Contemporary - A Building or Garden Building?

[cbleigh]

Going to WDW in January. Visited when I was a teenager and took the monorail to the Contemporary Resort. I always said that if I returned, I wanted to stay there. Now planning a trip with my husband and eight year old daughter. Can not decide between the A Frame original building or the newer Garden building. Do I save money by going Garden or go all the way and stay in main? Is the Garden building a long walk from main for use of restaurants and monorail? Is pool further from main building? Would it be better to stay in Garden and have easy access to pool and beach? Is the parking lot (we will have our car) closer to the Garden Building? Help!

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[enoe01]

Welcome to the boards, you will find alot of great people here with great insight and information! With that being said, my motto is go and go big, spend the extra and stay in the main building. I have heard some people having some issues with the garden wings. Check out the resort reviews on here and you will get a better idea of where you should stay. If it is your first trip back and you are not planning another trip for some time then do it right.

Have a magical stay

Erik

 

[zurgandfriend]

We have stayed at the south garden wing of the Contemporary twice, each time we stayed at the end of the wing that faces bay lake. It was great, a beautiful view of the lake and the water pageant every night. The south garden wing is less expensive than the main building. It was about a 10 minute walk from the end of the wing to the main building. Staying in the wing was better to us to access the pools. There is a parking lot near there but I'm not sure if that is for the convention center or not, we always fly in and don't have to concern ourselves with parking.

I have heard others complain that if you get a room facing the channel that connects Bay lake to Seven Seas Lagoon it can be noisy. I have heard that about the main building near Chef Mickey's as well.

The refurbished rooms at the Contemporary are great in both building, I.m sure you'll enjoy it wherever you stay.

Enjoy!

 

[CatsMeow]

We always stayed in the garden wings (now one wing) when staying @CR. We never really desired to stay in the tower, although I'm sure it is great. The wings were fine. All the rooms at CR are wonderfully spacious and comfortable. We were fortunate to have always been in rooms with lake or garden views. The walk to the main building is not bad unless you are located at the farthest end of the wing. We enjoyed the quiet and relative calmness of the wing building. The other "wing" is now the DVC Bay Lake Tower resort.

 

[Mr.EPCOT]

Garden Wing all the way. Anyone who complains about any of the rooms being too far is silly, the Contemporary is just about the most compact Resort on property. Also, in the A-frame, it's very possible for you to be woken up by Chef Mickey's at 6 AM every morning. I'd say that the Garden Wing is a lot more serene and relaxing, I think much more restful after a long day at the parks. Rooms are exactly the same in both buildings, too.

 

[wolf359]

I've only stayed in the tower, but it was the most amazing experience. It really was like being right in the middle of what a Disney World vacation was meant to be, and if finances allowed, I'd never stay anywhere else.

I think if you're going to stay at the Contemporary, go ahead and get the full experience of staying there.

I'll never forget sitting on my balcony at dawn on a foggy morning, drinking coffee and watching the Magic Kingdom come to life right before me. It was absolutely breathtaking.

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

Definitely the tower, Magic Kingdom view. Go for it - you won't be sorry.

 

[harveyt0206]

This is such a hard decision for us every time we plan a stay at the Contemporary. Hubby and I stayed in a Garden room during our stay in 2009 and it absolutely hooked us for that resort. We loved our room and did not find the walk to be overwhelming at all. In fact, my husband would walk down to the main building every morning to get us coffee from Contemporary Grounds. He was usually back to the room within 15-20 minutes.

Now, we have our trip for September 2011 already booked and we opted for a tower room this time. I do have to say that the comments regarding the noise from Chef Mickey's does give me pause, BUT in the end we both have always dreamed of staying in the actual tower, so we are giving it a shot. If we don't like it then I have no problem with returning to a Garden room. We loved it out there. So, I guess my advice is go with whatever you can comfortable afford and know that either way you will love the rooms.

 

[Saoirse1916]

I'm booked in the Contemporary Garden Wing for November -- thought about the tower but decided on the wing to save money and get away from the noise as well. As and adult I don't care about a short walk to the tower to catch the monorail and when I was little we always stayed there and never seemed to mind either, so I'm hoping my daughter will feel the same way.

 

[Mattyo]

I've stayed in both and I prefer the tower, just for convenience and the fantastic views (some of the best in Disney). However, it is a little noisy whereas the garden rooms are generally much quieter.

I guess it just depends on your preference!