Disney's CONTEMPORARY RESORT Information & Questions

What you 10 year old may like is how much other stuff is going on from the theme park side of the tower. You can watch the monorail go around the lagoon, the bus stops for the MK are within site, early morning there are all sorts of things going on in the park (hopefully he is letting you sleep then - but if not - lots of cranes and testing of projection shows), you can see the Astro Orbiter, etc. There is a lot happening. I have a kid who does not like fireworks, but likes them from that distance and perspective. Enjoy!
 
@ALegrande, I've checked-in a couple of times downstairs and been successful in being seated at the sushi bar. However, I don't think it was a Saturday night and it was just me and DD. CA Grill gets a lot of locals on the weekend who also like to sit at the bar or sushi area. Saturday night will be a challenge, along with the fact you're a party of 3 and you want to dine at the peak reservation time.

Your best hope is to get to the check-in desk as early as possible, (once you're up there, they won't kick you out) and ask if there is availability at the bar or sushi areas. If it's not too crowded up there, they'll just let you go up and then it's up to you to snag a spot. If one isn't available, there is an area with sofas where you can either wait and/or have a drink while waiting for a chair.[/QUOTE]

@WDWKOOK Thank you SO much for your input! I will definitely try to get there earlier than 7 then if we can't snag a last minute reservation. My spirits are lifted! :-D
 


I have stayed in both the tower and the garden wing multiple times.

I don't find the walk time to be noticeably different. When you stay in the tower, you have to wait for the elevator. To me - that is close enough to the time it takes to walk to the garden wing. Now - some of the garden wing rooms are a bit farther away. But - again - to me - it's not a consideration. One of my kids feels as though the difference is almost unbearable. I feel that if I walk 60 miles in a week, that short distance is negligible. If you are going to be running to the Contempo Cafe or the grocery store gift shop (I can't remember the name of it) a lot - that maybe makes the walk a small consideration. But I still say it is a small one. Plus - you can send one person on those runs if you have to.

As far as the cost goes - 3 of the 4 of us feel it is worth it to stay in the tower. On the tower side of the argument it's my daughter who hates the extra walking, me who likes the view and my other daughter who likes everything about the tower. My husband just sees the dollars floating out of the sliding door and would rather stay in the garden wing. To compromise - we stay once in the garden wing for every two or three tower stays. We call it our white trash vacation when we stay in the garden wing.

We only stay facing the park. I don't feel that facing a lake is a big deal. I can do that near my home or on any number of other vacations. Plus - you can get a lake view from the garden wing.

So - not really a definite answer - in part because they are all great places to stay. If I had small kids, I would go tower so that I could easily watch the fireworks when they want to sleep. I feel that staying in the tower facing the park is the ultimate in Disney resort stays. If you can swing it financially, it is worth doing at least once.

I will add that you will be dealing with elevators and the stroller in the garden wing unless you get first floor.

Why would you call it your white trash vacation? I just wonder, it there a huge noticeable difference in the type of people who stay in the towers vs garden wing? I myself almost chose a deluxe garden room for the space but then I remembered I GET TO PLAN THIS VACATION lol so tower room with a park view
 
We call it white trash because we are fun, and we do it to pick on my husband. We also say we are slumming when we are in the garden wing. It's a joke. My husband gets into it, too. He calls the swimming pool the cement pond on those trips. One year there was a snake in the hallway at the Garden Wing. We made jokes about that for the next three trips.
 
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We love CR for the room size (which is exactly the same in GW and tower) and the proximity to MK. We are never in our room at fireworks time, so for us, we cannot justify paying more for a view that we will never use. Plus, as a family that takes midday breaks, the peace and quiet of the GW is preferable over the tower. Every time we have stayed in the GW I have requested a first floor room and been granted it. I choose it for the outdoor space, but it is also nice not having to deal with any elevators at the end of the day. Make it your only room request, and you should be fine.
 


We'll be at the Contemporary for the second time this December 14-17. We're doing Tower TPV again. Can't wait! Time to refresh my memory & read through all the tips & info in this thread. It helped a lot last time we were there!

Woohoo! We'll be there the 13-16th! We'll be over in BLT though. Have a great trip!
 
I recently booked a 1 night, Xmas Eve stay using Southwest points! It will be our first time at a Disney owned resort. We usually stay at the Dolphin or the Hilton across from Disney Springs. It's just in the Garden Wing. I'm hoping we can get a ground floor room with a water view.
 
We've booked a theme park view for our trip in December. Today I requested a high floor and I mentioned last time we were in 8116. Should this be enough info for our room request?
 
We are actually up in the air now with where we are staying because we switched to a split stay... we really want GF but not without the discount so we were looking at the contemporary in the garden wing or Tower... we had a room at the poly and a standard view but lost it with the switch... I only read back a little bit re: the garden wing and need to keep reading! How loud is it in the tower? Hubby is blind and I'm wondering about the echo with his ears and trying to listen.
 
The tower rooms are not loud. It is loudish in the concourse. If you are facing the park and open your patio door, there is some noise from that. I like that level of noise because it's part of the excitement, and you can stop it by closing the door. If you are on the lower floors on the theme park side, you do get some vibration from the monorail. Not much - but it is there.

The Garden Wing has always been extremely quiet when we have stayed there.

I think The Poly's main building is much louder than any place at The Contemporary. No one seems to ever use their inside voice in there.
 
Does anyone know if a packnplay will fit in the kitchenette in the studio? TIA!

Yes. Also, you can request a crib, which I recommend, since it's on wheels so easier to roll in & out of the kitchenette. We had a pack & play right next to the front door, there's a little alcove that fits it perfectly, for my son & then the crib in the kitchenette for my daughter. It worked out great since it gave us privacy & freedom to have the tv on, etc.
 
Hi everyone. We are renting points and staying at BLT from October 14-21 in a studio Lake View. It's our first time at a Monorail resort and will most likely be our last trip for a long while. I'm the only Disney fanatic in the household and I basically have to pay for the trip myself and have a 50th birthday to get everyone else to go with me. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Should I fax and request a certain room? Anything anyone can think of? Thanks!
 
Booked our split stay yesterday!! CR for last 3 nights of the trip. We loved our last stay there in the Tower and can't wait to see the Bay Lake view again! Kids loved CR as well!
 

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