Contemporary Garden Wing lovers, tell me why you love it!

[momofmikey]

We are thinking of switching our ressies from 2 rooms at the Pop to 1 room at the Contemporary Garden Wing. We've gone every year for the last 20 years, staying at all different levels, and I've never considered the Contemporary, mainly because of its looks lol. Budget doesn't allow for the Tower rooms, so definitely the Garden Wing. We did Polynesian last year and loved it of course, but want something different. We are partial to MK, so the Epcot resorts don't wow us. Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[blessedby3]

We have stayed at the CR once and BLT once. We LOVE the location for the MK!! You cant beat walking to the MK I dont have a problem with the decor/theming of the CR. I love it as it was an original resort and I love that the monorail runs right through the middle of the hotel!! How cool is that? The rooms are huge as well. We love the MK resorts as well and have stayed at every level the resorts offer. We have a May trip booked and have 4 nights at the CR (GW room) followed by 4 at the Grand Floridian (first time there). We have also stayed at the Poly and the WL so we have tried all resorts right by the MK. I dont think you can go wrong with the CR

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would definitely switch from POP to CR!! The garden wing rooms are lovely. Nice decor, spacious and not a very long walk from the tower building. I would ask for a first floor room so you have a patio. What I LOVE about the garden wing is you can totally avoid the elevators in CR which get really crowded! You simply walk through the lobby to get to the buses and path to MK and take the escalators to the monorail and 4th floor amenities.

 

[lady_hlh]

I never was thrilled by the Contemporary but my DD picked it a few years back because she wanted to walk in to MK. Now it is one of my favorite resorts and we always stay in the garden wing in a first floor room so that we have a patio. I love the very large rooms with the daybeds, especially because now we bring our DD plus a friend. Walking back and forth to MK whenever you want is amazing just like my DD thought it would be. The walk over to the main building is quick, we had much longer walks at values and mods. If I had tons of money to blow maybe I would book a tower room but the elevators seem like a hassle so I'm not sure that I would do it. I would probably blow the $s on the Poly with a theme park view instead.

 

[Mousemommy1]

I love POP and CR wasn't our favorite, but in a choice between the two, I would absolutely choose CR!!!

The location is awesome. We loved walking back/forth from MK.

The rooms are large and I love that the resort is pretty compact. The pool was never crowded either.

 

[momofmikey]

Thank you! We made the switch and I requested 1st floor, lake view. Very excited to try something new!

 

[JuniorSkipper]

It was very quiet which I loved a lot. Also we had a great view out our window. It was a lot less chaotic than staying in the towers. It isn't far at all, in fact it was 1/2 mile from our room to the back of fantasyland.

 

[DG25]

We love CR, maybe due to the excellent upgrade we got to hospitality suite. We had a garden view room, since it was club level we had to wait for elevators, which are very slow and crowded, so for just the room, I would agree with pp, better to have a garden view. The decor was nice and fresh, the black and yellow worked very well. The garden room was nice also for the pool, would hate to have to walk thru resturaunts and lobbies to get to the pool. The ablility to walk 5 minutes from MK was great, at night way to many people on monorail so we walked it. Not a fan of the buses, felt they were very slow there. We love wilderness and prefer it, but would never turn down CR, we are not fans of BLT, most undisney staff over there.

 

[Babsy]

WE Love the CR garden rooms! Of course, we also love staying in the tower, but the garden rooms are wonderful as well. The views from the garden wing rooms are often lovely and would be an uncharge for most resorts - some rooms have gorgeous lake views. We like the quiet of the garden wing, which is a nice refuge from the hustle and bustle of the main building. We are constantly thankful when staying at the CR for the convenience of being so close to the MK. We love the large, comfortable rooms. WE like the covered walkway between the main building and the garden wing for shelter from rain or sun. We like the significant savings while staying walking distance to the MK!

I also like the convenient transportation options from the CR. I love that we can walk 5 minutes to the MK bus stop and travel directly to any other resort. I like the monorail access to the Poly and the GF and the boat that goes to the WL and FW. it just feels like everything in 'The World' is right there at my doorstep. I love the feeling of 'connectedness' (is that a word?) to all of WDW. I guess that it is because we never have a car at WDW. SO many resorts seem detached from one another when you have to rely on WDW transportation.

I like the energy of the CR, the feeling of excitement. The monorail glides through your resort! It feels like quintessential Disney, it has always been a part of the MK for me ever since our first visit in 1971. It is fun going around on the railroad in the MK and catching a glimpse of 'our' resort.

We were surprised at how much we enjoyed the pool area. While not a highlight of the resort, we liked the views over Bay Lake and enjoyed the fact that the pool was never crowded.

We have always found the CM's at the CR to be friendly and helpful.

Staying at the CR is always magical to us. It feels like we are living in Tomorrowland.

We love all the MK area resorts. I cannot pick a favourite between them, in fact. So, for me, the CR is up there with the Poly and the GF. POP is a nice value resort, but it is not in the same league as the CR.

Enjoy your trip!!!!!

 

[happymommy]

You made a great choice!

