Disney's CONTEMPORARY RESORT Information & Questions

[RunWI1265]

Just returned from a split stay Dolphin then Contemporary Garden Wing (deluxe the elbow room). Me, husband, 4yo and 2.5yo (great sleepers at home). Our setup at the Dolphin was a double room connected to a King and it was an absolute circus with our 2.5yo. She would not stay in her bed. Kept climbing into her brothers bed and having a party...running around both rooms etc. It was a nightmare. We ended up having my husband and daughter sleep in the doubles and my son and I in the king. It was clear the two kids could not be in the same room with each other if anyone was going to sleep. So when we transferred to the Contemporary aka a shared sleeping space we were not looking forward to it. Got to our room around after 4 and tried to get the kids to nap and it wasn’t happening. My husband and I were so defeated to the point I was looking to switch our flights home early or to book another room to separate the kids. You know how people say at the end of the day your kids will sleep anywhere they’ll be so tired? Not true with my daughter!! And she rallied her brother to join the party. My husband called down to the front desk asking if there was connecting rooms or any separate room we could book, basically anywhere on Disney property. Anything with a door to create separation. The CM must have heard the desperation in his voice because she offered us a hospitality suite (for what we considered a small extra nightly fee for what it was). It was amazing! Took some pics, hopefully I attach them correctly. We were all able to sleep, but wow this was not something I prepared for. It was so stressful and we are so grateful to the CM who helped us.

 

[mickey916]

What a wonderful resolution to your stressful situation!

 

[trishadono]

Just returned from a split stay Dolphin then Contemporary Garden Wing (deluxe the elbow room). Me, husband, 4yo and 2.5yo (great sleepers at home). Our setup at the Dolphin was a double room connected to a King and it was an absolute circus with our 2.5yo. She would not stay in her bed. Kept climbing into her brothers bed and having a party...running around both rooms etc. It was a nightmare. We ended up having my husband and daughter sleep in the doubles and my son and I in the king. It was clear the two kids could not be in the same room with each other if anyone was going to sleep. So when we transferred to the Contemporary aka a shared sleeping space we were not looking forward to it. Got to our room around after 4 and tried to get the kids to nap and it wasn’t happening. My husband and I were so defeated to the point I was looking to switch our flights home early or to book another room to separate the kids. You know how people say at the end of the day your kids will sleep anywhere they’ll be so tired? Not true with my daughter!! And she rallied her brother to join the party. My husband called down to the front desk asking if there was connecting rooms or any separate room we could book, basically anywhere on Disney property. Anything with a door to create separation. The CM must have heard the desperation in his voice because she offered us a hospitality suite (for what we considered a small extra nightly fee for what it was). It was amazing! Took some pics, hopefully I attach them correctly. We were all able to sleep, but wow this was not something I prepared for. It was so stressful and we are so grateful to the CM who helped us.
View attachment 576125View attachment 576126View attachment 576127View attachment 576128View attachment 576129View attachment 576130

Sorry I am laughing! My kids could not sleep together either. FOR YEARS we did me and dd and dh with ds. Little ds was a nightmare too.

I also have stayed in that HS. I loved having 3 entrances !

Oh another trick was to put youngest to bed 1st and sneak out the older one for a night swim. We dd and I got back both guys were sound asleep and us girls got a nice night swim! Well for her age 7p was night TEEHEE.

 

[Frozen2014]

The major difference is Price or a balcony if you must have a balcony those are the key differences in the tower.

The Garden wing is much quieter with less people milling about. The rooms are the same size with the same in-room features. The Standard view in the Garden wing is close to the parking lot but you have a great view of the two monorail lines and Monorails gliding by your window.

No balconies in the Garden wing and it is only 3 stories tall with the 2nd and 3rd floor only having a railing at a sliding door. Some Guests complain about the low ceiling in the Garden wing vs the large open Atrium in the Tower.

Dave

Thanks for the reply. I'm putting together a pro and con list. Not sure if the tower is worth the additional $1300. Quiet and not having to deal with elevators are pros, but I've also just read that you feel disconnected and the rooms aren't as in good shape. I'm guessing that Disney hasn't release what rooms are getting renovated? As for the view, a parking lot view doesn't sound very nice. Then again, I can't see us spending too much time in the room anyways so not sure a balcony is worth the premium. (Seeing fireworks from the room would be amazing but that is $1800 more for Tower Them Park view)
Are the Garden View rooms much further to the monorail , MK and restaurants compared to the tower?

