Does anyone recommend Contemporary Resort??

[Fish2girls]

Would love any information on CR! We have never stayed and would like to try it out! My husband thinks the monorail is cool, that's his reason for asking. Would like to know if the whole purpose of staying at the CR is to stay in the tower or is the garden wing acceptable too?
Thanks!!

 

[spiceycat]

if you want a view of the MK from your balcony then the tower is it.

that say if you just want ease of walking or monrailing to the MK - then the wings are fine.

yes several people here love the CR.

remember it is being worked on - so it is not at its best. the rooms have been rehab. the rest of the place is being done.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

The Contemporary is am amaizing place to stay and it's got to be the best location out off all the WDW Resorts, because it's the closest one to the Magic Kingdom.

Transportation wise it's great. Having the Monorail there makes things so much easier, the buses are ok although they are not perefct at any WDW Resort and they have a walkway to the Magic Kingdom, which is something no other Resorts have.

The renovated rooms looks amaizing, in fact a lot of people say they are the nicest rooms on property. If you seen them in pictures they do not tell the whole story, because you have to see them in person. If you want a Magic Kingdom View or Bay Lake View the Tower rooms are great. However the South Garden Wing rooms are just as good. One thing you can be assured of is both the Tower and South Garden Wing have the exact same rooms.

Food wise you can't go wrong. Between the California Grill, Chef Mickey's, Concourse Steakhouse, Food & Fun Center (counter service location) and the Contemporary Sand Bar.(The other 2nd counter service location, with a smaller menu.) Next year the Concourse Steakhouse is closing and moving to the Food & Fun Center location and are changing their name to the Waive, so they are going to have a different menu. So that means the Food & Fun Center is moving to the Concourse Steakhouse location and they are changing their name to Chef Mickey's Express.

If you have kids I hear great things about the brand new arcade location on the 4th floor and I should not leave out the great shops that is inisde the Contemporary.

As for the renovation depending on when you go, it might not be as bad as others make it out to be. As of right now they are working on the lobby, however expect for check-in how long do you plan to spend there? At end of July they are closing the Food & Fun Center, so there will be a temporary counter service location to be open on the 4th floor. However chances are they won't sell hot food so that is why the Contemporary Sand Bar will come in handy, since they sell some of the itmes that were sold in the Food & Fun Center. Aside from that the other big renovations are happening outside where the North Garden Wing use to be, however what is going on over there does not effect anyone staying in the Tower or South Garden Wing and I can confirm that from my own experience. If it helps here is there current schedule of renovations.

I personally believe that the renovations going now at the Animal Kingdom Lodge are a lot worse then what is currently going on at the Contemporary. No one has reported getting phone calls or e-mails from WDW asking them to swtich from the Contemporary to another Resort because of their renovations, so that should tell you right now people are making what is happeing there a lot worse then it sounds.

August 2007 - Newly renovated Fantasia Shop will re-open.

June 11, 2007 through November 2007 - The Lobby will undergo partitioned refurbishments to update the area's image and decor.

July 2007 through October 2007 - The resort's grounds will undergo partitioned refurbishments to install new landscaping and re-route existing guests paths.

July 30, 2007 through April 2008 - The Food & Fun Center will be closed for major renovations. The location will re-open as a new table service option, "The Wave". During this time a temporary counter service location will be operating on the Grand Concourse level near the Outer Rim Lounge.

April 2008 through August 14, 2008 -The Concourse Steak house will be closed for major renovations. The location will re-open as the new Counter Service location for the resort. During this time a temporary counter service location will be operating on the Grand Concourse level near the Outer Rim Lounge.

 

[Kteacher]

3 words- location, location, location! I love the CR , and have stayed there many times. There is nothing like walking to the MK from your hotel . I love watching the castle change color at night. I had a bay Lake view last Oct., and the sunrise was amazing. Transportation can't be beat- we love the monorail. I have another stay booked for this Oct., and I'm already planning a stay in Oct. '08

 

[blessedby3]

We love the CR too!!!!
We stayed there a few years ago and loved the location and the views we had from our 11th floor MK side room. I would love to have enough money to stay here again. Hopefully it will be in our future soon. The monorail is great-just jump on the elevator and go down a few floors and you are at the monorail. I would prefer to stay in the tower if we do it again. We had originally booked the garden wing, but upgraded to the tower when we arrived. We were so glad we did. They views just cant be beat.

