Contemporary....anyone???

[minivan3]

My DH just agreed to a spur of the moment Spring Break trip!!
Using my AP discount, I was looking to stay in a moderate, but since we are a familly of 5 there were no rooms left for the week we wanted and the size room we needed. In fact, moving up through all of the deluxe resorts, it was the same story. Except , for the Contemporary. I've never stayed there. I love the themed resorts. (Just spent Christmas at the WL!) Am I going to like Contemporary? I love the shops, the monorail, and the restaurants. I love the closeness to MK, my favorite park. But, I've never had a real "Disney" sense about the place when visiting to eat there. So, please tell me , all you who love it, that it will be great when I am there!!!

 

[DVC-Don]

We love the CR, but have only stayed in the tower. I like to just look down into the concourse or gaze at the MK, PR, GF and Seven Seas Lagoon from my balcony (got MK side both times). That place was built by Walt's brother, Roy and you can feel the Disney's there. Well, least I can.

 

[Minky]

The CR is my FAVORITE resort!! I love the themed resorts like you do and always have a wonderful time when I stay there...but you and I both share the same favorite park...and you just cant beat this resort when it comes to that! we had a 12th floor room, with the best view of the castle, so you could fall asleep watching it change colors, and it is actually faster to walk to MK from the hotel than to take the monorail. Which is VERY convenient! The main concourse is so cool, fun shopping, fun restaurants, a coffee bar!
I love this place so much and knowing that it was Walt's baby makes it that much more special. I hope you have the most magical stay ever!!

 

[winniedapooh]

Love it and am so jealous.....you are going to have a ball. We also love the WL but the CR is near and dear to my heart. Have a blast.

 

[goofynme]

The Contemporary is an awesome resort. We stayed there last October and loved it. Obviously Monorail and location are very nice features but I know that I really love being on the grand concourse and watching the monorail move by, popping in Chef Mickey's and I am a huge fan of the counter service and huge arcade. I think you will love the Contemporay!!!!

 

[tbthomps]

The Contemporary is hands down our family's favorite resort.

I also question how you can not feel the Disney Spirit there....the MONORAIL, CHEF MICKEY's, and with the MK tower view......who could ask for more.

WE LOVE THE CONTEMPORARY, unfortunately we are now spoiled and do not want to stay anywhere else.


Our biggest surprise was the California Grill....why, because it was our four year old's FAVORITE RESTAURANT!!! Who would have thought???

 

[Del]

We love the CR!!! We felt as if we were in the backyard of MK, that's how close you are to it. The ease of the monorail, looking over the concourse area, proximity of Chef Mickey, walking to MK on the walking path. It was light and airy (unlike the POly which is dark and dreary) and everyone was so nice. The kids loved the arcade! I'd go back in a second. I've only stayed in the Tower and am not familiar with the garden wing rooms; but the Tower was wonderful. Good luck!

Del

 

[Deborah_Mary]

During my 6 visits to DW 2 of them were spent at the Poly with my parents when I was teen and 4 of them at the CR with dh and dds. Needless to say we also LOVE the CR and even though I'm just thinking about staying somewhere else this coming visit, it's going to be tough to convince my dh to stay anywhere else, he loves it there (so does dd!) Everything is so close and we really enjoy the Concourse Steakhouse for breakfast. Out of the 4 times we've stayed there two times were in the south wing and two times were in the tower MK view. The tower (MK view) is breathtaking!! With the things that have already been mentioned (walk to/from MK, monorail, Chef Mickey's which we love, one stop away to the TTC...) we just can't get enough. Our last trip we finally took the little boat over to WL and FW and had a nice time roaming the grounds there. We had dinner at Trail Ends at FW and really had a nice time there also stopped at the petting zoo too.

I think you will enjoy your stay there very much. Now, if only I can get my dh to book our trip...

Deb*

 

[eeyore0062]

We enjoyed staying at the Contemporary. No, it isn't as intricately themed as WL, AKL, etc., but to us, the size of the rooms and the convenience more than made up for it. I liked the shopping there, the pools are pretty good, there are 2 hot tubs.

We stayed in the South Wing, overlooking Bay Lake on the 3rd floor, and it was great.

Just remember, the Contemporary is scheduled for a rehab, so if the carpets look worn in the hallways, etc Disney is aware and taking care of it. Don't let something like that turn you off.

The castmembers are nice and efficient and you will find touches of Mickey throughout the resort. We like this resort as it was planned by Walt himself, so it is definitely a Disney original!

