We are staying in a garden wing room next month, and have a couple questions:
1-We requested ground floor/ balcony during online check in. I know the garden wing doesn't have balconies, so do you think the request emphasizes we really want a separate outdoor space? It's noted on our reservation that we would like to have a patio as well. Would you change our online check in request to anything else or leave it? We really don't care about room location as long as it's ground floor. Any other tips to getting a ground floor room?
2- where is the best place to watch wishes? I was thinking the 4th floor observation area, but I remember reading about the monorail progressive meal that would close that area down some nights? Is there another good place where music is piped in?
Thanks!
I may be too late answering,
@stitchfan18, but since the "ground floor/balcony" request is contradictory, only request "ground floor" since you want a patio, which all ground floor rooms have. Ask again at check-in, just to confirm.
If the Observation Deck is unavailable, the only other really good CR viewing spots are CA Grill and TPV rooms.
Hello everyone!
I'm super excited, just booked the Tower Club for May 20-22 after our cruise on the Fantasy! I'm not telling my husband I booked the tower club, (we stayed once before a few years ago and it is his #1 all time WDW favorite thing) so it will be a big surprise. Super excited!!! Can't wait to watch fireworks from that fabulous big balcony.
Welcome back and I'll log your (secret) dates,
@IceSkatingPrincess.
Please add me to the log o rail! We are returning to the contemporary Aug.18-28!! woohoo!!!
We'll be staying in the garden wing - I am thinking that I'll just be requesting to be close to the main building. I can't decide whether I'd rather be on the ground floor and have the patio or have the quieter room upstairs... so I guess I'll leave it up to Disney!
I'd be happy to add you,
@TI double-GUH ER.
We'll be back "home" at CR Tower Club September 9-16 this year!
Congratulations and I'll log your dates,
@Ewoks.
We're staying in the garden wing in a couple weeks. If I'm ordering milk to keep in our fridge, will 2 gallons of milk fit in the fridge? If not full gallons, would 4 half gallons fit? TIA!
They will fit. You can also buy smaller sizes at Fantasia:
We returned last week Wednesday from another great stay at CR/BLT. It was our second stay at BLT, after four previous stays in the CR tower. Last trip we booked a cash reservation directly through Disney, for a Lake View Studio. This time around we rented points for a Lake View 1br. I hate to say it, but I think we spoiled ourselves this trip! I was afraid the 1br would seem like overkill for two people, but it was perfect! We loved having the separate living room to relax in and watch TV at night, especially since the parks close so early this time of year and we always had time to kill at night before bedtime.
We arrived at BLT around 8:30 am. I did the online check in, and was hesitant to go to the front desk to check in again because last time I did that so early, I think they wanted to get us a room ASAP and completely ignored our requests. The only reason I did this time around was because we drove, and the guy at the gatehouse called in that we were checking in, and I didn't want them expecting us only for us to not show up. (I know, that sounds silly!) Well, good thing we did that, because they again ignored our request of "inside the C, higher floor". They got the high floor right, but didn't honor our inside the C request. I know those requests aren't guaranteed, but it was almost like they didn't even have the request on file because he seemed really surprised that we wanted inside the C. He said "really? Nobody ever requests inside the C". Well anyway, he gave us three choices of rooms - 11th floor outside the C, north side; 6th floor inside the C, south side; 4th floor inside the C, in the middle. I liked that we were given options. We went with the 6th floor, inside, south side (7635). I didn't think we'd like the view from the 11th floor, and the 4th floor wasn't high enough for my wife. Just to verify, after checking in, we walked around the north side of the BLT to get a general idea of our view because I figured we'd be able to switch quickly if we changed our minds at that moment; we didn't.
The view we got wasn't the greatest, and maybe we would have been happier with the 4th floor middle C. Last time we got 14th floor, inside, on the north side (8409 to be exact). We LOVED this view, because we could still see the Electric Water Pageant from our balcony at night. We couldn't from our room this trip. I think next time we'll check in early again, and hope to either get inside the C, north side; or outside the C, south side. Both requesting a higher floor.
