August 16, 2023 • 38 mins
Join us, Elizabeth and Sarah, in our latest podcast episode as we spill the beans on Elizabeth's recent Disney's Contemporary Resort experience.
We'll be taking you through an entertaining narrative full of comparisons, contrasts, and honest reviews about Disney's Contemporary Resort. We've analyzed every detail - the Florida resident rate, the building's layout, the pool, and other amenities on two different occasions, before and after Covid-19. We've also got the low-down on the parking situation and valet rates at the resort.
Looking forward to 2023, we'll be taking a deep dive into our predictions about what's coming next. Get ready to join us in a candid discussion on the age of the building and how it stacks up against newer resorts. Enjoy!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey friends.
Hi, it's Elizabeth and Sarahand we are back.
We are back Today.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
We're going to be talking about the contemporary
oh man, I've been waiting to dolike a good series of hotel
reviews and we're on a roll.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Yeah, we are.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Because we just did Riverside, Port Orleans.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
And you.
Just so, my daughter and I wenton a girls trip to Disney.
Because, my husband and my sonwere in Chicago.
Yeah, chicago, chicago, as myson calls it, which is so funny
Because my grandfather called itChicago.
He never even met him, right?
Well, he did, but he was like12 months old when he died, and
(00:49):
so it's just so, anyway,genetics.
So my son and my husband wentto Chicago and my you'd be
shocked to know that my husbandstayed at the Langham Chicago.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Which is like.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
I don't even know.
It's like the four seasons.
Where else would Scott Brinickstay?
He gets in and he calls me andhe's like so we gotta.
Our room was upgraded.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I was like of course.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
What's your so annoying?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I imagine Scott's search engine for anything.
It doesn't even include a valueor moderate option.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
No, none, only deluxe , only deluxe and luxuries.
So I told him and his responsewas I paid for it with points.
I'm like, I don't care, loriAnn, wherever you want to stay,
wherever you want to stay, andso she.
So we started this girl.
So I asked her where do youwant to go?
Wherever you want to go, exceptfor New York, please do not ask
me to go to a big city withoutan adult.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, Just wherever you want to go, because I'm not
one.
I am not one.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
And she was like let's go to Disney, just the two
of us.
And I said, done and done,where do you want to stay?
Homeworld picks like the allstarbers award, and I was like,
no, we ain't staying there,that's really sweet.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
You're going to pick somewhere else.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
So I pushed for the Riviera, but she was like no, I
want to go to the contemporary,where the monorail was.
So I actually got a garden viewroom and it was like 300.
And I think that with I can'tremember if it was 318 or 380.
It was less than $400 per nightwith tax and whatever.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
That was the.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Florida resident rate and I think I booked it in like
February Does that sound rightto you.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yes, that does, okay, so if you're not familiar with
the contemporary building whichI was not, by the way.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
it's the one that the monorail goes through.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Yeah, Its shape is very I don't know if you call it
mid-century modern, but it'sdifferent from any other deluxe
resort.
You think that the originalresort it's the original?
Yes, it was like that, and thenthe Polynesian was after.
I think, right, right, and thatbuilding is the only building
(02:51):
that has rooms.
But it's not.
It has a couple of buildingsnext to it.
Now it has Bay Lake Tower,which is the DVC.
Really nice, it's newer, newer,yes.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
If you are looking at the contemporary, if the magic
kingdom is behind you and youare looking at the contemporary,
there's the main building ofthe contemporary, the metal.
Dvc Bay Lake is to the leftwhich has connects right with
like a walkway.
And they have their own pool.
And then, to the right of thatwhich you cannot see from the
main road is, like you said,like a little series of
(03:27):
buildings, I guess is the way todescribe them.
There are one story two storybuildings.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Next to the building, next to the larger building.
There are three stories.
There are three stories.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Thank you, but if you looked at it, that's part of my
review.
If you looked at it, you'dthink it was only two stories,
but there are three stories inthere.
There are three stories, okay.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
But that's what she says.
I just wanted to make surepeople understood.
When you said garden view, it'snot in the main building.
Right and it is.
It's nice because it's part ofthe contemporary and it's
discounted usually it's not the$600 a night to be in the main
one, but garden view.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
And to your point, bay Lake Towers is also very.
I mean, it's a new building.
I knew I think it was built inlike 2005.
Yeah, it's new wish, it's not1960s.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
It was built in the 2000s.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
The garden view rooms are original to the building or
to the construction of thathotel.
So I know none of this.
Going into it Didn't even knowthat.
I thought that those buildingswere like storage facilities,
because it's right next to likewhere the utility trucks come in
and out, but there is a utilityfacility there.
(04:32):
So that's what I thought thiswhole time.
Nope, everyone.
That's the garden view.
That's the garden view.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
There it is.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Yeah, so we get there .
We do early check in.
Our room was not ready untilfive o'clock.
I was not there.
It worked out.
We went, I think we wentstraight to Hollywood Studios.
We did, we went straight toHollywood Studios.
It was fine.
I was just annoyed.
I was like what in the world?
So we check in at the gate andthey are like go straight to the
(05:01):
room.
And I was like okay.
So in my mind I was like I wasgoing to go to the front desk
see if they had an upgrade,thinking about what you and
Carly did when y'all went to theCoronado Springs.
But they were like nope, bypassthe main building, go all the
way around and you're going topark in front of the building.
And so I was like, oh cool, Iliterally have a pro con list
(05:22):
over here on my phone.
I was like this needs notes.
So the I know it's because Ihad a lot of opinions.
Yeah, it's a lot.
We're going to get there, we'regoing to dissect them.
This is a therapy session everymonth.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Oh this is what I've been waiting for.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
So the parking situation was great because you
have your own parking lot, okay,and you know that I like to
access my car because wetypically take our car going to
and from parks, yeah, whereas ifyou stayed in the main building
or even I don't know about BayLake Towers, but I know if you
stay in the main building wewould have probably about laid
(05:59):
oh yes, no question about that.
So we park in front of thebuilding.
There are no carts, no carts,no you know luggage carts Like
luggage carts.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
So I'm like, okay, we're going to be here, for we
had I had water, if anybody'sshocked by that a bag, a basket
of snacks, and then we had oursuitcases, which were not on no,
they were on wheels.
She doesn't mean water, like.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
I mean, I had a 36 pack of like a Zephyr Hills one
bottle.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
I had a 36 pack of water bottles and a two gallon
dispenser thing.
And, by the way, we drink allof that water.
I bet you did.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Sure did, sure did.
I didn't bring good ice, didnot bring good ice.
You just, you just used thehotel ice, just used the hotel
ice.
We sound ridiculous, but it'sjust because your dad has like
an ice maker.
That's really good.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
I mean, he has been a good ice maker.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
I know, that's why I was like did you bring that ice?
Yeah, no, I didn't I went.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
I went half bougie on this one.
Okay, I went discounted thecontemporary on this one.
Yeah, yeah, you did.
So.
We get in and the building is,to Sarah's point, from the 1960s
.
You walk in the building andthere is a heat wave walking
into the building because it isso humid and you can feel the
humidity inside the building andit smells not great and I was
(07:16):
like this is going to be ajourney.
So we take the elevator to thesecond floor, which took I think
we timed it one time and it wasa six minute from hitting the
button getting on the elevatorto go up to the second floor.
So we get to our hotel room andthe hotel room is nice.
(07:37):
Everything is updated.
They redid the rooms ratherrecently and I was like, okay,
this is fine, this will do.
I'm going to start unpacking,mm, hmm, our room.
I noticed there was a lot ofmosquitoes in our room and I was
like what is happening?
What is happening?
So we didn't get to our roomuntil we left Hollywood Studios
(08:01):
and we didn't get back to thehotel to check in until nine
o'clock at night.
Lauren was exhausted.
I was like I'm going to unpack,you take a shower.
Like, let's do this.
There are mosquitoes.
I think I killed like six orseven.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
I would have been done.
I couldn't, if I know amosquito is in the room with me
sleeping, burn it down.
I have to get it out.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
So I'm like what is happening?
And Laura Ann gets, I kid younot, gets out of the shower,
lays on the bed and is like I'mout, mommy.