 

[snowbunny]

Five of us stayed in a tower room in the CR and had a great time. View of the castle can't be beat, my youngest slept in the daybed with the balcony drape open so he could watch the colors change as he fell asleep. You're right in the middle of the action at the Contemporary. Someone wrote on another thread that it reminds them of the Disneyland hotel and this may be why I loved it - took me back to my childhood that way. Enjoy!

 

[nygrl]

we lov love love the cr i feel everything about it is disney. just walking in and seeing all the shops and chef mickeys with all the characters walking around really reminds you that you are in disneyworld. We had a tower room with a bay view and we loved it so dont feel you have to have a room facing the mk the bay side is great too. have fun!

 

[moonmomma]

Thank you to everyone posting such great positive things about the CR!....i'll be there in march and was getting a little worried reading some of the not so good stuff on other threads....although i do tend to skip over the negs and concentrate on what others did enjoy about it....i realize everyone has their own opinions.

We went to CM for dinner in December and i absolutely loved the feel of the resort as soon as i stepped off the monorail....to me it felt EXACTLY right....it was very exciting to be in the middle of it all!

I LOVE reading how much people love this resort....keep it coming!!

 

[minivan3]

Thanks to everyone for the replies!!! I have always loved Chef Mickey's and the monorail, as stated in original post. I probably won't have a view of the castle being in the garden wing, but I will love being able to walk to the park!! (By the way, is there any place , like a lounge, to sit at the hotel if you don't have a castle view, to watch it change colors?)
We have always wanted to stay in a "monorail resort" now we are getting to stay in the original one!!! Very cool!
Thanks for all the positive things! This has helped me feel so much more comfortable spending the money. I can't wait to see the big rooms.
Thanks again everyone!!

 

[goofy4tink]

My dh and I were talking about our upcoming trip in June. We will be at BCV. But we both said how much we wish CR was a dvc resort!!! We both love it there. I think that it is hands down my dd's favorite resort also. We stayed in the north garden wing last summer. We were there for only 2 nights before we moved over to bwv. We loved the area!! Our room faced Bay Lake towards WL. It was quiet and peaceful. Then we just walked out the door and headed down the walkway to MK. The monorail passing overhead. What could be more Disney than that??

We tend to book a value resort for those week-end stays that cost us so much in points. But, if I can get the CR for a good rate, that's where we'll be. We certainly didn't let a little worn carpet impact our stay.

 

[AndyMcV]

We actually Stayed at the Swan in 2003 and one night went over to the Contemporary to shop and watch the fireworks. You can go up the stairs on the north side of the tower and on the ends you can walk outside on large balconies. It was really great and a really nice view of the fireworks.

 

[minivan3]

Thanks Goofy4tink!! I thought a water/garden wing room would still be great. How neat to leave out your door and just walk to the MK!!

Thanks AndyMcV for the tip on the lounges, I was hoping for such a thing!

 

[sotoalf]

Everyone raves about staying in the Tower, but for my money the best rooms - and most underrated at Disney - are the CR's garden water views. We stayed in teh North Garden Wing last June, facing Bay Lake. The tranquility was unparalleled. In the morning I'd sit on the patio watching the boat traffic with my coffee; at night I would relax with a drink.

You can't go wrong with either a wing stay or Tower view.

 

[cmonroe]

As you can see from my signature, aside from one time, it is the only resort we've stayed at in our 20+ times to WDW. The tower is wonderful. The wings are nice, but if you have a preference, ask for the North wing, that way you can see the fireworks from MK at night if you are in the room. The others are correct. There isn't in-your-face theming, but you just feel Disney when you're there. It's hard to explain and some people don't "feel it". I and the rest of these posters absolutely love CR, and chances are you will too.

 

[rcraw45425]

As you can see by my signature, we have stayed there the most of any of our stays and will be there for Spring Break also. It's such a grat place. Granted there isn't the "in your face" theming that you get at some of the Disney properties but the convenience and spaciousness can't be beat. We stayed at the WL and Poly last fall and, though lovely, we want to go back to the CR. DH, who is not a shopper, even remarked that the concourse at the CR seems to have the best variety of shopping venues, although we enjoyed the ones at WL also. I fell like you're going to become another CR convert! Maybe we'll run into each other!

 

[cmonroe]

echo echo echo

One more thing to add. Even if you don't face MK, the watching the sun rise from your room over bay lake is wonderful as well. As sotoalf mentions, it is certainly under-rated.