Contemporary Resort Garden Wing. The good, The bad , & The ugly

[Lfsdromero]

So the Contemporary Resort has been my dream resort to stay at, I've always stayed at the moderate resorts. I have decided to stay I. The garden wing at the Contemporary for our Feb 2014 trip. Can someone please tell me if staying in the garden wing will ruin my dream? I seem to be reading a lot of bad things about it

 

[mariamouse]

The Good

• Large, spacious rooms (exactly like those in the Tower)
• Convenient access to pool, beach and boat dock
• Quick walk to the Tower (2-3 mins) and MK (10 mins)
• Significantly less expensive than staying in the Tower

The Bad

• Not really in the middle of the magic (i.e. Tower)
• Less impressive room views than those in the Tower
• Slightly longer walk to MK, bus transport, restaurants

The Ugly

• Can't really think of anything "ugly" about the CR!

We stayed in the North Wing (pre-BLT) a little over ten years ago and, while we do not regret having stayed there, we would not go back to the CR unless we were staying in a tower room. It really just comes down to personal preference, but we would have preferred to be able to wake up and already be in the heart of the resort (i.e. waking up to the sounds of Chef Mickey's and exiting our room to the view of the monorail below). If you prefer quiet and proximity to the resort grounds, though, you will prefer the garden wing rooms. We feel that the main appeal of the CR is the tower and its views since the CR grounds leave a bit to be desired in comparison to the Poly/GF.

All that being said, I think you should give the CR a try and stay in a garden wing room even if you cannot spring for the tower room. You cannot know what you will think of something until you try it! I would not let negative reviews worry you since everyone's experiences differ. Plus, there is no way that a CR garden wing room would not feel like a huge upgrade from a moderate resort!

 

[olive]

I haven't actually stayed in the garden wing yet, but I would not hesitate to do so. We have stayed only in the tower but only because garden view wasn't available (I think standard view would be less magical for us - I don't like the parking lot views). I believe the garden view rooms in the wing face the pool and grounds. Those rooms are close to the pool and the ground level rooms have patios. No balconies on the upper floors, if that is important to you. We love the CR for its location and amenities but do not at all feel that staying in the tower specifically is necessary. We love walking to MK! I think the wing rooms seem like a great deal! We definitely plan on pricing those out for our next trip. Good luck!

 

[dvdcrow]

So the Contemporary Resort has been my dream resort to stay at, I've always stayed at the moderate resorts. I have decided to stay I. The garden wing at the Contemporary for our Feb 2014 trip. Can someone please tell me if staying in the garden wing will ruin my dream? I seem to be reading a lot of bad things about it

We have booked 2 Garden Wing, Garden View rooms at the Contemporary for August 2 for 5 nights, for myself, spouse, son, daughter-in-law and 2 granddaughters. We were originally booked at a the Port Orleans French Quarter, but when Disney offered a sale on the Contemporary, I took advantage and upgraded. Will let you know how it is, but I can't imagine that it will be bad in any way. Being in a larger room, so much closer to the Magic Kingdom, plus being on the monorail, has to be much more convenient than staying at any of the moderate resorts, especially with two young children in tow.

 

[karenklo]

We were in the garden wing and it was fine. We had a great view of the waterway which the kids loved. They watched the ferries head out every morning and the water parade go by the room! We were close to the pools too!

 

[WillAustin]

We've stayed in the Tower twice, BLT three times, and Garden Wing once. Garden Wing was great. It's a different vibe than being in the tower. It was a more relaxed feel, and generally quieter. Ground floor rooms have a patio, and ours looked out on Bay Lake.

Close to the pool, but a bit of a walk to the tower (restaurants and stores). I'd definitely do the Garden Wing again. In fact, I had it booked for our upcoming trip, but when the new passholder rates came out, the discounted GW rooms weren't available for the dates we already had, so I moved us into the Tower at the passholder rate.

You'll love the Contemporary. It's our favorite WDW resort.

 

[spiceycat]

don't think any of the rooms at CR wing look at the parking - only the MK views in the tower look at parking.

the rooms are along the sides - not the back where the parking is located there.

the standard views are the top of the wing w/o a patio or balcony. pretty sure.

 

[princessap]

I am debating the same issue right now for our next trip about booking garden wing or tower....I have been told that garden wing book out faster than tower so I am thinking of booking garden wing and then moving up to tower if discounts are released.

will be reading this thread to see what other people say!

 

[serene56]

I am debating the same issue right now for our next trip about booking garden wing or tower....I have been told that garden wing book out faster than tower so I am thinking of booking garden wing and then moving up to tower if discounts are released.

will be reading this thread to see what other people say!

we booked the garden wing because it was a huge price increase to move to the tower. we were there a weekend. used the room to sleep/ We were in a room the furthest from the entrance. the pool was handy/ We did not think it was a long walk to the tower. If i could do it again and the price was right-- i will do it in a nano second

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

We have stayed in a garden wing room in the past. I think it is the best kept secret for staying deluxe. It is much cheaper than the tower. We had a really nice view and the room are exactly the same. I would not hesitate to stay there again. In fact, we actually liked it better than the Poly.

