(CLOSED) Disney's CONTEMPORARY RESORT and BAY LAKE TOWER INFORMATION THREAD

[left210]

Delayed but quick post for now -- and I will get pics uploaded by the weekend hopefully. Its just been a crazy week trying to get everyone readjusted back to work/school so haven't had time yet to upload them.

We stayed CR TPV and LOVED our room and the view. Watching Wishes from the balcony was incredible and falling asleep/waking up to the Castle view was so worth the added expense!! We stayed on the 9th floor and when we came off the elevator our room was right there smack in the middle which we were concerned about how much noise we were going to hear from people coming off the elevators and walking to their rooms and Chef Mickeys being to the right and the gift shops to the left, esp. with DD being such a light sleeper, but we heard NOTHING. Not even the monorail when it came through.

Loved Nadia at Chef Mickeys, but honestly the rest of the staff at the resort was not that great. The guy doing our check-in that kept staring at my breasts the entire time and made barely any eye contact because of it -- which was pretty disrespectful and rude), the person that took my order for DH's surprise birthday cake almost blew the surprise by putting it down for 8:30 p.m. instead of 8:30 a.m. and I felt like the cake was rushed to get done and delivered. But the cake came out nice, DH was totally surprised and rather than try and rush out to make our reservations at Kona Cafe...which we were a bit disappointed over, DD loved the idea of having cake for breakfast so we just went with the flow.

Pirates/Pals Cruise was pretty cute. You walk to the conference room and check-in where they give you a bandana to either wear on your head or somewhere on your body so they know you're part of the cruise and they assign you a boat = either "Capt Hook" or "Mr. Smee". There's a couple of statues around the hallway to take pics with, and then two pirates come out and interact for a couple of minutes before you go inside the room where there's a buffet of treats from bags of popcorn/chips, ice cream, chocolate coins, drinks, etc. Then Hook and Mr. Smee come out for 'meet and greet', then they leave and the two pirates come back and escort us to the boats where they interact with us until Wishes starts -- then back to the dock where Peter Pan is waiting. The view from the water watching Wishes was beautiful and there's no better place to see it IMO, even from our TPV room.

With regards to the Pirates cruise - did the boat look like a pirate ship or was it a typical boat?

 

[ErinsMommy]

canopy boat.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Does this whole staring thing happen often- or was it uniquely especially out of the ordinary at the contemporary? Serious question.

Well I am gifted in that area, but as DH commented -- there's a way to look and not be so obvious/gross about it -- and he was both and it was highly inappropriate.

 

[WDWKOOK]

We got here at about 2 PM and since I had pre registered online, we sailed right in, our room was ready and we got the room we had requested; lakeview, north tower, even numbered room, 2-3 floors above level 5 (so we can easily walk the stairs from the sky bridge)

So happy with the room, everything is clean and in great condition, and it is HUGE!


We have a beautiful view from our balcony- to the left space mountain and Cinderellas castle and to the front and right, Bay Lake. Every amenity is here, and it's very comfortable. Already did a load of laundry and loving the 2 full baths with teens! When we get home I will post lots of pics and our room number.

Till then, we are here to enjoy and not to worry, we won't order any pizza.

BTW- related to the pizza " scam"; there are brochures by each phone about "security" including the tip "use caution when disclosing your CC # over the phone" and "fliers place under your door are not legitimate communication from the WDW resort"

Great news and we can't wait for more live updates!

This is seriously the best resort thread ever. Every time I'm thinking "I wonder if they have this in the villa....", I just flip to the lists and photos of stuff. Seriously amazing.

But how am I going to pass the time until September if everything is so dang easy to locate?

You just made my day. This was lots of fun to put together and even more fun now that it's up and helping people.

There has got to be something you'd like to chat about - it's ok if it's already in the thread. Oh, what ADRs are you booking? You have to do CA Grill!

Delayed but quick post for now -- and I will get pics uploaded by the weekend hopefully. Its just been a crazy week trying to get everyone readjusted back to work/school so haven't had time yet to upload them.

