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

[sydneysmom]

This thread is a wonderful wealth of information for those of us that know nothing about the CR !!

We're planning our trip for June 2013, and we're leaning towards CR or WL. I think CR is going to win out because of the monorail and proximity to MK. (that's a MUST for my DH! he's monorail spoiled!!) I keep reading through the pages and learning all kinds of new things about this resort. (the rooms are AMAZINGLY GORGEOUS!!!)

We know absolutely nothing about CR... we'll probably stay in the garden wing though. But I will say, we didn't even consider the CR until I found this thread!! All of your pictures and experiences have opened up a whole new world of thinking for us. So thank you to everyone and especially CR RESORT FAN 4 LIFE for keeping up this thread!!!

[StephLS]

Originally Posted by sydneysmom

This thread is a wonderful wealth of information for those of us that know nothing about the CR !!

We're planning our trip for June 2013, and we're leaning towards CR or WL. I think CR is going to win out because of the monorail and proximity to MK. (that's a MUST for my DH! he's monorail spoiled!!) I keep reading through the pages and learning all kinds of new things about this resort. (the rooms are AMAZINGLY GORGEOUS!!!)

We know absolutely nothing about CR... we'll probably stay in the garden wing though. But I will say, we didn't even consider the CR until I found this thread!! All of your pictures and experiences have opened up a whole new world of thinking for us. So thank you to everyone and especially CR RESORT FAN 4 LIFE for keeping up this thread!!!

I totally understand your DH, the monorail rules! I just love this resort, I just love seeing the monorail and the rooms are so spacious. And if your family likes water sports there is plenty.My kids cannot get enough of the speedboats.
One more thing, when you are done at the Magic Kingdom and you walk out with the crowd and see all the lines for boats, buses and monorail all you have to do is a quick walk to your resort.Awesome!

[sydneysmom]

Originally Posted by StephLS

I totally understand your DH, the monorail rules! I just love this resort, I just love seeing the monorail and the rooms are so spacious. And if your family likes water sports there is plenty.My kids cannot get enough of the speedboats.
One more thing, when you are done at the Magic Kingdom and you walk out with the crowd and see all the lines for boats, buses and monorail all you have to do is a quick walk to your resort.Awesome!

I think that might be one of the best features... that you can actually walk to the MK!!! that's fantastic!! I can't wait for the 2013 rates to come out!!! I'm so excited!!!

[hcompton]

Originally Posted by sydneysmom

I think that might be one of the best features... that you can actually walk to the MK!!! that's fantastic!! I can't wait for the 2013 rates to come out!!! I'm so excited!!!

Yep! This is the best part of CR! We would just walk back & forth to MK. We stayed in the Garden Wing and it fit our needs perfectly - short walk from the CR tower, quietness of the Garden Wing, the monorail, and great rooms that were cheaper than the CR Tower. We're looking to book the CR Garden Wing in Jan 2013 as soon as the let us book online (and hopefully offer free dining!).

[donac]

Originally Posted by StephLS

I totally understand your DH, the monorail rules! I just love this resort, I just love seeing the monorail and the rooms are so spacious. And if your family likes water sports there is plenty.My kids cannot get enough of the speedboats.
One more thing, when you are done at the Magic Kingdom and you walk out with the crowd and see all the lines for boats, buses and monorail all you have to do is a quick walk to your resort.Awesome!

We are staying with my dsis who has DVC this summer. I think my dh will love this place. On our last trip we were at the MK every day and being this close will make it easier.

[StephLS]

Originally Posted by donac

We are staying with my dsis who has DVC this summer. I think my dh will love this place. On our last trip we were at the MK every day and being this close will make it easier.

I'm so jealous of all of you ladies who have a dh who like Disney. My husband has had enough of it,We went when the children were yolung and nlw he says we seen Disney why do it again? Poor man he just doesn't understand. He likes the sort of trips like skiing in Europe. Luckily my kids love Disney so I still have someone to go with and enjoy.

[donac]

We started our married life going to Ca and the first place we hit was DL.

My dh plans to be in DW for his 60th birthday in 3 years. He wants to be there for Halloween (his birthday)

[sydneysmom]

Originally Posted by hcompton

Yep! This is the best part of CR! We would just walk back & forth to MK. We stayed in the Garden Wing and it fit our needs perfectly - short walk from the CR tower, quietness of the Garden Wing, the monorail, and great rooms that were cheaper than the CR Tower. We're looking to book the CR Garden Wing in Jan 2013 as soon as the let us book online (and hopefully offer free dining!).

That's exactly what we were looking at too....the tower was a bit over budget, but the garden wing looks just perfect. I was afraid it would be "too far out" from everything, but it doesn't seem to be any more so than staying anywhere else. and I'm with you, I like the idea of being away from the hustle and bustle of the main building and having some quiet. It's funny, the CR never appealed to me before until I started reading this thread! Now I'm a total believer.

We priced out CR and WL, because we're kind of between the 2, and it came out to only be about $200 more for the CR. To me, that seems totally worth it just to be on the monorail. I hope the rates come out soon so you can book your trip!!