And I was like, ok, ok.
So I am like trying to figureout what's happening.
And the sliding door will notlock and I'm like, ok, that's
what's happening.
There's like, obviously in ourroom it would not get super cold
(08:47):
.
It was like you know how, whenyou drive your car and you can
hit the AC button and it'll blowlike cold, cold air.
But then if you hit the ACbutton, even if it's at 60
degrees, it blows it a littlebit warmer.
That's what it felt like and Iwas like, ok, I will address
this tomorrow.
So we go to bed and the peopleabove us at 1 30 in the morning,
(09:12):
I finally called security.
Wow, because they were jumpingoff the beds, so much so that
the beds were shaking, our bedswere shaking and I was like I
worked for a contractor.
My husband's a contractor.
I don't think that this is tocode.
I don't think that's why youdid this.
(09:33):
I don't think that's why youall redid this building, because
I feel like the rebar is aboutto snap in half.
It did not feel structurally, Imean, it's shaped, the walls
shaped, when these people so Icalled security, security
handled the situation for thatnight.
So the next morning I was likeOK, we're going to go to the
(09:55):
front office, we're going to getthis fixed, it's going to be
fine.
So we FaceTime the Chicago boysand Lorian opens the door and
there are bunnies there.
And then I go to shut it againand I notice there's a lock up
top, with a lock so that's whyit didn't shut, because the lock
was engaged to keep the doorfrom shutting all the way.
And I was like, oh, that's whyit's hot in here OK, boom done,
(10:18):
shut it, lock it.
I should have gone to the frontand just complained and taken
care of it then.
But Lorian was like I love theroom, everything's great, and I
was like, ok, fine, so that'swhen I didn't complain.
That was my first mistake.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Oh gosh, so let's go.
Let me talk about this for asecond.
I've got some stats forcontemporary so people can have
a vision.
October 1, 1971, 51 years ago.
We know that is how their 50thanniversary is, when the
contemporary opened.
(10:52):
They have the main tower, theBay Lake Tower and the South
Garden Wing.
The size of the rooms is verysubstantial, like you said.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
And we had two queen beds and there was like this
sofa thing and there was a folddown from there.
There was a fifth sleeper thereOn in that couch thing, which
was nice.
I mean nobody utilized it, butthat was nice.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Well, so we just stayed at Beach Club, which
we'll do a different review oflater, and I noticed those rooms
are significantly smaller, likeit's still a deluxe resort.
Those rooms are significantlysmaller than the contemporary
rooms.
So, they are very big.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Yes, and the bathroom was big.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
OK.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
The bathroom was big.
The room itself, the size, thecomfort level, the convenience
of the layout of the room wasvery nice.
I would have been fine if thefour of us had been there for an
extended period of time.
I feel like we would have beencomfortable.
There was plenty of storage.
(12:06):
The closet space was nice.
The countertop space where thecoffee maker and the
refrigerator and stuff was, thatwas nice.
There was just plenty of space,plenty of space.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
We've stayed there.
So the stats on it are theEpcot deluxes, which is Yachton
Beach Club Boardwalk.
Their square footage is 370square feet to 380 square feet.
The Magic Kingdom deluxes are394 square feet to 440 square
feet.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
OK, it's significant.
I remember our entire familybeing in one room and all of our
kids were very little and wehad a pack and play for chambers
and we were able to do amakeshift room with sheets that
I had brought, like some clothespins, to be able to close her
off, and there was plenty ofspace.
So the space is great, yes, butmay not make up for all the
(13:00):
other cons on the list, I meanthe people about.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
I had to call security every single night on
those people and I know shame onme for not taking it.
I and I was like, I feel like ifI were to come to you, scott,
and I talked about this, I waslike if I were to go to them
prior, they would have been likeno, let us, let us change your
room, which is not what wewanted.
We just wanted them to knowlike y'all need to fix this,
(13:26):
because this is not okay.
And I was like I don't know, Idon't know, I don't know, I
don't know, I don't know, Idon't know, I don't know, I
don't know, I don't know, Idon't know, I don't know, I
don't know.
Okay, and so the room itself.
Like you said, it was great.
(13:46):
I don't know if that room wasmore than what we paid for it.
I would have been livid, yeah,absolutely livid.
If I was coming there on a fromMinnesota and I was staying
there for five days, I wouldhave been Right.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
If this is your, family vacation for the summer
that you've been planning forand saving for saying at the
contemporary it's a deluxeresort.
All these plans.
And if that was a, I would havebeen very mad yeah.
So, to day two, you were sayinglike okay, you went to bed.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Yeah, I went to bed the next day, figured out the
lock situation with that door,came back from the parks that
day and the room was freezing,so clearly I fixed that problem,
which was nice it was.
I mean to open up your hotelroom door and go into the the
common spaces and there be likea heat wave between your door,
(14:40):
your room and the lobby space, Ithink is.
I think that's telling.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
We did that.
When I just went to passioncamp with like a thousand youth
kids, we were at you know, thebest Western on Daytona Beach,
but we, we knew what we weredoing.
Yeah, Knew what we were gettingourselves into.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Well, that was I was going to say, that's what I was
going to say I felt like I wasstaying in a to your point, best
Western building with a I don't.
I'm trying to think of a, maybea Marriott room on the inside
the pool.
I was disappointed in the pool.
Yeah, it was not great.
I mean it was the bottom wasrough, also was dated.
(15:23):
This is funny.
So in Florida if there is alightning strike within 10 miles
, the pool shut down and therewas a lightning strike, I think
that it was like eight milesaway because you know we have
the lightning tracker on ourphone because we live in Florida
and they shut down the pool andpeople were so mad and so
(15:44):
confused and they were like Ican't believe it why?
Cause there was a storm cloudover there and I was like, well,
where are you from?
And then one couple was likeCanada.
I was like, okay.
So here in Florida we havethese things called
thunderstorms, and lightning canstrike far away from the
thunderstorms and will kill youand will kill you.
(16:04):
They, it doesn't care, itdoesn't carry.
So if you're listening to thisand you're from Minnesota,
please understand that lightningstorms are a real thing.
So the other thing it did, youknow, we got our afternoon
showers, which was totally fineand expected for Florida.
I did feel like other resortsseemed clean after the rain.
(16:27):
I don't know.
I don't know if it's just theleveling of the ground, I don't
know if they like go through andpush the water off, but I felt
like you know how some placesyou're like, oh, I could totally
walk around outside barefootand I'd be fine.
Yes, I don't.
I didn't feel that way.
The outside Right, I did notfeel that way at the
contemporary.
(16:48):
I felt like walking on the pooldeck.
I needed shoes, I felt like thekid area.
So in most pools um, I don'tknow Now the kiddie pool area,
like the splash pad, is in itsown gated area.
So if you have two sets of kids, if you have a younger kid and
an older kid, you could be inone place and you can see both.
(17:10):
That's not the case with this.
The splash pad area is on theoutside of the pool and so you
are not able.
You're either in one place orthe other place.
Okay, um, they also had, youknow, your chess and your
connect for and your lawn games,which was nice.
Um, I don't know, I would notstay there again.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
At the contemporary.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Ever again.
Wow, the convenience of themonorail was nice, right, um,
you know, I, if I had to pick amonorail, I mean a deluxe resort
in that area and the MagicKingdom area I have not stayed
in the Grand Floridian sincethey redid it, but I would stay
(17:58):
there or the Polynesian over thecontemporary.
I don't, I wouldn't pick, Iwould pick.
I would pick the Caribbeanbeach over the contemporary.
Wow, easily.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Wow.
Well, I will say we stayed atthe contemporary twice.
Um, one time was, I think bothof them was on like a bigger
family trip with my side of thefamily.
Um, and we did enjoy our trip.
We never did the pool, though.
It was cold when we went.
It was in like January.
Um, wait, when did you go preCOVID, pre COVID?
(18:33):
Okay, yeah, we went pre COVID.
We loved it.
Um, the rooms were great.
Now, one time we did the gardenview and one time we were in
the main building.
What was your thought on the?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
main building.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
The main building is lovely.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Was it loud.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
It's loud once you get out, you know.
