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

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We stayed at Poly in March 08 and CR in June 08.
There is a "live" chef preparing dishes at Poly - stirfrys e.g. vegetable lo mein (thursday) and such - during the evening hours. It seems to add to the freshness and the conviviality. One thing for sure is the CR lounge was less noisy and a bit more civilized.

The fruit tray seems more extensive at Poly but it may just be there is more pineapple. There are drink dispensers with lemonade and the tropical juice punch in addition to the sodas, glass bottle Evian, beer/ wine. There is an adult beverage (fruity / potent) in pitchers as well.

For example, on Sat night at Poly choices include Kona sticky wings, Kona Curry Shrimp Chowder, Kona salad (greens, blue cheese, almonds, fruit, citrus vinaigrette). On Sat night at CR there was some beef flatbread and something on a skewer (not memorable, sorry no details).

Friday night at Poly was Ohana marinated turkey skewers with peanut sauce and maui onion / cheddar scallop potatoes. Friday night at CR was some tiny crabcakes with a lot of filler.

Both have the standard cheese tray and vegetable platter.

Understand, I am not complaining about CR club offerings, it was all fine and tasted decent. It just seemed like the Poly was more bountiful, varied, and "special". Of course with all food there is so much subjectiveness.

That being said, again, I really enjoyed CR. I'm not sure that any one thing stands out, but the experience as a whole was very pleasant.

It's funny because I am the opposite. Last December when my family and I stayed Club Level at the Polynesian I enjoyed the food offerings they had at 5:00 PM, however I just liked the food offerings a bit better at the Contemporary.

 

[gavvy]

DH and I are Outer Rim fans, too!

In 2005 we were told it would be moving to the first floor as part of what is now the Wave, which supposedly has a "super lounge".

Last month we were told that in January it will be moving to where the current Grab & Go is. It will be much smaller but will keep the Outer Rim name. It will still be on the Bay Lake side and there are windows there so the view will be a little farther north than the one it presently has.

Of course, all that can change as Disney plans often do.

The barman at the outer rim last month told me he had seen the current plans, and these were,

The current bar will be halved and moved forwards into the lounge, where the Bar is now will be a storeroom for chef mickeys.

The seating will move back to where the tempo grabngo is now, the bar will be a half moon shape with enough room for 12 seats.

He said there was no plans to move the overall location from where it is now.

 

[wdhinn89]

Did they start construction yet on Chef Mickey's Express?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Did they start construction yet on Chef Mickey's Express?

There was a picture on another thread which showed the Concourse Steakhouse all boarded up, so I assume they have started the construction for Chef Mickey's Express.

 

[mandy200587]

No construction has started yet, it's boarded up but that's about the extent of it.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

No construction has started yet, it's boarded up but that's about the extent of it.

Did you find out when it would start?

 

[mandy200587]

Did you find out when it would start?

No I haven't been at the hotel much.

 

[SuzeyCruisey]

Hi guys,

Really enjoying this thread...spent the last 3 hours reading through all 78 pages...

DH and I are headed to WDW for free dining in September, staying at POR from 9/20-27. For a surprise, I booked CR Tower MK View for the 27th...it has always been something hubby and I have wanted to do, so I thought it would be a fun surprise to do for DH and give us an extra night in the World with an amazing view.

First question I have is, if we have to check out of POR at 11:00, can we head right over to the CR and check in, even though our room won't be ready? If we do this, would we have access to the pool that day? Sorry if this is a dumb ?, we have never done a split stay before.

Also, any suggestions for special things I can have delivered to the room? I saw the chocolate monorail, which is adorable...looking for other suggestions like this. It's not a special occasion, but DH is always doing stuff like this and surprising me, so I want to make this special.

Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions! You guys are awesome and really knowledgeable!!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

First question I have is, if we have to check out of POR at 11:00, can we head right over to the CR and check in, even though our room won't be ready? If we do this, would we have access to the pool that day? Sorry if this is a dumb ?, we have never done a split stay before.

Also, any suggestions for special things I can have delivered to the room? I saw the chocolate monorail, which is adorable...looking for other suggestions like this. It's not a special occasion, but DH is always doing stuff like this and surprising me, so I want to make this special.

Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions! You guys are awesome and really knowledgeable!!

Yes you can go right away to the Contemporary to check-in and your maybe ready or it might not be ready. If it's not you still get access to the pool so no problems there.

I am not sure about ordering stuff to have sent your room, however if you look at the 1st post by Denise (triplefigs) there should be some information about doing that.

 

[teacher5]

I have a question about the chocolate monorail too. Can you get it in the gift shop or is it only available for club level guests who buy it?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I have a question about the chocolate monorail too. Can you get it in the gift shop or is it only available for club level guests who buy it?

