Disney's CONTEMPORARY RESORT Information & Questions

[akclayton]

Hi! Can someone give me ideas on things we can do at the contemporary during our "resort day"?

We won't be utilizing the pools.

At Poly we walked around the grounds, sat on the beach, roasted marshmallows, and rented a small water craft.

I know that we can also rent a boat at CR, but am not familiar with anything else.. Any tips would be appreciated!

Staying at CR for the first time in December but we are familiar with WL and Ft Wilderness. I would suggest taking the boat from CR, head to Ft Wilderness. They have a neat area around the boat dock area. Plus, you can rent a bike and there's a good trail between there and WL that is nice to ride.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Playing catch-up after DD's graduation and vacation...Happy trips and planning to everyone!​

We just returned home last night from our trip. We stayed in a garden view room in the garden wing (#5310) for 4 nights as part of a triple split stay. It was the last leg of our trip and felt so luxurious when coming from CBR and POR, our first two legs. We had stayed in a tower room 2 years ago, but garden wing was just as nice, and like most people say, pretty peaceful and quiet. The TVs have been upgraded since 2 years ago, ours was huge! And we did receive those complimentary toiletries as seen in the pictures above. The 1L water bottles were a really nice addition, too. Out of the 4 nights, we received 1 bottle twice, 2 bottles once, and one day they didn't give us any.

We love the Contemporary and would definitely stay again if the budget allows. I've felt very fortunate to have stayed here for 2 trips in a row!

Thank you for posting about your stay and reporting about the toiletries/water, @ErinF. I hope you get to book a return trip soon

Anyone know where I can find a current list of best transportation options to and from BLT?

I also have information in the TRANSPORTATION chapter of this thread.

This might only help a very few people, but I had some tips on driving in (it was my first time).

- Even if you've checked in on-line, you will not have magic band access to the parking lot... yet. You have to use the left lane at the guard shack where you'll be given a parking pass for the length of your stay. Make sure it has your name and the right checkout date on it. He tried to give me the wrong one, first.

- If you approach the hotel through the Main Disney World Gate from the south, stay to the right for the resorts (the signs are pretty clear about this). Entering from this direction, you'll be able to turn right, into the parking lot at CR.

- If you approach from the North (the "back way") and you take the "clockwise" route around the Magic Kingdom, on World Drive, directly to the CR, you'll need to turn left into the CR parking lot - but a left turn is not allowed here. You may be better off taking the "counter-clockwise" route around the Magic Kingdom or you'll need to find a spot to turn around - we used the Wilderness Lodge Cast Member driveway for this )

We stayed 9 nights in Bay Lake Tower. It was fantastic in just about any way I can think of. One thing I thought was exceptional was how quiet it was. In our rooms, you couldn't hear another soul on the premises. This feature probably benefited the other guests more than us - we had a 2 year old with us.

Great information, @STLstone, which I'm going to add to the TRANSPORTATION chapter of the thread.

Only matters if you are staying TPV in the Tower.

You're right that it matters most there, but we also request it for BLV because we prefer our beds not face towards BLT. We prefer they face toward FW, Epcot and WL. Not sure why they'd have it as a GW request other than the OCI choices have nothing to do with the category you book

For those at CR/BLT, have they put up fencing along the small beach areas ?

Bumping your question...

Hi @WDWKOOK can you add me to the log-o-rail please?
We are thrilled to be staying in CR, garden wing, garden view with FD 11/27-12/2. Thanks for all of the great info on this thread!

Congratulations on booking, @rere101399. I'd be happy to add your dates.

Hi, @WDWKOOK please add me to the log.
We are going 9/4 - 9/7 CR GW
Our first time at this resort. Will be celebrating my birthday!!!
Thanks

What a great way to celebrate and I'll log your dates

Didn't want to jinx it until it was booked, but after a little 8 AM website stress we are set. January 20-25, 2017 at BLT. Have been looking forward to returning to the Contemporary for 15 years!

No jinxing around here, it's a done deal! I'll add your dates to the Log-o-Rail.

For those who stayed in both BLT and CR... does BLT feel like the "contemporary experience"?

In some respects, it may have even felt more contemporary. The outdoor area in the back is very contemporary and so is the lobby. There's much less hustle and bustle compared with CR. We stayed in a one bedroom which is quite large and the floor to ceiling windows offer amazing views.

Ok..... I'll answer my own question, in case anyone else is interested. We just returned from a two night CL stay at CR, and yes they do turn-down with chocolates and do have cordials in the lounge in the evening. Unlike most of the other CL lounges, the wine, beer and cordials were self-serve. We stayed CL at the CR about a year ago, and the experience this time was excellent and pretty much identical to last year, including being greeted curbside when we arrived (we drove), and escorted up to the lounge to check in.

I had multi-quoted your question to bump it, but now I don't need to. Thank you for letting everyone know it hasn't yet been discontinued for those staying CL.

Contemp Cafe has a microwave.

curious what these look like?

Very excited - for our September trip, I upgraded from a garden wing garden view to a tower TPV with the back-to-school discount! I decided the extra price was worth it for me and my parents, they are celebrating their 45th anniversary - they got married the same year as the Contemporary opened!

