Disney's CONTEMPORARY RESORT Information & Questions

[mickeynut1]

We have two nights booked at the CR garden wing room before we head to AKV for four nights!

I am debating switching and renting points for BLT studio as our plans include arrival night dinner and swim, MK all day the next day and then check out day we leave around 9am for epcot.

Am wondering if if should save money or just leave as is??

thoughts, it will be me dh and 3 girls!

We haven't stayed at either, but I'd stick with the CR. The studio will have 1 queen bed and a queen sleeper sofa, whereas the CR will give you 2 queen beds and a daybed. Plus, as the pp said, the studio is smaller.

 

[*Toadstool*]

Hiya! I am new to the CR!
We are booked for January in a garden view room.
We wanted to stay at the poly but were advised not to due to the construction.
My main concern is the beds.. are they as comfy as the poly? lol. I have a really bad neck problem and I need a comfy bed or I will be miserable!
Any other tips/info on the CR would be great. We want to be in a monorail resort so that's how we ended up booking CR.
Do most of you get park hoppers since it is easy access to MK?
We have not been to the world in 4 years....
So I am really excited about this trip!! I want to make the best of it, so I can convince my husband to go back much sooner this time. He loved the poly so I'm hoping CR won't be a disappointment. I haven't even been to the resort so going on blind faith here!

 

[trishadono]

Hiya! I am new to the CR!
We are booked for January in a garden view room.
We wanted to stay at the poly but were advised not to due to the construction.
My main concern is the beds.. are they as comfy as the poly? lol. I have a really bad neck problem and I need a comfy bed or I will be miserable!
Any other tips/info on the CR would be great. We want to be in a monorail resort so that's how we ended up booking CR.
Do most of you get park hoppers since it is easy access to MK?
We have not been to the world in 4 years....
So I am really excited about this trip!! I want to make the best of it, so I can convince my husband to go back much sooner this time. He loved the poly so I'm hoping CR won't be a disappointment. I haven't even been to the resort so going on blind faith here!

I have stayed at all of the monorail resorts(luckily). I find the deluxe to all have comfy beds.

I like park hoppers because I do rope drop, relax at resort in the afternoon then out again at night. I find Epcot, HS, AK not really having enough for us all day. We prefer to do MK either morning/night with one of the others. Being able to walk to/from MK really is a +!!

What is nice is that you can visit poly very easily. I spend a lot of my afternoons visiting between cr/poly/gf and WL. There is a boat from cr right to WL and I love the lobby and shop there

I have stayed in the tower and garden view rooms. The advantage to GV is the closeness to the pool/hot tubs, marina, and view of EWP.

Disadvantage mainly lack of balcony(do get a shared patio if on first floor). The walk to the GV I think is short compared to the fact that gf and poly have their buildings spread out.

Make sure to check out page one closely. Kook has lots of great info!!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

We have two nights booked at the CR garden wing room before we head to AKV for four nights!

I am debating switching and renting points for BLT studio as our plans include arrival night dinner and swim, MK all day the next day and then check out day we leave around 9am for epcot.

Am wondering if if should save money or just leave as is??

thoughts, it will be me dh and 3 girls!

Leave it as it is. You will have so much more space in the wing room over a BLT studio. And two real queen beds and a day bed. Everyone has a place to sleep and not on a sleeper sofa.

 

[Cluelyss]

Anyone have a feel for how often early check in requests are granted? Our flight arrives at 11 am, so expect to be at CR by 1. Normally we would just head to a park for the day, but this year we are doing MNSSHP our first night, and would love to be able to get into our room as soon as possible to relax and recharge for a long night. But I don't want to "waste" a room request if we are unlikely to get in before 3....I'd much rather keep my 1st floor request as my priority if that's the case. Thoughts??? TIA!!

 

[AaronInWI]

Anyone have a feel for how often early check in requests are granted? Our flight arrives at 11 am, so expect to be at CR by 1. Normally we would just head to a park for the day, but this year we are doing MNSSHP our first night, and would love to be able to get into our room as soon as possible to relax and recharge for a long night. But I don't want to "waste" a room request if we are unlikely to get in before 3....I'd much rather keep my 1st floor request as my priority if that's the case. Thoughts??? TIA!!

