Pop or Contemporary... I know silly?

[Ambehnke]

What would you do? We definitely have the money to make either work but we do like to be budget conscious and stick with what we plan to spend. We tend to cut costs where we can in our every day life too even though we can afford not to. We need to have booked this trip about two months ago. Dining is set up so that's no big deal but 60 day fastpass is June 6 and air fare needs to be booked today. 6 nights/7 days probably 3 MK 2 AK and one each DHS/ Epcot. We love MK. 2 kids 3 and 5 who need naps EVERY day. Park open to close people but do take that break for several hours. We could stay at Pop, rent a car, have the option to eat out or get groceries for some meals, and have more money to spend on character/signature meals but have to take the dreaded bus or drive to TTC and wait forever for the boat to get us to MK in the morning and then again after midday. I'm thinking this would probably add several hours to our MK days without including the break (we stayed off site last time and I know it did then). Or we could stay at the Contemporary, but then renting a car would be out, and we would probably limit our signature/character meals to stay within our overall planned budget. I just hate the busses so this sounds better to me because of that. We have stayed at mods in the past or off site but never a value or a deluxe. For the reference we would save about $900 going the Pop/car route. Thanks for your advice!

 

[Westcoastwild]

Well...

When I was there, the monorail was down a lot so staying at the contemporary would not have meant less time on the buses.

I never had to wait long for a boat, on the other hand. It definitely didn't add "hours" onto my MK days.

Why are those your only two options? If you stayed at a mod, you'd have a better location and more money for dining.

 

[DLgal]

Contemporary. No doubt about it. Not even close.

 

[twoplustwins]

I guess it comes down to personal preference as there really isn't much of a comparison between CR and
Pop. If you are looking for something in between, I would say to check out Wilderness Lodge or a moderate, especially if you've considered renting a car.

 

[Ambehnke]

Well...

When I was there, the monorail was down a lot so staying at the contemporary would not have meant less time on the buses.

I never had to wait long for a boat, on the other hand. It definitely didn't add "hours" onto my MK days.

Why are those your only two options? If you stayed at a mod, you'd have a better location and more money for dining.

Well last summer toddlers in tow when we stayed off site and had a car we ALWAYS missed the boat, monorail not yet running, wait for the next boat to get there, wait for that to fill, not to mention the walk from the car to even get to the boat. (We walk several miles a day normally when not at Disney so not complaining just saying it takes a while with two young ones), I just feel like we could even WALK to magic kingdom and be there much faster from Contemporary. Those are not our only two options. We normally stay at pretty nice properties when we vacation elsewhere and mod would normally be our go to in this case but last time we stayed at POR and LOVED the resort but said we'd never do it again because the busses were a pain particularly for early ADRs or at afternoon/night when the kids fell asleep in the stroller on the way out. Last summer we stayed CHEAP off site because we had a big trip planned for this past winter and it was fine for a place to sleep so I'm not opposed to staying at Pop to save some $$$. I also say Contemporary because it's the closest to our fave park and I just feel like if we had more time because of the Contemporary proximity we would maybe spend more time at the resort/pool at nap time.

 

[brockash]

What would you do? We definitely have the money to make either work but we do like to be budget conscious and stick with what we plan to spend. We tend to cut costs where we can in our every day life too even though we can afford not to. We need to have booked this trip about two months ago. Dining is set up so that's no big deal but 60 day fastpass is June 6 and air fare needs to be booked today. 6 nights/7 days probably 3 MK 2 AK and one each DHS/ Epcot. We love MK. 2 kids 3 and 5 who need naps EVERY day. Park open to close people but do take that break for several hours. We could stay at Pop, rent a car, have the option to eat out or get groceries for some meals, and have more money to spend on character/signature meals but have to take the dreaded bus or drive to TTC and wait forever for the boat to get us to MK in the morning and then again after midday. I'm thinking this would probably add several hours to our MK days without including the break (we stayed off site last time and I know it did then). Or we could stay at the Contemporary, but then renting a car would be out, and we would probably limit our signature/character meals to stay within our overall planned budget. I just hate the busses so this sounds better to me because of that. We have stayed at mods in the past or off site but never a value or a deluxe. For the reference we would save about $900 going the Pop/car route. Thanks for your advice!

If your kids were older I'd be more inclined go say save your money and go to Pop, however with those ages and I'm sure a stroller hands down do CR. We've done both and the walk to from/MK can't be beat. We've also gotten to the point that unless we're staying at CR, we don't do breaks, it's just way too exhausting, time consuming and counter productive for us. If you do stay at Pop, I would DEFINITELY skip the breaks and just rest in the parks.

 

[brockash]

Well...

When I was there, the monorail was down a lot so staying at the contemporary would not have meant less time on the buses.

I never had to wait long for a boat, on the other hand. It definitely didn't add "hours" onto my MK days.

