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

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Hello! We are eating at Chef Mickey's for dinner but taking a break in the room before we eat. We arrived Monday & enjoyed the great pool & slide. My kids fell in love w/ the slide! We ate dinner at the Poly's counter service that night which was a nice meal. After dinner, we headed back to the room to watch the fireworks.

Now, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people come on the DIS or in their normal everyday lives encounter a problem w/ service, etc. & complain to others when they have not first spoken w/ management, etc. Well, I sent a request to the housekeeping online & when it wasn't rec'd & I hadn't heard from anyone, I called & they never rec'd it. No big deal. But while I was on the phone I mentioned to them that we had checked in around 2pm & it was currently 7pm & there were food trays from room service up & down the hall to our room. I am not kidding, within 5 minutes someone had removed them. And within 15 minutes housekeeping brought us extra towels, etc.

Then that evening we had been noticing that our fridge was not working. Not a big deal but we had purchased milk & cheese & sandwich meat which was going to spoil. They had a new fridge for us w/in I guess 30 minutes.

And one other thing that we were dealing w/ was our neighbors. We were so excited to see the fireworks from our room when not five minutes after it began, someone from the room above us spit on DH. He passed it off as an accident as I think it was a preteen who was unsupervised & although I was upset I did not call or do anything until about 2 hours later when they were so loud that I finally called the front desk. It sounded like there were literally elephants stomping around. Again, I think it must have been young teenagers w/ no parents. That's all I could figure. We could tolerate it for a while but then it got ridiculous. So, someone went & spoke to them.

Other than those incidents & getting soaked at the MK yesterday...which was funny actually, it has all been great. Our kids were not in the best mood yesterday morning but when we went back in the evening after naps they had the best time. It was great.

Also, DS & I went to the family magic tour today at MK & it was wonderful. I highly recommend it! DD & DH went to Typhoon Lagoon & had fun as well.

And just to brag on the CR a bit more, I went through online concierge & asked about getting 20 or so bottles of lotions to give away at a church function in a few weeks & he directed me to housekeeping & in less than 10 minutes they were here w/ 20 bottles of everything. My jaw dropped to the floor!

Well, sorry for rambling on but I wanted to let you guys know that I am loving this place!! Will ask about CM Express tonight.

Thanks for the update and whatever information you can find out about Chef Mickey's Express would be great.

 

[Dawn68PA]

Excellent report, thank you for posting! I can't wait to stay here!

 

[TSMAMI]

Subbing

 

[Jajone]

Next month (August) is usually when the AAA rates become available. You might want to try calling CRO then to see what the rate will be for a MK tower room and decide then if it is affordable for you.

If not, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a garden wing room. The one we had was a little larger than the tower rooms (don't know if that's true of all the wing rooms) and it's very peaceful in the wing. If you're only there for 2 nights following a cruise, do you think you'll be spending much time in the room anyway? I'm thinking you might be spending a lot of time in the parks, unless your children are really young. If you do plan to spend time in the room with young children, you might prefer the garden wing's easy access to the pool and beach area for the kids. There are some advantages to being in the wing!

This is what my husband said and he's right, I guess. My kids are 9,7,&2. We aren't counting on swimming as it will be Jan. Swimming time would be a bonus. We plan on DTD or minigolf and CM the first night, MK all day the next day and leave the day after that at 1100 am. So, I guess we won't be in the room a lot. Having a first floor in garden wing would be nice to have the patio. DS2 still naps for 2 hours/day and would be nice if I could sit outside and read. Maybe I'll request a 1st floor room???

 

[MrsJ Henry]

How much of a walk is it from Garden wing to the monorail? How much of a walk is it straight to MK from a garden room.
We are debating on if we stay at the CR but it may have to be in the garden wing. We would like to make it easy since we have a toddler.

 

[jcb]

MrsJ:

Staying the garden wing adds on average about 5 minutes to both the walk to the monorail and to the MK, depending on where your room is located. While I don't think you have to go through the tower to walk to the MK (it depends on whether the construction is finished or not) it is more convenient to do so. You can also request a room closer to the tower, which (if you get it) would cut the walk down to about a city block at most.

 

[momatater]

Hello! We are eating at Chef Mickey's for dinner but taking a break in the room before we eat. We arrived Monday & enjoyed the great pool & slide. My kids fell in love w/ the slide! We ate dinner at the Poly's counter service that night which was a nice meal. After dinner, we headed back to the room to watch the fireworks.

Now, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people come on the DIS or in their normal everyday lives encounter a problem w/ service, etc. & complain to others when they have not first spoken w/ management, etc. Well, I sent a request to the housekeeping online & when it wasn't rec'd & I hadn't heard from anyone, I called & they never rec'd it. No big deal. But while I was on the phone I mentioned to them that we had checked in around 2pm & it was currently 7pm & there were food trays from room service up & down the hall to our room. I am not kidding, within 5 minutes someone had removed them. And within 15 minutes housekeeping brought us extra towels, etc.

Then that evening we had been noticing that our fridge was not working. Not a big deal but we had purchased milk & cheese & sandwich meat which was going to spoil. They had a new fridge for us w/in I guess 30 minutes.

And one other thing that we were dealing w/ was our neighbors. We were so excited to see the fireworks from our room when not five minutes after it began, someone from the room above us spit on DH. He passed it off as an accident as I think it was a preteen who was unsupervised & although I was upset I did not call or do anything until about 2 hours later when they were so loud that I finally called the front desk. It sounded like there were literally elephants stomping around. Again, I think it must have been young teenagers w/ no parents. That's all I could figure. We could tolerate it for a while but then it got ridiculous. So, someone went & spoke to them.

Other than those incidents & getting soaked at the MK yesterday...which was funny actually, it has all been great. Our kids were not in the best mood yesterday morning but when we went back in the evening after naps they had the best time. It was great.

