The ALL NEW Disney's Contemporary Resort & Bay Lake Tower FAQ with PICs! (July 2011)

[amandaw]

Congrats on booking!!

We might do a split stay. They did a refurb on the rooms this year at WL, so they look much better. But still nothing beats that view! And the walkway to MK!! Looking forward to hearing about your trip since mine is a little farther away. Hoping to get there in 2014, but DH keeps talking about these other places he wants to visit??

Other places?!? How dare he mention other places!

I am excited about having booked! My little boy saw me looking at pic of CR today and asked if we could stay there the next time we go to Disney. I said, "Oh I don't know. Maybe." I sure hope I can keep this a secret from him. I'm really bad at secrets. Especially since he loves to talk Disney as much as I do.

We did our 1st split stay on our last trip. I'll be honest....it just wasn't for me. Now, I know lots of peeps here on the DIS love to do it. I just found it to be more of a headache than anything. I guess I just like to get to my "home" and get settled in for vacation.

 

[babyberger]

KOOK are you posting to us today from your private Disney jet taking those magnificent pictures And also just wanted to say thank you for all your time and information always

I am with you!! Want to stay at CR TPV, but oh that price! I had it booked last December and paid the one night deposit. Then I switched to Pop for 5 nights and Disney owed me money. We were going to switch to WL, but I lost my job in November, so Pop it was! Great trip, but we discovered we are not value people. I want bigger beds, more space, a balcony and everything in one building. DH really wants CR and we watched someone's live feed of the NYE fireworks from BLT and now he Really wants that view. We have a couple years to save, so we will see. I still like WL, so I will be lurking on both of your threads,Kook.

I had a hard time swallowing the price tag too, but I have to say different times of years the price can vary GREATLY!!! Dec was def expensive and at only a 20% discount (but it was our holiday splurge), but our trip in Feb is at the value season rates plus 37% discount, so a HUGE difference in price! My DD wants to go back to CR in April for her bday, but again a more expensive rate season and only 20% discount making the same room more than $200+/nt more than we are paying in Feb I have thankfully talked her into a Royal Room at POR which for two nights will still be less than one night at CR. Mousesavers.com has a great page that breaks down all the rate season and the dates that correspond with them.

I called and booked this morning!!

I did decide to go for the TPV. My sister was texting pictures this morning of the view from their room. It really sealed the deal for me! I'm super-excited and just hope it will all go as planned since it's so far away.

That's too funny that Disney owed you money! WOW!

We stayed at a value once. My DH told me never again.

We watched the NYE fireworks live feed as well! What an amazing view, right?!?

We've stayed at WL as well. That was in 2011. We did Club Level and had a view of Bay Lake. The resort is really nice. And all of the staff is extremely friendly. I love the grounds of the resort and the lobby is absolutely beautiful. I'll be honest, the only thing I didn't care for were the rooms. But, I wouldn't completely rule out staying there in the future.

CONGRATS on booking I agree with you on so many points...1. I am DONE with values, I just cant do it anymore 2. Watching the MK fireworks from TPV is definitely magical! My kids loved being able to watch them and not be knocked over by the crowds of rude people. 3. The rooms at WL leave something to be desired especially after being in a CR room. I know they are bigger than the mods, but I definitely felt like I was in a mod room at WL, maybe because we had just stayed at YC and it just felt sooo different. WL wast the resort of choice for my family and they have actually said they WON'T stay there again, but we gave it a try.

Other places?!? How dare he mention other places!

I am excited about having booked! My little boy saw me looking at pic of CR today and asked if we could stay there the next time we go to Disney. I said, "Oh I don't know. Maybe." I sure hope I can keep this a secret from him. I'm really bad at secrets. Especially since he loves to talk Disney as much as I do.

We did our 1st split stay on our last trip. I'll be honest....it just wasn't for me. Now, I know lots of peeps here on the DIS love to do it. I just found it to be more of a headache than anything. I guess I just like to get to my "home" and get settled in for vacation.