But your room was fine.
I don't really know.
I don't remember it being loudin the room.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
See, I feel like if you, if it was loud in the room,
you would have remembered.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Yeah, I don't think so.
Or we could have just had soundmachines and it could have been
loud and we fixed with soundmachines and then we didn't
remember.
Yeah, it was that loud Um causethat's.
I mean, every hotel is likethat for me.
Like if you say it in embassysuites, you know that's loud
because of how the rooms are.
Yes, Um, but we did like it.
(19:17):
But my knock for thecontemporary was that there just
wasn't any um.
Yeah, there wasn't anythingelse to do except to stay there,
Right, there was not any likeentertainment, unless you were
going to, um, I don't know, justdo Chef Mickey's, and that was
your entertainment.
But there wasn't any activitiesoutside.
(19:39):
I mean you go to the Polynesianand there's stuff going on all
the time, all the time.
Um, so yeah, it was it'sLawton's favorite because it's
the least like in your faceDisney place.
Okay, he loves that, you know,it's just like minimalist.
Yeah, you just go there.
It's a nice hotel.
Yeah, you know it, you can walkto the Kingdom.
It does the job Like that's.
That's what he likes about it,but we've never done the.
(20:00):
We've never done the pool there.
Yeah, had to add to.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
I, I would say and it's not just I mean, let me
make it clear, Lori and in mytrip was enjoyable.
We had a great time the down.
If I, scott, asked the question, if you, if the people were not
above you, would you still havenot liked it?
And I think my answer is still.
(20:25):
I would have still not liked it.
I don't know, it just seemed.
It seemed completely dated andnot okay.
I know what I was gonna say.
Was it incredible?
Yes, it was an incredible theme.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
But the building itself.
I mean, I used a wheelchair.
I will send you the picture.
I used a wheelchair to putstuff from my car, to take it up
to my room, gosh, and I was,like you know, here I am by
myself, just me, and I know thatthere are people who the car.
I mean, if you're staying for aweek, you have more than what I
(21:02):
had, right?
Speaker 2 (21:03):
and there are plenty of single parents going and
bringing their kids.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
And if my kids were younger I could not.
I left Lori in the room andwent and got stuff, but I could
not have done that if she wasthree or four.
Yeah, so the last night we didnighttime swim and so fun, and
we met this woman from NewHampshire and her daughter.
(21:30):
So they were there and theywere staying at the Grand
Floridian, okay, and they weresupposed to leave.
No, no, no, no, no.
They were staying at the AnimalKingdom Lodge.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
And their flight wasn't like eight o'clock at
night.
The daughter was going intosecond grade.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
So my son's age.
So Animal Kingdom, their flightwas supposed to leave at 8 pm.
So she was like we'd plan ongoing over to the Grand
Floridian that day, which wasnice because I could go and the
Grand Floridian would hold mysuitcase, which I had no idea.
So they went and they did theGrand Floridian, while she kept
getting notifications yourflight's pushed back, your
flight's pushed back.
(22:11):
And she was like so finally, atlike one o'clock, I told my
husband I'm just gonna stayanother night because we're not
gonna get into one o'clock inthe morning.
Okay, okay.
So the Grand Floridian was likesorry, we don't have any rooms
available at all and the wholething for one night, and she was
like, okay, that was on aSaturday night.
Right, it was Saturday night,yeah.
(22:31):
So they took the monorail overto the contemporary, and the
contemporary was like we onlyhave a Baylake Tower one bedroom
suite for $1500 a night.
And she was like, no, give methe cheapest thing.
And so they gave her a gardenview room.
And I think that she said thatshe paid $600 for that room.
Wow, I was like-.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Oh, you meant Animal Kingdom told her there were no
rooms.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
No, so she spent the day.
Her plan was to spend Saturdayat the Grand Floridian.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
And so she went from, she checked out of their hotel
room, went to the GrandFloridian to spend the day there
.
I think that they did the spa,they did, you know, they all got
.
Her and her daughter got madein here.
But the hotel at the GrandFloridian, held her stuff.
So then, when she got thenotification that their flight
was delayed, she went down tothe front desk of the Grand
Floridian and was like can wecheck in for a night?
Speaker 2 (23:22):
And they had no rooms , no rooms, okay, so then she
went to contemporary.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
So she was like I just got on the monorail and
went to contemporary and thecontemporary said that, so she
paid $600 for the garden viewroom.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Holy moly.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
And I asked her.
I was like how?
But she had a bigger room, herswas like a cause.
I asked her that.
And she had a porch, a walkoutporch.
She was on the first floor andshe was like there is no one
around us.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Which I thought was interesting.
Okay, but she said she was likemy room is bigger than what our
room was at the animal kingdomand as she had one but she said
they had she had a king bed.
So I'm wondering now if shejust had the same room as that
we had.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
But it was a king bed , so it just seemed bigger.
But it was a king bed, so itseemed bigger.
It seemed bigger.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Yeah, anyway.
So she did that $600 a night,wow.
And I was like so did you thinkthat it was worth it?
And she was like I mean, I'mnot gonna lie on the.
Also, this is the epitome oflike anybody outside of the
Southeast coming into Florida.
She was like I'm not gonna lie.
When she said first floor levelporch, whatever.
(24:34):
I was like alligators are gonnacome to my front porch.
And I was like do you know that?
That is not a thing?
What?
Speaker 2 (24:42):
It's the way I think, bears.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Oh, like whenever we go to the mountains, like when I
go to the mountains.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
We leave this week and I'm like attacking my kids
already.
I'm just like listen, there arebears out here and they, if you
have a snack, they might comeafter you.
Okay, so you need to just eatyour snack in the kitchen with
the door locked, and then we'llgo outside for a hike, okay.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
If you get out of the car, you better lock that door.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
They don't lock that door.
They don't lock that door, sothat is so I feel her on that.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
That is how people from New Hampshire view people
from Florida.
There are gonna be alligators.
She also said that they she waslike I guess her parents live
in South Florida for half theyear.
So she was like I was visitingmy parents and it was when
whatever that hurricane thatcame through and destroyed four
miles of years ago she was likewe had to.
(25:28):
We drove.
So she was like so we just wentand set like people were like
just go to Disney, stay inDisney, ride out the storm in
Disney, mm-hmm, because I guessit was when it decided to go a
little bit further south and shewas like so we had to leave.
So they went to Disney, theystayed at the contemporary in
the main building.
Cause she was like I just knewit was a concrete building and I
(25:49):
was like all buildings areconcrete.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
But she knew she was like okay, I know it's gonna be
safe.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Yes, it's gonna be safe.
We can run out of the stormhere, well.
So a side note is again, peoplefrom Florida versus not people
from Florida.
She was like we were watchingthe news and my kids were like,
are we gonna die?
I'm like I mean while I'm likewe live for our games here, so
she said that the entertainmentwas unbelievable.
(26:16):
Oh, wow.
She said that they have staffwho is basic, just kind of like
a hospital you're on at alltimes they cleared out an area
of Bay Lake Towers and put themin there.
And what do they call them?
Like the rescue team, thepeople who are just like 24
hours on staff.
Yeah, and she said that theentertainment was great.
(26:37):
Like every morning they got aprintout of things that were
going on in the main buildingand they, like the characters
came out and stuff like that,which was nice, but she said
nobody was in the garden roomand they tried to keep as many
people as possible just as manystaff members in Bay Lake Towers
.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
But they tried to keep, anyway, I digress.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
So all of that to say .
My experience with thecontemporary was I will never
say there again, wow.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
So let's go over your pros and cons list one more
time.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Like give us a run through Pros, parking situation,
cons, hard to find help carts,et cetera.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
You mean parking situation, like you can park
right in front of the building.
You can park right in front,yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Okay, Rooms are redone.
Pro building is old.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Con.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Yeah, con, is the building as old?
Sorry Pro the location.
Con, the AC unit was hard towork and the neighbors were
extremely loud.
Oh, I did learn this because wewent to Tobolines Terrace for
lunch and there was no parking.
Look at that, cardinal on thatwindow.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
I know you guys.
I just got a bird feeder.
This is how I'm approaching 40.
