Contemporary: Wing or Tower?

[Madi100]

I've decided I want to stay at the Contemporary next trip. Is the Tower section that much better than the Wing or Garden view or whatever is it called? There's quite a difference in rate there. I don't want LONG walks to get to the monorails/transportation. But, if it's not too much of a difference, then the wing would be okay.

 

[mariamouse]

I personally would not stay at the CR unless I was staying in the tower... I stayed in a North Wing room several years ago and felt like I was missing out on the magic that I would have experienced had I been closer to the lobby/monorail and had that amazing view from the balcony. While our stay there was enjoyable, I couldn't help feeling that it would have been a better choice to spring for a tower room. Good luck with your decision!

mariamouse

 

[Kteacher]

If you can swing the extra $$ stay in the tower-definitely worth it. We've stayed in a garden wing room once, and twice in the tower, with another trip booked for Dec. in the tower I just like the feeling of being in the middle of everything, plus you can watch Wishes from your balcony, as well as watch the castle change color at night Call me silly, but I also like opening my door and hearing "it's party time!" from Chef Mickey's! If you decide to stay in a garden wing room, the north garden wing rooms are closer to the bus stand and the walkway to the MK.

 

[cigar95]

I definitely agree with the first two posters. The Tower at the Contemporary is, in some ways, the "essence" of what staying at WDW means. 30 years ago, probably the two most common pictures used to promote WDW were the castle and the monorail in the lobby of the CR.

Last February I fulfilled a 30 year dream by staying in the tower. To look out your window and see the lagoon and the MK in front of you, then walk out your door and see Chef Mickey's and the monorail - it's just special.

For me, it was worth the extra money. But yes, it may be almost $100 or more for the tower, depending on your season and what sort of discounts are available. It's not for me to suggest how to spend your money, but I think you'd find staying in the tower will add a lot of value to your stay.

 

[MJames41]

I'm of the opposite opinion, but I also don't like heights. The only reason I spring for the tower (when we can afford it) is for my son's birthday. My personal choice would be the wings, especially if a 1st floor is available (like on the first floor, south wing, near the pool). One year we had room 5111 and loved it. The walk to the monorail was about the same as from a tower room that close in. And we were much closer to the pool and to the snack room. Just my thoughts.

 

[sotoalf]

Count me as one guest who PREFERS the wings to the Tower. While I certainly agree that the Tower has an iconic and nostaglic appeal, the wing offers some of the most loveliest (and quietest) rooms at WDW.

I stayed in room 8112 in the North Garden wing about a month ago - a Bay Lake view. My family and I could not have been happier. We would open our patio door and the lake was right there. We'd sip drinks and watch the boat traffic.

The walk to the tower is negligible: no more than a few minutes. Distances aren't vast at the CR, comparable to a walk from one of the GF's farther buildings.

 

[ppony]

I'm agreeing with the view that it IS the view that makes the CR. We've stayed in the Contemp and we were in the tower. I just looked at the garden rooms and though that I just wouldn't want to spend the money for them, I'd rather pay Moderate rates of that style of room. Though it IS only about a 6 minute walk from the Contemp. to the MK gates. IMHO if you stay at the CR you MUST stay in the tower. Obviously the MK side is the best if you're lucky enough to get it but the lagoon is peaceful and I just love the water pagent at night. : ) When we stayed there, we knew nothing of this board and nothing of the pagent. it was a magical surprise! I'm not a heights fan either but it didn't bother me and we were on the 8th floor. Didn't notice any noise from the lobby/concourse and since Chef Mickey's is oir all time favotite rest. we love it! Go for the tower and enjoy!

 

[Madi100]

Thanks for the advice. I was hoping that it would be all one sided. I'm horrible at making decisions. To me, when I've seen the CR I think that the tower looks so much nicer. In fact, until I saw the CR this last trip I didn't know there were buildings behind the main building.

