Is the Contemporary Resort .....

[Jrabbit910]

too Contemporary?!?!!? I am on the fence with a couple of Disney Deluxe resorts and as much as I love some of the benifits of the Contemporary I was wondering if it was too contemporary?!?! From the looks of it; it doesnt looked too Disney Thememd & or Kid Friendly! It just seems blah... Am I wrong?!?!? Your thoughts on this Resort would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[sotoalf]

It's my second or third favorite Disney resort. Go to wdwig.com if you want to see pictures.

 

[maelstrom]

Well, none of the actual rooms on Disney property are all that Disney themed. The rooms at the Contemporary look like they are part of the Ikea catalogue. They are extremely nice and you will feel very pampered there. NOTHING is more Disney or more magical than looking out your window and seeing the Magic Kingdom. The 4th floor Grand Canyon Concourse has Chef Mickey's, the new arcade, and the two gift shoppes. The pool isn't themed but it's fun. I think the resort is just as Disney themed as any other Disney resort. The point of the resort theming is to transport you to Africa, the Caribbean, Polynesia, etc, but with a Disney flavour. While the theme of the Contemporary doesn't necessarily transport you anywhere, I think it is by far the most magical of the Disney resorts.

 

[brergnat]

Well, there are two sides to this.

First, many will argue that the CONCEPT of the hotel is VERY "Disney". The monorail going through the hotel, the "futuristic" A-frame design. It's all very retro-Disney. The hotel itself is not what I would consider contemporary, though.

The rooms are very modern, and sort of remind me of the W hotels (if you are familiar...look it up online and look at some pictures of the rooms...very similar decor/feel). The rooms ARE contemporary, and not Disney at all! In fact, consider the Garden Wings or the Bay Lake view rooms in the tower. From inside the room, the only HINT that you are in a Disney hotel are the toiletries in the bathroom. Now, if you get a MK Tower Room, then I don't think it gets much more Disney than having the MK in all its splendor RIGHT outside the window! Plus, the view of the Seven Seas Lagoon, GF, Poly, and the ferry boats and monorail are about as "Disney" as you can get. But again, you'd have to have the window open. Close the window drapes, and you are back in, what I consider, a very classy albeit sterile hotel room.

The Contemp is a huge convention hotel, so there are a lot of people there on business all the time. There are families there, sure, but it sort of lacks in the "immersive theme" that, say, the Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, and pretty much the rest of the Disney hotels pull off very well. You won't get this feeling of being "someplace other than Disney World" while at the Contemporary. You'll get the feeling of being in a very nice hotel right next to the Magic Kingdom.

I'll say, I've stayed there twice, but not with children. Now that I have children, it would honestly be my last choice of all the Deluxe Resorts. I don't feel that there is much for younger kids there. The pool, although big, is blah compared to the other deluxe resorts. There is a huge lack of grassy spaces and landscaping in general. It's all a huge concrete playground, and that is not very fun to me. I would choose ANY other Deluxe before the Contemporary until my kids are much older, in their late teen years, which seems to be a good age to enjoy that resort.

 

[chasgoose]

If you want an immersive theme like at the Wilderness Lodge or the Polynesian Resort the Contemporary might not be right for you. It has a futuristic theme, but I wouldn't say its as immersive as the other hotels. That said, with the exception of the All Stars, I would say that the Contemporary is the most "Disney" hotel on property. Nothing says Walt Disney World like the monorail running right through your hotel, Chef Mickey's or the amazing MK views. The Contemporary. I agree that you won't get the feeling of being anywhere but Walt Disney World while you are at the Contemporary, but is that such a bad thing? I like the constant feel that I am at WDW. It's pool is not as good as Stormalong Bay, but the resort is still pretty kid friendly with Chef Mickey's, the monorail, and the walkway to the MK.

The biggest perk of the Contemporary is that, IMHO, they currently have the nicest rooms on Disney property. They are done in a cutting edge urban chic design like a W hotel, but one where you step on your balcony and you feel like you are hovering over the MK or you step out of your room into a giant atrium with a monorail running through it and Chef Mickey's in full swing.

The convention thing can be a problem, but it is not the only convention resort on property (the GF, the YC & BC, and the Coronado Springs all have convention centers too).

If you really need an immersive theme that will make you feel like you are somewhere other than WDW, the Contemporary might not be for you, but if you want classic Disney and a cool futuristic look, than give it a try.

 

[spiceycat]

this latest rehab has made the CR a hot property again. It hasn't been a hot property since the 70's.

anyway here are photo - the rooms start on page 3

http://www.wdwinfo.com/photos/contemporary/index.htm

the view out the window MK or bay lake makes up for a lot!!!

 

[jakenjess]

Location, location, location . . .

 

[alldiz]

I think the contemporary is cool and has good restaurants...

but I don't have a desire to stay there

I'll try it if they put DVC
Kerri

 

[lorasmom]

My kids LOVED the CR. We had a 6th floor MK view. When we looked out our balcony, we saw the castle. When we walked out the room, we had the monoral and Chef Mickey's. We walked to the MK in 10 minutes. They liked the pool area, they loved the arcade, we loved the night-time water pageant. The only downside, for us, was the Food and Fun Center.... it was kind of... tucked away and hidden in a dark corner. Not fun for us!!

 

[mmtwinmama]

We will be staying at CR for the first time in August. We were at POP, but DH really really wanted to stay here so we got a good price so we switched.

We will be spending most of our vacation at MK so it's well worth it to be able to walk to MK. That was the final selling point for me.