 

[Eastern]

Also keep checking as guest plans change all the time and some guests have booked multiple resorts for the same period until they make a final decision. "You Know Who You Are"...

In fairness, Disney has (many) rooms booked that are CL and has given no indication when CL will return, or more importantly, what their remedy will be if it is not in service. I have read various reports of people being able to stay in the CL room without CL with an adjusted price, being told they will be relocated 'somewhere else' in the resort at an adjusted price, or being reassigned resorts. At this price point, people want to know in advance what their options will be, or they will try to preserve their options in a way that Disney allows. I don't think anyone wants to be holding multiple reservations for any length of time; it is stressful in its own way.

 

[Eastern]

The one deal breaker may be the bathroom door. We had that in a hotel once in NYC and really disliked it. Wonder why they would do such a design.

I had a door like this, I think it was a W Hotel. It was fuzzy glass so you couldn't see detail but you could see the person moving around inside. Probably for extra daylight but I really didn't like it. I felt like I had no privacy! Give me a solid door.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

Not sure why the your mind is boggled.

It is an extremely rare infection and always has been. It was not the reason for the closure of River Country or the change in swimming in the lakes. River Country was a victim of the new "Water Park" Typhoon Lagoon and 9/11 in 2001 with the stop in vacation travel.

Just another Urban legend about WDW.

Naegleria fowleri infections are rare*. In the 10 years from 2010 to 2019, 34 infections were reported in the U.S. Of those cases, 30 people were infected by recreational water, 3 people were infected after performing nasal irrigation using contaminated tap water, and 1 person was infected by contaminated tap water used on a backyard slip-n-slide.

source: https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/general.html

Dave

Actually thinking gators... not sure where you got bacteria from my post. I've always been told don't go in water in FL. Either way, it's a neat picture and certainly an experience that people remember fondly!

 

[olive]

The CM must have heard the desperation in his voice because she offered us a hospitality suite (for what we considered a small extra nightly fee for what it was). It was amazing! Took some pics, hopefully I attach them correctly. We were all able to sleep, but wow this was not something I prepared for. It was so stressful and we are so grateful to the CM who helped us.
View attachment 576125View attachment 576126View attachment 576127View attachment 576128View attachment 576129View attachment 576130

That is incredible! What an amazing story.

 

[RunWI1265]

Sorry I am laughing! My kids could not sleep together either. FOR YEARS we did me and dd and dh with ds. Little ds was a nightmare too.

I also have stayed in that HS. I loved having 3 entrances !

Oh another trick was to put youngest to bed 1st and sneak out the older one for a night swim. We dd and I got back both guys were sound asleep and us girls got a nice night swim! Well for her age 7p was night TEEHEE.

we eventually found our groove and put the youngest to bed in the bedroom while the other parent and 4yo closed MK. I honestly think I aged 100 years and sprouted several grays after that. Haha! I can laugh now but in the moment all I could think about was how important sleep is for these types of trips!

 

[moorish]

Does anyone know at what time in the morning you can start mobile ordering breakfast at The Wave to try and get the first window after they open at 7:30?

We'd love to get breakfast and eat it in our room but also want to make opening at MK in the morning (which is currently officially 9:00/unofficially 8:15 - if that moves earlier to 8:00/7:15, we'd skip ordering from The Wave).

 

[Jennyonecoin]

Does anyone know at what time in the morning you can start mobile ordering breakfast at The Wave to try and get the first window after they open at 7:30?

We'd love to get breakfast and eat it in our room but also want to make opening at MK in the morning (which is currently officially 9:00/unofficially 8:15 - if that moves earlier to 8:00/7:15, we'd skip ordering from The Wave).

Great question. I hadn’t even thought of that. We are also wanting to do wave to go on one or two mornings, instead of contempo. Never thought we might not have time. We are rope droppers, too

 

[trishadono]

we eventually found our groove and put the youngest to bed in the bedroom while the other parent and 4yo closed MK. I honestly think I aged 100 years and sprouted several grays after that. Haha! I can laugh now but in the moment all I could think about was how important sleep is for these types of trips!

Mine are 24, 26. Those were the BEST days! Enjoy! No sleep and all lol , you’ll forget about THAT with time.

