Contemporary or other Deluxe?

[alien_host]

DH wants to stay at the Contemporary for ease to get to the MK. I'm choking at the prices but is it worth it?

It's our first trip with DD (will be 5) so I do want to "go all out" without totally breaking the bank or having to take a second mortgage on the house. ;)

We are thinking 6 or 7 nights with 5.5 or 6.5 days at the parks...

arrival day - do 1/2 day - I'd just hang at the resort but DD will def. want to go to MK...
rest can be full days
departure day - just get ready to check out.

Or maybe one day to just hang at the resort....

For those that stayed at the Contemporary can you see the MK fireworks from the grounds (i.e. if you don't have a MK facing room?).

TIA!

[clc053103]

We just stayed at Bay Lake Towers at the Contemporary- we now won't stay anywhere else. There other resorts with better and more interesting theming, but the ease of transportation makes this our favorite place. Walk to Mk. monorail to ttc to get the epcot, or go to another monorail resort for dinner. Very prompt buses to AK and DHS. Walk to MK bus area to catch a bus to virtually anywhere else. Also we love dinner at California Grill and the Wave, breakfast at the WAve, quick meals at COntempo. CAn't exactly rave about Chef Mickeys but it does have characters! The pool there has lots of activities (games, volleyball, bingo etc).
There is an outdoor deck (off the 4th floor where the walkway to Bay Lake Tower is) where you can view fireworks, also if you dine at Cali Grill there's an observation deck. And with either MK view or Bay Lake view, you see the electric parade from your room.
If cost is an issue you could try a moderate or value, but IMO you spend a lot more time traveling. However, the savings may be worth the extra time on buses.
For deluxe, Wilderness Lodge I think is a bit less expensive and just a boatride from MK. Friends stayed there and loved it, lots of activities at the pool and they never waited more than few minutes to catch the boat.

[firstbaby]

We just stayed at Bay Lake Towers at the Contemporary- we now won't stay anywhere else. There other resorts with better and more interesting theming, but the ease of transportation makes this our favorite place. Walk to Mk. monorail to ttc to get the epcot, or go to another monorail resort for dinner. Very prompt buses to AK and DHS. Walk to MK bus area to catch a bus to virtually anywhere else. Also we love dinner at California Grill and the Wave, breakfast at the WAve, quick meals at COntempo. CAn't exactly rave about Chef Mickeys but it does have characters! The pool there has lots of activities (games, volleyball, bingo etc).
There is an outdoor deck (off the 4th floor where the walkway to Bay Lake Tower is) where you can view fireworks, also if you dine at Cali Grill there's an observation deck. And with either MK view or Bay Lake view, you see the electric parade from your room.
If cost is an issue you could try a moderate or value, but IMO you spend a lot more time traveling. However, the savings may be worth the extra time on buses.
For deluxe, Wilderness Lodge I think is a bit less expensive and just a boatride from MK. Friends stayed there and loved it, lots of activities at the pool and they never waited more than few minutes to catch the boat.


A big "yeah that" to all of it :) We just got back from the Contemporary last night and the ease of getting to the MK could not be beat. And Epcot was super easy too. We went during their free dining and that helped ease the cost of the room for us. We did go with the garden wing standard view so there were no bells and whistles to our room, but it was perfect for what we needed. If you can book during one of their promotions, it could help defray the cost of the trip for you and we felt so spoiled by the location and facilities.

[deenass]

Just a suggestion for your arrival day - we usually fo to the Contemporar and ride the monorail (great way to "see the parks") and then have dinner at Chef Mickey's (which is a character dinner). That way, everyone gets the "magic" of seeing the castle, we get the photo op with Mickey out of the way and we aren't pushing ourselves to enjoy the park on what is usually a tiring / stressful travel day.

You can see the fireworks from the Contemporary, they ahve a "viewing" balcony that you can watch from (we weren't guests of the hotel and were able to watch them there). The music that plays in MK is piped in so you get to ehar that as well as see the fireworks.

[alien_host]

Thanks for the info, I love how two of you just got back and are on here posting!

deenass thanks for the first day tip, that is a really good idea. I was thinking you needed a ticket for the monorail. I'll def. have to consider doing that, although explaining to my then 5 year old that we "can't go in yet" might be an issue ;)

How cool would it be to see the Electric Light Parade from your room?

disboards (so overwheming) folks are saying there might be a promo in May. Has anyone here had luck with booking your trip 6-8 months out and then switching to a promo once it is announced?

Thanks!

[egoldber]

We've stayed Deluxe, Moderate and Value. I think all are fine actually. In some ways the Values and Mods are more convenient (IMO). We stay at the Boardwalk every couple years because we own DVC (Disney timeshare) there. We love the convenience of being able to walk to two parks: Epcot and DHS. Also, my kids fav parks and fireworks are at those 2 parks, so for us that is where we spend the most time.

But when we go not using DVC, we stay at Mods (we've stayed at all 4) and have stayed at Pop Century 3 times. I think the mods and deluxes are fine and the cost savings is incredible vs the Deluxes. I especially like food courts at the mods and values. They are HUGE, with many choices and very convenient.

But we are not huge sit down dinner people, prefer counter service or eating in our rooms. We always say we will spend more time at our resort the next time we go and we seldom do.

We've never stayed at the Contemporary or any MK area resort.

[hez]

We stayed at the Polynesian for two nights in April (the rest of the trip with my aunt & uncle who live up north of Orlando), and loved it. We walked to the transportation center to get to Epcot, and it was two stops on the monorail to MK. We didn't go to other parks, since our trip was more about vacation and less about Disney (if that makes sense), so I can't tell you about the bus service. DD and I went back for naps each day, and it was pretty easy for me to handle the stroller/diaperbag/just-learning-to-toddle toddler on my own since I only had to negotiate the monorail.

It probably helps that the theming reminded us of our honeymoon (Tahiti), but we really enjoyed the atmosphere. We went to the beach at night to watch the MK fireworks-- my kids don't mind the sound (we hear fireworks every night in the summer from a local amusement park), but I could see how it would be a benefit for those whose kids have issues with loud bangs.

I say all this... and we normally stay off-property. I think I'm spoiled now, and won't want to stay anywhere else for the days we go to Disney in the future :)

[las710]

If you want to stay at Bay Lake Towers at the Contemporary, you might consider renting via a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) member to reap some savings. Basically, the DVC is like being a timeshare owner and many of those folks are willing to rent you their "points." I posted about this a few weeks back and included all the details of how to go about doing it. We just did this for an upcoming trip to Disney and got a 2-bd, 2-ba villa with kitchen, living room, etc. at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for $209/night (including taxes) whereas that same room was selling for $650/night + taxes on Disney's Website.

We had inquired about Bay Lake Towers as well, but they were all sold out (we booked about 3-4 months in advance). If you have some time and can plan further ahead, you might be able to score a room there. I agree that the convenience would be awesome and the place looks amazing.

You can find DVC members on disboards.com at http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=7 and on mouseowners.com under the Rent/Trade tab.

Hope that helps : )