Our last trip was lovely - except our off property condo do at the Marriott Cypress Harbour. This time going in off season (Oct) with less extended family, so am doing it right this time by staying on property. Getting a 2 bedroom to house my 8 year old and 2 year old son, and my 12 and 8 year nieces plus energetic Grandma! I LOVE the idea of being so close to MagicKingdom at Bay Lakes. But reviews are so much better at Floridian. Standard view at GF is $4176 or 261points using rental DVC points for a 5 night stay vs lake view at Bay Lakes is $3664 or 229 (note: does not include $2 per point premium for 7-12 month advance booking). Note: Standard view at Bay Lakes is 209 points or $3312. We were leaning towards lake view at Bay Lakes. Is GF worth the premium? We will be there 5 nights in Oct, 2017 and will visit only MK and Epcot. Last visit we were MK and Universal (Harry Potter), which is why we stayed off property, which 100% of us regret!
Just a couple of questions:
Do you mean this October or October 2017?
Does $$ matter or are you comfortable with the $500 - $800 swing?
Number 1 Pro for Bay Lake: Walk to MK.
GF will require monorail trip to both MK & EP.
Can’t really go wrong with either.
Does one appeal more to you aesthetically?
Yes. 2017. Actually I prefer the esthetic at Bay Lake, but seems like the rooms may be getting a lot of wear and tear, according to reviews.
We stayed at Bay Lake June 2015 and I thought our room was very nice. It didn’t look like it needed an update due to wear and tear. Our balcony was on The Contemporary side by the bridge and we could see the lake but that wasn’t a factor to our stay. We loved being able to walk back and forth to MK, to The Contemporary and have easy access to the monorails.