Why are those your only two options? If you stayed at a mod, you'd have a better location and more money for dining.

I mean, they're spending 3 days at MK, that's a lot of back and forth they can walk to the park and not deal with buses. I agree the monorail is not reliable and really ridiculous, but they could get lucky with that, but either way there would be no need for buses to/from MK which would be at least 12 bus trips they wouldn't have to deal when you take into account breaks.

 

[Anniefrances]

With young children and daily napping, CR. Bring or rent a nice stroller from an offsite vendor and you can walk to/from MK in a matter of minutes. For me, that would take precedence over a few more character/signature meals, but of course YMMV.

 

[Ambehnke]

I guess it comes down to personal preference as there really isn't much of a comparison between CR and
Pop. If you are looking for something in between, I would say to check out Wilderness Lodge or a moderate, especially if you've considered renting a car.

I've checked it all out. Just too many options... I've had an offer code for about three months now I feel like I'm to the point I should have just had someone else plan it for me! wilderness with a car would put us at the same price as Contemporary no car. I don't know if that would be worth it. We've kind of talked about go big or save the money never really lean toward the in between this time

 

[Stacy's a freak]

Given your plans, I would say CR with fewer character meals and skip the rental car. If CR is doable in your budget, go for it!

 

[Westcoastwild]

I've checked it all out. Just too many options... I've had an offer code for about three months now I feel like I'm to the point I should have just had someone else plan it for me! wilderness with a car would put us at the same price as Contemporary no car. I don't know if that would be worth it. We've kind of talked about go big or save the money never really lean toward the in between this time

Given your reasoning and that $900 dollars isn't actually a huge difference, given the length of the stay, I'd say contemporary. But neither would be my pick- I'd stay at Wilderness because I like Whispering Canyon.

I guess what you'd have to ask yourself is this: will you miss the car if you don't have it? I mean, some people use it for other things than just going to the parks, like grocery runs.

 

[Alice Sr.]

Given the ages of your babies I would say Contemporary. I would not have a problem with limiting the character and signature meals over the convenience of walking to MK and getting them back to the room for naps. Grocery delivery is easier and cheaper than it has ever been so I would take that into account as well.

 

[Shanti]

What would you do? We definitely have the money to make either work but we do like to be budget conscious and stick with what we plan to spend. We tend to cut costs where we can in our every day life too even though we can afford not to. We need to have booked this trip about two months ago. Dining is set up so that's no big deal but 60 day fastpass is June 6 and air fare needs to be booked today. 6 nights/7 days probably 3 MK 2 AK and one each DHS/ Epcot. We love MK. 2 kids 3 and 5 who need naps EVERY day. Park open to close people but do take that break for several hours. We could stay at Pop, rent a car, have the option to eat out or get groceries for some meals, and have more money to spend on character/signature meals but have to take the dreaded bus or drive to TTC and wait forever for the boat to get us to MK in the morning and then again after midday. I'm thinking this would probably add several hours to our MK days without including the break (we stayed off site last time and I know it did then). Or we could stay at the Contemporary, but then renting a car would be out, and we would probably limit our signature/character meals to stay within our overall planned budget. I just hate the busses so this sounds better to me because of that. We have stayed at mods in the past or off site but never a value or a deluxe. For the reference we would save about $900 going the Pop/car route. Thanks for your advice!

Contemporary. No contest in your situation. You can walk to & from MK, bypassing any transportation concerns or costs. Ditch the rental car & let Disney do the driving.

In my experience staying at monorail resorts over the past few years, the monorail is up & running much more often than not. Listening to some posters, you'd think riding the WDW monorail was the equivalent of riding a lame mule, but that was not the case for us. Despite occasional scheduled maintenance times, it was usually available, & faster and more convenient than other forms of transportation, especially if you're reliant on wheels of some kind (strollers, scooter, etc.)

 

[Ambehnke]

Given your reasoning and that $900 dollars isn't actually a huge difference, given the length of the stay, I'd say contemporary. But neither would be my pick- I'd stay at Wilderness because I like Whispering Canyon.

I guess what you'd have to ask yourself is this: will you miss the car if you don't have it? I mean, some people use it for other things than just going to the parks, like grocery runs.

yeah the grocery runs would be nice. My hubby I'm sure would like a few beers while there but being the savers we are he won't pay theme park price for a bud light and I would love me some chic-fil-a since we don't have it at home haha! But we've stayed and not had a car before and been ok too. Such a hard decision! Hence why I'm almost at 60 days with nothing booked! We might have to check out Whispering Canyon. Haven't been there yet!

 

[Ambehnke]

Contemporary. No contest in your situation. You can walk to & from MK, bypassing any transportation concerns or costs. Ditch the rental car & let Disney do the driving.

