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

[Tebrown96]

This whole thread is A-MAY-ZING! I am not even half-way through but have learned so much.

We're making our second family Disney trip in May 2014 and have a Garden Wing/Standard View room booked right now. I had been contemplating upgrading to a tower room if discounts are released for that time, but am rethinking that. On our previous trip (May 2012), we were in the parks the vast majority of the time and hardly spent any time at the resort, let alone in our room. I think we'll be perfectly content with our Garden Wing room and then be able to use any money saved if a discount is released towards 'extras' that we may not have done otherwise.

Which leads me to my question. What can you tell me about the Pirates and Pals cruise? I think our DD (will be 6 1/2 when we're there) would love this...she's a HUGE fan of pirates in general and of course Jake, Hook, Peter Pan specifically. What kind of 'snacks and drinks' are served? Is it worth the cost? We were also thinking of doing the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party - would this be worth doing instead of, or in addition to?

It's funny - we stayed at the Polynesian during our last trip and fell in love with it. I would have stayed there again in a heartbeat, but we really want to try something different this time. While I'm not wowed by the 'theming' at the CR, the proximity to the MK really sold me. I'm really hoping we all fall in love with it.

Can't wait to keep reading all the great info on here....thanks to everyone!

 

[MommaBarb]

We looked into David's to rent a one bedroom for the first week of April, but they couldn't find anything, many times. I tried another place and they had everything we wanted, but we couldn't make up our minds. With the discount that came out (35% off the room), it's cheaper to stay in the garden wing at CR. It's only about $600, but we have time to save for it vs having to pay for the room up front.

For us it's way more about location than the room anyway.

 

[jaz0308]

This whole thread is A-MAY-ZING! I am not even half-way through but have learned so much.

We're making our second family Disney trip in May 2014 and have a Garden Wing/Standard View room booked right now. I had been contemplating upgrading to a tower room if discounts are released for that time, but am rethinking that. On our previous trip (May 2012), we were in the parks the vast majority of the time and hardly spent any time at the resort, let alone in our room. I think we'll be perfectly content with our Garden Wing room and then be able to use any money saved if a discount is released towards 'extras' that we may not have done otherwise.

Which leads me to my question. What can you tell me about the Pirates and Pals cruise? I think our DD (will be 6 1/2 when we're there) would love this...she's a HUGE fan of pirates in general and of course Jake, Hook, Peter Pan specifically. What kind of 'snacks and drinks' are served? Is it worth the cost? We were also thinking of doing the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party - would this be worth doing instead of, or in addition to?

It's funny - we stayed at the Polynesian during our last trip and fell in love with it. I would have stayed there again in a heartbeat, but we really want to try something different this time. While I'm not wowed by the 'theming' at the CR, the proximity to the MK really sold me. I'm really hoping we all fall in love with it.

Can't wait to keep reading all the great info on here....thanks to everyone!

Hi! We did the Pirates and Pals cruise last summer and we LOVED it! It is pricey but I thought it was well worth it...especially if your child loves pirates! Snacks were just ok. I remember popcorn, cookies, cake, gold (chocolate) coins, mickey bars, fruit bars, lemonade, iced tea and probably a couple other things. Hook and Smee met for pics while you are snacking. The pirates that take you out are awesome! So entertaining for kids and adults! Cruise was awesome with pirate giving out prizes to all the kids. We watched wishes from the boat and then headed back. We were "surprised" by Peter Pan upon our return and he was very cool! One of my favorite meet and greets of the whole trip. The worst part for us was trying to get back on the monorail to get to Poly at that hour but for you staying in the CR you can go right back to your room. I highly recommend it!

 

[Disney44please]

Hey guys, can you take me off the log-rail? We changed our reservations to the WL and saved so much money we booked a second trip!! We are going on our new first trip to the CSR for 6 nights this December!! We will still go on our April trip also, so I am doubly excited now!!!

