First Impressions
Getting to the resort was a little tricky. We had to drive through the parking turnstiles at Magic Kingdom and tell the attendant that we were going to the Contemporary Resort. She waved us through but we missed the right-hand exit for Contemporary Resort and had to drive through the parking lot, back out of the turnstiles, and turn around. If you stay here, I recommend going through parking lane that is as far to the right as possible so you can drive slowly and see the sign for the Contemporary exit.
Once we actually made it to the resort, we were able to pull up to the valet for short-term parking while checking in. Normally you'll get a text when your room is ready but it was 3:15pm and we still hadn't received a notification (check-in is at 3pm). The valet was really nice and cheerful; he directed us perfectly and gave us wonderful advice for parking near our room. The front desk cast member, however, was less than pleasant. She seemed a little overwhelmed because she was working alone but she did not greet us with a smile and didn't offer directions to our room. Thank goodness for the valet because we would have been lost! The lobby is huge and luxurious; most of the dining and shopping establishments are on the second floor so we didn't see much when we checked in.
Parking was a breeze. The valet was correct about directing us to the best lot for our room and we had a very short walk to our building's entrance. Our room was on the third floor and the elevator ran quickly. The hallways seem a little narrow but we didn't have any issues unless housekeeping had the laundry bin outside of a room. Our room was a Deluxe so it's nearly the size of a suite because it's located in the L-bend of the building. The entry opens to a bathroom door on the left, coffeemaker/closet/fridge on the right, and sitting room straight ahead. There are large windows that wrap around the room, which is what provides the bulk of lighting in the room otherwise it is incredibly dark. There is no overhead lighting except near the bed and in the bathroom. The sitting area has three lamps that are very dim. The bed was King size and incredibly comfortable. A large number of pillows were provided but we didn't need all of them. The bathroom was huge with room for two sinks, a tub/shower combo, and a water closet with a walk-in shower. The walk-in shower is quite small and doesn't have any lighting. Patrick used it once and said it would be adequate if absolutely necessary (larger family with kids maybe) but it wasn't something we needed.
sitting area
bathroom view from bedroom entry looking toward sitting room entry
sitting room looking toward door to hallway
water closet
walk-in shower in water closet
The outdoor area was fantastic. There were two pools - one that was larger and only went to three feet deep and a quiet pool that was mostly frequented by adults (five feet deep). The larger pool has a water slide. There were also two hot tubs. Maybe I'm just not hot tub savvy but there is a button to turn on the bubbles and I didn't see it until I had been sitting in the water for several minutes and decided to leave, upon which another family moved in and pushed the button. And finally, there is a splash pad for small children behind the water slide area and it never seemed to be busy. In fact, most of the pool areas were pretty quiet.
splash pad
large pool
quiet pool
You can see both the Electrical Water Pageant and the Wishes fireworks from the quiet pool at the Contemporary Resort!
Electrical Water Pageant
The dining options were pretty great; we had dinner at California Grill and ate at Contempo Cafe on a couple of occasions. The sushi at California Grill is absolutely amazing. It is a little expensive but well-worth the price we paid. The observatory deck for viewing the fireworks at Magic Kingdom is amazing and I would definitely return for that perk alone. The service was exceptional and we loved every dish that we tried. I'll be reviewing California Grill in-depth in a future post.
Contempo Cafe offered standard cafeteria-style food; nothing to write home about. The cupcake offerings are definitely interesting and I did not see the Candy Apple Cupcake offered anywhere else while on this trip.
Pros
The distance to Magic Kingdom and access to the monorail is key to this resort's success. We never waited more than 5 minutes for a monorail and it provided a very convenient option to the Polynesian Resort for one of our meals.We also really liked the pools because they were never crowded and the lifeguards let us in on a not-so-secret tip that the Contemporary Resort's pools open an hour later than all other resort pools but they also close an hour later (10am to 11pm instead of 9am to 10pm). This worked perfectly for us because we enjoyed visiting the pool in the late evenings. The Garden Wing was very quiet and we would probably choose to stay in this building again because the main building seemed loud and busy.
Cons
While we loved the pool, we wish that The Sand Bar would have stayed open later than 6pm. No kidding, this place is next to the pool and is only open 11am to 6pm. They serve food, too, and I have no idea who would frequent this establishment when there are much better options through the day. I guess if you spend an entire day at the pool then you would be able to order at The Sand Bar but we were only in the pool after long days at the parks so it was closed every night that we were there.
Also, we don't like housekeeping to enter our room during our stay but Contemporary's staff will call every day to remind you that you haven't had housekeeping service and offer to set up a time that is suitable. While this may seem thoughtful to most, the blinking red light on the phone was a constant annoyance because we had to return to our room and see yet another pre-recorded message waiting to be played. We finally let them in on the third day.
And finally, the monorail is a wonderful option for transportation but it can also take forever if you're waiting at the end of the day to get a ride from Epcot to the Ticket & Transportation Center to transfer to the Resort Monorail. We found that we could take a bus to the Ticket & Transportation Center and it was much quicker than waiting for the monorail.
Worth It?
The Contemporary Resort is pricey and that's ultimately what keeps most people from choosing this option. It won't always be in our budget but if it is then we'll definitely consider it again. We prefer resorts with alternative transportation options and Contemporary Resort is perfect because of its monorail access and walking path to Magic Kingdom. I think next time we'll try an Epcot resort (I'm hoping for Boardwalk Inn!) so that we can use the boats for Epcot and Hollywood Studios.
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