Disney's CONTEMPORARY RESORT Information & Questions

[cheryterese]

We were in the main bldg/Tower with a Bay Lake view a few days ago. This was taken from our balcony:
View attachment 198344
We also walked over to check out the Garden Wing which makes for a little farther walk to MK and the Monorail. We enjoyed the location of our room (4715) as it wasn't too far from the elevators but still very quiet. I'm not sure if I'd rate is as $2,000 better than Garden Wing as the amenities are all the same but it was nice to just walk over from MK into the building, head to the elevator, and up to our room after being in MK well after closing.

Gorgeous!

 

[Dave006]

... Is Tower worth the $2,000 extra? We'd honestly rather look at the lake than the parking lot to MK view. The bay lake balcony rooms do look inviting but we want to walk to MK so then it seems the Garden Wing would actually be better. Thoughts? ....

It really depends on how big an impact $2,000.00 is on your vacation budget at ~182.00 per day. The views from the Tower rooms are great but in my personal view, for an 11 day stay I would just go for a Garden Wing room since you will have time to see all the resort views from other locations on the CR resort. Just a note on the Garden Wing, there are no balconies, the first floor rooms have a patio.

Your question on walking to the MK is a little curious since the remaining Garden Wing is south of the CR Tower and is actually a farther distance from the walkway to the MK. It is connected to the tower via a covered walkway. In the past the North Garden Wing was actually a little closer to the walkway but it gave way to the BLT DVC Tower.

Edit to add comments about balconies.

Dave

 

[cheryterese]

It really depends on how big an impact $2,000.00 is on your vacation budget at ~182.00 per day. The views from the Tower rooms are great but in my personal view, for an 11 day stay I would just go for a Garden Wing room since you will have time to see all the resort views from other locations on the CR resort. Just a note on the Garden Wing, there are no balconies, the first floor rooms have a patio.

Your question on walking to the MK is a little curious since the remaining Garden Wing is south of the CR Tower and is actually a farther distance from the walkway to the MK. It is connected to the tower via a covered walkway. In the past the North Garden Wing was actually a little closer to the walkway but it gave way to the BLT DVC Tower.

Edit to add comments about balconies.

Dave

I ended up booking the Garden Wing Standard. I was going to request a first floor patio room, but was not able to do that on the booking - requests were for adjoining rooms and cribs only. I chatted online with a cast member who said the patio room request wouldn't be able to be made until the 60 day online check-in window, so I guess I'll do it then and hope for the best.

 

[DINKsAtDisney]

Grabbed a pic on our wishes cruise and thought I'd share!

 

[skuttle]

Well, I have been super excited about our very first CR stay (doing TPV) and our very first MNSSHP (the sole reason we booked a quick, weekend trip). We are supposed to check in Thursday and go to the party that same night. And now it looks like Hurricane Matthew may be joining us.

 

[WDWKOOK]

We're checking into BLT in a LV next month. If we request even number on the north side of the building, are those the rooms with partial fireworks view? If we don't get a room where we can see fireworks, where is the next best place to watch fireworks besides ToTW (we aren't DVC members.) I was thinking the bridge between CR and BLT, but is the music piped in there? We're definitely wanting to see hallowishee since we aren't going to the party.

Some of the North side upper outer villas do have partial views of MK and Wishes. A great place to view is from the 4th floor observation deck that is just after the bridge from BLT to CR or even from the window that overlooks the observation deck on the 4th floor. You can also view Wishes from CA Grill during your meal or with your receipt if you ate there earlier.

Hello! We will be staying at the Contemporary from 11/21 - 11/27. We have Garden Wing standard view rooms (2).

Welcome to the thread and I'll add your dates to the Log-o-Rail

got back about a week ago from BLT- we rented points. a had a couple of questions here and there so i thought i would answer and note some stuff from our trop.

Room 7606- i used touring plans fax to request a room similar to 7808. we got to the hotel about 3pm and it wasn't ready- the girl at the desk said my request was pretty specific and they wanted to honor it- i apologized to her as i didn't mean to be specific. the only other room available at that point was a room on the inside of the C so we chose to wait (check in is 4pm so it was still early) she did look and confirmed it wasn't scheduled for a deep clean or anything and should be ready within the hour. about 15 minutes later we got the text that our room was ready. we got up and called bell services- they brought our luggage and garden grocer right up and we called housekeeping to get bed rails and they also came right away.

bed rails- we used the pull out sofa for our 2 yr old- she was just not having the pack n play. i had ready the rails don't really work on the bed and people bring pool noodles- but since we fly that wasn't an option. however, the bed rails worked out perfectly. the top half of the sofa has the arms of the sofa as a blocker, and the rails tucked into the lower portion- they wiggled a little but i wasn't concerned at all and was very happy with the set up. i didn't see pool noodles for sale here- however, i did see them for sale $5/each at the beach club- so if someone really wanted to go that route they could go there.

