Disney's CONTEMPORARY RESORT Information & Questions

[WDWKOOK]

Good morning!

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

Fantastic picture KOOK. thanks for posting.

 

[mickeynut1]

Good morning!

View attachment 118888

Awesome pic, thanks for sharing .

 

[skifast22]

Good morning!

Wonderful view of our favorite resort, thanks for making me smile on a rainy day in Maine! 3 weeks from yesterday for my triumphant return though!

 

[Capwkidd]

Anyone know when they will start offering AP discount for theme park view rooms?

 

[PNO4TE]

Anyone know when they will start offering AP discount for theme park view rooms?

Do you mean the current AP discounts? Or, AP discounts in general?

 

[Greenturtles]

we are attending a conference at Contemporary and am booked into a Bay Lake view room. I haven't called yet for price or availability, but is the theme park view much superior to the Bay Lake view?

 

[AaronInWI]

we are attending a conference at Contemporary and am booked into a Bay Lake view room. I haven't called yet for price or availability, but is the theme park view much superior to the Bay Lake view?

This has been discussed at various times on this thread, but ultimately it comes down to personal preference. In my opinion, which is shared by a few others here, the Bay Lake view is actually the superior view. We were upgraded on a previous trip from a BL view to a TP view, and we turned it down because we like the BL view so much. However, there are plenty of others who find the TP view very magical and couldn't imagine staying at the CR with any other view.

 

[CJK]

I've read that you can see the Epcot fireworks if you have a tower room, facing Bay Lake. Can you also see Epcot fireworks from the beach or boat dock?

 

[Greenturtles]

Thanks AaroninWI. If the BLV is equally nice, but for different reasons, then I'll stick with it. I found some older threads that also addressed the view question and saw varying opinions. Thanks again!

 

[kmorlock]

Ok CR fans, we will be at CR this December. We were WL refugees ha ha! Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but, I just can't get super excited about staying there. We have been to Poly, BLT, BCV, BWV, BWI, and VWL. Each had its' pros and cons. Proximity to MK is really the only upside to me. Am I wrong, or missing something that keeps the crowds coming? The will be my DH, DS9, and myself. DH is really excited but, I am just not this time around. I wanted theming and CR is just plain stark to me?

 

[maryandtyson]

Wow, no one? Gee, Kmorlock, I don't know because we have not stayed there yet. But, as a fellow WL fan, I'll tell you what I'm looking forward to.

1. It's an original Disney icon.
2. Eating at The Wave and Contempo Cafe.
3. Watching Wishes from the 4th floor balcony.
4. Views of Bay Lake.
5. Watching the monorail zoom by.
6. Massive rooms.
7. The beautiful Mary Blair mural.
And, of course, as you mentioned, walking to MK.

We also plan to take the boat to Fort Wilderness for Trails End. Never done it before.

I hope you enjoy your stay!

 

[kmorlock]

Wow, no one? Gee, Kmorlock, I don't know because we have not stayed there yet. But, as a fellow WL fan, I'll tell you what I'm looking forward to.

1. It's an original Disney icon.
2. Eating at The Wave and Contempo Cafe.
3. Watching Wishes from the 4th floor balcony.
4. Views of Bay Lake.
5. Watching the monorail zoom by.
6. Massive rooms.
7. The beautiful Mary Blair mural.
And, of course, as you mentioned, walking to MK.

We also plan to take the boat to Fort Wilderness for Trails End. Never done it before.

I hope you enjoy your stay!

Thank you for the reply. I'm sure it will be very nice. I just think I will miss the specialized theming other resorts offer. The convenience though is wonderful. You would think that such an iconic resort would garner a bit more creativity to areas like the pool, gardens, interior decor etc.... Thinking infinity pool, slide with lasers and some kind of sci-fi effects, The list goes on.....

 

[maryandtyson]

I think you have a future as an Imagineer!!

 

[100acreHiker]

Actually, the GF pool was redone in 2012, Poly and WL's have now been redone...I wouldn't be surprised if CR is next on the list for a major pool refurbishment. Even still, I'm looking forward to our first CR stay. We, too, are WL transfers. We've done two stays at GF, and I agree that CR seems comparatively a little spartan and cold, BUT, I am getting super excited about so many things: the fabulous restaurants, the Tomorrowland vibe, the gorgeous rooms (they look even nicer than GF's honestly), the water view, Wishes and Water Parade every night. I love WDW, but I'm not someone who wants Mickey lampshades and Disney murals in my hotel room, honestly, so I'm fine with some of the toned-down theming.

 

[MissNurse]

Just booked tower room theme park view for 4/27/16-5/3/16!!!! So excited!!!

 

[diddldonna]

I have been able to do online check-in and we are in garden wing - Garden View. I clicked ground floor and patio so fingers crossed. If I'm looking for a particular room i.e. the ones facing the lake should I give them a ring and if so does anyone know the number from the UK?