Also, DS & I went to the family magic tour today at MK & it was wonderful. I highly recommend it! DD & DH went to Typhoon Lagoon & had fun as well.

And just to brag on the CR a bit more, I went through online concierge & asked about getting 20 or so bottles of lotions to give away at a church function in a few weeks & he directed me to housekeeping & in less than 10 minutes they were here w/ 20 bottles of everything. My jaw dropped to the floor!

Well, sorry for rambling on but I wanted to let you guys know that I am loving this place!! Will ask about CM Express tonight.

Thanks for the review! Sorry about the problems, sounds like you handled them well. I'm not too sure I would have dealt with the neighbors as well as you did, Kudos to you!! I'm looking forward to hearing what's going on with Chef Mickey Express as well.

Can't wait til Sept now, staying one night in a tower MK view for my son's surprise birthday wish!! Can't wait to see his face (oh, and his brothers faces too!) when we pull up to CR instead of the Poly!!

 

[bgenew1]

We are staying at WL but are considering switching to Contemp where we have never stayed.

Are the rooms in the Garden Wing exactly the same decor wise as the Tower Rooms?

And is it valet only parking or do they have self parking?

Thanks for the help and this thread is what is making me consider the change!

 

[jcb]

We are staying at WL but are considering switching to Contemp where we have never stayed.

Are the rooms in the Garden Wing exactly the same decor wise as the Tower Rooms?

And is it valet only parking or do they have self parking?

Thanks for the help and this thread is what is making me consider the change!

The garden wing rooms are the same decor as the tower room. Not sure about "exactly" but the theming is identical. Some say the garden wing rooms are slightly bigger. I've only stayed in the GW but seeing pictures of the Tower rooms, I can say they are the same decor. (They have incredibly comfortable beds too.)

There is self-parking at least there was when I was last there (12/07) and I have not heard anything to the contrary.

 

[Disneycrazed63]

Do you really give up a lot to stay in the Garden wing rather than in the tower? Having to walk into the other building to get the monorail etc..?
Is it really worth the extra money to stay in the tower? We will have a two year old with us so we are trying to make it as easy as possible but not break the bank.

 

[DiznEeyore]

Do you really give up a lot to stay in the Garden wing rather than in the tower? Having to walk into the other building to get the monorail etc..?
Is it really worth the extra money to stay in the tower? We will have a two year old with us so we are trying to make it as easy as possible but not break the bank.

Our first CR stay was in the (now gone - snif!) north garden wing. We requested a room close to the tower and were granted just that. We didn't feel like we were "missing" anything (except a balcony -- we were on the 2nd floor), and the wings were a bit more peaceful feeling than the hub-bubby tower. And if you choose a garden view, I think the grounds are really lovely, especially over by the water.

That being said, we've always wanted to try the tower at least once, so we are doing 2 nights there this Christmas.

 

[jcb]

I had the same concern about staying in the garden wing before I stayed there. I loved it. I didn't feel I was "giving up" anything by staying in the garden wing.

I am not minimizing the views of the tower room lovers. Of course I like to stay in a tower room some day. But based on the fact that I spend most of my time in the theme parks, I can't justify to myself the added cost of a tower room.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We are staying at WL but are considering switching to Contemp where we have never stayed.

Are the rooms in the Garden Wing exactly the same decor wise as the Tower Rooms?

And is it valet only parking or do they have self parking?

Thanks for the help and this thread is what is making me consider the change!

The rooms in the Tower and South Garden Wing look exactly the same.

They also have self parking and valet parking.

 

[Jajone]

How far is the self parking from the garden wing?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

How far is the self parking from the garden wing?

There is parking in front of the South Garden Wing building. When you arrive at the Contemporary instead of turning left to where the North Garden Wing building use to be, just go in the opposite direction. So the best thing to do is ask the Cast Member at the security station when you arrive how to park there.

 

[karentan]

someone on here mentioned that the 14th floor rooms didnt get renovated fully, can someone tell me how much they differ from the normal renovated rooms?
also where do concierge level guests check in? i'm trying to decide if i want to change my reservation from the poly or not

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

someone on here mentioned that the 14th floor rooms didnt get renovated fully, can someone tell me how much they differ from the normal renovated rooms?
also where do concierge level guests check in? i'm trying to decide if i want to change my reservation from the poly or not

I don't remember exactly what was done to the rooms on the 14th floor, however here is how the check-in process works for Club Level guests at the Contemporary. When you arrive tell the Cast Members at the bell stand inside the lobby you are checking in for your room on the Atrium Club which is on the 12th floor, or the Tower Club which is one the 14th floor. They will then call them to say you have arrived and then a bellman will take your family and your luggage up to the floor your staying on to check-in, so no having to stand in the lobby check-in line.

 

[krbq]

someone on here mentioned that the 14th floor rooms didnt get renovated fully, can someone tell me how much they differ from the normal renovated rooms?
also where do concierge level guests check in? i'm trying to decide if i want to change my reservation from the poly or not

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1710920&page=52

Here's a link to some photos of our room on the 14th floor from last May. There are more photos on the same page in later posts. The 14th floor received a soft rehab -- the furniture wasn't replaced but the bedding, drapes, etc. were. I liked having the dining table and extra drawer space, both of which are lacking in the fully renovated rooms. I also liked the sinks much better!

 

[karentan]

does anyone know if the 14th floor king bed rooms look roughly the same as this? i'm trying to decide whether or not to change to the CR from the poly, but i like the look of the new rooms, and if the king bed rooms look like this, thats my decision made to stay at the poly.

 

[Native NYer]

We're staying at the CR this month. We are so excited!

We want to order a chocolate monorail.
How far in advance should we order the chocolate monorail? What number do we call?