Please Help Me Decide Where to Stay! NEWBIE!

[Dis_Marine_Family]

Hi! I'm new here! My husband and our three children and my mother will be going in October or early November to Dis for the first time. DH has been before when he was young, but none of us have otherwise been. My husband just returned from a very very long deployment for OEF/OIF so we'll be able to use to Military deals that Dis has going right now.

We are confused as to where to stay and even looking at the information on the various things, we are still stumped.

Usually we would book at Shades of Green, but it will be being renovated during the time that we're visiting. However, because it's being renovated, we can stay at the Contemporary Resort for Shades of Green prices (which will be about 69 a night for our paygrade, but I'm thinking we need two rooms). OR, we can stay at other Disney resort properties for 40% off the room rate.

I was thinking about All Star Movies because our son who will be four then is a Buzz Lightyear FREAK, and I think he'll be thrilled! But, this may be our only chance to stay at the Contemporary for such cheap prices. I'm assuming we need to have two rooms, or can we fit in one somewhere? Me, my husband, my mom, our 9 year old daughter, our then 4 year old son, and our other daughter who is 2. Usually, DD#1 and DS would sleep in a double bed with my mom, and DD#2 would sleep in a pack and play.

WHAT would you do if you were us?? Given our situation, would you stay at the Contemporary or ASM? One room or two? Another resort that would be better? Other than the statues outside, will it be a Buzz Lightyear experience that we would regret our son not having? (older daughter would like anything, younger daughter isn't old enough to care, LOL).

Thank you so much for the help!

Vanessa

 

[Dis_Marine_Family]

Do any of you know if we can get the 40% military discount on rooms at the ASM? And does anyone have a link to abbreviations? Many are confusing the heck out of me, LOL!

TIA!

 

[Buzz2001]

Welcome Tia! You have a big decision ahead of you because WDW has so many great resorts. I can only provide you with a glimpse of CSR. You can check out pics and info ay my CSR website below.

Good luck!

 

[sjc]

I would vote for the contemporary primarily for the ease of transportation and the location. It is the oldest resort and I have heard that some of the wing rooms are showing some age, but you are in walking distance to the Magic Kingdom and have monorail access. With the All Stars you would be bus dependent, but may do better with things like the food court and from what I have read, the All Stars are popular with kids.... steve c

 

[wdwobsessed]

$69 a night for CR? I would stay at the Contemporary!! No questions asked. I would never choose an AS over the Contemporary at that it's just too convienient of a location!

Even with 40% off the other resorts ... $69 cannot be beat!

Since DD is 2 you could sleep 6 in the room since it would be 5 + one at the Contemp. At the All Stars you would have to have two rooms.

The Contemp also has MUCH larger rooms.

Happy Deciding!

wdwo

 

[*Fantasia*]

$69 a night for CR?! Wow! No need to think...go for CR!! As much as the kids and I love ASMovies, for that rate of only $69, I would definitely have to go with CR! However though...I would only stay on CR if I am staying in the Tower. But then again...for that amount...I would be willing to stay anywhere on the Disney property!

If you want you child or children to be thrilled and to enjoy the resort and this trip is for them. Then my suggestion is go with ASMovies. If this trip is for everyone to enjoy...then go ahead with CR.

 

[XStAnt]

Go with the Contemporary for $69/night. Your son will probably love it because the monorail goes right into the building. Ask a cast member to let you ride up front with the pilot.

There is no comparison between the Contemporary ans ASM, especially at that price. The rooms are MUCH larger and the location is great. The Electric Water Pageant comes by on the lake every night, and MK fireworks can be seen from the resort. Great restaurants including Chef Mickeys (a very popular character meal) and a good food court. You can walk or monorail to MK, momorail to Epcot, and bus to MGM and AK. It's very kid friendly.

The All-Stars are great but the rooms are much smaller. The Buzz Lightyear is only outside (I believe). There are no restaurants, just a great food court. You bus everywhere.

To me, for $69/night this is a no brainer. You may want two rooms though, as 5 and an infant may get a little tight at times.

 

[MJames41]

How long will you be there? Would a split be possible? Even one night at the Movies might be enough to delight your child, and then off to the Contemporary - it is my son's absolute favorite resort. If I left the decision on where to stay with him, we would not stay at any other. We love the rooms in the Wings as well (try to get 1st floor if you can, you can feed the ducks from your patio). Enjoy your trip.

 

[susy]

there will be enogh Buzz in the parks. Stay at the Contemporary!!! I believe the rooms are the largest on property, with two QUEEN beds and a daybed. You can get a pack and play for your youngest. It should be fine for all of you. The ease of transporation to epcot and MK is a HUGE plus!!! With little ones you will have to take breaks. I would go in Oct, since early Nov you are running into NJ week, super soap and veteran's day. Have a wonderful time!

 

[Lewisc]

Really a "no brainer" You're probably legal with one room but you'd be happier with 2 rooms and 2 bathrooms.