 

[Katie1174]

We were looking forward to our Contemporary stay after being at the Grand Floridian for years As we decided to try something different. The first night was fine but not without some minor problems, the sliding glass door was broken and they put us in a different room from the one they said we were getting when we checked in and our room wasnt ready until 4:45pm(we checked in at 9:30am)
Our 2nd night was horrible. We were in our room around 9pm, needed to get up early for HS the next morning and we start hearing constant running in the hallway, shouting, loud talking and it went on for about an hour before my DH stuck his head outside the door to see about 20 little girls running back and forth between unconnected rooms, screaming, talking, no masks on etc. He asked them to please be quiet as other guests were trying to sleep. No adult was with any of them! They looked at him and disappeared back into their room only to start again about 10 minutes later. The people next door called security but it appears the girls were told to make themselves “disappear” if they heard or saw someone coming because they werent doing it when he knocked on their door and it went unresolved. Around 11pm, I stuck my head out and asked them to quiet down again. It didnt actually stop though until 11:45 pm when the adults came back from wherever the heck they were. I cant believe they left small girls to govern themselves but apparently they did. My DH said he wasnt spending a single night more under those conditions. We went to the front desk the next day and ended up talking to the manager Brenna. She agreed that the situation was unacceptable. She said that some people must have booked the room separately and not through the cheerleading event planners. We asked that they either patrol the hallway better all night or please move us(i even told them i would happily pay for an upgrade)
She said they were booked and would have Alan call us and find us a different room on property. He called a short time later with a GF Lagoon view(which turned out to be basically a theme park view in Conch Key,( one of favorite buildings actually)and the price difference was waived. They paid for our taxi over (we packed in like 10 minutes, we were so anxious to be out of there) and our room was ready when we arrived there.
The minute we stepped through the door of the GF, we immediately felt relaxed and our stress melted away. My hubby said he is now sticking with the GF from now on. And Brenna and Alan restored his faith in Disney because they made it great for us. We happily enjoyed our other 7 nights in peace. And for Disney its a win because even though we were almost always Lagoon view previously, he now wants to move to Theme Park view.

 

[trishadono]

We were looking forward to our Contemporary stay after being at the Grand Floridian for years As we decided to try something different. The first night was fine but not without some minor problems, the sliding glass door was broken and they put us in a different room from the one they said we were getting when we checked in and our room wasnt ready until 4:45pm(we checked in at 9:30am)
Our 2nd night was horrible. We were in our room around 9pm, needed to get up early for HS the next morning and we start hearing constant running in the hallway, shouting, loud talking and it went on for about an hour before my DH stuck his head outside the door to see about 20 little girls running back and forth between unconnected rooms, screaming, talking, no masks on etc. He asked them to please be quiet as other guests were trying to sleep. No adult was with any of them! They looked at him and disappeared back into their room only to start again about 10 minutes later. The people next door called security but it appears the girls were told to make themselves “disappear” if they heard or saw someone coming because they werent doing it when he knocked on their door and it went unresolved. Around 11pm, I stuck my head out and asked them to quiet down again. It didnt actually stop though until 11:45 pm when the adults came back from wherever the heck they were. I cant believe they left small girls to govern themselves but apparently they did. My DH said he wasnt spending a single night more under those conditions. We went to the front desk the next day and ended up talking to the manager Brenna. She agreed that the situation was unacceptable. She said that some people must have booked the room separately and not through the cheerleading event planners. We asked that they either patrol the hallway better all night or please move us(i even told them i would happily pay for an upgrade)
She said they were booked and would have Alan call us and find us a different room on property. He called a short time later with a GF Lagoon view(which turned out to be basically a theme park view in Conch Key,( one of favorite buildings actually)and the price difference was waived. They paid for our taxi over (we packed in like 10 minutes, we were so anxious to be out of there) and our room was ready when we arrived there.
The minute we stepped through the door of the GF, we immediately felt relaxed and our stress melted away. My hubby said he is now sticking with the GF from now on. And Brenna and Alan restored his faith in Disney because they made it great for us. We happily enjoyed our other 7 nights in peace. And for Disney its a win because even though we were almost always Lagoon view previously, he now wants to move to Theme Park view.

Yikes! I have stayed at CR many times and it’s generally very quiet. Sad how one family or group can ruin a nice vacation for so many.

Glad GF worked out for you.

 

[JoanneAZ]

Does anyone know at what time in the morning you can start mobile ordering breakfast at The Wave to try and get the first window after they open at 7:30?

