The ALL NEW Disney's Contemporary Resort & Bay Lake Tower FAQ with PICs! (FEB 2010)

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We are going to Disney at the end of June to the beginning of July and we are staying at the Contemporary again.

Last time we stayed at the Contemporary we had a great time at the hotel. We loved how convenient it was and how great the staff was. I think our favorite part about the Contemporary was the room we had. It had to be one of the best rooms. It had a view of Bay Lake and in the distance you can see MG(Mnow Disney Studios), Animal Kingdom, and EPCOT. We were also right by the fire escape so when it was time for Wishes we would go out and see Wishes perfectly and can here the music from the observing floor. It was amazing.

We are hoping to ask to have the room reserved for when we go, but there is one really big problem. We don't know the room number!!!!!

All we can remember is that it is on the ninth floor, on the bay lake side, is one room away from the fire escape, and was on the other side of Chef Mickey(we were by a gift shop).

If anybody has any idea what the room number might be, or even if you have a floor plan we could look at, that would be great.

Was it room #4501 because according to the map that is the closest one to the fire escape from what you described.

 

[leane]

I am subscribing because what better place to get my fix when I am not at my home away from home but here.....

We are planning our first trip home for MNSSHP hopefully the first of many

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I am subscribing because what better place to get my fix when I am not at my home away from home but here.....

We are planning our first trip home for MNSSHP hopefully the first of many

Welcome to the thread and if you have any questions just ask and either myself or some of the other great posters on this thread will do our best to help you.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Someone asked the following question on the BC/YC thread. Below the question is the BC Greeter's response:

(Q.) Do you know why they removed Beach Club specific Items from the gift shop?
And why they replaced the items with more of the same ole stuff you can find every shop you go into? Will it ever come back?
We visited alot of other resort shops and they still had theirs...


(A.) No idea but I did ask one of our merchandise managers and she said she heard all resort specific merchandise was being phased out everywhere. She said she didn't receive any specific information to that end but that that was the "talk".

It's very sad!

 

[lumpy08]

This will be our first time here.. In the mornings for breakfast,is it possible for my husband or I to go down to Contempo Cafe and bring breakfast up to the room for us and our two small kids. I didn't know if this was allowed or even worth it.

The last time we were at the CR the Contempo Cafe was being built. So we would go down to the Sandbar (quick service by the pool). And we brought ouf food up to the room. I am sure the Contempo Cafe would be the same.

 

[wdhinn89]

Was it room #4501 because according to the map that is the closest one to the fire escape from what you described.

Thank you! Can you post a link to the map?

 

[newrygirl]

Hi Everyone,
just booked our first ever stay at the Contemporary and our first stay at a deluxe We are so excited, going August 19-29, we could only swing a garden wing-garden view so I hope we will be happy. We are not a picky family by man I would love that mk view. It is our 21st wedding anniversary the day we check in and I turn 40 the day before so we figured that this was the trip to splurge as I have always wanted to stay at the Contemporary. I am so excited.

 

[travelmom6416]

Just thought I'd pop into this thread and say hey!

Why? Because we just upgraded from CBR to CR for our Aug 15 - 22nd trip!!

I never thought I would get to stay deluxe, and I'm SO excited! The 40% deal was just too good to pass up.

I booked Tower Bay Lake View...do you think the extra money was worth it? The Garden Wing doesn't appeal to me at all, I REALLY like the idea of staying in the Tower....but now I'm wondering if I should save my dough and stay with Garden Wing??

Either way, PSYCHED about being able to post here! AH!

Congratulations on your upgrade to Deluxe. I was one who responded to your CSR vs. CR post the other day. I also noticed that you said your budget only allowed the CR GW and you would love the Poly and GF if you could afford. I am only trying to help here as I am staying at the CR and looking forward to it. However, I have stayed at the Poly and GF and liked them very much as well. If you have gone from CSR to a Tower room at the CR you have made a huge jump in $$$$. Therefore, you could easily go to Poly, GF or CR. Just some food for thought. Like I said, not knocking the CR. Staying there myself next month, but look at all of your options now that you have decided to spend more money than you originally intended.

Have an awesome vacation!

 

[twogirlsandthatsit]

We are staying in the Tower MK View in late September. I am soooo excited!! Since this is our first time though I wanted to see where the experts suggest we request our room be, or any other tips. I know that room requests are not always honored and that is totally fine, but just want to try to get the best possible room!

 

[SoScary'09]

While I'm sure someone else will probably have better advice, here's my opinion:

If you've got a theme park view, it seems as though all the rooms on that side have a pretty good view. We stayed in 4225, which is on the lowest floor and on the veeeeeerry furthest end away from MK. Even then we had no complaints. The view was still awesome, as was waking up each morninig to the rumble of the monorail beneath us.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Hi Everyone,
just booked our first ever stay at the Contemporary and our first stay at a deluxe We are so excited, going August 19-29, we could only swing a garden wing-garden view so I hope we will be happy. We are not a picky family by man I would love that mk view. It is our 21st wedding anniversary the day we check in and I turn 40 the day before so we figured that this was the trip to splurge as I have always wanted to stay at the Contemporary. I am so excited.

How exciting! I hope you noted your celebrations in your reservation - it can't hurt

You're going to love the GW and the CR. What a great "first Deluxe" resort choice

 

[WDWKOOK]

We are staying in the Tower MK View in late September. I am soooo excited!! Since this is our first time though I wanted to see where the experts suggest we request our room be, or any other tips. I know that room requests are not always honored and that is totally fine, but just want to try to get the best possible room!

