Reviews of Contemporary Resort (Deluxe Resort)
Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 02/01/2024
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
Not Water Front Room
Pros:
Got luggage after 1 hourCons:
Fake 4 Star that’s a 1 StarReviewed by MichelleAD Review Date: 02/03/2022
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
The Contemporary has long been my favorite resort - it is close enough to walk to Magic Kingdom in the morning and beat the resort busses in the morning for rope drop early hours. Then, in the evening when everyone is tired, it is the first stop on the monorail. So convenient! However, I go for conventions. I often need to use a computer while "on vacation." The Contemporary is a convention hotel, so it has also been convenient for the meetings....until the remodel. Now, there are no desks and chairs in the rooms. I had to go down to the 4th floor to work on my laptop in the Contempo Cafe. Previously, there was a rolling table that enabled convention members to work together in a room. Now, that is gone...and so is the space. The room feels much more cramped, even though the Contemporary rooms used to be some of the largest. The window to the balcony is smaller, the bedroom area is smaller, and there is little space to walk around. It feels like a value resort now. That brings me to the next problem. There are no more dressers. Instead there are a few short drawers, not enough for a family. When I took my kids on the last trip, we had to store the suitcases under the beds and pull them out each morning and night to shower and get dressed. The refrigerator is now a "cooling" unit, so leftover food and milk for the children in the room spoils overnight. I will say the bathroom sinks are an improvement, though. The previous ones spilled water every time we used them. I REALLY want to recommend this resort like I used to, but a deluxe resort room, it isn't.
Pros:
Great location to walk to and monorail back from the Magic Kingdom. The bathroom sinks are better than before the remodel.Cons:
It feels as though the Incredibles IP was more important than the functionality of a convention resort room. The previous deluxe convention hotel now feels as though it is a value room. No desk/chair to work, no dresser to store family clothes, no refrigerator for store milk and leftovers. Small closet so suitcases need to go under beds.Reviewed by Tinker02 Review Date: 05/04/2021
Rating: (5) Recommended
It has been a lifelong dream for me to stay at the Contemporary. We stayed in the Garden Wing, due to price and the construction going on in the main tower. I had requested a certain room (via the Touring Plans), but was not put in that room. We had arrived around noon, and were exhausted from being up for an early morning flight. we were told our room would be ready by 3. It was not. We went back to the front desk, and the very nice gentleman did his best to help us find a room we could get into right away. It was partly may fault because I requested a first floor room. A room on the 3rd floor was available, but I wanted to be able to sit outside on the first floor. He placed us in a handicap accessible room (which is not something we need, fortunately). However, it was what was available. It was also a pool view room. To some folks, that might be an upgrade. In reality, it is not an upgrade! Being right outside the pool area, is really, really loud! The room was nice, but it was not the nicest room I have ever stayed in. There were no USB ports?! Fortunately, I had brought along 2 different surge protectors, which have USB ports. The beds were comfortable.
The location of being able to take the monorail to MK was nice.
My other big beef with the Contemporary was the shops. There are 3 shops. I needed to buy postcards. I had to buy postcards in 1 store, but had to go to another store to buy the stamps?! That honestly, did not make any sense to me. Overall, I would stay here again, if I found a really, really good deal or sale. Otherwise, it is just not worth the price for me to stay there again.
Pros:
Location, location, locationCons:
No USB outlets in the room?!Reviewed by pstoudemire Review Date: 09/18/2014
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
The location to the MK is fantastic! It is very nice to be able to walk. With that being said, getting anywhere else was a nightmare! I stayed from Sept. 13-17 and the monorail was closed every morning until between 9:30-10:00. When I booked the resort in April I was told the monorail would be open an hour before the parks every morning. Not true! I went to talk to the manager and she could have cared less. She told me that day was maintenance, but that was not the normal. The very informative man at the buses told me another story. He said the monorail is often closed during value season until late morning. When coming home from EPCOT that evening (at 9:00) the monorail was closed again. It took us an hour and 15 minutes to get back to the resort.
While the room was nice and the beds were very comfortable, I would stay at the Polynesian next time! The frustration with the transportation did it for me with the Contemporary! I never would have spent that amount of money to have to take the buses. It was a huge disappointment after dreaming of staying here for years.
Pros:
Decor, location to MKCons:
monorail maintenance all the time, managerReviewed by pt4kids28 Review Date: 09/01/2013
Rating: (6) Not Recommended
We stayed in garden view room 5336 during the last week of August. I am a huge Disney fan and have stayed at almost every resort property more than once and this experience was below average. The Contemporary is not a deluxe hotel, it is only priced as a deluxe hotel. I had several issues during my stay:
1- On 3 different occasions I found dried stains on my sheets. I have never in 35 years seen anything like this on hotel sheets, not even in a Motel 6. This was gross.
2- We did not get a single towel animal during our 7 nights, despite the fact that it was obvious we were traveling with small children.
3- The room and hallways seemed tired and old. Many paint chips and dings.
4-The pool area is boring. Compared to the Polynesian and Grand Floridian the pool is awful. They seem to be upgrading all the other resort pools but not the this one. How about a theme of some sort?