We stayed CR TPV and LOVED our room and the view. Watching Wishes from the balcony was incredible and falling asleep/waking up to the Castle view was so worth the added expense!! We stayed on the 9th floor and when we came off the elevator our room was right there smack in the middle which we were concerned about how much noise we were going to hear from people coming off the elevators and walking to their rooms and Chef Mickeys being to the right and the gift shops to the left, esp. with DD being such a light sleeper, but we heard NOTHING. Not even the monorail when it came through.

Loved Nadia at Chef Mickeys, but honestly the rest of the staff at the resort was not that great. The guy doing our check-in that kept staring at my breasts the entire time and made barely any eye contact because of it -- which was pretty disrespectful and rude), the person that took my order for DH's surprise birthday cake almost blew the surprise by putting it down for 8:30 p.m. instead of 8:30 a.m. and I felt like the cake was rushed to get done and delivered. But the cake came out nice, DH was totally surprised and rather than try and rush out to make our reservations at Kona Cafe...which we were a bit disappointed over, DD loved the idea of having cake for breakfast so we just went with the flow.

Pirates/Pals Cruise was pretty cute. You walk to the conference room and check-in where they give you a bandana to either wear on your head or somewhere on your body so they know you're part of the cruise and they assign you a boat = either "Capt Hook" or "Mr. Smee". There's a couple of statues around the hallway to take pics with, and then two pirates come out and interact for a couple of minutes before you go inside the room where there's a buffet of treats from bags of popcorn/chips, ice cream, chocolate coins, drinks, etc. Then Hook and Mr. Smee come out for 'meet and greet', then they leave and the two pirates come back and escort us to the boats where they interact with us until Wishes starts -- then back to the dock where Peter Pan is waiting. The view from the water watching Wishes was beautiful and there's no better place to see it IMO, even from our TPV room.

Thanks for posting your review and reporting that you didn't hear any noise since many ask about that. It's great having a P&P Cruise review, too. Did you book a BB?

Not only are they dishwasher-able, we have a practice of putting everything we plan on using for the trip in the dishwasher when we check in. While housekeeping does clean anything that's dirty, that doesn't necessarily include everything that was handled by previous guests but not actually used and put in the sink or dishwasher.

Eeek - I just booked a BLT lake view studio for me and my 3 yo and the balcony does scare me a bit. I had been reassuring myself that Disney would have built with kids in mind, but is that naive?

Here is a photo of the locking mechanism on the sliding glass door:

I wouldn't worry about it, but you know your child's curiosity and dexterity level best.

 

[ErinsMommy]

We didn't book a BB--so tempting but don't think we'll be back for a few more years. We want to go back to the Bahamas first, then give Universal/Sea World a try, then DH has been itching to go back "home" to Ireland and by then DD should be almost 10 and ready for more than just MK.

 

[Princess Olivia]

Hi Annie. I'm sure it will all be great. The lake view is beautiful. I would just use caution if you get a high floor. Our DS pulled furniture over to open balcony. Luckily I reached him before his full plan came to play out. He was starting to drag the chair over to look down. Took a few years off my life but learned to never leave him alone for a second. I'm not a huge fan of heights so a lower floor is ok for me. However, as I said earlier, the views were just beautiful. Enjoy!

 

[ErinsMommy]

Room view with castle/space mountain to right (zoomed in)

Nite view

Sunrise

Zoomed in

Start of Wishes from balcony

 

[ErinsMommy]

Entering the lobby area of Pirates & Pals

Capt Hook & Smee Meet & Greet

Wishes from boat

Peter Pan waiting on dock

 

[ErinsMommy]

Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling. It was DELICIOUS!!

Man of the day

Cake cutting with daddy

 

[cmbpanda]

That is an awesome cake! And those views of the fireworks are amazing. I'm soooo excited. That will be our view in 5 weeks time . CR theme park view here we come

 

[left210]

Great pics. Love the view of fireworks from the boat. Was it loud from the boat? DS4 does not like loud fireworks but likes to see them. At 4th of July he watches from inside our house if that gives you any idea.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Our daughter HATES fireworks. She just held her hands over her ears when she felt it was too loud...we were surprised how mesmorized she was by them as they pipe in the "story" and she was in awe. I'm sure your son will do great!!

