Stay at the Contemporary?

[SixBits_Slocum]

Our Disney group just booked a stay for Nov 08 at the Contemporary. No one in our group has stayed there before but we are all looking forward to it!
I was wondering if you good people could provide some testimonals, opinions, etc. based on your stay at the resort. Please share the good, the bad and the ugly! I'm just curious as to what we can expect.
Thanks very much!

 

[WDWMUPPET]

I have stayed there 3 times and loved it each time. It is so awesome. The atmosphere and the design are just cool. Never had a problem. Also the California grill on the top floor is excellent.
Have fun

 

[DisneyWood]

We stayed there this past Feb. 2008. We had a tower room w/ the MK view. I thought the view was spectacular, and enjoyed most every night. We stayed there 10 nights in total.

The pool was nice, hotel arcade was great for the children, access to MK by foot or monorail was very nice.

We tried to switch the last few days to the Polynesian or Grand Floridian just to change it up. I don't think that I will stay at the Contemporary again in the near future. I would like to try the other resorts as well. I would definitely recommend staying there though. We had a great time.

 

[Crazy4WDW1]

This is my very fav resort in all of WDW. The rooms are a nice large size and have all been refurbbed. Check out the site that starts with Allearsnet. Deb has some great photos and review of the resort.

 

[Eyorefan]

My mom and I stayed there on our last trip and had a great time. We stayed in the Tower so there was diffenitly that feeling of "being a part of the action" at all times. I have heard some people say it was loud, but I don't think it was. Our room had a view of the MK (and parking lot). The rooms were nice and big and the staff were all very helpful and wonderful. You are one stop away from the TTC and the monorail to Epcot, and a 10 minute walk to the MK.

My only complaint was the Grab and Go, which is their only QS restraunt was very limited as far as menu items go. It was great for breakfest, but when we found ourselves wanting something for dinner one night we eneded up to going to Captin Cooks at the Poly.

 

[BSikor]

I've never stayed there but I have always wanted to. I've always heard good things. I like to stop by the Outer Rim with friends after a long day in the parks and let the parking lot empty out before heading home. Before saying anything about drinking and driving, I would have only one and sit for over and hour and order food.

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

We stayed there our last trip, and it turned me into the biggest resort snob in the world. I don't think I'll ever stay anywhere else again. We had a MK tower room, and it was wonderful being just steps away from the monorial. I love it!

 

[SixBits_Slocum]

Is The Outer Rim still open? That place sounds great!

 

[dvcnut39]

Although we have never stayed there, we are planning to sometime in the near future. Chef Mickey's character breakfast buffet was great. The souvenir shop on the same floor as Chef Mickey's is my favorite store in all of WDW.

 

[westie]

Very nicely centralized for getting places. Very unique design, usually puts a smile on your face when returning. Great pools and restaurants. CM's were very nice as well. Concierge level was great with free morning breakfast and scoring us dinner reservations.

 

[cymbaldiva]

I've never stayed at the Contemporary but I've always dreamed of it ... it's my fantasy resort

Have fun!!!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We stayed at the Contemporary in December for 9 nights. We had a tower MK view room. Being that close to the Magic Kingdom is incredible. The location is by far the biggest perk. I won't go into the negatives we experienced. I hate coming off like I was a big hater because I wasn't and it tends to ruffle the feathers of the die-hard fans on this forum. If you go to www.allearsnet.com and read the reviews for the Contemporary I have a very detailed review posted on the 2nd page that I wrote right after we returned while all was still fresh in my memory. Read reviews. That way you know what others are experiencing over a longer time period.

Have fun and congrats on scoring a great reservation!

 

[cymbaldiva]

We stayed at the Contemporary in December for 9 nights. We had a tower MK view room. Being that close to the Magic Kingdom is incredible. The location is by far the biggest perk. I won't go into the negatives we experienced. I hate coming off like I was a big hater because I wasn't and it tends to ruffle the feathers of the die-hard fans on this forum. If you go to www.allearsnet.com and read the reviews for the Contemporary I have a very detailed review posted on the 2nd page that I wrote right after we returned while all was still fresh in my memory. Read reviews. That way you know what others are experiencing over a longer time period.

