Disney’s Bay Lake Tower is one of my absolute favorite places to stay when I visit Walt Disney World.  While all of the resorts have their own unique charm and benefits, Bay Lake Tower has everything that is important to me – and then some!

Here are my top 5 reasons I love Disney’s Bay Lake Tower!

1.  Proximity to Magic Kingdom

You can’t beat this proximity, there is NO other resort that’s closer to the Magic Kingdom.  You have to walk PAST Bay Lake Tower if you’re walking from the Contemporary!   There is nothing like being able to walk to the park, and better yet – LEAVING after fireworks and not having to get on a boat, bus or monorail?  Priceless!

The other benefit of being so close is being able to watch the fireworks from pretty much anywhere.  If you splurge for a Theme Park View you’ll be blown away, but even if you didn’t – you can see the fireworks from anywhere out front really.

2.  Proximity to the Contemporary Resort

I think if I had to pick 1 resort as my all time favourite it would be the Contemporary.  I don’t know how much of it is nostalgia, but it has some pretty terrific stuff that makes it my favourite.  Staying at Bay Lake Tower you get the benefit of being able to walk over and jump on the Monorail, shop in the fantastic stores, eat at Contempo Cafe or have a drink at the Outer Rim.  Can you say table for 2 at California Grill and I can walk back to my room after?  Ya, it’s that close – and it’s wonderful!

3.  There is nothing IN the resort itself

This may sound like a drawback, but it isn’t.  There is no food court or restaurant or even stores in Bay Lake Tower.  The only thing is the Top Of The World lounge for Disney Vacation Club members on (you guessed it) the top floor.  Otherwise, it’s just resort rooms.  What that means?  No one has any reason to be in Bay Lake Tower if they’re not staying there.  No crowds, no loud hallways – just peace and quiet!  Of course it has a pool, laundry room and games – but nothing of ‘fun’ inside the resort.

4.  Room Variety

The ability to book a studio, 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom comes in VERY handy for my family.  When we travel as an extended group – we like to stay together and normally get the 2 bedroom.  We have a full kitchen in there so that we can make breakfasts and the living room makes it comfortable for us to hang out as adults when the kids have gone to bed.  I have YET to stay in a 3 bedroom… but I’m working on it!

The 1 bedroom units also feature 2 full bathrooms.  This is the PERFECT set up when we have 4 adults, there’s nothing worse than 4 us trying to share the same bathroom!

The only thing that I wish was a little better was the configuration of the studios.  They didn’t utilize the space very well – it’s really only suitable for 2 or 3 adults maximum.  If you go with 3 or 4 adults, you better REALLY like each other!  Otherwise, I would suggest staying at the Contemporary Resort where the rooms are MUCH bigger than the studio at Bay Lake.

5.  Being IN The Bubble

When you arrive at Walt Disney World, you enter the ‘bubble’ as I like to call it.  It’s the place where you cross the threshold and the outside world doesn’t exist, at least that’s what I try to do.  When you stay at one of the Monorail/Magic Kingdom resorts, you are REALLY next to the magic.  You can hear the train whistle in the park, you can see the boats on Bay Lake and at night you can see the fireworks.  Being ‘surrounded’ by all of those sites and sounds really do drown out the ‘real world’ just for a bit.   Yes, you can feel this way staying anywhere on property, but being THAT close to the Magic Kingdom just gives it that little extra Pixie Dust.

Check out the 1 bedroom at Bay Lake Tower and tell me what you think!