Disney's CONTEMPORARY RESORT Information & Questions

[magickingdomprincess]

Any recommendations for a room request for BLT standard studio? We've stayed at BLT a few times but always in a lake view. Thanks in advance!

 

[pixiedust2u]

YIKES! Luggage tags have arrived. We are less than two weeks away from departure. Is this really happening?!

Final questions:
Can someone please confirm what time is a good time to leave CR for an 8AM MK part opening. We plan on walking over. We usually get in room breakfast, then head out! Would 6:45 be a good time to plan to leave our room?

Can someone please confirm what time we should plan on getting a bus for HS 9AM opening? What time should we be at the bus area? We usually do Minnie Vans, so this will be our first time taking a bus to a park (well we took many of buses before children!)

 

[Katie1174]

YIKES! Luggage tags have arrived. We are less than two weeks away from departure. Is this really happening?!

Final questions:
Can someone please confirm what time is a good time to leave CR for an 8AM MK part opening. We plan on walking over. We usually get in room breakfast, then head out! Would 6:45 be a good time to plan to leave our room?

Can someone please confirm what time we should plan on getting a bus for HS 9AM opening? What time should we be at the bus area? We usually do Minnie Vans, so this will be our first time taking a bus to a park (well we took many of buses before children!)

Have fun!!!
Yes 6:45 am is good. They usually start letting people in around 7:15am. If you don’t need to rope drop SDMT I even think 7am is just fine as well.
As for HS, plan on 90 minutes before official park opening, so around 7:30. We went down to the bus stop then and there were already 2 families ahead of us. Many more started to come about 10 minutes later. We got on the first bus. The later families had to wait for the next bus. We were there for rope drop.

 

[closetmickey]

Went to Disney as a kid in 1978 and also stayed at Contemporary! Now looking at returning with my kids.

Question....Garden View vs Main Tower. What's the difference? Is the Main Tower better in terms of noise? Or is it just the view that differs? Am thinking of Main Tower Lake View, but is it worth the extra money? (MK view would be amazing but that's an additional premium)

Our first visit to the CR was in the garden wing. I never thought it made sense to pay for the tower. For me, I was wrong. After that stay I had no desire to ever stay at the CR again. There was just no draw for us - and MK is not our favorite park so that proximity did not matther that much.

Fast forward to last February, when Disney Visa had a 50% off for the tower rooms at the CR. So we booked the first part of our split stay at the CR in the tower. Holy moly- we loved it!! Having the monorail run through and feeling the energy of the tower was like staying at a completely different resort for us.

If proximity to the MK is a huge perk for you, them garden wing may be enough. But if the resort experience is important, I cannot recommend the Tower enough! And...we stayed on the lake view side and couldnt have been happier. Sitting on the balcony overloooking the boats, and lake, and pool, and all the happy noise was the best....for us.

 

[Frozen2014]

Our first visit to the CR was in the garden wing. I never thought it made sense to pay for the tower. For me, I was wrong. After that stay I had no desire to ever stay at the CR again. There was just no draw for us - and MK is not our favorite park so that proximity did not matther that much.

Fast forward to last February, when Disney Visa had a 50% off for the tower rooms at the CR. So we booked the first part of our split stay at the CR in the tower. Holy moly- we loved it!! Having the monorail run through and feeling the energy of the tower was like staying at a completely different resort for us.

If proximity to the MK is a huge perk for you, them garden wing may be enough. But if the resort experience is important, I cannot recommend the Tower enough! And...we stayed on the lake view side and couldnt have been happier. Sitting on the balcony overloooking the boats, and lake, and pool, and all the happy noise was the best....for us.

Thank you for the feedback. We thought about it and ended up booking the Garden Wing (Garden View). For us, being able to walk to MK is the biggest perk, and it is quite a savings over the tower. We can still head over to Chef Mickeys and the main tower, so I think it'll be ok for us. We plan on spending most of our time at the parks vs the resort (2 days MK, 2 days Epcot, and 1 day at HS and AK) so I think it's a good choice for us. Only thing I might miss is the Disney theme....but we would be the same issue in the tower. Having said that, I will watch closely for discounts and if anything comes up, we can always switch. My biggest worry is that we will be caught in a hurricane (since it's end of August) and then stuck where we can't exit our room. Am happy with our choice.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Not sharing for the content, only the pic. Nice view from what appears to be the outside deck at the Top of the World lounge atop BLT (which BTW, is still closed). Tron is going to look pretty cool from here when complete.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1398595226743324672

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

Just wanted to say a quick hello. We (me, my H, our 8y/o-who turns 9 this trip) are planning our first Contemporary stay for the end of June. We chose garden wing since it's so much cheaper and we're planning for lots of pool time. We haven't stayed on property since 3 trips ago and haven't been back since before Covid, so we are very much looking forward to this trip. My only experience with Contemporary is breakfast at Chef Mickey's, so I plan to scour this thread for info!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Just wanted to say a quick hello. We (me, my H, our 8y/o-who turns 9 this trip) are planning our first Contemporary stay for the end of June. We chose garden wing since it's so much cheaper and we're planning for lots of pool time. We haven't stayed on property since 3 trips ago and haven't been back since before Covid, so we are very much looking forward to this trip. My only experience with Contemporary is breakfast at Chef Mickey's, so I plan to scour this thread for info!

