The ALL NEW Disney's Contemporary Resort FAQ with PICTURES! (APR 2009)

[WDWKOOK]

Originally Posted by disneysuncat

Well, I couldn't help myself. I added one more day to our reservation! (because MORE Disney is always good, right?)

Now we are 11/28-12/4 at ASMu, then 12/4-12/11 at Contemporary! (a 6/7 split, 13 nights!)

I'd just as soon have all 13 nights of the trip at the Contemporary, but my finances say stay the first part value. Especially since my initial check-in day is under HOLIDAY pricing!

One question, can you access the DISboards from the Contemporary in-room computer?

Umm... Sorry, the computers are no more.

But, congrats. on adding a day. If you have to do a Value, you're definitely doing your split in the right order. And, it's a good sign that your DF is fiscally responsible.

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Originally Posted by disneysuncat

One question, can you access the DISboards from the Contemporary in-room computer?

As WDWKOOK already said the Contemporary got rid of the in room computers, however if you need to use the internet for something they have a business center which is located on the 1st floor inside the convention center. The cost to use the internet is $10.00 for every 15 minutes and the computers are 1st come 1st serve, so if they are taken then you need to wait. Also I believe their hours are 7:00 AM - 6:00 PM, however I am not 100% sure about their closing time.

[WDWKOOK]

And, all Disney convention resorts offer free WiFi, generally in the lobbies and pool areas. I haven't confirmed this at the CR yet, but I have confirmed with the BC greeter that it is available for free in their lobby/pool area. My assumption is that it's also available at the CR's lobby/pool. At the BC there is a blue binder in the rooms mentioning the free WiFi and its location. Someone at the YC also reported using it for free there as well.

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

We are staying at CR the week after Thanksgiving fulfilling a childhood dream of mine.

I read either early in this thread or another one that there were some long waits for buses. Has anyone who has been there lately had any problems? We have stayed at the All-Stars and POR in the past so long waits are not uncommon for us especially at the closing of parks, but I read that people were waiting at CR like 45 minutes for a bus to come take them to DHS.

We have decided to drive this time. Would you recommend driving over to AK or DHS since we will have our own car?

Thanks for the advice!

[brergnat]

Originally Posted by disneysuncat

One question, can you access the DISboards from the Contemporary in-room computer?

There is NO MORE in-room computer. They took them away earlier this year. Sorry! You'll have to bring your own laptop if you want/need to access internet during your stay. There is internet ACCESS in the rooms, via an ethernet cable. It is NOT free, though. $9.95/24 hours.

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Originally Posted by Smiling Cheshire Cat

We are staying at CR the week after Thanksgiving fulfilling a childhood dream of mine.

I read either early in this thread or another one that there were some long waits for buses. Has anyone who has been there lately had any problems? We have stayed at the All-Stars and POR in the past so long waits are not uncommon for us especially at the closing of parks, but I read that people were waiting at CR like 45 minutes for a bus to come take them to DHS.

We have decided to drive this time. Would you recommend driving over to AK or DHS since we will have our own car?

Thanks for the advice!

The best thing about the Contemporary buses is that they are the 1st location where you will be picked up and dropped off at since they share with the Polynesian, Grand Floridian and sometimes the Wilderness Lodge.

As for wait times WDW claims they have this new program where they can track which bus locations have arrived at the resorts, so you won't see the same location come two times in a row. However in August 2008 while waiting for a bus to Hollywood Studios I saw back to back buses for the Animal Kingdom and the Cast Member standing there marking down what times they arrived and where they were going said that should have been a Hollywood Studoios bus. However usually the wait times for Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom are not that bad, although the buses to and from Downtown Disney seem to take forever.

So in the end each guest will always have a different experience when it comes to wait times for the buses.

[WDWKOOK]

Originally Posted by Smiling Cheshire Cat

We are staying at CR the week after Thanksgiving fulfilling a childhood dream of mine.

I read either early in this thread or another one that there were some long waits for buses. Has anyone who has been there lately had any problems? We have stayed at the All-Stars and POR in the past so long waits are not uncommon for us especially at the closing of parks, but I read that people were waiting at CR like 45 minutes for a bus to come take them to DHS.

We have decided to drive this time. Would you recommend driving over to AK or DHS since we will have our own car?

Thanks for the advice!

Personally, that's what we always do: Drive to DHS, water parks and AK, walkway to MK, boat to FW and Monorail to TTC-Epcot. We're impatient and not too fond of buses so this works out best for us. I'm assuming the bus situation may get worse after Aug. 4th when BLT opens. Many more guests will need bus and monorail access.