I got a bird feeder on mywindow.
It just has like little suctioncups.
You put some bird seed in it.
I can just sit in my office andwatch the birds.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
This is great.
This is really great.
We went to Tobolines Terraceand there was no parking.
Really, I valed.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
The guy was like keep your valet receipt, you can go
to In your Resort and valet yourcar, it's covered.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
I had no idea.
I put that on the pros list.
That had nothing to do withKintamari, but still I had no
idea about that.
If you're going for the day orif you're I don't know, or, but
you had to have paid.
It can't be like you're stayinghere and you valed your car and
(28:45):
then you took your car out andyou left.
If you're just valing for theday, so if you go to the Grand
Floridian or if you go toTobolines Terrace and you valet
there and then you want to goand do the contemporary and
watch the fireworks, you canjust come on over and valet and
valet.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
That's nice, that's good to know, yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
And it's.
I think it's $35, maybe it's$25.
I don't remember, but I waslike that is nice to know,
because I don't.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
I don't know.
Yeah, I do think it's a littlebit more because I've split it
before with somebody, because wewere all together yeah, the two
families in a car and wevaleted and I think that it's
like between $30 and $40.
Yeah, but it's fine If it's.
A lot of times it's worthwhilejust to valet, because if you're
going to park at theTransportation and Ticket Center
and you don't have an annualpass, you've got to pay $20
(29:35):
something to park anyway.
So you might want to just valetat a resort, at the closest one
.
I mean I would valet atcontemporary and then walk over
to Magic Kingdom before.
I go to the TransportationTicket Center.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
And my point is I don't know if you have to have a
reservation to get in Sometimesyou do yeah, sometimes if it's
too full.
They're like you can't.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
But if you say, like you know I'm, if you go and eat
a meal there, that's acounter-service meal, I've done
that.
Yes, there's like acounter-service place that just
has like burgers and stuff thatyou want to eat there, they
might let you.
Yeah, but yeah, it does dependon how full it is.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Yeah, so you know, the pro was that I did put on
there the Contempo's diner orwhatever.
Oh yeah, contempo Cafe.
Yeah, that was nice.
Yeah, that was, the food wasdecent.
On our last, on our last day,that's what we finished the day
we did an order and it was readyby the time we got off the
(30:35):
monorail.
We picked it up and went to theroom.
So those were.
That was my pro con list.
I just felt like it was.
I, just I I've to to, to useyour reference of the best
Western, I felt like it was bestWestern quality.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Wow, the Garden View.
The Garden View, yeah, and it'strue, you are going to pay, you
know, for the Garden View.
You're going to pay, you know,upwards.
So let's see, right now I'mgoing to do a quick search.
Just a random weekend in, let'ssay, I'm going to even go
January, end of January, becauseit's not a princess weekend.
(31:12):
It just really depends on ifyou're going to stay in the
Garden View or the main tower.
Let's see, here we've got Iwould have.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
I feel like if I had gone to Bay Lake Towers, which
would have been quadruple theprice that I paid, I feel like I
would have had a differentopinion.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
That's true.
Bay Lake Tower, you know, for arandom weekend in the end of
January next year.
Now there's, this is just rackrate, there's no discounts or
anything.
It's $637 a night for Bay LakeTower, contemporary 572.
Let's see if it's a Garden View.
I bet that's the Garden Viewprice, because they usually only
(31:57):
it's the cheapest one, it's theleast expensive one.
So Garden View Resort View.
Garden Wing Resort View is 523.
Garden View no, that's ResortView.
Sorry, it's a Garden WingResort View.
Garden Wing Water View, becausethat's what it's called.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
That's what.
Okay, it's the Garden Wing Idid Garden Wing Resort View.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Okay, yeah, so that's the Garden Wing Resort, view
523, the Garden Wing Water, view572.
While you're doing that, I'mgoing to look up.
I mean Main Tower, how much?
738.
No-transcript.
I mean, that's a lot.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
And to know that you could.
I mean, I'm telling you like Icould have stayed at Port
Orleans or Caribbean Beach andhad a significantly better
resort experience.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Well, like what you said.
So Port Orleans Riverside 293.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
And I mean I'm assuming Caribbean Beach is
going to be similar to that.
Yeah, and you know, caribbeanBeach has the Skyliner which
gives you access to Epcot and toHollywood Studios, whereas the
I mean I guess it can, no, yeah,the contemporary any of those
Magic Kingdom resorts.
(33:17):
You have the Monorail to theMagic Kingdom and then you take
the Monorail to to gettransportation center, to get to
another one for Epcot.
So I mean, in my mind I'm likeI, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,
I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I.
There was no huge wow, I shouldstay here.
It's totally worth it Over aPort Orleans or a Caribbean
(33:40):
Beach.
Yeah, and another thingcarpeted floors.
If you're gonna redo thosebuildings, put, I mean, I get it
.
Why, if the building is as oldas it was, I mean that sound I
guarantee you is they just tryto slow it down.
I mean, yeah, be way worse,horrible, it would have been
horrible.
I was looking at the GrandFloridian and they redid the
(34:04):
villas at the Grand Floridian.
Those look really nice.
They touched up on the mainbuilding.
I don't know what's happening.
Disney, I know who is yourbuilder.
I mean they're just puttingLipstick on a pig.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Lipstick on a pig.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
They're not even getting to the structural part
of it.
Honestly, they could havebulldozed those buildings and
done something-.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Yeah, they could have bulldozed those and then just
put up something-.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
They could have done the same concept.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Yeah, not as nice as Bay Lake.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
They could have done the same concept of the garden
wing of a two or three storybuilding To the point of the
original thing when we firststarted.
These are three story buildings.
I am five foot four.
On a good day I could touch theceiling.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
With air maxes.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
With air maxes, basic air maxes.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
And you could touch the ceiling, I could touch the
ceiling.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Gosh, that's too much In the hallways.
The room was better, but in thehallways I can't imagine, if
you're six foot, what that lookslike for you.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Yeah, I don't remember how it was.
For a lot we definitely stayedin a garden wing and I don't
remember how it was.
I do remember how bad thehallways were.
Like I said, I just stayed at aBest Western in Daytona Beach
and it did remind me.
I was like oh, this is how thegarden wing is.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
This is how Elizabeth's living right now.
I had no idea that I was reallyliving that way.
And also, when you get to thesecond and third story, there is
no balcony, it is simply just adoor that opens and a railing.
All of that to say I don'trecommend, I don't recommend it.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
I know For the price if you are staying there.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
I mean, you can get somewhere nicer for cheaper
Right.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
If you're going to stay there, you need to be
prepared for what your pros are,which are the parking, the
convenience to Magic Kingdom,and that's it, and that's it.
I mean, if I am going in thecolder season, I only want to do
Magic Kingdom, and there'sthree something a night in the
(36:26):
300s.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
Yeah, I would probably consider it.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Yeah, like if I'm doing a Halloween party or a
Christmas party and then rightafter I can just walk to my
hotel, I'm doing that.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
But if you're coming on a five I mean if you're
coming in, like Sarah said, ifyou're coming in for a fan, this
is your big family vacation, Iwould consider, and you're
wanting something that isaffordable and that's why you're
looking at it.
Consider somewhere else.
Yes, If you're going and youwant the convenience of the
contemporary and you have theability to spend it on a Bay
(36:59):
Lake Tower, do the Bay LakeTower, but don't consider the
Garden Wing.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Have you seen the boardwalk in?
Speaker 1 (37:09):
You know a long time ago.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Okay, the tallies have stayed there before.
They do not love the boardwalkin.
I wonder if it's comparablebecause they have prices
comparable to the contemporary.
And I wonder, like you know,it's convenient because it's
walkable to Epcot Skyliner, toHollywood Studios, long walk,
you know, to Hollywood Studios,but still access to both of
those resorts or both thoseparks, but it's older and not as
(37:36):
desirable.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
And when we say older , again, the rooms are updated,
which is nice.
It is the physical buildingthat is old and it's not like
they bought a historic home andthey gutted it and they brought
in an alpha foundation and resetthe foundation of it.
They literally just putlipstick on a pig, yeah, yeah,
(37:58):
and called it a day, yeah.
