The NEW Disney's Contemporary Resort FAQ with PICTURES! (Feb 2008)

[mom2aredhead]

Wow thanks for the report. Congrats on the great upgrade.

We leave in 2 days and have a BL View. I hope we are high enough or far enough from CM not to hear the noise My husband will not be happy for the amount we are paying per night.

We planned on bringing some breakfast foods since the new express restraunt is not open yet and after reading your review, I am glad we are.

What time did the constuction start and end? Did they work on the weekend?

Is it really hot and humid? All the weather reports have been saying yes

All in all it sounds like you had a great time!

The construction started right around 9:00 am. They had people sitting just on the other side of the construction wall at Chef Mickey's only from 7:00 to about 8:45, then that side was closed while the actual work was going on. I'm sorry, don't know what time they ended because we were in the parks most of the day. Some days they were doing quieter work (tile and paint) but we heard some power tools echoing in the afternoons on the days we came back. If you have little ones that will have to nap during the day, it could be an issue depending on where your room is...but if you plan on being in the parks most of the time, it won't be too bad. Believe it or not, my problem was more with the Chef Mickey's music and announcements than the construction noise. But I can think of worse noises to wake up too...
The express restaurant has yogurt, oatmeal, cold cereal, fruit and muffins for breakfast, so if that's the kind of stuff you were going to bring, they already have it there. But if you want a Mickey waffle, bacon or anything hot other than scrambled eggs, you're out of luck. Unfortunately for me, my son hates eggs, so he ate lots of fruit loops for breakfast. Not my best parenting week ever...
We were out of the hotel by 8:30 on Saturday morning, and left for the airport right from the park (we rented a car), so I do not know if they do work on weekends.
And yes, it was hot and humid. So much so that my son wore his Halloween costume for a total of about 45 minutes at MNSSHP...and we brought the costume we thought would be more comfortable. So much for that! We still had a great time though. It wasn't "unbearable" hot, (I think May was worse) but it was a little on the sticky side...

 

[wdhinn89]

The construction started right around 9:00 am. They had people sitting just on the other side of the construction wall at Chef Mickey's only from 7:00 to about 8:45, then that side was closed while the actual work was going on. I'm sorry, don't know what time they ended because we were in the parks most of the day. Some days they were doing quieter work (tile and paint) but we heard some power tools echoing in the afternoons on the days we came back. If you have little ones that will have to nap during the day, it could be an issue depending on where your room is...but if you plan on being in the parks most of the time, it won't be too bad. Believe it or not, my problem was more with the Chef Mickey's music and announcements than the construction noise. But I can think of worse noises to wake up too...
The express restaurant has yogurt, oatmeal, cold cereal, fruit and muffins for breakfast, so if that's the kind of stuff you were going to bring, they already have it there. But if you want a Mickey waffle, bacon or anything hot other than scrambled eggs, you're out of luck. Unfortunately for me, my son hates eggs, so he ate lots of fruit loops for breakfast. Not my best parenting week ever...
We were out of the hotel by 8:30 on Saturday morning, and left for the airport right from the park (we rented a car), so I do not know if they do work on weekends.
And yes, it was hot and humid. So much so that my son wore his Halloween costume for a total of about 45 minutes at MNSSHP...and we brought the costume we thought would be more comfortable. So much for that! We still had a great time though. It wasn't "unbearable" hot, (I think May was worse) but it was a little on the sticky side...

Thanks for the response.

We will only be there from late Wednesday to Monday and we have 2 character breakfasts booked so we are just going to bring some cereal boxes and buy some milk for the other days. As long as I could get my coffee and my husband could get his diet coke, we should be good.

My kids are older and would sleep through a hurricane so they should be fine. I tend to be the lighter sleeper but like you said, we will be so exhausted, we probably won't hear anything.

I'm dreading the heat. I hate it. I thought it would be cooler in October but I guess not. My husband keeps laughing at me because he loves the heat. I quess we will just take pool breaks during the day. That is what is so great about the CR. The convenience of going back and forth.

We are getting REALLY excited and you know what they say. A bad day at Disney is better than a good day at home. Thanks again.

 

[mom2aredhead]

Thanks for the response.

A bad day at Disney is better than a good day at home. Thanks again.

You're absolutely right!
Boo Hoo - poor me, I was staying in the Tower of the Contemporary and I had to wake up early (which got me to the parks early )because the happy people downstairs eating breakfast with Mickey and the gang were singing. Oh, the horror!
I re-read my post and I don't want anyone to think for one second that I was complaining about anything - we really had a GREAT trip!

Have a great time!

 

[musicmom3]

You're absolutely right!
Boo Hoo - poor me, I was staying in the Tower of the Contemporary and I had to wake up early (which got me to the parks early )because the happy people downstairs eating breakfast with Mickey and the gang were singing. Oh, the horror!
I re-read my post and I don't want anyone to think for one second that I was complaining about anything - we really had a GREAT trip!

Have a great time!

And "Celebrate" from Chef Mickey's is really a catchy tune no matter what time of day (or night) you hear it!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

If my family and I had a room that was over Chef Mickey's hearing the celebrate song does not bother us. This past August our room was over Chef Mickey's there was no problems with it.

 

[mom2aredhead]

It wasn't even the song as much as the announcement before the song that was REALLY loud. And we were getting up early most mornings anyway. The morning after MNSSHP we maybe would have liked to sleep in, but there's plenty time for sleep now that we're home!

