Contemporary - Why or Why Not??

[wendybird]

If the stay 4 get 3 deal comes out during my stay in May, I am considering changing from POFQ to the Contemporary. I have never stayed there and my 4 year old son is fascinated by the monorail. I know location is a plus, but is it really worth it. The pool does not look that great and I have read that the tower rooms are noisy (we are VERY light sleepers). I know they have garden rooms, but I don't really want to stay in those and not be in the concourse. Any suggestions or advice would be wonderful... Thanks!!

[JenniferS.]

We stayed there once and YES it is worth it. The location is awesome. You can walk to MK and thats a plus at the end of the night when the monorail is full of people. The pool isn't as nice as others resorts, but it has a waterslide and its still nice to cool off in. We booked a garden wing and upon arrival we were upgraded to a tower room on the 6th floor. We were not near chef mickeys and didn't find any noise bothering us. We are planning on splurging again and staying there in Dec 2011.

[jmj18]

We stayed there in April. My vote.....never again. The location is great and the monorail is really cool. However, I did not feel the Disney "magic" I've felt at the other resorts. We stayed club level and I was very disappointed. The Poly is so much better in my opinion. The pool was ok but not the best at Disney.

[Live4WDW]

DW and I are staying there this coming early feb,(taking advantage of the buy 4 get 3 promotion. We are very excited. Have never stayed there, but I have wanted to since my first trip as a child in the 1970's. Go for it!! Could'nt say about the noise. The monorails don't seem to be noisy. We are looking forward to this experience and just know that it will be awesome. Good luck in your choices. Have fun and magic where ever you stay

[Goofy4TheWorld]

Thanks to a very unexpected 40% off email from Disney, my wife and I just changed from staying at Pop 5 nights and Contemporary 2 nights, to staying all 7 nights at Contemporary MK View. Because I was caught completely off guard by how early this discount offer was made to me (I am going June 2010) I had not completely considered whether or not we really wanted to stay all 7 nights there, or why not Poly or Wilderness Lodge. But under extreme distress, I gave Magical Journeys the go-ahead, and upgraded to the Contemporary. That night, I started researching where we wanted to eat and every little bit I learned from this marathon research session made me love my decision more and more. My family consists of me, my wife, and 2½-year-old son. Transportation was a top concern of ours, and here are a few points that made me really happy about my decision (I did not sleep much at all last night I was so excited

- You can walk to & from the Magic Kingdom (not an option at Poly)
- If the young one can’t make it through the second shift, just walk outside to your balcony, the fireworks are just right there (and if you do stay at MK late, home is just a walk away!)
- If you Monorail back to the Contemporary from MK, you are the first stop
- You can boat to Wilderness Lodge & Fort Wilderness (we plan on eating at Whispering Canyon)
- You can Monorail to Epcot, then walk to the Beach Club (we will probably swing by Beaches & Cream, and may do an ADR somewhere here also)
- If you really wanted to, I guess you could walk from Epcot, to the Beach Club, and then on to Hollywood Studios, but it might be a stretch (we would only consider this if we eat breakfast at the Beach Club first)
- You can Monorail to Epcot then boat over to Hollywood Studios
- Only Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney cannot be reached without riding the bus
- We are only one Monorail stop away from the Poly (we might try an ADR here, or maybe just wander around)
- I don’t think that the Poly can provide the guaranteed views that the Contemporary offers (but I could be wrong)
- I was worried about the lack of a large food court at the Contemporary, but once I realize how easy it was going to be to just hop over to MK (or anywhere else) I got over it
- A pool is a pool for me, so as long as it has chlorine and water, we will be happy

I could go on, but I will stop with my top 12 list. I am most definitely excited about the Contemporary, and I refuse to let anyone rain on my party!

[Disnamic Duo]

My wife and I have stayed at 8 different WDW resorts (all levels). Contemporary is definately our favorite. I don't understand anyone saying they didn't feel the "Disney experience" at the CR?? To us, it was the ULTIMATE Disney experience. We stayed in the tower with a MK view. Every night, we watched the castle changed colors as we were falling asleep - the castle is right outside your room - what's more Disney than that? There were some great things mentioned in the above list too. This is just a GREAT place to stay if you love WDW.

[jnfr2424]

No you haven't made a bad decision. We have stayed at the Contemporary in the past and loved it!! The noise factor only if you have a Bay Lake view and your room is over Chef Mickey then yes there is noise but we never had noise issues being over the monorail and we have stayed on the 6th, 9th 11th and 14th floors in the past. We are so looking forward to going back on the second leg of our vacation!

[buzz2001]

I find it hard to justify those prices to sleep but you won't know until you try it. We did in 2000 and said never again but not because the resort was bad, just can't justify the cost. We stayed there with a great deal so it wasn't much more than a mod at the time but today's prices are crazy.

