Walt Disney World's 38-year-old Contemporary Resort debuted its first significant upgrade in decades last week, the new 15-story Bay Lake Tower. Like the rest of the Contemporary Resort, the new tower offers expansive views over Bay Lake and the Magic Kingdom, along with easy access to the rest of Disney World via the monorail that snakes through the resort's main building.
But Bay Lake Tower offers significantly upgraded accommodations, with 295 one-, two-, and three-bedroom suites designed to feel like homes, with full kitchens, granite countertops, and spacious living rooms.
Fun amenities include a beach volleyball court and a zero-entry pool with a glass-enclosed 148-foot-long waterslide. The tower's 15th-floor rooftop lounge and observation deck offers a unique vantage point for viewing the nightly "Wishes" fireworks show. Additionally, each night the water outside Bay Lake Towers hosts the "electrical light pageant," an aquatic parade of barges pulling 25-foot screens of light.
A covered skybridge connects Bay Lake Tower to the rest of the Contemporary Resort, where the 115,000-square-foot Disney's Contemporary Convention Center offers four separate ballrooms, including the 44,000-square-foot Fantasia Ballroom, which holds 3,850. Thirty-five smaller breakout rooms include a 24-seat boardroom.
The poolside bar is the only dining facility at Bay Like Tower, but the rest of the Contemporary Resort offers four restaurants and three lounges.
