does not want to go to a standard view so that might make a case to not purchase BLT. I am comfortable that we can get the 1 bedroom during our August travel period the majority of the time.

My wife and daughter also loved going to Disney Springs so our next trip we will stay at SSR for at least 4 days with a 5-day portion at BLT. After that we will decide- do we want to add more SSR points or purchase at BLT. We are going to book a 2 bedroom at SSR so that may sway my wife to also want the 2 bedrooms at BLT which will mean we would buy at BLT for sure.

I should add I am really interested in the new POLY2 tower, but I really think the point chart will make that a most likely no for us.


All and all this trip really showed that becoming a DVC member was the right thing to do for us.
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Glad you had a good trip! We also love BLT :) Such a convenient resort
 
tom1944 said:
We stayed at a 1-bedroom lake view and my wife does not want to go to a standard view so that might make a case to not purchase BLT. I am comfortable that we can get the 1 bedroom during our August travel period the majority of the time.
Click to expand...
Lake views are usually easy to get at 7 months because there's so many. I often combine my points to get extended stay lake view rooms at BLT. There is a good case for buying SSR resale and using it at BLT at the present.

That being said I use my BLT points for standard view rooms sometimes. You can ask for a standard view room facing the MK, they are the first four floors, and part of the fifth.

I'm glad I got that BLT contract cheap when it was originally being sold, but I'm torn as to whether I would add on points there when they can be had cheaper at SSR. Especially since we like to stay at SSR also. :confused3

We just seem to like everywhere, so we tend to add on points wherever there's a good deal. :D (and that's how I ended up with 4 home resorts...and although I don't intend it, I don't discount the possibility that we could end up with more)
 


Stargazer65 said:
Lake views are usually easy to get at 7 months because there's so many. I often combine my points to get extended stay lake view rooms at BLT. There is a good case for buying SSR resale and using it at BLT at the present.

That being said I use my BLT points for standard view rooms sometimes. You can ask for a standard view room facing the MK, they are the first four floors, and part of the fifth.

I'm glad I got that BLT contract cheap when it was originally being sold, but I'm torn as to whether I would add on points there when they can be had cheaper at SSR. Especially since we like to stay at SSR also. :confused3

We just seem to like everywhere, so we tend to add on points wherever there's a good deal. :D (and that's how I ended up with 4 home resorts...and although I don't intend it, I don't discount the possibility that we could end up with more)
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This sounds like us
 
BLT is fairly affordable as DVC's go. I have purchased four small resales there. Most of the contracts are for February for some reason. These work ok for me.
 


Great story and congratulations! We bought resale BLT after staying in March. I wonder if booking will get more challenging after the refurbishment.
 
Our first BLT stay was in a 2br lake view (rented points) and after that we’ve almost always stayed in standard view. We’ve always gotten our room request which are usually on floors 3-5 under the theme park view rooms.

The one time we splurged for a TPV we were out both nights during fireworks anyway!

That said, deals are good for SSR resale now so you could get a lot more points for the same $. And if you ever wanted to try riviera or the new Poly tower, rent points with the money you’ve saved!
 
kboo said:
Our first BLT stay was in a 2br lake view (rented points) and after that we’ve almost always stayed in standard view. We’ve always gotten our room request which are usually on floors 3-5 under the theme park view rooms.

The one time we splurged for a TPV we were out both nights during fireworks anyway!

That said, deals are good for SSR resale now so you could get a lot more points for the same $. And if you ever wanted to try riviera or the new Poly tower, rent points with the money you’ve saved!
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I have been going on line the last few days to see if 1 bedroom standard view rooms are available for next August. So far they have not been which makes buying there questionable if I have to get Lake view anyway since they are generally available at 7 months
 
Tom - Sounds like a great trip. I was in the process of buying resale for the first time at the same time as you, and I found your questions/considerations very thoughtful and helpful to my own process! Congrats on your first DVC stay!