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Originally Posted by CR Resort Fan 4 Life

The best thing about the Contemporary buses is that they are the 1st location where you will be picked up and dropped off at since they share with the Polynesian, Grand Floridian and sometimes the Wilderness Lodge.

As for wait times WDW claims they have this new program where they can track which bus locations have arrived at the resorts, so you won't see the same location come two times in a row. However in August 2008 while waiting for a bus to Hollywood Studios I saw back to back buses for the Animal Kingdom and the Cast Member standing there marking down what times they arrived and where they were going said that should have been a Hollywood Studoios bus. However usually the wait times for Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom are not that bad, although the buses to and from Downtown Disney seem to take forever.

So in the end each guest will always have a different experience when it comes to wait times for the buses.

We stayed at POR in March and many times we saw buses coming back to back for the same park and it never seemed to be the one we wanted to go to.

Originally Posted by WDWKOOK

Personally, that's what we always do: Drive to DHS, water parks and AK, walkway to MK, boat to FW and Monorail to TTC-Epcot. We're impatient and not too fond of buses so this works out best for us. I'm assuming the bus situation may get worse after Aug. 4th when BLT opens. Many more guests will need bus and monorail access.

I'm thinking this is what we will do as well. It will especially be nice with a 4-year old and her stroller.

Thanks again for the advice and quick responses.

[disneysuncat]

Originally Posted by WDWKOOK

Umm... Sorry, the computers are no more.

But, congrats. on adding a day. If you have to do a Value, you're definitely doing your split in the right order. And, it's a good sign that your DF is fiscally responsible.

DF? You meant my FIANCE? No no, I meant that my finances (my money!) said otherwise. Goodness, don't give me a fiance! I have enough problems as it is! Besides, my greatest love (other than my daughter) is Mickey Mouse! And I can't make a move on him without upsetting Minnie, so there you go.

Well darn it about the computers, that seemed like a fun perk! I could drag my laptop with me, but I don't NEED to, other than checking in here to report on my stay. I work all day, every day from a computer (from home, yay!) and for me to go that long without one is .....strange. But maybe it's just what I need too, a vacation from computers as well. I think my phone will access DISboards, I don't mess with that feature on it much.

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Originally Posted by Smiling Cheshire Cat

Thanks again for the advice and quick responses.

You're welcome and have a great time staying at the Contemporary.

[Chapter 11]

Originally Posted by CR Resort Fan 4 Life

The best thing about the Contemporary buses is that they are the 1st location where you will be picked up and dropped off at since they share with the Polynesian, Grand Floridian and sometimes the Wilderness Lodge.

As for wait times WDW claims they have this new program where they can track which bus locations have arrived at the resorts, so you won't see the same location come two times in a row. However in August 2008 while waiting for a bus to Hollywood Studios I saw back to back buses for the Animal Kingdom and the Cast Member standing there marking down what times they arrived and where they were going said that should have been a Hollywood Studoios bus. However usually the wait times for Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom are not that bad, although the buses to and from Downtown Disney seem to take forever.

So in the end each guest will always have a different experience when it comes to wait times for the buses.

I think they must be tinkering with the system constantly. We were there last week, and the only time we took a bus was to DHS. We waited about 10 minutes, I would guess, for one to arrive. During that time we saw busses for AK and DTD. As for our bus, it stopped only at the Poly (not at the GF nor at WL), before heading straight to DHS. Interestingly, we also saw two busses that stopped at the bus stop to discharge passengers, but then headed out without picking up. I asked the CM who was standing there about that, and she said that they sometimes do that, when the busses are needed elsewhere. So, as was said previously -- it's a crap shoot.

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Originally Posted by Chapter 11

I think they must be tinkering with the system constantly. We were there last week, and the only time we took a bus was to DHS. We waited about 10 minutes, I would guess, for one to arrive. During that time we saw busses for AK and DTD. As for our bus, it stopped only at the Poly (not at the GF nor at WL), before heading straight to DHS. Interestingly, we also saw two busses that stopped at the bus stop to discharge passengers, but then headed out without picking up. I asked the CM who was standing there about that, and she said that they sometimes do that, when the busses are needed elsewhere. So, as was said previously -- it's a crap shoot.

I should have added in my experience in the mornings only they will either share bus service with the Polynesian or Wilderness Lodge, which has happened. However everytime we have taken a bus back in the afternoon or evening from Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney, the route was Contemporary/Polynesian/Grand Floridian.

