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

[princessap]

We have stayed at both and thought nothing would beat Poly but CR did! We just felt immersed in Disney...the monorail going through it and walking to MK was awesome!

Thanks
We had std view at the poly and for the amount of time we spent in the room it was fine. the girls loved seeing the castle from the pool though and there is no where like that at the CR to see the castle outside right?

 

[lmhall2000]

Hi Everyone!
I'm in the process of reading thru all of the posts (great job Kook!) but I've only made it about half way, so if this has been posted already, I apologize...

I just booked my Room Only Reservation for Sept 15-21, 2014... I wanted to make sure that we could get a GW Standard View room since the other rooms aren't in our budget...
They were only able to reserve the first 2 nights of our trip. They said that they hadn't released the rest of the dates yet.
I booked those 2 nights so I could have at least those and then hopefully add the other nights (4 more) as they open up.

Is this normal? I've only booked full package vacations in the past so I'm new to the Room Only set up. I've also never booked this far in advance so waiting for rooms to open up is new for me too.

This will be our first time staying at the Contemporary and we're very excited!!!
I just want to make sure I'm doing all of this right to make sure I have the best chance possible to get those Standard View rooms... I'd hate to have to cancel and go to another hotel after being able to get the first 2 nights
I don't think a split stay would work for us with DS6 and DD2... This will be our first vacation as a family of 4 (and our first time at WDW with a toddler - DS was 4 on his first trip) so I'm trying to keep things as easy as possible!

When I called today they said to call back in about 2 weeks to see if the rooms had opened up for the rest of my dates... Should I wait that long or should I keep calling back every few days?
I'd appreciate any advice or tips you may have!
TIA!!!

This may interest you to know!! I have tried to get a Standard View room for the past 4 months!! Nothing, Nada, weekly calls, almost daily checks (yes, do anything for a $300 saving!)...well, this morning Free Dining opened up (has been there every September for the past 8 or so years) to Disney Chase card holders..I called this morning, and lo and behold I was able to nab a Standard View Room with the deal even though NONE have shown availability since I've been checking!! Still none show availability, but since I was probably very early on the deal, they must have 'allotted' some Standard Views for the deal. So, even if you have a problem getting it, you'll likely get it next year this time! You will LOVE Contemporary!! We are thrilled to be going back to the world (in 8 years) and staying a 2nd time at Contemporary!!

 

[princessap]

This may interest you to know!! I have tried to get a Standard View room for the past 4 months!! Nothing, Nada, weekly calls, almost daily checks (yes, do anything for a $300 saving!)...well, this morning Free Dining opened up (has been there every September for the past 8 or so years) to Disney Chase card holders..I called this morning, and lo and behold I was able to nab a Standard View Room with the deal even though NONE have shown availability since I've been checking!! Still none show availability, but since I was probably very early on the deal, they must have 'allotted' some Standard Views for the deal. So, even if you have a problem getting it, you'll likely get it next year this time! You will LOVE Contemporary!! We are thrilled to be going back to the world (in 8 years) and staying a 2nd time at Contemporary!!

Have you stayed std view before? Is it garden wing? My DH thinks we should only stay at cr if we do TPV and not sure if we can splurge for that next year or not? If not it might be poly again.

 

[lmhall2000]

Have you stayed std view before? Is it garden wing? My DH thinks we should only stay at cr if we do TPV and not sure if we can splurge for that next year or not? If not it might be poly again.

We booked standard 8 years ago but it was a special surprise to be upgraded to Tower! After staying there, I would LOVE to stay Tower again but just can not afford the upgrade...and honestly, while there...you can go into the tower at any time and see the views, they are lovely, but we are all sooo dog tired from being park commandos that I would be happy no matter where my head hit the pillow...we honestly spend 99% of our (waking) time outside the hotel room! If we're not at the parks, we're at the pools, we just use it to lay our head..so I am thrilled with wherever our room is as long as we can walk to MK!