 

[ophelia2002]

I'm staying there right now and I have 2 complaints- it is a looooooong walk to a lot of stuff- buses, food, monorail. Second, my room overlooks the lake which is nice until they so the lighted boat parade at 10 pm and BLAST the music. I'm a go-to-bed-by-9 girl.

 

[princessap]

we booked the garden wing because it was a huge price increase to move to the tower. we were there a weekend. used the room to sleep/ We were in a room the furthest from the entrance. the pool was handy/ We did not think it was a long walk to the tower. If i could do it again and the price was right-- i will do it in a nano second

Thanks...quick question...where are you heading for your dream vacation???

 

[princessap]

I have a question for those that have stayed poly and garden wing at the CR....how far a walk is the garden wing to the tower in terms of poly distances...(make sense??)....just wondering for distance wise how far it is.

 

[MYD714]

I haven't stayed there since 1996, but I can tell you that we loved staying in the garden wing during that trip. The only con I can come up with is that we had one day that we had to walk in the rain on the way back to our room. We loved everything else about it.

We found the garden view rooms to be quiet and peaceful, especially since we had a nice patio area off our room that I believe overlooked the lake (if memory serves correctly). While I've never stayed in the tower rooms, I'd worry about possibly hearing noise from Chef Mickey's.

I don't remember how long the walk was to/from the monorail/food/buses, but I know that no one in our group of 8 complained about it.

Overall, we really enjoyed that trip. The access to the monorail was a huge bonus, and we loved being able to walk to MK. We had a good time using the pool and hanging out at the resort too.

 

[larryz]

Biggest disadvantage -- it's a long walk to the "hustle and bustle of the tower."

Biggest advantage -- it's a long walk to the "hustle and bustle of the tower."

 

[fla4fun]

I prefer the garden wing to the tower. I've stayed as far away from the tower as possible, and it was still less than five minutes from the room to the 4th floor where all the action is. So you get the quiet of the wing and the easy access to all the action - best of both worlds.

The biggest difference is the lack of balconies on the 2nd and 3rd floor rooms. You can open the sliding door for ventilation, but there's no outside space to sit and relax. You can request a ground floor room, which will have a small patio. I typically stay at CR when I know the weather won't be conducive to a lot of balcony use anyway.

The rooms in the tower and wing are laid out the same and are the same size, so you don't lose anything there.

As far as parking lot views from the standard view wing rooms, they have hedges and trees planted that do a fairly good job of screening the parking lot. But I never minded the parking lot view, because it was also a monorail view, and I liked watching the monorails going by. If you are driving, it's also easier to get your bags in and out of the room because of the close parking.

The wing rooms are very convenient to the pool. I also like the fact that the building is only three floors, so you can easily take the stairs if you don't want to wait for the elevator. The elevators are also not as crowded as in the tower and don't take as long to use as those in the tower. Nothing like taking the steps from the 9th floor in the tower after watching a half dozen completely full elevators stop at your floor!

 

[princessap]

This thread has lots of good points!!! Am debating between tower and garden wing so keep the thoughts coming!! thanks to the OP for this awesome thread

 

[cwehrstedt]

Love to keep this thread alive. We are booked for just 3 nights end of January pre cruise,

I was disappointed the garden wing rooms didnt have a patio (I know you can request first floor, but my requests have never worked in the past) and me and my DH take advantage of them when kids are sleeping.

Also where do you view the MK fireworks from garden view (no CGrill dining).

 

[anjalee6]

don't think any of the rooms at CR wing look at the parking - only the MK views in the tower look at parking.

the rooms are along the sides - not the back where the parking is located there.

the standard views are the top of the wing w/o a patio or balcony. pretty sure.

We stayed in the a garden Wong three summers ago and they do have parking lot views. We had one. But it also was a monorail view as my kids called it. We saw the monorail passing in and out of the tower so the kids enjoyed that but without that excitement, it was just a parking lot below.

Rooms are not bad at all, but it did take some of the magic away from us with not being in the tower.

 

[klwdisney]

I am also considering a Garden Wing room for our Fall 2014 trip if the Poly turns out to be a construction zone!

Does anyone have pictures of the view that you had from your room?

Also, we've stayed our last few trips at Port Orleans Riverside and read many complaints about the distance from some of the buildings to the main building. Would you equate the distance from the garden wing rooms to the monorail/restaurants to the walk from the Riverside outer buildings to the main building??

Thanks so much!