Disney's CONTEMPORARY RESORT Information & Questions

[AngiTN]

Just a quick pop in to say we loved our CR TPV room last week (Wed to Sat).
I had requested odd room/upper floor. We got that, and an early check in.
We'd arrived late the night before so spent 1 night at AoA. Left our bags for Bell Services, hopped on a MK bus and walked over to check in.
I guess we got to CR at about 10:00 and by 11:30 I had my room notice, 11th floor, room number 4747. I couldn't have asked for a better location. We made a point to be in the room to enjoy the fireworks on 2 of our 3 nights there. The 3rd night we were in MK to enjoy them.
We never waited for more than a few minutes for an elevator and didn't hear any noise from the lobby areas.
We took advantage of the walk to MK several times and spent time in the pool. If they were to add a zero entry to the pool, and maybe another Mickey touch in the rooms and it would be my perfect location. Those are the only 2 things I missed during our stay there. Oh, that and some counter space in the bathroom. We just opted to use 1 sink as a counter.
We only used the bus 1 day, to AK and it was there when we walked out but full and we let it go as there was another right behind it (and 2 more behind that one). No one quite knew why they'd sent 4 AK buses in a row. Same when we left AK, bus to CR was there right away. The rest of the time we used the monorail or our feet.
I'd love to stay there again one day

Oh, and my only complaint, Mousekeeping didn't replace the coffee on our 2nd morning. Which just so happened to be the morning of the 24 hour day, when I was up at 4:00 am and really needed coffee

 

[AngiTN]

If you book a CR TPV room, you will have an unobstructed view from your balcony of the MK (and GF, Poly, 7SL, the MK bus stop, the monorail and the parking lot below). If you're in an odd numbered room, you can see the MK while in bed (you'll face north). To see the EWP, you'll need to book a Bay Lake View room. You can also see it from the 4th floor windows and from the beach/boat dock.

We could see the EWP from our TPV room, 11th floor. I was not expecting to see it but we saw it each night we were there for viewing fireworks.

 

[dprincessmom]

Just a quick pop in to say we loved our CR TPV room last week (Wed to Sat).
I had requested odd room/upper floor. We got that, and an early check in.
We'd arrived late the night before so spent 1 night at AoA. Left our bags for Bell Services, hopped on a MK bus and walked over to check in.
I guess we got to CR at about 10:00 and by 11:30 I had my room notice, 11th floor, room number 4747. I couldn't have asked for a better location. We made a point to be in the room to enjoy the fireworks on 2 of our 3 nights there. The 3rd night we were in MK to enjoy them.
We never waited for more than a few minutes for an elevator and didn't hear any noise from the lobby areas.
We took advantage of the walk to MK several times and spent time in the pool. If they were to add a zero entry to the pool, and maybe another Mickey touch in the rooms and it would be my perfect location. Those are the only 2 things I missed during our stay there. Oh, that and some counter space in the bathroom. We just opted to use 1 sink as a counter.
We only used the bus 1 day, to AK and it was there when we walked out but full and we let it go as there was another right behind it (and 2 more behind that one). No one quite knew why they'd sent 4 AK buses in a row. Same when we left AK, bus to CR was there right away. The rest of the time we used the monorail or our feet.
I'd love to stay there again one day

Oh, and my only complaint, Mousekeeping didn't replace the coffee on our 2nd morning. Which just so happened to be the morning of the 24 hour day, when I was up at 4:00 am and really needed coffee

Why did you request an odd number room???
Also when you are saying "A Mickey touch" are you talking about decor?

 

[rcraw45425]

home tonight from four nights tower TPV room 4729 (11th floor, odd number = view of the castle from the beds). A little too close to Chef Mickey's in the mornings if not for our white noise machine but other than that room was fine. Elevators are the pits though, especially in the evenings.

 

[AngiTN]

Why did you request an odd number room???
Also when you are saying "A Mickey touch" are you talking about decor?

Upon advice of the members here I requested an odd number room because they have the bed placed so that you can lay in bed and watch Wishes from the window. The even number rooms have the bed across the room so you would sit on the fold out couch to watch Wishes.

