Contemporary-what gives?

[CarolS]

I have to admit, I stayed at the Contemporary years ago and did not care for it much. On our most recent trip we stayed at what use to be my favorite resort, POR, and learned a whole lot about how much my family has changed in what we like. That being said I'm willing to give the Contemporary another try and was actually excited about the possibility of going there again until I saw the prices.

Years ago when we had stayed you could get a tower room for far less (I'm taking discounts into consideration) then a room at the Poly. Now it's more. Not only that but I punched in different dates for 2013 and was often left with there being only garden rooms available or tower rooms, not both. Anyone know the reason for this? Has it grown in popularity? Is it because there are less rooms available now that one of the wings has been knocked down to make way for the DVC? I know when we stayed there one of the issues I had was access to quick service food but they addressed that so maybe that has to do with it?

Also, last time we stayed in a tower room and I'm considering a Garden Wing/Standard view this time. Can anyone give me their take on them?

Thank you!

[BrerGnat]

Well, I can tell you that the CR Tower rooms have always been more than Poly Garden view rooms. We have stayed at the CR several times, and in pricing it out beforehand, CR was always more expensive in the Tower than Poly. Poly Theme Park/Lagoon view tends to be more expensive than CR Tower. CR Tower Bay Lake View is less than Magic Kingdom view, etc. Just depends, really.

I have stayed in the Garden wing twice. After staying in the Tower, I'd not choose the Garden wing again, personally. As far as I'm concerned, the major lure of the CR tower is the convenience of having everything RIGHT THERE and you lose that when you have to walk outdoors, down the steps, over to the Garden Wing, then down the long hallways there, etc. There is nothing wrong with the CR Garden Wing rooms except the lack of balcony. That, and the separation from the main building accounts for the lower price. They are very convenient to the pool, beach, and marina, so some people prefer the Garden Wing for those reasons.

Now, there aren't many Garden Wing rooms at CR, so they do book fast. They generally go very quickly once Disney applies any sort of discount code to them, as it ends up being the best value on the monorail line. For that reason, it can be a great deal.

In addition, CR is a huge convention resort, so often there is no availability or very limited availability due to conferences/conventions booking out huge blocks of rooms.

I, personally, love the CR. However, for the price, I prefer to spend a bit less per night and stay at the Wilderness Lodge. If I stay in CR again, it will have to be either in the Tower or at BLT in a villa.

[Gator]

If normal rooms at the Poly are cheaper than Tower at the Contemporary, I'd go with the Poly. The hawaiian feeling is great, and it's just as long of a walk to the monorail.

[DisneyCrazy]

it because there are less rooms available now that one of the wings has been knocked down to make way for the DVC? I know when we stayed there one of the issues I had was access to quick service food but they addressed that so maybe that has to do with it?.

Yes, I think this is one of the main reasons. When the north wing was demolished, that took out about 325 rooms. Also, the Contemporary became popular again after the major room rehab in 2008-2009. At one time, I stayed at the CR, tower room, just about every trip. But its now too expensive for me. The CR used to be one of the easier resorts to book with a discount. Many times the CR is not included with discounts anymore. I noticed in the last round of discounts that the tower magic kingdom view rooms were not included.

[kg00616]

I love CR and stayed in one of the larger corner rooms in the Garden Wing last time. It was beautiful. I know it had an upgraded bathroom but I thought the decor was awesome. I've heard that lots of people don't like the CR because of the decor but I loved it. We had two windows, one that overlooked the lake (and sunsets!) and the other that overlooked the pool. I would stay there again in a heartbeat.

[CarolS]

Thank you all for your responses!

In 2003 we stayed there and took advantage ofthe "stay for 7 nights for the price of 4" fabulous deal. At the time I had booked the Poly but changed last minute because the Contemporary Tower room wa $400 less for our weeks stay. At that time they would always offer deep discounts on the CR and it was seldom booked. This was also back in the day when a MK view was the same price as a lake view and you merely had to make a request of your preference. I requested a lower floor MK view and got just that so I know that yes it was definitely cheaper back then to stay in a tower room as opposed to a standard (cheapest) room at the Poly. I really hadn't looked into the CR since then so I guess I was just really surprised and dissapointed that there are so little discounts and it's gotten so expensive. I will say though that I guess I get it. When we stayed there the room were pretty garish and all the things I didn't like seemed to have been addressed. Oh well guess we will look at other resorts for our next trip. Thanks again!!!