So I don't recommend it.
I would recommend other thingsand if you were staying above me
that night, I hope that youhave fire ants in your backyard.
So I gotta say about that.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
All right.
Well, that's our review on thecontemporary resort as of 2023.
So 2023.
I know.
Thanks a lot, disney.
We'll catch you next time, bye,bye.
Hey friends.
Hi, it's Elizabeth and Sarahand we are back.
We are back Today.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
We're going to be talking about the contemporary
oh man, I've been waiting to dolike a good series of hotel
reviews and we're on a roll.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Yeah, we are.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Because we just did Riverside, Port Orleans.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
And you.
Just so, my daughter and I wenton a girls trip to Disney.
Because, my husband and my sonwere in Chicago.
Yeah, chicago, chicago, as myson calls it, which is so funny
Because my grandfather called itChicago.
He never even met him, right?
Well, he did, but he was like12 months old when he died, and
(00:49):
so it's just so, anyway,genetics.
So my son and my husband wentto Chicago and my you'd be
shocked to know that my husbandstayed at the Langham Chicago.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Which is like.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
I don't even know.
It's like the four seasons.
Where else would Scott Brinickstay?
He gets in and he calls me andhe's like so we gotta.
Our room was upgraded.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I was like of course.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
What's your so annoying?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I imagine Scott's search engine for anything.
It doesn't even include a valueor moderate option.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
No, none, only deluxe , only deluxe and luxuries.
So I told him and his responsewas I paid for it with points.
I'm like, I don't care, loriAnn, wherever you want to stay,
wherever you want to stay, andso she.
So we started this girl.
So I asked her where do youwant to go?
Wherever you want to go, exceptfor New York, please do not ask
me to go to a big city withoutan adult.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, Just wherever you want to go, because I'm not
one.
I am not one.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
And she was like let's go to Disney, just the two
of us.
And I said, done and done,where do you want to stay?
Homeworld picks like the allstarbers award, and I was like,
no, we ain't staying there,that's really sweet.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
You're going to pick somewhere else.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
So I pushed for the Riviera, but she was like no, I
want to go to the contemporary,where the monorail was.
So I actually got a garden viewroom and it was like 300.
And I think that with I can'tremember if it was 318 or 380.
It was less than $400 per nightwith tax and whatever.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
That was the.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Florida resident rate and I think I booked it in like
February Does that sound rightto you.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yes, that does, okay, so if you're not familiar with
the contemporary building whichI was not, by the way.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
it's the one that the monorail goes through.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Yeah, Its shape is very I don't know if you call it
mid-century modern, but it'sdifferent from any other deluxe
resort.
You think that the originalresort it's the original?
Yes, it was like that, and thenthe Polynesian was after.
I think, right, right, and thatbuilding is the only building
(02:51):
that has rooms.
But it's not.
It has a couple of buildingsnext to it.
Now it has Bay Lake Tower,which is the DVC.
Really nice, it's newer, newer,yes.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
If you are looking at the contemporary, if the magic
kingdom is behind you and youare looking at the contemporary,
there's the main building ofthe contemporary, the metal.
Dvc Bay Lake is to the leftwhich has connects right with
like a walkway.
And they have their own pool.
And then, to the right of thatwhich you cannot see from the
main road is, like you said,like a little series of
(03:27):
buildings, I guess is the way todescribe them.
There are one story two storybuildings.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Next to the building, next to the larger building.
There are three stories.
There are three stories.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Thank you, but if you looked at it, that's part of my
review.
If you looked at it, you'dthink it was only two stories,
but there are three stories inthere.
There are three stories, okay.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
But that's what she says.
I just wanted to make surepeople understood.
When you said garden view, it'snot in the main building.
Right and it is.
It's nice because it's part ofthe contemporary and it's
discounted usually it's not the$600 a night to be in the main
one, but garden view.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
And to your point, bay Lake Towers is also very.
I mean, it's a new building.
I knew I think it was built inlike 2005.
Yeah, it's new wish, it's not1960s.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
It was built in the 2000s.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
The garden view rooms are original to the building or
to the construction of thathotel.
So I know none of this.
Going into it Didn't even knowthat.
I thought that those buildingswere like storage facilities,
because it's right next to likewhere the utility trucks come in
and out, but there is a utilityfacility there.
(04:32):
So that's what I thought thiswhole time.
Nope, everyone.
That's the garden view.
That's the garden view.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
There it is.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Yeah, so we get there .
We do early check in.
Our room was not ready untilfive o'clock.
I was not there.
It worked out.
We went, I think we wentstraight to Hollywood Studios.
We did, we went straight toHollywood Studios.
It was fine.
I was just annoyed.
I was like what in the world?
So we check in at the gate andthey are like go straight to the
(05:01):
room.
And I was like okay.
So in my mind I was like I wasgoing to go to the front desk
see if they had an upgrade,thinking about what you and
Carly did when y'all went to theCoronado Springs.
But they were like nope, bypassthe main building, go all the
way around and you're going topark in front of the building.
And so I was like, oh cool, Iliterally have a pro con list
(05:22):
over here on my phone.
I was like this needs notes.
So the I know it's because Ihad a lot of opinions.
Yeah, it's a lot.
We're going to get there, we'regoing to dissect them.
This is a therapy session everymonth.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Oh this is what I've been waiting for.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
So the parking situation was great because you
have your own parking lot, okay,and you know that I like to
access my car because wetypically take our car going to
and from parks, yeah, whereas ifyou stayed in the main building
or even I don't know about BayLake Towers, but I know if you
stay in the main building wewould have probably about laid
(05:59):
oh yes, no question about that.
So we park in front of thebuilding.
There are no carts, no carts,no you know luggage carts Like
luggage carts.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
So I'm like, okay, we're going to be here, for we
had I had water, if anybody'sshocked by that a bag, a basket
of snacks, and then we had oursuitcases, which were not on no,
they were on wheels.
She doesn't mean water, like.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
I mean, I had a 36 pack of like a Zephyr Hills one
bottle.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
I had a 36 pack of water bottles and a two gallon
dispenser thing.
And, by the way, we drink allof that water.
I bet you did.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Sure did, sure did.
I didn't bring good ice, didnot bring good ice.
You just, you just used thehotel ice, just used the hotel
ice.
We sound ridiculous, but it'sjust because your dad has like
an ice maker.
That's really good.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
I mean, he has been a good ice maker.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
I know, that's why I was like did you bring that ice?
Yeah, no, I didn't I went.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
I went half bougie on this one.
Okay, I went discounted thecontemporary on this one.
Yeah, yeah, you did.
So.
We get in and the building is,to Sarah's point, from the 1960s
.
You walk in the building andthere is a heat wave walking
into the building because it isso humid and you can feel the
humidity inside the building andit smells not great and I was
(07:16):
like this is going to be ajourney.
So we take the elevator to thesecond floor, which took I think
we timed it one time and it wasa six minute from hitting the
button getting on the elevatorto go up to the second floor.
So we get to our hotel room andthe hotel room is nice.
(07:37):
Everything is updated.
They redid the rooms ratherrecently and I was like, okay,
this is fine, this will do.
I'm going to start unpacking,mm, hmm, our room.
I noticed there was a lot ofmosquitoes in our room and I was
like what is happening?
What is happening?
So we didn't get to our roomuntil we left Hollywood Studios
(08:01):
and we didn't get back to thehotel to check in until nine
o'clock at night.
Lauren was exhausted.
I was like I'm going to unpack,you take a shower.
Like, let's do this.
There are mosquitoes.
I think I killed like six orseven.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
I would have been done.
I couldn't, if I know amosquito is in the room with me
sleeping, burn it down.
I have to get it out.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
So I'm like what is happening?
And Laura Ann gets, I kid younot, gets out of the shower,
lays on the bed and is like I'mout, mommy.
And I was like, ok, ok.
So I am like trying to figureout what's happening.
And the sliding door will notlock and I'm like, ok, that's
what's happening.
There's like, obviously in ourroom it would not get super cold
(08:47):
.
It was like you know how, whenyou drive your car and you can
hit the AC button and it'll blowlike cold, cold air.
