Just returned from our July 10-16 stay at WDW's Contemporary Resort. I had stayed in the Tower back in 2000 and stayed in the North Garden Wing on this trip. DH, DD, DS & I were traveling with the rest of my family for a total of four rooms. I really wanted an adjoining room with my parents and had asked for it via AAA, on the phone with central reservations AND had faxed a request five days in advance. Well, it did absolutely no good. My two brothers who did NOT want an adjoining room got them and my parents and my room were seperate and across the hall. The check in people we dealt with were rude and obviously unhelpful. One of my brothers switched with me later so at least I had an adjoining room with one family member. This was important to us because we have a 14 month old who won't nap if anyone is in the room. The person who did the room switch was much more helpful and the concierge was great during our stay.
Other than this intitial problem we LOVED the CR. Our room (2 Queens, Daybed and Crib) was clean and comfortable. It was also fairly easy to baby proof -well as good as you can with a climber!
Mousekeeping did a great job when they cleaned - on a few days we just asked for new towels. If you have a little one, I recommend calling them before leaving the room in the morning to let them know your room is available for cleaning. Otherwise mousekeeping will want to do it during naptime! Towels varied between scratchy and plush, but were good thickness and size. No matter what your hotel, I'd highly advise you to pack some toilet paper. All of the WDW TP is thin and shreds, meaning it leaving little hunks of paper on your privates. 
I know, its gross, but true.
Location was EXCELLENT! Having little kids meant that we spent the vast majority of our time at MK. Being close was very important -especially when the monorail was down for a large part of one day. The walk to MK was less than 10 minutes. We also used the boat to get to Hoop Dee Doo and enoyed that. Our room was ground floor on the pool side of the North Wing. I liked being on ground floor and having the small patio. Despite reviews complaining of bird droppings, I thought it was fairly clean for a resort by a lake with a ton of birds. I also liked being able to sneak out for an occassional smoke- my bad.
The pool was nice. Wear swim shoes (literally the kind that you wear right into the water) so you don't have to burn your feet on the cement like I did when carrying my DD to the potty! I liked the fact that we could keep the free swim vest for the length of our stay rather than having to return it each day. This was especially true since DD would through a HUGE fit when leaving the pool!
I've seen poor reviews of the CR's counter service Family Food and Fun Center, but we liked it. It had a nice variety for the size of the place. The side salads have a lot of lettuce packed in them so that they serve two. The chocolate cake is TO DIE FOR! On a couple of days we took our meals back to the room on the tray provided. The arcade part of the restaurant is seperated nicely and was a great break on our one rainy day.
All in all a big thumbs up -particularly if you have young kids.
Any questions? I'll be doing a trip report some year soon and will review the restaurants too.
Other than this intitial problem we LOVED the CR. Our room (2 Queens, Daybed and Crib) was clean and comfortable. It was also fairly easy to baby proof -well as good as you can with a climber!
Mousekeeping did a great job when they cleaned - on a few days we just asked for new towels. If you have a little one, I recommend calling them before leaving the room in the morning to let them know your room is available for cleaning. Otherwise mousekeeping will want to do it during naptime! Towels varied between scratchy and plush, but were good thickness and size. No matter what your hotel, I'd highly advise you to pack some toilet paper. All of the WDW TP is thin and shreds, meaning it leaving little hunks of paper on your privates. I know, its gross, but true. Location was EXCELLENT! Having little kids meant that we spent the vast majority of our time at MK. Being close was very important -especially when the monorail was down for a large part of one day. The walk to MK was less than 10 minutes. We also used the boat to get to Hoop Dee Doo and enoyed that. Our room was ground floor on the pool side of the North Wing. I liked being on ground floor and having the small patio. Despite reviews complaining of bird droppings, I thought it was fairly clean for a resort by a lake with a ton of birds. I also liked being able to sneak out for an occassional smoke- my bad.
The pool was nice. Wear swim shoes (literally the kind that you wear right into the water) so you don't have to burn your feet on the cement like I did when carrying my DD to the potty! I liked the fact that we could keep the free swim vest for the length of our stay rather than having to return it each day. This was especially true since DD would through a HUGE fit when leaving the pool!
I've seen poor reviews of the CR's counter service Family Food and Fun Center, but we liked it. It had a nice variety for the size of the place. The side salads have a lot of lettuce packed in them so that they serve two. The chocolate cake is TO DIE FOR! On a couple of days we took our meals back to the room on the tray provided. The arcade part of the restaurant is seperated nicely and was a great break on our one rainy day.
All in all a big thumbs up -particularly if you have young kids.
Any questions? I'll be doing a trip report some year soon and will review the restaurants too.