What a wonderful upgrade and special anniversary! You're obviously their favorite child

 

[glvsav37]

Can you add us to the list? Getting to WDW on Aug 2 but not checking into BLT until Aug 6. After many BLT stays, we are stepping outside our bubble and hanging at AKL for the first few days of the trip. We have officially outgrown the BLT studio and will now be in a 1 bdrm. Also part of why the ALK stay, we're saving a few points by staying studio there—while we were fresh and still actually like being around each other. Save the bigger room for when we are hot, tired and cranky lol.

So Aug 6-14 for us. 1 Bdrm Standard view. Thanks!! Can't wait to be 'home'

 

[lilmomma00]

sorry for the confusion. Im curious to see what the vintage posters look like that someone posted about a few pages back.

 

[WDW Freak]

For those at CR/BLT, have they put up fencing along the small beach areas ?

They have fencing up along the water of the beach by the CR pool and signs saying the beach is closed.

 

[tinkerbellybutton]

I am sorry if this has been posted (205 pages is a lot to look through). We are staying at Bay Lake Tower in Feb. I have read that BLT rooms are getting a soft rehab. Does anyone know if this has started, and when all rooms are expected to be finished? Also, can anyone direct me to pictures of the new rooms (if this has even started yet). Thanks so much!

 

[STLstone]

I am sorry if this has been posted (205 pages is a lot to look through). We are staying at Bay Lake Tower in Feb. I have read that BLT rooms are getting a soft rehab. Does anyone know if this has started, and when all rooms are expected to be finished? Also, can anyone direct me to pictures of the new rooms (if this has even started yet). Thanks so much!

A few months ago, before our stay, when we received the "warning letter" about the rehab, the CM on the phone told us the "soft rehab" amounted to replacing/cleaning all the carpets and drapes. I don't know if I totally believe that, but we stayed on the 5th floor and I never heard a single sound of any kind - let alone construction. There wasn't any dust in the air anywhere, either. We stayed the first 2 weeks of June.

I do not know what the rehab looks like. I can't believe there is anything major to update with such a new property.

 

[HatboxHaint]

Anyone have any advice on when to leave the BLT pool area to watch MNSSHP fireworks and where to watch them from?

 

[gluestickgirl]

Just got back from a quick weekend + our first Contemporary stay. Absolutely worth it. =) Loved the MK access, and really can't complain about this view....

 

[Skywise]

Just got back from a quick weekend + our first Contemporary stay. Absolutely worth it. =) Loved the MK access, and really can't complain about this view....

Most expensive parking lot view in the world!

 

[gluestickgirl]

Most expensive parking lot view in the world!

Somehow it's easy not to notice the parking lot.

 

[PlanningForTheFamily]

We're officially booked at Bay Lake Tower 1/28 to 2/3! So excited!! This will be our first family trip. We were originally planning to stay in a suite at Art of Animation, but when I found out about renting DVC points and did the math...we decided it was worth it to say at BLT instead.

 

[STLstone]

We're officially booked at Bay Lake Tower 1/28 to 2/3! So excited!! This will be our first family trip. We were originally planning to stay in a suite at Art of Animation, but when I found out about renting DVC points and did the math...we decided it was worth it to say at BLT instead.

Welp, I hope you weren't too fond of the idea of AoA, because you'll never want to try it after you see the convenience and luxury of BLT!

 

[jcjen519]

Sorry to change our dates! We will be in DC end of October and into early November so we have decided to do our next Disney trip at the end of January.

We will be in an atrium club tpv room from 1/26-2/2

 

[WDWKOOK]

A tad late with this 6/13 news:

Bay Lake Tower Testing Valet Parking and Magical Express May be Coming Soon to BLT​

 

[monorailrabbit]

We just booked our first stay at CP for 10/01/17!!! I've wanted to stay in this resort ever since I was little! The monorail was always my favorite, so this will basically be the greatest thing ever! We booked tower, and are hoping if budge allows further on, we can upgrade to MK view. I've just started going through the thread and love all the info so far!! I'll try to hold off on most questions until I've read through things!

Edited to add: I do have a question I haven't found the answer to yet that's kind of bugging me - I know we can walk home if we are at a late EMH from MK, but if the monorail stops running one hour after the park closes (regular hours), what happens if we are at EMH late at Epcot? From what I understand there is no bus... so how would that work?

 

[HatboxHaint]

A tad late with this 6/13 news:

Bay Lake Tower Testing Valet Parking and Magical Express May be Coming Soon to BLT​

With current magical express, do you schlep your luggage over to BLT or is that a bell services function?

 

[lauradenise4779]

I'm planning a trip next June for my daughter's graduation trip. We've never stayed at the Contemporary before. Because of cost, I was thinking about a Garden Wing room. From what I understand, there are Standard View and Garden View rooms in the Garden Wing. Is there a map that shows which rooms are standard view and which are garden view? Are some closer to the tower?

 

[CMNJ]

I'm planning a trip next June for my daughter's graduation trip. We've never stayed at the Contemporary before. Because of cost, I was thinking about a Garden Wing room. From what I understand, there are Standard View and Garden View rooms in the Garden Wing. Is there a map that shows which rooms are standard view and which are garden view? Are some closer to the tower?

I think the whole side of the garden wing that faces the parking lot/convention center are standard view-some of those would be close to the tower. We literally were all the way down the other end near the canal where the boat from WL goes through to MK and we had a standard view.

 

[drdrowsy]

we rented points for 2 lake view studios at BLT! Are there adjoining rooms available?