Boardwalk OR Contemporary?

[autismgoesdisney]

Our next trip we are FINALLY staying deluxe (I think) ... it won't be until 2013 but a girl can plan right??? LOL

Anyway, I have it narrowed down to these two due to price. I'd love Poly but for now, its these two.

Our kids will be 9, 7 and 5. We thought of Beach Club but the thought of having all three kids run around in water with only two adults scares us and doesn't sound like the relaxing pool time we are used to lol....

So it leaves these two..both ones we would love to try. We LOVE both MK and Epcot. MK is our all time favorite BUT we do spend a lot of time at Epcot as well. Normally we split the two with days.

A split stay won't work for us because we usually go when there's free dining and we won't stay enough days at one place to get the free dining.

Which one would you go with? We seriously can't decide!

 

[DVC-Don]

Contemporary.

 

[CTcruiser]

IMO, the main question here is which park you like better. [edit: I didn't read the whole post.. got too excited ] I like both resorts but would prefer Boardwalk because I enjoy the short walk to Epcot. I also like the restaurants in that area and the night entertainment. But, if you like Chef Mickey's, California Grill, or any of the restaurants along the monorail I'd say Contemporary.

 

[jenlov]

I say Contemporary for the monorail. it would probably be the easiest place to stay since you like MK and EP. Boardwalk looks really neat too, though. hard choice!

 

[lsenquiz]

We love Boardwalk because DHS and EPCOT are our two favorite parks. We also love the energy on the boardwalk especially in the evenings. We always get park hopper passes and love to stroll over to EPCOT in the evenings for a snack or adult beverage after spending the day at another park. We also like to roast marshmellows and watch the movie on the beach near beachclub on atleast one evening during our trip. To me Boardwalk just feels like you are always in the middle of the action even when you are not in a park.

Also I agree with you about BC pool. Our kids love the boardwalk pool especially the slide and we get to relax!

 

[tluvstink]

I don't think you can go wrong either way but I would pick CR for the monorail and walk way to MK.

Terri

 

[LuvLDM]

I love BWI, it's a beautiful resort & proximity to Epcot can't be beat!

I don't care for CR at all and I think the monorail is overrated so this would be an easy choice for me!

 

[francie57]

We have stayed at both and I would go with Boardwalk hands down. Unless you are staying in the tower at Contemporary the wing room was extremely disappointing to us. We love the Epcot Resorts. We love both the BW and BC and all the restaurants easily accessible at Epcot and the easy access to two parks. You won't be disappointed with the BW. The BC pool sounds daunting but don't competely rule it out just for that. There are also several other pools that you can use.

 

[spiceycat]

getting to the MK from the epcot resorts can be a problem. It is bus only - and lots of time the resorts share a bus. Now you can walk thru Epcot and ride the monorail - but it will not save you time and with that many kids don't think you want the hassle.

so would go with CR - you can walk to the MK and ride the monorail to Epcot.

besides staying at CR - the Poly is only 2 stops away on the monorail - you can visit it.

besides the CR has bigger rooms than BW - so it will allow your family of 5 to have a little more room

 

[ThumpersWorld]

We came back from a split stay about a month ago at the Boardwalk and Beach Club so the Boardwalk is my vote. We spend a lot of time at the MK as well as EPCOT and HS. We do love spending some time on the Boardwalk at night. Although, I do have to say. I know you said you were between the other two, but the Beach Club is our absolute favorite. We have two young boys who are active and it wasn't difficult to keep track of them at the Stormalong.

 

[psac]

Between the two, we like the Boardwalk a lot more. But as others have said, you have to decide what's best for you and your family. Would you care about not having a real quick service location at the Boardwalk? Would you mind having to take the bus to MK if it meant being able to walk into Epcot and taking the boat to Hollywood Studios? If you're good with these, definitely go with the Boardwalk.

