Bay Lake Tower Resort, Walt Disney World September 2024

It’s been a year since last September 2024 when our family took our third trip to Walt Disney World and spent our second stay at Bay Lake Tower, staying three nights at this iconic Walt Disney World hotel. We already miss Disney and are starting to plan our next trip back. It will be a awhile, but planning the trip is half the fun….for me anyway🤣 Reminiscing about that last Disney trip got me thinking about Bay Lake and how much we loved it.

Why Bay Lake Tower?

A 10 minute walk to Magic Kingdom, access to the monorail without setting foot outside and a view of the fireworks everywhere you turn, are just a few of the bragging rights that the underrated Bay Lake Tower Resort hold.

History of Bay Lake Tower

Bay Lake Tower, the DVC section of the Contemporary Resort (one of the 2 original hotels built for Disney opening day on October 1, 1971) was added in 2009. From Bay Lake Tower you can easily access the Contemporary and all of it’s perks, while enjoying Bay Lakes more private and quieter atmosphere. The covered skybridge connects the two.

Room Options & Views

We booked a standard DVC studio room renting points through David’s Vacation Club Rentals. More expensive options are lake view and theme park view rooms. We were assigned room 7106.

Pools & Amenities

We were delighted with our room. It was on the first floor close to the lobby, the pool, the resort mug refill station (located at the pool) and an eight minute walk to Magic Kingdom. Other perks of the room included a patio with two chairs and a small table overlooking the Bay Lake walking path. It was wooded and quite pretty. We could see both the lake and Space Mountain, with a standard view room!

We also learned that night that we had a view of the fireworks from our room. 🤯 We had not anticipated this and were elated. I later learned that all Bay Lake Tower Rooms ending in 06 or 08 have some sort of fireworks view.

Room Setup

Bay Lake Rooms, like any hotel on Disney property are exceptionally clean. There was a queen bed, sofa bed and small table with two chairs. As well as ample storage for clothing and such in a dresser that the television sat on.

The kitchenette area features a microwave, toaster and mini fridge with a freezer that works well.

The kids were a big fan of the “Hey Disney” that was also included in our room. They played music, games and had it tell them stories. We also used it when we needed to order things like towels or more shampoo.

Pools

There are three pools that you can access at this resort. Two at the contemporary and one pool exclusive for guests of Bay Lake tower. This one was our favorite, since it was literally 30 seconds from our hotel room and much less crowded. The kids preferred the water slide here too.

Community Room

The community room at Bay Lake tower was so fun for us. They show movies, have video games to play and have various craft activities for free or some with a minimal charge. The kids and I all made a button for a dollar each!

Laundry

There is also free 24 hour laundry for Bay Lake Tower guests. The laundry room was located on the first floor, very close to us.

Dining Options

There are multiple restaurants and a Jofferey’s located at the Contemporary. Contempo Cafe is one of our favorite quick service restaurants in all of Disney. Steakhouse 71 is delicious and underrated in my opinion. There’s the iconic and expensive California grill as well as Chef Mickey’s character dining.

Very pleased with her make your own kids sundae.

Fireworks & Magic Kingdom Access

Fireworks are visible from multiple locations around the resort. The skybridge is a great spot that’s not too crowded. They even have speakers for the music on the bridge too.

You can even see the fireworks from inside Bay Lake Towers through the windows near the elevators. Having a constant view of the castle at this resort never gets old either.

Magic Kingdom Walking Path

The walking path to Magic Kingdom is pretty magical in itself. It’s a short at max 10 minute walk. Guests using this path have their own security getting into the park.

Key takeaways

This resort is the least popular of the three on the monorail loop and I can’t understand why. The Polynesian is great to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there. Everyone wants to check that place out and it gets so busy and crowded. Grand Floridian is beautiful but insanely pricey! In the Goldilocks Fairy tale that is the three monorail resorts, Baylake Tower is just right. A 10 out of 10 for us.