Oh I hope you can keep it a secret, just imagine the look on his face when you pull up to the CR and he realizes you are staying there

We never stay long enough to make a split stay worth it, but I agree, once I am unpacked I don't want to have to do pack and unpack again. I think that is one of the major things we love about cruising, getting to go so many places but only unpacking once.

Melissa

 

[MrsBlovesDisney]

As KOOK said, keep checking, people cancel all the time. But I will tell you when I booked my Feb trip I did so based on availability at CR figuring I would be able to move it to better dates for us, but nothing has come available so it looks like we will be sticking with the dates we booked.

I think the WDW tax rate is 12 or 12.5%. From what I saw on the Visa disc page CR was at the 20% discount.

I have been trying for a 1br at BLT but nothing has been offered with a discount so we are sticking to our TPV room as well We just learned that DS has wheat allergy and we were hoping to be able to do a bit more cooking ourselves, but no luck. DS is also on the autism spectrum and being able to watch the fireworks from CR and not have to deal with the noise and crowds was perfect! Have a great time!

38 DAYS TIL WE ARE BACK AT CR

I figured out we saved almost $900! Wow!! Now if only I could get my mind off of the BLT lol! I agree it would be easier with our own kitchen. And ohh, the space we would have! We also watch the fireworks from our balcony.....the Park being just a bit too crazy for our DS as well.

I'm so torn lol.....but we LOVE the CR.....it will be nice just hopping on the elevator to get downstairs! THAT should be incentive enough!

ENJOY!!!!!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[amandaw]

CONGRATS on booking I agree with you on so many points...1. I am DONE with values, I just cant do it anymore 2. Watching the MK fireworks from TPV is definitely magical! My kids loved being able to watch them and not be knocked over by the crowds of rude people. 3. The rooms at WL leave something to be desired especially after being in a CR room. I know they are bigger than the mods, but I definitely felt like I was in a mod room at WL, maybe because we had just stayed at YC and it just felt sooo different. WL wast the resort of choice for my family and they have actually said they WON'T stay there again, but we gave it a try.

Thank you!!

I am very excited about getting to watch the fireworks from our room. And in my preliminary planning, it doesn't look like we'll be in MK any night for the fireworks. So, it will be perfect having a room to view them.

I agree completely about the WL rooms. After seeing the lobby and the rest of the resort, I felt let down with the room. The only reason why we consider staying there again is if our budget couldn't accomodate any of the more expensive deluxe resorts and we still wanted to be close to MK.

Oh I hope you can keep it a secret, just imagine the look on his face when you pull up to the CR and he realizes you are staying there

We never stay long enough to make a split stay worth it, but I agree, once I am unpacked I don't want to have to do pack and unpack again. I think that is one of the major things we love about cruising, getting to go so many places but only unpacking once.

Melissa

I hope I can keep this trip a secret, too! I figure since it's not our "main" vacation of the year, I may be able to hold it in. Good thing is with him being so young (he'll be 5 in March), we can kind of talk about the trip in front of him and he doesn't really understand what we're talking about. He keeps saying though that he's excited to go back to the Mickey boat but he that he also wants to go back to Disney World.

That is a great perk of cruising! I'm starting to do research for our June cruise since we're going to new ports for us.

I don't like to say "never" but I really would prefer not to do a split stay again.

 

[Georgi Zhukov]

Thank you!!

I am very excited about getting to watch the fireworks from our room. And in my preliminary planning, it doesn't look like we'll be in MK any night for the fireworks. So, it will be perfect having a room to view them.

Forgive me for chiming in here amandaw but I can't help being excited for you. My family and I have been lucky enough to stay in a CR TPV room on several occasions and my wife and I always say there are few things better than sitting on your own balcony with a glass of wine enjoying Wishes after a LONG day in the parks. I'm smiling right now just thinking of it. Have a great trip!