[Cshel85]

Has the 14th floor been rehabbed at the CR, I have looked and have seen no pics for the 14th floor standard view

[Momoftwins+1]

Just got back from staying at the CR last week. Let me tell you, it was wonderful to have covered everything during the tropical storm. There was no walking to an outside room like we were going to do by staying at Riverside (we have 5 so our choices of mods is nonexistent)...we got soaked at the parks but once we arrived at the CR by monorail or bus, everything was covered and close! This was especially great because DH was in a wheelchair due to breaking his foot several weeks before our trip.
I loved the tower view and being able to hop on the elevator early in the AM to get my coffee on floor 1 (which make GREAT mochas btw). The elevators had minds of their own when busy though fyi. It was the only complaint we had of the CR. Even when they weren't busy they would do random things and half of them weren't working while we were there.
I did visit the GW to do laundry and its not a huge walk and is all covered as you pass the pool and into the end building.The hallways get a little congested during the day with mousekeeper carts leaving room for single file people to pass by and the hallways were dark but its not a huge hike to anything in the main tower. The ones that look out onto the lake would have had a beautiful, peaceful view!
We were in a Bay Lake Tower room right at the elevators on the 7th floor (so middle) and never heard Chef Mickeys from our room at all so the complaints must have been from rooms closer to the resturant.
We are now fans of CR. Watching fireworks with the kids from the 7th floor end walk out door stairwell with a perfect view was a highlight. Much better than the night before when we tried to watch them from the seething mass of people at MK where a crazy lady proceeded to scream at me for not letting her walk into my husbands broken foot while he sat in his wheel chair.
All those thinking about heading to CR , its a great place!

[StephLS]

Originally Posted by donac

We started our married life going to Ca and the first place we hit was DL.

My dh plans to be in DW for his 60th birthday in 3 years. He wants to be there for Halloween (his birthday)

Wow that would be great i sure hope you get to do it. Enjoy!Have you ever been for Halloween?

Originally Posted by Momoftwins+1

Just got back from staying at the CR last week. Let me tell you, it was wonderful to have covered everything during the tropical storm. There was no walking to an outside room like we were going to do by staying at Riverside (we have 5 so our choices of mods is nonexistent)...we got soaked at the parks but once we arrived at the CR by monorail or bus, everything was covered and close! This was especially great because DH was in a wheelchair due to breaking his foot several weeks before our trip.
I loved the tower view and being able to hop on the elevator early in the AM to get my coffee on floor 1 (which make GREAT mochas btw). The elevators had minds of their own when busy though fyi. It was the only complaint we had of the CR. Even when they weren't busy they would do random things and half of them weren't working while we were there.
I did visit the GW to do laundry and its not a huge walk and is all covered as you pass the pool and into the end building.The hallways get a little congested during the day with mousekeeper carts leaving room for single file people to pass by and the hallways were dark but its not a huge hike to anything in the main tower. The ones that look out onto the lake would have had a beautiful, peaceful view!
We were in a Bay Lake Tower room right at the elevators on the 7th floor (so middle) and never heard Chef Mickeys from our room at all so the complaints must have been from rooms closer to the resturant.
We are now fans of CR. Watching fireworks with the kids from the 7th floor end walk out door stairwell with a perfect view was a highlight. Much better than the night before when we tried to watch them from the seething mass of people at MK where a crazy lady proceeded to scream at me for not letting her walk into my husbands broken foot while he sat in his wheel chair.
All those thinking about heading to CR , its a great place!

I'm glad you had a good time despite the weather. Reading this made me even more excited about my upcoming trip if that is even possible.I too love getting up in the morning and getting my coffee and now I will definitely try the mocha one.

[WDWKOOK]

Originally Posted by mickeyplanner

Does anyone know if they are still tye dying shirts with kids at BLT? Our DD keeps hoping she can do that over Labor Day.

Bumping this up for you to see if anyone knows

Originally Posted by fellowtraveler

We just got back from a 8 day stay on the CL and while the club itself was great, we are on the fence if we stay at CR next visit. Mousekeeping was a bit lax and I had to go get washrags most days for everyone in our room to have one. The elevator situation was frustrating and one day after a 20 minute wait, one of the CM on the 12th floor took us down a service elevator so that we could make breakfast reservations. I did think that was great of them and I considered it a bit of a backstage tour. The laundry is over in the Garden Wing, which is a long walk at 2:00am when DW, DD, and DSIL are in bed and all you can do is envy them. CL check in is great. Didn't feel rushed and I loved the personalized service. The only really off-putting experience was a very rude clerk in the market. After hearing from the CL staff and another CM at MK that we could convert DP credits into snack credits was decided to do this for some of our unused meals. We asked this clerk about it and he pulled a major attitude with us regarding how staff members do this all the time and that we could not do this at the market, only at a dining location. While I guess he could be frustrated after having to answer this question over and over, his tone was all wrong. He even made a comment to his another clerk that was processing our purchase that we were the "people asking about changing credits because of other people." I had a conversation with someone in admin for the CR since it kinda made me mad. I doubt anything will be said, but it was a poor reflection on the CR. Now that this has become TL;DR, the club staff were great and there was always plenty of food and drink. It is great to get up in the morning and grab some coffee and a pastry on the way to the park. The fireworks viewing is also really great and we took advantage of it when Debby was in the park. I would do CL again, but would have to think on doing it at CR.

