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

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

After much deliberation, I am going to book the CR for my February trip. CR is my absolute DREAM resort, since I was a kid! Love everything about it and my all to brief visit last year, while dining at the California Grill, made me love it all the more! I'll get super excited as soon as I make the deposit! And here is where I will shamlessly plug the PTR you see in my signature!

I hope you have a great time staying there.

 

[tinacaplan]

I hope you have a great time staying there.

Thanks! I can't see how we wouldn't have a wonderful time. The Contemporary is a beautiful resort and I just love all the activity on the central Concourse.

 

[MrsBlovesDisney]

The Contemporary is a beautiful resort and I just love all the activity on the central Concourse.

O-oh! Sounds like you caught the " CR bug"..... welcome the CLUB!!

 

[cjnix29]

We are going to CR for the first time in about a month. So very excited! I was never into this resort, but my DH has always liked it. On our quest to stay at all the resorts, our choices this time were BW or CR. We had booked the poly, but we had stayed there once before. So....CR it is! MK view...I'm hoping we love it! The rooms look great!! and you can't beat the convenience.

 

[ValinWV]

Just got back form our first stay at CR. It was wonderful. We were lucky enough to get a tower room on the Bay Lake side (we were with a convention). Thanks for all of the helpful information in this thread. The only question I had and didn't get answered before I arrived was how could I do laundry since I don't put a credit card on file for charging.

I was able to put cash on my card for doing laundry. I wasn't too impressed with the laundry facilities. The dryers took at least two cycles to dry and once it took three and some things were still damp. At POR everything dried in one cycle. They were the same size loads I had to wash twice because it was such a long trip.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Well tomorrow is the day that I will be back at WDW and the Contemporary and I can not wait. Also since I won't be posting anything on here for a while if anyone wants any updates click my profile to send me an e-mail, because it will go straight to my BlackBerry and I will e-mail me you back. Finally besides our Contemporary stay we are also staying at the Boardwalk from Aug 20 - 25 and are back home on August 27, so I will be posting my trip reports and a lot of pictures.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We are going to CR for the first time in about a month. So very excited! I was never into this resort, but my DH has always liked it. On our quest to stay at all the resorts, our choices this time were BW or CR. We had booked the poly, but we had stayed there once before. So....CR it is! MK view...I'm hoping we love it! The rooms look great!! and you can't beat the convenience.

I hope you have a great time.

Just got back form our first stay at CR. It was wonderful. We were lucky enough to get a tower room on the Bay Lake side (we were with a convention). Thanks for all of the helpful information in this thread. The only question I had and didn't get answered before I arrived was how could I do laundry since I don't put a credit card on file for charging.

I was able to put cash on my card for doing laundry. I wasn't too impressed with the laundry facilities. The dryers took at least two cycles to dry and once it took three and some things were still damp. At POR everything dried in one cycle. They were the same size loads I had to wash twice because it was such a long trip.

Thanks for posting your review and it's great you enjoyed staying there.

 

[pulpinator]

Well tomorrow is the day that I will be back at WDW and the Contemporary and I can not wait. Also since I won't be posting anything on here for a while if anyone wants any updates click my profile to send me an e-mail, because it will go straight to my BlackBerry and I will e-mail me you back. Finally besides our Contemporary stay we are also staying at the Boardwalk from Aug 20 - 25 and are back home on August 27, so I will be posting my trip reports and a lot of pictures.

Woo hoo! Have a great time!!

I'll be there tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Woo hoo! Have a great time!!

I'll be there tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you and maybe I will see you around.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I hope so! I'm a little worried about 2011 prices, though. When I was checking out August (the month I'm not going) and looking at GW garden-view rooms, it looks like the rates have gone up considerably from this year -- it was like $25/more per night. I'm not sure if the standard-view will have the same rate of inflation, but it's making me wonder how much those standard-view rooms will be if/when they become available. Funny thing is, I was also checking out POFQ (because we stayed there this year and I was just curious), and it appears their rates haven't gone up at all for 2011.

