Contemporary Resort = BAD?

[wincha]

what is the sog program and how did you get the 89 rate for the contemp. ?

 

[cmonroe]

I have zero complaints about wing rooms; don't let yourself be dissuaded. I stayed in the North Garden wing, Bay Lake view, last June. In fact, I urge people to keep complaining about the wings: this means that WDW's best lodging secret will remain secret!

Very true! I never considered that!

 

[disneyfan67]

what is the sog program and how did you get the 89 rate for the contemp. ?

The SOG program is for anyone who is member of the Armed forces (Navy,Army,Marines,Airforce,Coast Guard, Reserves,etc) It's a great program for military familes and saves a ton of money. You can use their offical hotel or get a discount on selected Disney resorts. My father is retired Navy and has used the program 3 times. He got the Poly once for 229.00 a night, the CR for 89.00 a night. He told us in Christmas of 2003 that he wanted to take the entire family to Disney and he asked me to do all of the leg work for him. I called and booked 2 rooms and all I had to do was give them my Dad's info and pay for 1 nights stay as a deposit. They asked for his ID when checking in and that was it. Plus we got a discount on tickets also. A great deal for the entire family. Next year he wants to stay in the SOG resort and try it out so it looks like another trip to Disney next year for me!

 

[4mykids]

When you stayed in Dec 2003, wasn't that when the SOG what under renovation? During the renovation, SOG was using the South Wing of the CR for SOG guests. If that was the case, then the $89 was the rate for the SOG wing.

We visited the SOG last week to pick up our tickets. It is beautiful. Hardly recognizable as the same resort! However, it is much harder to get overflow rates at other Disney hotels as these are not offered until the SOG is completely booked. We were offered overflow rates, but these were the rates offered were rack rates.

In the past we were able to get an overflow rate of $149 for the CR Tower. That was sweet!

 

[prettyprincessmom]

We just returned from WL 2-3/2-8. We went to CR for Chef Mickey's, and had to stop at front desk for additional info. Coming from WL, it just seemed so cold and hard, not warm and cozy like WL, which we loved and can't wait to
return.

 

[JennyMominRI]

I stayed at the CR though SOG in May 2003.. I was in the North Garden Wing..I had a water view room for around 70$ a night

 

[arizonacolbys]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents - I haven't read all of the replies here, yet.

Me & hubby stayed at the CR in March 2003 - we were in a wing thanks to the SOG rehab at the time. We were actually a little leary of staying here at first, and weren't sure how we would like it.

Well, once we were there we really LOVED it!! We were on the highest floor, so didn't have any noise above us & never any noise from neighbors, or the hallway, either. The room, for the 2 of us, was huge! We loved being able to hear the train at the MK when at the room in the afternoon. Wasn't sure we'd like the bright decor, but it was actually fun & never bothered us. We also liked the separate toilet area & shower area. It just felt like a Disney resort to us, not a standard run of the mill resort off property. Room was always very clean - no problems with housekeeping, or old carpet, etc.

Loved the monorail access & the 5 minute walk from our door to the entrance of the MK. This was perfect when leaving after fireworks, you could leisurely walk back to the room & not worry about waiting for a bus/monorail like the thousands of other people. The pools were great - never overly crowded. We also enjoyed renting watermice one afternoon on the lake.

We would stay here again in a heartbeat!

 

[disneyfan67]

When you stayed in Dec 2003, wasn't that when the SOG what under renovation? During the renovation, SOG was using the South Wing of the CR for SOG guests. If that was the case, then the $89 was the rate for the SOG wing.

We visited the SOG last week to pick up our tickets. It is beautiful. Hardly recognizable as the same resort! However, it is much harder to get overflow rates at other Disney hotels as these are not offered until the SOG is completely booked. We were offered overflow rates, but these were the rates offered were rack rates.

In the past we were able to get an overflow rate of $149 for the CR Tower. That was sweet!