 

[Soccer Princess]

Is there a TV channel that plays the music for Wishes so you can watch from your room? Or can you hear the music from the park on your balcony? Thanks!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Is there a TV channel that plays the music for Wishes so you can watch from your room? Or can you hear the music from the park on your balcony? Thanks!

You can hear the music on channel 20 and it's really hard to hear it being played from the Magic Kingdom.

 

[musicmom3]

You can hear the music on channel 20 and it's really hard to hear it being played from the Magic Kingdom.

In our room (10th floor 4632), we could not get Wishes music on any channel. This was during 9/17-9/22--maybe there was a disruption in service?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

In our room (10th floor 4632), we could not get Wishes music on any channel. This was during 9/17-9/22--maybe there was a disruption in service?

Maybe there was because when I was there this past August every time Wishes was happening the music was being played on channel 20.

 

[KFJames]

Does anyone have any photos of the Contemporary at Christmas?

 

[wdhinn89]

We leave in a few hours!!!!!!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We leave in a few hours!!!!!!

Have a great time.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Xmas pictures
Does anyone have any photos of the Contemporary at Christmas?

I would love to see some as well. We were there one Christmas and I was surprised at how much we liked the CR's decorations - colorful and bright, yet classy. The next year they were awful - plain and cold.

Will be there in 2009 for the decorations, so fingers crossed we'll have the colorful ones.

Originally Posted by wdhinn89
We leave in a few hours!!!!!!

Have a great visit!!

 

[ZZUB]

In our room (10th floor 4632), we could not get Wishes music on any channel. This was during 9/17-9/22--maybe there was a disruption in service?

Just a theory, and do with this what you will, but I actually think someone manually dials down the "normal" music on Channel 20 and dials up the Wishes music. I don't think it's autormatic.

We were at the CR for 8 nights in early September. We watched the fireworks from our room several nights. But there were a few nights when the music from the TV was choppy. For instance, you know that section of Wishes with the Hercules music? We call it the mini-climax; it comes about 4 or 5 minutes into the show. Several times, the music on Channel 20 would temporarily switch from Wishes back to the "normal" music and then come right back to Wishes a few seconds later. Like someone was watching, didn't understand the show wasn't over and switched back to the "normal' music.

Anyway, just a theory. But the music was running through Channel 20 while we were there.

 

[chocovrdmicears]

We are staying at CR for the first time in sept 09. I know very little about the resort except the fabulous location..so forgive me if my questions are a little confusing.

We currently have a Garden Wing / Standard View booked. After reading through some of this thread, I am wondering if we are going to miss some of the CR's 'magic' by not staying in the Tower with either the Bay Lake or MK views??? Any thoughts??

When DH booked our stay, he asked about the MK view but it was about $2,000 more than the Garden Wing..does that sound about right? Also, is the Bay Lake view the same $$$?

If staying in the Tower means an additional $2K, we will probably keep our Garden Wing room...Is there a prefered location there? In other words, can we pay additional $ (like I know they have a some values & mods) for a prefered location?

Any help/info would be appreciated! TIA!

 

[jcb]

chocovrdmicears,

I had the same worries as you but they were completely alleviated once I arrived.

You may have seen my posts so I'm sorry if I repeat myself but I very much enjoyed staying in the garden wing room. If I had the disposable income to stay at MK view in the tower, perhaps I would, but I go to WDW to do the parks, eat and see other things (the lobbies of hotels), and don't really stay in the room except to sleep (and the beds are wonderful!). Paying the extra $1K (I only stay 5 days at a time) for an MK view wouldn't be worth it for me. (I wouldn't turn it down if it was free, either.)

Your question is, "will I miss the magic" in the garden wing? I thought it very magical to stay in the CR garden wing. No matter where your room is, you are within an easy walk to the monorail, the fourth floor viewing area for MK fireworks and the MK itself.

You also asked if there is a preferred location? The garden wing sorts rooms by "standard view" and "garden view" (at least, the last I checked). If you bought a garden wing standard view for September 09, you might get a parking lot view or you might, if it is not busy, get upgraded to one of the garden view rooms. (I suppose upgrades to the Tower happen but I don't recall seeing a post here about it happening). If the room view is important to you, consider changing to a garden view (there are pictures of both views in prior posts) especially if you think you'll be disappointed.

Perhaps it will help for me to say whereever you stay, I am envious...

 

[jcb]

Does anyone have any photos of the Contemporary at Christmas?

Since no one else has posted any, here are a few from December 2007. They are not my best work, so I'll apologize that some are not the sharpest. I wish I would have taken many more (and will, when I am there in December).

First, the view from Seven Seas Lagoon at night with the tree lit:

Next, the check-in desk decorated with garlands. This was taken only a day or two after the area re-opened (from being remodeled) so it might not have been as greatly decorated as it will be this Christmas.

Now for the check-in lobby looking toward the front:

This is looking to the gift shop from the monorail - (no, I don't see any decorations here either).

Now looking from the monorail platform toward the now demolished Concourse Steakhouse and Chef Mickey's (there are a few decorations, garland mainly).

Again, don't get the impression this was it. I just didn't get photos of them all.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

jcb,
Those are some nice pictures.

 

[jcb]

CR4L,

Thanks.

I may be remembering things wrong but does anyone else recall hearing that the outside Christmas tree at the entrance to CR won't be there this year due to the parking lot changes?