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

[disneydreamin247]

Kook I'm joining in since Danimal has decided that as long as there is availability with the bounceback we will be staying here in October!

 

[babyberger]

Kook I'm joining in since Danimal has decided that as long as there is availability with the bounceback we will be staying here in October!

Good choice!!!!! I don't think you'll be disappointed. DH and I had no interest in staying at CR, we love YC! But the kids insisted, and we honestly love it there now. DS won't stay anywhere else, would rather not stay anywhere else I know you love your Poly but I think this will be a nice change.

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[mickeynut1]

I got back one week ago tomorrow morning from a terrific conference/vacation stay at the Contemporary Resort/Bay Lake Tower. I intended to attempt a live report, but life (work) interrupted, and I just couldnt find the time. The next best thing is pictures, right? Here are a few to get us started. I'll continue to post as I load them to Photobucket. Enjoy!!

Glad you had a great trip.....thanks for sharing your pics .

Well I'll be dipped in snowflakes!! Thx for sharing that bit about the light under the TV!! I just found the switch!! How cute is that?!?!

Great idea for that light . I will have to remember to look for that switch when we stay there in December .

 

[DisneyFans222]

CR is the only deluxe resort (besides AKL) that I never had a desire to stay at, that is until I started reading this thread. My DS12 has been begging to stay here for years, so I decided it was finally time to find out what makes it so special to its devotees...and this thread with everyone's amazing comments, insights, and photos has convinced me to give CR a try...a great AP discount helped as well! I just changed our reservation for 8 days over July 4th week from POR to CR!! Booked GW after seeing the recent reports and photos as it was a great rate, and am hoping to get the patio I requested. Thanks for all the great information on these pages!!

 

[mickeynut1]

CR is the only deluxe resort (besides AKL) that I never had a desire to stay at, that is until I started reading this thread. My DS12 has been begging to stay here for years, so I decided it was finally time to find out what makes it so special to its devotees...and this thread with everyone's amazing comments, insights, and photos has convinced me to give CR a try...a great AP discount helped as well! I just changed our reservation for 8 days over July 4th week from POR to CR!! Booked GW after seeing the recent reports and photos as it was a great rate, and am hoping to get the patio I requested. Thanks for all the great information on these pages!!

This is how I felt too, until DH suggested we try the CR. We've stayed at the Poly and GF, so he figured might as well give the CR a try. The theme/decor has never appealed to any of us, but once I started reading up on the CR and seeing all of the great pics everyone was posting, I suddenly became interested. We are going to try it for 3 nights in December and I get more excited every day when reading this thread. I hope you have a great trip in July and enjoy the CR .

 

[babyberger]

Georgi - thank you for posting all the pics and your thoughts. I'm sorry you had some issues with the room and elevator. I hope those items start being addressed. We were fortunate not to have any issues ( that I remember) on our last two trips. It sounds like overall you had a great trip! We keep saying we are going to rent a boat one day but never get around to it, maybe next time

Shelia - keep CR on that short list, after Poly of course

MrsB - did you get to take out the Boston Whaler yesterday? I chuckled a bit reading your post. My DS who is almost 10 is on the spectrum and it usually dictates our day. He has fallen in live with CR and is willing to try BLT next year, lol! We booked a 1BR for the reasons you mentioned and are excited to give a try.

DemonLlama - so sorry you did not get a room in the tower

Melissa

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[Happyjen27]

Loving all these trip reports. Thank you everyone for taking the time to post pictures and stories, newbies to CR like myself really appreciate your efforts.

I am far too excited to visit the CR considering my vacation is still 7 months away.

 

[babyberger]

inky dinky doo - thank you for all the pics!! Makes me miss CR even more

DisneyFans222 - congrats on booking CR!!! I see you are in Boca, same here

mickeynut1 - I really hope you love CR as much as we do!!! I honestly did not think I would, but once we stayed I am hooked

In regards to the age and wear on the resort, I do agree. I did notice some things that were more worn and needed some TLC. But I did not feel that the room was more worn than our room at YC or WL. I think it just depends on the room. We luckily did not have any elevator issues either time we were there.

Okay we have seen the renovated room pics, does anyone of the Atrium Club renovation pictures yet What about the Tower Club? Is that still being renovated since that was a hard refurb.

 

[disneydreamin247]

Good choice!!!!! I don't think you'll be disappointed. DH and I had no interest in staying at CR, we love YC! But the kids insisted, and we honestly love it there now. DS won't stay anywhere else, would rather not stay anywhere else I know you love your Poly but I think this will be a nice change.

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I am keeping an open mind. I have wanted to try CR for some time, and if we are able to get a BB rate then it was meant to be!