 

[Cluelyss]

I have been able to do online check-in and we are in garden wing - Garden View. I clicked ground floor and patio so fingers crossed. If I'm looking for a particular room i.e. the ones facing the lake should I give them a ring and if so does anyone know the number from the UK?

Yes, I would definitely call and add lake view to your reservation. I believe the number is in the first post. Call about a week before you arrive.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Apologies for not multi-quoting, I'll catch-up next week. We had a lovely visit at CR this morning. We so enjoyed chatting with Randy, the former WL CL manager who is the Recreation Manager at CR/BLT. We ate at The Wave which was delicious. The buffet was as tasty as ever and I still highly recommend it. I think the price went up - again, it was $21.99 (rack rate lol). But, they do serve till 11:45 and it includes milk, juice, soda, coffee and tea so you can make a brunch of it

We have had a magical week and have been at GF since Sunday night. I posted all the amazing details on the GF thread earlier this week. Love CR though, especially much more sound-proofed rooms and being able to walk to MK.

AllEars is reporting a CR pool closure for Sep 8-10, however, the Recreation Manager was not aware of this closure and at this time, the pool isn't scheduled to close. I'll update if I learn otherwise.




Current resort merchandise:


Work is being done on both sides:







Garden Wing Standard View:



View from monorail by GF:

 

[Scott MC]

Hello all..
We are back from our trip which included stays at the CR and BC.

We arrived at CR on 8/14 and our room (GW SV) was not ready, so we headed to the Poly to have a quick lunch. Well, on this lunch, we were enchanted by the Poly, and wish we'd kept our reservation there regardless of the construction. Over lunch, we got buzzed that our room was ready. We actually got a kick out of the view, being able to see the monorail go by, but we were not enchanted with the room, to put it mildly.
First off, the hallways in the GW are claustrophobic. They are narrow, and the ceilings are low. DP is 6'4 and was uncomfortable. Secondly, the hallways in the GW needed vacuuming desperately. They were gross. We got to the room and it is lovely. It is appointed beautifully. But where was Mickey? As I feared, those cute yellow pillows are gone, leaving the room feeling bland and looking wildly unfinished. In addition, when you have beautiful dark wood furniture, you need to dust it well...and it wasn't I could have written my name in the headboard. Now, I'm sure you'll find dust at any resort, but the furniture here showed dust like woah. The desk chair was broken, as it almost collapsed when I sat on it. Also...no alarm clock. What? Yeah...no alarm clock. Weird. We thought the bathroom was great...until our last night. More on that later.
So, we looked at each other, and agreed we weren't feeling it. We went to the front desk and were brutally honest, saying that "We're just not happy." We were introduced to a wonderful manager named Mario, who worked with us for about 45 minutes. We asked to just go right to BC, where we knew we'd be happy, and where we were due to head in 5 days anyway. Mario called BC and YC....no availability. He called the Poly...no availability. He called the GF...no availability. We had no interest in the lodges, and asked about BWI..and he said that they never have availability because they're so small. So, he poked around in the CR computer, muttering that he had no real availability either. I stressed that I wasn't looking for a better view or an upgrade within the CR, we just weren't that happy with the resort, but apparently, it was our only option.
After poking and poking, Mario told us that of our 5 nights at the CR, if we could stick it out for 2 nights in the GW room he'd move us to the tower with a Bay Lake view for our last 3 nights. It wasn't really what we wanted, but we took it to experience the tower.
We got to that room, and guess what? We still weren't in love. The view was lovely, but to be honest, we kinda missed watching the monorail slide by. And this room was still very dusty, and we found an open DVC welcome packet, and crayons on the desk, the hairdryer plugged in on the desk, and ponchos hanging in the closet. Obviously the room wasn't completely cleaned before we got there, but we were glad to be at Disney, grateful for Mario's help, and glad to be able to say that we tried the CR. On our last night, whenever we turned on the faucet in the left sink in our bathroom, sewage would back up into the sink on the right..which we didn't notice until our toiletry bags and all the items inside were thoroughly soaked. We called the front desk, and their reply was that wasn't that awful....and they'll send someone up in the morning after we check out.
Ooook.

I don't want this all to be negative. We loved the room size, the beds were very comfy, and the AC was amazing! We actually missed CR AC once we got to the BC. On our last night, we finally noticed an etching of Mickey in the shower curtain, but we would have liked to see a bit more in the room. The room itself was really nice, but nothing you couldn't get at a Sheraton or Marriott, and we were looking for a bit more theming at WDW.

We're glad to say we've stayed at CR, and glad to "check it off our list," but we likely won't be back.
We've learned that when we stray from the Epcot resort loop (BWI, YC, BC), we're just not happy. We've had lovely stays at the GF, and would love to try the Poly, and will do a "Bonus Night," or 2 there in the future, but our hearts are really at the Epcot loop.

Thanks for being a great thread, and being helpful with the questions I had when planning this trip!

I'll be glad to answer any questions.