i really hated the magical express- we waited for over an hour at MCO for a bus and then we were the 4th stop of a full bus- needless to say, after a 3 hour flight, an hour sitting in the stroller waiting and then another hour+ on the bus, my poor 2 yr old lost it on the ride from wilderness lodge to the contemporary..I felt bad she was loud but also didn't blame her. as soon as we stepped foot on the ground at the contemporary she was fine.

we ate lunch a few times at the café and it was great.

one morning we were trying to get to EPCOT for a PPO breakfast and the monorail wasn't starting until 9am. a bus took us to the TTC and then onto Epcot. We still made it in plenty of time. That was the only time the resort monorail and Epcot monorail was down. Other times the express monorail was down and that caused a busy resort line but nothing crazy. the access to the monorail and walk to the magic kingdom really made this trip amazing for us- i am 6 months pregnant and my daughter hates the bus rides- so minimizing bus rides was great.

speaking of buses- we took them to AK, DHS and Downtown Disney- busses were always prompt. One morning we wanted to go to DHS and we waited about 15/20 minutes and a bus had not yet come. the line for that bus was so much that we wouldn't have made the first bus to come, and quite possibly not the second. knowing our daughter hated the bus to start with- a crowded one was not going to go over well, so we scrapped our DHS plans and walked to the MK and made it there in no time. That was the only park bus issue we had

the hotel was great. our view from the beds was of the lake ( and we did get to see the ferrys coming out early morning) and then from the balcony itself we could see the magic kingdom and watched wishes from there. it was loud- my 2 yr old was fine in the room and it didn't wake her, but when we watched them from the balcony she was not a fan

Thanks for posting about your BLT stay and your pool noodle sighting. That monorail has been so unreliable for quite a while and DME can also be a little unreliable when there's a breakdown or bus shortage.

Hey guys, I have a question I was looking at the contemporary for a stay in December (2017) and I've noticed the regular rooms have two queen beds but the handicap accessible rooms only have two double beds listed, anyone know if this might be all that's available or if they actually have rooms with two queen beds that are also handicap accessible?

Since I'd really like the two queen beds, are all the rooms the same size? If I book the standard non accessible rooms, will I still be able to maneuver throughout the room in a wheelchair? I hate the idea of having to give up the queen beds in order to get a roll in shower so I was thinking maybe I'd do a regular room and ask for a shower chair and see if I could make that work.

Any info would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

I'm bumping your question. I did look at their photos within the WDW website and it does say that the HA rooms are doubles and they appear to be shorter and narrower than a queen?

Well, I have been super excited about our very first CR stay (doing TPV) and our very first MNSSHP (the sole reason we booked a quick, weekend trip). We are supposed to check in Thursday and go to the party that same night. And now it looks like Hurricane Matthew may be joining us.

If you'll actually get there before Matthew, then at least you won't have any travel delays. I think that once you get there, they will do a great job of handling the situation and the storm should pass quickly, However, when watches and warnings have been issued, Disney and the airlines will make free adjustments. I'm not suggesting you adjust anything, but if you want to, do it sooner rather than later so you have more choices and you shouldn't incur any fees.

 

[skuttle]

If you'll actually get there before Matthew, then at least you won't have any travel delays. I think that once you get there, they will do a great job of handling the situation and the storm should pass quickly, However, when watches and warnings have been issued, Disney and the airlines will make free adjustments. I'm not suggesting you adjust anything, but if you want to, do it sooner rather than later so you have more choices and you shouldn't incur any fees.

We are driving, arriving Thursday. We were going to arrive thursday, early afternoon. But we will drive further Wednesday night so we arrive earlier on Thursday morning.

If we have chef Mickey's reservation for Friday, do you think that will get cancelled or still a go?

 

[WDWKOOK]

What visitors to Central Florida need to know about cancellations due to Hurricane Matthew​

 

[WDWKOOK]

We are driving, arriving Thursday. We were going to arrive thursday, early afternoon. But we will drive further Wednesday night so we arrive earlier on Thursday morning.

If we have chef Mickey's reservation for Friday, do you think that will get cancelled or still a go?

That's a question no one can answer now, however, resorts remain open even when parks close. Many/most employees remain at WDW during storms for extended shifts, as opposed to going home. They will provide guests shelter, food and water (and often entertainment) and it is actually one of the best places you could be during a FL emergency. If ADRs do get cancelled, you will be contacted and of course, you wouldn't incur any deposit charges. Disney does an amazing job of making all guests very comfortable during unforeseen emergencies. You will be well taken care of, but there is the possibility parks will be closed.