 

[princessap]

We booked standard 8 years ago but it was a special surprise to be upgraded to Tower! After staying there, I would LOVE to stay Tower again but just can not afford the upgrade...and honestly, while there...you can go into the tower at any time and see the views, they are lovely, but we are all sooo dog tired from being park commandos that I would be happy no matter where my head hit the pillow...we honestly spend 99% of our (waking) time outside the hotel room! If we're not at the parks, we're at the pools, we just use it to lay our head..so I am thrilled with wherever our room is as long as we can walk to MK!

thanks. So did you book garden wing standard view??

 

[WDWKOOK]

Added 3 more nights up front to our Sea Raycer Split Stay of CR and WL (So now it's a trifecta split stay.) Booked 3 nights Poly CL/LV using the military 40% off. We've stayed a couple of times there, but never CL, so this should get it out of system. DH joked that we'll have to pretend we're from the UK since we're staying 15 nights. Cheerio!

It is finally decided! Our second stay at CR (last was 8 years ago!) is confirmed with free dining! Saves us $2000! I think we have standard view, a miracle bc none had popped up in the last 2 months of looking...we switched 8 times and CR came through with the best deal! Thanks Disney!!

I have 4 months to get to my goal weight! Losing over 100 pounds! Now I am completely motivated! Dh is losing, too! woo hoo!!!

Congratulations and you both can do this! Do it for Disney's Contemporary Resort! BTW, The Olympiad gym has all you'll need to help maintain your weight loss

Hi Everyone!
I'm in the process of reading thru all of the posts (great job Kook!) but I've only made it about half way, so if this has been posted already, I apologize...

I just booked my Room Only Reservation for Sept 15-21, 2014... I wanted to make sure that we could get a GW Standard View room since the other rooms aren't in our budget...
They were only able to reserve the first 2 nights of our trip. They said that they hadn't released the rest of the dates yet.
I booked those 2 nights so I could have at least those and then hopefully add the other nights (4 more) as they open up.

Is this normal? I've only booked full package vacations in the past so I'm new to the Room Only set up. I've also never booked this far in advance so waiting for rooms to open up is new for me too.

This will be our first time staying at the Contemporary and we're very excited!!!
I just want to make sure I'm doing all of this right to make sure I have the best chance possible to get those Standard View rooms... I'd hate to have to cancel and go to another hotel after being able to get the first 2 nights
I don't think a split stay would work for us with DS6 and DD2... This will be our first vacation as a family of 4 (and our first time at WDW with a toddler - DS was 4 on his first trip) so I'm trying to keep things as easy as possible!

When I called today they said to call back in about 2 weeks to see if the rooms had opened up for the rest of my dates... Should I wait that long or should I keep calling back every few days?
I'd appreciate any advice or tips you may have!
TIA!!!

Welcome and thanks, Eve! dansdad already answered your question, but if you have any others, feel free to post them (even if you haven't gotten through the whole thread). Let us know when you get fully booked

This may interest you to know!! I have tried to get a Standard View room for the past 4 months!! Nothing, Nada, weekly calls, almost daily checks (yes, do anything for a $300 saving!)...well, this morning Free Dining opened up (has been there every September for the past 8 or so years) to Disney Chase card holders..I called this morning, and lo and behold I was able to nab a Standard View Room with the deal even though NONE have shown availability since I've been checking!! Still none show availability, but since I was probably very early on the deal, they must have 'allotted' some Standard Views for the deal. So, even if you have a problem getting it, you'll likely get it next year this time! You will LOVE Contemporary!! We are thrilled to be going back to the world (in 8 years) and staying a 2nd time at Contemporary!!

Interesting - looks like they blocked some rooms - your persistence paid off

 

[lmhall2000]

thanks. So did you book garden wing standard view??

Yes!! Absolutely!! Was soo thrilled to hear her say "Standard View" Available, with our five, it really saves us money! With the free Dining deal this deal is only $100 more than if we'd stayed at AoA Suites and upgraded to regular dining! The convenience of being near MK and monorail, is worth it! plus I really want a slide to go down at the pool!

 

[princessap]

Yes!! Absolutely!! Was soo thrilled to hear her say "Standard View" Available, with our five, it really saves us money! With the free Dining deal this deal is only $100 more than if we'd stayed at AoA Suites and upgraded to regular dining! The convenience of being near MK and monorail, is worth it! plus I really want a slide to go down at the pool!

if we dont do tpv we will do garden wing I think, I am so indecisive

It will depend on discounts too! my only worry is that the garden wing is far from the tower and with three kids under 6 will that be inconvenient?!

