Contemporary, Never Again!

[WDWLVR]

Sorry to hear you had such a negative experience. I stayed there for the first time in December of '03 and loved it! We were in a tower room with an awesome view of Magic Kingdom. Our room was very clean and the halls and elevators seemed very clean and well taken care of as well. I loved being able to walk back after MVMCP.

 

[dsarah]

Just got back from a week in the Contemporary Tower. After reading reports of dirty and run-down rooms on this board, I didn't expect much and was prepared to be disappointed after spending all that money. But I was very very surprised -- our room was super clean and not worn at all. We just loved it --- we had 4 adjoining rooms on the 10th floor facing the castle. We watched the fireworks every night from our balcony while listening to the sound track on Channel 20 -- awesome! The rooms are so spacious and bright -- I don't regret staying there at all.

I've never stayed in the Garden Wings, so maybe there is a difference when you stay in the Tower.

 

[johnvree]

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.

Glad no one flamed you. I have kids and sometimes they act up to get attention too. Screaming at little kids is never the answer. Everyone did a good job exercising restraint.

As to the OP, that stinks. We love the Poly. Give that a try next time. It has been undergoing a refurbishment and looks great inside and outside of the rooms. The Contemporary seems to draw a "love it" or "hate it" reaction more than any other resort. Maybe give it another try, perhaps in the Tower, or just come over to the Poly.

 

[G8RFAN]

CR definitely has its shortcomings with its aged design and electric coloring. It never fails, I always glance at the orange line in the carpet in the rooms and think it's an extension cord. The choice of wallpaper in the halls was also poor as it picks up the slightest scuff from the bellservice carts and other luggage. I've stayed in the North Wing and also in the 9th floor tower and have never had a dirty room tho. We have experienced dirty rooms at WL and also at CBR, but a call is all it takes to have them remedy the situation. I'm sure housekeeping gets graded on complaints. As far as the CR, I love the location since we spend most of our time in the MK. Funny tho, as I read the OP's complaint, it is clearly evident that expections at a deluxe resort was much higher than the experience. I've stayed at nearly all the deluxe resorts and the moderate resorts and since we're also DVC members, all the DVC park resorts also and I must say that CR is the least posh (I don't consider OKW as deluxe), but it is one of our favorite only because of location. If you go in with any expectation that a deluxe resort will treat you like a 5 star hotel, you will be disappointed. It's all in perception of value as I could see someone being disappointed paying regular rack rates but would probably be very happy if they were paying AP or FL resident rates. BTW, the only time we ever got a little towel animal was at CR. We were also tipping the maid $10 a day and she made it a point to talk to us also.

 

[bigcrit]

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

When you get back let us know what you thought . We are going in May for our first trip since the 70's.

I noticed you are from Jersey. North? South?

Have fun......

 

[Disfreek]

I am sorry that you had such a bad experience at Contemporary.

We stayed at the CR over Thanksgiving and LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED it!!!!!

It was just magical. From the time we valeted our car to the Bellstaff, the front desk CM's---they were all super friendly.

Our room wasn't ready (we checked in early) the CMs gave our dd's coloring books and crayons to use while we were checking in. Girls sat quietly and colored while we checked in. We were upgraded from the standard wing to tower--had a perfect view of the castle.

Our daughters loved watching the monorail zoom thru below us!!

Every day we received towel animals (not that we expect these as "standard" Disney--it was just a fun thing to have when we returned from the park.

Overall it was a very magical experience. All of the CM's were very friendly and made our trip magical. So magical in fact that I was on the phone with CRO while we were at MCO trying to book another trip for FEB--the only reason I didn't book right then was that the AP rates weren't out yet for our dates.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

MAGICX2 - I am so sorry to hear you had a less than pleasant experience at such a costly resort. I hope your daugher's birthday was memorable nonetheless.

 

[goofyandmore]

We never stayed at the CR. We usually stay at the Polynesian and love it. But don't count on the towel animals. We never received one but know from these boards, not to expect it, if it happens, just enjoy it. We checked out the wings at the CR last spring and thought the hallways were not to our themeing, very enclosed. But we decided if we did try a stay at the CR, it would be in the Tower club or concierge. I hope your next stay is better.

 

[beattyfamily]

What a shame. We love the Cont. and have stayed there 3 times now and again for my 40th birthday trip in November. I've never had a bad experience there and love the hustle and bustle and the convenience to MK.

My only minor complaint was that the elevators didn't talk anymore!! Other than that, no complaints.

FWIW, we stayed in the North wing once but have stayed in the Tower ever since.

 

[rtjcbrown]

We still love it!

 

[Doug Whitson]

My family stayed at the CR last year, north Garden Wing and we loved it. Rooms are large. We had a first floor room that looked out on a beautiful lake view. Very nice. I agree somewhat that the halls and the hall carpets weren't magical, but it sounds like this person was was already not happy with the hotel selection("...and decor wasn't as hideously 80's as I thought it would be."). My dd's had the same opinion and did not understand why I like the "feel" of the CR. They think its not themed, but to me it has a tommorowland feel, with the monrail etc.

As I said, the CR won them over with the great room restaurants and location.
I am sure your stay will be great as well.

 

[tiggergirlinMI]

I can't believe this thread is still active so I'm going to put my opinion in as well.I stay at the Contemporary EVERY year in the north wing and LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT......The walk to the MK, the great staff, my sons love this resort, they are now teens and its tradition to stay here, the 3 of us have great memories of past vacations here. With that said, I am sorry you didn't have a great or even pleasant stay, perhaps you were expecting more personal service, (the comments about noone mentioning your daughter's birthday and towel animals).If you wanted that kind of personal service, I would have suggested the concierge level.CMs have so much on their mind, the one who checked you in may have not seen the note about your daughter's birthday or her pin, and may have had alot on their mind.Maybe it's just me but when my sons turned one, they didn't remember a thing, and you even state that you knew that, but that you wanted the acknowledgement? I'm sorry but why not just enjoy that day, why do you need the staff to acknowledge it? I'm sure they didn't mean to ignore the fact, it was overlooked, I would never have let that ruin my day, stay or child's birthday.Just celebrating them as family was always good enough for me and my family, and towel animals? Again,maybe it's just me but I feel blessed enough that I can afford to take my sons to Disney once a year for 10 days and IF we got any kind of special acknowledgement or towel animals, that is just extra Disney Magic! I go to Disney with an open mind and things will happen sometimes , things won't always go right.I never go to Disney expecting anything but a clean room and courteous staff and in going to Disney now over 50 times? I have never had a problem with the Contemporary staff or the room itself.I am sorry that you did,I am sure your trip was still magical though right? It is Disney World after all! Take care!

 

[Angelgirl13202]

Iv stayed on the 12th floor for one night and had xcelent service.....

we DId have an issue with a gift box--- one got delivered and no one had planned it, it had someone elses name on it so we called down and they came and picked it back up. Dont know if it ever got to the rightful owner (hope so it said happy birthday)

I enjoyed it a lot the fireworks from the balcony was amazing

try the tower next time

 

[swilphil]

It looks like there are more people with positive experiences at the Contemporary than negative ones.