Disney's CONTEMPORARY RESORT Information & Questions

[SamanthaH]

Thanks everyone. I went ahead and added one of my kids, who is not traveling with us this time, but he is still under 17. There was no extra charge. I guess they could still give us a king and a day bed, but that seems unlikely. He won’t have a ticket, so I imagine they would catch on if they cared enough to look into it. Geez, I wish there was a way to ensure your bedding assignments at deluxes without the rigamarole. It seems like such a basic requirement. It makes me contemplate switching to a resort or room category where I know what I am getting.

 

[cjhinch]

Is the walkway to the Magic Kingdom open now, or still closed for construction?

 

[Surgie2]

Is the walkway to the Magic Kingdom open now, or still closed for construction?

It reopened in December. We used it last month with no problem. Construction in ongoing but walkway is open.

 

[TomicalJM]

Does anyone know if the touring plans website room chart is accurate to the room set ups for the Contemporary? It makes it look like all standard theme park view rooms have 2 queen beds (which means I wouldn’t have to worry about it). According to the site, king rooms are just concierge on TPV, a few scattered on lake view, and several throughout the garden wing.

 

[SamanthaH]

Does anyone know if the touring plans website room chart is accurate to the room set ups for the Contemporary? It makes it look like all standard theme park view rooms have 2 queen beds (which means I wouldn’t have to worry about it). According to the site, king rooms are just concierge on TPV, a few scattered on lake view, and several throughout the garden wing.

No, I love their room view finder, but the room set ups are not entirely accurate. If you do a search on you tube, you can view videos of regular (non club level) theme park view rooms with the king bed set up. Someone else pointed out to me that the connecting rooms are not always accurate on touring plans. During the last trip we took to the GF, the room we were in staying in was designated as a suite on the touring plan map, but in actuality, it was a regular room with 2 queen beds.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Does anyone know if the touring plans website room chart is accurate to the room set ups for the Contemporary? It makes it look like all standard theme park view rooms have 2 queen beds (which means I wouldn’t have to worry about it). According to the site, king rooms are just concierge on TPV, a few scattered on lake view, and several throughout the garden wing.

Yeah, I agree with PP - you can only trust the TP room info to a point. It is sometimes directionally accurate, but not specifically accurate when you get into bed configuration information.

But, while there are some King rooms around the Tower and Garden Wing, 2 Queens outnumber King rooms by a material degree at CR.

 

[glocon]

Not at CR, but last year I reserved 2Q at GDT and got a king. Me (mom) and DS22 did not want to share a bed.... and when we got there, they “upgraded” us to a king since we were only 2 people in the room. We had done the online check in and went to our room to find a king bed. We simply went to the check in desk and explained why that wouldn’t work. They did not have any more 2Q available so upgraded us to a deluxe suite so we had 2 sleeping surfaces. It worked out in the end.

 

[SamanthaH]

Not at CR, but last year I reserved 2Q at GDT and got a king. Me (mom) and DS22 did not want to share a bed.... and when we got there, they “upgraded” us to a king since we were only 2 people in the room. We had done the online check in and went to our room to find a king bed. We simply went to the check in desk and explained why that wouldn’t work. They did not have any more 2Q available so upgraded us to a deluxe suite so we had 2 sleeping surfaces. It worked out in the end.

Oh wow, and that is a resort where you can actually reserve your room configuration. I am glad they were able to find a room with 2 sleeping surfaces, but I imagine one was a pull out. The kind bed in that situation was definitely not an “upgrade”. It was a... “we overbooked and ran out of a room type”. Did you have access to the club level after they moved you to the deluxe suite?

 

[glocon]

King room definitely was not an upgrade as far as we were concerned... but the king suite sure was! It was on the 11th floor I think... could see GE, EP fireworks and HS fireworks too. But no CL for us. Still a nice upgrade from a standard queen that we originally booked.

 

[plutotheduggo]

Dd and I did the CG brunch last Feb and May. I was fascinated with the area lol.

It appeared the stairs were emergency only,


View attachment 471674

I just wanted to update this post and my original question about access to the roof on Contemporary during the day. On Feb 25th 2020, I was able to take the elevator to the 10th floor and go through the exit door facing Magic Kingdom and take the stairs up to the roof top with no blocking gates or chains. No one else was up there but I was able to take some great shots overlooking Magic Kingdom. This was at around 1pm.

 

[skifast22]

For anyone getting cabin fever and missing the contemporary resort, I wanted to share a 360 degree 5k video I made last summer. I originally filemed it for myself but started posting some of these videos to help eveyone else out while wdw is closed. It works best with an oculus go, but should also work on your phone or computer. I start by crossing the sky bridge from BLT, walk through the grand canyon concourse, take the escalators and exterior stairs to the boat dock, walk along the pathways back to the BLT. Hoping this helps bring some Contemporary Magic back to you all while we all wait this thing out! You tube link to the 360 video is below.

 

[jbock]

Hi all,
I saw a post or two about the "Deluxe Garden Wing" style room at contemporary. Has anyone stayed there recently (sorry - "semi-recently") and have any thoughts? It would be two adults + 6 y/o child. It's priced the ~ same as GF room, or what I've currently got, which is 1BR BWV. Thinking of changing a few nights @ BWV into the Cont room as a split stay. A virtual penny (or perhaps a thumbs up?) for your thoughts!

