Contemporary, Never Again!

[Peter Pirate]

Reading your post sounds to me like trouble going in. You liked the lobby because it had enough space for the kids to "run around"? What's this a lobby of deluxe hotel or a playground? Perhaps the CM's noticied this as well. You made mention of no "towel animals". When did this become standard and complainable? If you've received this before (at other Resorts) that's great and you should be pleased, but it isn't standard procedure. No birthday wishes and they knew it was a birthday? Why? Because you told them? Were you once again expecting something beyond normal service? Happy birthdays, anniversieries, congratulations, etc. are all great when appropriate, but should they be expected? What should they do? Sing and dance? Free plushes? Would a 'happy birthday' greeting really mean anything to a 1 year old?

I won't take any issue with the decor or wear and tear (this is probably an accurate assesment) but CM's do a great job day in and day out but are certainly never perfect and I get a little negative when I read a post slamming them over a perceived slight.

OK. Flame away.

 

[Aisling]

Wow, I hate to hear negative experiences about the CR. I hope you give it another chance, in the tower next time, and hopefully you'll have a better time.
We love this hotel. I haven't stayed in the wings, so I can't help with that, but our 11th floor tower room was awesome. I do admit that the carpet felt damp, and there was rust on the balcony. It does indeed need touching up.But when I made my ressie, I mentioned that we were celebrating my mom's 60th birthday, and she was surprised with 2 balloons and a signed Mickey and Minnie photo-card. She was thrilled. I give the CM responsible for that an A-PLUS. Also, my son, who is in love with Pocahontas, missed her at the princess breakfast. So I bought him a Pocahontas pin and asked a desk CM if she would deliver it up to our room, "from Pocohantas". I tried to give her a couple of dollars, but she wouldn't take it. With a smile, she said sh'd take care of it. I don't know how she got there before I did, but when I got up to the room, my son said a CM gave him a gift and a note from Pocohantas. The CM even wrote a cute note and signed it like POcahontas! That was a Double A-PLUS.
My only disappointment was that I'd read that the elevators announce the fllors in Mickey's voice, but we didn't have that on any of the elevators we went on.

I'd love for the CR to get new carpets, paint the balcony railings, ect, but the whole place is so alive that it didn't ruin it for me. I'd love to stay there again.

 

[gepetto]

Ok, now I am scared, we are going to the CR in 2 weeks. Has anyone had a GOOD experience there??? Please tell me yes!!
Wendy

We didn't have a problem. Stayed regular tower. No concierge. CM's were polite and efficient. As far as housekeeping goes, all I want is my room cleaned at a reasonable time of day. Don't care about towel sculptures. The rooms are very big and the beds are comfortable. I also preferred the bay view over MK.


It's a nice resort with a good location...I would stay there again.

 

[tiggersmom2]

We didn't have a problem. Stayed regular tower. No concierge. CM's were polite and efficient. As far as housekeeping goes, all I want is my room cleaned at a reasonable time of day. Don't care about towel sculptures. The rooms are very big and the beds are comfortable. I also preferred the bay view over MK.


It's a nice resort with a good location...I would stay there again.

Ditto! The only difference here is I had a north wing room. It was spacious and clean.....I also had an awesome rate 149.00, can't beat that!

 

[rcraw45425]

In all the times we have stayed onsite, and it's several, we have NEVER received a towel animal. I tip mousekeeping in the cute little envelopes, the whole deal. I figure that sometimes you just get lucky. guess it would just give DD's something to be disappointed in if it didn't happen the next time. We have always had excellent service at the CR and I feel that the quirky decor just adds to the charm. I tend to overlook stained carpet since I have children and know how hard it is to keep things spotless. All I can say is if it bothers you that much stay somewhere else the next time although I think you'll be hard pressed to find accomodations that size in that price range within walking distance to the happiest place on earth anywhere else

 

[javaj]

We stayed at CR Tower for 9 nights before Christmas, we also had a bad experience. We had no running hot water 2 mornings, we got the runaround when trying to figure out what was going on. The CM tried to tell us to keep the water running and the hot water would come back eventually, this was after we let the water run for 45 minutes at 8 am. We also got the runaround for a gift basket delivery from WDW florists that was never delivered (at the front desk, they were supposed to deliver it PLUS they couldn't find it when we tried to pick it up).

The wear and tear on the hotel also seemed worse to us. The elevators, carpets in the hallways, and walls seemed very dirty.

This was very disappointing because the CR used to be our favorite due to its proximity to the MK.

