Some brief thoughts on staying at the Contemporary

[LIMA TIME]

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We just got back from a quick two night stay at the contemporary this past weekend and below are some quick thoughts the Mrs. and I talked about on our drive back home.

-We stayed in the A frame part of the hotel on the 11th floor, and my lord that building is MASSIVE.
-While this is a classic hotel, due to the growth of the parks and the amount of people that go through, this hotel is not set up to handle the volume.
-the quick service area is a perfect example. with that many people staying there, it is too small to handle that many people. Twice we had to wait over 30 minutes for our food and it was due to the amount of people trying to eat there. And there were some people losing it on this issue. I felt bad for the people working there.
-the single elevator to get to the monorail platform is not enough. With the amount of strollers/ wheelchairs, and scooters the line for the elevators was always rather long.
-We loved how you could see the night time fireworks out the giant windows on the side for the building. We just had to step out of our room and walk a few feet down the hall. My son thought that was great.
-also being able to see the light parade as well as the fireworks from Epcot from our room balcony.

All in all it was fun for a short stay, but would not want to stay there for long trip. The other hotels in the Magic Kingdom area are far and way better. (especially the Wilderness Lodge.)

 

[mouse_luv]

The issue with the dining, is that it's not restricted to just CR guests. Anyone can come eat and most of us do. I guess the best advice regarding this would be to plan earlier to eat so you can factor in the time it takes to get food.

 

[LIMA TIME]

The issue with the dining, is that it's not restricted to just CR guests. Anyone can come eat and most of us do. I guess the best advice regarding this would be to plan earlier to eat so you can factor in the time it takes to get food.

I agree with you 100%, my point being that the space is small and cannot handle the volume.

 

[ScottKC]

We had a late Thanksgiving Lunch at the Contempo Café and the wait for the food was longish. They gave us a beeper, but we were not supposed to go anywhere, just wait for the server to find our buzzer and they seemed to just be asking everyone "Is this yours, Is this yours?" I thought it was funny and was not upset. Put me in a room like that with Monorails going by and I have more tolerance for stuff like that.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[G8rchamps]

My wife and I did a birthday 2 night stay for my daughter summer 2015. I grew up in FL and ALWAYS wanted to stay in the monorail hotel. We enjoyed our stay, but for our regular budget we prefer to stay at the moderates. The elevator might be the worst part. Watching wishes from the balcony "Synced" with youtube may have been the best- no fighting the crowd and right to the pillow!

 

[JIMINYCR]

We always hit the monorail resorts to check out their unique shops and various snacks that are offered. The Contemp elevators have always been an issue no matter what time of year weve visited and the dining and food courts just gets more and more packed. They just cant handle the demand especially with the increased volume of guests, you know youre in for a wait no matter what you want to do. I agree that the Contemp is a great resort to stay at for the experience but weve been happier with moving onto the POFQ.

 

[ryguy]

I think counter service locations throughout the world tend to be slow as of late. Typhoon Lagoon a few weeks back was pathetic, and no one was there. The Contemporary had it's heyday in the 1980's. When they got rid of the Fiesta Fun Center and then added convention space the atmosphere of the hotel changed. Never has been the same since. The pool kinda stinks too.

 

[21stamps]

I agree with you 100%, my point being that the space is small and cannot handle the volume.

I think this is a problem with all 3 monorail resorts, not just the Contemporary. Upside is- beautiful surroundings while waiting

 

[JohnD]

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We just got back from a quick two night stay at the contemporary this past weekend and below are some quick thoughts the Mrs. and I talked about on our drive back home.

-We stayed in the A frame part of the hotel on the 11th floor, and my lord that building is MASSIVE.
-While this is a classic hotel, due to the growth of the parks and the amount of people that go through, this hotel is not set up to handle the volume.
-the quick service area is a perfect example. with that many people staying there, it is too small to handle that many people. Twice we had to wait over 30 minutes for our food and it was due to the amount of people trying to eat there. And there were some people losing it on this issue. I felt bad for the people working there.
-the single elevator to get to the monorail platform is not enough. With the amount of strollers/ wheelchairs, and scooters the line for the elevators was always rather long.
-We loved how you could see the night time fireworks out the giant windows on the side for the building. We just had to step out of our room and walk a few feet down the hall. My son thought that was great.
-also being able to see the light parade as well as the fireworks from Epcot from our room balcony.

All in all it was fun for a short stay, but would not want to stay there for long trip. The other hotels in the Magic Kingdom area are far and way better. (especially the Wilderness Lodge.)

In other words, it's massive because of the A Frame setup but the footprint of the rooms themselves and other locations is small, right?

 

[MaryJaneP]

We have to agree that the volume, as expected in 1972, is not commensurate with that of 2016. Nonetheless, we find it to be an awesome vacation location. For those who wish to stay elsewhere, please do so with our wishes for a great vacation. To those willing to put up with these "hardships", have a great CR vacation as well.

 

[MissViv]

We have stayed at the Contemporary several times and are staying there again during the Marathon in Jan., this time in a Theme Park View room and are very excited.

We have not been to Disney World in 11 years so we are really looking forward to seeing how things have changed and seeing "old favorites".

