(CLOSED) Disney's CONTEMPORARY RESORT and BAY LAKE TOWER INFORMATION THREAD

[olive]

We have had some beautiful views of the fireworks, at BLT, at the Contemporary and even of the Epcot fireworks at the Dolphin. These were great memories, and I imagine we will do it again, but not if it is stressful financially. We - and our kids - have really enjoyed the non-fireworks view rooms just as much. There is a lot that they find magical. If the price tag seems too high this time or for that particular room, maybe consider an alternative. Is there a garden wing room available? You can see the fireworks from the observation deck and still enjoy the many perks of the CR for a much lower price. We love the CR.

 

[olive]

I had a posting failure from my phone - trying again! We have had fireworks views from CR and BLT, and while they are lovely and the kids enjoyed them, I wouldn't choose that if it is at all financially stressful. And I mean at ALL. Our kids have always enjoyed anywhere we take them and any hotel room, fireworks view or not. Pretty certain our six year old was more excited about the big jetted bathtub in the BLT 1 bedroom than the fireworks view, although he enjoyed both. I do love the convenience of the monorail resorts. It may be a significant savings to switch to a garden wing room, and you can then enjoy the fireworks from the observation deck and still walk to CR and enjoy the other CR perks. (We really enjoy that resort.) Have you looked into whether those are available? Good luck with your choice and have a great trip!

 

[NJRRK]

Okay ladies, I posted this as a thread, but thought I would ask here also.

As stated before we are CR CL TPV for our first Disney trip. I have two small kids and booked the TPV b/c I thought that they would love the fireworks from the room and the overall view. Now that I really stop to think about it, I am worried that we are spending a lot ($6,300 w/o flights) for a room that we really aren't going to be able to use. So my question is should we change to a different deluxe ( I was thinking WL) or is this something that we would regret?

Thank you in advance from a Disney novice!

I'd answer this, but I'm not a lady, I'm a man.

 

[nonnasally]

My story is the same except I have 62 days to wait!

We have 10 more days till BLT and same story. Too poor as a child AND too poor a grandmom when we get back!! Oh well. Its all about the memories! Enjoy!

 

[psac]

I'd answer this, but I'm not a lady, I'm a man.

 

[KathieSmallwood]

We have 10 more days till BLT and same story. Too poor as a child AND too poor a grandmom when we get back!! Oh well. Its all about the memories! Enjoy!

We have 11 more days till BLT so this poor grandma will see you there lol

 

[mickeynut1]

We stayed at BLT in a standard view studio room 7209 (2nd floor) for 7 nights in September. While we really enjoyed the resort, I don't think we'll be back. Nothing went wrong, it was a lovely stay, just other resorts appeal to us more (thank goodness there's so many resorts to choose from!).

Thanks for your review....glad you had a nice trip and enjoyed staying at BLT . We feel the same about some of the resorts. We have had great stays at all of the ones we've stayed at, but we also have our favorites that appeal to us more than others. Also, great pics, thanks for sharing .

Okay ladies, I posted this as a thread, but thought I would ask here also.

As stated before we are CR CL TPV for our first Disney trip. I have two small kids and booked the TPV b/c I thought that they would love the fireworks from the room and the overall view. Now that I really stop to think about it, I am worried that we are spending a lot ($6,300 w/o flights) for a room that we really aren't going to be able to use. So my question is should we change to a different deluxe ( I was thinking WL) or is this something that we would regret?

Thank you in advance from a Disney novice!

We've never stayed at the CR so I can't comment from experience, but I agree with others that if it's doable financially, I'd stick with the CL TPV as I'm sure the view from the room is amazing. However, if it would be a strain, I'd consider another option. We've had 2 great stays at the WL as that is an amazing resort. Another option might be to drop CL and do a standard TPV room. Good luck deciding, although I'm sure you'll have a great trip no matter which resort you choose .

I'd answer this, but I'm not a lady, I'm a man.

It took me a few minutes, but I finally got it .

We have 10 more days till BLT and same story. Too poor as a child AND too poor a grandmom when we get back!! Oh well. Its all about the memories! Enjoy!

We have 11 more days till BLT so this poor grandma will see you there lol

I hope you both have great trips .

 

[annakate27]

So excited to be staying at CR in the Hospitaility suite CL in 12 days. We have stayed CL at the GF before but this is our first time at CR. anyone have any tips or suggestions?!?

 

[Happyjen27]

Okay ladies, I posted this as a thread, but thought I would ask here also.

As stated before we are CR CL TPV for our first Disney trip. I have two small kids and booked the TPV b/c I thought that they would love the fireworks from the room and the overall view. Now that I really stop to think about it, I am worried that we are spending a lot ($6,300 w/o flights) for a room that we really aren't going to be able to use. So my question is should we change to a different deluxe ( I was thinking WL) or is this something that we would regret?

Thank you in advance from a Disney novice!

