Just back from Contemporary Tower

[sdlipton]

sdlipton: We flew American out of Sac and stopped in Dallas both ways. The flight was OK, but I really hate wasting an entire day traveling so we decided that next time we are going to take a non stop (we'd likely have to leave out of SFO or San Jose, but it might be worth it). We left for Sac Airport at 5am but didn't get into the CR until after 9 pm! It's really too long of a day when you are anxious to get your vacation started!

We have traveled there both from SFO and Oakland before, but never a non stop. On our honeymoon we did a red eye to Miami followed by a puddle jumper to Orlando - never again!

WOW Susan... why on earth did you not get to the CR until 9. I ask because My Fiance and I are on the 6:20 departure out of Sacto and land at MCO at 4:19PM. With like an hour stop in Dallas. FYI, the only non-stop to MCO on American out of California is from Los Angeles. We looked into it and unfortunatley becuase it leaves at 8AM, we decided against it because there is no way to get to LAX from Sacto early enough that day.

 

[*Susan*]

I should have explained a little better - not all of that was travel time: We had the flight that left at 7:59am and was scheduled to arrive at 6:03pm in Orlando. The flight from Dallas was delayed around an hour, so we didn't get in and get our luggage until after 7:30. Getting the rental car, getting the car seat installed in said rental car and then waiting in the line to get out of the rental car area took another 45 minutes or so. Then driving there is a good 30 minutes, plus we made a quick stop at Goodings. Also it was POURING and thus traffic was moving slower than normal, especially on DW property.

We wanted the flight you were on, but we used our miles and there were no free tickets left on that one.

One suggestion: when you are about to land in Dallas they will read off what gate you are coming into and what gate the connections are out of. They usually have more than one Orlando connection so make sure you listen for your specific flight #. Even if you have an hour, if you have to switch terminals (AA operates out of terminals A & C I believe), you have to get on the train & it can take a long time, so I would suggest getting to your terminal first thing, and then figuring out if you have time to eat, etc. We didn't do this a few trips ago and almost missed our flight.

 

[Georgieut]

In April I flew through Dallas on AA and Susan is right about the terminal train. We didn't miss our flight but it did take forever to get to our gate from where we landed. Also Susan my family lives in Salinas and once a few Christmas' ago I drove from there up to Sacramento and onto I-80 to SLC. Talk about a long 2 days.

 

[honeysuckle_rose]

Susan,

Your comment about walking to MK caught my eye. This would seem to be a wonderful benefit to staying at CR. Can you offer a few more details about the walk? About how long did it take? Any tricks or tips? Was it a killer after a long day in the parks? We are an active family, but I'm not sure how motivated my 7 and 9 year olds to walk to the hotel at the end of a day.

 

[sdlipton]

Susan,
I didn't catch this.. but when in October are you going to WDW? My Disneymoon is October 3-9.

Please ignore this post.. I didn't read it close enough and saw that you are going to DL in October.. NOT WDW.

 

[rarrington]

I just returned from an AWESOME stay - May 3-10th at the CR 11th floor MK view and we loved it. I knew that the decor wasn't exactly my taste but that didn't bother us. I had requested a higher level MK view and got 11th floor. I had heard about the odd number room thing but totally forgot when making my request. I was in an even number room but that was no problem. My husband sat on the sofa and watched the fireworks. My daughters, 2 1/2 & 5 1/2 stayed on the balcony to watch so there would have been no "keeping them in bed" to watch. My husband did notice that if we were in bed you could see the castle in the mirror on the wall. We were fortunate enough to be right over a landscaping walkway entrance area, so we looked right down on a Mickey head made of flowers and small trees and benches. Down the hall would have been right over the parking area....but we were able to look beyond that. The view over Seven Seas Lagoon couldn't have been more beautiful and we could see the GF and Poly, as well as the ferry boats going back and forth. We could see the electric water parade at night as it made it's way around the lagoon and sometimes we could hear the music from that. Fireworks were amazing to watch, although we couldn't quite hear the music that goes with it - some nights we could hear it better than others. 3 times we did walk back to the CR to avoid waiting for the monorail. It was a pleasant enough walk - nice sidewalk, not crowded at all.
We love the convenience of the monorail and my girls loved watching it breeze through the building. We heard no noise from it. Our room was over the shops area so we didn't have any noise from below (some people have mentioned noise from Chef Mickey's). Our favorite meals during the week were Chef Mickey's (best buffet and character interaction in our opinion) and the Concourse Steakhouse - filet melted in my mouth. We were on the dining plan and both of these places would let you get a smoothie as the beverage.

Our room was clean and nothing seemed terribly run down or ragged/worn out. We were quite pleased and would love to stay there again, although we also want to try GF.

The pools looked great but amazingly we never made it there....afternoon naps were a must! DH thought pools are something we can do anytime at home.... We wanted to rent the little boats but never took the time. They stop renting about 5:00ish and we didn't get there in time before they closed. We did a Wishes pontoon boat cruise one night and that was the best!!!

We checked in about 4:15 in the afternoon on a Tuesday and I only had to wait 1-2 minutes before I was helped. They were very effiecient about bringing up our luggage, as well as coming to take it on the day we left.


Hope some of this helps! Enjoy!

 

[*Susan*]

honeysuckle rose: The walk to the MK is great! It is very convenient and much faster than the monorail (the monorail makes 3 stops before it gets to the MK). We took the monorail about 1/2 the time and walked the other 1/2 the time. We walked back from the MK 2 nights, even though our feet were tired it is a fairly quick walk and much quicker than fighting the crowds for the monorail.