And yes, by a Mickey touch I mean some sort of decor. Oddly, as you go up in resort level you go down in Disney touches. The values have the most, the deluxe the least and the CR has the least of the Deluxes we've stayed in thus far. Matter of fact, I don't recall any presence of the Mouse anywhere in our room. While that doesn't ruin the stay by any means I just found it odd.

 

[DisneyParkFan]

We could see the EWP from our TPV room, 11th floor. I was not expecting to see it but we saw it each night we were there for viewing fireworks.

I'll have to check that out. I have a TPV at CR and requested an odd number room on a higher floor. I planned on watching the fireworks from my room but thought I would have to go down to the beach to see the EWP. Did you have a clear view of the floats on the water. Also what channel is the Wishes music on? TIA!

 

[dprincessmom]

Upon advice of the members here I requested an odd number room because they have the bed placed so that you can lay in bed and watch Wishes from the window. The even number rooms have the bed across the room so you would sit on the fold out couch to watch Wishes.

And yes, by a Mickey touch I mean some sort of decor. Oddly, as you go up in resort level you go down in Disney touches. The values have the most, the deluxe the least and the CR has the least of the Deluxes we've stayed in thus far. Matter of fact, I don't recall any presence of the Mouse anywhere in our room. While that doesn't ruin the stay by any means I just found it odd.

Ok thanks and good to know about the bed.

The first time I read Mickey Touch I was thinking extra Mickey Readers in the room for a minute

 

[AngiTN]

I'll have to check that out. I have a TPV at CR and requested an odd number room on a higher floor. I planned on watching the fireworks from my room but thought I would have to go down to the beach to see the EWP. Did you have a clear view of the floats on the water. Also what channel is the Wishes music on? TIA!

Wishes was on channel 105. I wish they also pipped in Celebrate the Magic show on the castle. We could see it, while not clearly, we could tell what was being shown. We could hear the music from the park but it was a strain and we had to be very quiet.

We did have a clear view of the floats. To see the park you look off the right end of the balcony but if you look straight out you see Bay Lake, GF and Poly off towards the left. If that makes sense. I thought I'd gotten a picture of the lake from my phone but they must be on the camera

 

[mickeynut1]

Hi everyone! I hopped over here from the WL thread because we have just rebooked. The construction rumors scared me and I just don't want to chance it. Our first CR stay will be 11/11/15-11/17/15 in the Garden Wing. My DS8 and DIS BFF DMGeurts will be sharing a room (her first time at CR too)!

So I have a strange question.....looking at the resort maps and garden wing layouts I have found on TouringPlans and other places....it looks as though the end rooms (6123, 6124, 6107, 6108, 5150 & 5151) would have to be a different layout than the rest. They are kinda turned on their side with the entrances on the side of the room instead of the back. Has anyone stayed in an end room in the GW? Are they different layouts? Or is my mind just playing tricks on me? Really want to request 6123, and yes, I know my chances of getting that exact room as slim....but it's worth a try However, if I lose floorplan space, it isn't worth it. They look smaller....more square shaped than rectangle. Am I wrong?

Other than that, we are very excited to cross another resort off our list. And can I just say.....the food looks AMAZING! I specifically can't wait to try The Wave for breakfast

Congrats on the change. I hope you have a great stay and enjoy the CR .

I don't know if I can fully answer your room question. When I was last there taking photos, I found some canal and Bay Lake-facing rooms that I thought seemed perfect. They had amazing views and seemed to have an extra window on the side. However, looking at my notes, only some of the rooms you mention overlap with my notes:

6107 Directly faces the canal.

6108 Directly faces the canal and has the extra window on the side that faces Bay Lake.

These are on the ground floor and 6208/6308 and 6207/6307 are above them. Though I love the Bay Lake facing rooms, I thought these rooms were very intriguing seeing that they seem to have an extra side window (but, they aren't Deluxe rooms). I've never seen photos of these rooms inside, but these might be the room-type you're describing. I took photos of some of these rooms to remind me that I loved their location and uniqueness:

GARDEN WING CANAL-FACING ROOMS WITH SIDE WINDOW:

Thanks for posting this very helpful information, KOOK .

Hello all! Just joining this thread for the first time and I'll have to go back and start reading from the beginning!