But then if you hit the ACbutton, even if it's at 60
degrees, it blows it a littlebit warmer.
That's what it felt like and Iwas like, ok, I will address
this tomorrow.
So we go to bed and the peopleabove us at 1 30 in the morning,
(09:12):
I finally called security.
Wow, because they were jumpingoff the beds, so much so that
the beds were shaking, our bedswere shaking and I was like I
worked for a contractor.
My husband's a contractor.
I don't think that this is tocode.
I don't think that's why youdid this.
(09:33):
I don't think that's why youall redid this building, because
I feel like the rebar is aboutto snap in half.
It did not feel structurally, Imean, it's shaped, the walls
shaped, when these people so Icalled security, security
handled the situation for thatnight.
So the next morning I was likeOK, we're going to go to the
(09:55):
front office, we're going to getthis fixed, it's going to be
fine.
So we FaceTime the Chicago boysand Lorian opens the door and
there are bunnies there.
And then I go to shut it againand I notice there's a lock up
top, with a lock so that's whyit didn't shut, because the lock
was engaged to keep the doorfrom shutting all the way.
And I was like, oh, that's whyit's hot in here OK, boom done,
(10:18):
shut it, lock it.
I should have gone to the frontand just complained and taken
care of it then.
But Lorian was like I love theroom, everything's great, and I
was like, ok, fine, so that'swhen I didn't complain.
That was my first mistake.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Oh gosh, so let's go.
Let me talk about this for asecond.
I've got some stats forcontemporary so people can have
a vision.
October 1, 1971, 51 years ago.
We know that is how their 50thanniversary is, when the
contemporary opened.
(10:52):
They have the main tower, theBay Lake Tower and the South
Garden Wing.
The size of the rooms is verysubstantial, like you said.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
And we had two queen beds and there was like this
sofa thing and there was a folddown from there.
There was a fifth sleeper thereOn in that couch thing, which
was nice.
I mean nobody utilized it, butthat was nice.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Well, so we just stayed at Beach Club, which
we'll do a different review oflater, and I noticed those rooms
are significantly smaller, likeit's still a deluxe resort.
Those rooms are significantlysmaller than the contemporary
rooms.
So, they are very big.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Yes, and the bathroom was big.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
OK.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
The bathroom was big.
The room itself, the size, thecomfort level, the convenience
of the layout of the room wasvery nice.
I would have been fine if thefour of us had been there for an
extended period of time.
I feel like we would have beencomfortable.
There was plenty of storage.
(12:06):
The closet space was nice.
The countertop space where thecoffee maker and the
refrigerator and stuff was, thatwas nice.
There was just plenty of space,plenty of space.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
We've stayed there.
So the stats on it are theEpcot deluxes, which is Yachton
Beach Club Boardwalk.
Their square footage is 370square feet to 380 square feet.
The Magic Kingdom deluxes are394 square feet to 440 square
feet.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
OK, it's significant.
I remember our entire familybeing in one room and all of our
kids were very little and wehad a pack and play for chambers
and we were able to do amakeshift room with sheets that
I had brought, like some clothespins, to be able to close her
off, and there was plenty ofspace.
So the space is great, yes, butmay not make up for all the
(13:00):
other cons on the list, I meanthe people about.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
I had to call security every single night on
those people and I know shame onme for not taking it.
I and I was like, I feel like ifI were to come to you, scott,
and I talked about this, I waslike if I were to go to them
prior, they would have been likeno, let us, let us change your
room, which is not what wewanted.
We just wanted them to knowlike y'all need to fix this,
(13:26):
because this is not okay.
And I was like I don't know, Idon't know, I don't know, I
don't know, I don't know, Idon't know, I don't know, I
don't know, I don't know, Idon't know, I don't know, I
don't know.
Okay, and so the room itself.
Like you said, it was great.
(13:46):
I don't know if that room wasmore than what we paid for it.
I would have been livid, yeah,absolutely livid.
If I was coming there on a fromMinnesota and I was staying
there for five days, I wouldhave been Right.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
If this is your, family vacation for the summer
that you've been planning forand saving for saying at the
contemporary it's a deluxeresort.
All these plans.
And if that was a, I would havebeen very mad yeah.
So, to day two, you were sayinglike okay, you went to bed.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Yeah, I went to bed the next day, figured out the
lock situation with that door,came back from the parks that
day and the room was freezing,so clearly I fixed that problem,
which was nice it was.
I mean to open up your hotelroom door and go into the the
common spaces and there be likea heat wave between your door,
(14:40):
your room and the lobby space, Ithink is.
I think that's telling.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
We did that.
When I just went to passioncamp with like a thousand youth
kids, we were at you know, thebest Western on Daytona Beach,
but we, we knew what we weredoing.
Yeah, Knew what we were gettingourselves into.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Well, that was I was going to say, that's what I was
going to say I felt like I wasstaying in a to your point, best
Western building with a I don't.
I'm trying to think of a, maybea Marriott room on the inside
the pool.
I was disappointed in the pool.
Yeah, it was not great.
I mean it was the bottom wasrough, also was dated.
(15:23):
This is funny.
So in Florida if there is alightning strike within 10 miles
, the pool shut down and therewas a lightning strike, I think
that it was like eight milesaway because you know we have
the lightning tracker on ourphone because we live in Florida
and they shut down the pool andpeople were so mad and so
(15:44):
confused and they were like Ican't believe it why?
Cause there was a storm cloudover there and I was like, well,
where are you from?
And then one couple was likeCanada.
I was like, okay.
So here in Florida we havethese things called
thunderstorms, and lightning canstrike far away from the
thunderstorms and will kill youand will kill you.
(16:04):
They, it doesn't care, itdoesn't carry.
So if you're listening to thisand you're from Minnesota,
please understand that lightningstorms are a real thing.
So the other thing it did, youknow, we got our afternoon
showers, which was totally fineand expected for Florida.
I did feel like other resortsseemed clean after the rain.
(16:27):
I don't know.
I don't know if it's just theleveling of the ground, I don't
know if they like go through andpush the water off, but I felt
like you know how some placesyou're like, oh, I could totally
walk around outside barefootand I'd be fine.
Yes, I don't.
I didn't feel that way.
The outside Right, I did notfeel that way at the
contemporary.
(16:48):
I felt like walking on the pooldeck.
I needed shoes, I felt like thekid area.
So in most pools um, I don'tknow Now the kiddie pool area,
like the splash pad, is in itsown gated area.
So if you have two sets of kids, if you have a younger kid and
an older kid, you could be inone place and you can see both.
(17:10):
That's not the case with this.
The splash pad area is on theoutside of the pool and so you
are not able.
You're either in one place orthe other place.
Okay, um, they also had, youknow, your chess and your
connect for and your lawn games,which was nice.
Um, I don't know, I would notstay there again.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
At the contemporary.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Ever again.
Wow, the convenience of themonorail was nice, right, um,
you know, I, if I had to pick amonorail, I mean a deluxe resort
in that area and the MagicKingdom area I have not stayed
in the Grand Floridian sincethey redid it, but I would stay
(17:58):
there or the Polynesian over thecontemporary.
I don't, I wouldn't pick, Iwould pick.
I would pick the Caribbeanbeach over the contemporary.
Wow, easily.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Wow.
Well, I will say we stayed atthe contemporary twice.
Um, one time was, I think bothof them was on like a bigger
family trip with my side of thefamily.
Um, and we did enjoy our trip.
We never did the pool, though.
It was cold when we went.
It was in like January.
Um, wait, when did you go preCOVID, pre COVID?
(18:33):
Okay, yeah, we went pre COVID.
We loved it.
Um, the rooms were great.
Now, one time we did the gardenview and one time we were in
the main building.
What was your thought on the?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
main building.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
The main building is lovely.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Was it loud.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
It's loud once you get out, you know.
But your room was fine.
I don't really know.
I don't remember it being loudin the room.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
See, I feel like if you, if it was loud in the room,
you would have remembered.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Yeah, I don't think so.
Or we could have just had soundmachines and it could have been
loud and we fixed with soundmachines and then we didn't
remember.
Yeah, it was that loud Um causethat's.
