Just back from CR -- I'M HOOKED!

[TJA]

I never dreamed I'd love CR as much as I do now! We just got home last night and all I can think about is when we're going back to CR. The location has me hooked. Nothing can beat walking to the MK. We would walk to MK at night just to pick up some goodies from the Main Street Bakery. No way would we do that if we were staying anywhere else. We had a stunning bay view from the 2nd floor in the north wing. The restaurants are out of this world. We went to Chef Mickey's three times! Any questions? Does anyone have any doubts about CR? If so, ask away because I was the number one doubter until last week!
Debbie

 

[VAgal76]

I'm so glad you had a super trip!

 

[Selket]

I'm totally doubting whether to keep my CR ressie. I have a room reserved in the wings but for a parking lot view (the view is o.k. - I like to save the money).

Did you travel with children? Does the CR have a kiddie pool? If not, how shallow would you say the shallow end is on the pool (I have a 28 month old so he's only 3 ft tall)? Did you like the pool area? It looks very "concrete hole" like in the photos I've found. Did you like the Fun and Food center or whatever it is called (the fast spot to eat) in the CR? How as getting to Epcot? Not to big a hassle? How were the busses to AK and MGM?

Any info appreciated!

 

[Lollipop Mom]

Selket, we haven't personally stayed at the CR yet but it's what we are planning on for our next trip. I'm planning on it based on the recommendation of a good friend who stayed there. She said the parking lot view rooms gave an awesome view of the monorail coming and going. Considering my son's facination with the monorail, he would be in awe the entire time.

 

[Kimberle]

Glad you had a nice trip! We can't wait till our 2nd CR trip this Sept!

 

[sotoalf]

Originally posted by TJA
I never dreamed I'd love CR as much as I do now! We just got home last night and all I can think about is when we're going back to CR. The location has me hooked. Nothing can beat walking to the MK. We would walk to MK at night just to pick up some goodies from the Main Street Bakery. No way would we do that if we were staying anywhere else. We had a stunning bay view from the 2nd floor in the north wing. The restaurants are out of this world. We went to Chef Mickey's three times! Any questions? Does anyone have any doubts about CR? If so, ask away because I was the number one doubter until last week!
Debbie

I'm so happy you enjoyed your stay. We're staying at the CR for the third time this June in the Garden Wings - and we requested a Bay Lake view. What was your room number? Was it as peaceful as it looks? I love the idea of having that quiet strip of beach in front of the buildiing.

Also, how was mousekeeping? the conditions of the room?

 

[sotoalf]

Originally posted by Selket
I'm totally doubting whether to keep my CR ressie. I have a room reserved in the wings but for a parking lot view (the view is o.k. - I like to save the money).

Did you travel with children? Does the CR have a kiddie pool? If not, how shallow would you say the shallow end is on the pool (I have a 28 month old so he's only 3 ft tall)? Did you like the pool area? It looks very "concrete hole" like in the photos I've found. Did you like the Fun and Food center or whatever it is called (the fast spot to eat) in the CR? How as getting to Epcot? Not to big a hassle? How were the busses to AK and MGM?

Any info appreciated!

Selket, go to www.wdwig.com for complete pictures of the pools. The CR has a kiddie wading pool by the North Garden Wing, as well as fountain squirts by the main pool (which has a pretty big slide, by the way).

To get to Epcot, you change trains just on estop away at the TTC. That's what's great about the CR - you have the MK at your front door and access to Epcot at your back. You can also take a boat launch to Ft Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge, increasing your dining and recreation options.

 

[Selket]

I couldn't find a pic of the kiddie pool at the wdwig site and I think I looked at all of the pool pics there. Or perhaps it is in a pic and it looks like the "spa" to me.

I'm very tempted to stay at the CR just to be able to walk to the MK. Our 2 yr old has diabetes and it would be nice to be so close to the hotel. He also has a very severe peanut allergy and I've talked to one of the chefs at the CR who was very helpful and willing to help us out with food choices no matter where we dine at the CR. That alone is making it worth it to me to stay there in many ways (although another of the WDW hotels might be just as helpful that way - I don't know). I'm just so stressed right now with the diabetes and peanut allergy diagnosis for him (all coming in the past 2 months) that I want the most stress free vacation possible.

The theming of the Poly appeals to me more at the moment but being able to walk to the MK and the lower price (Poly would cost $440 more) is making the CR look good.

 

[jacksonsmom]

I am so glad to hear about your stay.
We will be staying there starting June 4th (after a 6 night stay at POP)

We have a ressie for the garden rooms also.
I can't wait for our stay. I never stayed at the CR before!

 

[Purrrrfecta]

Debbie,

People had written in previous posts that the hallways were not being kept, and that they were dirty. Others talk about the furniture in the rooms being old. What was your take on it?


As you can see I will be there very soon!

Thanks,
Connie

 

[luvdzny]

Thanks for the positive post. We will be there next month at the time. We are splitting our stay between AKL Conc. and CR. We love AKL and have never stayed at CR, I guess I was starting to doubt our choice. Good to hear such an enthuiastic review!!!

