Contemporary Resort Garden View Rooms. Pros and Cons

[Kevlar10]

we are planning a shorter trip, 5 night in February 2020 and we are looking at a deluxe garden view room. What are the pros or cons to staying there? We have two boys, 13 and 11, and a girl, 5. I’ve heard that the walk to the MK is a little long and the rooms aren’t that convenient. How are the resort activities? Any feedback would be appreciated.
TIA

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I love the garden view rooms. In fact, I prefer them over the tower view rooms as it's actually much easier to walk to the MK from there, IMHO, because you don't have to deal with the overly congested CR tower elevators. You walk directly from the garden wing, through the lobby and straight to the path to MK. CR rooms are quite spacious and the garden wing is quiet. You will also be closer to the beach and pool area.

 

[glocon]

We stayed in one last year and loved it!
Would do it again in a heartbeat! Maybe request a room close to the tower to have a shorter walk?

 

[B. Shoe]

We just returned from the Contemporary Resort in late October. We originally scheduled a Garden Wing room, and was moved at check-in back into the Main Tower. We wandered into the Garden Wing, as it's the only place with laundry facilities. It is much quieter than the hustle of the main tower.

You can request a room closer to the tower, but we're really only talking a couple of extra minutes, regardless. I don't feel as if its an extremely long walk between the buildings. And any walk you're making from MK is still shorter than any other means. (Monorail from the main tower is also at your disposal.)

We took part in some poolside games, and they have movies every night. Watercraft rental is available, sand volleyball court, basketball, etc. We loved our stay there, and I would have been just as happy in the GW. The main tower was fun, but either would suffice.

 

[Kevlar10]

We decided to wait until Nov 2020, but we have booked the BLT. I plan on doing a one breakfast at the Polynesian, one at the GF, and a later dinner at the CR. For the Polynesian and the GF breakfasts, is it easy to use the monorail and still make it to EPCOT relatively early? If not, we may do one or both on our MK days. We have done breakfasts in all of the parks and would like to try something different. We have 7 days at the parks and will do 3 at MK, 2 at EPCOT and one each at HS and AK.

 

[Minnie1222]

Yes, you can make it to Epcot early. Just remember the resort monorail travels clockwise, so from Poly it would first go to GF, then MK, then CR, and then to The Transportation Center, where you would get off and walk to a different station to catch the Epcot monorail. I would give myself 45 minutes to be safe.
The quickest way from Poly is to take the 5 minute walk from the main lobby to the Transportation Center to catch to Epcot monorail.

 

[Krystal659]

I would agree that you need to plan for 45 minutes. We have made it quicker, but we have also been in a long line at the TTC and been worried about not making it to Epcot in time. I usually plan to ride the monorail around the loop then switch at TTC, however, we did the walk last February and it was short and nice. I am not sure I would sign up for it in July.

 

[nkereina]

Another pro of staying at CR in general is the ease of access to multiple dining options. CR has some great ones, but you can easily hop on the resort monorail for quick access to Poly and GF restaurants. Or you can get on the boat to WL and FW for quick access to their restaurants and QS options.

 

[Little E]

We LOVED the CR garden wing when we stayed in 2016. The space in the room and the three sleep surfaces were fantastic! The bathroom was set up well...potty area is separate from the sinks and shower. The walk to the main tower is easy peasy and mostly covered, and we loved being able to see the Water Parade at night. The Contempo Cafe is the best QS in my opinion, and it was awesome to eat there and watch the monorail go by. Just so very classic Disney!

Our favorite part was being able to walk to and from MK. Seriously, this was amazing, especially at night. We loved simply leaving MK and walking "home" while the masses were waiting eons for their busses.

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a magical vacation!