I read your review on all ears - thank you so much for directing me to it! I for one really appreciate a review of something Disney that was written without pixie-dusted glasses clouding the reviewers vision.

I still fully intend to stay at the Contemporary (still dreaming!) but it is really nice to read what I actually may encounter so I can have appropriate expectations - It would be so disappointing to go in blindly with sky high hopes and have a long time dream shattered.

Thanks for the dose of reality!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I read your review on all ears - thank you so much for directing me to it! I for one really appreciate a review of something Disney that was written without pixie-dusted glasses clouding the reviewers vision.

I still fully intend to stay at the Contemporary (still dreaming!) but it is really nice to read what I actually may encounter so I can have appropriate expectations - It would be so disappointing to go in blindly with sky high hopes and have a long time dream shattered.

Thanks for the dose of reality!

The Contemporary MK View was my dream-stay, too. I have no regrets having done it. It was fun. I can see us doing it again sometime. We're fascinated by the different resorts so we're trying new things. Our May trip we're staying at POFQ (we've never stayed at a moderate) and our December trip we're booked at Beach Club (we want to see how we like being at Epcot's back door). I still read reviews at all the resorts just to see what people think and experience.

Have fun no matter what and always look for the perks no matter where ya go. There's always something good to be found.

 

[EPCOT.nut]

These were the views from my room - We had a fantastic one night-stay for our 12th anniversary.

Imagine waking up in the morning and standing on the balcony to see this:

 

[cymbaldiva]

I've stayed at POFQ several times ... not lately (it was still Port Orleans when I was last there) - it was my exDH and my fav of the properties we stayed at. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

I have to say, the Contemporary is a good hotel. The rooms are really nice since a recent refurbishment, and the location is second best IMO (the centrally located Beach Club is better). While you are far away from AK, DHS, and the trip to Epcot can feel long, you are a short walk away from MK and you are the first monorail stop coming back from MK. Staying in the tower adds to the hotel's convenience.

During our first trip to the Contemporary (two months ago), we had a major service problem and reservation error that resulted in us being involuntarily downgraded to a Bay Lake view, but in the end we got a full refund for our stay. We're actually giving the Contemporary another try in one week, and this time we're expecting the MK view that we booked. I have high hopes for this stay, and I hope this trip is more magical than our last trip.

 

[mnfootballmommy]

We were there in Dec. (same time as Sweetpee_1993) and loved it. We, fortunately, did not have any of the same issues that her family did. Our only complaint was that the room was cleaned so late in the day that taking DD2.5 (at the time) back to the hotel for a nap was out of the question if we wanted her to nap AND wanted the room cleaned/straightened.

We had a MK view (6th floor) right off of the elevators, so we were dead-center in the resort with great views of MK, GF and the Poly! The room was spacious (excellent since we had a toddler) and we liked having a separate toilet off of the bathroom. Not a ton of storage for hanging/folded clothes, though.

We read a lot of complaints about the sinks and, yes, they are a pain. They are 'flat' so we decided to only use one sink to wash with and to use the other one as 'counter space.' There IS a lot of space under the sinks, but for the stuff we wanted out of DD's reach, we just put it in the assigned 'counter sink!'

Our favorite thing, though? Being able to walk to MK! It was SO nice not having to fight crowds to get on any kind of transportation! Also, if we didn't want to wait for a bus at the resort, we just walked over to the bus lines at MK--it was often faster that way! Having the monorail just two floors down was probably our second favorite thing! SO convenient and such a time saver!

We LOVED our stay there, but we also loved our stay at POP, so maybe our love of Disney just makes us happy where ever we happen to be staying!:sohappy: