Disney's CONTEMPORARY RESORT Information & Questions

[firefly1010]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but...

If you're not going to be happy in a Garden Wing room, change your room type at the Contemporary or change to another resort (I personally wouldn't want to be in the tower with all the renos going on). The general rule of thumb is if you ask for the upgrade, expect to pay for it.

Pretty much everyone is celebrating something at Disney every day and they cannot upgrade everyone. Yes you hear on here and other places online about all these upgrades, but what you don't hear about are the thousands of people who get exactly what they paid for.

Oh, its not bad news. I'm sure the GW will be wonderful. If I get upgraded, great, if not, I'm sure we will have a great time either way!

 

[accm]

Does anyone know if BLT has cribs available? When I stayed at BWV I was able to get a real crib, which was way better than the pack and play that they have in all the DVC rooms.

 

[aboveH20]

Is the silver thing the thing that pulls out into a line to hang towels???

That's what I thought at first, too, but there is no receptacle on the opposite wall.

If you mean the white thing with the little dome on it, it’s a motion activated night light. It shines green light just bright enough for you to see your way in the bathroom at night.

You're right. Not especially bright, but that's what it is, thanks.

That thing in the ceiling detects motion to turn the bathroom vent fan on.

The silver thing looks like a towel hook.

You win

I finally tried to turn the silver thing and it didn't budget, so fortunately I wasn't pulverized. One measly little towel, robe, clothing hook. I suspect the bathroom "storage" has been discussed on this board previously, but I was traveling solo and wasn't sure where to put stuff. I finally used the second sink (which had a slight drip) for counter space. Not sure where families put clothing when they're showering or set their toiletries.

Bottom line, I LOVED the resort.

 

[Dave006]

I suspect the bathroom "storage" has been discussed on this board previously, but I was traveling solo and wasn't sure where to put stuff. I finally used the second sink (which had a slight drip) for counter space. Not sure where families put clothing when they're showering or set their toiletries.

We are all hoping for improvements in the bathroom area. We have also dedicated one sink with a towel as the general bathroom storage area for more than 20 years.

We should have a clue soon as the Atrium TPV rooms are actively being remodeled now and the LV and Garden wings are in the queue.

Dave

 

[luckydriver]

How did it go? What was the ME wait like?

sunday arrived MCO 830ish. magic bus line was very long but moved fast (groups take up lotta space). i think we were 10 min in line. once checked in for the bus took me 3 min to get on board. waiting roped areas were empty. i kept checking the app for room being available and they texted me about every 30 min for 2 or 3 times,(its like they knew i was on the bus) then nothing. i kept refreshing the app. got notified at 230 room is ready. i got the high up room i wanted but not the king. we killed time doing lunch and riding the skyliner and one ferry. you need one day just to ride all them!

we never went at opening to any park. instead went a bit later. i think we were in MK 830 or 9. monorail monday and entry to MK was 'dead' so to speak. no crowds at all. matter of fact id say every time we used the monorail it was not that busy. very nice! hotel seemed empty too. i think i waited for an empty elevator 2x in total. and after looking back on things, i see no reason to be at the park at opening. i got to all i wanted. and even test track was under 1 hour (1st ride of that day)

also i hated the sinks (100 sq ft) and the 1 sq ft of counterspace. does anyone enjoy this setup? i cannot imagine if i had 2 kids in there as well. who needs sinks that big? really! 2 points for towel hook near the shower. rare in a lot of hotels. mattress was best out of any i stayed in the past year

as an aside if you fly spirit do NOT get in the international line to go home. thankfully we heard chatter behind us that led us to the END of terminal B for the domestic. the international line was insane! also if you dont have precheck you are crazy. that airport is so darn busy. i got thru instantly but gf doesnt have precheck and it was a long wait for her.

 

[luckydriver]

regarding the construction comments above, i dont get it. what did i miss this week. besides half the hotel being blanketed i noticed nothing bad. i dont get why someone wouldnt want to stay here with half the capacity open. its a dream! not busy at all. pool dead /low usage every time i looked out. (im not a pool person but was tempted).

regarding bfast in contempo my gf brought me up an egg sandwich and i dont like those normally but this was very good. the sausages in her meal were not done as well as i wanted but not too bad. the potatoes were good

 

[Jennyonecoin]

Does anyone know the timeline for when the renovations start in the garden wing? We are booked for end of June... wondering if we will be moved.

 

[jods]

sunday arrived MCO 830ish. magic bus line was very long but moved fast (groups take up lotta space). i think we were 10 min in line. once checked in for the bus took me 3 min to get on board. waiting roped areas were empty. i kept checking the app for room being available and they texted me about every 30 min for 2 or 3 times,(its like they knew i was on the bus) then nothing. i kept refreshing the app. got notified at 230 room is ready. i got the high up room i wanted but not the king. we killed time doing lunch and riding the skyliner and one ferry. you need one day just to ride all them!

we never went at opening to any park. instead went a bit later. i think we were in MK 830 or 9. monorail monday and entry to MK was 'dead' so to speak. no crowds at all. matter of fact id say every time we used the monorail it was not that busy. very nice! hotel seemed empty too. i think i waited for an empty elevator 2x in total. and after looking back on things, i see no reason to be at the park at opening. i got to all i wanted. and even test track was under 1 hour (1st ride of that day)

also i hated the sinks (100 sq ft) and the 1 sq ft of counterspace. does anyone enjoy this setup? i cannot imagine if i had 2 kids in there as well. who needs sinks that big? really! 2 points for towel hook near the shower. rare in a lot of hotels. mattress was best out of any i stayed in the past year

as an aside if you fly spirit do NOT get in the international line to go home. thankfully we heard chatter behind us that led us to the END of terminal B for the domestic. the international line was insane! also if you dont have precheck you are crazy. that airport is so darn busy. i got thru instantly but gf doesnt have precheck and it was a long wait for her.

I stayed in march and couldn't believe how comfortable the mattresses were. I just told my husband (trip was me and kids) we need a new mattress and I didn't realize how uncomfortable ours was until I slept at the Contemporary

 

[hereforthechurros]

Contemporary won us over. For some reason I didn’t have high expectations, but compared to most resorts right now it feels the most normal. I loved the lively atmosphere in the lobby especially near Outer Rim. I enjoyed how the pool is near the lake so the sight line is just sky and trees. And the quiet pool is gorgeous, definitely more luxe than other quiet pools.

California Grill was as busy and beautiful as always, although maybe a little too busy as the service was severely lacking. The Wave to-go was delicious. So nice to have options like crab cakes and salad instead of just burger or chicken strips

We arrived around 11 am and inquired about a room around 2 pm. They front desk let us know they clean from the top down in the GW so they wouldn’t be able to accommodate our lower level request which was fine. We had third floor closer to the main building. The rooms in GW are definitely unique. Interesting to me that higher vacancy isn’t translating to rooms being turned over quicker. We were less than an hour away from the 3 pm check in and none of the 2nd or 1st floor rooms were cleaned yet. Later room availability was a theme of the trip not just at Contemporary.

One huge rookie mistake I made was not knowing there’s no boat service to MK from the Contemporary! Not sure how I missed that in my hours of research but live and learn. Looking forward to staying again on a future trip.

 

[olive]

Contemporary won us over. For some reason I didn’t have high expectations, but compared to most resorts right now it feels the most normal. I loved the lively atmosphere in the lobby especially near Outer Rim. I enjoyed how the pool is near the lake so the sight line is just sky and trees. And the quiet pool is gorgeous, definitely more luxe than other quiet pools.

California Grill was as busy and beautiful as always, although maybe a little too busy as the service was severely lacking. The Wave to-go was delicious. So nice to have options like crab cakes and salad instead of just burger or chicken strips

We arrived around 11 am and inquired about a room around 2 pm. They front desk let us know they clean from the top down in the GW so they wouldn’t be able to accommodate our lower level request which was fine. We had third floor closer to the main building. The rooms in GW are definitely unique. Interesting to me that higher vacancy isn’t translating to rooms being turned over quicker. We were less than an hour away from the 3 pm check in and none of the 2nd or 1st floor rooms were cleaned yet. Later room availability was a theme of the trip not just at Contemporary.

One huge rookie mistake I made was not knowing there’s no boat service to MK from the Contemporary! Not sure how I missed that in my hours of research but live and learn. Looking forward to staying again on a future trip.