[disneysuncat]

I cannot quit tinkering with our reservation. Now we are 9 nights at Contemporary (yay, two more than before!) with my free dining code, 12/4-12/13, then we're going to do just two nights over at ASMusic to finish up our park tickets. Needless to say, my family is delighted that I now have the vast majority of our trip at Contemporary. (and so am I! )

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Originally Posted by disneysuncat

I cannot quit tinkering with our reservation. Now we are 9 nights at Contemporary (yay, two more than before!) with my free dining code, 12/4-12/13, then we're going to do just two nights over at ASMusic to finish up our park tickets. Needless to say, my family is delighted that I now have the vast majority of our trip at Contemporary. (and so am I! )

The more days there the better, so congragulations on adding the two extra days.

[sheltonsluvdisney]

We returned a few days ago from a great week at the World and our first stay at the Contemporary. Prior to our trip, I had been reading a lot of bad reviews on the Contemporary, and I really wrestled with my decision on where to stay. The 4/3 deal allowed us the opportunity to try a deluxe Disney resort and I wanted to make sure that we made a good decision. Thanks to the information on these boards and the encouraging replies to my post regarding my concerns, we went ahead and decided to give the Contemporary a try. I am so glad that we did! We had a wonderful stay and would definitely go back again. We were booked in a garden wing deluxe room, we did not get an upgrade to the tower as others have recently posted, but were very pleased with the room and location. Our only request was for adjoining rooms with my parents, and we were hoping for rooms on the ground floor, we received both. We arrived at the hotel around 1:30 and my parents’ room was ready, with ours to be ready around 3:00. We kind of knew what to expect in the deluxe room from seeing the pictures here on the board, but we were still surprised at how much bigger it was than the standard room. The extra large bathroom with two showers was wonderful and we did not have any trouble with the sinks. The big sitting area was great with a pullout sofa bed that my son and his cousin comfortably made use of a few nights. The king size bed was very comfortable with lots of pillows. We had plenty of storage space; 4 drawers in the TV armoire, closets and drawers in entryway closets and cabinet space under counter nook in entryway for suitcases. We did not know that we received turn-down service with the deluxe room, so that was an extra nice touch for us, and made our stay even more special.

Some of the complaints that I had read about the Contemporary were: unfriendly staff, poor mousekeeping, ducks and droppings in the pools, no theme in the rooms, feeling isolated in the garden wing and slow transportation. We did not experience any of these issues. Every CM that we encountered was friendly and helpful, some more than others, but no one was ever rude to us. The mousekeepers did a great job; we had plenty of toiletries and towels everyday and a few towel animals. The mousekeepers were always friendly and I saw them around the halls at all times of the day, even late at night. We saw ducks around everywhere, but never in the pool, and the pool was always clean. (We loved the waterslide and beach area) I will agree that the décor in the rooms could be found at any hotel, but it was very upscale and relaxing. Exactly what you need when you come back to get refreshed. As far as a theme, you have the monorail going by your door, Chef Mickey’s and wonderful shops, a five minute walk to MK, and you pass through the Magic Kingdom entrance gates to get to the hotel. We felt no lack of Disney. Our location in the garden wing was great and did not feel isolated at all. We were a short stroll away from the tower and the lake, and the pool was right outside of our door. In fact the only complaint that we might have was that the construction fences were blocking our view of the pool area. We were hoping that the construction would be done by the time of our stay, but knew from posts here that it was not, so we were not disappointed. We only had small waits for the monorail, it was crowded at times, but not too bad. The walk to MK was easy and quick and very convenient. We rented a car, so we did not need the buses this trip.

Our other big concerns were the predicted crowd levels and of course the flu. We were surprised and super happy that the crowds were not bad at all. I think that they were better than during our trip last Sept and I would rate them at a 6 or 7 and not the 8’s and 9’s that were predicted. I planned out the trip with Ridemax and TGM plans, but we never really needed them. We knew from past experience and from the tour guides to get to the parks early and use fastpasses. This is what we did and we were able to ride everything we wanted to and to see all the shows that we had planned on. Last year at WDW my brother’s family and my son caught the nasty stomach bug going around, but everyone stayed pretty healthy this year. My mom and I came back with colds/sinus problems, but no fever, and definitely not the flu. Overall we had an excellent trip and can’t wait to go back again!

Here is a link to some photos of our stay:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLan...localeid=en_US