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

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Forgot one photo and boy, the post sequencing is really screwed up today.

Wow that's a very nice picture.

 

[Mary T in PA]

Loved reading your review. It's a rare find to read a review of the Tower CLub.

It's sad that you've seen the service and quality diminish over the years. It sounds like it USED to be a family tradition for you to stay on the 14th. But, I think that you're making the absolutely right decision to spend your money elsewhere. You paid a lot of money to stay on the 14th and like you said, with so few guests, you should have received more personalized attention and service and a room that was not in a state of disrepair. If they didn't even make a point of calling you by your name or doing something special for you, then that reflects poorly on management.

As I already mentioned in another post, I experienced a real indifference on the Atrium Club level back in '10. They did nothing to make us feel welcome or appreciated. We also experienced issues with them not enforcing any lounge rules at all, not cleaning up very quickly after messy guests, acting as if they've been inconvenienced if you asked for milk when it wasn't out, they argued with each other in front of guests and often the concierge table was unoccupied - it was just an overall negative experience and I don't think we'll ever return, even though we love the CR.

I hope you have a safe trip home and enjoy your BWI stay. Will this be your first Innkeeper's Club stay? We're staying there for the first time in July and we can't wait!

We've stayed at Innkeepers club twice in past year, and really enjoyed it. In fact, a few remembered me as I went in May with my SIL and then in late Oct with DH and our girls. When you see how many rooms are there, it impressed me that a few CMs knew me. I think you'll love it. I love the atmosphere and the ability to walk or boat to 2 parks. Bus service to MK last month for mnsshp was great too, and I'm not fond of bus transportation.

I'll be at the Poly in July!!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We've stayed at Innkeepers club twice in past year, and really enjoyed it. In fact, a few remembered me as I went in May with my SIL and then in late Oct with DH and our girls. When you see how many rooms are there, it impressed me that a few CMs knew me. I think you'll love it. I love the atmosphere and the ability to walk or boat to 2 parks. Bus service to MK last month for mnsshp was great too, and I'm not fond of bus transportation.

I'll be at the Poly in July!!

I agree that it's great how the Innkeepers Club Cast Members remember their returning guests, because you are right on since they have a lot more Club Level Rooms then the Contemporary.

Also here is a great example of their service when it comes to remembering their guests who return for multiple stays. When we stayed there in December 2010 they had already put cans of Sprite Zero in our fridge because my Mom requested them in August 2010, however for that trip we didn't request them in advance. Plus they did that again for our most recent stay there in August 2011. So in my opinion that's what set their service apart compared to the other Club Level Cast Members at the other Deluxe Resorts, because they remembered something like that when it had been a few months since we were last there and all the other guests they see everyday.

 

[psac]

At the BWI club last year, one of the CMs (Lorenzo) knew our names by the second day, and knew which afternoon snacks we liked. I agree the CR CLs (especially the more "exclusive" one) should be as good if not better.

 

[hstrickland]

KOOK....love those photos!!! That tree was awesome, and totally perfect for the CR.

 

[WDWKOOK]

At the BWI club last year, one of the CMs (Lorenzo) knew our names by the second day, and knew which afternoon snacks we liked. I agree the CR CLs (especially the more "exclusive" one) should be as good if not better.

I have heard great things about Lorenzo. We're staying for the first time in July and I think I'm more excited about that than the RPC portion of our stay!

KOOK....love those photos!!! That tree was awesome, and totally perfect for the CR.

Thank you, Heather. With the DISboards posting gremlins, yesterday's postings make little sense. I wonder where all those "vintage" resort trees are now - or did they just "re-purpose" them

 

[Roo's Kanga]

Hi! Total newbie here! We are leaving in a few days for our first ever stay at Contemporary. Normally we stay at WL but wanted to try something new. Anyway I have a few questions for all of you experts:

We are staying in the cheapest rooms, so I assume that is the building away from the monorail. Not sure what it is called? But is there any way to get upgraded to the monorail building upon check-in? Sorry I'm not good with the proper terms for these things.

Also, are the pools open right now? Is it warm enough to swim? My son is 4 and I think he is half polar bear. He will want to swim even if it's below freezing. I was wondering if 70 degrees is a "comfortable" swimming temp for adults though? LOL

Is there any construction going on in the hotel right now? Any room areas we need to avoid staying in?

Thanks!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Hi! Total newbie here! We are leaving in a few days for our first ever stay at Contemporary. Normally we stay at WL but wanted to try something new. Anyway I have a few questions for all of you experts:

We are staying in the cheapest rooms, so I assume that is the building away from the monorail. Not sure what it is called? But is there any way to get upgraded to the monorail building upon check-in? Sorry I'm not good with the proper terms for these things.