 

[Tebrown96]

Hi! We did the Pirates and Pals cruise last summer and we LOVED it! It is pricey but I thought it was well worth it...especially if your child loves pirates! Snacks were just ok. I remember popcorn, cookies, cake, gold (chocolate) coins, mickey bars, fruit bars, lemonade, iced tea and probably a couple other things. Hook and Smee met for pics while you are snacking. The pirates that take you out are awesome! So entertaining for kids and adults! Cruise was awesome with pirate giving out prizes to all the kids. We watched wishes from the boat and then headed back. We were "surprised" by Peter Pan upon our return and he was very cool! One of my favorite meet and greets of the whole trip. The worst part for us was trying to get back on the monorail to get to Poly at that hour but for you staying in the CR you can go right back to your room. I highly recommend it!

Awesome, thank you so much for your reply! Sounds fantastc, I think we'll do it! Do you have any experience with the Tomorrowland Terrace dessert party? Is the cruise better? Should we try to do both? TIA!

 

[jaz0308]

Awesome, thank you so much for your reply! Sounds fantastc, I think we'll do it! Do you have any experience with the Tomorrowland Terrace dessert party? Is the cruise better? Should we try to do both? TIA!

No, unfortunately we have not tried the dessert party. DD has peanut allergy so she couldn't eat anything! i'm sure others would have info though! have fun!

 

[SRUAlmn]

Awesome, thank you so much for your reply! Sounds fantastc, I think we'll do it! Do you have any experience with the Tomorrowland Terrace dessert party? Is the cruise better? Should we try to do both? TIA!

We've done the dessert party 4 times, but have never done the Pirate Cruise. I can answer any dessert party questions you have, but I won't be able to give you a comparison

 

[yce22princess]

Awesome, thank you so much for your reply! Sounds fantastc, I think we'll do it! Do you have any experience with the Tomorrowland Terrace dessert party? Is the cruise better? Should we try to do both? TIA!

We've done both and my vote would be for the Pirates and Pals cruise. My daughters, 7 and 4, had a blast and so did the adults! As for the dessert party, you get a slightly different view of the fireworks and the dessert was pretty good, but we think we got more of our money's worth out of the cruise for sure.

 

[Disney Mommy D]

Hi all! I am just beginning to plan our second trip to WDW. We will be staying at the Contemporary. I am leaning toward going April 27-May 1 or May 4-8. Does anyone have feedback on which week they think would be better for crowds?

 

[Pjimmeyer]

Hi all! I am just beginning to plan our second trip to WDW. We will be staying at the Contemporary. I am leaning toward going April 27-May 1 or May 4-8. Does anyone have feedback on which week they think would be better for crowds?

Hi I would guess both would be very similar being after spring break and before summer ramps up. Cinco De Mayo weekend can be a busy time at Disneyland but I don't think it's as big of a deal at WDW.

 

[KathieSmallwood]

Just got back from a 7 day stay at Bay Lake Tower in a one bed room theme park view and it was wonderful. It's depressing being back in cold Ohio . I want to go back so bad.

 

[thornphoenix]

Hi all!!

I've been reading through pages of this wonderful post, but can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for, so I apologize if this is common knowledge.

Are room only discounts (non-AP and AP) typically available for the CR Tower rooms or are those type of rooms typically excluded/restricted from room only discounts? The reason I'm asking about both non-AP and AP room-only discounts is because we know we'll be staying at least 10-days, which would mean no AP, or we may be staying longer than 10 days, which means we'd likely get APs.

Also, if I book my CR Tower room 499 days out, but the discounts don't come out until, say, 3-4 months before travel, can the discount be applied to an existing reservation or are the discounts only for new reservations?

We're planning a trip for Sept/Oct 2015 so still a ways out, however I'm glad to be planning early as it appears things are way more complicated since we last visited.

Thanks very much for your helpful knowledge!!

 

[GovieMom]

Are room only discounts (non-AP and AP) typically available for the CR Tower rooms or are those type of rooms typically excluded/restricted from room only discounts?