The location to MK is terrific but the shared bus service to the other parks was not. Even the trip to Mk was about 20 mins with all the stops and waits on the monorail. We started to walk after the first few days.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

I find it hard to justify those prices to sleep but you won't know until you try it. We did in 2000 and said never again but not because the resort was bad, just can't justify the cost. We stayed there with a great deal so it wasn't much more than a mod at the time but today's prices are crazy.

I could never justify the expense staying at full price either, and if all of my family was 5 years or older, I couldn't even justify the expense at 40% off. But as long as I have young ones, we hope to be able to spring for the extra money in the future. I still look forward to a future stay at Pop Century, and I am sure I will be pleased, but only once the kid(s) can fend for themselves standing up on a packed bus hanging a turn at 45MPH!

The location to MK is terrific but the shared bus service to the other parks was not. Even the trip to Mk was about 20 mins with all the stops and waits on the monorail. We started to walk after the first few days.

After making that first "welcome ride" around the Monorail to MK, I am sure we will walk too. I didn't mind the shared bus service at Movies too much, so I hope I don't mind it at CR.

[wendybird]

What resorts does the CR share buses with??

[Goofy4TheWorld]

What resorts does the CR share buses with??

From reading old threads, I gather that all buses from CR to DHS & AK come to the CR first, then go to Poly, then on to GF, then on to their final destination.

I hope someone will chime in on whether this is correct, and do they ALWAYS share, or just sometimes?

[DizNee143]

i FINALLY got to stay at the Contemporary last year for my honeymoon..it had been my dream reasort for about 20 years..
and i have to say i was not one bit dissapointed..it was everything i thought it would be and more..
we had a room i think on the 5th or 6th floor facing the MK and we were right above..chef mickeys...you really couldnt hear anything..granted you heard alot of noise once you opened your door but..thats expected..
the monorail shook the room door alittle..but after about the 3rd monorail went through..i never really noticed it ever again..
Goofy4TheWorld brought up alot of good points!!!
its a great resort to stay at..and i hope ill be able to stay there at least one more time in my life time!
enjoy!!!

[jillluvsdisney]

I think staying there would be excellent. Great location,ggreat amenities and the rooms and very large too. I think it gets a bad rap here from too many folks. As far as the pool goes, is your very young child really going to care about the "theming" of the pool?

[Mickey91]

Awesome water slide
Chef Mickeys right there
Monorail
Walk to MK
One of our favorites!

[joonyer]

As many have pointed out;

There are lot's of very good reasons why.

There's only one good reason why not, and that's the one reason we haven't stayed there . . . yet. And that's the $$$ cost.

[Lynn J Mc]

The CR does share buses usually with Poly, GF and sometimes Wilderness. Buses don't always stop at all of them. We love the CR. It is the original Disney resort so I don't get all this no Disney feel. What is more Disney than a view of the Magic Kingdom or Bay Lake. To me, that screams Disney. We don't do the pools much at Disney so that is not a big factor for us. I've never noticed the noise in the Tower. We have stayed in the tower and the garden wings. Either suits me just fine. Have a great time.

[KylesMom]

We have been fortunate to stay at CR on two separate occasions several years ago on A/P rates after 9-1-1. Both trips were in the wing buildings, but we absolutely loved the resort. MK walking access, 1st stop off the monorail on the return, friendly CMs, Wishes from our huge room, and the pool was usually empty. We haven't been back since 2005 - but it's not because we didn't really enjoy the resort . . . . it has just become too pricey for our budget. If they offer 4/3 and if there's availability, I'd go for it if you can swing it!

[darthmacho]

First Why Not:

1. It's expensive, so a moderate will save you money to spend on future WDW vacations.

2. The theming is a little bland, and not as "Disney" as some of the other resorts.

3. Frech Quarter is a great resort.

Then Why:

1. The theme is so very "Disney." (I know, that completely contradicts #2 above, but seriously, I think the CR is a lot more Disney than people give it credit for. Sure it doesn't truly have a theme, but it has been the signature WDW resort since day one. It also has Chef Mickey's, which is about as "Disney" as you can get!

2. Chef Mickey's and other wonderfull restaurant choices.

3. You don't just get monorail access, it literally runs right through the resort, which is cool! This not only gives you great access to MK and Epcot, but also more convenient dining choices at GF and Poly.

4. Boat access to FW, WL, and MK!

5. You work hard, you've earned the right to treat yourself.

[#1donaldfan]

....for me, it's just too "hotelish"....

[DawsonAR]

We love the CR. We had a lot of fun and didn't feel the rooms were loud at all. Early one morning if you were close to the door, you could slightly hear Chef Mickey's. We had a wonderful time there.