In 2024, we booked a 1 bedroom villa with a theme park view at the Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Our reason for doing so was we only were planning to be at the parks for two days and we wanted to be as close as possible to the Magic Kingdom. Since we had a great experience the other year at Bay Lake Tower in a deluxe studio, we decided to book it again, but this time we were adding more people to the trip so we splurged for a 1-bedroom villa with theme park views.
Note: We stayed here in July 2024. As of August 2026, the Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort is undergoing a refurbishment and the room decor has been modernized. You can peep the photos of the new decor on their website. We will try to review the new rooms on our next visit.
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As you can gather from the room description, this was not cheap, about $1,000 a night in July. And while I don’t think it’s a true villa by most other resort standards, it did have a lot of space with a separate bedroom and bath, another full bath in the main area, a sleeper sofa, a sleeper chair and a full kitchen. The best amenity of all was the washer and dryer in the unit. And because we paid for theme park view, we had prime views of the fireworks. It was so worth it.
The same magical Disney perks applied as the deluxe studio we booked the year before, namely early and extended theme park hours, shopping discounts, cute Disney luggage tags and a few more nominal perks.
Yet the same gripes applied too. The decor at Bay Lake is…fine. The pool is…fine. The food is…fine. The housekeeping team and services team were lovely. The resort did have a lot of fun activities for the kids to do but some, like the Mickey Mouse t-shirt tie-dye did cost extra.
BOTTOM LINE: The #1 reason we book this hotel is because of the proximity to the Magic Kingdom. At the end of the evening, when the fireworks are finished and crowds are flooding the exits, it is a luxury to veer left and walk about 10 minutes, more if you need to carry a child, back to the Bay Lake Tower.
PLANNING A WALT DISNEY WORLD VACATION? When you book with me, I’ll help you choose the right resort, navigate ticket options and take advantage of the benefits available with your stay—including Magical Extras on eligible vacation packages. My Disney planning services are complimentary when you book your vacation through me.
Ready to start planning? Email Juliana@BeyondTraveled.com.
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Squeezing into Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