 

[welovedis]

I would hands-down choose the CR over ASMo. We stayed at ASMo and while the price we paid was low, the rooms were small and the lack of a sit-down restaurant was not worth the price. If you really wanted to see how the resort looked you could take a bus there from one of the parks and check out the resort, take pictures with the huge TS icons (Buzz, Woody, TC, etc..) They are pretty much statues and not really anything interactive or anything.

The other posters pointed out that you can put 4 people in a room plus 1 child under 3 in a crib or Pack & Play. While I'm not sure if things work differently under a SoG ressie, I *think* you would have to pay an additional charge per night for the extra adult in the room (they allow 2 adults under the regular ressies). If memory serves me correctly you pay $25/night for the extra adult, so perhaps you might want to think about 2 rooms that connect and it would make for a much more relaxing vacation--especially if you are going to be spending time in the room or at the resort in general.

When you consider that rooms at the CR start at around $239(rack rate), you can really see why everyone is recommending the CR for $69/nite. You can't really compare the 2 since the ASMo is a value and the CR is a deluxe. Considering that the CR has 2 pools, a huge selection of counter service and sit-down restarants, monorail service, the EWP, Mousekeeter Clubhouse, health club, tennis courts, marina w/ boat rentals, and a large video arcade, I really can't see you finding something more worth your money than this.

HTH!

 

[Uncle Scar]

My vote if for the Contemporary Resort too.

Besides being a great deal with the Military discount, you're on the Monorail line to the Magic Kingdom....which is vary valuable when having children and this would be your main park to visit. You also have boat access, which can be fun for the kids to ride to MK.

If you stay there, make sure to check into Chef Mickey's which is located on the 4th floor concourse. It's has a good character dinner that's really fun. You'll hear good and bad reviews about the food, but my family loves it and makes sure to go each visit.

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[disneycuban]

My vote is also for the contemporary.The contemporary is super convenient to the parks and you will get enough buzz at MK with the ride and character greeting. I can't even get a rate close to $69 a night and I'm a part time travel agent. Also, if I were you I would go with two rooms just to make everyone more comfortable.

 

[babyblues68]

Originally posted by Dis_Marine_Family

I was thinking about All Star Movies because our son who will be four then is a Buzz Lightyear FREAK, and I think he'll be thrilled! But, this may be our only chance to stay at the Contemporary for such cheap prices. I'm assuming we need to have two rooms, or can we fit in one somewhere? Me, my husband, my mom, our 9 year old daughter, our then 4 year old son, and our other daughter who is 2. Usually, DD#1 and DS would sleep in a double bed with my mom, and DD#2 would sleep in a pack and play.

If this maybe the only chance to stay at the Contemporary for these cheap rate...then there's your answer. Going back again in the future to Disney...staying on property...Allstars will always be in your budget...it's the cheapest.

Also, with all the kids...it's all about location,location,location. The Contemporary is a prime location for convenience.

Go...live it up at the deluxe....Buzz will be in the parks...and heck you can always drive over to the Allstars to look around.

 

[PrincessHolly]

I would pick the Contemporary also. Lol, I did actually. We're booked at the same rate through SoG for end of August. I told dh we would never get a rate laike that again, and we could stay in the All stars or CBR next time when there wasn't as many "specials". We actually added a day and they didn't have another room available at the Contemporary. So after much talking we took advantage of the 40% special and are staying concierge at the Polynesian.


I think that your son will enjoy more of what the CR has to offer (my dd is 3) and you could always see Buzz in the parks. Maybe take a trip to Toy Story Pizza Planet at MGM?

 

[swilphil]

For $69 at night, I would book two rooms at the Contemporary!! What a great deal--and well deserved for those serving in the military!

There's the Buzz ride at MK and Al's Toy Barn at MGM, along with some other appearances, I believe. I bought our son some Buzz souvenirs at the Disney Store before we left.

Have a good trip!

 

[Laura]

All-Stars is always going to be inexpensive.

Plus with your kids you'll likely be spending a lot of time in the Magic Kingdom, and it's sooooo much more convenient than All-Stars, which are really out of the way. You can walk from the Contemporary to MK's gates!

The rooms are bigger, the views are nicer, the monorail is cool... there are so many more reasons to stay at the Contemporary than big statues of Buzz Lightyear at ASMo.

I'm jealous, actually! I've always wanted to stay at the Contemporary Resort, ever since I was a little kid on my first trip to WDW. Someday I'll have the $$$... for one night!

 

[sherry8253]

The CR for sure. Your kids will love the monorail and being so close to the MK. You won't regret it. There is just no way to compare AS and CR. Your DS will love the buzz lighyear ride in the MK. Have a great trip and I am glad that Disney is doing something nice for our military. I also want to say a special thanks to your husband and you, your kids and rest of your family for the sacrifices that you make to protect our country!