Our first visit was in 1973 and we stayed in the Wilderness Campground. Second visit was a few years later, also in the campground. It was "magical". Since then we have stayed at Wilderness Lodge (twice), Contemporary (4 times), & All Star Sports (twice). The Contemporary is my favorite mainly because of the convenience to the parks. We've stayed off site several times during my daughters school years (spring breaks). We have loved all of our visits.

 

[Jon81uk]

the quick service area is a perfect example. with that many people staying there, it is too small to handle that many people. Twice we had to wait over 30 minutes for our food and it was due to the amount of people trying to eat there. And there were some people losing it on this issue.

I think there are a lot of issues with dining at Disney, but one of the big ones is that the hotels are no longer being used as designed. Originally I think it was expected that a majority of guests would eat at the table service restaurant in their own hotel. Or of course when there was only three resorts if the Poly guests go to the Contemporary, its OK as it is just a swap.

But now with the value and moderate hotels, not many people go to them for the food, so many more guests are coming to the Poly and Contemporary to eat at 'Ohana or Cali Grill. These restuarants are also much more expensive now. So if a guest at the Contemporary wants to eat without a reservation nowadays they are having to go for quick service, leaving a space not fit for the number of guests it is getting.

 

[Tk0021]

We stay at the Contemporary last year and we're not impressed especially for the price. The walk to MK was great though. We are planning a trip for September 2017 and are thinking of staying again only because we are doing a 4 day MK only trip and the location is perfect. The pool area was very disappointing with the spray area not functioning fully. We did not have a long wait for food at the cafe but we only had breakfast there once.

 

[21stamps]

We stay at the Contemporary last year and we're not impressed especially for the price. The walk to MK was great though. We are planning a trip for September 2017 and are thinking of staying again only because we are doing a 4 day MK only trip and the location is perfect. The pool area was very disappointing with the spray area not functioning fully. We did not have a long wait for food at the cafe but we only had breakfast there once.

Have you thought about Poly or GF? Both have much better pools and slides, Poly has the best "spray area" of the bunch. No you can't walk to MK, but the monorail and/or launch are both very quick and easy.

 

[Tk0021]

Have you thought about Poly or GF? Both have much better pools and slides, Poly has the best "spray area" of the bunch. No you can't walk to MK, but the monorail and/or launch are both very quick and easy.

For our budget we are thinking of the WL. The walk was awesome from the Contemporary, but the price is high and it is less expensive then the monorail resorts. My parents are coming and we are paying for their room, so our budget is tighter than normal. The funny thing is my two girls (5 and 3) want to stay at AOA, so we are between a deluxe and a value.

 

[21stamps]

For our budget we are thinking of the WL. The walk was awesome from the Contemporary, but the price is high and it is less expensive then the monorail resorts. My parents are coming and we are paying for their room, so our budget is tighter than normal. The funny thing is my two girls (5 and 3) want to stay at AOA, so we are between a deluxe and a value.

We just did 3 nights at WL after 6 at GF. My son LOVED WL!! I mean, loved it!! The launch was fine to MK, faster than I expected, and the entire place is gorgeous!! My only complaint is that the rooms are kind of on the small side and felt a little dark to me, but it was worth it for everything else. We did have a bunk bed room so maybe that contributed to the small feeling.

The pool was good, geyser a big hit with kiddo, so was the stream leading to it. Basically, we were extremely happy! Funny thing is, I had never considered staying there, it was literally the last (normal non suite or club level) room left for those specific dates. I'm so glad that we got "stuck" with it!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

So if a guest at the Contemporary wants to eat without a reservation nowadays they are having to go for quick service, leaving a space not fit for the number of guests it is getting.

I BELIEVE the deluxe resorts hold a small amount of tables for walk-up guests of that resort. They did a few years ago at least. You might not get into the Cali Grill same-day, but a guest staying in the Contemporary should be able to get into The Wave for dinner.

 

[Tk0021]

We just did 3 nights at WL after 6 at GF. My son LOVED WL!! I mean, loved it!! The launch was fine to MK, faster than I expected, and the entire place is gorgeous!! My only complaint is that the rooms are kind of on the small side and felt a little dark to me, but it was worth it for everything else. We did have a bunk bed room so maybe that contributed to the small feeling.

The pool was good, geyser a big hit with kiddo, so was the stream leading to it. Basically, we were extremely happy! Funny thing is, I had never considered staying there, it was literally the last (normal non suite or club level) room left for those specific dates. I'm so glad that we got "stuck" with it!

Did you take the boat ride to MK from WL? If you have. How long is it and how long did you have to wait for a boat? How was the wait for boat at night on the way from MK to WL? Did you try to take the smaller boat to the Contemporary and walk to MK?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

For our budget we are thinking of the WL. The walk was awesome from the Contemporary, but the price is high and it is less expensive then the monorail resorts. My parents are coming and we are paying for their room, so our budget is tighter than normal. The funny thing is my two girls (5 and 3) want to stay at AOA, so we are between a deluxe and a value.

I'd humbly suggest you consider Animal Kingdom Lodge. A standard view room is often cheaper even than WL, and the resort is absolutely breathtaking. You'll have shorter transportation times to the parks, too.

Did you take the boat ride to MK from WL? If you have. How long is it and how long did you have to wait for a boat? How was the wait for boat at night on the way from MK to WL? Did you try to take the smaller boat to the Contemporary and walk to MK?

The boat is generally no faster or slower than taking a bus from one of the other resorts.