 

[PersonalizedMouse]

We were die hard Contemporary People....then we stated at BWI last year. I don't know if I ever want to go back to CR or the MK area for that matter. I loved how the whole Epcot resort area felt. It was beautiful and more relaxing than CR. The rooms were definitely in better shape than those in CR, which in my humble opinion, looked a little shabby when we were there. The location could not be beat. We walked and took the Friendship boats.

Either way you can't go wrong, it's just that they have two very different feels.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I would pick the BW. I love the location and the variety of things to do in the immediate area. They have a nice pool area although the slide has a big clown face - I know that can be a real issue for a lot of people.

 

[KB24]

Contemporary is old, feels like a conference hotel (it is one), and is very crowded because of Chef Mickey's.

I would pick BW.

 

[NJRRK]

Contemporary is old, feels like a conference hotel (it is one), and is very crowded because of Chef Mickey's.

I would pick BW.

Contemporary rooms were redone in 2007. They are far from old. Plus the CR is only 25 years older than BW.

I've never really found the CR to be more crowded than any other resort, just stay away from Chef Mickey's (very easy btw).

I know you were stating your opinion, so I will state mine. With little ones, I vote for the CR, as PPs have said, you can walk to MK and Epcot is two Monorails away. At night there is the Electrical Water Parade, and if you get a MK view room THE BEST view in the "world."

 

[DisneyHardin]

I haven't stayed at Boardwalk, but we really loved The Contemporary. It just feels like such a luxury hotel the way the decor is.

 

[MMS1125]

IF it's just between those two I'd probably say BWI we love the area and Epcot but have never stayed there. I'd also reconsider the BC! SAB is awesome for your kid's ages and it's not really that hard keeping up with them.

On the other hand. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I think the CR rooms are bigger? Plus I don't think you can ever go wrong being on the monorail.

I think I'd plan out what all you want to do while on your trip and where you want to eat, etc then see which will be more beneficial to your family.

 

[Tonga Toast]

We had our first stay at the Contemporary last year and we just loved it. We have two little boys and they were not only dazzled by the monorail they loved the swimming pool. Best of all is the short walk way to the Magic Kingdom. The kids would run down to the park at top speed, no line ups, no long waits for buses or monorails. The updated rooms are really "cool" and our 6-year-old declared the pull out bed in the sofa his favourite bed in the whole world.

 

[PersonalizedMouse]

IF it's just between those two I'd probably say BWI we love the area and Epcot but have never stayed there. I'd also reconsider the BC! SAB is awesome for your kid's ages and it's not really that hard keeping up with them.

On the other hand. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I think the CR rooms are bigger? Plus I don't think you can ever go wrong being on the monorail.

I think I'd plan out what all you want to do while on your trip and where you want to eat, etc then see which will be more beneficial to your family.

CR rooms are a little bigger but for some reason BWI seemed bigger to us. The layout just gave you more moving around space. Both have pretty small balconies. If you have really small kids, the balcony at CR can be really daunting. We were on the 11th floor and when DH was in the shower I would have to make sure the little ones didn't go out on the balcony unattended and vice versa.

 

[TJA]

The bottom line is you've chosen the best of both worlds (either an Epcot resort or an MK resort). Personally, we rotate our trips -- one trip at Epcot resort, next trip at MK resort, next trip at Epcot resort, etc. Then we make dining ADR's based on where we are staying. Think about where your family will want to eat that trip, which park your family enjoys spending most nights....therefore, you can choose either BWI or CR based on those factors. To us, nothing is better than convenience while at WDW with young kids. So if you like ending your nights at MK and have lots of dining planned at monorail resorts and MK, then go with CR. On the flip side of that, if your family wants to end most nights at Epcot and has lots of dining planned at Epcot, then go with BWI.

Also, another factor to note is that there are a lot of non-park things to do in the Epcot resort area, such as a short walk to mini golf and also boardwalk activities and Espn Club. If your family enjoys this sort of thing, then BWI would be a great option for you right now.