Has anyone ever stayed at the Contemporary?

[catnapfan]

We are in the process of planning a WDW trip for June. DH can't make this trip so it will be myself, my mom and DS14. Since DH won't be going I told DS he could choose where we stay. Our past 5 trips have all been to moderate resorts but since Disney extended the 4/3 deal I figured we could splurge on a deluxe this time. DS really wants to stay at the Contemporary. We have visited and eaten here in the past and DS has always loved the place but I'm not really impressed. I miss the themeing of the other resorts.

Has anyone else stayed at the Contemporary? Can you convince me that I will like this resort? We will be staying in a garden wing room so won't have the great MK views from our balconey. I would prefer a Tower room but those are $100 more per night. I am excited about the convenience of the monorail and being able to walk to the MK. Is there anything else that people love about this resort?

[pbhall13]

Last time I stayed there was in 1997 (honeymoon). I was a bit underwhelmed by the decor but I am also not into Modern. But the location was great........and to be honest we were so busy every day that we didn't enjoy the hotel. I know that i hated the pool area (could have been a pool anywhere in the US.....no special feel to it, like most of the other WDW resorts)

Now that all being said, location is great and we did love walking right to MK and having monorail was wonderful. Plus if this is something your son has his heart on it might make it more magical for your trip.....as a kid I would have loved my parents to let me pick my favorite hotel.

Just be prepared for the construction still going on.........

[schaery]

[QUOTE=catnapfan;224969]Has anyone else stayed at the Contemporary? QUOTE]

I've passed through there on the monorail. Does that count?

I think you should go for it.

[Alice28]

I have stayed twice. I LOVE it!!!!

And this was before the remodeling of the rooms- their rooms are GORGEOUS now and get very high ratings from the Unofficial Guide in how nice the rooms are accomodated (best bathrooms!).

OK, first of all, the rooms are huge. I think they are second largest on property. We stayed in the N Garden wing both times (before it was demolished). One time we had a view of the parking lot BUT it had tomorrowland beyond it. We could see the rocket jets and Space Mtn. The other time we faced Bay Lake and it was so PEACEFUL! Oh, how we loved it so! The rooms now have computers in them- awesome! Very nicely appointed, with flat screen TVs, like I said fantastic bathrooms, top of the line linens.

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. You can't even walk to the MK from the Grand Flo! But you can from the CR! Or monorail it. You can take the boat to the WL or Ft Wilderness to go to their restaurants. Monorail to the Poly or GF for their restaurants. And plus the CR has CA Grill, Chef Mickeys and the Wave. Their new food court gets raves!

The shopping is awesome here- I love Bay View Gifts.

Can get to Epcot via the monorail (this does take a transfer at TTC).

Yes, the theming is not as powerful as other resorts, I agree. But to me, the location and the size of the rooms overpower the so-so theming. It does have a large pool with a fun waterslide for the kids. Again, not super themey, but fun. plus they have all the watercraft to rent, parasailing, etc.

[JOLAROCHE]

My son also chose the Contemporary when we let him pick the resort. We went in August and were booked for one of the garden wing rooms. When arriving at the hotel my son asked me if we could stay in the main building. I asked if there was availabligty and how much for an upgrade. I was told there was availability and they did not charge me. Magical moment for us. When we got to our room the bell ho opened the curtains and we had a beautiful view of the castle. This was one of our better trips. We watched the fire works from our room. The pool also has a nice slide the my ds enjoyed. When you leave your room in the morning you can smell and hear Chef Mickeys our favorate restaurant. I fell in love the Contemporary and would definitely stay there again. Now they also have a new restaurant we would like to try the Wave. I also love shopping at this hotel Hope this helps my vote would be to stay there. I liked it better than the Poly which was a surprise to me.

[askomsky]

A good friend of mine (tried to get her to SR, no such luck!) goes at least every year and swears by the Contempory for the reasons Alice and Jo mentioned. She claims "I'm spoiled and refuse to stay OP anywhere else". When asked mainly bc of location, I asked her about the "themes" and she said "That's what the parks are for and if I want to see the hotel themes we just take a ride over there". I know she swears by it.

[catnapfan]

Thanks for everyones input- you all really helped me see this resort in a new light. Unfortunately- the Contemporary doesn't have any rooms available on the 4/3 deal for dates that will work for us. They do have rooms available at full price but I refuse to pay almost $1000 more. So now we are looking at Old Key West or Saratoga Springs. Both have the 4/3 deal available for our dates and an added bonus- you get $100 gift card for staying there. I will be booking by the end of this week, so really need to decide.

[Kittykat]

We stayed there in June of 2006 and enjoyed it but felt it wasn't "us". We had a Bay Lake view which I absolutely LOVED. DH would take the boys down to the (extremely crowded) pool everyday and I would sit on our balcony and watch them. A few times I scored a beach chair around the pool (in the shade) and would nap while they played.

Ease and access to the Magic Kingdom can't be beat.

I loved the decor--but not the bathrooms! We stayed right after they started refurbing the rooms and the new bathrooms had NO storage for any of our things. And the flat bottom sinks were lovely but not very functional.

I'm so glad we stayed once but we've since "downgraded" back to two rooms at the values. I would rather spend extra money on another room to put our DS's in than stay moderate or deluxe--but that's just me. If DH and I went back alone I would do deluxe again in a heartbeat.

You should try it, I really don't think you'd be disappointed!