We wrote an email a few weeks ago but never got a response.

 

[Ladyhawke10]

In all the times we have stayed onsite, and it's several, we have NEVER received a towel animal. I tip mousekeeping in the cute little envelopes, the whole deal. I figure that sometimes you just get lucky. =QUOTE]

I agree. We have only received towel animals on rare occasions...once in Beach club concierge and once in Wilderness Lodge concierge...that's it after many, many stays! We never expect them but are pleasantly surprised when they show up. I've never received them at GF and that is my favorite resort....it doesn't impact the quality of the stay for me at all. When we are really craving towel animals, a Disney cruise is the answer. The mousekeeping does them for every room there (I think, as least as far as I know about) and they are really elaborate!

 

[Ladyhawke10]

You know, this is just a dream of mine that many may not agree with, but I wanted to see if anyone else felt the same. I've never stayed in CR because the retro futurama theme didn't appeal to me. I would think they don't need another resort along the lines of GF/ Yacht Club/ Beach club/ Boardwalk but I think the location of the Contemporary could really be utilized with a theme that was more appealing...I mean, some of the themes are more dated than others, and Contemporary is one of the first resorts. I think the space theme is really unique and goes with Walt's vision, but wouldn't it be great to really jazz up the space theme and make it much more "elegant universe" (I know, weird juxtaposition) than old-fashioned-in-need-of-rehab 50s space? That's just my personal fantasy for the contemporary. I love the location and amenities, just wish the theme could be revamped a bit

 

[pearlieq]

We had our worst resort experience at CR. We were on the 12th floor, and the whole place was very underwhelming. It was dark, dirty, and plain. The pool was unclean and unexciting. The CMs were disinterested, at best.

Never, ever again! I think I would stay at the All Stars again before I went back to CR!

 

[swilphil]

Ok, now I am scared, we are going to the CR in 2 weeks. Has anyone had a GOOD experience there??? Please tell me yes!!
Wendy

Here is a thread with lots of specific info about CR:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=692446&page=1&pp=15

I had heard some negative things about CR, but I looked at pictures on allearsnet.com. The pictures of both the rooms and the grounds looked fun, so we booked at room at $199 on the AP rate for spring break.

I have found on these boards that there have been negative things said about ALL the resorts, but there is nothing like checking it out for yourself. We love the Swan/Dolphin though some say it's not "Disney enough." During this trip, we are going to look at the Poly to see if we might want to stay there in the future.

 

[jillhou]

We have only stayed there once and enjoyed it very much. Kids loved the colors and shapes and arcade!

I agree with the poster making the comments about the 'no towel animals' deal. I mean - do people really 'expect' that these days? We are not frequent guests, but we have been numerous times and have never received them and most of the time spend time at the deluxe resorts due to our family being 5 in number.

I need to see if I can find my bill from Christmas - I have never found the accounting system to be diffiicult to understand at all. In fact - I have no idea what is even being talked about here as being confusing, so obviously, it has never confused me.

Although we liked the CR, we DID understand that it is sort of 'deluxe light' if you know what I mean. Comparing costs for CR with other monorail MK resorts and you should realize it will not be as nice as Poly or GF. Seems there are always good deals to be had there when they may not be available at the other monorail resorts.....

If they update carpeting and all like I am hearing - doing a pretty big refurb I think - then maybe they will start charging more in line with the other monorail resorts.

Takes all kinds....and as I always try to say here...we only get one side of the story......perceptions are not always accurate.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm sorry, but you lost my sympathy with the complaint about no towel animals. When did this become something they had to do? I stayed in the same wing as you last October, and I do agree it is a bit dingey and worn. But I believe it is also scheduled to be redone very soon. So yes there is a problem but they are already well aware and are addressing it. As far as the rude CM, for that there is no excuse! My family had nothing but happy, helpful CM's, an we were wished a magical day more times than I can remember. And my nieces and nephew loved the pool area. We did not notice any dirt, and the lifeguards even helped us get my 4yr old niece down the pool slide. Now when we talk about our next trip, it is where everyone wants to stay!