 

[Koh1977]

Does CR share buses with other resorts? (To AK and HS)

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[babyberger]

Does CR share buses with other resorts? (To AK and HS)

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Poly and GF...but I don't remember which bus stopped where. I want to say one of them only stopped at one of the resorts. I am sure someone will give you a direct answer

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[babyberger]

Oh and the bus going to AK stops at Blizzard Beach.

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[DisneyFans222]

DisneyFans222 - congrats on booking CR!!! I see you are in Boca, same here .

Hello neighbor!!

 

[disneydreamin247]

Good choice!!!!! I don't think you'll be disappointed. DH and I had no interest in staying at CR, we love YC! But the kids insisted, and we honestly love it there now. DS won't stay anywhere else, would rather not stay anywhere else I know you love your Poly but I think this will be a nice change.

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When staying at the Poly, every bus stopped at CR, Poly, GF.

 

[Leafsgirl36]

The Contemporary has always been one of my favorite resorts, probably because it's the first resort we ever stayed in. This trip was no exception. I just loved this room.

Loved the pictures, after doing a split stay at the CR and Beach Club Villas, a split stay at the CR and Boardwalk and our stay at BLT this year we have finally given up staying anywhere else and have booked our room for January 2014 back at the CR...ahhhh can't wait to be back.

 

[DisneyFans222]

Good choice!!!!! I don't think you'll be disappointed. DH and I had no interest in staying at CR, we love YC! But the kids insisted, and we honestly love it there now. DS won't stay anywhere else, would rather not stay anywhere else I know you love your Poly but I think this will be a nice change.

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I appreciated reading your comments above about your kids convincing you to try CR and now loving it. My fav resorts are BWI & YC and
I am hoping i will not be disappointed and CR will be one I can add to the faves list.

 

[inky dinky doo]

Now, onto Bay Lake Towers. I stayed in a lake view studio, room 7523. First up, a few pictures from the overhead (fifth floor) walkway between the Contemporary and BLT.







The balcony . . .



And, the room . . . love, love, love the decor!!!

 

[MrsBlovesDisney]

MrsB - did you get to take out the Boston Whaler yesterday? I chuckled a bit reading your post. My DS who is almost 10 is on the spectrum and it usually dictates our day. He has fallen in live with CR and is willing to try BLT next year, lol! We booked a 1BR for the reasons you mentioned and are excited to give a try.

Indeed we did! Sadly it started to rain so we were only out for about 40 minutes. . Oh you will LOVE the BLT (and so will your son)! PS....our DS is ALSO the dictator in our family lol! He and Hubby are at the arcade giving Mommy a break! We will be riding the monorail this aftn. Going to attempt Fantasmic tonight (he watches it often at home with surround sound so hoping he'll be used to how loud it will be). Wish us LUCK!!

Does CR share buses with other resorts? (To AK and HS)

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We went to HS yesterday and we stopped at the Poly before continuing on. Hope that helps!

Loved the pictures, after doing a split stay at the CR and Beach Club Villas, a split stay at the CR and Boardwalk and our stay at BLT this year we have finally given up staying anywhere else and have booked our room for January 2014 back at the CR...ahhhh can't wait to be back.

Another one "gets the bug"! Welcome!!

Now, onto Bay Lake Towers. I stayed in a lake view studio, room 7523.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the pictures!!!! Thank you soooo much for posting!! We walked around the BLT last night and popped into the TOWL for a bit. Oh how we LOVE the BLT!! Can't wait to stay there again in 2014!!

 

[WDWKOOK]

We just returned from our stay at the Contemporary April 12-18.

We were there for a conference and had been on the phone asking if the conference rate was available in the Tower. The other option was the Poly, which we've also always wanted to stay at. We couldn't believe they'd gotten the lower conference rate to include the Tower, but after four people confirmed it, we booked. (Reminder to self: if it sounds too good to be true...)

Surprise! No Tower.

And, of course, all the rooms were booked at the Poly by the time we checked in and were told we were in the Garden Wing.

To say we were disappointed would be understatement city.

I think the girl checking us in did the best she could, though, after calling everyone she could and getting the "no" answer, and gave us room 5150, first floor in the far corner, along the waterfront with a private patio. It was incredibly quiet and secluded, with a few ferries passing by.

It was a lovely room, spacious and private, although twice as far from the MK as the Tower (and .3 miles isn't that far except when you're dog tired)

Part of the wing is undergoing refurb now, so you couldn't walk through the end closest to the Tower in the AC, but had to go around and in the center lobby area.

We did have to turn on the tub to get hot water going in the sinks each time, and I'm guessing this may have been due to the farthest reaches from the water heaters.