 

[amandaw]

Forgive me for chiming in here amandaw but I can't help being excited for you. My family and I have been lucky enough to stay in a CR TPV room on several occasions and my wife and I always say there are few things better than sitting on your own balcony with a glass of wine enjoying Wishes after a LONG day in the parks. I'm smiling right now just thinking of it. Have a great trip!

Awww....thank you so much!!! It does sound like the perfect ending to a Disney day. And I think our DS will prefer watching the fireworks from afar. I'm also excited to wake up, throw open the curtains and see the castle!!

 

[inky dinky doo]

We usually stay DVC, but I have conference at the Contemporary this April, so have a couple of questions.

1. Are coffee pots available in the rooms, and what size/kind are they? We're staying in the garden wing, and I always bring my own coffee. Just need to know what kind of filters, etc.

2. I noticed that post 1 of this thread says WIFI is sporradic and there's a charge. Is that still true? I know it's been free to DVC for awhile, now, and thought I'd read it was available and free to all. What's the scoop on the Contemporary?

Thanks much!

Pat

 

[WDWKOOK]

We usually stay DVC, but I have conference at the Contemporary this April, so have a couple of questions.

1. Are coffee pots available in the rooms, and what size/kind are they? We're staying in the garden wing, and I always bring my own coffee. Just need to know what kind of filters, etc.

2. I noticed that post 1 of this thread says WIFI is sporradic and there's a charge. Is that still true? I know it's been free to DVC for awhile, now, and thought I'd read it was available and free to all. What's the scoop on the Contemporary?

Thanks much!

Pat

Hi, Pat!

The first page of the thread doesn't get updated anymore so it's out of date. (I'm working on the new CR/BLT thread.)

1. Yes, there are coffee makers in all the rooms. I believe they are now the same ones as WL which use pods and not filters:

2. All resorts and parks now have free WiFi.

 

[WDWKOOK]

KOOK are you posting to us today from your private Disney jet taking those magnificent pictures And also just wanted to say thank you for all your time and information always

Wouldn't that be fun?! But, they would still have to have the STOLport next to WL. Thanks for your sweet comment, Melissa

 

[inky dinky doo]

Yay! Thanks so much for your quick response! As long as I have coffee and WIFI, I'm good!! I'll plan to bring pods for the garden wing and regular filters for BLT.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Yay! Thanks so much for your quick response! As long as I have coffee and WIFI, I'm good!! I'll plan to bring pods for the garden wing and regular filters for BLT.

And thank you for your quick thank-you!

Yes, BLT still has these:

But, they do provide all the pods you want at CR.

Coffee and WiFi do make it feel like you're right at home. Have a great trip!

 

[babyberger]

Wouldn't that be fun?! But, they would still have to have the STOLport next to WL. Thanks for your sweet comment, Melissa

Can we have an RC private jet??? We would never know where would would land LOL!!! I have to say when I looked out at the WL roof tops from our CR balcony I thought of you (even more so than when we were at WL).
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As for the coffee pods, I read that the Cuisinart pods were awful....I bring my own travel Keurig, but does anyone know of pods that work in the Cuisinart machines that are good coffee?

Melissa

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[WDWKOOK]

Can we have an RC private jet??? We would never know where would would land LOL!!! I have to say when I looked out at the WL roof tops from our CR balcony I thought of you (even more so than when we were at WL).
----------
As for the coffee pods, I read that the Cuisinart pods were awful....I bring my own travel Keurig, but does anyone know of pods that work in the Cuisinart machines that are good coffee?

Melissa

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Melissa!

I think I recall this question being asked on the WL thread last year and so I did some investigating and found THIS SITE that lists pod compatibility. According to the site, all pods between 4-12 grams should fit a Cuisinart. They also list kosher pods.