Our biggest disappointment involved a balloon. I was celebrating my 40th birthday on Feb 11. On that Friday, Feb 10, my wife snuck away to the BLT front desk to request to have a balloon sent to our room on my birthday. She was told "we can't do that here -- you have to go the Contemporary". She thought that was weird, but did as told. When she told the CR desk this, they apparently seemed annoyed and said "they can do that for you over there -- who told you they couldn't?" Of course, my wife didn't get a name so she didn't know. But the person at the CR put the order in anyway. Or so we thought. Feb 11 came and went, and no balloon. When my wife realized that night that I wasn't getting a balloon, she told me about this whole ordeal; she was pretty upset about it. So she called the BLT front desk Sunday morning and told them how she requested a balloon at the CR because the person at BLT said she couldn't do it there, but the balloon never came. The person on the phone was very apologetic, and said they'd send a balloon up right away. Well, Sunday came and went, still no balloon. We checked out on Monday, and my wife told the person at BLT about never receiving a balloon. This person seemed very surprised by the whole situation. She looked up our account, and there was a note to order a balloon, but it was apparently never ordered. She didn't know why it never came, because all they have to do is go get a balloon and take it up to the room; she even indicated that she enjoys doing this. She offered to go get me a balloon right away, but I turned that down. If I had gotten a balloon in my room on my birthday, I could suspend disbelief and pretend that Mickey and Minnie remembered my birthday and got me a balloon. (Suspending disbelief is what Disney World is all about!) If the BLT concierge desk lady had gotten me a balloon, it would be like the lady at the concierge desk was giving me a balloon because she felt sorry for me; much less magical than getting one from Mickey and Minnie. And not to sound harsh, but I honestly couldn't care less about getting a balloon. I'm 40 years old, not 4. It was the fact that my wife wanted to do this simple, but thoughtful thing, for me on my birthday, and the people at the CR/BLT complexly dropped the ball and this upset her. I obviously didn't let this little thing ruin my vacation or my birthday, but it did put a damper on it a little bit. (End of the venting portion...)
To end on a positive note -- one of my favorite movies of all time (not just Disney movies, all movies) is The Lion King. Well, the Movie Under the Stars at the CR on my birthday was The Lion King! Of course I changed my plans for the night so I could see that!
(Holy cow, I wrote way more than I was expecting!)
Thanks for posting such a thorough review,
@AaronInWI. I agree with you that it wasn't so much about the balloon as it was about the principle that your wife went out of her way to request it several times and they could never get their act together and get it done.
Sorry for all the questions but I want to have all my mice and ducks in a row when I go in October.
I will be driving so I will be able to bring some food/water with me instead of having to get it delivered. I am staying at BLT. If my room is not ready when I get there (which I doubt it will be since I will be there at like 7am), will Bell services store a cooler? Also, will they bring it to my room once I get there or will I need to pick up my luggage once my room is ready?
This will be our first visit to this resort. We have a 4 and 8 year old. We have a Bay lake view room in the main tower booked. Is there any specific requests I should make during online check it. Thanks
Welcome,
@2littledisneyfans. If you have a floor preference (higher or lower) you can have that added to your reservation. Some prefer to be further away from Chef Mickey's and closer to BLT (north end). Some like the middle for a more commanding view.
Put us on the list! We (DH, DS, & myself) will be staying in a CR GW GV Oct. 20-28. DH's birthday is Oct. 21st, so we will be celebrating.
You've been listed,
@CAHarwell
Any word/information on Easter Services 2017 at Contemporary yet?
@babyruth, services would be listed in the April Resort Activity Calendar. The hyperlink is in POST 2, but April isn't available yet. In fact, the site I use hasn't even updated to March yet
.
Here are my calendars from two years ago. They don't mention any services and I believe they were discontinued.
We are back from our 2 night stay!
OMG!!!!! We were definitely spoiled this time around.
We had a 2 bdrm suite, TPV in BLT and we were on the 12th floor (room 8222 to be exact). We all enjoyed it! The room was very spacious for the 6 of us (2 grandparents, me, hubs, and 2 kids aged 7 and 4).
The room was modern, the view was impeccable for Wishes....I don't know how we will ever be able to stay anywhere else! We had a reservation at Chef Mickeys about an hour after check-in so we didn't have time to visit the pool like we wanted to! After dinner, everyone was exhausted so we got our mugs and then up to the room. My little one fell asleep within seconds and the rest of us watched Wishes. It was amazing. We could see everything!
We literally didn't have time to do anything but walk from our room to the restaurants. We did room service the day we checked out so the kids could eat while we packed.