Very excited to have just booked BLT as part of our big April 2016 trip! We'll start off at Universal for 3 nights, then move to BWV for a Sun-Fri stay, take a short detour up to Savannah for the weekend, then back to WDW for 3 nights at BLT! So much has changed since our last WDW trip over 10 years ago - pre-kids! I need to get myself back up to speed on all of the tips and tricks in my planning! Super excited to introduce my kids to WDW for the first time! They've been to Disneyland twice as it's much closer for us living on the West coast.

We've booked a 1BR Lake view, high floor request. We were going to go with Standard view but I got "upsold" on the lake view by the DVC owner we are renting points from, lol!

Now I just have to plan and wait patiently...

Sounds like you have a great trip planned .

Hello all! My DS is graduating from High School next week I converted my children as Disney fans from a very young age...so all four of us are heading to Disneyworld and staying at the CR for the first time August 4-11th. I'm hoping my favorite place on earth will dull the pain I'm feeling with him getting ready to leave the nest.

Congratulations to your DS. I can relate as our DS#1 graduated in 2012 and DS#2 in 2013. I'm sure you will have a great trip and make great memories .

Same here, our one and only DS just graduated and we are heading to the CR in a couple of weeks. We are hoping that he will continue to take family vacations with us to WDW.

Congratulations to your DS, what a great way to celebrate his graduation . Hope you have a great trip!

Staying at the Contemporary for 7 nights in mid-June with two under two(And others of various age sizes and temperment) and wanted to know details on the elevator issues I have read many times on this board.
1.) Is it a delay all day, every day?
2.) How long of a delay?
3.) What is the issue? I ask that because I have stayed in older hotels with as many or more rooms with four elevators but no issues like listed. I just do not get why they could not reprogram the elevators.

I can't answer about the elevators, but wanted to say I hope you have a great trip .

I just came home on Thursday and I had no problem with the elevators.

Hope you had a nice trip .

Can you all please help me with timing for transportation from CR to AK and HS early morning? I've read that the CMs don't always know the exact times or timing of the buses. We'll be there next week, need to get to AK by rope drop on Monday, June 1st and HS by rope drop on Thursday, June 4th. We'll be staying in the tower. Advice? TIA!!!

I can't help with your questions, but wanted to say have a great trip .

If I have to be somewhere, I just try and arrive at the bus stop 45-60 min. beforehand. Assume you just missed a bus and that you'll have to wait 20 min. for the next one

Hi johnsonet

This is what we do, too, as you never know .

I read a tip about just taking a taxi if you want to get somewhere directly. It'll cost a little bit but you won't have to spend so much of your time getting there.

I think taxis are a great option .

I will be in the same boat/Sea Raycer next year with DD graduating. I wonder if she'll choose CR, too

That will be a fun trip to plan .

Here's to CR and WDW in 4 days!

Have a great time .

As for waiting for the buses, it is what it is. Disney is moving more folks on buses in a day than many large cities and it is hard to get it perfect.

I agree .

We are planning our first WDW visit next February, and have booked a 1-bedroom Lake View villa at BLT for Feb. 13-20! We have been to DLR many times, but before my kids (DS 17 and DD 15) head off to University and begin their own lives, I really, really want to get them to WDW! I'm super excited, and have been gathering so much excellent information on the boards!

One of my biggest "fears" about WDW is the transportation issue (non-existent at DLR). Reading above about the bus problems, would we be better off taking a taxi to DHS and AK for pre-opening breakfast ADRs?

Congrats on your first WDW trip .

We always use Disney transportation and just allot enough time to get to our destinations, but a taxi would get you to AK and DHS faster .

SO VERY EXCITED - Just scored a Summer Rate on the CR Theme Park view so changed reservation from WL to here! So much to research, figure if we are going to do deluxe, let's do deluxe! Can't believe the special rate that wasn't there earlier was there today!!! Add to that the FP+ ease this morning and it has been one magical day. Now if July 27th would just get here!

Your trip will be here before you know it .....congrats on the great rate.

