Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort is the third Disney Vacation Club (DVC) property to open in 2009.

The first was the initial phase of the Kidani Village at the Animal Kingdom Villas. Next came the Treehouse Villas at Saratoga Springs, and now Bay Lake Tower has opened on August 4th.

Bay Lake Tower (BLT)is a 15 story crescent shaped tower that is added to the 38 year old Contemporary Resort complex that was part of the opening of the Walt Disney World Resort on October 1, 1971.

This resort becomes the first DVC property that is on the Disney World Monorail loop near the Magic Kingdom. The BLT houses 295 two-bedroom equivalent villas decorated in a fashion consistent with the Contemporary Resort's theming.

With its close proximity to the Magic Kingdom, BLT was built to take full advantage of the views. In addition to having many of the villas facing the Magic Kingdom, there is the Top of the World lounge and observation deck, offering sweeping views of Walt Disney World Resort, as well as a unique perspective for the “Wishes” nighttime fireworks spectacular at Magic Kingdom.

Disney’s Contemporary Resort is easily accessed by way of the Sky Way Bridge which takes guests from the 5th floor of Bay Lake Tower directly to the 4th floor Grand Canyon Concourse of Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Here they have close access to the monorail, shopping, and the Contemporary's restaurants, including kid favorite Chef Mickey's.

BLT also has added a new zero entry pool complex including a water slide, separate whirlpool spa and an interactive children’s water feature – all overlooking picturesque Bay Lake.

Here are some interesting facts about the construction of Bay Lake Tower:

• There are 167 miles of post-tensioning cable running through the concrete slabs. These cables could stretch from Bay Lake Tower to Disney’s Vero Beach Resort and back.
• There are 1,398 tons of reinforcing steel, known as rebar, within the structure. This is equal to the weight of 254 full-grown elephants.
• Bay Lake Tower rests on a foundation of more than 800 concrete piles that are 16 inches in diameter and extend 70 feet into the ground. Stacked on top of one another, these would reach more than 10 miles into the sky.

Although Bay Lake Tower is a DVC Resort, anyone can make reservations there, although availability may be limited during certain times.

This is certainly an exciting addition to one of the Walt Disney World Resorts original attractions.