Disneyworld Contemporary Hotel

Parent Cafe
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<p>“Ah, Silpat, we speak the same language! It’s been very difficult in this thread not to post about the CR and the YC and whether to go for EMH.” </p>

<p>Missypie, yeah, “ADRs” sort of slipped out. I think that I was so happy to see a number of positive replies, instead of the WDW bashing I’ve read elsewhere, that I forgot I wasn’t on a WDW board. : ) </p>

<p>Over the years, we’ve stayed at the Contemporary, Polynesian, Beach/Yacht Club, Board Walk Inn, Wilderness Lodge, Port Orleans (French Quarter & Riverside), Coronado Springs, Caribbean Beach, All Star Movies & Sports, Dolphin & Swan, and the Fort Wilderness cabins. I’d like to try the Grand Floridian one day, but it appears that the main bldg. rooms are all “club level” and start about $800/night (during the off seasons.) I can recall booking at the YC for $99/night when our kids were little; somehow that makes it even tougher to pay current rates. </p>

<p>Dh loves the Contemporary, so we’re likely to return there on our next trip if we go during cool weather months. We did the meal plan for our last two visits, but next time we’ll probably skip it and look for a room-only discount. It was a bargain when ds1 came with us; he’s a big guy and will happily finish anything the rest of us cannot eat. He wasn’t with us last time, and we not only didn’t eat all of the meals but ended up using snack credits for packaged items that dh took into his office the next week. </p>

<p>If we go during warm months, we may rent a vacation villa again. With one horrible exception, we’ve had great experiences renting houses through VRBO in Formosa Gardens and Windsor Palms. For about 2/3 - 3/4 (or less) of the cost of a room in a deluxe WDW hotel you can rent a 4+ bd. house with pool and games room that’s within 10 - 15 mins. drive of the parks. We don’t have a pool at our current house, so I really enjoy the private pool at the vacation rental - no worries about other people’s kids & their horseplay.</p>

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<p>There are buses running to Downtown Disney. Reservations may not be necessary for all restaurants, but that also depends on whether you’re open to going at off times.</p>

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<p>Don’t forget about Disney’s Magical Express – the Disney bus service that picks you up at the airport and takes you to your hotel. Your luggage arrives a few hours later. Works in reverse also, where you check your bags and get your boarding pass at the hotel and take the bus to their airport. And – it’s FREE when you stay onsite.</p>

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<p>Please educate me on these acronyms! I’m not too swift, and it took me a while to figure out WDW. What are these other ones you speak of?</p>

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<p>*Something you might consider is a split stay, especially if you may not return for a long time. WDW staff is very helpful about transferring guests between properties. You could stay at the Contemporary (tower, theme park view) for half of your visit and then move to the Beach Club for the remainder. From the Beach Club, you can easily stroll along a short walkway to a back gate at EPCOT. *</p>

<p>This is a GREAT idea! WDW is great about holding luggage, moving luggage, whatever you need. BTW…if you arrive early in the day before check in time, the hotel will take your luggage, you can go to the parks, and when you return your luggage will be in your room. </p>

<p>Since there are so many better hotels now than the Contemporary, you could stay there a couple of days since it’s a dream, and then stay at another WDW property hotel. Depending on your budget, you could either go pricier or cheaper for your second hotel. I think the Contemporary is an upper-priced destination (not the highest). So, you could save some bucks by moving to a lesser priced WDW hotel for your second hotel.</p>

<p>The moderate priced WDW hotels are: The Caribbean (liked), Coronado Springs, Port Orleans (we’ve liked this one, but you’re from NO, so no biggie for you…lol).</p>

<p>The other higher prices ones are: Animal Kingdom Lodge (very nice, but far), Beach Club (nice) and Boardwalk (very nice), Grand Floridian (pricey), and Polynesian (pricey). I’m probably forgetting some.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t recommend the Value ones because those are very family/kid oriented. </p>

<p>Yes, these is transportation to Downtown Disney…and some restaurants there do require reservations or priority dining or whatever it’s called.</p>

<p>Also…be sure to have those small fold-able ponchos for the sudden rain.</p>

<p>If you can arrange Disney transportation from the airport, no need for a rental car. On site hotels provide trams, etc. </p>

<p>We haven’t been since 2007, so I don’t know what’s going on with Pleasure Island. We’ve always enjoyed a night there…the Comedy Club was always good.</p>

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<p>Don’t start with the acronyms! It’s a cult, I tell you!</p>

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<p>Hope this is okay to do - here’s a disboard sticky that may help:
[A</a> List of Common Abbreviations - The DIS Discussion Forums - DISboards.com](<a href=“http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1660743]A”>http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1660743)</p>