Just a quick pop in to say we loved our CR TPV room last week (Wed to Sat).
I had requested odd room/upper floor. We got that, and an early check in.
We'd arrived late the night before so spent 1 night at AoA. Left our bags for Bell Services, hopped on a MK bus and walked over to check in.
I guess we got to CR at about 10:00 and by 11:30 I had my room notice, 11th floor, room number 4747. I couldn't have asked for a better location. We made a point to be in the room to enjoy the fireworks on 2 of our 3 nights there. The 3rd night we were in MK to enjoy them.
We never waited for more than a few minutes for an elevator and didn't hear any noise from the lobby areas.
We took advantage of the walk to MK several times and spent time in the pool. If they were to add a zero entry to the pool, and maybe another Mickey touch in the rooms and it would be my perfect location. Those are the only 2 things I missed during our stay there. Oh, that and some counter space in the bathroom. We just opted to use 1 sink as a counter.
We only used the bus 1 day, to AK and it was there when we walked out but full and we let it go as there was another right behind it (and 2 more behind that one). No one quite knew why they'd sent 4 AK buses in a row. Same when we left AK, bus to CR was there right away. The rest of the time we used the monorail or our feet.
I'd love to stay there again one day

Oh, and my only complaint, Mousekeeping didn't replace the coffee on our 2nd morning. Which just so happened to be the morning of the 24 hour day, when I was up at 4:00 am and really needed coffee

Thanks for your review . Glad you had a great time and enjoyed the CR.

home tonight from four nights tower TPV room 4729 (11th floor, odd number = view of the castle from the beds). A little too close to Chef Mickey's in the mornings if not for our white noise machine but other than that room was fine. Elevators are the pits though, especially in the evenings.

Hope you had a nice trip .

 

[WDWKOOK]

What about Sea Racers? Can you go to Seven Seas Lagoon on that? I figure that its really small and shouldn't get in the way of the ferries like a pontoon boat. But then of course, my way of thinking maybe totally different than Disney's way of thinking. LOL.

I know for sure that you can take the Sea Raycers back and forth from Bay Lake to 7SL. DD and I love doing that.

We are planning our first WDW visit next February, and have booked a 1-bedroom Lake View villa at BLT for Feb. 13-20! We have been to DLR many times, but before my kids (DS 17 and DD 15) head off to University and begin their own lives, I really, really want to get them to WDW! I'm super excited, and have been gathering so much excellent information on the boards!

One of my biggest "fears" about WDW is the transportation issue (non-existent at DLR). Reading above about the bus problems, would we be better off taking a taxi to DHS and AK for pre-opening breakfast ADRs?

Congratulations on booking BLT - I'll log your dates. The one-bedroom LV is wonderful and it's so easy to walk right to the MK. A taxi will always get you anywhere faster than taking the bus, but for a price. All of the resorts offer "Early ADR" buses that start at 0630. Just tell the driver where you want to go.

SO VERY EXCITED - Just scored a Summer Rate on the CR Theme Park view so changed reservation from WL to here! So much to research, figure if we are going to do deluxe, let's do deluxe! Can't believe the special rate that wasn't there earlier was there today!!! Add to that the FP+ ease this morning and it has been one magical day. Now if July 27th would just get here!

Your persistence paid off so now it's time to plan ADRs

Just a quick pop in to say we loved our CR TPV room last week (Wed to Sat).

I had requested odd room/upper floor. We got that, and an early check in.
We'd arrived late the night before so spent 1 night at AoA. Left our bags for Bell Services, hopped on a MK bus and walked over to check in.

I guess we got to CR at about 10:00 and by 11:30 I had my room notice, 11th floor, room number 4747. I couldn't have asked for a better location. We made a point to be in the room to enjoy the fireworks on 2 of our 3 nights there. The 3rd night we were in MK to enjoy them.
We never waited for more than a few minutes for an elevator and didn't hear any noise from the lobby areas.

We took advantage of the walk to MK several times and spent time in the pool. If they were to add a zero entry to the pool, and maybe another Mickey touch in the rooms and it would be my perfect location. Those are the only 2 things I missed during our stay there. Oh, that and some counter space in the bathroom. We just opted to use 1 sink as a counter.

We only used the bus 1 day, to AK and it was there when we walked out but full and we let it go as there was another right behind it (and 2 more behind that one). No one quite knew why they'd sent 4 AK buses in a row. Same when we left AK, bus to CR was there right away. The rest of the time we used the monorail or our feet.
I'd love to stay there again one day

Oh, and my only complaint, Mousekeeping didn't replace the coffee on our 2nd morning. Which just so happened to be the morning of the 24 hour day, when I was up at 4:00 am and really needed coffee

I hope you get to book another stay soon

home tonight from four nights tower TPV room 4729 (11th floor, odd number = view of the castle from the beds). A little too close to Chef Mickey's in the mornings if not for our white noise machine but other than that room was fine. Elevators are the pits though, especially in the evenings.

