The ALL NEW Disney's Contemporary Resort FAQ with PICTURES! (APR 2009)

[WDWKOOK]

Thanks so much for posting the info about photobucket. It is so easy once you get on there. Just takes a little time to put them onto the post and then write a caption for each of them. Thanks again for the info!

You are welcome! And, thank you for posting those "sweet" photos!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

How long does it take the launch to get to FtWilderness? We have adrs for Hoop De Doo one night--beats trying to take busses!

One thing I forgot to mention is that the boat service operates from 6:45 AM - 11:30 PM.

 

[mullysisters]

My sister and I are planning to visit (my 11th) in 2010. We have stayed at Pop and ASM. For my 50th birthday DS paid for a stay at CSR! Now we are considering the Contemporary. I always thought it wasn't very "magical" and a little "dated". I'm glad to see that so many love it! Can you tell me why we should book our first ever Deluxe stay there, as opposed to, say, the AKL?
thanks

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

My sister and I are planning to visit (my 11th) in 2010. We have stayed at Pop and ASM. For my 50th birthday DS paid for a stay at CSR! Now we are considering the Contemporary. I always thought it wasn't very "magical" and a little "dated". I'm glad to see that so many love it! Can you tell me why we should book our first ever Deluxe stay there, as opposed to, say, the AKL?
thanks

One thing that stands out is the Contemporary's overall location since it's right next door to the Magic Kingdom, where as the Animal Kingdom Lodge has nothing located around it. Besides that their standard rooms are among the largest of the Deluxe Resorts and you have a lot more tarnsportation options. For example you can take the Resort Monorail to visit the Polynesian and Grand Floridian. Plus you can take the blue flag boat to visit the Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground.

 

[WDWKOOK]

And, my personal favorite, you can walk to the MK and if you stay in the tower you're in one self-contained building with everything just an elevator ride away. If you're in the garden wing, you're no more than a few minutes from the tower.

I've stayed at CSR (once) and CR (many times) and I would definitely choose the CR over the CSR. The Pepper Market's system of charging a surcharge for someone to just bring you a beverage is ridiculous. And, then you have to go get your food and then go to a cashier - ridiculous again. Depending on what casitas you stay in, you may be doing A LOT of walking, too. And, I much prefer the CR's soft, asian-style room decor over CSR's decor and much smaller room which opens onto the outdoors.

Give the CR a try - I think you'll love it!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Even if you were to stay in the Garden Wing when you compare it to the buildings at Coronado Springs it's a lot better. With the Contemporary they have one Garden Wing building and it's a less then 5 minute walk to the Tower. From what I have seen about Coronado Springs they have many buildings and some are very far away from their shops and restaurants.

 

[mom2aredhead]

My sister and I are planning to visit (my 11th) in 2010. We have stayed at Pop and ASM. For my 50th birthday DS paid for a stay at CSR! Now we are considering the Contemporary. I always thought it wasn't very "magical" and a little "dated". I'm glad to see that so many love it! Can you tell me why we should book our first ever Deluxe stay there, as opposed to, say, the AKL?
thanks

Someone asked the same question over on the resort board not long ago. I've stayed at both resorts, more than once, and this was my reply...One of their main concerns was about the food, so the beginning of my response addressed that.

We've stayed at AKL multiple times with a very picky child that is now 5.5 and we thought Mara had a great selection for all...
They have Mickey waffles, oatmeal, breakfast platters, bagels, yogurt, cereal, fruit for breakfast.
For lunch/dinner, they have burgers, chicken strips, mac and cheese, pizza, salads, flatbreads, and the best soup anywhere. There is nothing "limited" about their choices. This is from memory...allears will have more info.

And Boma turned out to be my son's favorite meal the last trip - it was like he died and went to kid-food heaven. And honestly, it was a favorite for all of us. For him - plain pasta, tomato sauce and meatballs on the side, salad with ranch dressing, chicken strips, mac and cheese, beef from the carving station, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. What's not to love? And everything we tried was delicious.

Contempo Cafe at the Contemporary was perfectly fine - really good actually - but I liked the choices at Mara better. The Wave was also very good, but we enjoyed our dinner at Boma more.

So, for food choices, honestly I'd have to say advantage AKL. Even though you could monorail to the other resorts, there's a back way out of the property from AKL by car that dumps you right onto 192 which has every restaurant known in the universe, and the food choices in the resort itself are better.

Having stayed at both more than once, I have to say that I honestly love both and would be completely torn. I love the feel of AKL, the animals, the pool, the restaurants, the very abundant resort activities, the direct buses (which may now share with Kidani?). So I love that actual resort better.

However...

We loved being able to walk over to Magic Kingdom, because since my son is still small and that's where we spend the most time, the convenience factor was HUGE! We would walk to MK and usually take the monorail back. And the monorail to Epcot is convenient too...even though it involves changing lines at the TTC.

However...

The transportation to the other parks was kind of awful. The buses were pretty infrequent, and shared with the Poly, and in some cases had to also stop at a waterpark first, so very not convenient.

However...

If you have a rental car, you could jump in and drive over like we did several times.

So - transportation and location, advantage Contemporary but only because you'll probably be at MK so much.

The Contemporary is now having campfire and movies on the beach, some activities around the pool, and they're adding a kid play area (in process) so in time it will become more kid-oriented as opposed to convention oriented which is the feeling I got. AKL has more going on poolside for the kids, has story telling, and night vision goggles to see the animals, and a playground.
So - pool and resort activities, advantage AKL

Here's my feeling. If you picked up Animal Kingdom Lodge and moved it almost anywhere, it would likely be a destination in its own right. It's a beautiful resort, richly decorated with art and artifacts, a beautiful pool and grounds, and several species of animals not native to our continent roaming around (fairly) freely for your observation. Where else can you open your balcony curtain and see giraffe and ankole cattle? But because of the proximity to Magic Kingdom, it's not even considered by many people.
Conversely, The Contemporary is a hotel. Period. It's a perfectly nice hotel that has a convention center, a more than adequate pool, perfectly fine restaurants and a few other activities. Pick it up and put it somewhere else, and ask yourself if you would be running to stay there?? It is what it is because of the of the location.