 

[Vern60]

Hi Jbock,
I'll start out prefacing this by saying I never have stayed in the Garden Wing, though last year the prices in "the tower" actually came down enough for us to try a few nights. I had always wanted to stay there since being a kid many decades ago. It was everything I thought it would be and more. Though we were on the lake side, as soon as we opened our door to the hall we could see the MK, Cinderella's castle, Space Mountain etc. Also being able to watch the monorail run through was just such a joy, not to mention going up to the roof to watch the fireworks at night. We finished that trip, our first split stay, with several nights at the Yacht club.
The reason I say all that is I'm just not sure I would get that same "feeling" in the Garden wing, which is, I'm assuming you know, the smaller buildings off to the side, on the opposite side of the Magic Kingdom. I have heard the rooms are just the same, very nice, but you do have an additional short walk to get to the tower for meals and shops, plus you need to pass through the main tower to get to the bus stop or walking path to Magic Kingdom.
Personally, I think I'd prefer a different deluxe if the price is the same for the garden wing. If I could get a tower room for the same, then a no brainer.
My two cents

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

Hi all,
I saw a post or two about the "Deluxe Garden Wing" style room at contemporary. Has anyone stayed there recently (sorry - "semi-recently") and have any thoughts? It would be two adults + 6 y/o child. It's priced the ~ same as GF room, or what I've currently got, which is 1BR BWV. Thinking of changing a few nights @ BWV into the Cont room as a split stay. A virtual penny (or perhaps a thumbs up?) for your thoughts!

What do you want to know about it? More specifically? It's surely quieter than the tower, but could possibly be a much longer walk to refill drinks, get to the monorail etc.

 

[kmorlock]

* Edit: Sorry, I missed the “Deluxe” part...yes, those rooms do have a different configuration as detailed below.

What do you want to know about it? More specifically? It's surely quieter than the tower, but could possibly be a much longer walk to refill drinks, get to the monorail etc.

The Standard Garden Wing rooms have exactly the same bedding configuration as the tower rooms. **Edited: DELUXE GW rooms are different, King Bed, pull-out sofa, different shaped room.**
pros: rooms can be more quiet than the tower but have boat noise. Larger than most standard deluxe Resort rooms. Close to pools. Close to boats. Lovely views, plus all the amenities of the tower except a longer walk. Keurig instead of coffee pot. Pools are really plain but always warm and hot tub is great
Usually most economical room on monorail loop. 10 minute walk to MK!
Cons: Boat noise - horns can be loud. Shared 1st floor patios, no balcony on higher floors. no kitchen, no laundry, no separate living/sleeping space. Longer walks to the tower for mug refills.
It’s a tough toss up between the 3. It depends where you spend more time at, food preferences, time of travel. For us, I’ll take a 1 bedroom over standard room anyway at any resort.

 

[Dave006]

Hi all,
I saw a post or two about the "Deluxe Garden Wing" style room at contemporary. Has anyone stayed there recently (sorry - "semi-recently") and have any thoughts? It would be two adults + 6 y/o child. It's priced the ~ same as GF room, or what I've currently got, which is 1BR BWV. Thinking of changing a few nights @ BWV into the Cont room as a split stay. A virtual penny (or perhaps a thumbs up?) for your thoughts!

The Deluxe Garden Wing rooms are large V shaped hotel rooms with a King bed and a Queen sleeper sofa. For 1st floor rooms, they have 2 different patios (each with 2 chairs). On floors 2-3 there are just 2 sets of sliding door with a railing (no balcony).

These rooms are located on inside angels of the garden wing so offer views of the Gardens, Pools, Marina or Bay Lake. You can also walk to the MK in addition to the resort Monorail. It can be very convenient after a late evening at the MK.

I would stick with at 1BR BWV since we don't like to unpack / pack twice. It has more room for 2 adults to have some private space and allow your 6 y/o their own space in the living room area with it's own LCD TV. Also you have a kitchen and a washer/dryer.

Dave

 

[jbock]

Thanks for the info all. While it sounds like a cool room (I like that there are only three of them) I see some of the downsides mentioned as being issues. I ended up going a different direction- for the same rate (2$ less actually!) I got a CL YC room for half the trip, kept the 1BR for the other half. (YC didn’t have full week open) While the room is smaller I’ve always wanted to try CL and kid loves looks of Stormalong bay... Anyway, drifting off topic. Thanks again for details & pros/cons

 

[kmorlock]

Can’t go wrong with CL! Enjoy your trip!

 

[jemtx]

Thanks for the info all. While it sounds like a cool room (I like that there are only three of them) I see some of the downsides mentioned as being issues. I ended up going a different direction- for the same rate (2$ less actually!) I got a CL YC room for half the trip, kept the 1BR for the other half. (YC didn’t have full week open) While the room is smaller I’ve always wanted to try CL and kid loves looks of Stormalong bay... Anyway, drifting off topic. Thanks again for details & pros/cons

Last summer we did something sort of similar. Unfortunately we didn’t do the 1BR, but we had a regular CR tower room (lake view) for 1/2 the trip and did YC CL for the other half. It was a good combo to do a split trip with. I think you’ll have a great time. It makes it like to two vacations in one. Enjoy

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Thanks for the info all. While it sounds like a cool room (I like that there are only three of them) I see some of the downsides mentioned as being issues. I ended up going a different direction- for the same rate (2$ less actually!) I got a CL YC room for half the trip, kept the 1BR for the other half. (YC didn’t have full week open) While the room is smaller I’ve always wanted to try CL and kid loves looks of Stormalong bay... Anyway, drifting off topic. Thanks again for details & pros/cons

Enjoy YC CL. It’s a personal fav of ours.