Just found these pictures uploaded that are the best and most comprehensive so far for the new WDW Bay Lake Towers.  For those of you unfamiliar with Disney World, Bay Lake Towers is the newest Disney Vacation Club resort.  Disney Vacation Club is the Disney version of a timeshare.  You purchase points, not weeks and can stay at your “home resort” or one of the other WDW DVC resorts or trade your points for other timeshares.

Bay Lake Towers was Disney’s worst kept secret.  As they demolished the North Garden Wing of Contemporary they did so without any mention of what was going in there.  Kind of hard to ignore A BIG CRESCENT SHAPED BUILDING but they did there best “Building…what building?”

Due to the economy it has not sold out as quick as expected but it is very popular with many of the people clamoring for monorail access.  Because of slower sales it is a wonderful opportunity for non-DVC member to try it out.

A few things though different about BLT (I know it is a sandwich too!) first is that the pool area is for BLT only.  Unlike the other properties (BoardWalk, Beach Club and Animal Kingdom) where the DVC resort and the regular WDW resort share amenities, if you are staying at Contemporary you cannot use the pool at BLT.  This is because of the lake of real estate to build a large pool.  If the Contemporary folks were allowed in there would be crowding issues and let’s face it the Contemporary pool is not too exciting.

Here is the tricky part, DVC members CAN pool hop so a DVC person staying at BLT can pool hop to Contemporary but a non-DVC member cannot, nor a Contemporary non-DVC pool hop to BLT.  Clear as mud?

The other point is the bridge between the two resorts- that is simply a walkway from the fourth floor of Bay Lake Towers to Contemporary.  They actually frosted the glass and did not put in air conditioning to keep people from using it as a fireworks viewing area.  You will need to use your Bay Lake Tower room key to access it.  If you want to go over to Bay Lake Towers you will need to use the front entrance.

The biggest controversy is the new Top of the World Lounge.  It is built on top of Bay Lake Towers and will probably have the best views of Magic Kingdom around.  This lounge is for DVC members and their guests only.  There is a ton of unhappiness over this by non-DVC people but think of it as the Airline Club rooms at the airport, sure you are flying that airline but just because you have a ticket does not mean you have access.  The Top of The Wolrd Lounge is the same for DVC – all of us who purchased Bay Lake Towers (yes me included) paid a huge premium for that resort.  Because of this DVC gave us a few perks.

I am not sure how long it will continue like this, DVC and WDW have said they may change this at any times and DVCers remember the viewing area at Boardwalk Villas that was taken away and is now used for private function.  Anyone want to guess how long Top of The World will be open to anyone?  My guess is it will become a huge money maker for Disney and can only imagine what it will rent out for on New Year’s Eve.

Before I forget West Marine has a special on Nuvi’s if you are interested.  We just bought one (Doh!) and they are super cheap. New Low Price on Garmin Nuvi 200W – Only $119.99!