If you're going to spend more than 1/2 of your park days at the Magic Kingdom, I'd choose CR for the convenience. If you're going to be spread evenly throughout the parks for your entire stay and plan on spending any large amount of time at the resort itself, then I'd choose AKL.

I've stayed at both more than once, so if there are any specific questions I can answer for you, feel free to ask!

Hope this helps...and like I said, ask away if there's anything else specific that I didn't address.

 

[nemofans]

Very good comparison! I loved staying at AKL! We are trying CR on our next visit mainly b/c of closeness to MK & monorail to 2 parks. We have 2 little ones now & that would be more convenient. I will definitely stay at AKL again though. Buses were no problem at all from AKL b/c of not sharing w/any other resort. I'm not looking forward to that at CR.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Buses were no problem at all from AKL b/c of not sharing w/any other resort. I'm not looking forward to that at CR.

Well don't forget that for the Contemporary buses you would be picked up first and when returning from the parks or Downtown Disney you would also be dropped off first. So in my opinion that would make up for the bus sharing it does.

 

[dvczerfs]

Well don't forget that for the Contemporary buses you would be picked up first and when returning from the parks or Downtown Disney you would also be dropped off first. So in my opinion that would make up for the bus sharing it does.

when we were down in may at the cr., we had no problems w/ the bus. they hitother resorts but it not like they have 8 stops at each resort. i think it was faster than okw. okw has a bunch of stops and unloading,loading takes time.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

when we were down in may at the cr., we had no problems w/ the bus. they hitother resorts but it not like they have 8 stops at each resort. i think it was faster than okw. okw has a bunch of stops and unloading,loading takes time.

That's a great point. Just because some resorts don't share with other resorts does not make their bus service any faster, because they might have multiple pick/dropp off locations and not one location like the Contemporary.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Here is a link to Wishes from July 2, 2009 taken from the Bay Lake Tower observation deck.
http://www.wdwnewstoday.com/archives/3960

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Since I posted video of Wishes from the observation deck at Bay Lake Tower, here is what it looks like from the California Grill so you can see the differences. Also this video along with the one from Bay Lake Tower are going onto the 1st page.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-iO5tllFeU

 

[dvczerfs]

That's a great point. Just because some resorts don't share with other resorts does not make their bus service any faster, because they might have multiple pick/dropp off locations and not one location like the Contemporary.

thanks cr! even if your not a flyer fan, your ok!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

thanks cr! even if your not a flyer fan, your ok!

You're welcome and even though your not a Leafs fan your also ok.

 

[Cmbar]

That's a great point. Just because some resorts don't share with other resorts does not make their bus service any faster, because they might have multiple pick/dropp off locations and not one location like the Contemporary.

Which is why we found POP of all places to have the best buses we have ever had on all of our trips. They have one stop and one stop only and your on your way! (with the exception of a Blizzard Beach or Typhoos lagoon stop on those routes, but everyone has those.)

I remember being very dissappointed with the Buses at Boardwalk and WL and GF because they did seem like they had multiple stops that took a while to get to. Especially WL when you had to do Fort Wilderness.... UGH! That is a long ride and you're booking on the bus and then you realize you just drove all that way to pick up more people and THEN move on to whatever park you were going to!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Which is why we found POP of all places to have the best buses we have ever had on all of our trips. They have one stop and one stop only and your on your way! (with the exception of a Blizzard Beach or Typhoos lagoon stop on those routes, but everyone has those.)

I remember being very dissappointed with the Buses at Boardwalk and WL and GF because they did seem like they had multiple stops that took a while to get to. Especially WL when you had to do Fort Wilderness.... UGH! That is a long ride and you're booking on the bus and then you realize you just drove all that way to pick up more people and THEN move on to whatever park you were going to!

Well even though the Value Resorts like Pop Century might have better bus service, don't forget with the Deluxe Resorts you have a lot more transportation options. So I think you also have to take the good with that bad, because there is still the Monorail, boat service and walkways to the various parks.

 

[cmesq61]

On our recent trip we looked around quite a bit at the Contemporary, thinking we might try it next time. We love the monorail resorts, and the rooms at CR are lovely. I am in an ECV. After navigating the monorail stop, however, at several different times, both crowded and not, I could never stay there. It is the most handicapped unfriendly stop at all of WDW. It's too bad because I think the rooms look quite nice.

 

[Cmbar]

Well even though the Value Resorts like Pop Century might have better bus service, don't forget with the Deluxe Resorts you have a lot more transportation options. So I think you also have to take the good with that bad, because there is still the Monorail, boat service and walkways to the various parks.

Oh. I agree completely which is why we bought BLT!! Can't beat the monorail!! But as far as the buses go, Pop , IMHO has the best all around service!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

On our recent trip we looked around quite a bit at the Contemporary, thinking we might try it next time. We love the monorail resorts, and the rooms at CR are lovely. I am in an ECV. After navigating the monorail stop, however, at several different times, both crowded and not, I could never stay there. It is the most handicapped unfriendly stop at all of WDW. It's too bad because I think the rooms look quite nice.

Actually when going to the Monorail station they have an elevator for guests in wheelchairs and ecv's, so maybe you did not happen to see it.