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

[tami82]

I have a question, we are staying in the garden wing, is that closer to walk to the MK than to actually walk to the tower to take the tram to the MK??

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I have a question, we are staying in the garden wing, is that closer to walk to the MK than to actually walk to the tower to take the tram to the MK??

I say it's faster to walk to the Magic Kingdom no matter if you were in a Tower room or Garden Wing, because by taking the Monorail you also stop at the TTC, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian before arriving at the Magic Kingdom.

 

[jcb]

"Closer" - perhaps not - but I agree with CR4L that it is faster to walk. From CR the monorail has three more stops before reaching MK. I guess in that sense - the route the monorail takes to the MK is longer.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I guess the one thing that makes up for the Monorail making three stops before arriving is that when leaving the Magic Kingdom the Contemporary is the next stop, so it's great if your tired and have tired kids.

 

[Maroon]

Excellent start to the new thread.

 

[TinkTatoo]

Thanks for posting the photo's from 14th floor, especially this one

......

I'd only just discovered that there are no daybeds in these rooms and I was worried as we need one for my son who has autism. I can see from this picture that there is space between the bed and the window to fit a roll away bed so you've set my mind at rest

 

[staceymarie]

I booked us at the CR on the dates of 4/1 through 4/8, 2009. I just found this board this morning and have been trying to get through this thread. It is really a great one!
We are sooooo excited. DD is 10 and hasn't been to the Disney at all yet.

I booked us through expedia for a garden wing-garden view room. This thread is full of great pics of the tower MK view rooms which I had the option of choosing for 90.00 more but I didn't!
I hope I don't regret it! Our rooms were such a great rate-we got the "stay 7 for the price of 4" rate deal and it comes to only $267 per night. I think my sensible side is telling me to keep things as is and maybe do the tower next time. I'm sure after DD gets a taste of Disney-we'll be back!!

I wonder what my chances of an upgrade are??!!

Arriving on a wednesday but I know that there are school vacations starting on the 6th so maybe chances are slim.

Thanks for the great thread! The pics make the wait almost unbearable!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I booked us at the CR on the dates of 4/1 through 4/8, 2009. I just found this board this morning and have been trying to get through this thread. It is really a great one!
We are sooooo excited. DD is 10 and hasn't been to the Disney at all yet.

I booked us through expedia for a garden wing-garden view room. This thread is full of great pics of the tower MK view rooms which I had the option of choosing for 90.00 more but I didn't!
I hope I don't regret it! Our rooms were such a great rate-we got the "stay 7 for the price of 4" rate deal and it comes to only $267 per night. I think my sensible side is telling me to keep things as is and maybe do the tower next time. I'm sure after DD gets a taste of Disney-we'll be back!!

I wonder what my chances of an upgrade are??!!

Arriving on a wednesday but I know that there are school vacations starting on the 6th so maybe chances are slim.

Thanks for the great thread! The pics make the wait almost unbearable!

Have a great time and when it comes to getting an upgrade it's totally random when a guest will get one, so you just got to be lucky. I always say the best way to get what you want is to make a reservation for it, so you could always change your mind about the Magic Kingdom View before you leave. That's if the view is still available since it's very popular and sells out very fast.

 

[Bricket]

I’m a little late posting as our trip was just after Thanksgiving… but here goes:

Background: Family of 4. Self, dh, ds9 and dd turning 6. We spent the 1st 3 nights of our 8 night stay at CR. We’ve traveled to Disney many times but never stayed at CR. We sprung for a Tower- Theme Park view room!

Room: Outstanding! The beds were so comfy, everything was bright and clean. And the view?! Unbelievable! We arrived just before sunset and were captivated as it went down looking at the pretty hues in the sky. How spectacular to see MK, GF, and the Poly! We were on the 9th floor at the Chef Mickey end. Noise was not a problem. It was fun to step out and see the activity in CMs!! I don’t know if all the rooms are like this, but the beds were set so that clearly from the bed closest to the balcony sliders, and even from 1 of the pos’ns on the other bed, you could lie there and watch the castle turn colors at night as you dosed off to sleep. Is there ANYthing more magical???


*PROS*
As others have said, having everything in one building is really convenient. It was nice to get off the monorail and your room was only a quick elevator ride away. It was also nice to be able to run down to shop, refill our mugs or get a bite to eat without going outside.

CM's were very nice.

Shopping. GREAT selection!

Views were BEAUTIFUL! Especially at night with everything lit up.

Swimming pool slide was a lot of fun! Also enjoyed playing ping pong outside and watching a movie from the pool.

Monorail! Sooooo cool.

Housekeeping was fine.

Beds were VERY comfortable….and the duvets/pillows so fresh. I really prefer a queen size bed to the doubles at the mods.


*CONS*

Who designed those sinks??? They just don’t drain well at all. Having a separate toilet area was great and came in handy for extra changing room.

Monorail. Yes, it’s a con too! We couldn’t believe how crowded it was. Several times we had to wait for another monorail (or 2) to come through before we could get on board and still we were squeezed tightly together! I can’t imagine how it will handle the increased traffic from the new Vacation Club!! Note: we always were up and out around 8:10am for 9am park openings. On our arrival night MK was open until midnight, the FW ended at 9:30 and we decided to hop on the monorail about 10:30 just to “jump start” our vaca. It was PACKED!!! Oh, getting TO Epcot was so easy…but coming back, it took a long time to loop around the lake and back to CR. Something to consider when you’re ret’g for an afternoon break.

