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

[sto6917]

Thanks Robyn for the info! And I know the "feeling lazy" feeling!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We are booked for Oct. at CR - Atruim Club!

Is the walk to MK really only 5-10 minutes? Would you always walk vs. take the monorail?

Thanks!

Well I would say walking to the Magic Kingdom is always the fastest way to go because with the Resort Monorail it will stop at the TTC, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian before it arrives there. In fact others mentioned that when walking to the Magic Kingdom they beat the Resort Monorail getting there.

Now when going back you can't make a bad choice between walking or taking the Resort Monorail. If you choose to walk you will avoid any lines at the Monorail station, however on the Resort Monorail the Contemporary is the next stop after leaving the Magic Kingdom and you can be there 1 minute later.

 

[ClearScreen]

I decided to upgrade to the Tower with a Bay Lake view for the kids first trip to Disney. I originally booked a Garden Wing Garden View. We are all very excited.

It was funny, even though our vacation is only a few weeks away(first two weeks of August), they asked if I wanted to upgrade to a MK view. I guess they still had availability at this late date.

ClearScreen

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I decided to upgrade to the Tower with a Bay Lake view for the kids first trip to Disney. I originally booked a Garden Wing Garden View. We are all very excited.

It was funny, even though our vacation is only a few weeks away(first two weeks of August), they asked if I wanted to upgrade to a MK view. I guess they still had availability at this late date.

ClearScreen

I hope you all enjoy the Bay Lake View.

 

[cinderella73]

Well I would say walking to the Magic Kingdom is always the fastest way to go because with the Resort Monorail it will stop at the TTC, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian before it arrives there. QUOTE]

How long would you say it takes to complete this loop before arriving at the MK ? ( going from the CR to MK ) I would rather walk but I know my boys who love the monorail will want to do this also. Thanks

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

How long would you say it takes to complete this loop before arriving at the MK ? ( going from the CR to MK ) I would rather walk but I know my boys who love the monorail will want to do this also. Thanks

I would say it takes about 20 - 25 minutes, but you also have to take into account that the Monorail might need to stop on the track for 1 - 2 minutes because there is one Monorail ahead at the station it's going to.

Also here are links to YouTube videos of the Resort Monorail going from the Contemporary to the Magic Kingdom so you can see how long it takes at each stop and hopefully these will help you.

Contemporary - TTC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he0-r7H3Kyo&feature=related

TTC - Polynesian.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOzQ5uYKlJ0&feature=related

Polynesian - Grand Floridian.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuDEMuLUdSg&feature=related

Grand Floridian to the Magic Kingdom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBE7BQ7QwI4&feature=related

 

[Cinderumbrella]

We are booked for Oct. at CR - Atruim Club!

Is the walk to MK really only 5-10 minutes? Would you always walk vs. take the monorail?

Thanks!

We always walk to MK (heat or not) and monorail back since it is the 1st stop after MK.

Walking at a decent pace (with a 7 year old) took about 7 minutes from the time we exited the elevator on the ground floor of the tower.

 

[whitney37354]

Holy Cow Whitney!

I wish you had said something!!! Yep! that was me and my daughter waiting for maintenence to change the batteries in the door!! Small world isn't it!!! Wasn't the 12th floor the greatest??!! I'm soooo hooked! Boy I bet the picture looks like night, or should I say afternoon of the living dead!!! Heat index way up there that day! All I can say is that usually we can go all day and night but the heat did us in that day. Would love to see the picture, I think!!! Good to know a fellow Diser was close by!!! How was your trip? Hope ya'll had a great time!

We had a great time. If I knew how to post a pic, I would!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We had a great time. If I knew how to post a pic, I would!

If you go to a site like www.photobucket.com you can register a free account, then you upload your photos on there and post the links to them on here.

 

[Rags]

I'm starting to get my touring plan together and I have a question.

At the end of the night at Epcot when the monorail line is packed.. Does Disney have buses directly to the resort?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I'm starting to get my touring plan together and I have a question.

At the end of the night at Epcot when the monorail line is packed.. Does Disney have buses directly to the resort?

No they don't, so your only option using WDW transportation is taking the Monorail to the TTC and from there taking the Resort Monorail to the TTC. However if you don't mind paying the $ you could always take a taxi from Epcot to the Contemporary, which would be a lot faster.

 

[mdrob214]

Rags--It really isn't that bad, IMO. Monorails come every few minutes and they hold a lot of people. We always watch Illuminations from in front of Germany, then walk leisurely to the monorail and have no troubles at all. Even on July 4 it was no trouble.

 

[branv]

More transportation questions, yay

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we always rent a car while at WDW. First, we find them way better than taking the buses (faster, no crowds, less stress). It is just a personal preference. Second, it's always been simpler since we always do a shorter trip to WDW followed by a DCL cruise, so we use the car to get to the port rather than relying on DCL transport. Cost wise, with two people, the rental while at WDW vs. one way DCL transport has usually been break even.

