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

[pixie921]

We're just back this afternoon from a wonderful week at the Contemporary. I thought I'd post a few photos showing the holiday decorations there.

Lobby:

Gingerbread Display:

12th Floor Lounge:

Our Neverland Wishing Tree from Disney Florist:

We had a great time and definitely felt the hotel was beautifully decorated for Christmas!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We are currently at Contemporary...when we made our reservations, we were unable to afford a tower room, so we booked a garden view room. This morning pixie dust was on us as we were upgraded to a beautiful lake view in the tower!!! We were very excited!! The weather is also beautiful here!

Congragulations on the upgrade.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We're just back this afternoon from a wonderful week at the Contemporary. I thought I'd post a few photos showing the holiday decorations there.

Lobby:

Gingerbread Display:

12th Floor Lounge:

Our Neverland Wishing Tree from Disney Florist:

We had a great time and definitely felt the hotel was beautifully decorated for Christmas!

Those are some great looking pictures, so thank you for posting them.

 

[pixie921]

Those are some great looking pictures, so thank you for posting them.

My pleasure!

 

[finallygoingtoWDW]

Sorry I haven't read the whole thread, but is the pool going to be closed during refurbishment? We're there in mid-April, a little close to the expected finish date.

 

[PopArtGal]

Thank you for the lovely holiday pictures!

 

[pixie921]

Thank you for the lovely holiday pictures!

Glad you liked them!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Sorry I haven't read the whole thread, but is the pool going to be closed during refurbishment? We're there in mid-April, a little close to the expected finish date.

The pool renovation should be finished by then, since it's scheduled to be done in March.

 

[Honeystar120608]

To those who answered my question, thank you very much!! I have been back and forth the past few days. But as long as we can afford it (I do the budgeting in the family) we will be going in 2010. I know we can afford (one income family..Im a stay at home mom) it since we are starting now! lol
Im not entirely sure if my folks will come since we will be flying. My husband turned his nose up at driving (3 full days of driving is very tiring) So my question now, what is the best (best deals) time of year to go? The airport here in town (with some direct flights) is about a 2 min drive away. I thought perhaps January? Mid Dec was a little more busy than we anticipated, but it was decent enough. Didn't get to go on the Dumbo ride DD is a little unhappy with that, but the line was so long!

I will price out concierge...it wasnt so much for the drinks, but the availability. We were at ASmo and I had brought some things to eat, but it seemed like all cs spots were offereing the same things at crazy prices. We had enough money for everything, but I can't in good conscious spend that much money. What about free dining periods? When do those happen, and are they really worth it if staying (room rates wise) at the contemporary?

 

[crazy4wdw]

So my question now, what is the best (best deals) time of year to go? The airport here in town (with some direct flights) is about a 2 min drive away. I thought perhaps January? Mid Dec was a little more busy than we anticipated, but it was decent enough.

I will price out concierge...it wasnt so much for the drinks, but the availability. We were at ASmo and I had brought some things to eat, but it seemed like all cs spots were offereing the same things at crazy prices. We had enough money for everything, but I can't in good conscious spend that much money. What about free dining periods? When do those happen, and are they really worth it if staying (room rates wise) at the contemporary?

Over the last several years, WDW has become more crowded, even during the off season. Typically lower crowds occur in January, May (excluding Memorial Day), late August, September, late November, early December.

Free dining is usually offered from late August through the end of September. Free dining was offered this year to Disney Visa cardmembers for dates in October, November, and mid-December. I think with free dining you pay the rack room rate and the dining package is free. I would watch the "codes and rates" board here on the disboards. There're always threads about the latest discounts and deals. (http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=93)

Also, you can check out mousesavers.com for the lastest on WDW discounts.

 

[hematite153]

Didn't get to go on the Dumbo ride DD is a little unhappy with that, but the line was so long!

Make Dumbo your first stop on a day when you are there at rope drop.

I will price out concierge...it wasnt so much for the drinks, but the availability. We were at ASmo and I had brought some things to eat, but it seemed like all cs spots were offereing the same things at crazy prices. We had enough money for everything, but I can't in good conscious spend that much money. What about free dining periods? When do those happen, and are they really worth it if staying (room rates wise) at the contemporary?

