mecllap
<font color=limegreen>"Skamps"<br><font color=mage
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2006
- Messages
- 2,821
Okay -- it's all about "Location", granted. So, even with my little (and larger) quibbles, I'd probably stay here again, but . . . .
First, location: I reserved a Bay Lake view, and from my balcony to the left, this was part of my view, BONUS:
I watched Wishes from TOTWL the first night, and hoped to catch it from the balcony another night, but rain prevented that, sigh. (It was also annoying that when I went to the TOTWL and sat at a table, the servers ignored me so I didn't even order a drink, before giving up and going outside -- I had planned to have dessert there, but as a single traveller, I don't tolerate being ignored over a certain amount of time, and no, they weren't busy with other people).
So, when I first saw this view, along with part of the lake, I was thrilled, but the room does leave a lot to be desired. "Beauty in in the eye of the beholder" and I do like contemporary, Mod style, but this room is ugly, not welcoming at all -- 50's motel with a bit of attempt at chic. Really ugly carpet and an odd mishmash of colors. I did like the drapes and the prints on the wall.
Here is the bed area:
The floor by the bed was wet, by the wall, which is only 12-13 inches to the bed -- not passable at night in the dark. Lying down, it's the right side of the bed, closest to the kitchen/bath area. The bed was hard for me, and the pillows too soft -- but that's a matter of personal preference.
The kitchen area was fine, well supplied, just to the right of the bed:
Had glasses, cups, paper and plastic plates, bowls, utensils, can openers, coffee, soap:
But, the bathroom sink is in the same space:
I got used to that by the third night, but I was solo in the room -- not sure it would have worked very well with others in the room
So, the tub and toilet room:
I liked the sea foam tile effect (have something similar at home), but there's no place outside the tub to hang towels, and without towel service or in-room laundry that could be an issue with others in the room. And, there's NO soap dish in the tub/shower. The shower was also a little difficult -- had to turn the handle all the way past Cold mark for hot water, and it was spread out with sharp sprinkles (hard to get rinsed off),
I went to the Member's Event in TOTWL and toured the 3 br model -- the bathtub looked the same: (no soap dish):
But, the laundry looked great: (sorry about the confusion here -- I saw this laundry in the 3br model on the tour with the member event)
Back to the studio: the little "eating" table area was fine for a studio:
But this was the most frightening part:
The railing on the balcony just begs young children to climb on it and look like they're going to fall over. I would have been scared to death to stay here when my grandson was younger. The balcony is a better size than SSR or AK, but still can't see over the railing when seated. And the room seems very small and crowded.
I only took one crack at unsucessfully finding something non-Disney on the TV (missed a favorite show, but can watch the rerun) -- but is it really that limited? I rarely watch TV anyway on vacation, but that might matter to someone.
There's no outlet in the tub/toilet room, but the one in the hallway worked okay for my nightlight (actually decided I didn't need the the nightlight because of light leak under in the front door, and LED's from various sources (not total darkness in the room)
I was attending a scrapbooking convention at the Contemporary and the hike back and forth to my room location was really far, but I've had longer walks at other WDW resorts. All the services (food, shops, etc. are over there) I went to Epcot the first night, and there didn't seem to be a bus there, so I took the monorail which involves a change with a walk down and up another ramp at the TTC, a bit annoying (on the way back I ended up on the wrong monorail and took a detour to MK, but it worked out oday to get back). Because of rainy weather, I didn't actually do the MK walk (which is somewhat better than coping with getting to the TTC and hiknig back to a car).
When I first arrived and then saw the balcony view I had, I thought OMG, I am so going to want to add on points here, but by the end of the stay, I was more into, well I would like to come back for a couple of days so DD and DGS could see what it's like, but no way would I want points, since a studio stay is usual for me, or us, and it just wasn't comfortable for me by myself, let alone what it would be like for the three of us. Oh, the one thing that seems to bother other people is the non-locking bathroom slider door, is not a problem for me.
You can see the MK from one of the elevator bank towers, and the skybridge, which is fun. The pool looked great, but I didn't have time to try it out. Everything is really expensive (but that's pretty much true anywhere in WDW).
So, I'd say, go prepared, and enjoy it for what it is -- glad I gave it a try, and can't believe they missed the mark on so many easy, little things. And to those to love it there -- keep on enjoying it -- as they say, Location, Location, Location!