We were in the wing closest to the Magic Kingdom (is that north or the south wing?) and my dad got us the SOG rate for around 89.00 a night not including resort fees or taxes. It was a little far to walk to the monorail platform on the 4th floor concourse but otherwise it was a great stay. For my last day I stayed at the Poly and didn't go the parks. I just wanted a day to relax and use the volcano pool and enjoy the south seas theme of the resort. I booked through CRO using a mouse savers code at the time. My dad thought I was crazy to do this but I just love the Poly and was tired of the theming of the CR. (He stayed at the CR) Just too much concrete and not enough color compared to the Poly and the pool at the CR can't touch the Volcano pool in terms of being kid friendly and better themed, IMHO. Flame me if you want but that's the way I feel. The CR is great place to stay and if the Poly wasn't there I would stay in a tower room hands down!

 

[dreamalittledream]

Is there a resort layout posted anywhere? Or does anyone know if you can see the MK from the rooms in the wings? if so, which one? I had dismissed staying there for our next trip but being able to walk to MK is very appealing. I stayed in the Tower once when I was younger and that was very cool but I do not remenber the view at all.

 

[cmonroe]

I stayed at the CR though SOG in May 2003.. I was in the North Garden Wing..I had a water view room for around 70$ a night

That's good because anyone with a veteran in their family deserves any discount they can get....

 

[cmonroe]

Is there a resort layout posted anywhere? Or does anyone know if you can see the MK from the rooms in the wings? if so, which one? I had dismissed staying there for our next trip but being able to walk to MK is very appealing. I stayed in the Tower once when I was younger and that was very cool but I do not remenber the view at all.

Yep the North wing (disneyfan67 that is the one closest to MK).
You can see the MK as long as you have the parking lot (sounds bad, but isn't really) view and not the bay lake view. At night when wishes is being shown at MK, you can turn your tv on to channel 21 or 22(can't remember which) and the music is pumped in so you can hear it while watching the fireworks. IMHO, nothing is better than watching wishes from Main St. on MK, but if you have to be back in your room for some reason, it's a pretty good 2nd or 3rd (2nd place would probably be in the tower).

 

[dreamalittledream]

Thanks for the info! We'll be traveling with DD at 2 1/2 so bedtime might prevent Wishes more than one night.
Do they have a baclony on every room or can you request one? When we stayed at Poly last year we had a beautiful MK view of the Castle and the balcony, it was magical.
If you stay in the Tower can you request a MK view or is it called something else?

 

[cmonroe]

The tower has balconies. The wings do not. The wings have sliding doors with railings.
If you stay in the tower or the North wing (needs to be the North wing) you'll have to request the Magic Kingdom side. The requests are not always guaranteed though.
We'll wish for the magic for you and your family though...

 

[dreamalittledream]

How many floors are the wings? Is there a central hall like Poly? I looked at the prices and they seem very reasonable so I'm going to look a bit harder at it for our next trip. Thanks again!!

 

[swilphil]

There is a map of the Contemporary at www.allearsnet.com, as well as several photos. The wings have 3 floors. The bottom floors have patios.

 

[cmonroe]

Swilphil,

Good call on the bottom floor, I forgot to mention that.


Dreama,

Yes, they have a center hallway with rooms on the outside.

 

[dreamalittledream]

Thanks again. I know ther had to be a map someplace. I found alot of stuff on the Poly last year on Tikkiman's site but I have not looked for the CR info yet.
I had originally thought I wanted to stay at the GF but looking at the rates, I would need to get a great deal or start saving now. LOL CR might work better beacuse my brother also wants to stay on site and CR is a bit more reasonable that the other two. Unless I am reading something wrong. Is it to early to plan for Dec 2006???

 

[Mom2tmha]

I just got home from the CR 3 days ago and I will admit I was worried about going.
We had a Garden room in the north wing. I have to say that the carpets in the halls did have stains but our room was fine. We got a first floor room overlooking the bay(lake?) and it was really nice!!! My kids loved watching the light parade every night. The rooms were nice and big!!
The only thing I was a little disappointed in was the food court, there wasn't much of a selection. But I would stay there again!!!