You may want to think about renting DVC points to book a 1bdrm or 2bdrm suite with a full kitchen. (BLT should be open by then if you want to stay at the Contemporary, but, the other DVC properties are nice too.)

 

[ZZUB]

Re: the new pool at BLT, I can't believe it would be the one DVC property connected to a Disney Resort that restricted access to the pool. Is that the plan with the new AKV pool as well? I suppose it's possible but right now, it seems like someone heard it from someone and it got passed along as gospel. In other words, I'm more inclined to believe what CRFan was told b/c it's consistent with other DVC properties connected to Disney Resorts.

Speaking of CRFan, where are your pictures? Are you posting any kind of review?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Re: the new pool at BLT, I can't believe it would be the one DVC property connected to a Disney Resort that restricted access to the pool. Is that the plan with the new AKV pool as well? I suppose it's possible but right now, it seems like someone heard it from someone and it got passed along as gospel. In other words, I'm more inclined to believe what CRFan was told b/c it's consistent with other DVC properties connected to Disney Resorts.

Speaking of CRFan, where are your pictures? Are you posting any kind of review?

When it comes to the Bay Lake Tower pool everyone I spoke with said Contemporary guests can also use it, so it would be the same way Wilderness Lodge guests can use the DVC pool for the Wilderness Lodge Villas.

As for my pictures I am now on vacation in Clearwater Beach which means I am not able to post my pictures until we get home on Janurary 1st, however here is a link to my reivew which I was able to write.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2038874

 

[spaceace510]

Honeystar120608: now that you know you are flying, when you start looking for airfare, a good site I like to use is kayak.com It searches all of the sites like cheatickets, priceline, orbits, and all of the different airlines websites. It will do everything thing except southwest. It is a very good site.

 

[Honeystar120608]

Honeystar120608: now that you know you are flying, when you start looking for airfare, a good site I like to use is kayak.com It searches all of the sites like cheatickets, priceline, orbits, and all of the different airlines websites. It will do everything thing except southwest. It is a very good site.

Thank you very much for the tip! I will definitely check it out! I wonder if it does Canadian airlines... Im in Canada

It's so hard to plan this trip so far in advance, I can't get an accurate price on much. There are great deals with the Contemporary for this Jan, same as airfare, some decent prices (still really expensive, but beats the 7 hour drive just to get to the airport which we did a few weeks back...aweful this time of year!) I will have to check out the thread for special deals.

 

[Honeystar120608]

So besides any offered deals for the time we want to go, what is the cheapest/best value room at the Contemporary? If I had an option for any room, what should I go for? Just being at CR is what is really important for us. Of course we would love to have a great view of MK, but if it's $300 more (or whatever the cost is) then no, that would be $$ for food kwim?

 

[crazy4wdw]

So besides any offered deals for the time we want to go, what is the cheapest/best value room at the Contemporary? If I had an option for any room, what should I go for? Just being at CR is what is really important for us. Of course we would love to have a great view of MK, but if it's $300 more (or whatever the cost is) then no, that would be $$ for food kwim?

The least expensive room at the CR would be the standard view rooms in the garden wing. This would provide a view of the parking areas or a view of the other buildings at the resort. All the the rooms at the CR are the same in terms of the size and amenities. The garden rooms do not have private balconies however you can request a first floor room which would have a patio. If you want a view of the Magic Kingdom, you only option is a tower room with MK view which is the most expensive of the CR standard rooms. There is quite a price difference between the least and most expensive standard rooms. For January 2009 (which would be value season), a standard view garden wing room is $280/night, a tower MK view room is $430/night - so you're looking at a $150/night price difference. If you can swing the tower MK view, IMHO it's well worth it. Your other options would be a garden view garden wing room (view of Bay Lake, the marina, or swimming pools) at $330/night and a Tower room Bay Lake view at $390/night.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Hey everyone, just wanted to share a unique perspective on Contemporary/Bay Lake Tower. I took this picture today:

This was taken while parasailing, which was a truly awesome experience. Sorry the picture isn't amazing quality, but the sun was bright (and my hands were shaky!)

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

DonaldDoleWhip,
That picture is amazing and I got to know how were you able to take it?

 

[nemofans]

Very cool pic! Never have seen the CR from that view b4!
Thanks!