The cost of food. We ordered a hotdog for dd. It was a nice large hot dog and delicious. It was $5. Nothing else. At the foodcourt at ASMo we ordered her a hot dog…it came w/ 2 sides and a drink for $5.


* COUPLE MORE OBSERVATIONS*

Fireworks: Our day of arrival we weren’t visiting a park and this was something we were really looking forward to see from the comfort of our room. Unfortunately, we were disappointed. They were distant, less than 15mins and just not that exciting from the balcony even w/ the piped in music. We were lucky MVMCP was a diff’t night during our stay. Those fireworks were MUCH better!

Water Parade: We were told it would only be visible from the Bay Tower side .... but we could clearly see it going around the lagoon past MK before the lights went out and it headed over to WL.

Bus Svc: Sharing buses w/ the other monorail resorts means several stops and a long ride to HS or AK.

Elevators: Often we found people in the elevator arriving at our floor (the 9th) who had boarded on the 6th or 7th floor going UP just so they COULD go down. They got tired of seeing the doors open on their floors from DOWN elevators again and again completely full. This was not a problem for us.

Didn’t mean to have so many negatives. We had a GREAT trip and really enjoyed the CR. It was SO magical! Our biggest concern is how the monorail will handle the increased crowds from the new bldg. Waiting for a 2nd or 3rd monorail is just not very enjoyable. At ASMo (or any of the mods) we have never had a 2nd bus arrive and been packed!

I guess bottom line for our family…we love the convenience of the CR, the views were great and the rooms nicely decorated and spacious, but for the price, it’s really a one time experience for us we’ll cherish, and now we’ll go back to enjoying the mods again.

If you have any questions I’m happy to answer…..

Thank you very much for your review.

Now I'm more excited than ever!

 

[s&k'smom]

Silly question is it a long walk to the pool and do you need to go through the lobby to get to it (if you are staying in the tower)? Thanks for the info and very glad you had such a good trip.

 

[brergnat]

Silly question is it a long walk to the pool and do you need to go through the lobby to get to it (if you are staying in the tower)? Thanks for the info and very glad you had such a good trip.

No, you don't need to go through the lobby proper. You can go out on the third floor (I think, or second) and there is a set of stairs on the outside of the building that goes down to the pool. It's not far at all. The pool is at the bottom of the stairs, essentially.

 

[VirginiaMom]

Silly question here.... can I get little liquid coffee creamers and packs of sugar/sugar substitutes from the Contempto Cafe to take back to my room for the coffee I make in the coffee pot in my room? When I stayed at Pop Century, I could snag a bunch of creamers/sugar from the food court and take back to my room.

Since this is a nicer hotel, part of me assumes they'll have it available, but then again, at a nicer resort they might expect me to pay.

I am definitely asking about liquid creamer and not the powder creamers. Flavored creamer would be an ultimate 'WOW' factor.

Thanks!!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

No, you don't need to go through the lobby proper. You can go out on the third floor (I think, or second) and there is a set of stairs on the outside of the building that goes down to the pool. It's not far at all. The pool is at the bottom of the stairs, essentially.

Actually when coming from any of the Tower rooms just take the elevator to the lobby, then walk out the automatic doors on the other side towards the pool. I personally think it's better then going to the 2nd floor and walking down all those stairs.

Silly question here.... can I get little liquid coffee creamers and packs of sugar/sugar substitutes from the Contempto Cafe to take back to my room for the coffee I make in the coffee pot in my room?

I am 99.9% sure I remember seeing the liquid creamers, however I can say for sure they had packs of sugar/sugar substitutes.

 

[s&k'smom]

Thank you so much for the info. DH is not wild about the CR but I have always wanted to stay there, something about it I've always loved. And I think once DH is there he'll love it.

 

[PolynesianAlex]

So hard to decide which monorail resort should we do

 

[IndyClown]

We have a CM dinner ressie one night. Is there a good place at the CR to watch the fireworks and hear the Wishes audio after dinner?

TIA

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We have a CM dinner ressie one night. Is there a good place at the CR to watch the fireworks and hear the Wishes audio after dinner?

TIA

Just go to the 4th floor observation deck which is located on the other side of where Chef Mickey's is and the doors to the observation deck are located past the old Sundries store. It's a great spot to watch Wishes and the music there is piped in on the above speakers.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

So hard to decide which monorail resort should we do

I think it's an obvious choice.

 

[nbodyhome]

Actually, Chef Mickey's is being expanded. The area behind and to the left of the check-in desk is the expansion area. The area accross from Contempo Cafe is the new lounge. Click on this link at mousesteps: http://www.mousesteps.com/index.php...sk=view&id=250&Itemid=65&limit=1&limitstart=2

The 6th picture from the top shows the expanded area. The boxed, enclosed area is the new bathroom for Chef Mickey's. Once this area is complete, there will be other areas in the restaurant sectioned off for the rehab (new carpet, etc.)

The 7th pic shows the small area under construction (accross from Contempo) which will become the new Outer Rim Lounge.

I put some new photos up, including the carpeting at my site.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I put some new photos up, including the carpeting at my site.

Thank you once again for taking all the photos you do and posting them on your site.