Thank you for posting your mini TR. Those CR elevators, especially going to the 12th floor, are a perpetual problem for years now. I can't figure out why they can't be permanently repaired.

I'm sorry that you encountered some less than magical CMs. I understand how that can leave you with the impression that you'd like to try a different resort or CL. Have fun planning your next trip.

Originally Posted by sydneysmom

This thread is a wonderful wealth of information for those of us that know nothing about the CR !!

We're planning our trip for June 2013, and we're leaning towards CR or WL. I think CR is going to win out because of the monorail and proximity to MK. (that's a MUST for my DH! he's monorail spoiled!!) I keep reading through the pages and learning all kinds of new things about this resort. (the rooms are AMAZINGLY GORGEOUS!!!)

We know absolutely nothing about CR... we'll probably stay in the garden wing though. But I will say, we didn't even consider the CR until I found this thread!! All of your pictures and experiences have opened up a whole new world of thinking for us. So thank you to everyone and especially CR RESORT FAN 4 LIFE for keeping up this thread!!!

Seeing that WL is my overall favorite resort and CR is second, I recommend a split stay, if you can. We'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about the CR or you're welcome anytime over on the WL thread that's hyperlinked in my signature

Originally Posted by Cshel85

Has the 14th floor been rehabbed at the CR, I have looked and have seen no pics for the 14th floor standard view

The plans to convert the 14th floor (Tower CLub) to Health and Wellness Suites was canceled last year. Here is a link to 14th floor one bedroom suite photos by Mary T in PA:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread....9#post43435899

Originally Posted by Momoftwins+1

Just got back from staying at the CR last week. Let me tell you, it was wonderful to have covered everything during the tropical storm. There was no walking to an outside room like we were going to do by staying at Riverside (we have 5 so our choices of mods is nonexistent)...we got soaked at the parks but once we arrived at the CR by monorail or bus, everything was covered and close! This was especially great because DH was in a wheelchair due to breaking his foot several weeks before our trip.
I loved the tower view and being able to hop on the elevator early in the AM to get my coffee on floor 1 (which make GREAT mochas btw). The elevators had minds of their own when busy though fyi. It was the only complaint we had of the CR. Even when they weren't busy they would do random things and half of them weren't working while we were there.
I did visit the GW to do laundry and its not a huge walk and is all covered as you pass the pool and into the end building.The hallways get a little congested during the day with mousekeeper carts leaving room for single file people to pass by and the hallways were dark but its not a huge hike to anything in the main tower. The ones that look out onto the lake would have had a beautiful, peaceful view!
We were in a Bay Lake Tower room right at the elevators on the 7th floor (so middle) and never heard Chef Mickeys from our room at all so the complaints must have been from rooms closer to the resturant.
We are now fans of CR. Watching fireworks with the kids from the 7th floor end walk out door stairwell with a perfect view was a highlight. Much better than the night before when we tried to watch them from the seething mass of people at MK where a crazy lady proceeded to scream at me for not letting her walk into my husbands broken foot while he sat in his wheel chair.
All those thinking about heading to CR , its a great place!

Thank you for posting about your stay. I've found that while on vacation, sometimes people seem to lose all common sense. Way to go for watching out for DH

It sounds like you had a wonderful vacation. Have you made any plans yet to return? Yes, the Garden Wing rooms that face Bay Lake have amazing views. We had one once on the ground floor and we loved it.

[WDWKOOK]

California Grill at Disney's Contemporary Resort will be closed beginning 1/6/13 - Summer 2013. It will be undergoing a renovation.

[Cshel85]

@WDWKOOK, question regarding CR, they said we will be higher than the 12th which would be 14th floor, right, but they said 2 connecting rooms with 2 queen beds, I saw a floor plan and don't see any rooms with queen beds? Little confused. Also will the CL at CR have food our boys like? One of the things that made the WL CL appeared to have kid friendly items

[WsPrincess]

Originally Posted by Cshel85

@WDWKOOK, question regarding CR, they said we will be higher than the 12th which would be 14th floor, right, but they said 2 connecting rooms with 2 queen beds, I saw a floor plan and don't see any rooms with queen beds? Little confused. Also will the CL at CR have food our boys like? One of the things that made the WL CL appeared to have kid friendly items

I am not sure of the room lay outs on 14 but for food there are a lot of kid friendly things. I know my kids loved the snack stuff in the afternoons (especially the cookies) and the caramel and apples and the Peanut Butter and Jelly cups! Also the fresh fruit and the desserts. I can't remember all there was but my kids found plenty!