 

[WDWKOOK]

ErinsMommy: Thank you for posting all those fun photos! I love your cake's sentiment - hilarious and delicious

LOVE hearing you got your request!! We'll be there in 55 days and my one concern/hope is that we get our room request.
We have a dedicated 2 bedroom but I did standard view this time. Last trip we had lake view and loved it but it was really high and my two youngest are autistic and crafty. One of them figured out (3 yrs old) how to get the high up safetly latch open and was out on the 10th floor balacony!!!!

This time I requested a lower room (but not first floor) with no view of any water. They will do anything to get to a pool or anything that looks like it can be a place to swim. Huge danger. Obviously they are always supervised but it still worries me if I turn my back for a minute they could run to water. They are now 4 and 2 1/2. our 2 1/2 year old is completely non verbal and very little receptive language. Our 4 yr old has major receptive and expressive delays. Neither of them have any concept of danger. They are both very sweet and well behaved but sadly do not understand many things which can lead to major frustration and tears all around. Trying my best to avoid some of these situations. Sorry I've rambled so. Just so glad your request was met.

Lastly, you are dodging another major snow storm here (so jealous). Looks like 16 inches where I will be this weekend at my daughters dance competition in Andover

Have a great vacation!!!

It sounds like you really have your hands full and vacations have special challenges for you. You probably need your own vacation after vacation

 

[Princess Olivia]

ErinsMommy: Thank you for posting all those fun photos! I love your cake's sentiment - hilarious and delicious



It sounds like you really have your hands full and vacations have special challenges for you. You probably need your own vacation after vacation

You're very sweet. Dh and I are fortunate to also have two older children ages 16 and soon to be 15 who are very helpful. I'm really looking forward to April, we all need a break

 

[WDWKOOK]

You're very sweet. Dh and I are fortunate to also have two older children ages 16 and soon to be 15 who are very helpful. I'm really looking forward to April, we all need a break

You sound blessed and challenged all at the same time! I hope you have a wonderful vacation filled with special memories for you and your wonderful family.

 

[AirGoofy]

Our daughter HATES fireworks. She just held her hands over her ears when she felt it was too loud...we were surprised how mesmorized she was by them as they pipe in the "story" and she was in awe. I'm sure your son will do great!!

Thanks for all the great pictures. We've never done a pirate's cruise, but it looked really fun. Wishes is always great, and that cake looked good as well. My youngest dd used to put her hands in her ears as well during fireworks as well. She finally stopped around age 7, but occasionally still brings them close to her head. Sorry you had a bad experience at CR check in. We've had some CMs on the spot with great service, some average, and an occasional dud.

 

[NJRRK]

Thanks for all the great pictures. We've never done a pirate's cruise, but it looked really fun. Wishes is always great, and that cake looked good as well. My youngest dd used to put her hands in her ears as well during fireworks as well. She finally stopped around age 7, but occasionally still brings them close to her head. Sorry you had a bad experience at CR check in. We've had some CMs on the spot with great service, some average, and an occasional dud.

My son was in his teens before he started liking fireworks. Before that we needed to be as far away as possible, preferably for him indoors.

 

[Gryhndmom]

Checked in yesterday at CR ...what a fiasco outside when I asked the valet where the Atrium level checkin was and they said go to the front desk inside. No sign...nothing... so I asked two employees and they said let me check. Really ??? Shouldn't all employees know where the atrium and tower level guests checkin ? FINALLY the one and only employee who works Atrium escorted us up to the 12th floor apologizing profusely. We got a room right at the end of the 12th... GREAT view of MK. We have found the atrium level concierge wonderful and very helpful. Room refurb looks nice smells like new carpet...carpet looks like a dark green. Will try and post pics after our half marathon on Sunday. Looks like they are working a couple floors down on refurb.

 

[singastory]

Wishes from boat

Thank you for introducing me to something new, I've never even thought of what Wishes would look like from out there! Love new things!

 

[tommylicious]

Contempoexperts: Does Atrium Level make sense if we're planning on getting the Premium Dining plan? Would we not be better off simply reserving a Tower MK view room, non-Atrium Level if we don't care about the free Kahlua in the evenings? Or is getting breakfast at the CR simply craziness whereas the Lounge may be a relative respite? I just picture the lounge potentially overrun and nothing but canteloupe rinds left if good heavens one should sleep in past 6:45am. Thank you for your help. PS first post!