 

[msvlwb]

I have to agree with the poster. We stayed at the CR for my son's 8th birthday. They did leave him ballons in the room. The main problem we had was the cleanliness. We were in a wing room. Dust and dirt around the bed frame, leftover m&m's and toys were found on our floor. The staff was not ready for us at check in. They had us on the wrong day even though my reservation should the correct one. The noise in the hallways is very loud. I wish parents would not let the kids run scraming down the hallway. I always tell mine to think about "babies that might be sleeping" so they are quiet.
Anyway on our last day there at 9:00 we went to get breakfast, came back and were locked out of our room. We went to the front desk and were told that someone would be there within 30 minutes! Then we waited 20 and no one came. A housekeeper let us in without checking our ID and she had not been told to by the frontdesk. We called and the desk and they said the were sorry we got locked out oh well! And never restored our privleges. And we had no balances or anything on it. I would only stay at CR again in the tower, maybe. We love the arcade and Chef Mickey's but we can go use that without styaing there. We love Riverside and will stay there again. Always friendly and clean. More to do on the grounds there too.

 

[Lives4Disney]

We have always LOVED the CR. My kids call it their "home away from home" because we visited about 3 times a year for 10 years on the 12th floor. That said - we decided to SPLURGE on a 14th floor one bedroom suite over the Thanksgiving holiday. We really thought we were in for a treat!! What a bummer it turned out to be. It was DIGUSTINGLY dirty and poorly maintained. Total disappointment. I am not a neat freak at all - but black dirty grout in the shower and ceiling tiles caving in over the sink with dusty gunk hanging there grosses me out. There was more, but I already started a thread on it when we returned. I agree that the CR really seems to be showing it's age lately. This visit really turned me off on it. There were stains on the hall carpets (14th floor) and many stains in the elevators and in the 4th floor gift shop area. Just dirty overall. The elevators no longer have the characters anounce the floor, either. That used to be a really cute touch. I emailed them about my maintenance issues (2 months ago) and have never heard from them.

In all our visits to the world we only received towel animals one time - at the GF for Thanksgiving. It was a turkey and also a pilgrm. That was just a thrill for my kids, but I never expected them - ever.

I also have to say that the CMs at the CR have consistently been great on all of our visits. There are so many different views on the CMs at all the resorts I guess it just all depends on who you deal with.

Anyway, I sure hope they do a thorough job updating the CR!! I just love the location and to me it always seemed the most Disneyish of the resorts!

 

[Jynohn]

We stayed at the Contemporary North Garden Wing through Shades of Green last year and I have to agree with the OP about the shabby condition of the hallways. I've stayed in Days Inns with much better conditions. We noticed right away peeling wallpaper and stained carpets. When we got into our room our light was broken and the front of the bureau fell completely off when we tried to open it. That being said, our room was clean and we were only paying $79 a night so we didn't complain other than to have the light fixed. Had I been spending rack rates on that room it would have been a completely different story.

Fortunately, we didn't have any trouble with the CM's during our visit. We found them all to be very friendly and helpful. However the overall atmosphere of the resort on top of the dingy conditions of the North Garden Wing made us vow that it would be our last visit to the Contemporary. I've since heard that they're planning a complete rehab, but it's a shame that they've let the hotel go so far downhill in the first place. I'm sure it's not much consolation to the guests paying for a deluxe hotel currently that they're planning on updating in the future...

 

[dreamflight99]

We have always LOVED the CR. My kids call it their "home away from home" because we visited about 3 times a year for 10 years on the 12th floor. That said - we decided to SPLURGE on a 14th floor one bedroom suite over the Thanksgiving holiday. We really thought we were in for a treat!! What a bummer it turned out to be. It was DIGUSTINGLY dirty and poorly maintained. Total disappointment. I am not a neat freak at all - but black dirty grout in the shower and ceiling tiles caving in over the sink with dusty gunk hanging there grosses me out. There was more, but I already started a thread on it when we returned. I agree that the CR really seems to be showing it's age lately. This visit really turned me off on it. There were stains on the hall carpets (14th floor) and many stains in the elevators and in the 4th floor gift shop area. Just dirty overall. The elevators no longer have the characters anounce the floor, either. That used to be a really cute touch. I emailed them about my maintenance issues (2 months ago) and have never heard from them.

