Contemporary Resort Choices

Recently Shelley and I both stayed at Disney’s Contemporary Resort and we thought we’d take this opportunity to compare and contrast our stays. We will take a look at the room accommodations, dining, recreation, convenience, overall experience and whether or not we would choose to stay in the same type of accommodations again.

Rooms

The rooms at Disney’s Contemporary Resort are some of the largest at Walt Disney World as far as standard rooms go at around 430 square feet. I love how spacious these rooms feel! They are nicely laid out with two queen sized beds and a day bed in the majority of the rooms, with a few with a king bed and a day bed.

Betsy: This trip I stayed in the Tower for the first time, which is the A-frame building that the monorail goes through, in a Theme Park View room. I was all the way at the end closest to Chef Mickeys on the 8th floor and had an amazing view of the Magic Kingdom.

Shelley: For my first stay at the Contemporary we got a room in the Garden Wing, which has a totally different feel than the Tower! We had a really nice view of a lawn area and Bay Lake from our window. The rooms were super spacious, well designed, and I especially loved the little touches like the hidden Contemporary shape in the sheer curtains!

 

Dining

Betsy: One of my favorite things about the Contemporary is the amount of dining options you have to choose from. During this stay I took advantage of the quick service location, Contempo Cafe, located on the 4th floor of the Grand Canyon Concourse. I just used it to grab drinks using the resort refillable mug I purchased and a quick snack shortly before midnight. The next morning I met up with a group of friends for the fantastic breakfast buffet at the Wave just off the lobby. If you haven’t done this buffet, you should! It is a great value at less than $20 per person and has an awesome variety. My favorites are the biscuits and gravy, sweet potato pancakes and pecan honey butter, and the multigrain Mickey waffles! Currently, the California Grill, the resort’s signature dining restaurant is under refurbishment until later this year. The other dining options include the pool bar and quick service location, the Sand Bar; Chef Mickey’s, one of the most popular character buffets; and private dining, which is available 24 hours a day.

Shelley: While the Garden Wing is away from the hustle and bustle…it’s away from the hustle and bustle, so it was a little bit of a hike to walk to the tower and then to navigate the busy elevators and escalators to get to the Contempo Cafe for a late dinner. Since traveling to get a snack was a bit of a hike, we found ourselves waiting until we needed to go somewhere to grab a bite to eat.

 

Recreation

Betsy: This stay I didn’t get to use any of the numerous recreation options at the resort. On previous stays I have been swimming in the pools and used the hot tub. I also enjoy watching the movies on the beach or lawn under the stars at night. There are tons of other choices from basic spa and massage services to a marina with parasailing, boat rentals, and fishing.

Shelley: During our stay there was a ton of rain, so we weren’t able to go swimming which Zoe was bummed about! But we have had the opportunity to watch movies on the beach and to take a Fireworks Cruise from the marina which was beyond amazing. There is such a wide variety of recreation options available!

 

Convenience

Betsy: I could not have asked for a better location as far as convenience. I had a fantastic view balanced with proximity to the lobby. It only took a couple of minutes to go up the elevator to my room and walk down the hallway from entering the resort. It was especially nice to be able to quickly run downstairs to grab an almost midnight snack after watching Wishes from my balcony. The morning we went to breakfast at the Wave I pretty much rolled out of bed and threw on clothes and was downstairs within 5 minutes. It was really really nice to be able to have several options very close by in the same building as my room.

Shelley: I really liked how convenient parking was for our building in the Garden Wing, but other than that it was a bit of a walk to get back to the Tower to get to transportation and food. We ended up making the walk several times, which got to be a little old.

 

Overall Experience

Betsy: I will be the first to admit that Disney’s Contemporary Resort is not my favorite resort since the decor isn’t exactly my style. Having said that, I will say that I had one of the best stays during this visit and that’s saying a lot since I’ve stayed at every Disney resort in Florida at least once, if not multiple times. I love the new check in process where the security guard calls ahead by radio to a Cast Member at the lobby entrance. They advised the waiting CM of my arrival with my name and describing my vehicle. When I pulled up to the valet stand, I was greeted by a CM with an ipad who welcomed me by name and let me know my room was ready, which was great at before 10am. I was escorted inside after leaving my keys with the valet in case they needed to move my car, and the greeter waited with me until a front desk CM was available to check me in to my room. I really enjoyed this new way of raising the level of service by adding personalization to the guest arrival process. Everything was so convenient as far as parking, getting to and from the parks, dining nearby and great service. I would highly recommend staying in the Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort to anyone who is looking for a resort with many amenities and conveniences near the Magic Kingdom.

Shelley: While I have always wanted to stay at the Contemporary, I thought that staying in the Garden Wing was a give and take. If it was just Dave and I wanting to get away for the weekend without Zoe to enjoy the resort, I feel like it would have been ideal to stay in the Garden Wing since it is so close to so many recreation options. However, having Zoe with us and having an extra long commute to the Tower proved to be a lot more than we bargained for in our stay. I would definitely stay in the Garden Wing again, but I would really plan out my stay to enjoy more of the recreation at the Contemporary.

 

View of the Grand Canyon Concourse
View of the Grand Canyon Concourse
Chef Mickeys
Chef Mickeys
Spaceship Earth and Wilderness Lodge from the Tower
Spaceship Earth and Wilderness Lodge from the Tower
Entering the Tower room
Entering the Tower room
Vanity and shower area
Vanity and shower area
Toilet room
Toilet room
Coffee maker
Coffee maker
Closet
Closet
Garden Wing hall
Garden Wing hall
Garden Wing room
Garden Wing room
Queen beds
Queen beds
Desk area
Desk area
Towel Mickey
Towel Mickey
Mickey pillow
Mickey pillow
Day bed
Day bed
Tv console
Tv console
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom
Tree of Life and Everest in the distance
Tree of Life and Everest in the distance
Panoramic view
Panoramic view
View from bed
View from bed
Cinderella Castle
Cinderella Castle
Me on my balcony
Me on my balcony
Big Thunder and castle
Big Thunder and castle
Beast's and Prince Eric's castles
Beast’s and Prince Eric’s castles
Monorail and Space Mountain
Monorail and Space Mountain
Magic Kingdom at night
Magic Kingdom at night
Sorcerer castle for the kiss Goodnight
Sorcerer castle for the kiss Goodnight
Laying in bed with a view of the castle
Laying in bed with a view of the castle

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Author: Betsy

Scorpio. Passionate about movies, music, sports, Disney and my friends who are more like my family. Fiercely loyal and competitive. My thoughts are my own.

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