I mean, every hotel is likethat for me.
Like if you say it in embassysuites, you know that's loud
because of how the rooms are.
Yes, Um, but we did like it.
(19:17):
But my knock for thecontemporary was that there just
wasn't any um.
Yeah, there wasn't anythingelse to do except to stay there,
Right, there was not any likeentertainment, unless you were
going to, um, I don't know, justdo Chef Mickey's, and that was
your entertainment.
But there wasn't any activitiesoutside.
(19:39):
I mean you go to the Polynesianand there's stuff going on all
the time, all the time.
Um, so yeah, it was it'sLawton's favorite because it's
the least like in your faceDisney place.
Okay, he loves that, you know,it's just like minimalist.
Yeah, you just go there.
It's a nice hotel.
Yeah, you know it, you can walkto the Kingdom.
It does the job Like that's.
That's what he likes about it,but we've never done the.
(20:00):
We've never done the pool there.
Yeah, had to add to.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
I, I would say and it's not just I mean, let me
make it clear, Lori and in mytrip was enjoyable.
We had a great time the down.
If I, scott, asked the question, if you, if the people were not
above you, would you still havenot liked it?
And I think my answer is still.
(20:25):
I would have still not liked it.
I don't know, it just seemed.
It seemed completely dated andnot okay.
I know what I was gonna say.
Was it incredible?
Yes, it was an incredible theme.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
But the building itself.
I mean, I used a wheelchair.
I will send you the picture.
I used a wheelchair to putstuff from my car, to take it up
to my room, gosh, and I was,like you know, here I am by
myself, just me, and I know thatthere are people who the car.
I mean, if you're staying for aweek, you have more than what I
(21:02):
had, right?
Speaker 2 (21:03):
and there are plenty of single parents going and
bringing their kids.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
And if my kids were younger I could not.
I left Lori in the room andwent and got stuff, but I could
not have done that if she wasthree or four.
Yeah, so the last night we didnighttime swim and so fun, and
we met this woman from NewHampshire and her daughter.
(21:30):
So they were there and theywere staying at the Grand
Floridian, okay, and they weresupposed to leave.
No, no, no, no, no.
They were staying at the AnimalKingdom Lodge.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
And their flight wasn't like eight o'clock at
night.
The daughter was going intosecond grade.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
So my son's age.
So Animal Kingdom, their flightwas supposed to leave at 8 pm.
So she was like we'd plan ongoing over to the Grand
Floridian that day, which wasnice because I could go and the
Grand Floridian would hold mysuitcase, which I had no idea.
So they went and they did theGrand Floridian, while she kept
getting notifications yourflight's pushed back, your
flight's pushed back.
(22:11):
And she was like so finally, atlike one o'clock, I told my
husband I'm just gonna stayanother night because we're not
gonna get into one o'clock inthe morning.
Okay, okay.
So the Grand Floridian was likesorry, we don't have any rooms
available at all and the wholething for one night, and she was
like, okay, that was on aSaturday night.
Right, it was Saturday night,yeah.
(22:31):
So they took the monorail overto the contemporary, and the
contemporary was like we onlyhave a Baylake Tower one bedroom
suite for $1500 a night.
And she was like, no, give methe cheapest thing.
And so they gave her a gardenview room.
And I think that she said thatshe paid $600 for that room.
Wow, I was like-.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Oh, you meant Animal Kingdom told her there were no
rooms.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
No, so she spent the day.
Her plan was to spend Saturdayat the Grand Floridian.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
And so she went from, she checked out of their hotel
room, went to the GrandFloridian to spend the day there
.
I think that they did the spa,they did, you know, they all got
.
Her and her daughter got madein here.
But the hotel at the GrandFloridian, held her stuff.
So then, when she got thenotification that their flight
was delayed, she went down tothe front desk of the Grand
Floridian and was like can wecheck in for a night?
Speaker 2 (23:22):
And they had no rooms , no rooms, okay, so then she
went to contemporary.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
So she was like I just got on the monorail and
went to contemporary and thecontemporary said that, so she
paid $600 for the garden viewroom.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Holy moly.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
And I asked her.
I was like how?
But she had a bigger room, herswas like a cause.
I asked her that.
And she had a porch, a walkoutporch.
She was on the first floor andshe was like there is no one
around us.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Which I thought was interesting.
Okay, but she said she was likemy room is bigger than what our
room was at the animal kingdomand as she had one but she said
they had she had a king bed.
So I'm wondering now if shejust had the same room as that
we had.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
But it was a king bed , so it just seemed bigger.
But it was a king bed, so itseemed bigger.
It seemed bigger.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Yeah, anyway.
So she did that $600 a night,wow.
And I was like so did you thinkthat it was worth it?
And she was like I mean, I'mnot gonna lie on the.
Also, this is the epitome oflike anybody outside of the
Southeast coming into Florida.
She was like I'm not gonna lie.
When she said first floor levelporch, whatever.
(24:34):
I was like alligators are gonnacome to my front porch.
And I was like do you know that?
That is not a thing?
What?
Speaker 2 (24:42):
It's the way I think, bears.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Oh, like whenever we go to the mountains, like when I
go to the mountains.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
We leave this week and I'm like attacking my kids
already.
I'm just like listen, there arebears out here and they, if you
have a snack, they might comeafter you.
Okay, so you need to just eatyour snack in the kitchen with
the door locked, and then we'llgo outside for a hike, okay.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
If you get out of the car, you better lock that door.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
They don't lock that door.
They don't lock that door, sothat is so I feel her on that.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
That is how people from New Hampshire view people
from Florida.
There are gonna be alligators.
She also said that they she waslike I guess her parents live
in South Florida for half theyear.
So she was like I was visitingmy parents and it was when
whatever that hurricane thatcame through and destroyed four
miles of years ago she was likewe had to.
(25:28):
We drove.
So she was like so we just wentand set like people were like
just go to Disney, stay inDisney, ride out the storm in
Disney, mm-hmm, because I guessit was when it decided to go a
little bit further south and shewas like so we had to leave.
So they went to Disney, theystayed at the contemporary in
the main building.
Cause she was like I just knewit was a concrete building and I
(25:49):
was like all buildings areconcrete.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
But she knew she was like okay, I know it's gonna be
safe.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Yes, it's gonna be safe.
We can run out of the stormhere, well.
So a side note is again, peoplefrom Florida versus not people
from Florida.
She was like we were watchingthe news and my kids were like,
are we gonna die?
I'm like I mean while I'm likewe live for our games here, so
she said that the entertainmentwas unbelievable.
(26:16):
Oh, wow.
She said that they have staffwho is basic, just kind of like
a hospital you're on at alltimes they cleared out an area
of Bay Lake Towers and put themin there.
And what do they call them?
Like the rescue team, thepeople who are just like 24
hours on staff.
Yeah, and she said that theentertainment was great.
(26:37):
Like every morning they got aprintout of things that were
going on in the main buildingand they, like the characters
came out and stuff like that,which was nice, but she said
nobody was in the garden roomand they tried to keep as many
people as possible just as manystaff members in Bay Lake Towers
.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
But they tried to keep, anyway, I digress.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
So all of that to say .
My experience with thecontemporary was I will never
say there again, wow.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
So let's go over your pros and cons list one more
time.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Like give us a run through Pros, parking situation,
cons, hard to find help carts,et cetera.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
You mean parking situation, like you can park
right in front of the building.
You can park right in front,yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Okay, Rooms are redone.
Pro building is old.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Con.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Yeah, con, is the building as old?
Sorry Pro the location.
Con, the AC unit was hard towork and the neighbors were
extremely loud.
Oh, I did learn this because wewent to Tobolines Terrace for
lunch and there was no parking.
Look at that, cardinal on thatwindow.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
I know you guys.
I just got a bird feeder.
This is how I'm approaching 40.
I got a bird feeder on mywindow.
It just has like little suctioncups.
You put some bird seed in it.
I can just sit in my office andwatch the birds.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
This is great.
This is really great.
We went to Tobolines Terraceand there was no parking.
Really, I valed.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
The guy was like keep your valet receipt, you can go
to In your Resort and valet yourcar, it's covered.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
I had no idea.