 

[MeggerasMa]

I always wanted to stay at the Contemporary. Never had the opportunity till this year. We were upgraded from tower, bay lake to tower MK view and it was spectacular. That said, I absolutely hated the bathroom, especially the sinks. If location is a prime selling point - then you can't beat it. DH loved being able to walk to MK. There are pros and cons to every resort. Get feedback from the folks on these boards...look at the pictures...consider what is important for you. Any vaca to Disney is great. As for me and DH, well, perhaps one of the Epcot resorts next time!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

The Contemporary is an amaizing Resort and what's great about it is the location, Magic Kingdom view rooms and the brand new renovated rooms. They have great restaurants in the California Grill, Chef Mickey's, Concourse Steakhouse and the Food & Fun Center is a terrfic counter service location. Besides that they have some amaizing shops, I hear arcade on the 4th floor is amaizing so I can't wait to see it for myself this August and like others said the Monorail going right threw is an amaizing thing to see in person. Another thing they have which the other Magic Kingdom Resorts don't have is a walkway to the Magic Kingdom, which can be a faster route then taking the Monorail.

I agree that the Contemporary is a convention hotel however I hate it when people always stereotype it like that. Coronado Springs is another convention hotel which hosts just as many conventions, however I never read of anyone making that statement about them and I think it's because others would say they have a better theme which is unfair.

When others talk about designs of Resorts I don't quite see the huge draw of the Boardwalk, Yacht Club and Beach Club. I think those Resorts look amaizing on the outside, however the insides don't look like anything special. They were just hallways that lead to the elevators, rooms and stores in the case of the Yacht and Beach Club, because all the stores and etc at the Boardwalk were on the outside. With the Contemporary you get wide open spaces and a lot more room to move around on the inside.

 

[2chinagirls]

This is my first post so go gentle on me if all the board policies aren't under my belt yet...
We stayed at the CR last summer with our twins who were 4 and they thought it was super exciting to stay at the hotel where the monorail ran through the middle, where you could watch the water parade from our room, where we ate several times at Chef Mickey's and the Concourse Steak House and how it was ultra convenient to ride the "train" to the parks. We enjoyed the location as another poster mentioned. Once it was time to go back to the room (where we spent very little time) it was nice to snuggle into the queen size beds, enjoy the daybed as a couch and the double sinks in the bathroom.

Kristen
dh Mike
dd's Kathryn & Madalyn

trips to WDW: family trips as a child, honeymoon in '95 at Dixie Landings, '98 BWI, Downtown Disney Doubletree in '03 with the twins (while they were free since under 3), '06 at CR, '07 will be at Poly in July

 

[Aisling]

Kristen, yay for your first post!

To the OP, the CR is my kids favorite resort. The rooms are the "coolest" on property. And the fact that the monorail comes right into the hotel makes the Disney feel unavoidable.

 

[mmtwinmama]

I love reading all of your comments CR Resort Fan. I have been getting alot of info from your posts and I really appreciate it. We've only ever been to CR before for Chef Mickey's so this is going to be very different for us. We did use the walkway to MK which was spectacular (2005) and we were 'dreaming' then of being able to have that convenience. We have twin 5 year old boys who will want to spend alot of time at MK. Right now my itinerary has us being at MK on at least 5 different days out of our 9. We will also be going to HDDR and WCC which now is going to so easy to travel to. Because we are so close we may even just pop in if we're up to it. I can't wait!!!

We did stay at Saratoga Springs in 05 for two nights because I had won a trip so I know all about the deluxe accomodations at Disney. While that room (had a full kitchen, living room, bedroom, huge bathroom with a tub and another bathroom with a shower) was spectacular, we hardly spent that much time there so we decided then that it would never be worth it for us to spend the money just to have that type of a room. That being said, the CR is a different story just because of it's location.

Thanks again for all of your posts!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I love reading all of your comments CR Resort Fan. I have been getting alot of info from your posts and I really appreciate it. We've only ever been to CR before for Chef Mickey's so this is going to be very different for us. We did use the walkway to MK which was spectacular (2005) and we were 'dreaming' then of being able to have that convenience. We have twin 5 year old boys who will want to spend alot of time at MK. Right now my itinerary has us being at MK on at least 5 different days out of our 9. We will also be going to HDDR and WCC which now is going to so easy to travel to. Because we are so close we may even just pop in if we're up to it. I can't wait!!!

We did stay at Saratoga Springs in 05 for two nights because I had won a trip so I know all about the deluxe accomodations at Disney. While that room (had a full kitchen, living room, bedroom, huge bathroom with a tub and another bathroom with a shower) was spectacular, we hardly spent that much time there so we decided then that it would never be worth it for us to spend the money just to have that type of a room. That being said, the CR is a different story just because of it's location.

Thanks again for all of your posts!

Your welcome and I am happy that my posts about the Contemporary have been able to help you.

 

[Jrabbit910]

Hi ALL,
I just wanted to thank you so much for your opinions on the CR... I really loved reading each one of them and I cant wait for my husband to read them as well.
Once again, thank you!

 

[disneyag]

We stayed at the CR last June. It definitely is kid friendly and the location can't be beat. However, we didn't like the theming as much as WL, Poly, or AKL.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Hi ALL,
I just wanted to thank you so much for your opinions on the CR... I really loved reading each one of them and I cant wait for my husband to read them as well.
Once again, thank you!

Your welcome.

 

[Debby]

I love the CR! I have stayed there so many times. The Concourse Steakhouse is one of our favorites and my kids and husband love the arcade. Chef Mickey's is also special. We will be returning, but this time to the WL to have a different experience. But I highly recommend the CR!!