Disney's CONTEMPORARY RESORT Information & Questions

[Dave006]

I just booked main tower lake view for mid april. Hotel.com didnt give me a choice but gave me queens. Can we switch on property at early checkin to king

There are very few King rooms and for standard rooms it is not a bookable category. It never hurts to inquire on arrival if a King room is available.

Dave

 

[trishadono]

I forgot to mention. For anybody there during spring break with MK opening at 8am. DD and I left cr at 7am. We got through the security and to the park entrance by 7:15. Both days the park opened close to 7:15.

Ride lines are short for coasters, HM etc. If you on a long water ride like pirates or Small World then those lines were crazy long because they don't load the whole boat.

So plan to do those early if a "must do".

 

[luckydriver]

I know people have been asking questions about the refurbishment work. I have a trip coming up in mid-April and was contacted today by a WDW rep via phone making sure that I knew about the refurb. She said it was going to start on the “other side of the resort” (I have a lake view booked), there would be noise that would stop by 6PM, and all of the stores and restaurants will be open. She didn’t give any dates so I assume this information applies to the week I’m there (starting 4/11) and will change as time goes on. Hope this answers some questions for others.

Am i reading correctly that park view will be refurbed at that time. I have lake view just booked week 4 18

 

[trishadono]

Am i reading correctly that park view will be refurbed at that time. I have lake view just booked week 4 18

Yes the refurb is starting on the TPV side. The lake view side will be open.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I just booked main tower lake view for mid april. Hotel.com didnt give me a choice but gave me queens. Can we switch on property at early checkin to king

Just in case you don't know, wanted to point out the TPV side rooms start their renovation in early April. Just FYI in case the presence of possible construction sites or noise may bother you.

 

[luckydriver]

Just in case you don't know, wanted to point out the TPV side rooms start their renovation in early April. Just FYI in case the presence of possible construction sites or noise may bother you.

Does this mean fewer guests and better access to food and monorail etc

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Does this mean fewer guests and better access to food and monorail etc

Yup.

Although my experiences at CR since reopening have been it's pretty darn empty already, relatively speaking compared to normal times. Should be even quieter as they work their way through renovations and rooms being offline.

 

[jods]

Yup.

Although my experiences at CR since reopening have been it's pretty darn empty already, relatively speaking compared to normal times. Should be even quieter as they work their way through renovations and rooms being offline.

That's good to hear! I'm hoping our room will be ready early. As it stands now, there are rooms in my booking category free next week. Hopefully the pool won't be full like reports at other resorts.

 

[pixiedust2u]

Are they running any resort activities? Like outdoor movies? Or activities for kids by the pool?

 

[Dave006]

Yes they still have "Movies under the Stars" and also activities at the main pool area every afternoon. There should be recreation information sheet at the Front desk, and information boards in the lobby.

Note: the moves are not scheduled for every night of the week.

Dave

 

[luckydriver]

i canceled my hotel.com and booked direct thru disney because disney had the same price on sale. however when i use the app, my name appears 2x instead of my name and my gf name. however on the web page of disney 'change your reservation" both our names are listed correctly under the travel party. can i assume since the web page is accurate i dont have to worry about what the app says

also im a bit dismayed. looking at the list of restaurants it appears contempo and wave are the only things i can eat without a reservation. is that correct?

also on my app it says Q3 Ro room only. i'm assuming that means just a room booking because i bought tickets before. correct?

i was told before to request a king upon arrival but do you know of anywhere on my reservation i can note king bed. i cannot see any place for notes

 

[hereforthechurros]

i canceled my hotel.com and booked direct thru disney because disney had the same price on sale. however when i use the app, my name appears 2x instead of my name and my gf name. however on the web page of disney 'change your reservation" both our names are listed correctly under the travel party. can i assume since the web page is accurate i dont have to worry about what the app says

also im a bit dismayed. looking at the list of restaurants it appears contempo and wave are the only things i can eat without a reservation. is that correct?

also on my app it says Q3 Ro room only. i'm assuming that means just a room booking because i bought tickets before. correct?

i was told before to request a king upon arrival but do you know of anywhere on my reservation i can note king bed. i cannot see any place for notes

You’ll have to have king request added to your reservation by calling in. There is not place to add notes online. If you already did that then it is noted in the system. Sounds like the name issue isn’t anything to worry about however it doesn’t hurt to mention this if you can in to have them add the king bed request to your reservation.

CR has some of the most restaurants on property open at the moment so having those choices plus the pool bars isn’t really that bad. California Grill and Chef Mickey’s are extremely popular so reservations are required.