Do you have any specific comments on the garden wing? We have stayed in the tower before and really enjoyed the overall experience at the CR. We are booked at the garden wing this summer and really looking forward to it! I had been planning to try it out specifically. Having the "busier" tower right nearby without having to be in the middle of it was appealing. The one annoyance for us sometimes with the tower was waiting for the elevators. Garden wing avoids that, and you still get the rest of the CR benefits.

 

[luckydriver]

One huge rookie mistake I made was not knowing there’s no boat service to MK from the Contemporary! Not sure how I missed that in my hours of research but live and learn. Looking forward to staying again on a future trip.

speaking of boat service, i looked out my lake view window and noticed a dock there. where does that go? never saw anything docking there. would have loved to take a ride somewhere.

 

[aboveH20]

We are all hoping for improvements in the bathroom area. We have also dedicated one sink with a towel as the general bathroom storage area for more than 20 years.

We should have a clue soon as the Atrium TPV rooms are actively being remodeled now and the LV and Garden wings are in the queue.

Dave

It makes you wonder if the hotel manager (whatever the head honcho's title is) has ever stayed in one of the rooms. You'd think they would pretty quickly figure out there's no place to put or hang anything.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

speaking of boat service, i looked out my lake view window and noticed a dock there. where does that go? never saw anything docking there. would have loved to take a ride somewhere.

In normal times there is a boat that runs from CR-WL-FW (the "Blue Flag Launch"). It has been suspended since reopening, presumably due to Disney needing extra boats for WL/FW/GF/Poly to MK transportation in the era of distancing requirements.

There are also normally small 'sprite' boats and pontoon boats available to rent, which is also not available right now.

But yes, it makes the dock rather abandoned looking, at the moment.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Do you have any specific comments on the garden wing? We have stayed in the tower before and really enjoyed the overall experience at the CR. We are booked at the garden wing this summer and really looking forward to it! I had been planning to try it out specifically. Having the "busier" tower right nearby without having to be in the middle of it was appealing. The one annoyance for us sometimes with the tower was waiting for the elevators. Garden wing avoids that, and you still get the rest of the CR benefits.

Having nothing else to compare it to at Contemporary, we liked it. It was very quiet. I would request close to lobby as I could see that walk getting old if you were on the eastern or southern sides of the building. Views are mostly of the pool, garden or lake so that's nice. The rooms are on the larger side which we really appreciated. We requested first floor since we wanted a patio as the second and third floors don't have balconies. There was sometimes a wait for the GW elevators as well but we took the stairs to and from and room and didn't mind it. However we were only there one night, perhaps a few days of that would get old. Another reason to consider first floor

 

[olive]

Having nothing else to compare it to at Contemporary, we liked it. It was very quiet. I would request close to lobby as I could see that walk getting old if you were on the eastern or southern sides of the building. Views are mostly of the pool, garden or lake so that's nice. The rooms are on the larger side which we really appreciated. We requested first floor since we wanted a patio as the second and third floors don't have balconies. There was sometimes a wait for the GW elevators as well but we took the stairs to and from and room and didn't mind it. However we were only there one night, perhaps a few days of that would get old. Another reason to consider first floor

I do like the larger rooms at the Contemporary! I am a big fan of the resort overall. So glad you had a good experience! I am thinking of requesting a first floor room, as well. I don't mind not having a balcony, but I thought a first floor room might nice for the kids to get out and run around.

 

[pixiedust2u]

Does anyone know the timeline for when the renovations start in the garden wing? We are booked for end of June... wondering if we will be moved.

I don't think GW is getting refurbed. I believe it is only tower rooms.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Does anyone know if BLT has cribs available? When I stayed at BWV I was able to get a real crib, which was way better than the pack and play that they have in all the DVC rooms.

BLT has pack and plays. DVC resorts usually just have those. You were pretty lucky to get a real crib at BWV.

 

[accm]

BLT has pack and plays. DVC resorts usually just have those. You were pretty lucky to get a real crib at BWV.

I wonder if I just got lucky and they let me use a crib from the hotel side at BWV. I’ll probably ask for it just in case, but expect to use the pnp.

Now I just need to hope I can get vaccinated and the border will open by our trip in September.

 

[jgl130]

Checking in tomorrow 4/30! Let me know if you have questions while I’m there!

 

[yaksack]

Can you see if there are any plans for reopening boat rental?