But this will be our first stay at a monorail resort, so now I'm questioning if I will really even use the car while we're there. We're staying 4 nights, but will only visit DHS once for a few hours, and AK once as well (no water parks or DTD). With DHS, we'll probably just head over around 5 pm to hit ToT and RnR, before taking the launch or walking to the BW for dinner. Our trip to AK would be similar -- one or two rides, maybe a snack. In short, not traveling between either during peak times. Also, the only dining outside of parks and the monorail loop would be, possibly, BW.

So I'm torn. Having never stayed monorail, I just don't know if having a car is a waste or not. I don't know if people still think taking a car to Epcot is better than taking the monorail to EP, what with the connection. I've heard that the CR buses to DHS and AK can be a pain, but not sure just how much of a pain.

And I admit I am curious to try ME and the DCL buses...especially the parts about not having to deal with luggage.

One last question (well...for now anyway ). I keep thinking I read somewhere that there are park buses from the TTC to DHS and AK. If this is so, is it faster to monorail to the TTC and take a direct bus to DHS/AK, or is it faster to just use the CR buses even with their additional stops?

Thanks!

 

[f15robyn]

One last question (well...for now anyway ). I keep thinking I read somewhere that there are park buses from the TTC to DHS and AK. If this is so, is it faster to monorail to the TTC and take a direct bus to DHS/AK, or is it faster to just use the CR buses even with their additional stops?

Thanks!

The buses pick up at Contemporary first. So in the morning hours when people are mostly headed to parks, you'll always have a seat on the bus when it picks you up at CR. However, once I'm seated, then I'm frustrated while I wait for us to go to Poly to pick up people and then on to GF to pick up people. (If you're heading to the parks in the afternoon, this is less successful, because there might be a lot of people on board waiting to get off at Poly and possibly GF. So you wouldn't get a seat until they exit at those resorts)

So we always take the monorail to TTC, walk out and around the corner, and catch a bus to HS or AK. We may not necessarily get a seat if a bunch of people were already there waiting (this has happened only once to us), but then it's direct to the parks (no stopping at resorts).

On the way back from HS or AK, we always take the Contemporary/Poly bus. Because it drops off first at CR.

Hope that helps.

 

[GabStaff]

We were just there and when we had to take buses to AK and DHS in the morning, they picked up at CR first but only went to Poly after that and then went to the parks. And same route on the way back from parks to resorts. CR then Poly

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

More transportation questions, yay

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we always rent a car while at WDW. First, we find them way better than taking the buses (faster, no crowds, less stress). It is just a personal preference. Second, it's always been simpler since we always do a shorter trip to WDW followed by a DCL cruise, so we use the car to get to the port rather than relying on DCL transport. Cost wise, with two people, the rental while at WDW vs. one way DCL transport has usually been break even.

But this will be our first stay at a monorail resort, so now I'm questioning if I will really even use the car while we're there. We're staying 4 nights, but will only visit DHS once for a few hours, and AK once as well (no water parks or DTD). With DHS, we'll probably just head over around 5 pm to hit ToT and RnR, before taking the launch or walking to the BW for dinner. Our trip to AK would be similar -- one or two rides, maybe a snack. In short, not traveling between either during peak times. Also, the only dining outside of parks and the monorail loop would be, possibly, BW.

So I'm torn. Having never stayed monorail, I just don't know if having a car is a waste or not. I don't know if people still think taking a car to Epcot is better than taking the monorail to EP, what with the connection. I've heard that the CR buses to DHS and AK can be a pain, but not sure just how much of a pain.

And I admit I am curious to try ME and the DCL buses...especially the parts about not having to deal with luggage.

One last question (well...for now anyway ). I keep thinking I read somewhere that there are park buses from the TTC to DHS and AK. If this is so, is it faster to monorail to the TTC and take a direct bus to DHS/AK, or is it faster to just use the CR buses even with their additional stops?

Thanks!

Well I can tell you each time my family and I have stayed at the Contemporary we always had a car with us, however it's because we like to shop and eat at various offsite locations.

However we always use WDW transportation when going to the parks so we look at it as having the best of both worlds. Our car is always there whenever we need it and we don't mind the Disney buses. Plus as Robyn just mentioned to you the Contemporary guests are always picked up 1st and dropped off 1st, so in the mornings it should be easier getting seats and it's great if you tired when returning so you won't have a longer bus ride.

 

[lumpy08]

One week to go..... Yipppie!!!!! So much to do... So little time.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

One week to go..... Yipppie!!!!! So much to do... So little time.

I hope you have a great time.

 

[crcurton]

We were just there and when we had to take buses to AK and DHS in the morning, they picked up at CR first but only went to Poly after that and then went to the parks. And same route on the way back from parks to resorts. CR then Poly

Same here. We only went to Poly too!

 

[sherabby]

31 days to go! So excited!