 

[tinkgurl]

We've stayed at all 3 hotels on the monorail and the Contemporary won us over. It quickly became our favorite and we stayed there year after year until we became vacation club members in 2005. The MK is our favorite park so the location is just perfect! We usually walked on over to the park and it only took us about 10 minutes or less. Chef Mickey's and the Concourse Steakhouse are two of our favorite places to eat so that added to the reason for loving the place. We've stayed in the main tower before and never had a problem with the noise from the restaurants or the monorail. Beautiful views from there as well. However, even if you aren't in the main tower, it can sometimes be a long walk to your room. The pool has always been great for us as well. Now that they are building villas there, it will be hard to decide where to stay between there and WL!

 

[DVC-Don]

The Contemp was our favorite resort until joining DVC.

 

[Fish2girls]

Thanks to everyone who came to my rescue!! To answer a few questions, we were planning a Nov. 2008 vacation with our 2 girls. We want to get as close as we can to MK without spending a bundle.

How can we save by trying to get a room in the Tower?????? OR is the best way to save money at CR is to stay in the Garden wing?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Thanks to everyone who came to my rescue!! To answer a few questions, we were planning a Nov. 2008 vacation with our 2 girls. We want to get as close as we can to MK without spending a bundle.

How can we save by trying to get a room in the Tower?????? OR is the best way to save money at CR is to stay in the Garden wing?

Maybe you can hope for AP rates if you have an AP ticket or these discount codes people keep mentioning so you can get a Tower room at a good price. If you are not able to get any discounts then you will save some money by staying in a South Garden Wing room, since they are less expensive then any Tower room.

 

[Fish2girls]

Maybe you can hope for AP rates if you have an AP ticket or these discount codes people keep mentioning so you can get a Tower room at a good price. If you are not able to get any discounts then you will save some money by staying in a South Garden Wing room, since they are less expensive then any Tower room.

Forgive me for being ignorant but what is an " AP ticket"? - and how do you get a discount code? I am still fairly new to the Disboards information and shortcuts method. Thanks for your input, I appreciate your patience!

 

[swilphil]

Thanks to everyone who came to my rescue!! To answer a few questions, we were planning a Nov. 2008 vacation with our 2 girls. We want to get as close as we can to MK without spending a bundle.

How can we save by trying to get a room in the Tower?????? OR is the best way to save money at CR is to stay in the Garden wing?

We loved staying in the garden wing. We stayed on the ground level and had a patio which was great. The kids liked playing on the little sandy beach not too far away from the North Wing (not sure how far it is from the South Wing).

An AP rate is if you buy an annual pass. It was worth it for us to do that. Only one adult had to buy the AP. It's especially beneficial if you plan to do more than 10 days of WDW in less than 1 calendar year.

 

[DizzDoll]

We got a free upgrade to the Tower last year when we went (room 4246), overlooking the :arking lot:: AND the Magic Kingdom. We watched Wishes a few times from our balcony, as well as the water parade. We've also stayed in the south garden wing. Either way it's a GREAT hotel. Enjoy!!!

 

[disneydave]

There is no better view than a MK view from a tower room.

 

[chasgoose]

IMHO, currently, the nicest standard rooms on the Disney property are at the Contemporary. The Poly's are still too loud and tacky for me and the GF's haven't been refurbed yet (it remains to see whether or not they will challenge the CR). The CR's are very hip and cool, like a boutique hotel, which I like. Mix that with the great views from the Tower MK rooms and you have a great hotel.

 

[thptrek]

We love the CR. You can read about our stay in my TR, the link is in my sig. The view is the best. These were taken from our balcony.

 

[triplefigs]

We love, love, love the CR! We are going again in Sept and have a Tower MK view room. You can get a 10-15% discount (depending on the season) with AAA. Also, Disney sometime releases discount codes for the general public or you can buy an AP (but discounts aren't guaranteed). Generally, for us AAA is the easiest way to ensure a good discount.

 

[Disneyfan1977]

The CR is really cool. I think all disney hotels have their perks. If I could though, I would also strongly recommend the Polynesian Resort. It also wonderful and very convenient.

 

[maelstrom]

I can't say it any better than CR_Resort_Fan_4_Life, but I just wanted to chime in to say that the Contemporary is my absolute favourite resort. The view of the Magic Kingdom can't be beat. But even the garden wing is great. The close proximity to the Magic Kingdom is worth it. I can't say enough good things about this resort.

 

[VegasAlpha]

If your schedule is flexible you might consider booking your trip during the value season. The rates are the cheapest during that time. Then add in AAA or AP or some other to come up with a pretty big discount.

 

[triplefigs]

If your schedule is flexible you might consider booking your trip during the value season. The rates are the cheapest during that time. Then add in AAA or AP or some other to come up with a pretty big discount.

The 2007 rack rate for the CR Tower MK view in Value season is $395. AAA discount for value season is 15%. That makes the room $335.75 before tax. If you book with an AAA agent, you can add the Disney Dining Plan. If you book through WDW, you get the AAA discount cannot add the dining plan.