My experience, as I outlined a few pages back, is I did the early check in and got the exact opposite of my requests (requested inside the C at BLT, higher floor, got outside the C, 4th floor). BUT, and this is vital, I indicated on my online check-in that I'd be there at 9:00 am because we were staying elsewhere in town the night before. So my thinking is that they were trying to get me a room ASAP, and disregarded my requests because of that; I wonder if I had stated that we'd be arriving later, we would have had our requests granted. (Thankfully, a quick call to BLT got us 14th floor, inside the C, and all we had to do was wait until the afternoon for the room to be ready; this reinforces my theory of arrival time influencing requests being granted.)

 

[Cluelyss]

My experience, as I outlined a few pages back, is I did the early check in and got the exact opposite of my requests (requested inside the C at BLT, higher floor, got outside the C, 4th floor). BUT, and this is vital, I indicated on my online check-in that I'd be there at 9:00 am because we were staying elsewhere in town the night before. So my thinking is that they were trying to get me a room ASAP, and disregarded my requests because of that; I wonder if I had stated that we'd be arriving later, we would have had our requests granted. (Thankfully, a quick call to BLT got us 14th floor, inside the C, and all we had to do was wait until the afternoon for the room to be ready; this reinforces my theory of arrival time influencing requests being granted.)

That's exactly what I'm afraid of! Good thought on the timing issue though...as we will not need something that early. Did you only indicate your requests online, or did you follow up with the resort a few days in advance? I'm wondering if a phone call would help any??

 

[melissapi]

I was trying to find a clear answer before asking.
How early are the decorations up at CR/BLT? We will be there Nov 6-10. I know the Christmas party at the MK begins on the 7th and I read the rest of the World is decorated BY Thanksgiving but I am really hoping to see some at least in our resort while I am there....any chance?

 

[Kristina4109]

I remember seeing CR Christmas decorations (can anyone sing O Futuristic Christmas Tree with me?) the full week before Thanksgiving.

 

[mickeynut1]

Did you only indicate your requests online, or did you follow up with the resort a few days in advance? I'm wondering if a phone call would help any??

I just wanted to mention that if you call the number associated with the resort, you won't get the resort itself. All calls to resort numbers are routed to a call center, so you wouldn't be talking to the front desk of the CR. With that said, I always have any requests noted at the time of booking, but I sometimes call back a few days prior to our arrival just to make sure the requests are noted .

I was trying to find a clear answer before asking.
How early are the decorations up at CR/BLT? We will be there Nov 6-10. I know the Christmas party at the MK begins on the 7th and I read the rest of the World is decorated BY Thanksgiving but I am really hoping to see some at least in our resort while I am there....any chance?

I don't know exactly when decorations start going up, but from what I understand, things start going up close to Thanksgiving. I don't think much (if anything) will be up that early in the month, but I could be mistaken. Hopefully someone else will have more specific information on the time frame .

 

[AaronInWI]

That's exactly what I'm afraid of! Good thought on the timing issue though...as we will not need something that early. Did you only indicate your requests online, or did you follow up with the resort a few days in advance? I'm wondering if a phone call would help any??

I did both. When I booked, I requested inside the C, higher floor. When I did online check-in, I selected higher floor since inside the C wasn't an option. My guess is that if you want to have your requests listed on your reservation, a call to Disney's CRO would take care of it.

 

[kittyx3]

Here now and the splash area for kids is closed for refurbishment. By the the looks of it, it's going to be down for a little bit. Not sure how long.

Has anyone had an update on this? Thank you.

 

[Cluelyss]

Also wondering if anyone has an update on the monorail....back to "normal" operating hours yet? TIA!

 

[WDWKOOK]

Funny story!

In August dd and I get on ME bus and wait. After it is full-ish the driver waits until he is on the way and says order of stops POLY, GF, WL THEN CR

So I say to dd " I 'll get off at poly and take the monorail around and get off at cr and check us in, you can sit on bus and get our suitcases off and I'll meet you".

When we almost get there she says, I will do the check in YOU sit on the bus.

I have many trips with ME but this guy was fast

I got off the bus and was greeted with a person with iPad and they checked me in (even had CL and did from curb) . Room wasn't ready but they will text our number and our MB's would work later on elevator

We were starved so I get bellhop to store our stuff. Dd was still not there!!!