It was certainly a trip to remember!!
Thanks everyone for your help leading up to our trip. Now I'm trying to win the lottery so we can go back
Thanks for posting about your BLT stay,
@browneyedplanner
Excited to join this thread! Just switched our 2 rooms at the Pop to a Garden Wing Garden View 8/24-9/1. It's our 20th anniversary, so even though we liked the idea of 2 rooms with our three kids, ages 16, 14 and 9, we decided to splurge and stay at Contemporary. It never really appealed to me, but we love MK and like to try new resorts, so we booked. Stayed at the Polynesian last year which was great, and stayed in GF prekids, so this will be our last monorail resort to try out. Thanks for such an informative thread!
Welcome,
@momofmikey and I'll log your dates in POST 2. What a great upgrade - enjoy!
Are the tower rooms as quiet as the garden view rooms?
I've stayed in both the GW and many floors in the Tower. In the Tower, I find the rooms closest to Chef Mickey's to be noisiest and the Tower Club level rooms (14th floor) were also noisy. However, if no one is next to you, it's always much quieter. I would request a room without a connecting door and in the GW, I would request a top floor (3rd floor) room so as to not have anyone above.
Add us to the list! We are staying in a Lake View at BLT September 24 - Oct 1, 2017. Can't wait! This is our first time in a deluxe resort. I'm sure we are going to never be able to go back to staying far away from the MK. It's our favourite park and being able to walk or monorail will be amazing.
Congratulations on booking your first DVC and I'll log your dates,
@MegEliz
Thanks for this thread, it's amazingly helpful! I'm heading to a studio Lake View at BLT from 3/6-3/13, finishing off the Monorail Resorts for me (did GF in 01-2016 and Poly in 12-2016). I also booked reservations for Celebration at the Top, so I can't wait to see how that goes.
I'm glad you've found the thread helpful,
@adamreisinger. Hope you had a magical stay.
Just back from our fabulous stay in a garden wing standard view. Loved loved loved the size of the room - but what is up with the sinks?! Ended up putting a towel down in the 2nd sink to get some actual counter space. We were almost as far away as you could end up (although still managed to get a partial-wall view) from the main building, but we still loved the garden wing. The proximity to the pool was fantastic and it was an easy walk out to the lobby. We've eaten at Chef Mickey's before, so this time ate at The Wave (very good). DH & DS have height issues - after looking at the location of the tower rooms, they both said they'll stay in the garden wing again or rent for BLT, but NEVER, EVER are they going to be in one of those rooms up there!
EWP woke me up, every night. Twice the night before the 5k when I actually managed to fall asleep early - but I loved listening to the music, even if I couldn't see it (again, partial-wall view).
After our split BC/CR stay, I'm not sure we can pick a favorite! Both had so many positives!
Thanks for posting about your GW stay,
@cmarsh31. You're right that if you have any issue with heights, the GW is the way to go.
Hello all! I am staying garden view and garden wing in April. I have stayed at the Contemporary before but never this part of the resort. I looked on Touring Plans but I'm confused about room location. If I want a garden wing/view room closest to the main building, do I want one that has a view of the pool? If I remember correctly, there is a door exiting the lobby (kind of near the Wave) that takes you outside? I'd like to be as close to the main lobby and escalator as possible. Thank you so much in advance!
The Standard View GW rooms are all closest to the Tower. The Garden View rooms that face the pool are also close. SV guarantees you'll be close, GV could end up further away,
@NYMommy80.
10 days until we are home! I know you can play wishes music on resort tv's during the show, but where else can we watch wishes outside our room with the music pipped in?
At CR, only CA Grill and the 4th Floor Observation Deck,
@stitchfan18.
We have rented points and are staying in a grand villa lake view at BLT from July 23-28, please add us to the list! There are 10 of us staying there for my 40th birthday and my and my husband's 20th wedding anniversary. We cannot wait!
How exciting,
@Monorail Bob's dd! I'll get you logged.
Our family is very excited to be returning to WDW in November! My DH and I will be celebrating our 45th wedding anniversary with our wonderful family. Last visit we stayed in a beautiful 2 bedroom unit at BLT but those rooms are not available so we are booked to stay at the Contempory tower this trip. I think it will be very cool for our grandchildren to be staying in the building that the monorail runs through!