We were fortunate enough to get a 35% room-only discount in the Tower for February. The theme-park view rooms were excluded, so we had to get Bay Lake side, which I know will still be wonderful. We felt lucky to get that, as the CR has often either been excluded from discounts altogether, or else at a measly 5%. Best of luck!

 

[mickeynut1]

Hi all!!

I've been reading through pages of this wonderful post, but can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for, so I apologize if this is common knowledge.

Are room only discounts (non-AP and AP) typically available for the CR Tower rooms or are those type of rooms typically excluded/restricted from room only discounts? The reason I'm asking about both non-AP and AP room-only discounts is because we know we'll be staying at least 10-days, which would mean no AP, or we may be staying longer than 10 days, which means we'd likely get APs.

Also, if I book my CR Tower room 499 days out, but the discounts don't come out until, say, 3-4 months before travel, can the discount be applied to an existing reservation or are the discounts only for new reservations?

We're planning a trip for Sept/Oct 2015 so still a ways out, however I'm glad to be planning early as it appears things are way more complicated since we last visited.

Thanks very much for your helpful knowledge!!

Tower rooms are usually included in discounts, but as the pp mentioned, sometimes they are on the lower end (5% or 20% vs 30-35%). When we were looking at going this December, the tower rooms were discounted 20%, but the new discount that just came out for January-March include CR tower rooms at 35% (at least that's what they are for the dates we were looking at for March). Whether or not a particular room type is included in a promo depends on how many rooms need to be filled for a particular time frame.

If you book early and a discount comes out later, your reservation can be modified to reflect the discount, provided the resort/room type you have booked is available under that promo. Sometimes you have to be flexible with your resort/room type as having a reservation already in place does not guarantee a discount can be applied.

HTH .

 

[thornphoenix]

GovieMom and Mickeynut, thanks so much for sharing your experiences and knowledge on the CR Tower rooms and potential discounts. I'm looking to book a bay lake view instead of theme park view so hopefully we'll get lucky and a room only discount can be applied. Although 30-35% would be phenomenal, I'm not expecting that and will be happy with 25, 20, or even a 5% discount.....better than nothing...or actually it just occurred to me I should do my original booking using a AAA discount, which I think is more than 5%, and then I'll change to a room-only discount if it's a better deal.

Thanks again!!

 

[Tebrown96]

We've done both and my vote would be for the Pirates and Pals cruise. My daughters, 7 and 4, had a blast and so did the adults! As for the dessert party, you get a slightly different view of the fireworks and the dessert was pretty good, but we think we got more of our money's worth out of the cruise for sure.

Thanks, all, for your input. Went ahead and made a reservation for the pirate cruise and I'm very excited about it. I think we'll try to keep it a surprise for DD, she'll flip!

 

[syp4dis]

Can anyone point me towards some trip reports from guests that stayed at CR? I would love to read their experiences since I've never stayed there. It's difficult to sort through them all.

Thank you in advance!

 

[mickeynut1]

GovieMom and Mickeynut, thanks so much for sharing your experiences and knowledge on the CR Tower rooms and potential discounts. I'm looking to book a bay lake view instead of theme park view so hopefully we'll get lucky and a room only discount can be applied. Although 30-35% would be phenomenal, I'm not expecting that and will be happy with 25, 20, or even a 5% discount.....better than nothing...or actually it just occurred to me I should do my original booking using a AAA discount, which I think is more than 5%, and then I'll change to a room-only discount if it's a better deal.

Thanks again!!

You're welcome . Have fun planning and I hope a good discount comes out for your time frame .

 

[GovieMom]

You're welcome . Have fun planning and I hope a good discount comes out for your time frame .

Ditto from me!

 

[Mousemommy1]

You're welcome . Have fun planning and I hope a good discount comes out for your time frame .

You won't be surprised to see me here I'm sure...

I found a TPV in my price range!

Kookalicious Queen of the CR thread...if you could deploy the ...ahem..special quill. Please note that I am now booked from 8/16/14 - 8/21/14 in an Atrium Club TPV room!!! Then, we will sail off on the Dream...

I should note too, that the tower club was showing as available with military rate when I called.