 

[Wendy31]

if we dont do tpv we will do garden wing I think, I am so indecisive

It will depend on discounts too! my only worry is that the garden wing is far from the tower and with three kids under 6 will that be inconvenient?!

One thing about being in the tower is you're under one roof, if it's raining - like when you want to go refill your refillable mug or grab a snack or quick meal from Contempo Café.

We also liked coming out of our room, looking down into Chef Mickey's & seeing the characters walking around. And the kids liked seeing the monorail running through the building as well.

We were originally booked in the Garden Wing last year, but, since we could only get free dining in the tower, "upgraded" to the Bay Lake view in the Tower.

I have to admit I was worried about the Contemporary - I was afraid I wouldn't like the theme-ing, but DH has always wanted to stay there. (I was leaning more toward the Poly, but decided to give DH's choice a try first.)

We - both DH & I - absolutely loved it! It's a beautiful resort, & it's kinda like staying in a piece of Disney history.

Plus, when you're in the MK on a couple of different rides, you can see your resort - that's kinda cool! "Hey, kids! Look! There's our resort!"

And we can't wait to go back this year!

 

[princessap]

One thing about being in the tower is you're under one roof, if it's raining - like when you want to go refill your refillable mug or grab a snack or quick meal from Contempo Café.

We also liked coming out of our room, looking down into Chef Mickey's & seeing the characters walking around. And the kids liked seeing the monorail running through the building as well.

We were originally booked in the Garden Wing last year, but, since we could only get free dining in the tower, "upgraded" to the Bay Lake view in the Tower.

I have to admit I was worried about the Contemporary - I was afraid I wouldn't like the theme-ing, but DH has always wanted to stay there. (I was leaning more toward the Poly, but decided to give DH's choice a try first.)

We - both DH & I - absolutely loved it! It's a beautiful resort, & it's kinda like staying in a piece of Disney history.

Plus, when you're in the MK on a couple of different rides, you can see your resort - that's kinda cool! "Hey, kids! Look! There's our resort!"

And we can't wait to go back this year!

Thanks. We are a family of five too. did you find the room big enough? thats the one thing my dh liked about the poly, he thought the rooms were huge.

 

[jlcd]

Thanks. We are a family of five too. did you find the room big enough? thats the one thing my dh liked about the poly, he thought the rooms were huge.

We're a family of 4 but thought the rooms were a little bigger than the Poly. Maybe it was the layout? The Poly had more drawer space if that is important to you. Bathroom set up with the closed toilet area was nice at CR

 

[Wendy31]

Thanks. We are a family of five too. did you find the room big enough? thats the one thing my dh liked about the poly, he thought the rooms were huge.

We found the room plenty big enough.

In addition to our luggage, we had a pack-in-play (which we put between the beds) & an Chicco umbrella stroller that we didn't have to collapse.

We don't unpack our luggage, & we had enough room for our 5 clothes suitcases (filled w/ enough clothes for 10 nights & 11 days!) side-by-side on the desk & on a luggage rack - and I'm an overpacker & pack lots! LOL!

Since we were eating breakfast in the room, I also had a small suitcase w/ breakfast foods, paper plates, napkins, straws, extra wipes, Lysol, etc - I put this under the TV area. There's a little shelf around the base of the TV as well, & this is where we kept our day-to-day "stuff" - lanyards, papers, loose change, sunglasses, etc.

We put our laundry in a bag in the closet. The kids put their personal duffles on the floor in between the bed & the wall, & our computer & electronics bags were under the desk. We also kept our shoes under the desk.

DH & I slept in one bed, our DD slept in the other bed, older DS slept in the pull-out bed, & younger DS slept in the pack-in-play. For our upcoming trip, we won't take the pack-in-play, & younger DS will probably sleep w/ DD.

I like to stay organized while on vacation & like to keep things in their places - I hate when the room gets "messy." And I felt like we were sufficiently able to stay organized.