They will love the ambience of the Tower - happy 45th!
I've only stayed in a Garden View room at CR... my reason being, I have two young kids and am afraid of the height of the balcony in the main tower. We're going back this summer. We have talked about moving to a tower room, but I'm so nervous with that dang balcony! Am I overreacting? Where are the locks on the balcony doors??
I don't think you're overreacting. Those Tower balconies can feel very scary if you have any fear of heights. While you can request a "low floor" there's no guarantee. To more fully enjoy the Tower views, you'll want to be able to go out on the balcony and not get that sick feeling when you or anyone else in your party does go out there. These are the locks:
I believe there are two locks on the balcony doors in the tower building with one lock located fairly high up on the sliding door.
We just returned from our first ever stay at the Contemporary - we are converts for sure!
We originally booked a garden wing room, but at 10 am as we were getting on the Magical Express we received a text with the magical news that we were upgraded to a tower room. We were in room 4224 - which had a beautiful lake view (made those 6 am wake ups a bit easier, seeing the amazing sunrises). And since it was the end of the hall we had a beautiful view of Space Mountain and the castle from the end of the hallway as we walked into our room each night.
We definitely fell in love with the convenience of the walk to the Magic Kingdom - it just can't be beat. And we loved all of the different restaurant options at the hotel. We did the amazing Sunday brunch at California Grill (with a return trip for fireworks and cocktails later on - a must do!), had a great breakfast at the Wave, enjoyed a late night dinner at Contempo, and of course pool drinks at the poolside bar.
I know many people complain about the lack of themeing - but we thought it had an awesome urban beach vibe - we felt like we were in Miami or San Diego - two cities that we love. The room was beautiful and spacious, and the bathroom was perfect for us. And I know I already said it - but convenience can't be beat! We walked to MK, took the monorail to other resorts and one night rode the boat to Wilderness Lodge for dinner at Artist Point.
While our first Disney resort love is the Beach Club, we were for sure spoiled with the Contemporary and will 100% return again! Now if only I could recreate those lobby smells in my house
Thank you for posting your little TR,
@balty74
Just wanted to say
to WDWKOOK for this wonderful and informative thread.
We are flying out early tomorrow morning to spend 10 glorious days at the CR
First time using TP fax request so will update with how that goes.
We're very excited to experience Brunch at the Top with so many great reviews.
Thanks to all who contribute to this thread
We hope you're having a fabulous vacation,
@wdwnut61!
Hi Everyone! My husband and I are staying in a TPV in the CR April 20-24th for the Star Wars Darkside race weekend. We stayed in the tower last year with a Bay Lake View and absolutely loved it! However, they only had TPV available when we booked this time so I went for it. Are there any room requests you recommend for TPV rooms? Thanks!
I'll log your dates,
@MMSRunner87. Some like to request an odd-numbered room so you'll face toward the MK when lying in bed.
Getting so excited for our stay. This thread has been great and gotten me pumped up for our visit. We are staying at the Contemporary, atrium club level with theme park view June 3-10! Hope this is a great room! Looking forward to falling in love with the Contemporary.
Welcome to the thread and I'll add your dates to POST 2,
@Lizzards.
How long does the boat take over to Fort Wilderness and does it let you off near Trails End or do you need to then take a bus? I'm thinking about booking an ADR over there for dinner because of the chef that makes special vegan dishes.
From CR, the Blue Flag boat will normally stop at WL first. This makes it about 15-20 minutes total travel time from CR to FW.
Contemporary friends! We arrived today for our first onsite/ multi-day trip to WDW. We had booked a garden wing standard view through a TA but as we pulled up on
MDE around 10am, we got a message that our assigned room was a Tower bay lake view!!!! It's on the MK side of the lake view rooms (does that make sense? we got up at 2:45 today) so our deck has a gorgeous view of the lake and when we step out into the corridor, we're looking right out at MK. It's so awesome. Feeling the magic already
Sounds like a magical upgrade and that you're on the northside of the Tower, next to BLT and that you see the MK off to your right when you exit your room. Enjoy that amazing view,
@Mitre10.
We have 3 garden wing/garden view rooms booked for September. My dads room has him and my sister...he requested ground floor. Will they automatically get 2 queen beds or do we need to specify that they do not want a king size bed?
Make sure to request two queens,
@chic mama.