This is my first stay at CR, so I don't have the voice of experience that so many others have. But, my take on TPV for fireworks for the kids is that my kids will very likely be asleep by the time the fireworks happen. Every family keeps a different schedule, but, for us, if they are in the room at fireworks time, they will be asleep, thus missing any benefit of TPV room. I tried for a TPV for we adults, but, there weren't any left in the discount class I was booking under, and it wasn't worth the upcharge for me to pay rack rate or CL.

As for CR vs WL, for us, it's all about the transportation. With littles that take a mid day break, we wanted easy transport, which lead us to CR. I think we will just keep trying different resorts until we find our favorite. I've heard good things about WL transport, but, in the end we decided to give a monorail resort one more try.

 

[Gryhndmom]

Had a friend stay at CR club level and had a good time...the visit to calif grill was not good ! She said food was good but...service was horrible! 20 min to order drinks, appetizer arrived before drinks and then the dinner arrived before appetizer plates had been cleared. Also very noisy and tables were close together. I was soo disappointed for her and her DH as I had told her how good our dinner etc. had been at Cali grill before the renovation. Hope others had better experiences !

On a good note for me.....next month I can make my DVC res for BLT next Oct. I love being able to book 11 mo out for my DVC home resort !!

 

[donnishobson]

Do I need quarters for the laundry machines or do they take KTTW card? Leaving in 4 days for 6 nights at the Contemporary!!

 

[dansdad]

Do I need quarters for the laundry machines or do they take KTTW card? Leaving in 4 days for 6 nights at the Contemporary!!

From post #2 of this thread.

Guest laundry facilites are located on the 2nd floor of the South Garden Wing.

Standard-size washers and dryers cost $2.00 per load and can only be paid with your KTTW card. (Helpful hint: Don't overload the dryer as it will take much longer for clothes to dry). Laundry rooms are open 24 hours with the use of your KTTW card. Single use packets of detergent, bleach and fabric softener are available. There is a change machine in the laundry room for the vending machine. The guest laundry has a television, chairs and folding area.

 

[WDWKOOK]

I am 2 weeks away from my 45-day payoff. So, so, so excited.

I'm doing a surprise trip for my twins. They have no idea. I got a little nervous when I was telling them about my coworker's trip because my son instantly said "Why are they staying there (CR)? They should stay at the Polynesian". YIKES!! So, I mentioned the monorail running through the building, and Chef Mickey being right there, and he said that maybe the little boy would enjoy it at CR too. I hope so! Luckily my kids are very good at enjoying the blessings offered them, and aren't really complainers.

And boy am I glad I changed to the tower when the winter special came out, so they can pop out of their rooms and see the monorail.

Looking forward to hearing about the big reveal and your children sound very sweet.

We're staying at the CR 3/31-4/5 in 2014. We're three adults and two kids (5&6). I've tried to search the thread, but does anyone have any pictures of what the daybeds look like in use? I'm trying to see if I can fit both of my kids in there or if they'll be sleeping on the floor/taking turns on the daybed. We'll already have sleeping bags for them since they sleep on the floor at my ILs in Ft Myers.

This is likely our last visit to Disney, at least for a few years, so we wanted to stay deluxe!

I'll add you to the Log-orail

This is the Poly's daybed, but the CR daybed is identical:

We stayed at BLT in a standard view studio room 7209 (2nd floor) for 7 nights in September. While we really enjoyed the resort, I don't think we'll be back. Nothing went wrong, it was a lovely stay, just other resorts appeal to us more (thank goodness there's so many resorts to choose from!).

FWIW, I loved the jazz/contemporary music playing in the courtyard, the pool area was nice (although, I'm not a big fan of resorts doing activities/games for hours on end with blaring PA systems. It was like that the 3 days we stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek too. I mean, there's usually only 3-5 kids playing so I'm sure they can all hear you and people love pools. You don't need to entice them), the pool bar and fire pit area was lovely, I spent a small fortune in Fantasia Market (they really have such a wide variety of stuff! I got sick the last 2 days of the trip and they had everything I needed), and I really enjoyed the gift shops and Contempo Café (the turkey sandwich was *delicious*) . I'm so glad we tried BLT!

My two wishes for this resort would be that they would add boat transportation to the MK and bus transportation to Epcot. I understand why they don't, but the monorail was super crowded and the walk wasn't very pleasant to MK during the day(heavy traffic and bus fumes and sewage/trash smells consistently at one point along the sidewalk) and the monorail took us forever to get back to our room from EPCOT in the evenings (we timed the 1st one at 1 hour and 5 minutes and the second night was 1 hour and 20 minutes from the time we got to the monorail platform in EPCOT until we crossed through the doors of the skyway at BLT. Like I said, none of this was enough to make us feel badly about the resort or ruined our day/trip (Lord knows, we've had our share of Disney transportation issues at almost every resort), just two wishes I had . I'd stay in a cardboard box and be happy at Disney.

Oh, and has anyone else had an issue with the water pressure/shower head? We had to finagle the lever to try and slow down the water 'cause it was almost painful (especially to sensitive areas!). I thought it was possibly just our shower until my parents said they had the same issue in their room the next day. Do we just have sensitive skin?