We'd love to get breakfast and eat it in our room but also want to make opening at MK in the morning (which is currently officially 9:00/unofficially 8:15 - if that moves earlier to 8:00/7:15, we'd skip ordering from The Wave).

I’m not sure about the Wave to go but it has the same opening time as the Contempo Cafe. I was able to place an order to go from the Contempo at 3:30 AM for a 7:00 AM pick up time. I went down around 6:45 AM and clicked “make my food” and it was ready right after 7:00. I hope this helps.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

FYI, Contempo Cafe opens at 7am, The Wave is 7:30am. But as PP said you can place the mobile order/select your time anytime that AM, even before it’s open. The first arrival window for The Wave To Go is 7:30-8am. To me, that’s runs the risk of being very tight if MK rope drop is your plan.

 

[Jennyonecoin]

FYI, Contempo Cafe opens at 7am, The Wave is 7:30am. But as PP said you can place the mobile order/select your time anytime that AM, even before it’s open. The first arrival window for The Wave To Go is 7:30-8am. To me, that’s runs the risk of being very tight if MK rope drop is your plan.

Wry helpful. Thanks!

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

We were looking forward to our Contemporary stay after being at the Grand Floridian for years As we decided to try something different. The first night was fine but not without some minor problems, the sliding glass door was broken and they put us in a different room from the one they said we were getting when we checked in and our room wasnt ready until 4:45pm(we checked in at 9:30am)
Our 2nd night was horrible. We were in our room around 9pm, needed to get up early for HS the next morning and we start hearing constant running in the hallway, shouting, loud talking and it went on for about an hour before my DH stuck his head outside the door to see about 20 little girls running back and forth between unconnected rooms, screaming, talking, no masks on etc. He asked them to please be quiet as other guests were trying to sleep. No adult was with any of them! They looked at him and disappeared back into their room only to start again about 10 minutes later. The people next door called security but it appears the girls were told to make themselves “disappear” if they heard or saw someone coming because they werent doing it when he knocked on their door and it went unresolved. Around 11pm, I stuck my head out and asked them to quiet down again. It didnt actually stop though until 11:45 pm when the adults came back from wherever the heck they were. I cant believe they left small girls to govern themselves but apparently they did. My DH said he wasnt spending a single night more under those conditions. We went to the front desk the next day and ended up talking to the manager Brenna. She agreed that the situation was unacceptable. She said that some people must have booked the room separately and not through the cheerleading event planners. We asked that they either patrol the hallway better all night or please move us(i even told them i would happily pay for an upgrade)
She said they were booked and would have Alan call us and find us a different room on property. He called a short time later with a GF Lagoon view(which turned out to be basically a theme park view in Conch Key,( one of favorite buildings actually)and the price difference was waived. They paid for our taxi over (we packed in like 10 minutes, we were so anxious to be out of there) and our room was ready when we arrived there.
The minute we stepped through the door of the GF, we immediately felt relaxed and our stress melted away. My hubby said he is now sticking with the GF from now on. And Brenna and Alan restored his faith in Disney because they made it great for us. We happily enjoyed our other 7 nights in peace. And for Disney its a win because even though we were almost always Lagoon view previously, he now wants to move to Theme Park view.

We had something very similar happen to us on our very first WDW trip which was also at the CR in the garden wing. On our last night, our new neighbors moved in and MUST have left their children unsupervised for hours. They were screaming and what sounded like jumping off furniture for hours. We called security around midnight and they came and knocked on the door. It stopped for a few minutes but started up again a few minutes later. It finally stopped around 1:30am when the kids either passed out or the parents finally came back. That was such a tiring travel day as we were exhausted! If it had not been our last night at WDW, we, too, would have asked to be moved!!

 

[Frozen2014]

That sucks...Seems like luck of the draw as you never know the families around you.

On a different note....anyone know if they will be renovating the Garden Wing rooms? Or just the Main Tower? And what are others veiws on Garden Wing vs Main Tower? Leaning towards Main Tower just to be in the hub of everything but it's also quite a bit more.

 

[moorish]

FYI, Contempo Cafe opens at 7am, The Wave is 7:30am. But as PP said you can place the mobile order/select your time anytime that AM, even before it’s open. The first arrival window for The Wave To Go is 7:30-8am. To me, that’s runs the risk of being very tight if MK rope drop is your plan.

Thanks! Very helpful.