Also, are the pools open right now? Is it warm enough to swim? My son is 4 and I think he is half polar bear. He will want to swim even if it's below freezing. I was wondering if 70 degrees is a "comfortable" swimming temp for adults though? LOL

Is there any construction going on in the hotel right now? Any room areas we need to avoid staying in?

Thanks!

Their least expensive room category is the Garden Wing - Standard View and it's a different building then the rooms located in the Tower, however it's only a 5 minute walk between both buildings and it's under a covered walkway.

Now sometimes guests have been given free upgrades at check-in from the Garden Wing to the Tower. However those were random and that decision to upgrade them was made a few days before they checked-in. Although the best way to make sure you get the exact room you want is to reserve it yourself, so if you want to stay in the Tower it's best to change your reservation.

The pools are open 365 days a year unless there happens to be a renovation which is not happening to them right now. They will also close the whole pool area and make everyone leave if there is a threat of lightning. Now being from Canada I would say 70 degrees is great swiming weather, so I guess that answer depends on who you talk to.

Finally I haven't heard any talk of construction to other areas of the Contemporary.

 

[nklooz]

Forgot one photo and boy, the post sequencing is really screwed up today.

This pic is awesome. Thanks for sharing!

 

[contemporarymom]

Some initial thoughts. We are in flight right now,,,, we spent a week on 14th fl room #4914 which is the room we usually get. The suite is spacious, probably the biggest 1bdrm without being DVC or presidential. We love this aspect and the fact that the master bath is huge and the 2nd bath is decent sized too.

We noticed several issues and did bring them to concierge attention ASAP- light out in master bath, sink in bar area would back up and toilet in master bath was funky. Also the room was very clean but rundown. We've stayed in Gf and Poly 1bdrm suites and will say that the Princess Suite at the Poly is better but lacks a 2nd bath and we have DH use the 2nd bath as his own man cave as he's outnumbered by me and our 2DDs when we stay Tower club.

I hate to say we never rode the monorail on this entire trip. Just seems like such a hassle as compared to previous yrs. we had a car so just drove over to the other parks.

We did 2 MVMCP and the walkway was totally convenient. Plus the parties were great, not crowded at all.

Elevators worked good this trip, no trouble with key entry at all. Quick too. I noticed the 1 separate elevator across from the rest wasn't working.

We had a family discussion and decided that we will book BWI next year and get a deluxe room. It's a great room also and the Boardwalk has grown on us. Their CL staff is top notch.

The CL CMs at CR are clueless. We don't expect alot- they're not our personal slaves but with so few rooms on 14, and us being there the same week every year the past 4yrs, at least learn our names. Also security was up there yesterday and today- most likely one of the celebs was staying there for the parade taping. I didn't even bother to ask, i could care less about celebs. Last month we stayed at BWI and a CM told us who the celeb was staying in the Steeplechase suite.

We had a good trip, but I think our love for CR has waned a bit. Maybe we will try in a few years after the 14th FL is refurbed. It's to be like an upscale hotel.

I'm sorry my sentences may be jumbled up, hard typing on my cell.

IMHO if you can spend $$$ on a suite stay elsewhere. Just not sure it's worth it until the 14th FL is redone. And trust me, it saddens me to put that out there. I'm grateful to have stayed in the suite but we were treated better at the BWi and Poly.

I'm so sorry that your expectations for your trip weren't met. Disney seems to be very important to you and your family so your experience is really unfortunate. That said, I'm really shocked by some of your comments regarding the CL CMs at the CR.

We too have made it a family tradition for many years to stay CL, both Tower and Atrium clubs and have never had less than outstanding experiences and service from the CMs. They not only always remember our names but many of our likes and dislikes. They remember things about our lives and never fail to ask and we do the same in return. Like you, we really don't request much and are pretty relaxed while vacationing.

There is always some turnover but there is also a core group of CMs there that have been up on CL forever and IMO many of the recent additions have been wonderful. Obviously our family couldn't be happier and have no desire to even try another resort. It's interesting to me how people can have such different experiences in the same general setting.

I hope your next stay at a different resort is more to your liking and standards. Every vacation at Disney should be wonderful!

 

[Mary T in PA]

Door to Room #4914, 14th Floor, Tower Club

Foyer/Entryway

Bar/kitchen area

Dining area

Large Living Room

 

[Mary T in PA]

2nd Bath -Looking into the 2nd Bath. This bath is located to your right when coming in the door and standing in the foyer/entryway.

2nd Bath Vanity

2nd Bath Shower Stall - this is a shower only, no tub.

Another peek at the Shower Stall

2nd Bath Commode

 

[Mary T in PA]

View from behind the bar.

View of the kitchen/pantry area.

Another view of the kitchen area with the pantry door open. Microwave worked, but fridge did not.

