Ok, I tagged along with my brother to a conferrence this past weekend and he was put up at the Contemporary. Now, outside of SSR(which is "home") this is my first experience with a "deluxe" resort. I know there are alot of fans of CR, and maybe I missed the charm of the resort, but I was underimpressed to say the least.
The room...we did have a rehabbed room, in the south wing. It was nice, big...the beds were comfy...but there was a noticable lack of drawer space. The bathroom...once again...lots of space, but not much in the way of counter space unless you wanted to put all your stuff below the sink. What bothered me most about the bathroom were the sliding doors and don't even get me started on the motion activated fans in there (what's that about?
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The transportation...first, I know part of the big draw to this resort, is the monorail. And, coming back from MK it was nice. So if you have little ones, and/or the bulk of your time is at MK, this is a big plus. But going to Epcot on the monorail, with the transfer at the TTC, it starts to lose a little of it's draw, imo. And the buses...I've usually stayed in the moderate level or value, but does the CR always share buses with the other MK hotels? Going to the parks we usually stopped at WL, Poly, and/or GF. When this seemed most silly was leaving MGM after Fantasmic, when they had GF, Poly, and CR sharing the same bus. I know there's a system based on ridership, but renting a car almost seemed like it would be a neccessity.
Food...now I know as a DVC property this would fall as a priority. I've done the buffet at Chef Mickey's, and I'll take everyone's word on Cali Grill, only did breakfast at the Steakhouse. There was one thing that bothered me a little and one thing that bothered me aquite a biit. The little thing is that they are at minimal staffing at night(around 9 pm'ish) in the Food/Fun center. When I wandered down there for a snack one night, one cast member was swamped. She handled it really well, but they really could/should have atleast a second person behind the counter. Now, this could have been a one time thing. The bigger thing happened when I took my refillable mug to the pool bar and was told that the only place to get it refilled is the Food/Fun center.
It wasn't busy, there was no line...I know it's probably policy...but what a lame policy. Ok, maybe not so much of a big thing, but it's a convienence thing, especially staying in the south wing or even just hanging out by the pool. 
I think the thing that was the biggest disappointment was what felt like a lack of theming. Even my brother, only a recent Disney convert, said they "left out the magic at CR". I guess we like feeling we are someplace special, and this just felt to us like a regular hotel.
Now this is just my opinion from one experience. I know they are working to revitalize this property. But I am curious and would love to hear why so many Dis'ers have been long awaiting confirmation that CR will become a DVC property. So please, chime in.
The room...we did have a rehabbed room, in the south wing. It was nice, big...the beds were comfy...but there was a noticable lack of drawer space. The bathroom...once again...lots of space, but not much in the way of counter space unless you wanted to put all your stuff below the sink. What bothered me most about the bathroom were the sliding doors and don't even get me started on the motion activated fans in there (what's that about?
).The transportation...first, I know part of the big draw to this resort, is the monorail. And, coming back from MK it was nice. So if you have little ones, and/or the bulk of your time is at MK, this is a big plus. But going to Epcot on the monorail, with the transfer at the TTC, it starts to lose a little of it's draw, imo. And the buses...I've usually stayed in the moderate level or value, but does the CR always share buses with the other MK hotels? Going to the parks we usually stopped at WL, Poly, and/or GF. When this seemed most silly was leaving MGM after Fantasmic, when they had GF, Poly, and CR sharing the same bus. I know there's a system based on ridership, but renting a car almost seemed like it would be a neccessity.
Food...now I know as a DVC property this would fall as a priority. I've done the buffet at Chef Mickey's, and I'll take everyone's word on Cali Grill, only did breakfast at the Steakhouse. There was one thing that bothered me a little and one thing that bothered me aquite a biit. The little thing is that they are at minimal staffing at night(around 9 pm'ish) in the Food/Fun center. When I wandered down there for a snack one night, one cast member was swamped. She handled it really well, but they really could/should have atleast a second person behind the counter. Now, this could have been a one time thing. The bigger thing happened when I took my refillable mug to the pool bar and was told that the only place to get it refilled is the Food/Fun center.
It wasn't busy, there was no line...I know it's probably policy...but what a lame policy. Ok, maybe not so much of a big thing, but it's a convienence thing, especially staying in the south wing or even just hanging out by the pool. I think the thing that was the biggest disappointment was what felt like a lack of theming. Even my brother, only a recent Disney convert, said they "left out the magic at CR". I guess we like feeling we are someplace special, and this just felt to us like a regular hotel.
Now this is just my opinion from one experience. I know they are working to revitalize this property. But I am curious and would love to hear why so many Dis'ers have been long awaiting confirmation that CR will become a DVC property. So please, chime in.
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