Opinions, please (I KNOW you've got 'em!)

[bratus913]

We are currently booked for POR during out upcoming May trip. If the AP discounts come out and they are comparable to POR rack rates, we were thinking of upgrading to the Contemporary. But I'm having second thoughts.

I like the idea of staying at a monorail resort and being within walking distance of MK (we have a 7 and 5 year old) with the Contemporary, BUT I like the idea of the food court at POR and I've heard not-so-nice things about the overall feel of the Cont.

Any thoughts and/or opinions? I'm just not sure.

 

[JennyMominRI]

Any thoughts and/or opinions? I'm just not sure.[/QUOTE]

We stayed in the north Garden Wing in 2002.We liked it.We didn't love it.Not compared to the other wonderfully themed hotel. I'm trying to get to the Poly this year

 

[Disney Fool]

Contemporary is slated for a makeover. I was there during the first hurricane, and there was a lot of water damage. I'd wait to stay there, and try another MK resort, maybe Wilderness Lodge? Or, split your stay between Poly and POR

 

[swilphil]

I was booked at POR but switched to the Contemporary at the AP rate of $199 garden wing. That will probably be closer to $150 in May. Contemporary has a food court also with a menu very similar to the POR food court menu. You also are just a short walk to MK where there's lots of counter service. You can go to allearsnet.com and look at the pictures of rooms and lobby of the Contemporary as well as all the menus.

 

[precious pixie]

I think that the contemporary is a great choice, ecspecially with 2 young kids. The decor maybe a little dated but that's about my only complaint. I have styaed there with cousins about the age of your children and one of their favorite thangs to do that trip was eat at chef Mickeys and watch the monorails go by. They also rode the monorail so much it ended up being one of there favorite attractions.
There is also nothing better then to be able to walk to the Magic Kingdom. You get to come and go on your familys terms ecspecially at the begining and ending of the day when the buses/monorails/boats are so crowded.
I have heard many wonderful things about the Contemporary and also some negatives. Everyone has their own opinions and reasons for them. Think about what is most important to you about staying at a hotel and that should help you decide if the Contemporary is right for you.
Oh yeah one more thing nothing beats a tower room with Magic Kingdom view. It's the best way to wake up and go to bed everyday!

 

[PolyAddict]

We are currently booked for POR during out upcoming May trip. If the AP discounts come out and they are comparable to POR rack rates, we were thinking of upgrading to the Contemporary. But I'm having second thoughts.

I like the idea of staying at a monorail resort and being within walking distance of MK (we have a 7 and 5 year old) with the Contemporary, BUT I like the idea of the food court at POR and I've heard not-so-nice things about the overall feel of the Cont.

Any thoughts and/or opinions? I'm just not sure.

We are sooooo on the same wave length it's scary!!!

This is my exact predicament. I even thought about the food court thing too.

However, I have stayed POR before and not CR. I really want to try CR because I love the monorail. Only monorail hotel I haven't tried. I am not crazy about POR but probably b/c it doesn't have a monorail.

I'll get back to this thread later. Gotta get back to work.

Michele

Michele

 

[x5x5x5x5x5]

We really enjoyed our stay at the CR; however, we stayed in the tower section with a view of MK etc... If you get a room with one of these views - it is wonderful! And the service was fantastic as well. I'm not sure I'd stay in a room without a view until the renovation though.

 

[LSUDis]

We stayed in the Contemporary with a 5 and 7 year old. I would definitely recommend it if you could swing the Tower with a M.K. view. My kids LOVED sitting and watch the monorail approach and disappear below you, the lights changing on the castle ALL night, the fireworks right outside your balcony, and, especially, riding down an elevator, hopping on the monorail, and being whisked away to Magic!
Expensive, yes, but maybe you could transfer there for the end of your stay. Another plus is Chef Mickey's being right downstairs.

We were behind the castle watching the fireworks, emerged through the castle to see a solid sea of people from the castle to the entrance, leaving after the fireworks; but, 15 minutes later, we exited the monorail inside our hotel--that is the advantage of the Contemporary.
Have fun!

 

[Guads6]

We've stayed at both POR and the Contemporary. I have to say the decor at the Contemporary is not my taste. We stayed in the North Garden Wing. But having access to the monorail was an absolute dream for us! My children loved their game room and we were pleased with their food court. Being able to walk back from the Magic Kingdom was great! I think the Contemporary sometimes gets a bad rap. I consider myself to be very picky and I found it to be just fine! If you can a get a great AP rate (That's why we switched) then I say "Go For It!"

 

[justhat]

We just added 2 nights at the end of our trip at the CR. We were initially debating between CR and the Poly, but my husband really hates the Poly, so we went with CR. It was too expensive at first, so we booked WL instead. Then we got an e-mail code, which made us switch to AKL (wasn't available at WL) and since it was cheaper than our WL stay was, and with the code rate, we will be moving to the CR the last 2 nights. The convenience was what was drawing us (we'll have a 14 month old) and when we got a good rate we decided to go ahead with it.

 

[markm0926]

We did the exact same thing last year.....booked at POR and when a Disney Visa code came out we upgreded to the Contemporary.
We loved our stay there. The walk to the MK is quick and it's great to be on the monorail line.
We had a nice first floor room in the wing (can't remember if it was north or south wing) close to the pool and the lake, it was great.

 

[ufmurphy]

We just returned from the CR with a 7 and 9 year old. We stayed in a garden wing room with a view of the lake. We were able to watched the nightly boat parade from our room which the kids liked. We could also see the fireworks from just outside our wing. We took the boat ride to WL one night and searched for hidden mickeys there. NO the CR is not the prettiest of hotels but having access to the monorail during your stay is such a bonus. Have a great trip.

 

[goofy4tink]

We've stayed at POR twice now. Once at CR last summer...yes, Charley and I checked in within 6 hrs. of each other!!! We stayed at CR for 2 nights before we moved over to BWV. We loved CR. I wasn't prepared to like it as much as I did. I had been trying to convince my 11 y/o dd that it would be a fun spot to try. Now....she's begging to stay there again but for a much longer period of time.

We didn't find the 'lack of theming' to be an issue. That's not what we're looking for at WDW. Plenty of that elsewhere. We ate at the 'food court' area and found it to have all that we needed. We loved being able to walk to MK or just grab the monorail to TTC and then monorail to Epcot.

If I could get a good enough AP rate in June I would switch my reservations from ASMusic to CR in a shot. Then we could stay there for 3 nights.

 

[kaceyisme]

I think you'll like the CR for the convenience alone, but once you stay there, beware - you'll never want to stay in a non-monorail resort again! The food court is good too. The decor kind of grows on you after a while.

 

[Brina]

we liked the contemporary. yes, the themeing is not as over the top as many of the resorts, but we liked that. we loved being able to walk back and forth to MK. The food court is small relative to the size of the hotel, which can lead to long lines. Plus, it is noisy due to the arcade.

the north garden wing is closest to the MK, but furthest from the pool