<p>And this is the Resorts board on the trip planning site:
[Disney</a> Resorts - The DIS Discussion Forums - DISboards.com](<a href=“http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=12]Disney”>http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=12)</p>

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<p>A quick note - if you are active/retired military, be sure to look into Shades of Green - HUGE savings for “on property” resort. We’ve used it twice and were thrilled. The second time we booked there, the resort was actually under renovation and we were put up at the Contemporary for SoG prices - awesome. If you’re eligible, definitely check it out.</p>

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<p>My SIL stays at Shades of Green, and really loves it - as well as the prices.</p>

<p>We love WDW, and some members of our family go there two and three times a year. While I love WDW, I also love Harry Potter. If you have any interest in HP, you’ll love a half day spent there, tacked on to your WDW vacation.</p>

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<p>^^^Can’t go to HP without son! He won’t be along for the anniversary trip. </p>

<p>I’ll talk to H about the hotel transfer. Disney seems to be master at this business, so if there’s anybody I’d trust to do that, Disney would be it.</p>

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<p>Just one thing about Magical Express. I’ve heard that if you have a late flight (the kind where you just want to go to bed as soon as you get into the hotel room), Magical Express may be problematic, as it can take several hours for your luggage to make it to your room. On the other hand, if you want to get to the parks the minute you hit Orlando, be sure that whatever you need for the parks is with you and not in your luggage. (Folks who have used ME recently, correct me if the delay has been corrected or if there is a way around it.) From a popular web site:</p>

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<p>^^^Is there an alternate way of getting from the airport to the Contemporary?</p>

<p>Interested in free and low cost options. </p>

<p>About 20 years ago, I had a seminar in Altamonte Springs, and took a cab from the Orlando Airport to my hotel. The cab fare was 35 bucks. THIS WAS 20 YEARS AGO! I don’t want the hassle of a rental car, but I can’t imagine what cab fare is from the airport to Disney, although it is probably even a different airport now that the one I used in the past.</p>

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<p>I’m not saying to skip Magical Express. If you have a late flight, have jammies and a toothbrush in a small bag and ask that the luggage be delivered in the morning. If you are going to rush to the parks, make sure you wear your comfy park shoes on the plane. It’s only a problem when the gap in time between arrival and luggage delivery is an unpleasant surprise.</p>

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<p>montegut, don’t bother with rental cars or taxis, Magical Express is the best think since disposable diapers ;-)</p>

<p>We’ve used it many times, even with delayed flights that arrived after midnight, and it has always been a pleasure.
Our bags has always arrived within an hour of checking into our resort. I guess we’ve been lucky.</p>

<p>Also, if you are flying on one of the participating airlines, you will be able to check your bags and receive your boarding passes right at your hotel. You won’t have to deal with your luggage again until you get home.
INFO:
[Disney’s</a> Magical Express Information](<a href=“http://www.wdwinfo.com/Transportation/magical-express.htm]Disney’s”>Disney's Magical Express Mears Connect Information - Walt Disney World)</p>

<p>You don’t need a rental car unless you are planning to go offside; I start to relax as soon as I get on the bus and enjoy letting someone elastic do the driving.</p>

<p>You’ll have a blast, just do your homework!</p>

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<p>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^</p>

<p>Ahhh… iPad self-correct stride again…</p>

<p>“enjoy letting someone elastic do the driving.”
I meant to say:
Enjoy letting someone else do the driving :-)</p>

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<p>We stayed at the Contemporary 4+ years ago with a group of high school students, there for a Scholars Bowl national competition. What fun! It was a great location, the kids loved it and we could let them loose in subgroups with cell phones to visit the parks they wanted to see. There are so many rides and other things that are fun for adults that don’t like roller coasters and I would think would work ok for non-skinny people. I’m sure you’ll have a great time. My personal favorites are Animal Kingdom and Epcot, but everyone is different.</p>

<p>The Magical Express worked well for most of us. I think H and I took a taxi from airport because we arrived at an odd time. We decided against renting cars. No need, really.</p>

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<p>We stayed in the Contemporary many moons ago on our one and only and never again trip to Disney with the kids. I liked how easy it was to hop on and off the monorail to go to dinner and here and there and I liked seeing the “castle” and the fireworks at night.</p>

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<p>I stayed at an amazing hotel once on Disney grounds and have been shaking my head, wondering why not a single poster has mentioned it. I couldn’t remember the name, so went looking for it on the internet. Now I know why it has been absent from this discussion…it was the Grand Californian.</p>

<p>Oops, wrong park. </p>

<p>Sigh, the memory starts to go…</p>

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<p>^LOL! You are so GOOFY!</p>

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<p>^^^hee hee, good one. :D</p>