Since the Chocolate Monorail is listed in the Private Dining menu anyone can order it, so it's not just for Club Level guests. Also it's not for sale in any of the stores.

 

[SuzeyCruisey]

Yes you can go right away to the Contemporary to check-in and your maybe ready or it might not be ready. If it's not you still get access to the pool so no problems there.

Thanks CRRF4L! I am so excited about pulling this off, I hope I can keep the secret. I'm not usually very good at secret-keeping...

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Thanks CRRF4L! I am so excited about pulling this off, I hope I can keep the secret. I'm not usually very good at secret-keeping...

You're welcome and have a great time.

 

[eeyoresnr]

Thanks CRRF4L! I am so excited about pulling this off, I hope I can keep the secret. I'm not usually very good at secret-keeping...

good luck keeping the secret...I did kinda the same thing for our Dec trip... we are staying 2 nights at CR MK View 5 nights at OKW then 2 that turned into 3 at AKL CL (the AKL part was "suppose" to be the surprise) and I'm usually pretty good at keeping secrets... mine lasted about 2 days he is the one who decided we could stay a 3rd night


can't wait for DECEMBER

 

[disneylover74]

We ordered the monorail for my step son's birthday and it was beautiful! Also delicious! It cost 40.00 through in room service and I ordered it the day we arrived and it came the next day around 11am. It also comes with different chocolate pieces and dusted cocoa in the pattern of the CR hotel underneath the monorail. Very nice. I know all will enjoy it.

 

[lumpy08]

I thought you had to order the monorail chocolate 2 weeks prior? Is that not the case anymore?

 

[disneylover74]

We just asked when we checked in and she told us to go up to our room and call in room dining and order it and they asked when we wanted it. I told them tomorrow and they had it there. I was told that we should give them 24 to 48 hour notice before we got there.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I thought you had to order the monorail chocolate 2 weeks prior? Is that not the case anymore?

The private dining menu said please allow 24 hours notice before ordering it.

 

[lumpy08]

Just trying to get a basic timeline down. Lots of transportation questions here:

Travelling from Airport to CR:
How long does it typically take to get to CR using the Disney transportation?

Returning to the Airport from the CR. We have an early flight (9 something). What time would you leave CR to get to the Airport ontime. Or are we better off having a service bring us to the airport?

Travelling from CR to parades:
If you want to see 9PM Fantasmic or the 3pm Block Party Parade at HS what time would you leave CR? (We have ADRs for the dinner package, but it is around 4ish - just trying to figure in breaks)

If you want to go to MK Dreams parade for 3pm what time should you leave CR? (or Spectromagic and Wishes).

How long does it take to get to Downtown Disney from CR?

I am assuming I should also take into account the elevator times we are in the Tower (MK view).

Lastly, what does everyone typically do on their first day at WDW.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Just trying to get a basic timeline down. Lots of transportation questions here:

Travelling from Airport to CR:
How long does it typically take to get to CR using the Disney transportation?

Returning to the Airport from the CR. We have an early flight (9 something). What time would you leave CR to get to the Airport ontime. Or are we better off having a service bring us to the airport?

Travelling from CR to parades:
If you want to see 9PM Fantasmic or the 3pm Block Party Parade at HS what time would you leave CR? (We have ADRs for the dinner package, but it is around 4ish - just trying to figure in breaks)

If you want to go to MK Dreams parade for 3pm what time should you leave CR? (or Spectromagic and Wishes).

How long does it take to get to Downtown Disney from CR?

I am assuming I should also take into account the elevator times we are in the Tower (MK view).

Lastly, what does everyone typically do on their first day at WDW.

If you are asking about using Magical Express I think it depends on how many of the other Magic Kingdom Resorts they might stop at, if the Contemporary is not the 1st stop when leaving the Airport.

I would say it's best to be at the Airport 2 hours before your flight and if your taking Magical Express, they pick you up 3 hours before your flight time.

Since you can walk from the Contemporary to the Magic Kingdom it should only take about 5 minutes to get there, so you could leave an hour before the things you want to see.

When using Disney Transportation buses to Downtown Disney it could take 45 minutes or more, because the Contemporary shares bus service with the Polynesian and Grand Floridian. Plus for whatever reason buses from the Magic Kingdom Resorts to Downtown Disney seem to take forever. So I say if you have your own transportation use to Downtown Disney because you can be there in 15 minutes, which is what my family and I do. If not I say you should spend the $ on a taxi because it's worth it.

The elevator in the Tower has always been very good so it should not be a huge problem, however the odd time during the evening it might take a bit longer because of all the extra guests using it who go there to the various restaurants.

On my families 1st day we always visit Downtown Disney.