The only negative I found w/ the room is the bathroom - the counters at the sink aren't big enough for all the "stuff" you need, &, since the doors slide open, you can't hang one of those nifty "over-the-door" storage organizers. (I'm also not a big fan of the marble surround for the tub, but that might just be me! LOL!) I used one sink for "storage" - makeup, hair stuff, deodorant, toothpaste, etc., & we only used one sink as an actual sink. I kept our toiletries bag & medicine bag on the shelf under the sink.

The night we came back from DTD, the kids had bought some LEGO sets w/ their souvenir money, & they were able to spread out on the floor & play LEGOS.

The Contemporary standard rooms are the 3rd largest deluxe rooms on property. The Grand Floridian rooms are the largest, & the Poly rooms are a little bigger than the Contemporary rooms. So, the Poly does have slightly larger rooms. But the Contemporary rooms are bigger than all the EPCOT deluxe rooms.

Previously, we had stayed at the WL (the WL & the AKL rooms are the smallest deluxe rooms), so we were quite pleased w/ how large the Contemporary rooms "felt" to us, but, yes, the Poly rooms are bigger.

Hope this helps some!!

 

[princessap]

Thanks for the replies. It did help. I think I have it narrowed down to either garden view back at the poly or TPV at cr, whichever we can afford and has best discount. I was surprised that TPV is cheaper than lagoon view at poly. Sounds like a no brainier but I guess some people don't want the parking lot view below?! Our girls will be 5, 6 and 18 months when we go so thinking now might be the time to splurge on TPV. Plus we are going with my inlaws so it won't be park commandos all day and we would probably use the resort more this trip. I am contemplating a split stay but not sure my DH or inlaws would do that?

 

[EveClark]

You can only book 499 days out. So tomorrow you will be able to book the 17th, the next day the 18th and so on.

Thanks! When I called a couple of months ago to find out when the earliest I could book would be, it was explained that it worked like ADRs... If I called 499 from my arrival date, I could book my whole trip. This makes sense of it all now! The CM I spoke with this time said to call back in a couple of weeks to see if the rooms had opened up and never once mentioned 499 days. Looks like I'll be calling back today instead!
Honestly, I feel kind of silly that I didn't figure that out on my own...
I guess since I got different info from different CMs each time I called, it was all sort of just running together in my mind. Thanks again!

 

[EveClark]

This may interest you to know!! I have tried to get a Standard View room for the past 4 months!! Nothing, Nada, weekly calls, almost daily checks (yes, do anything for a $300 saving!)...well, this morning Free Dining opened up (has been there every September for the past 8 or so years) to Disney Chase card holders..I called this morning, and lo and behold I was able to nab a Standard View Room with the deal even though NONE have shown availability since I've been checking!! Still none show availability, but since I was probably very early on the deal, they must have 'allotted' some Standard Views for the deal. So, even if you have a problem getting it, you'll likely get it next year this time! You will LOVE Contemporary!! We are thrilled to be going back to the world (in 8 years) and staying a 2nd time at Contemporary!!

Thank you! Very interesting and very good to know!
I'm glad it worked out for you! Hope you have a great trip!


Welcome and thanks, Eve! dansdad already answered your question, but if you have any others, feel free to post them (even if you haven't gotten through the whole thread). Let us know when you get fully booked

Thanks Kook!

 

[WDWKOOK]

The LOG-ORAIL is up and running at the end of POST #1! Feel free to post your BLT, CR or any WDW Resort vacation dates, and I will post them to the LOG-ORAIL.

​

 

[Wendy31]

Our dates for CR (Bay Lake View) are 9/14-9/24.

Thanks so much for doing this, WDWKOOK, & for keeping up w/ this thread!

 

[trishadono]

I want to ride the LOGO RAIL!

DH and myself only. 5/23 for Anniversary at CR Garden Wing.

 

[Lorelei528]

We check in Nov. 30th and check out Dec. 7th. Just me and DH.

Thanks for adding us!

 

[lmhall2000]

Whooot- Whoot!!! Checking in on the Logo-Rail!!!

Five passengers for Sept. 10-16th!! Excited beyond measure!! I think everyday my girls ask to see the rooms/the pool/our itinerary (finally got that worked out)...only 123 or so more days!! So excited!!