I would request an odd-numbered room so that your bed will face toward the MK. If you think that the noise from CM's might bother you, then you could also add, "Far from Chef Mickey's" to your location request.

Have a great stay at the CR!

 

[WDWKOOK]

Thank you! Can you post a link to the map?

http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/contempmap.htm

 

[WDWKOOK]

SNIP
We are hoping to ask to have the room reserved for when we go, but there is one really big problem. We don't know the room number!!!!!

All we can remember is that it is on the ninth floor, on the bay lake side, is one room away from the fire escape, and was on the other side of Chef Mickey(we were by a gift shop).

If anybody has any idea what the room number might be, or even if you have a floor plan we could look at, that would be great.

I would recommend against ever requesting specific room numbers. The room assigner assigns your room about 3 days prior to your arrival. If you request a specific room number and that room is already occupied prior to your arrival, the room assigner will not know why you requested that room and won't be able to possibly assign you a comparable room location.

In your case, since you've already booked a BLV, I would request "high floor, far from CM's, close to fire escape" in the order most important to you. When you check-in, if your room is not where you had hoped, you can then see if they can get you into your preferred location.

Good luck!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Hi Everyone,
just booked our first ever stay at the Contemporary and our first stay at a deluxe We are so excited, going August 19-29, we could only swing a garden wing-garden view so I hope we will be happy. We are not a picky family by man I would love that mk view. It is our 21st wedding anniversary the day we check in and I turn 40 the day before so we figured that this was the trip to splurge as I have always wanted to stay at the Contemporary. I am so excited.

I hope you have a great time.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

While I'm sure someone else will probably have better advice, here's my opinion:

If you've got a theme park view, it seems as though all the rooms on that side have a pretty good view. We stayed in 4225, which is on the lowest floor and on the veeeeeerry furthest end away from MK. Even then we had no complaints. The view was still awesome, as was waking up each morninig to the rumble of the monorail beneath us.

I agree with everything you said because a few years ago we also had a Magic Kingdom View on the 6th floor and I don't remember anything wrong with the view from there. Now I don't think we had the furthest room at the end of the hallway like you did, however I always say the view looks the same no matter what floor you stay on.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Someone asked the following question on the BC/YC thread. Below the question is the BC Greeter's response:

(Q.) Do you know why they removed Beach Club specific Items from the gift shop?
And why they replaced the items with more of the same ole stuff you can find every shop you go into? Will it ever come back?
We visited alot of other resort shops and they still had theirs...


(A.) No idea but I did ask one of our merchandise managers and she said she heard all resort specific merchandise was being phased out everywhere. She said she didn't receive any specific information to that end but that that was the "talk".

It's very sad!

Well over the past couple of years I have seen little to no Contemporary specifc items being sold, like shirts and other clothing items. However I have seen more resort itmes when it comes to specific clothing items at the Polynesian and Grand Floridian being sold with their logo on them and etc.

 

[MKVIEW]

Hi Everyone,
just booked our first ever stay at the Contemporary and our first stay at a deluxe We are so excited, going August 19-29, we could only swing a garden wing-garden view so I hope we will be happy. We are not a picky family by man I would love that mk view. It is our 21st wedding anniversary the day we check in and I turn 40 the day before so we figured that this was the trip to splurge as I have always wanted to stay at the Contemporary. I am so excited.

Congrats, you will love it. A great first experience in a deluxe. Being able to walk to the MK is a dream come true.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Well over the past couple of years I have seen little to no Contemporary specifc items being sold, like shirts and other clothing items. However I have seen more resort itmes when it comes to specific clothing items at the Polynesian and Grand Floridian being sold with their logo on them and etc.

Today, Jason Garcia of the Orlando Sentinel (the reporter CRRF4L and I frequently quote/link to on the Rumors and News forum) posted this to my "resort merchandise" thread that I quoted from on here yesterday. I thought maybe someone on this thread could help him out:

"Hi folks,

I cover Walt Disney World for the Orlando Sentinel and I'm thinking of writing a story on this topic. (Just realized the other day, for instance, that Disney appears to have stopped selling the yearly hotel-themed Christmas ornaments.)

If any of you would be interested in talking about this -- whether to potentially be quoted in a story or just to provide examples of hotel-specific merchandise that is now longer being sold -- I'd love to hear from you. I can be reached at 407-420-5414 or jrgarcia AT orlandosentinel.com (note the middle initial in the email address....and apologies for posting it so weirdly, have to do it because of the message board filters).

Thanks for your time,
jason"

 

[rcraw45425]

Today, Jason Garcia of the Orlando Sentinel (the reporter CRRF4L and I frequently quote/link to on the Rumors and News forum) posted this to my "resort merchandise" thread that I quoted from on here yesterday. I thought maybe someone on this thread could help him out:

"Hi folks,

I cover Walt Disney World for the Orlando Sentinel and I'm thinking of writing a story on this topic. (Just realized the other day, for instance, that Disney appears to have stopped selling the yearly hotel-themed Christmas ornaments.)

If any of you would be interested in talking about this -- whether to potentially be quoted in a story or just to provide examples of hotel-specific merchandise that is now longer being sold -- I'd love to hear from you. I can be reached at 407-420-5414 or jrgarcia AT orlandosentinel.com (note the middle initial in the email address....and apologies for posting it so weirdly, have to do it because of the message board filters).

Thanks for your time,
jason"

Interesting. Good to know that the local newspaper regards the DIS as a viable source!