 

[skuttle]

That's a question no one can answer now, however, resorts remain open even when parks close. Many/most employees remain at WDW during storms for extended shifts, as opposed to going home. They will provide guests shelter, food and water (and often entertainment) and it is actually one of the best places you could be during a FL emergency. If ADRs do get cancelled, you will be contacted and of course, you wouldn't incur any deposit charges. Disney does an amazing job of making all guests very comfortable during unforeseen emergencies. You will be well taken care of, but there is the possibility parks will be closed.

Hmmm, I originally had it booked for saturday morning because I couldn't get friday several months ago. I assume the hurricane is causing some cancellations, which is how I was able to get Friday. I may keep saturday for a little longer just in case!

 

[WDWKOOK]

Evacuation order issued for Port Canaveral to close at noon on Wednesday, Oct. 5​

 

[WDWKOOK]

Hurricane-Related Closures at WDW Announced.​

 

[WDWKOOK]

 

[WDWKOOK]

 

[WDWKOOK]

WHAT’S TAKING PLACE AT DISNEY RESORTS DURING HURRICANE MATTHEW?​

 

[WDWKOOK]

OPERATIONAL HOURS UPDATE FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD FOR OCTOBER 7 AND 8​

 

[jb1677]

got back about a week ago from BLT- we rented points. a had a couple of questions here and there so i thought i would answer and note some stuff from our trop.

Room 7606- i used touring plans fax to request a room similar to 7808. we got to the hotel about 3pm and it wasn't ready- the girl at the desk said my request was pretty specific and they wanted to honor it- i apologized to her as i didn't mean to be specific. the only other room available at that point was a room on the inside of the C so we chose to wait (check in is 4pm so it was still early) she did look and confirmed it wasn't scheduled for a deep clean or anything and should be ready within the hour. about 15 minutes later we got the text that our room was ready. we got up and called bell services- they brought our luggage and garden grocer right up and we called housekeeping to get bed rails and they also came right away.

Thanks for the review, I had no idea Touring Plans fax would work for DVC. We are thinking about the same strategy as you for an upcoming trip (north tower, even number). I may need to use Touring Plans to do this! Was this your only method for room request or did you also have the owner add a request to the booking?

 

[WDWKOOK]

What is open tonight at Disney Springs​

 

[teddygurl28]

Thanks for the review, I had no idea Touring Plans fax would work for DVC. We are thinking about the same strategy as you for an upcoming trip (north tower, even number). I may need to use Touring Plans to do this! Was this your only method for room request or did you also have the owner add a request to the booking?

Yes. Normally we stay at
Port orleans and I know what I want. This is our first time at BLT so I took a look around and found what I wanted but also went into it being okay with anywhere. When I found on my touring plans subscription they would fax I decided I would try it but didn't hold onto hope that it would work. I was very pleasantly surprised

 

[HatboxHaint]

We were there Oct 2 - 9th.

Our original plan was to stay at BLT for 5 nights then AKL for 2. I'll skip all of our trip up to Wednesday night. I left my family back at BLT and scooted to MK for EMH. I rode pirates (which broke down for 30 min, I was by the pirate trying to give the cats some rum..lol...that was a long 30 minutes). I rode HM till park close (1AM) then went to City Hall. I got a refund for our thursday MNSSHP, which was a good choice since the cancelled Friday's too. We didn't get to do that party at all. We did get our money back but lost money on the costumes we had bought. I also cancelled my star wars dessert part for friday night. The nice guy at city hall threw some FP+ into my account for Saturday.

We did AK Thursday since we still had several things there to do (not our orignal plan, but called this as a audible) and had a wonderful time (no fastpasses needed), we left around 1pm as it started to get rainy and windy and had done most of what we wanted to do. I went by the front desk of contemporary to see what we needed to do about changing resorts on Friday since by now we knew that everything was closing and there would be no transportation running. This was quite a chore but there was a wonderful CM named Amber that assured us that she would help us stay either in BLT or the Contemporary. I think by that time in the afternoon the DVC office had closed and they could not verify if we could stay in our same rooms.

So it wasn't until Friday after our checkout time that we got squared away. Amber was able to put us in a 2 bedroom villa Theme park view at BLT. It was like a dream come true! Of course the weather was not bad and the bridge between the two buildings stayed open and people were walking around outside all day. There were activities w/ characters all day at the Contemporary. We ate at Chef Mickey's sans characters with a reduced menu. Sometime earlier in the week a disney agent contacted my via text, I continued to use this text number for arrange FP+. Since I had lost my Party FP+ and Friday FP+ they were able to give me an anytime set at HS for Saturday and another set at MK for Saturday. Amber also arranged a credit $300 since we had missed dining opportunities and had left over credits. We also were credited a 1 day ticket with park hopper for the missed day. All in all it worked out ok, we were all ready for a rest by friday but it would have been nicer to lay by the pool instead.