Totally agree with you about the BLT pool. Every time I've been there, my kids loved the pool and I loved the lack of crowds. Felt like a real respite for a pool that's ten minutes away from MK gates.

On the choice of BLT or SSR for your next contract: since you are fine-tuning this decision so carefully with room preference and points (which makes sense), can you keep both resorts in your sights and make offers till something sticks? You are more likely to see a contract in your use year and get a better price if you are watching both resorts, and there are clearly pros and cons to both choices.
 
tom1944 said:
I have been going on line the last few days to see if 1 bedroom standard view rooms are available for next August. So far they have not been which makes buying there questionable if I have to get Lake view anyway since they are generally available at 7 months
Click to expand...
Keep in mind BLT is getting a full refurb next year so that may just be the time when standard view one bedrooms are offline altogether.
 
smileyanna said:
Tom - Sounds like a great trip. I was in the process of buying resale for the first time at the same time as you, and I found your questions/considerations very thoughtful and helpful to my own process! Congrats on your first DVC stay!

Totally agree with you about the BLT pool. Every time I've been there, my kids loved the pool and I loved the lack of crowds. Felt like a real respite for a pool that's ten minutes away from MK gates.

On the choice of BLT or SSR for your next contract: since you are fine-tuning this decision so carefully with room preference and points (which makes sense), can you keep both resorts in your sights and make offers till something sticks? You are more likely to see a contract in your use year and get a better price if you are watching both resorts, and there are clearly pros and cons to both choices.
Click to expand...
I agree with you.

I have not taken anything out of consideration. Right now, I go online to check 1 and 2-bedroom availability at the 11-month mark for all resorts under consideration. I will do that through the 7-month window.

Of all the resorts I am following BLT, BCV and BWV have not had a standard room available for August 2024 since I started looking. It will be interesting to see what they have available at 7 months.

AKV and SSR had standard rooms available. OKW had rooms available near hospitality house.

BRV and CCV both had availability.
 
Last edited:
I did a search of BLT and VGF for the weeks in early August. VGF = control group since it was just refurbed.

There are standard view rooms available during that time but my guess is that there is much less availability due to the refurb. I.e. they didn't take all the rooms out of service but at least some are out. I see 3-4 nights available in the standard room categories and full availability in lake and TPV.

FWIW, with full availability this summer, I booked a BLT 2br dedicated standard at around 8 months - and have never had trouble with standard views at 9-10 months EXCEPT during holiday periods, which has me inferring that they've already reduced room availability at BLT for 2024.
 
I love to stay in BLT standard view. We've never had a repeat and it is amazing how the views change. Our last standard view, I was laying in bed reading when the 10p MK fireworks went off and I had a perfect view from my pillow.
 
bakerworld said:
I love to stay in BLT standard view. We've never had a repeat and it is amazing how the views change. Our last standard view, I was laying in bed reading when the 10p MK fireworks went off and I had a perfect view from my pillow.
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One Thanksgiving week we were in a dedicated 2br on the 2nd floor, just off the lobby. It was classed as a standard view but 3 floors above was classed as TPV ... because there were no leaves on the trees, and the castle was in its icicle lighting, we had an amazing view of the castle + fireworks.

This is one of the reasons we love BLT standard view - we are never disappointed because our expectations are usually exceeded. :) (so far we have never had the dumpster view, lol)
 
kneely58 said:
Keep in mind BLT is getting a full refurb next year so that may just be the time when standard view one bedrooms are offline altogether.
Click to expand...

This makes a lot of sense.

We were able to get a 2BR dedicated and two studios (all standard view) for June 2022 for DW's family trip. Even booked one of those studio SV under 7 months. For June 2024, a 2BR dedicated standard view was a real challenge. Kept getting up early trying to snag a room and walk it but it was a challenge. Finally, we were able to get an opening and walked the reservation for the dates we needed.

Never even thought about the refurb being the reason for the difference in booking challenges 2022 vs 2024.
 
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