POR vs Contemporary Garden Wings (autism)

[Disneylvr]

Is it worth $900 more to upgrade from POR to Contemporary Garden Wings for our 3 yr old dd (autism)? We chose POR for price, theming and the trundle bed which I know cannot be guaranteed. Madelyn prefers small beds and cannot relax and settle down in big beds. The Contemporay has the day bed but can a bed rail be used on it? The Contemporary would also be just a monorail ride away from MK and Epcot the two parks we will be at the most. But is it worth $900 more? We are going Memorial Day week. Opinions please!!!

 

[DaisyDuck1]

if you think it would help your dd, I would say go for it !!!!!

 

[Nik's Mom]

Hi. I have a 6 year old autistic ds and we stayed at the Poly before. He LOVED the monorail ride to MK! Honestly, the exterior of Contemporary does not appeal to us, but the location sure does! And I've heard that the garden wings are quiet. I've been reading the Contemporary thread on the resorts board, and read that if you request North Wing, parking lot with MK view, you could watch the fireworks from your patio!

We stayed at POR while on our honeymoone (pre-kids, obviously) and loved the resort. But it is very large. They have a nice horse-drawn carriage ride thtat the kids loved on our last trip.

If your dd is an animal fanatic, you may want to consider AKL. My autistic ds loved AKL. And the bus transportation to the parks was great!

I always have a hard time choosing hotels, because we spend so much time there, and less time at the parks. I'd be curious to hear others' opinions on Contemporary, because we are tossing around the idea of staying there at some point.

 

[hookedup]

$900 is a lot of money (for my family at least).
That being said there are a lot of positives about the CR wing rooms. I am a big fan of them. We stayed in one Xmas 2004. My ds LOVES the monorail (like obsessively) and that was a big plus for us. He loved being able to take it to Epcot for the long ride. We opted to walk to MK a lot too. It was GREAT when the crowds were bad to just do a short walk back to our room and quickly escape the crush. The pool area is not fabulous but it met our needs at that time.

About the beds - I am sorry I can't answer the daybed question regarding the bedrails.

 

[Disneylvr]

Yes $900 is a lot of money for us. And the questioned has been answered for us. The Contemporary is booked. The resort itself, POR, will be fine for Madelyn. The big plus of the Contemporary would of been location. DH and I have stayed there before, way before Madelyn was born, and love the resort except for the pool. We have also stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and while I loved it DH hated it. The location is not any better (worse, in my opinion) than Riverside. So we are going to stay put and drive to the parks like we originally planned. Thank you everyone!

 

[Nik's Mom]

Disneylvr,
Be sure to try the monorail. Our autistic ds really enjoyed it. If you don't mind, can you post back how your dd liked Contemporary? It's always nice to get an opinion from a Parent going through the same thing (autism). We are still trying to decide between Contemporary, Swan/Dolphin, AS Music family suite or CR.
Thanks and have a great trip!

 

[Disneylvr]

Oh goodness, what I meant to say was the Contemporary was booked up so we had to keep our reservation at Port Orleans Riverside.

 

[Nik's Mom]

You'll have a great time anyway. We loved POR when we stayed there (back in the Dixie Landings days). Have fun!

 

[SueM in MN]

POR has a nice boat that goes to DD. If your DD likes boat rides, you can also rent boats at the marina and take a trip toward OKW and DD. One nice thing is that the water channel is fairly narrow (which might be more comfortable for a child with autism than going on the big lake at the MK resorts).

One thing to be aware of for going to the MK from any resorts (those not on the monorail, at least), is that if you take the bus, you will be delivered very close to the turnstiles to get into the park. If you drive, you will need to take the parking lot tram to the TTC and then take a boat or monorail to MK. If you have a handicapped parking permit and park in that area, you still need to go to the TTC and the walk can be quite far.

I don't know about the bedrail on the trundle bed question either, but I know someone who came up with a bedrail substitute that worked for their child and was packable. They took a pool noodle and a sheet. Along one side of the sheet, they sewed a channel just big enough for the pool noodle to slide in. They used a knife to cut the pool noodle into small enough pieces to fit into their suitcase. When they got to the resort, they put the noodle into the channel on the sheet, put that along the outside edge of the bed (about 6 inches from the edge) and then tucked the other side of the sheet under the mattress on the opposite side. The weight of the child kept the sheet in place and the pool noodle was enough to keep him from rolling out of bed.
There are also some combination inflatable mattress/sleeping bag things that I saw in a Walmart ad that might do the trick for you. I have not seen them in person, but they look really cute.
They have Dora the Explorer and also Disney Princess ones. That way, if you didn't get a trundle bed, she would still have her own little space.

 

[Disneylvr]

Well, we finally found availability and upgraded to the Contemporary, least expensive view (garden wing-parking lot). The anticipation of the heat and crowds finally got the best of me so I made the switch and paid the difference. Madelyn has autism but she also has asthma so our room just being a monorail ride away from the MK and Epcot will be good as will the inside (air conditioned) cooridors. I do realize that the garden wings are some ways from the tower but most of the walk is air conditioned unlike the moderates. Now if I can just find out about the bedrails. I might have to call the Contemporary directly.

 

[Selket]

I can't comment on the autism concerns but we stayed at the CR in the North wing last May and it was a great place. The north wing is closer to the MK if you want to walk (shorter to walk to the MK and monorail back if you are trying to save time). You might want to request a room close to the main building if that is a concern. We could walk right out of the wing and right in to the rear door of the Food and Fun center (I'm guessing the FFC is still in the same spot as last summer).

From the North wing if it is possible to see the fireworks and monorail if you have a parking lot view. We happened to have a lake view and could see the water pagent at night. We just walked outside the wing most nights to watch the fireworks. The boat ride to WL is nice - we had dinner ressies there one night.

Have a great trip!

 

[Nik's Mom]

That's great news, Michelle. Please post how you liked Contemporary. I have 2 sons, one with autism, the other with sensory issues and asthma. I'd love to hear your comments on contemporary. Have a great trip.