The Fridge- This one worked and was always stocked. Last year we had the same issue and as you can see, the old broken fridge is still there in the previous pic.

 

[Mary T in PA]

This is now the bedroom area and the master bath.

2 Queen beds

View from the sliding doors looking towards end of the room- closet space is on the right and the master bath is on the left.

Another view of the bedroom area.

Master Bath Vanity

Master Shower/Tub.

 

[Mary T in PA]

These are the last few of the Master Bath area.

View of the commode "room" -You must walk thru the master bathroom that has the vanity and shower/tub to get to the commode "room". It's nice to have the toilet and another sink separated with its own door.

Sink in Master Commode Room.

Master Bath commode.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Door to Room #4914, 14th Floor, Tower Club

Foyer/Entryway

Bar/kitchen area

Dining area

Large Living Room

2nd Bath -Looking into the 2nd Bath. This bath is located to your right when coming in the door and standing in the foyer/entryway.

2nd Bath Vanity

2nd Bath Shower Stall - this is a shower only, no tub.

Another peek at the Shower Stall

2nd Bath Commode

View from behind the bar.

View of the kitchen/pantry area.

Another view of the kitchen area with the pantry door open. Microwave worked, but fridge did not.

The Fridge- This one worked and was always stocked. Last year we had the same issue and as you can see, the old broken fridge is still there in the previous pic.

This is now the bedroom area and the master bath.

2 Queen beds

View from the sliding doors looking towards end of the room- closet space is on the right and the master bath is on the left.

Another view of the bedroom area.

Master Bath Vanity

Master Shower/Tub.

These are the last few of the Master Bath area.

View of the commode "room" -You must walk thru the master bathroom that has the vanity and shower/tub to get to the commode "room". It's nice to have the toilet and another sink separated with its own door.

Sink in Master Commode Room.

Master Bath commode.

Mary, I have never seen so many photos of a Tower Club suite - thank you so much! I would love to have your permission to use some of them when I create the next CR thread (CRRF4L asked me if I would).

I do wonder what their plans are for that level now that the conversion to the Health and Wellness suites has been canceled. Thank you again for posting such wonderful photos. Very interesting tankless toilet with the flusher on the wall! Did you bring your own Christmas tree?

 

[Mary T in PA]

Mary, I have never seen so many photos of a Tower Club suite - thank you so much! I would love to have your permission to use some of them when I create the next CR thread (CRRF4L asked me if I would).

I do wonder what their plans are for that level now that the conversion to the Health and Wellness suites has been canceled. Thank you again for posting such wonderful photos. Very interesting tankless toilet with the flusher on the wall! Did you bring your own Christmas tree?

Please do add them to the info part of this thread.

The Christmas tree was in our room when we checked in. They usually put a tree in our suite for the holiday.

The suites are HUGE! I hope they do update them but keep the space the same.

 

[WDWKOOK]

A little something from last Christmas:

I called the WDTC yesterday to inquire about the rate for a one bedroom on the Tower Club level (14th floor) of the CR. Since the Health and Wellness suites were canceled, I wanted to see how much a one bedroom would be, but you have to call for pricing info.

I told the CM that the pricing/booking info. is not available online for any Tower Club rooms and she said. "Oh, that means we're sold out." NO, it doesn't mean that, it means that you've never been able to book or get Tower Club level pricing online! I explained this to her and she started to look-up the pricing and then said, "Geez, wow, you've got everything booked! Don't you?" Well, not quite, but it's a good start I suppose.

Anyway, it turns out that no suites can be booked with the military room-only discount and no BLV suites are available for booking for some reason, so the TPV rack rate is $1,391/night. Umm, thank you, but never mind...

Please do add them to the info part of this thread.

The Christmas tree was in our room when we checked in. They usually put a tree in our suite for the holiday.

The suites are HUGE! I hope they do update them but keep the space the same.

Thank you for permission to use some of your photos. I won't start the new thread though until we get closer to jumbo thread status (250 pages). How nice that they put a tree in your suite!

 

[christine*]

Does anyone know if they sell cartons of eggs at Fantasia Market and if so, how much are they? I mostly just eat scrambled eggs for breakfast and am debating about making a garden grocer order if they don't have them. TIA!

 

[WDWKOOK]

Does anyone know if they sell cartons of eggs at Fantasia Market and if so, how much are they? I mostly just eat scrambled eggs for breakfast and am debating about making a garden grocer order if they don't have them. TIA!

I found a DVC/BLT order form on the internet that shows eggs (and many other items) are available for advance order from the Fantasia Market (with a $10 surcharge). It's from 6/11 and is located here:

http://advc.disney.go.com/media/dvc...roceryorder/Grocery_List_BLT_June_2011_v3.pdf


Also, according to Jack Spence's blog from 8/11, eggs are available from FM.