From the tower, I'd estimate the walk taking about 10-15 minutes. It is a path which takes you across one 'street' and the rest of the way is just a bricked path (you walk right over the personalized bricks). You walk past the bus drop off area, if you have ever seen that area outside MK you know where the path is.

If you are in the wing closer to the MK, then of course it would take even less time than from the tower and obviously if you are on the other wing, it would be a bit longer.

 

[dreamflight99]

Susan,

Your comment about walking to MK caught my eye. This would seem to be a wonderful benefit to staying at CR. Can you offer a few more details about the walk? About how long did it take? Any tricks or tips? Was it a killer after a long day in the parks? We are an active family, but I'm not sure how motivated my 7 and 9 year olds to walk to the hotel at the end of a day.

Yes, as *SUSAN* replied...the walk is wonderfully convenient! Also, it's well-lighted for the evening walks back, and beautifully landscaped and appointed with plants/fragrant flowers. We LOVE the inscribed "BRICKS" in the walkway, and make a GAME out of walking to/from the resort by "spotting" certain bricks! It's SO much fun, especially for your younger ones. We have a "point" system, based upon bricks from certain CITIES, STATES, NAMES, etc.! We take turns calling the criteria...as we quickly scan the stones we step over along our journey. It passes the time so quickly, before you know it you've reached the PARK/RESORT! Plus, your kids will be EAGER to play the game again on your next walk!! We even have prizes for the WINNER, (winner: gets to select the first ATTRACTION to visit in the MK, gets to select BREAKFAST/LUNCH/DINNER restaurant, gets extra TREAT, etc!). LOADS of FUN & FOLLY...plus, the memories in the making are FREE/PRICELESS!!

 

[JudicialTyranny]

I just returned from an AWESOME stay - May 3-10th at the CR 11th floor MK view and we loved it.

We were there May 5-11 on the 11th floor, MK view (room 4745). We probably passed you in the hall.....

 

[rarrington]

Yep - we were 4742! Although we rarely saw anyone in the hallways. We thought it was a great week weatherwise as well!

 

[dreamalittledream]

What GREAT INFO! I am really thankful to all of you for all of the detail. Now I do have a few questions:
How many guest floors are there? I keep hearing about 9, 11, 12 and 14 but nothing on any other floors?
Are there rooms with MK views on all of the floors?
Will the renovations change the "odd" room number bed directions?

I am really trying to decide where to stay (GF or CR) and my #1 priority is a MK view. I loved our view at Poly last time and want an equal or better view from a different resort. We were able to sit on the bed with the drapes open and watch the Castle change colors all night. Will I get that view from the CR Tower?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[JudicialTyranny]

Yep - we were 4742! Although we rarely saw anyone in the hallways. We thought it was a great week weatherwise as well!

Crowdwise too. No problems at all.

 

[*Susan*]

JudicialTyranny & rarrington: you guys were lucky & missed the huge downpour on the 3rd. It also rained the 4th a little, but nothing like the evening of the 3rd.

dreamalittledream: there are guest rooms on the 5th floor (I'm pretty sure, if not they start on the 6th) up to the 14th. Rather than request an odd numbered room you can just request a MK view. You can see the castle from the rooms on that side of the tower. Personally I think you'd have a better chance of an MK view at the CR vs the GF simply because there are more rooms to choose from, but keep in mind a view request is just that, a request, and cannot be guaranteed. Time of day when you check in is a factor (IMO) as is how full the resort is. The Bay Lake view is really nice too in case you can't get your MK view.

 

[sdlipton]

Susan,

I see you disneymooned at the Dolphin eight years ago. Can you tell me about that? Did you and your new husband wear the ears? did you get any perks in the park or resort restaurants?

Also, in Re: to the CR, do you for the most part get all your upgrades? Have you ever had any check-in problems? Whats usually the first thing you do once you get checked-in?

 

[*Susan*]

sdlipton: We didn't wear any ears - unfortunately there was no way I could have gotten him to do that ! The only thing we did was mention it to the front desk when we checked in (and I think when making the room reservation but I'm not 100% sure on that). We ended up getting upgraded to a hospitality suite (VERY nice!) and shortly thereafte they sent up a basket of chocolates and champagne along with a nice note. I think it was just the fact that there were nice people at the front desk when we checked in, and it was empty so they all heard it was our honeymoon (and they took pity on us since we looked quite tired from our red eye flight ). I found the service there to be above average.

It was also noted on all of our PS's. I'm trying to remember, but I think the only places that did anything were Cinderella's Royal Table - they gave us champagne glasses and the Brown Derby where the piano player (who I believe is no longer there) announced it to the restaurant and had us get up and dance in front of everyone. Also at the luau, they call up all honeymooners and anniversary couples to dance and they give you a cute certificate.

Sorry but I'm not understanding your ques about upgrades at the CR - the only thing we asked for was the MK view but as I originally posted they didn't have any other rooms available. One thing I didn't mention is that I asked how much it would be to upgrade to concierge (I didn't ask just for an upgrade, I specifically asked about the cost) and she went to her mgr and then offered us $65 more per night. I asked if it would be the 14th floor and she said no, they were sold out so just the 12th and no MK view. I didn't think it was worth it for just continental breakfast so we said no.

Let me know if you have any more ques or feel free to PM me

 

[dreamalittledream]

Susan,
Thanks so much for the info! I agree that I might have a better shot at the MK view at CR Tower. I would hope to check in early and we plan to go 1st week of Dec. 06. If I can't get the MK view, I may ask to "downgrade" to the wing at checkin. We'll be traveling with family who want to stay in the wing and we may as well be near them if we can't have the view we want.

Does anyone know when the refurb is going to happen in the Tower and North wing? with my luck it will be while I am there!