For us, Epcot resorts are our favorites, but... if you love MK, then you can't get any better! I've stayed at the CR twice as a kid (first trip when MK was the only park, then later with my mom), and then with my family in a wing room. The garden wing is much quieter and nicer if you ask me! We had a ground floor room and had a playground right outside our room (great for my ADHD son back then...). It was huge. It was probably the largest standard room I've had at Disney.

I do love two rooms, but if you like MK, I think you will love it! And I've loved my two stays at GF (one was our honeymoon), never had desire to stay at Poly (I lived in Hawaii so to me it would feel cheesy). I loved GF but don't like the fact that it's different buildings, so unless you shell out more than I would like to and can't justify to stay in the main building, I hate that it's so spread out.

Enjoy!

 

[wdwnut61]

Love this thread makes me even more excited for our upcoming stay. Having stayed in the tower twice before we are looking forward to our first stay in the garden wings.

 

[Scott MC]

The *only* issue we had with the wing was that the hallways were a bit narrow and the hallway ceilings were low. DF is 6'5 and it was almost humorous! That said, once you get inside the room, it's like any room in the main building. It's huge, it's very nicely appointed, the beds and bedding are comfy, and the AC is super strong (which was perfect in August!) We had a standard view and loved our 2nd floor view of the monorail disappearing into the main CR building. Of course, if the money allowed, we'd prefer to stay in the main building, simply to be closer to the action, but would not hesitate to stay in the garden wing again. Overall, we loved it, and it's a heck of an upgrade from Pop!

 

[LovesDonald]

Do only the ground floor garden wing have patios? We are trying to decide CR or Boardwalk in May (just me and DH, leaving the college aged kids at home lol) - my DH will prob want to rest and enjoy the atmosphere (he has disabilities) during the trip - is this a good resort.
Have stayed prev at Port Orleans FQ and Wilderness (he doesn't like the woodsy area), wanted to splurge a bit but not too much - is it still a magical resort?

 

[Mainemama]

I love the Garden wing! in fact, I just booked a trip to Poly as a second choice. (No Garden wing CR) available. The room size is massive. Although the Garden view is typically mid tier in any other resort, in the Garden Wing, this view may give you a view of the lake! We ended up with a gorgeous view and loved the nightly electric water pageant at bedtime! The pool, while simpler than many, stays pretty calm and relaxing. Again, great view! Contempo Café is the best quick service anywhere, IMHO. Easy access to monorail, MK, the Wave, and CG are obviously fabulous, but we were surprised to find how much we liked the separateness of the GW. The rooms are beautifully decorated. Can you tell I love it?

 

[minoh]

We'll be at CR in a GW room in less than a week! Can't believe our first Disney trip is just a few days away. It's great to hear the positive reviews of the GW, we're really looking forward to staying there, especially given the short distance to MK. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[rosie49ers80]

We'll be at CR in a GW room in less than a week! Can't believe our first Disney trip is just a few days away. It's great to hear the positive reviews of the GW, we're really looking forward to staying there, especially given the short distance to MK. Hope you have a great trip!

We are also heading to the GW for the first time this August. We scored a GW Deluxe room with the military discount. Looking forward to being close to the pool area too. Last year at AKL it felt a million miles away. Speaking of the pool area, is there much shade there? I haven't seen many pictures with shade? Thanks

 

[Babsy]

Do only the ground floor garden wing have patios? We are trying to decide CR or Boardwalk in May (just me and DH, leaving the college aged kids at home lol) - my DH will prob want to rest and enjoy the atmosphere (he has disabilities) during the trip - is this a good resort.
Have stayed prev at Port Orleans FQ and Wilderness (he doesn't like the woodsy area), wanted to splurge a bit but not too much - is it still a magical resort?

Yes, only the ground floor have patios. The second and third floor rooms in the garden wing do not have balconies.

I love the Garden wing! in fact, I just booked a trip to Poly as a second choice. (No Garden wing CR) available. The room size is massive. Although the Garden view is typically mid tier in any other resort, in the Garden Wing, this view may give you a view of the lake! We ended up with a gorgeous view and loved the nightly electric water pageant at bedtime! The pool, while simpler than many, stays pretty calm and relaxing. Again, great view! Contempo Café is the best quick service anywhere, IMHO. Easy access to monorail, MK, the Wave, and CG are obviously fabulous, but we were surprised to find how much we liked the separateness of the GW. The rooms are beautifully decorated. Can you tell I love it?

Yes, and I agree!! The garden wing at the CR is a great choice. Plus, we love the Contempo Cafe as well!

I think that you will enjoy the Poly very much, though. It is tied along with the GF and CR as our t2 hree fav resorts in all of WDW!

We are also heading to the GW for the first time this August. We scored a GW Deluxe room with the military discount. Looking forward to being close to the pool area too. Last year at AKL it felt a million miles away. Speaking of the pool area, is there much shade there? I haven't seen many pictures with shade? Thanks

Congratulations! What a great opportunity!

No, there isn't a lot of shade at the CR pool, IIRC. We rented a cabana once which was very nice for a 1/2 day. I'm not sure if those are still available, however.