I was checking out June pricing and I noticed that the tower rooms and CL rooms went up $25 as well, whereas the CL rooms at YC/BC/BWI only went up $10.

I really love the CR and its unbeatable location next to MK, but I honestly don't know that we will stay there again next June. I can get a GV CL room at the YC or BC for only $20 more per night than a MK View (non CL) at the CR.

We are staying at BWI CL in November (our first stay in this area since a very unmemorable vacation at the BC in 2000). If we like the area as much as I think we will then we will probably take the CL option instead (at YC or BC.) I never understood all the hype about CL until we stayed there last year, and now we are hooked!!!!! We stayed non CL in June and I really missed the convenience of stopping by the lounge for a quick breakfast, a light snack on the way to the pool in the afternoon, and, of course, those wonderful bite sized desserts at night! Plus, between SWW at DHS and our normal 2 day touring of EPCOT, we will be spending half of our trip at parks that we can walk to (or boat to if we are feeling lazy).

I really am going to miss that fabulous fireworks view each night (and I think we were back in our room this past June 8 of 10 nights to see it). But for DS, sadlly he has outgrown the thrill of watching the CR "eat the monorail" and is dying for a ride down that big slide at SAB instead...

 

[Music City Mama]

I was checking out June pricing and I noticed that the tower rooms and CL rooms went up $25 as well, whereas the CL rooms at YC/BC/BWI only went up $10.

And like I mentioned, POFQ didn't increase at all. I wonder why such an increase for CR?

I really love the CR and its unbeatable location next to MK, but I honestly don't know that we will stay there again next June. I can get a GV CL room at the YC or BC for only $20 more per night than a MK View (non CL) at the CR.

We are staying at BWI CL in November (our first stay in this area since a very unmemorable vacation at the BC in 2000). If we like the area as much as I think we will then we will probably take the CL option instead (at YC or BC.) I never understood all the hype about CL until we stayed there last year, and now we are hooked!!!!! We stayed non CL in June and I really missed the convenience of stopping by the lounge for a quick breakfast, a light snack on the way to the pool in the afternoon, and, of course, those wonderful bite sized desserts at night! Plus, between SWW at DHS and our normal 2 day touring of EPCOT, we will be spending half of our trip at parks that we can walk to (or boat to if we are feeling lazy).

I really am going to miss that fabulous fireworks view each night (and I think we were back in our room this past June 8 of 10 nights to see it). But for DS, sadlly he has outgrown the thrill of watching the CR "eat the monorail" and is dying for a ride down that big slide at SAB instead...

My back-up plan has been the S/D -- sure, it's not the BW, YC or BC, but much, much cheaper for us. I've been so torn about buying tickets from Undercover Tourist through the Mousesavers link (since there was a good chance we may stay at S/D and would have to purchase separate tickets anyway), but I keep thinking "what if" WDW offers some phenomenal general public or PIN discount next year that will require me to purchase tickets and now I've spent this money on tickets I can't use (well, I know I could use them eventually, but I don't have disposable income either).

So, I've been holding out in anticipation of the 2011 resort prices being released (CR is really the only deluxe I'd want to spend my money on at this point) and not only are GW rooms currently not available for my June dates, but if they magically do become available, they're probably going to be $25/more a night than they are now. I also don't think I'm going to do the DP this year, so another strike against CR for me. But I just have this nagging feeling that a great offer is going to be released for 2011, though; so in the meantime, I wait.

 

[sherabby]

Well tomorrow is the day that I will be back at WDW and the Contemporary and I can not wait. Also since I won't be posting anything on here for a while if anyone wants any updates click my profile to send me an e-mail, because it will go straight to my BlackBerry and I will e-mail me you back. Finally besides our Contemporary stay we are also staying at the Boardwalk from Aug 20 - 25 and are back home on August 27, so I will be posting my trip reports and a lot of pictures.

We'll be checking into the Contemporary on your check out date...we're coming from CSR.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

My back-up plan has been the S/D -- sure, it's not the BW, YC or BC, but much, much cheaper for us. I've been so torn about buying tickets from Undercover Tourist through the Mousesavers link (since there was a good chance we may stay at S/D and would have to purchase separate tickets anyway), but I keep thinking "what if" WDW offers some phenomenal general public or PIN discount next year that will require me to purchase tickets and now I've spent this money on tickets I can't use (well, I know I could use them eventually, but I don't have disposable income either).