Thank you for posting your review and photos! We didn't have a problem with the pressure, but the overhead rain shower wouldn't turn on. Maybe if it had, the pressure would have been strong. Regarding the cardboard box, are we talking rack rate or AP rate?

I'd answer this, but I'm not a lady, I'm a man.

You're no lady, but as one, I'd love to see what you'd answer

You're no lady either, so I suspect you can empathize with NJRRK's predicament.

So excited to be staying at CR in the Hospitaility suite CL in 12 days. We have stayed CL at the GF before but this is our first time at CR. anyone have any tips or suggestions?!?

We would love to see some photos for the thread. I hope that's considered a suggestion. Have you read the CR section of the thread's first page? Do you have any specific questions?

Had a friend stay at CR club level and had a good time...the visit to calif grill was not good ! She said food was good but...service was horrible! 20 min to order drinks, appetizer arrived before drinks and then the dinner arrived before appetizer plates had been cleared. Also very noisy and tables were close together. I was soo disappointed for her and her DH as I had told her how good our dinner etc. had been at Cali grill before the renovation. Hope others had better experiences !

On a good note for me.....next month I can make my DVC res for BLT next Oct. I love being able to book 11 mo out for my DVC home resort !!

I've been reading some rather lackluster CA Grill reviews, too. I don't know if they just have some kinks to work out or if the edgy revamp is not up to previous standards. I will say that we used to go every visit, and some visits we had excellent service, and some were meh. We've always found it to be a bit hit or miss. But, the food was fairly consistently good and the view is always amazing! We are booked Christmas Day and I'm having seconds thoughts based on the recent reviews, especially with the additional holiday overcharges, like not being able to use TiW.

Happy booking soon for BLT!

 

[FigmentMomma]

Super excited. 9 days til our stay at CR! (10/27-11/1)

Can you see the characters at chef Mickey s as you walk by or is it separated somehow?

 

[donnishobson]

From post #2 of this thread.

Guest laundry facilites are located on the 2nd floor of the South Garden Wing.

Standard-size washers and dryers cost $2.00 per load and can only be paid with your KTTW card. (Helpful hint: Don't overload the dryer as it will take much longer for clothes to dry). Laundry rooms are open 24 hours with the use of your KTTW card. Single use packets of detergent, bleach and fabric softener are available. There is a change machine in the laundry room for the vending machine. The guest laundry has a television, chairs and folding area.

Okay. Kttw for the machines and quarters for the soap vending machine. Thanks.

 

[mickeynut1]

So excited to be staying at CR in the Hospitaility suite CL in 12 days. We have stayed CL at the GF before but this is our first time at CR. anyone have any tips or suggestions?!?

Have a great trip .

This is the Poly's daybed, but the CR daybed is identical:

My youngest DS thought the Poly daybed was super comfortable, so I hope the CR one is the same (when we eventually stay there ). He hated the daybed at the GF (said it was very uncomfortable).

Super excited. 9 days til our stay at CR! (10/27-11/1)

Have a great trip .

 

[sheri236]

hi!! my dh and i will be staying in a gv garden wing room for an adults only trip to celebrate my birthday feb 6 to 10!! I just have a couple of questions regarding room requests. can I request a king bed or is that an upgrade? I'm also going to call to request a ground floor room close to the lobby. is that reasonable?? thanks!

 

[WDWKOOK]

New DIS Park Bench video of the CR and Seven Seas Lagoon as seen from the Poly boat dock...with Polynesian music (and construction trucks beeping in the background). ENJOY!

 

[WDWKOOK]

hi!! my dh and i will be staying in a gv garden wing room for an adults only trip to celebrate my birthday feb 6 to 10!! I just have a couple of questions regarding room requests. can I request a king bed or is that an upgrade? I'm also going to call to request a ground floor room close to the lobby. is that reasonable?? thanks!

Congratulations on booking and I'll add you to the log-orail. You can't book a King in the GW, but you can request one. Only the Tower Club Level has king rooms that are bookable and the Deluxe GW rooms all have king beds, all other rooms are by-request only. Just call the WDTC and ask them to add "king bed" and "ground floor" to your reservation. Good luck!

 

[trishadono]

We're staying at the CR 3/31-4/5 in 2014. We're three adults and two kids (5&6). I've tried to search the thread, but does anyone have any pictures of what the daybeds look like in use? I'm trying to see if I can fit both of my kids in there or if they'll be sleeping on the floor/taking turns on the daybed. We'll already have sleeping bags for them since they sleep on the floor at my ILs in Ft Myers.

This is likely our last visit to Disney, at least for a few years, so we wanted to stay deluxe!

I have stayed at cr and the here is what I can tell you.

1. Easy to set up. The back just folds flat down and the bedding is already on it

2. It is long enough for someone 6ft tall.

3. It is comfortable too. Dd, ds and myself have all tried it.(kids were teens when we stayed there)

4. The width is not as wide as a twin. It will be close if they can share. If they not too tall maybe each sleep with head on either end and feet in middle? When I was young and we camped my sis and I shared a bed that size without any problems so it depends if the sleep ok together.

Would one grown up sleep there and put kids in bed? It is an actual mattress and very comfy.