Finally she shows up and we walk/run to MK for Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe !!

So it was the 4th stop but wasn't so bad after all, it was faster than riding the monorail! When I told the driver that my daughter was racing him on the monorail he was LOL!

It was an hour or less.

On a side note we had Streamlined Checkin. After we were greeted at the curb we never had to go to the desk. While we were walking I got an email from American Express that a charge was made to my card(so I knew they were doing it somewhere). Later after we got into the room Sharon (concierge) brought down to our room the paperwork and texting info.

Love that you beat DD and that Disney lost no time in actually charging your credit card the minute you checked-in

Hiya! I am new to the CR!
We are booked for January in a garden view room.
We wanted to stay at the poly but were advised not to due to the construction.

My main concern is the beds.. are they as comfy as the poly? lol. I have a really bad neck problem and I need a comfy bed or I will be miserable!
Any other tips/info on the CR would be great. We want to be in a monorail resort so that's how we ended up booking CR.

Do most of you get park hoppers since it is easy access to MK?
We have not been to the world in 4 years....

So I am really excited about this trip!! I want to make the best of it, so I can convince my husband to go back much sooner this time. He loved the poly so I'm hoping CR won't be a disappointment. I haven't even been to the resort so going on blind faith here!

Welcome to the CR/BLT thread and don't worry about a thing, CR is wonderful. The beds are super comfy and the walk to MK is magical. The view of Bay Lake, the EWP and Wishes is amazing. You might want to request a Bay Lake-facing room. That is an option with a GV booking, though it can't be guaranteed. The view of Bay Lake is amazing and from the ground floor rooms you can walk right out to the beach.

I was trying to find a clear answer before asking.

How early are the decorations up at CR/BLT? We will be there Nov 6-10. I know the Christmas party at the MK begins on the 7th and I read the rest of the World is decorated BY Thanksgiving but I am really hoping to see some at least in our resort while I am there....any chance?

Unfortunately, the resorts will not be decorated by the time you leave. You're leaving about 7-10 days prior to them being decorated.

Has anyone had an update on this? Thank you.

I have looked for permits, but never found any so I have no information of the splash pad closure.

Also wondering if anyone has an update on the monorail....back to "normal" operating hours yet? TIA!

The new operating hours began 1 SEP and are slated to be in place for several months.

 

[weesignlanguage]

Quick question- Does the Contemporary and BLT notify us who have upcoming ressies about any changes like monorail hours and other resort related closures? I am hearing alot of people on FB say they haven't been told anything and are finding out when they get there when it's too late. Is it posted on resort or in room as well?

 

[BelleKer]

Quick question- Does the Contemporary and BLT notify us who have upcoming ressies about any changes like monorail hours and other resort related closures? I am hearing alot of people on FB say they haven't been told anything and are finding out when they get there when it's too late. Is it posted on resort or in room as well?

Was just there 9/12-9/14. I had a ressie or 8:20 for the Crystal Palace at MK. I received a call about 5 days before, informing me about the monorail.

DH and I always walked to MK and took the monorail back. The walk was only 7 minutes exactly, it was great. Being able to skip taking the Express Monorail, or the ferry was a huge benefit!

 

[princessap]

Soooo glad I booked my garden wing room when they were released for 2015 as they have been sold out for our dates for weeks now!!!

Pretty excited to stay at the CR and wondering if I should make any room requests for the garden wing garden view??

Was thinking of upgrading to a tower room if discounts come out but is it worth it just to be in the tower?? We are only here two nights before moving to akv and will be at mk all day the day after arrival! Thanks

 

[patrickpiteo]

Quick question- Does the Contemporary and BLT notify us who have upcoming ressies about any changes like monorail hours and other resort related closures? I am hearing alot of people on FB say they haven't been told anything and are finding out when they get there when it's too late. Is it posted on resort or in room as well?

Got a email on the resort with info and the monorail and other helpful tips.

 

[Cluelyss]

Got a email on the resort with info and the monorail and other helpful tips.

How soon before your arrival did you receive the email??

 

[mickeyplanner]

Good Morning, it has been awhile since I have been on the boards.
Does anyone have any information on the number of bathrooms in a 2-bedroom at BLT? Not a lock off but a true two bedroom.
Have a great day!