I put that on the pros list.
That had nothing to do withKintamari, but still I had no
idea about that.
If you're going for the day orif you're I don't know, or, but
you had to have paid.
It can't be like you're stayinghere and you valed your car and
(28:45):
then you took your car out andyou left.
If you're just valing for theday, so if you go to the Grand
Floridian or if you go toTobolines Terrace and you valet
there and then you want to goand do the contemporary and
watch the fireworks, you canjust come on over and valet and
valet.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
That's nice, that's good to know, yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
And it's.
I think it's $35, maybe it's$25.
I don't remember, but I waslike that is nice to know,
because I don't.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
I don't know.
Yeah, I do think it's a littlebit more because I've split it
before with somebody, because wewere all together yeah, the two
families in a car and wevaleted and I think that it's
like between $30 and $40.
Yeah, but it's fine If it's.
A lot of times it's worthwhilejust to valet, because if you're
going to park at theTransportation and Ticket Center
and you don't have an annualpass, you've got to pay $20
(29:35):
something to park anyway.
So you might want to just valetat a resort, at the closest one
.
I mean I would valet atcontemporary and then walk over
to Magic Kingdom before.
I go to the TransportationTicket Center.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
And my point is I don't know if you have to have a
reservation to get in Sometimesyou do yeah, sometimes if it's
too full.
They're like you can't.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
But if you say, like you know I'm, if you go and eat
a meal there, that's acounter-service meal, I've done
that.
Yes, there's like acounter-service place that just
has like burgers and stuff thatyou want to eat there, they
might let you.
Yeah, but yeah, it does dependon how full it is.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Yeah, so you know, the pro was that I did put on
there the Contempo's diner orwhatever.
Oh yeah, contempo Cafe.
Yeah, that was nice.
Yeah, that was, the food wasdecent.
On our last, on our last day,that's what we finished the day
we did an order and it was readyby the time we got off the
(30:35):
monorail.
We picked it up and went to theroom.
So those were.
That was my pro con list.
I just felt like it was.
I, just I I've to to, to useyour reference of the best
Western, I felt like it was bestWestern quality.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Wow, the Garden View.
The Garden View, yeah, and it'strue, you are going to pay, you
know, for the Garden View.
You're going to pay, you know,upwards.
So let's see, right now I'mgoing to do a quick search.
Just a random weekend in, let'ssay, I'm going to even go
January, end of January, becauseit's not a princess weekend.
(31:12):
It just really depends on ifyou're going to stay in the
Garden View or the main tower.
Let's see, here we've got Iwould have.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
I feel like if I had gone to Bay Lake Towers, which
would have been quadruple theprice that I paid, I feel like I
would have had a differentopinion.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
That's true.
Bay Lake Tower, you know, for arandom weekend in the end of
January next year.
Now there's, this is just rackrate, there's no discounts or
anything.
It's $637 a night for Bay LakeTower, contemporary 572.
Let's see if it's a Garden View.
I bet that's the Garden Viewprice, because they usually only
(31:57):
it's the cheapest one, it's theleast expensive one.
So Garden View Resort View.
Garden Wing Resort View is 523.
Garden View no, that's ResortView.
Sorry, it's a Garden WingResort View.
Garden Wing Water View, becausethat's what it's called.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
That's what.
Okay, it's the Garden Wing Idid Garden Wing Resort View.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Okay, yeah, so that's the Garden Wing Resort, view
523, the Garden Wing Water, view572.
While you're doing that, I'mgoing to look up.
I mean Main Tower, how much?
738.
No-transcript.
I mean, that's a lot.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
And to know that you could.
I mean, I'm telling you like Icould have stayed at Port
Orleans or Caribbean Beach andhad a significantly better
resort experience.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Well, like what you said.
So Port Orleans Riverside 293.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
And I mean I'm assuming Caribbean Beach is
going to be similar to that.
Yeah, and you know, caribbeanBeach has the Skyliner which
gives you access to Epcot and toHollywood Studios, whereas the
I mean I guess it can, no, yeah,the contemporary any of those
Magic Kingdom resorts.
(33:17):
You have the Monorail to theMagic Kingdom and then you take
the Monorail to to gettransportation center, to get to
another one for Epcot.
So I mean, in my mind I'm likeI, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,
I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I.
There was no huge wow, I shouldstay here.
It's totally worth it Over aPort Orleans or a Caribbean
(33:40):
Beach.
Yeah, and another thingcarpeted floors.
If you're gonna redo thosebuildings, put, I mean, I get it
.
Why, if the building is as oldas it was, I mean that sound I
guarantee you is they just tryto slow it down.
I mean, yeah, be way worse,horrible, it would have been
horrible.
I was looking at the GrandFloridian and they redid the
(34:04):
villas at the Grand Floridian.
Those look really nice.
They touched up on the mainbuilding.
I don't know what's happening.
Disney, I know who is yourbuilder.
I mean they're just puttingLipstick on a pig.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Lipstick on a pig.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
They're not even getting to the structural part
of it.
Honestly, they could havebulldozed those buildings and
done something-.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Yeah, they could have bulldozed those and then just
put up something-.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
They could have done the same concept.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Yeah, not as nice as Bay Lake.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
They could have done the same concept of the garden
wing of a two or three storybuilding To the point of the
original thing when we firststarted.
These are three story buildings.
I am five foot four.
On a good day I could touch theceiling.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
With air maxes.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
With air maxes, basic air maxes.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
And you could touch the ceiling, I could touch the
ceiling.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Gosh, that's too much In the hallways.
The room was better, but in thehallways I can't imagine, if
you're six foot, what that lookslike for you.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Yeah, I don't remember how it was.
For a lot we definitely stayedin a garden wing and I don't
remember how it was.
I do remember how bad thehallways were.
Like I said, I just stayed at aBest Western in Daytona Beach
and it did remind me.
I was like oh, this is how thegarden wing is.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
This is how Elizabeth's living right now.
I had no idea that I was reallyliving that way.
And also, when you get to thesecond and third story, there is
no balcony, it is simply just adoor that opens and a railing.
All of that to say I don'trecommend, I don't recommend it.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
I know For the price if you are staying there.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
I mean, you can get somewhere nicer for cheaper
Right.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
If you're going to stay there, you need to be
prepared for what your pros are,which are the parking, the
convenience to Magic Kingdom,and that's it, and that's it.
I mean, if I am going in thecolder season, I only want to do
Magic Kingdom, and there'sthree something a night in the
(36:26):
300s.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
Yeah, I would probably consider it.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Yeah, like if I'm doing a Halloween party or a
Christmas party and then rightafter I can just walk to my
hotel, I'm doing that.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
But if you're coming on a five I mean if you're
coming in, like Sarah said, ifyou're coming in for a fan, this
is your big family vacation, Iwould consider, and you're
wanting something that isaffordable and that's why you're
looking at it.
Consider somewhere else.
Yes, If you're going and youwant the convenience of the
contemporary and you have theability to spend it on a Bay
(36:59):
Lake Tower, do the Bay LakeTower, but don't consider the
Garden Wing.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Have you seen the boardwalk in?
Speaker 1 (37:09):
You know a long time ago.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Okay, the tallies have stayed there before.
They do not love the boardwalkin.
I wonder if it's comparablebecause they have prices
comparable to the contemporary.
And I wonder, like you know,it's convenient because it's
walkable to Epcot Skyliner, toHollywood Studios, long walk,
you know, to Hollywood Studios,but still access to both of
those resorts or both thoseparks, but it's older and not as
(37:36):
desirable.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
And when we say older , again, the rooms are updated,
which is nice.
It is the physical buildingthat is old and it's not like
they bought a historic home andthey gutted it and they brought
in an alpha foundation and resetthe foundation of it.
They literally just putlipstick on a pig, yeah, yeah,
(37:58):
and called it a day, yeah.
So I don't recommend it.
I would recommend other thingsand if you were staying above me
that night, I hope that youhave fire ants in your backyard.
So I gotta say about that.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
All right.
Well, that's our review on thecontemporary resort as of 2023.
So 2023.
I know.
Thanks a lot, disney.
We'll catch you next time, bye,bye.
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