But, at least at the CR you have a place to buy a really good cup of coffee. The Contemporary Grounds is just an elevator ride away in the lobby:

 

[AirGoofy]

But, at least at the CR you have a place to buy a really good cup of coffee. The Contemporary Grounds is just an elevator ride away in the lobby:

Our first time staying at BLT, we had to check in at CR. I had always wanted to stay at CR for the design, location, and amenities, which was why we added on points at BLT. I was so excited that first trip that we arrived a little after 6:00 AM and got to be the first customers of the day there. An excellent way to start out the trip. We did have a breakfast ADR at CM, so we just waited and enjoyed the coffee. I think that was the best beginning to a trip ever. They also have hot chocolate which the dds enjoyed as well.

 

[momtoprincesses]

Hello! I am in the beginning stages of planning our family's first trip to DW in December and I am very excited! We are a family of four: mom (32), dad (35), daughter (turning five on our trip!), and daughter (2). We have decided that we want to stay at CR for the proximity of the resort to MK, and because we love the décor of the rooms.

We are looking at the Garden Tower since it is a bit less expensive. But I have read that it is farther from the amenities offered in the hotel. So how far are we talking about? Also, any other negatives to staying in that part of the hotel? Any positives? Thanks for any feedback you can give me!

 

[TxYates]

We just changed from POR to CR and I'm so excited! I had to convince DD that a waterslide and beach were better than a princess room. We had a PIN for 30% off so we are spending $1100 more but $500 more than our original POR price and with all our character meals I think it's worth it.

 

[NJRRK]

We just changed from POR to CR and I'm so excited! I had to convince DD that a waterslide and beach were better than a princess room. We had a PIN for 30% off so we are spending $1100 more but $500 more than our original POR price and with all our character meals I think it's worth it.

POR has a better water slide than the CR, but I promise not to tell your DD.

 

[inky dinky doo]

Melissa!

I think I recall this question being asked on the WL thread last year and so I did some investigating and found THIS SITE that lists pod compatibility. According to the site, all pods between 4-12 grams should fit a Cuisinart. They also list kosher pods.

But, at least at the CR you have a place to buy a really good cup of coffee. The Contemporary Grounds is just an elevator ride away in the lobby:

That's a great site, WDWKOOK! It's hard to find the pods locally, and even then, it's just Folgers. Thanks to you, though, I've ordered Wolfgang Puck's dark roast (my preference) from Amazon.

Does anyone know what kind of coffee the Contemporary Grounds sells? It's not Nescafe, is it???

 

[inky dinky doo]

We just changed from POR to CR and I'm so excited! I had to convince DD that a waterslide and beach were better than a princess room. We had a PIN for 30% off so we are spending $1100 more but $500 more than our original POR price and with all our character meals I think it's worth it.

Congrats on the 30% off pin, TxYates! You're going to LOVE staying at the Contemporary! There's nothing quite like being able to monorail or walk to and from the Magic Kingdom.

 

[MFLetou]

We'll be at CR in 2 weeks. Had 2 rooms (party of 4 adults, 3 kids) at POR but switched to CR Garden Wing with the 40% discount. Its still quite a bit more, but our last visit--fall of 2011-- we were lucky enough to stay in a BLT 1 bedroom (that was before the last little one) also on a 40% discount (those days are gone!) and being able to walk to MK was a total game-changer. To be honest, I'm probably more of a Poly person, but with little kids you just cannot beat being able to walk to MK.

Anyway, I'm wondering about the views from the Garden View rooms. Specifically, how well can you see the monorail from those rooms facing the parking lot? Our oldest is a monorail junkie--he has 6 different colored model trains and I swear he'd be content sitting at the Contempo all day just watching them go by. Our ideal would be to get two rooms together on the first floor so we can get the patio, but I'd really like to get him a view of the Monorails. I've told him we aren't staying in the tower and won't be facing the monorail but I'd sure like to surprise him. I haven't made a request yet, mainly because I couldn't get through on the phone last week.

Any guidance?