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

[si-am]

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.

Same here. I was disappointed with the parking lot view. We were on the first floor so we couldn't even really see the monorail unless we went out on the patio.

That being said, I liked it a lot. It wasn't that far to the main building and being close to the boat dock and the pool was a definite advantage!

 

[fairestoneofall]

we stayed garden wing, garden view on our last trip. we requested ground floor (and got it). right outside our back door was Bay Lake. we had an amazing view of the Water Pageant. we could easily walk right to the beach area. the sun rose over the lake. it was a totally different vibe from the tower--very peaceful and quiet.

our youngest was six months old at the time. CR was so convenient to MK and Epcot. if I had the budget, I'd stay there every trip (with an occasional stay at GF).

 

[Momoftwins+1]

The walk from even the farthest room at CR garden wing is nothing compared to the back forty walk at Riverside to the main building (food court etc ) area. We stayed in the tower and had to do laundry so I explored the garden wing and even hauling heavy laundry bags it wasn't a hard walk at all from ground level CR (by bus door) to anywhere. I've stayed at Riverside and some of those walks can be quite long. The garden wing seemed quiet and you aren't stuck waiting on forever full/half broken elevators like in the Tower (huge plus...they were a pain).

Viewing fireworks. My suggestion for anyone without MK view, go to the end of any hallway or climb the stairs from the 4th observation area and hang out to watch them in the outside stairwell. Beautiful, unblocked, non crowded views. Then just walk down the stairwell and back into the main areas and grab a late night snack etc.

I loved the Bay Lake view in the Tower and had no issues with hearing Chef Mickey (we were exact middle by elevators) but for a reduced cost and the ability to walk to MK, I would completely consider the Garden Wing without hesitation. The only thing that seemed dark was the hallways in the GW...but that could have been because I was at Disney and doing laundry so I was grumpy to begin with.

 

[tarabordelon]

Does anyone know the room numbers that face bay lake in garden view rooms? I would like to request them on the first floor. Thanks

 

[cheshirecollector]

There is a youtube video that shows how close the rooms are, but I'm not sure how to post a link. It's called "Walk from Contemporary Main Building to Garden Wing".

 

[freediverdude]

I think the garden wing rooms are actually more convenient than the tower rooms and dealing with those elevators in the tower. There just aren't enough elevators, and they're always really crowded. I would much rather just take the escalators and stroll down to my room in the garden wing. The walk is even covered. Depends how badly you want that view from the tower rooms I guess.

 

[serene56]

 

[AThrillingChase]

I stayed first floor garden wing in February. Room was nice, very clean, had a view of the parking lot with a corner of monorail and waterway off to the left. Kind of a far walk all the way down the hall (especially after a half marathon!!) but room itself was great other than the noisy heating and cooling system.

But, I was shocked by the condition of the common areas and hallways. Large scratches down the entire hall on the trim and walls (how??), carpets not vacuumed in a very long time, the staff doors were stained and dented and even appeared rusted in some spots. Even elevators and windows seemed they hadnt been cleaned in forever. I was shocked. We did a split stay with AKL and were doing the second half of the week here, but AKL was spotless. Quite a change. It was the first time in all my trips I ever thought of complaining or even noticed the hallways. My 17 year old cousin even managed to notice how bad it was between her texting and said something to me first (I was not mentioning it to keep the magic going so to speak). I figured then it was actually just that bad! When I got home I sent a nice email to say hey guys I think you should check this out...they called and offered me a credit which was nice. I was surprised since I was clear my room itself was very clean and nice. It certainly didnt ruin my trip, and I am not super picky about that stuff (still love the BC/YC even though worn out too atm) but I have to admit it did take away from the feel walking down that hall every day. It would have been yucky for a motel 8, but for $450/night? I think I could expect a bit more than that. (Race weekend, so rate was higher). Hopefully they have gotten it up to par since I contacted them about it.

 

[Aurora0427]

Does anyone know the room numbers that face bay lake in garden view rooms? I would like to request them on the first floor. Thanks

Look on touring plans. They'll have a map of the entire resort with room numbers.

 

[Aurora0427]

We loved our July 2008 stay in the Garden Wing. They just finished the refurbishment, so our room was beautiful and the common areas were fresh. We had a gigantic King room, and the nicest walk out patio with a view of trees and the lake. It was an easy walk to the main building, and so quiet!