Had a pretty good stay at Bay Lake Tower the first week on December. I love this resort, it's without doubt my happy place. There were a couple disappointments though that I just want to share to let them go.
I have long regarded the Contempo Cafe as one of the best quick service options available. There was a time when they offered creative flatbreads (mongolian beef with arugala and goat cheese how I miss thee), amazing blackened mahi mahi sandwiches, pasta dishes, wonderful looking deserts, and my favorite, the best cheese danishes not just at wdw, but anywhere in the world. They slowly started simplifying the menu over time, the first to go was my much missed flatbread in favor of the more basic all meat, bbq chicken, pepporoni, or cheese. But as I sense myself starting to ramble, let me get to the point of this last stay. All ingenuity in cuisine has complete left this location. There is no longer anything separating this once great location from the food court at the All Star Resorts. The amazing cheese danishes? Gone. Now all they offer are the same individually wrapped breakfast pastries served everywhere. A drier than drift wood cinnamon roll, an average blueberry muffin tasting like any other store bought muffin, just overpriced blandness. The lunch and dinner menu all but demolished. There was only 1 flatbread being offered. No Mahi Mahi sandwiches, no pasta dishes. You could order a spicy chicken sandwich, a burger, or the 1 flatbread. House chips also seemed to be a thing of the past, all I was offered as my side was french fries or apple slices. I do not want to hear it's because of Covid, Florida was the first state to stop any special Covid rules, and WDW was busier than any other time I've seen it. The only excuse is penny pinching, getting the same cheap bland food from a wholesale distributor, marking it up to cosmic Disney prices, and trying to tell me I should enjoy how wonderfully pathetic my meal was.
Deep breath..... Next rant.... The top of the world lounge, aka the villians lair. People may roll their eyes at me for this one, but if you were sold one thing and then had the salesmen change the terms of the sale after you could no longer do anything about it, you'd probaly be pissed too. I bought into DVC just a few months after Bay Lake Tower opened it's doors. The Contemporary was always my dream resort, and during my 2nd actual stay, BLT was too good to pass up. Part of the sales pitch was the top of the world lounge. It was sold to me as the lounge only being available to owners at BLT who were staying at BLT using their points. And this was true for the first2-3 years of my contract. What was wonderful for me was not so wonderful for the staff as I routinely had the entire lounge to myself. So the rules were eased, and any dvc member staying at BLT on points were allowed to visit, followed shortly by any dvc member staying anywhere on property. It brought life to the lounge, and the staff were finally making a living getting the tips they deserved. Not that I didn't tip, but tips from 100 people are better than from1 person. This year, we invited some local friends over for appetizers and drinks. We went to go to the lounge, and were told we had to go on a waitlist for over 2 hours. I uderstand many may not agree with this, but I think owners at BLT staying at BLT on their points should be moved to the top of any wait list. This is not a fast pass/lightning lane mentality. I only say this because exclusive access to the lounge was a prominent point of the sales pitch when Disney sold us. Of course there was fine print that benefits can change on Disneys whim, and they certainly have. They can still keep the lounge open to all DVC guests, but give the owners who were sold exclusive rights to the lounge only to have them taken away atleast preference on the waitlist. And to be honest, the majority of guests up there on any given night are from other resorts. It would not be a huge setback for those waiting to get up. Take it from one who enjoyed those nights having the lounge to himself, or simply strike up some conservations your next trip up and ask which resort they are staying at.