In my experience staying at monorail resorts over the past few years, the monorail is up & running much more often than not. Listening to some posters, you'd think riding the WDW monorail was the equivalent of riding a lame mule, but that was not the case in my experience. Despite occasional scheduled maintenance times, it was usually available, & faster than other forms of transportation.

It's also my son's favorite ride in all of Disney world haha! But then again... he likes the buses too! (Ok maybe 7dmt is his actual favorite but monorail close 2nd)

 

[Ambehnke]

I mean, they're spending 3 days at MK, that's a lot of back and forth they can walk to the park and not deal with buses. I agree the monorail is not reliable and really ridiculous, but they could get lucky with that, but either way there would be no need for buses to/from MK which would be at least 12 bus trips they wouldn't have to deal when you take into account breaks.

Yes I generally figure about 45 min each way by the time you wait for a bus and ride it or wait for a boat and walk back to your car and drive. So that would be 3 hrs of our day on our vacation spent traveling. Part of me thinks this is one of the reasons we come home from Disney so dang tired! (Then I realize we also walk at least a half marathon every day)

 

[DLgal]

The monorail is definitely reliable. We never found it unavailable during our 5 day stay at GF last August.

 

[Ambehnke]

Well since I had to book something tonight I booked the Contemporary. I can still modify until July though so this may not be the final decision. I feel good about it but still not 100%. Tough to have so many options!

 

[rosiebean]

Having been to WDW with kids in strollers, no (blankety blank) way would I stay at a bus-only resort EVER if another option was within my budget.

Contemporary = big rooms (with a patio or balcony, giving parents more room to spread out after kids are asleep), more dining options, and walkability to a park I plan on visiting for three days plus monorail service to a second park vs busses.

Pop = small rooms, a food court only, buses everywhere.

I seriously don't understand the conundrum here.

 

[mayshamp]

What would you do? We definitely have the money to make either work but we do like to be budget conscious and stick with what we plan to spend. We tend to cut costs where we can in our every day life too even though we can afford not to. We need to have booked this trip about two months ago. Dining is set up so that's no big deal but 60 day fastpass is June 6 and air fare needs to be booked today. 6 nights/7 days probably 3 MK 2 AK and one each DHS/ Epcot. We love MK. 2 kids 3 and 5 who need naps EVERY day. Park open to close people but do take that break for several hours. We could stay at Pop, rent a car, have the option to eat out or get groceries for some meals, and have more money to spend on character/signature meals but have to take the dreaded bus or drive to TTC and wait forever for the boat to get us to MK in the morning and then again after midday. I'm thinking this would probably add several hours to our MK days without including the break (we stayed off site last time and I know it did then). Or we could stay at the Contemporary, but then renting a car would be out, and we would probably limit our signature/character meals to stay within our overall planned budget. I just hate the busses so this sounds better to me because of that. We have stayed at mods in the past or off site but never a value or a deluxe. For the reference we would save about $900 going the Pop/car route. Thanks for your advice!

I am a big fan of Pop, and I've never stayed at Contemporary, though I've walked from there to MK. Last summer, I stayed at Pop with my 8 month old baby for 2 weeks. We went to a park in the morning, came back around 1pm, baby took nap, we went back to a park around 430pm, so 4 trips a day. We went to Magic Kingdom about 8 times. The wait was about 10 minutes, the ride was 18 minutes (this is counting returning to hotel before fireworks, so no crowd). Epcot/HS/AK rides were 10 minutes each. (AK buses used to take longer, but now the bus no longer stops at Blizzard Beach, so it's much faster.) I timed the bus trips myself.

So, the math for you:

Contemporary:
Going to MK 3 days = 12 trips. Total travel time: 0 minutes. (the 10 minute walking will be counting as waiting time.)
Going to AK 2 days = 8 trips x 25 minutes=200 minutes
Going to EP 1 day: 4 trips x25 minutes =100 minutes
Going to HS 1 day: 4 trips x25 minutes =100 minutes

Total: 400 minutes.

Pop Century:

Going to MK 3 days =12 trips x18 minutes = 216 minutes
Going to AK 2 days = 8 trips x10 minutes = 80 minutes
Going to EP and HS 2 days total = 8 trips x 10 minutes = 80 minutes

Total minutes: 376.

So overall, whatever you gained from being near MK is going to be lost for being far away from everything else.

My recommendation 1: Stay at Contemporary AND rent a car. A week long car rental costs about one night at the Contemporary's cheapest rooms. There's no reason to skimp on car rental just because you are staying at CR. You can then skip your hated buses completely, be right next to MK, and go to everywhere else with ease.
My recommendation 2: Stay at Contemporary for 3 nights and then move to Pop Century for 4 nights, and rent a car. It's called a split stay. Go to MK only while you are at the Contemporary, then go wherever when you are at Pop. You'd have to do the extra work of moving, but other than that you get the best of both worlds.