Enjoy your trip! With the Tower rooms fully closed for renovation and only the Garden Wing open (plus BLT guests, who have access to CR’s pools), I’m guessing you’re in store for some nice and quiet pool days!

FYI in case you haven’t followed this info, The Wave closes for renovation on 6/16 so won’t be open during your trip.

Have fun.

 

[Dave006]

FYI in case you haven’t followed this info, The Wave closes for renovation on 6/16 so won’t be open during your trip.

Have fun.

One slight correction it is July 16th that The Wave is closed for a long refurbishment, and is expected to reopen by Walt Disney World's 50th anniversary on October 1 2021.

Dave

 

[GADisneyDad14]

One slight correction it is July 16th that The Wave is closed for a long refurbishment, and is expected to reopen by Walt Disney World's 50th anniversary on October 1 2021.

Dave

Ahh, thank you - I had shifted things a month in my head. Never mind on that advice OP.

 

[pixiedust2u]

Is room service still not available? We usually enjoy breakfast in the room on early park days, I’m just realizing this might not be an option.

If it’s not available what’s out option for a quick breakfast DH can grab at 6am (mobile order) and bring up to our room?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Is room service still not available? We usually enjoy breakfast in the room on early park days, I’m just realizing this might not be an option.

If it’s not available what’s out option for a quick breakfast DH can grab at 6am (mobile order) and bring up to our room?

No, room service is still not available at CR/BLT.

Unfortunately Contempo Cafe doesn't open until 7am.

Contemporary Grounds opens at 6am and would be an option, although the menu is limited to coffee/coffee beverages, light pastries, and smoothies. That should work in a pinch, depending on any dietary concerns/needs.

Hope that helps.

 

[pixiedust2u]

No, room service is still not available at CR/BLT.

Unfortunately Contempo Cafe doesn't open until 7am.

Contemporary Grounds opens at 6am and would be an option, although the menu is limited to coffee/coffee beverages, light pastries, and smoothies. That should work in a pinch, depending on any dietary concerns/needs.

Hope that helps.

Thanks. I think we’ll take advantage of our grocery stop on our incoming transport and grab some breakfast items. Kids will be bummed no Mickey Waffles, but oh well!

 

[100AcreWood]

Has anyone recently used Magical Express? Which resorts does it go to after leaving the airport? My dh is concerned we will have to travel to several resorts before getting to the Contemporary and it may be worth using Uber instead.

Thanks!

 

[beccasmom]

Has anyone recently used Magical Express? Which resorts does it go to after leaving the airport? My dh is concerned we will have to travel to several resorts before getting to the Contemporary

We haven’t done this recently, but when we last stayed at BLT, the Magical Express made stops at WL, CR, and then BLT.

 

[100AcreWood]

We haven’t done this recently, but when we last stayed at BLT, the Magical Express made stops at WL, CR, and then BLT.

Thank you, that's not a bad route.

 

[kylenne]

Has anyone recently used Magical Express? Which resorts does it go to after leaving the airport? My dh is concerned we will have to travel to several resorts before getting to the Contemporary and it may be worth using Uber instead.

Thanks!

I am on property and took Magical Express to GF on Saturday. Routes seem to be all over the place, I think it really depends on how many people they have. My lane was labeled as GF/Poly and CR seemed to share with Saratoga Springs in the next lane but when I got on the bus the route was SSR -> Ft Wilderness -> Poly -> GF -> BLT.

There are a LOT of DVC members coming down, is my takeaway. Every other person I chat with seems to be DVC as well.

 

[yaksack]

Add one more DVC member to your list!

 

[supersnoop]

Has anyone recently used Magical Express? Which resorts does it go to after leaving the airport? My dh is concerned we will have to travel to several resorts before getting to the Contemporary and it may be worth using Uber instead.

Thanks!

There is no fixed route. I've stopped at several resorts during slow times, like when I land at midnight. Fewer people arriving means fewer buses means more stops. During COVID when they're seating fewer people on a bus even though many people are arriving, there are often fewer stops. On my last trip, it seemed like everyone was headed to the same resort, so no extra stops. You won't know how many stops they're making until everyone is on board and the door closes.

 

[Dug720]

There is no fixed route. I've stopped at several resorts during slow times, like when I land at midnight. Fewer people arriving means fewer buses means more stops. During COVID when they're seating fewer people on a bus even though many people are arriving, there are often fewer stops. On my last trip, it seemed like everyone was headed to the same resort, so no extra stops. You won't know how many stops they're making until everyone is on board and the door closes.

And even once you're on, I've had it change before. The driver announced one order of stops, then got a radio call from dispatch (I was close enough to the front to hear it) and the route was being changed so he could grab some people who couldn't get on their assianged bus from one of the resorts we were stopping at because it was too full (no clue if it was miscalculation or if a driver let on people who were either early or late for their assigned bus) when their assigned bus was there. So he announced that there was going to be a change in the order of stops and whatever that resort was (I was at a different resort, so I've forgotten now which was involved) was now going to be the last resort.