First, location: I reserved a Bay Lake view, and from my balcony to the left, this was part of my view, BONUS:
I watched Wishes from TOTWL the first night, and hoped to catch it from the balcony another night, but rain prevented that, sigh. (It was also annoying that when I went to the TOTWL and sat at a table, the servers ignored me so I didn't even order a drink, before giving up and going outside -- I had planned to have dessert there, but as a single traveller, I don't tolerate being ignored over a certain amount of time, and no, they weren't busy with other people).
So, when I first saw this view, along with part of the lake, I was thrilled, but the room does leave a lot to be desired. "Beauty in in the eye of the beholder" and I do like contemporary, Mod style, but this room is ugly, not welcoming at all -- 50's motel with a bit of attempt at chic. Really ugly carpet and an odd mishmash of colors. I did like the drapes and the prints on the wall.
Here is the bed area:
The floor by the bed was wet, by the wall, which is only 12-13 inches to the bed -- not passable at night in the dark. Lying down, it's the right side of the bed, closest to the kitchen/bath area. The bed was hard for me, and the pillows too soft -- but that's a matter of personal preference.
The kitchen area was fine, well supplied, just to the right of the bed:
Had glasses, cups, paper and plastic plates, bowls, utensils, can openers, coffee, soap:
But, the bathroom sink is in the same space:
I got used to that by the third night, but I was solo in the room -- not sure it would have worked very well with others in the room
So, the tub and toilet room:
I liked the sea foam tile effect (have something similar at home), but there's no place outside the tub to hang towels, and without towel service or in-room laundry that could be an issue with others in the room. And, there's NO soap dish in the tub/shower. The shower was also a little difficult -- had to turn the handle all the way past Cold mark for hot water, and it was spread out with sharp sprinkles (hard to get rinsed off),
I went to the Member's Event in TOTWL and toured the 3 br model -- the bathtub looked the same: (no soap dish):
But, the laundry looked great: (sorry about the confusion here -- I saw this laundry in the 3br model on the tour with the member event)
Back to the studio: the little "eating" table area was fine for a studio:
But this was the most frightening part:
The railing on the balcony just begs young children to climb on it and look like they're going to fall over. I would have been scared to death to stay here when my grandson was younger. The balcony is a better size than SSR or AK, but still can't see over the railing when seated. And the room seems very small and crowded.
I only took one crack at unsucessfully finding something non-Disney on the TV (missed a favorite show, but can watch the rerun) -- but is it really that limited? I rarely watch TV anyway on vacation, but that might matter to someone.
There's no outlet in the tub/toilet room, but the one in the hallway worked okay for my nightlight (actually decided I didn't need the the nightlight because of light leak under in the front door, and LED's from various sources (not total darkness in the room)
I was attending a scrapbooking convention at the Contemporary and the hike back and forth to my room location was really far, but I've had longer walks at other WDW resorts. All the services (food, shops, etc. are over there) I went to Epcot the first night, and there didn't seem to be a bus there, so I took the monorail which involves a change with a walk down and up another ramp at the TTC, a bit annoying (on the way back I ended up on the wrong monorail and took a detour to MK, but it worked out oday to get back). Because of rainy weather, I didn't actually do the MK walk (which is somewhat better than coping with getting to the TTC and hiknig back to a car).
When I first arrived and then saw the balcony view I had, I thought OMG, I am so going to want to add on points here, but by the end of the stay, I was more into, well I would like to come back for a couple of days so DD and DGS could see what it's like, but no way would I want points, since a studio stay is usual for me, or us, and it just wasn't comfortable for me by myself, let alone what it would be like for the three of us. Oh, the one thing that seems to bother other people is the non-locking bathroom slider door, is not a problem for me.
You can see the MK from one of the elevator bank towers, and the skybridge, which is fun. The pool looked great, but I didn't have time to try it out. Everything is really expensive (but that's pretty much true anywhere in WDW).
So, I'd say, go prepared, and enjoy it for what it is -- glad I gave it a try, and can't believe they missed the mark on so many easy, little things. And to those to love it there -- keep on enjoying it -- as they say, Location, Location, Location!
), we won't be staying there. That will leave more availability for those who love it! (I'm sure Mecllap and I aren't the only ones who don't love it. 
) To each their own!
