My family of 5 stayed at The Contempory for 10 days this year. We were a little leery about staying there as we stayed at The Lodge last time and we were afraid that we would be let down a little due to lack of a theme and fun things to do. We were wrong.
Though we were not impressed with the grounds, the room in the west Garden Wing was huge and the food was great. Kids running in the hall way early in the morning was annoying, but that happens every place. The pool was so so but the kids had just as much fun as in any other pool. Its open 24/7 so we never had to hurry back to go swimming like some of the other resorts.
What makes the big C a winner in our minds was far and above the ease of getting to the MK just by walking. Walking was a great stress reliever and a good way to beat the crowd crush at the Monorail after the park closed. It gave us some personal, private time in the middle of a very crowded place. We went to the MK every night for the Fireworks, walking made it seam like we were home and just had to go out in the back yard to see the show.
The Modern theme is a little over played, it's more like staying at a non Disney hotel, except for a Monorail. So for as much time as we actually spent there, the theme, it's really more like a lack of one, you don't even notice.