You comments seem very familiar to me

Wishes was on channel 105. I wish they also pipped in Celebrate the Magic show on the castle. We could see it, while not clearly, we could tell what was being shown. We could hear the music from the park but it was a strain and we had to be very quiet.

We did have a clear view of the floats. To see the park you look off the right end of the balcony but if you look straight out you see Bay Lake, GF and Poly off towards the left. If that makes sense. I thought I'd gotten a picture of the lake from my phone but they must be on the camera

Thanks for posting the Wishes channel.

You can't see Bay Lake from Tower TPV rooms, but you can see Seven Seas Lagoon and the "back" of the EWP as it sits in front of the GF/Poly, but it is a ways away.

 

[Ewoks]

My husband and I will be staying at CR October 25-31 for Food & Wine! We'll be on the 14th floor Tower Club TPV celebrating a belated 2nd anniversary! I'm new to the boards, although I'm a long-time lurker who never got around to making an account until now.

I've stayed at CR once before when I was 3 (back in 1987, so it's been a while) and my husband has always wanted to stay there since his first trip as a 3-year-old as well (in 1980). Needless to say, this is a much-anticipated trip for us! I just love the CR. I know a lot of folks seem to think it doesn't have much character or "Disney magic," is ugly, needs to be significantly changed, etc., but I respectfully disagree. To me, it's the most "Disney" of any resort on property!

 

[mommyrosa2]

Upon advice of the members here I requested an odd number room because they have the bed placed so that you can lay in bed and watch Wishes from the window. The even number rooms have the bed across the room so you would sit on the fold out couch to watch Wishes.

Does anyone know if this holds true for TPV rooms on the Atrium CL floor as well? If so, I would so want to request an odd numbered room as I think my girls would love watching the fireworks from bed.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

The answer may be right in front of my face and is just alluding me, but I know when I planned my trip last year at BLT there was a thread that showed pics of the views from a ton of the rooms, it's how I ended up on the Bay Lake side with a great theme park view. Can someone direct me to that thread, and are there any similarly advantageous rooms staying in the Garden Rooms of CR?

 

[AngiTN]

You can't see Bay Lake from Tower TPV rooms, but you can see Seven Seas Lagoon and the "back" of the EWP as it sits in front of the GF/Poly, but it is a ways away.

Ah, ok. Well, what we saw from our room was the same exact show we saw from WL so I didn't know it was different. It actually goes by twice, with music each time. Or it did last week at least. Maybe one time was for GF/Poly and again for CR? All I know is we did see EWP in it's same presentation as we saw at WL.

 

[AngiTN]

Staying at the Contemporary for 7 nights in mid-June with two under two(And others of various age sizes and temperment) and wanted to know details on the elevator issues I have read many times on this board.
1.) Is it a delay all day, every day?
2.) How long of a delay?
3.) What is the issue? I ask that because I have stayed in older hotels with as many or more rooms with four elevators but no issues like listed. I just do not get why they could not reprogram the elevators.

I had been worried about the elevator too, based on reports here. We just stayed 11th floor of the tower, Wed morn to Sat morn, and at no time did we ever wait more than a minute or 2 for the elevator. I'm not sure what issues other encountered but in my experience, getting on at either 1, 4 or 11, it was always empty. We rode at various times of day too, night, morning, mid day, each day and no problems. I'd say we got lucky but surely we couldn't have gotten lucky on 3-4 trips on the elevator on 3 days.

 

[rcraw45425]

Elevators on more than one occasion would open on the 4th floor and we would wait for a scooter to exit, then before anyone could board the door would close and not reopen. Actually saw a man almost have his arm closed in one trying to hold it open. Had people jump in one time when we were going all the way down to 1 and they said that the had waited for 10 minutes as the elevators would sometimes not stop but continue going either up or down regardless of a call button being pressed. At least one elevator was taken out of service during the evenings just to accommodate traffic to California Grill too.

 

[WDWKOOK]

My husband and I will be staying at CR October 25-31 for Food & Wine! We'll be on the 14th floor Tower Club TPV celebrating a belated 2nd anniversary! I'm new to the boards, although I'm a long-time lurker who never got around to making an account until now.

