I can't answer your question about why the pricing varies at the Contemporary other than the Contemporary has a unique situation in that the Tower rooms are the most desired and the Garden rooms are not as desired as Tower rooms due to views. The tower rooms are comparable in price to the Lagoon rooms at the Polynesian and Grand Floridian. I think it is somewhat like the situation at AKL. The standard rooms there are much less than Savanna rooms.
Garden view rooms at the Contemporary are in the outer wings. The room decor and size is the same as the expensive tower rooms, the view is different. Standard rooms face the monorail and parking lot with landscaping in between. The Garden view rooms in the wings face landscaped areas and some face the lake. You have to walk into the main building to use the monorail but the walkway is covered. If you are in a Tower room you have to walk down your hall and take the elevator to the monorail, so that is no great advantage to me. Pools are easier to access from the wings than the tower.
The rooms were all rehabbed not long ago, a couple of years I think. Many do not find them pleasing, but that is a personal choice as the colors are bold and bright. The rooms are the largest on property and have huge bathrooms.
Some of the standard room views are not bad at all, as you can watch the monorail go by.
My opinion, I would take a standard room there any day over a moderate if for no other reason than location to the MK and the huge room and bath, 2 queen beds and day bed compared to 2 double beds.
You can find many photos of the rooms on the Internet.