 

[goofy4tink]

We're staying at CR the first two nights of our trip in 2 weeks. Then we move to BWV. I booked the garden wings, north bldg. preferred. Yes, I guess the Tower is nicer but I have yet to really watch the fireworks from our resort. We stayed at the Polynesian last summer and I think we watched Wishes once from the beach. And that was a last minute thing since we were just coming in from MGM. With a garden wing room we are closer to the bus area and we're not too far from the boat to FW. And since we'll be spending those two days at MK primarily the closeness of the walkway is going to be wonderful. I'm looking forward to the quiet of the wings. At this point, I don't mind if I get one of the dreaded parking lot views!!! Yes, the lake would be nice but what the heck, I'm at WDW...how bad could it be??!!

 

[cinmell]

We love the tower! The view is wonderful, especially at night. You are only an elevator ride away from the monorail platform and the concourse area. Once you are in your room, you don't hear any noise at all from the concourse.

 

[currycook]

Big vote here for the TOWER only.

 

[ccotis]

My opinion is that if you have kids, stay in the tower because they will probably bug you by saying " Why can't we stay in there?" If no kids, the wings are just as awsome.

 

[Deborah_Mary]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents...

Dh & I have now stayed at the Cont. 4 times - twice in the south wing rooms and twice in the tower and I'd choose (and keep choosing) tower over and over again. It is JUST amazing!! The walk from the south wing rooms isn't horrible, but then again I was 16 weeks pg last year and I complained about it a lot. But this year dh sprung for a tower room and we were very fortunate and got a high MK view since I knew I would spending a lot more time in there with our now 6 month old dd. It was unbelievable!! Our older dd (5 1/2) just loves going out on the balcony and we watched Wishes every night from there. Hearing the train blow it's whistle is such a magical sound too. We were at the very end of the tower (last room closest to the MK room 4748) and we never heard anything! It was so quiet. As soon as you would open the door though we could hear Chef Mickey's in the background (love it!)

Don't get me wrong, the south wing rooms are nice and closer to the pools, but the north wing rooms seem a lot closer to the bus stop, walkway to MK, playgroud and F&FC. Also I've heard and read on here that you can see the castle from some north wing rooms and they are also all non-smoking.

So bottom line... if you can afford a tower room, I'd say GO FOR IT! It is amazing to be "in the middle" of it all there. We are hoping to return next year, but dh isn't sure after we splurged this year so much. I really hope so!

Hope this helps!

Deb*

 

[KFISCHER]

Tower, tower, tower.
Stay as high up as you can.

Castle view is best.
But the lake view isn't bad at all!


There's just absolutely no way the wings compare.

 

[chrisp]

Tower!

Comparing the tower and the wings is like comparing two different resorts.

 

[disneydebk]

Another vote for the Tower!

 

[Madi100]

I would really really LOVE to stay in the tower. I will have to convince my husband, though. If we stayed in the Tower, that is a lot of money. This last time we stayed at Pop Century in two rooms and paid under $100 a night with a discount. What is the cheapest someone has gotten the tower with a discount? I think it would be so magical!

 

[wdwrich]

Here's my 2 cents on this issue. We stayed in a North Garden Wing "parking lot" view room- It was great:

#1- Convenience! Easily the most convenient room location on property. Shortest walk to MK, short walk to monorail, bus stop, pools, marina, front desk, and Food & Fun Center.

#2 - View! We could sit/lay in our room and watch the monorails glide in and out of the tower as well as see the MK and the fireworks.

All this for less $$ then tower rooms.

 

[aimee11621]

STAY IN THE TOWER MK VIEW ONCE YOU ARE THERE YOU WILL FEEL THE MAJIC.

IT'S WORTH THE EXTRA MONEY AND THE VIEW IS AWESOME.

EVEN IF YOUR TIRED YOU CAN SIT OUT ON THE BALCONY AND ENJOY !!! WITHOUT MOVING.

YOU CAN SEE THE FIREWORKS FROM YOUR ROOM JUST TURN THE TV ON TO THE CHANNEL THAT PLAYS THE PROGRAM MUSIC .

AND RIDE THE MONORAIL ALL AROUND THE WORLD.