I've stayed at CR once before when I was 3 (back in 1987, so it's been a while) and my husband has always wanted to stay there since his first trip as a 3-year-old as well (in 1980). Needless to say, this is a much-anticipated trip for us! I just love the CR. I know a lot of folks seem to think it doesn't have much character or "Disney magic," is ugly, needs to be significantly changed, etc., but I respectfully disagree. To me, it's the most "Disney" of any resort on property!

to the DIS and the CR/BLT thread! The Tower Club should be a fantastic way to celebrate your anniversary and I'll log your dates. It's usually very quiet and not crowded up there.

ITA with you on CR being very "Disney." Because it isn't overtly themed, like the Values and some Mods., I think people may miss the subtle touches. Of course, the monorail running through the resort isn't subtle, and it makes the resort iconic. I know they are missing in some rooms, but there are (supposed to be) pillows on the beds with Mickey and the fabric on the sleeper also has Mickey all over it. And, the sheer curtain has shapes of CR's monorail entrance/exit all over it.

Does anyone know if this holds true for TPV rooms on the Atrium CL floor as well? If so, I would so want to request an odd numbered room as I think my girls would love watching the fireworks from bed.

Yes, all of the odd-numbered standard rooms on the TPV side of the Tower have the bed facing toward MK.

The answer may be right in front of my face and is just alluding me, but I know when I planned my trip last year at BLT there was a thread that showed pics of the views from a ton of the rooms, it's how I ended up on the Bay Lake side with a great theme park view. Can someone direct me to that thread, and are there any similarly advantageous rooms staying in the Garden Rooms of CR?

Not quite in front of your face, but at the beginning of the BLT chapter in the thread. The thread you're looking for is the BLT Rooms and Views thread located HERE.

Elevators on more than one occasion would open on the 4th floor and we would wait for a scooter to exit, then before anyone could board the door would close and not reopen. Actually saw a man almost have his arm closed in one trying to hold it open. Had people jump in one time when we were going all the way down to 1 and they said that the had waited for 10 minutes as the elevators would sometimes not stop but continue going either up or down regardless of a call button being pressed. At least one elevator was taken out of service during the evenings just to accommodate traffic to California Grill too.

This was our exact same experience during our one week stay March/April. I already posted about our experience so I won't rehash it, but it made the Garden Wing mighty appealing.

 

[Disney_Fanatic]

We are going to stay at CR Oct 19-25 for our honeymoon! The plan for now is to stay at GF from Oct 17-19 then move to CR for the rest of the trip, but if the AP discounts open up for our entire trip then we'll just stay at CR!

We stayed at CR in 2012 and had a great time. Can't wait till October!

 

[CJLove79]

I know for sure that you can take the Sea Raycers back and forth from Bay Lake to 7SL. DD and I love doing that.



Congratulations on booking BLT - I'll log your dates. The one-bedroom LV is wonderful and it's so easy to walk right to the MK. A taxi will always get you anywhere faster than taking the bus, but for a price. All of the resorts offer "Early ADR" buses that start at 0630. Just tell the driver where you want to go.



Your persistence paid off so now it's time to plan ADRs



I hope you get to book another stay soon




You comments seem very familiar to me



Thanks for posting the Wishes channel.

You can't see Bay Lake from Tower TPV rooms, but you can see Seven Seas Lagoon and the "back" of the EWP as it sits in front of the GF/Poly, but it is a ways away.

Thanks for the info Miss KOOK!!!!! Me and my girl will use the Sea Raycers instead of the Pontoon Boats cause we want to sail into the 7 Seas Lagoon and take pics of the MK from a very different perspective. Maybe its for the best anyways, Sea Raycers are a little cheaper than the Pontoons, just a little. LOL.

 

[rcraw45425]

This was our exact same experience during our one week stay March/April. I already posted about our experience so I won't rehash it, but it made the Garden Wing mighty appealing.

I'm sensing the need for either another GF stay or a thrifty Swolphin one after this visit. Had breakfast at Chef Mickey's yesterday before heading home, wow, $160 +tip is truly steep for breakfast, didn't it used to be less pricey at lunch than dinner? In and out in 40 minutes too.