The only thing that frustrated me about the room (other than it wasn't in the Tower) was the AC's insistence on turning off. There seems to be a motion sensor that activates only when someone is upright and moving. When you're sleeping, it will not continue to run and warms back up. You have to get up out of bed to make it start again. Literally, not cool.

But you cannot beat that walkway to the MK at night, when the throngs are pressed like cattle waiting for the buses and the monorail and the ferries, and you're just sauntering along, usually alone, on that little walkway with your hotel right across the street. Since we are MK junkies, this feature trumps pretty much everything else, making old, less "themed" hotel still very attractive.

A few pictures


The carpet mystery. From pictures I've seen, the one section here is the update?

Welcome and thank you! I'm going to link to your photos on the first page. It's great having some Standard GW Views for the thread. Yes, they do a test swatch of carpeting before a rehab. They choose a more obscure location to place the carpeting that's in contention. CR actually went with the pattern you saw co-mingled with the existing carpeting. Last year, WL tested a pattern with trains, but ultimately didn't choose it, if I recall correctly.

The Contemporary has always been one of my favorite resorts, probably because it's the first resort we ever stayed in. This trip was no exception. I just loved this room.

I wish I taken a better picture of the little switches built into the frame at the head of the bed. I thought that was the neatest little touch and made it so easy to turn the reading light off, without getting out of bed. (You can kind see one of the switches, if you look at the frame on the second bed, above the pillow.

I took this picture to show how the bottom part of the TV 'credenza' lights up. I hadn't noticed this in any of the pictures I saw beforehand, so it was pleasant surprise. Also, note the opaque panels in the closets in the hallway and how they're lit up inside. They seem to shed just the right amount of light and lend a cozy feeling to the room.

Welcome and thank you also for posting your photos. I loved coming back to the room in the evening after turndown and having the headboard lights dimmed and the lower part of the credenza illuminated - very cozy! Thank you for pointing out to others room features that I've come to take for granted.

Kook I'm joining in since Danimal has decided that as long as there is availability with the bounceback we will be staying here in October!

I hope you get CR for your BB. I think you'll come to love it as much as we all do. Let us know if you have any questions.

CR is the only deluxe resort (besides AKL) that I never had a desire to stay at, that is until I started reading this thread. My DS12 has been begging to stay here for years, so I decided it was finally time to find out what makes it so special to its devotees...and this thread with everyone's amazing comments, insights, and photos has convinced me to give CR a try...a great AP discount helped as well! I just changed our reservation for 8 days over July 4th week from POR to CR!! Booked GW after seeing the recent reports and photos as it was a great rate, and am hoping to get the patio I requested. Thanks for all the great information on these pages!!

Welcome and congratulations on changing to CR! Being that you're going at a very busy time, you'll really appreciate the myriad transportation options. The walkway is so wonderful, especial during peak times and you can easily boat to WL and FW, where there is lots to see and do. Have you made all your ADRs yet?

Okay we have seen the renovated room pics, does anyone of the Atrium Club renovation pictures yet What about the Tower Club? Is that still being renovated since that was a hard refurb.

I haven't seen any new lounge photos and thought it was completed at the same time as the CL rooms? Has anyone recently stayed CL and can shed some light on this? I believe the Tower Club lounge and rooms will be closed until the summer when the roof repair is done and CG re-opens.

Loved the pictures, after doing a split stay at the CR and Beach Club Villas, a split stay at the CR and Boardwalk and our stay at BLT this year we have finally given up staying anywhere else and have booked our room for January 2014 back at the CR...ahhhh can't wait to be back.

Glad you've found your perfect WDW resort

Now, onto Bay Lake Towers. I stayed in a lake view studio, room 7523. First up, a few pictures from the overhead (fifth floor) walkway between the Contemporary and BLT.

Yippee! I now have Studio room photos to link to on the first page - thank you! I love your IronManorail photo

 

[DisneyFans222]

Welcome and congratulations on changing to CR! Being that you're going at a very busy time, you'll really appreciate the myriad transportation options. The walkway is so wonderful, especial during peak times and you can easily boat to WL and FW, where there is lots to see and do. Have you made all your ADRs yet?

Thanks so much for the warm welcome. People think we are crazing going during the July 4th holiday week, but it has become an annual ritual for DS and me...some folks have backyard bbq's, but we head to Disney I know I will definitely appreciate the walkway to & from MK, as the walk to International Gateway is what I love most about the Epcot resorts. As for ADR's I booked Chef Mickey before I even booked our room, because there was no way I could tell DS we are staying at CR, but we won't be able to eat at CM. I will book a few more including some at the other Monorail resorts, where the great transportation options will come in handy. Considering that CG is closed for refurb, I was going to try the Wave. Is it a good option?