 

[luckydriver]

boy they have some giddy people working there. 70 min on hold and all she said was the name thing should clean up on its own. she had no idea why the CC we tried to use wouldnt work to do check in. (she wouldnt try to add it herself) and i didnt ask about the king so i guess i gotta wait 70 more min to do that.sigh. all she did was giggle. it was like a 12 year old got ahold of the line.

when i said a 3rd unnecessary name was on the account she said maybe your account is super magical. they do have the spirit there with their answers. she said call the internet line but we did call that. was right under the thing that says if there are multiple names call this number.

how late are the pool bars open? no way to get other reservations just 1 month out. we have wave one night and thats it.

 

[hereforthechurros]

boy they have some giddy people working there. 70 min on hold and all she said was the name thing should clean up on its own. she had no idea why the CC we tried to use wouldnt work to do check in. (she wouldnt try to add it herself) and i didnt ask about the king so i guess i gotta wait 70 more min to do that.sigh. all she did was giggle. it was like a 12 year old got ahold of the line.

when i said a 3rd unnecessary name was on the account she said maybe your account is super magical. they do have the spirit there with their answers. she said call the internet line but we did call that. was right under the thing that says if there are multiple names call this number.

how late are the pool bars open? no way to get other reservations just 1 month out. we have wave one night and thats it.

Use Touring Plans reservation finder (you’ll have to create an account but it’s free) and try to use that to find reservations. A month out is tough for making dining since it opens at 60 days. Low capacity means reservations fill up instantly.

California Grill does take walk ups for the bar if you want to try that out, especially good for a later dinner since it’s open until 10 pm. Sand Bar pool bar is only open until 8 pm. Shortened hours pretty much everywhere.

 

[RunWI1265]

Was randomly checking room availability for our May trip to see if anything different popped up (anyone else constantly checking even after they book?? Why am I like this? ) and was able to snag a Garden Wing Deluxe room! Originally booked garden wing garden view. Upgraded with space but lost the extra sleeping surface. Traveling with our two toddlers, so hoping they will share a bed with no issue. Already having a little buyer's remorse because I'm seeing the view of the lake isn't the best. Our last stay we had garden view and we had a clear shot of the EWP going by at the end of the night. Such a treat! Hoping we can snag the ground floor room.

 

[Dave006]

however when i use the app, my name appears 2x instead of my name and my gf name. however on the web page of disney 'change your reservation" both our names are listed correctly under the travel party. can i assume since the web page is accurate i dont have to worry about what the app says

Yes the web version of your MDE account is the "master" version. The app has it's own data source for performance reasons and the 2 systems are synced a couple of times every 24 hours. It should fix it's self by morning.

also im a bit dismayed. looking at the list of restaurants it appears contempo and wave are the only things i can eat without a reservation. is that correct?

Yes and the CR has 1 more option vs most other resorts. Chef Mickey's is only open for breakfast currently. Just keep checking in the app as guest reservations change. You should also check the evening before you want a reservation as many guests cancel at that point. Also finally you should check for same-day reservations as guests make changes to their dinner reservations based on how their day goes.

also on my app it says Q3 Ro room only. i'm assuming that means just a room booking because i bought tickets before. correct?

Yes that means that you only booked a room without tickets aka a room only reservation.

Dave

 

[jemtx]

Was randomly checking room availability for our May trip to see if anything different popped up (anyone else constantly checking even after they book?? Why am I like this? ) and was able to snag a Garden Wing Deluxe room! Originally booked garden wing garden view. Upgraded with space but lost the extra sleeping surface. Traveling with our two toddlers, so hoping they will share a bed with no issue. Already having a little buyer's remorse because I'm seeing the view of the lake isn't the best. Our last stay we had garden view and we had a clear shot of the EWP going by at the end of the night. Such a treat! Hoping we can snag the ground floor room.

Had the same thing happen for our June trip. Snagged the garden deluxe bc it’s such a unicorn, but wasn’t sure if I made a good decision bc we lose a sleeping surface. I couldn’t decide if we wanted the 1st floor or the 3rd floor.

 

[Dug720]

also im a bit dismayed. looking at the list of restaurants it appears contempo and wave are the only things i can eat without a reservation. is that correct?

Actually I would not count on The Wave without an ADR either. Especially if you are going at a busy time! There is a walk-up waitlist option usually (also for Chef Mickey’s). You also have access via monorail to the Grand Floridian and you could walk from there to the Poly (or pre- and post- monorail hours there is a MK resort loop bus).

 

[luckydriver]

we did snag wave our arrival night for dinner. how long before a reservation at GF or poly would i have to leave CR to take the monorail?

i think i read CR has some kind of store? i always do like some water and donuts/snacks in the room and while i dont expect discount pricing, just curious if anyone has a clue how much bottled water is there.

 

[Dave006]

Dasani Water (by Coca Cola ) 8 pack of 12 oz should be $4.79 at the Fantasia Market on the 4th floor of Disney’s Contemporary Resort. 1 Gallon of Zypherhills Distilled water is $2.99.

If you don't see the 8 packs out on the shelf just ask a CM.

Dave