5- Mousekeeping did not clean my room well. We found papers and garbage on the floor that was not cleaned up for several days.
6- For almost 500 dollars per night this was a ripoff.
7- The bus service to other parks was terrible. Why do the buses need to make 2-3 stops before going to the park when the budget hotels have only one stop. In order to go to the Animal Kingdom, we made stops at the Polynesian and Grand Floridian first. However, the All Star and other resorts have direct service.
8-The viewing area for the fireworks lacked music. Would it kill them to pipe the music in like the Poly or GF.
9-The hotel lacked little perks seen at the Deluxe hotels. For example, when we stayed at the Poly and GF for our anniversary, the hotel sent us chocolates and flowers. At the contemporary we only received a card.
On the positive side:
1-The monorail was efficient.
2-The staff was nice.
I would not stay here again. My 8 year old even stated he preferred the All Start Movies better.
Pros:
locationCons:
price, overall quality, cleanliness, mousekeepingReviewed by Ponchoselmore Review Date: 07/20/2020
Rating: (7) Not Recommended
Stayed here Re-Opening weekend for 2 nights. We typically stay at the Poly, but couldn't get a room there with our last minute plans. The Contemporary is nice, but the decor is very dated and it needs a refurb. Our room was comfortable and the view from the balcony was exquisite. The bathroom was ridiculous though. There's absolutely no counter space. There's two large, very shallow sinks with nowhere to sit your stuff. It's always muggy in the hotel as soon as you step out of your room. It's just not a place for us.
Pros:
locationCons:
very dated, poorly configured bathrooms, so-so restaurantsReviewed by MelMel82 Review Date: 03/12/2024
Rating: (8) Recommended
The only reason this resort did not receive a 10/10 is the lack of storage in the room. Disney could remove one section of the oversized couch and put a dresser and this room would easily be a 10/10. I stayed as a solo traveler for a week and like to unpack, luckily it was just me as I used up all the drawer space. I absolutely love the Contemporary, I'm trying to stay at different resorts but I keep looking at the Contemporary for my next trip. The room I had in the main tower was quiet, I was on the Bay Lake side and fell in love with the view. If staying on the lake side, you have a front row seat to the electric water pageant. The sunrise from Bay Lake is now my go to happy memory. Also, for those of us that love a mickey pretzel, the Sand Bar at the Contemporary has homemade cheese sauce that makes the mickey pretzel next level! Yes, you can get a mickey pretzel from the Sand Bar too. I know the theming of the Incredibles is either a love it or hate it, I am on the love it side. I love what Disney did with the restrooms giving a large countertop is perfect, they should do this with all resorts.
Pros:
Great location. You can walk to Magic Kingdom in 10-15 minutes. Cast members are awesome! I found the buses were very fast when coming to the resort. When I was there we shared a bus with Wilderness Lodge.Cons:
The rooms need better storage. The elevator lines can get out of control at peak times, I found the lines to be worse at night. Be prepared mentally for guests to cut the line.Reviewed by Dekoda Review Date: 08/13/2023
Rating: (8) Recommended
I’ve been to the contemporary multiple times and I’ve had an overall good experience. I will say the resort is very expensive for the size of room you get but the fact that it’s within walking distance to Magic Kingdom and right on that monorail make it worth it. Id definitely recommend if your planning on going to Magic Kingdom or Epcot and have a smaller party or are by yourself.
Pros:
Walking distance to Magic Kingdom Has multiple dining options that are good On the monorail line Resort is always very clean You can see the fireworks from the resort balcony/your roomCons:
Expensive Rooms are small Not really disney themedReviewed by Goofy6 Review Date: 03/07/2023
Rating: (8) Recommended
We stayed in a Garden Wing room and had a view of the main building and could see the fireworks from Magic Kingdom. We had a short walk to the beach and the Bay pool. We could walk from our room to the main building under cover during inclement weather. We had dinner twice at the Contempo Cafe and we were all pleased with our selections. It was great to be able to just walk to the Magic Kingdom. The gift shop had some of the same treats as the Main Street Bakery. We had a car so we didn't use the bus transportation. The main pool was closed for refurbishment and the Bay pool is very small so it was crowded every day. It would have been nice to use the Bay Lake Tower pool. Two buildings using that small pool was very inconvenient. We had a connecting room but we weren't staying with the people attached. You hear EVERYTHING through those two doors. We never heard the people on the wall side, but the family next to us in the connecting room was loud and rude. Calls to the front desk and knocking on their door went unanswered.
Pros:
Short walk to MK. Easy walk from room to main building. Great baked goods in the gift shop. Good quick service meals.Cons:
Connecting rooms are noisy. When main pool is closed, the other pool is too small for both buildings.Reviewed by ccooney1307 Review Date: 02/17/2021
Rating: (8) Recommended
We stayed in the Garden wing which we loved! We adored being away from the hustle and bustle and noise of the main tower and being right next to the pool. Also being able to simply walk home from magic kingdom with sleeping kids in the stroller was a dream !