 

[TJA]

Hi, I'll try to answer all questions:

Selket: Yes, we travelled with one-year-old twins. There was not an actual kiddie pool -- we looked all over and finally asked a cast member to confirm. What they have is the "big" pool with the slide and then a quiet, smaller pool that people may consider a kiddie pool. It is round and goes from 3 feet along the outside of the circle and ends up at 5 feet in the dead center of the circle. We liked the pool area very much. There was sand in areas for kids to play and the bay is very close to the pools which makes a very nice setting. The photos didn't look appealing to me either, so I was expecting the worst. But I was pleasantly surprised. I ended up liking The Food and Fun Center. It has an attached arcade which is huge and the kids seemed to love it. There is not much of a food selection, but we liked everything we ate there. Epcot was not a hassle for us because we were just relieved to take the monorail instead of bus (we have a double stroller that we could just roll on the monorail). From CR you take the monorail to TTC, then hop on the Epcot monorail from there. At Epcot, there is a boat over near the international gateway that runs to MGM. We did take a bus to AK and it was fine. We didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes. We made a few stops, though, I think to maybe the Poly and GF and also a water park. Yes, walking to the MK was such a huge plus. NO crowds and no hassle!

sotoalf: Our room number was 7207. The view was breathtaking. Yes, it was very peaceful! We were satisfied with mousekeeping, but not overly enthusiastic about it. Having 2 babies just learning to walk had us literally on our hands and knees and we found a bottle cork and nut on the floor near a bed and a cheerio near the closet. It really didn't look like they ran the vacuum before we got our room. In fact, I don't think they ran the vacuum at all during our stay, but I'm not sure if they're required to run it every day......

Purrrrfecta: Well, being that we have 2 babies learning to walk, we were very observant this trip about the hallways, etc., and yes, we found them to be slightly dirty. But that could simply be because we were looking very hard for anything we could find that the girls might pick up and put in their mouths. Truthfully, I don't think the halls are much different than at other resorts, but we were just more picky this time because of the kids. Yes, we thought the furniture was old. But we have no complaints about it -- all of the positives about this resort made up for some of these negative issues, we thought.

 

[noopy]

Debbie - I completely agree with you! The CR is an awesome place to be in the middle of it all! I stayed in a very nice south wing room in April with my 6 yr old DD and we both fell in love with the place! We went back and forth to the MK 7 times during our 4 day stay because it was so easy to walk or catch the monorail. We did early morning and evening visits to the park and spent our afternoons having lunch by the pool and lake, swimming, renting a water mouse, and hanging out in the Grand Concourse watching the monorail and browsing in the shops. Our experience at Chef Mickey's was terrific fun, too! One of the best things about our stay at the CR was the really nice CMs we met. Room service was great, too!
Like you, we're hooked! I have already made reservations for April 2005 at the CR. It won't be easy on my budget, but I know it will be well worth the expense!


Our little family!

 

[cinmell]

I'm glad you enjoyed the Contemporary! Before we stayed there I thought I would never want to stay there never mind love the resort. Well, once we stayed, we were hooked! It's my favorite resort and I can't wait to go back.

 

[redbirdgrad]

I never come out into the CR battles on the boards but was glad to see this thread. My family has stayed twice in the CR, once wing, once tower, and have a wing room reserved for August. They love the CR and I do too. I was talking Disney to some in-laws last week at a party and they asked where we were staying on our trip, I told them AKL (1st time) and CR - another BIL walking through the room said "Don't stay at the CR, I heard it's terrible" - I informed him it was going to be our 3rd stay there and we loved it. I always say you can't take every opinion on these boards as gospel, what I like - others don't, you'll find good/bad arguements about everything Disney on these boards - and that's a good thing. I am however, a big fan of the CR and am very glad you had a great stay.

 

[Selket]

Ok...I didn't think there was a kiddie pool there - and 3 feet is too deep for him to be in - would be at the top of his head. That seems like a major downside to the hotel because he can't go in the water unless he is being held - at least he can't stand up and play and splash like a regular kid pool. He would like the water fountains to play in but I wish they had a kid pool! How did you 1 year olds play in the pools? Did you hold them or did they go in float vests or ?

If DS (2) found a peanut on the floor that would be a major problem for us as he is highly allergic to just touching peanut. I'll make sure to check the room carefully - I'll have to get used to that I guess!

This thread is very helpful. The CR does sound convenient to the MK - a huge plus. Glad to hear the FFC was a decent place to eat.

 

[Antiguan]

I am tempted to stay at CR just for its proximity to MK, but the themeing seems so blah, almost nonexistent. My kids are still young enough that we do MK for at least some time everyday and at WL we just caught the boat which was a relaxing interlude.
I am betwixt and between. Do I pay more for less theming but better transportation options, or less for a hotel which looks better but has the dreaded buses???

 

[sotoalf]

Originally posted by Antiguan
I am tempted to stay at CR just for its proximity to MK, but the themeing seems so blah, almost nonexistent. My kids are still young enough that we do MK for at least some time everyday and at WL we just caught the boat which was a relaxing interlude.
I am betwixt and between. Do I pay more for less theming but better transportation options, or less for a hotel which looks better but has the dreaded buses???

Antiguan, I disagree: the CR reeks of retro-futurism. Imagine sleeping inside Space Mountain. That this theme might be a turn-off I grant you, but only you and your family can decide that. None of the photos on wdwig.com evoke what the CR is really like, and that's the rub.

If you've tried the WL, then give the CR a shot. I actually think it's more kid-friendly because of the presence of Chef Mickey's and the monorail. And remember: the rooms are the biggest in WDW.

 

[Kimberle]

Originally posted by Antiguan
I am tempted to stay at CR just for its proximity to MK, but the themeing seems so blah, almost nonexistent. My kids are still young enough that we do MK for at least some time everyday and at WL we just caught the boat which was a relaxing interlude.
I am betwixt and between. Do I pay more for less theming but better transportation options, or less for a hotel which looks better but has the dreaded buses???

I've stayed at both CR & WL, and love both.

I do feel the transportation is about the same for both. Though the monorail is nice, so is the boat and it is maybe 5 minutes more. We actually preferred the bus from WL to Epcot. It was much quicker than the monorail from CR. Don't forget, you have to change trains at the TTC and that can add 15 minutes to your trip.

Leave transportation out of your "equasion" and stay where you *want*.

 

[javaj]

Thank you for sharing! We'll be there at the end of the month, I can't wait!