As I wrote, we also enjoyed the 12th floor experience on two occasions. It was memorable. Our last visit (2003) was on the 14th floor in a 1BR suite. We too, thought it would be MUCH better than the "limited" club/concierge experience of the 12th. Well, I too must agree with this poster. Although the staff was astute and friendly, offerings in the lounge were delicious, the "cleanliness" was definitely lacking. I also discovered many other shortcomings in this department (maintenance and housekeeping). I just do not recall ever noticing such things when we stayed on the 12th floor. The elevators at the time we stayed were experiencing some problems (mechanical), but did have the characters announcing the floors. This was always such a special "touch" for this property. I'm sorry to read they have removed this feature. I know there are plans for a renovation for this resort. I will return after this has been completed. The other memories we associate with this resort *(walking back after a late eve in the MK, the astounding views from the balconies, dining in the Cali grill, shopping the cute stores, riding the monorail INTO the building after a long eve in Epcot, relaxing by the pool, etc.), remain some of our most cherished recollections. It's a beautiful property. I certainly hope WDW takes care of these issues asap, regaining the acclaim it deserves. It was always, WALT'S Favorite.

 

[uneamie]

Ok, now I am scared, we are going to the CR in 2 weeks. Has anyone had a GOOD experience there??? Please tell me yes!!
Wendy

Yes!

I had a wonderful time there (3 x's ) in the Tower. Maybe it makes a difference if your in the Tower. We loved the Tower. Very clean and well kept. We had a lake view. Saw the "electrical light parade on the lake" every night. My son just loved being able to hop on the elevator and head down to the game room without walking around outside and hoping an elevator that lets you out right at the monorail...can't beat that experience. We've stayed at the Poly, AKL, the Contemporary, Caribbean Beach, Boardwalk Inn and now have ressies at WL. The only resort I did not care for was the Caribbean Beach. The Poly and the Contemporary were our favorites.

 

[MAGICX2]

Reading your post sounds to me like trouble going in. You liked the lobby because it had enough space for the kids to "run around"? What's this a lobby of deluxe hotel or a playground? Perhaps the CM's noticied this as well. You made mention of no "towel animals". When did this become standard and complainable? If you've received this before (at other Resorts) that's great and you should be pleased, but it isn't standard procedure. No birthday wishes and they knew it was a birthday? Why? Because you told them? Were you once again expecting something beyond normal service? Happy birthdays, anniversieries, congratulations, etc. are all great when appropriate, but should they be expected? What should they do? Sing and dance? Free plushes? Would a 'happy birthday' greeting really mean anything to a 1 year old?

I won't take any issue with the decor or wear and tear (this is probably an accurate assesment) but CM's do a great job day in and day out but are certainly never perfect and I get a little negative when I read a post slamming them over a perceived slight.

OK. Flame away.

First of all, my children are very well behaved. They stayed in the stroller as I checked in. When we were in the lobby waiting 1 hour and 22 min. for a bus to Downtown Disney they did wander around looking at all the interesting things in the lobby and talking to some of the bell service. We had to wait in the lobby on the bus because after 30min in 30 degree weather it got too cold to wait outside. I don't expect towel animals with every stay. I just felt because I had always gotten this at value and moderate resorts that it was odd not to get them at a DELUXE resort. It stated plainly uder the requests area of our reservation form, "Daughter's 1st birthday." I just thought that maybe they would acknowledge this in some way. I don't expect anything spectacular like ballons and confetti but a simple happy birthday gretting would be nice. I would consider this normal service. My daughter was wearing a "It's my birthday!" button so I would think that this was most certainly an appropriate time for this. It may not mean anything to her, she won't even remember the trip, but it did mean alot to the rest of her family! I stated in my post that we had a great time and the rest of the staff we encountered were wonderful. But I definitely expect ALOT more from the CM's of a DELUXE resort.

 

[jmuboy]

renovations of the Garden wings are coming. It sounds like they have stopped doing maintenance work on them though in the meantime.

 

[Northern Lights]

My wife, daughter (4) and I were there last May and absolutely loved it. We were in the Tower, however, which I think probably makes all the difference in the world. Seeing the fireworks by your balcony is awesome. CR is all about LOCATION. We love the flexibility of getting to walk to MK as well as not needing to budget an extra hour from the day to get to our favorite character dining experience - Chef Mickey's.

The pool is not spectacular, but to my DD, it was more than great. She also loved the proximity of the beach and I loved the view of Bay Lake from the pool. We have stayed at Swan and CBR and while we had nice times at both, we will always stay at the monorail resorts - at least until the kids get older and if they find the Boardwalk and Epcot areas more inviting.

If you value time and convenience, then stay at the CR. If you want the most out of your CR experience, you probably need to stay in the Tower. We are taking our next trip in September and were not able to book the CR (guessing the rehab is starting then). We are going to try the Poly this time. I have no doubt that we will love it, but we will definitely miss our Tower room and can't wait to do it again.

Has anyone heard if and where they are going to move Chef Mickey's during the rehab?