So, I've been holding out in anticipation of the 2011 resort prices being released (CR is really the only deluxe I'd want to spend my money on at this point) and not only are GW rooms currently not available for my June dates, but if they magically do become available, they're probably going to be $25/more a night than they are now. I also don't think I'm going to do the DP this year, so another strike against CR for me. But I just have this nagging feeling that a great offer is going to be released for 2011, though; so in the meantime, I wait.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/re...s-rooms/?showYear=2011 Value Season - Weekday

Here is the room pricing for Value Season at the CR (weekday rates) for 2011 (late August).

The standard view GW rooms are $300 ($15 dollar increase from last year)

HTH!

ETA: OK, the have a value season 2 now as well (early and mid August)

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/re...rooms/?showYear=2011 Value Season 2 - Weekday

those rooms are $310 per night.

In June 2011, weekday rate is $345 (it was $330)

 

[WDWKOOK]

The Skybridge is closed. Guests must use the first floor entrance for access.

 

[twogirlsandthatsit]

Well tomorrow is the day that I will be back at WDW and the Contemporary and I can not wait. Also since I won't be posting anything on here for a while if anyone wants any updates click my profile to send me an e-mail, because it will go straight to my BlackBerry and I will e-mail me you back. Finally besides our Contemporary stay we are also staying at the Boardwalk from Aug 20 - 25 and are back home on August 27, so I will be posting my trip reports and a lot of pictures.

Have a great trip!! Can't wait to hear about it when you get back. You are always so helpful, I hope you have a great time!!!!

 

[Music City Mama]

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/re...s-rooms/?showYear=2011 Value Season - Weekday

Here is the room pricing for Value Season at the CR (weekday rates) for 2011 (late August).

The standard view GW rooms are $300 ($15 dollar increase from last year)

HTH!

ETA: OK, the have a value season 2 now as well (early and mid August)

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/re...rooms/?showYear=2011 Value Season 2 - Weekday

those rooms are $310 per night.

In June 2011, weekday rate is $345 (it was $330)

How lucky . . . it appears that the $25/night increase I was referring to earlier wasn't across the board. GW (garden-view) rooms in August (early to mid-August, that is -- I see the rates go down in late August) which before did not differentiate between weekdays and weekends was $335/night -- BUT now is $360 for the weekdays and $375 for the weekends! So, a $25/night and $40/night increase, respectively.

For June (when I'm looking, if rooms ever open for that timeframe), it is only a $15/night increase for the weekdays and $20/night increase for the weekends. That is true for both standard-view and garden-view.

Yep, I need to still keep this on my radar to see if rooms open up.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Yep, I need to still keep this on my radar to see if rooms open up.

They will. I looked back at my past confirms to see if I could figure out when they showed up last year. I just know it was at least a month after the rates 1st came out.

I can tell you that on 11/21/09, I booked a GW, Standard View room for early June with a 40% off pin code (and I promptly changed that 10 days later to a MK tower view room )

 

[AirGoofy]

The Skybridge is closed. Guests must use the first floor entrance for access.

Any particular reason? Structural damage? Cleaning? A really tall truck run into it?

 

[Rags]

Well tomorrow is the day that I will be back at WDW and the Contemporary and I can not wait. Also since I won't be posting anything on here for a while if anyone wants any updates click my profile to send me an e-mail, because it will go straight to my BlackBerry and I will e-mail me you back. Finally besides our Contemporary stay we are also staying at the Boardwalk from Aug 20 - 25 and are back home on August 27, so I will be posting my trip reports and a lot of pictures.

I just wanted to say Thank you for all the advice and have a magical trip!!!!!

 

[TJM1976]

Any particular reason? Structural damage? Cleaning? A really tall truck run into it?

I was there last night, I should have taken a pic. Looks like they were just cleaning and doing some touch up painting.