When I was four years old, my family and I went on a Walt Disney World vacation that I still remember pretty clearly. One of my strongest memories is standing in our room at the Contemporary Resort, looking down from our balcony to the pool and Bay Lake below.  The Detroit Tigers were playing in (and would eventually win) the World Series, and the game was on in the background. My family was happy. I was happy.  And thus a lifelong love of the Contemporary was born.

Nearly 30 years later, I got my wish to stay at the Contemporary once again.  Since our September trip this year coincided with my birthday, I decided to splurge on a Magic Kingdom view room for the first few nights of our trip.  Even with our AP discount the room rate was going to be pretty high, but these are the sacrifices you make in the name of nostalgia and blogging, right?

In any case, what follows is my take on a Contemporary Resort stay. It’s not nearly comprehensive, so I recommend you pick up this book or visit this website if you want a real soup-to-nuts overview of the Contemporary, or really any Disney resort for that matter. With that caveat, onward!

Pros:

• In my mind, the absolute best selling point of the Contemporary is its location. You are a mere 10-minute walk away from the Magic Kingdom, something you can’t put a high enough price on when you want to return to your resort for an afternoon break, or if you’re trying to get back to your room quickly at night’s end. (For example, after Wishes one night later in our stay, it took us two hours to get from the Magic Kingdom back to the BoardWalk because of weather and transportation problems. How I wished we had been staying at the Contemporary that night!)  Because of the resort monorail you have easy access to the shopping and (good!) restaurants found at the Polynesian and Grand Floridian. The monorail also allows you to get to Epcot relatively quickly; even if the trip isn’t always quick, there is a lovely novelty to a complete round-trip excursion on the monorail.

• The second best selling point for me is the history.  The Contemporary is an original, venerable part of the Walt Disney World resort. It hosted Nixon’s famous “I am not a crook” speech, and this year hosted a conference that featured both president Barack Obama and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.  One of artist Mary Blair’s most iconic works makes its permanent home at the Contemporary.  The brutalist architecture and unique modular construction give the property a certain lore, too. (Yesterland has a great article on the Contemporary’s construction here.)

• Tied for third and fourth are the spacious, well-appointed rooms and the many amenities offered under one roof. Taken together, they provide one of the nicest resort experiences on Disney property. The feeling of the resort rooms is more like what you’d find at a higher-end Hilton or Westin, which I understand for some people might be more of a negative than a positive. (Something I’ll address further in the “Cons” section below.)  The room decor is tasteful and modern, and the rooms themselves are some of the most spacious you’ll find at WDW.

• Finally, I really enjoyed the more “adult” feel of the resort. If you’re like us and travel without kids, I’m sure you’ll agree it’s sometimes nice to have a respite from the child-oriented hustle and bustle you’ll find at other resorts and within the theme parks. That said, the open concourse configuration allows the significant noise from Chef Mickey’s to travel throughout the building and into guest rooms, so you can’t entirely escape the din.

Cons:

• Cost. I understand the Contemporary is a deluxe resort with a killer location, but even still, the rack rates are awfully high.  I was content to pay a high price for a special stay of just a few nights, but I doubt I would consider the Contemporary for our 10 or 11 night stays. Diplomats or those with significant trust funds might disagree.

• Upkeep. Further to this point, the room conditions to me are not what they should be for a resort with such high rates.  As with our Polynesian stay in December, I was disappointed by some of the wear and tear in our room.  The furniture was significantly scuffed, the balcony paint was peeling (and was quite frankly an eyesore), several lights were burned out, and the bathroom grout needed a good scrubbing.  Nothing was so major that I considered requesting a room change, but given the price of our stay – and given the fact that I’ve seen other Disney deluxes care for things much better – I expected more.

• Noise. Noise noise noise. The aforementioned open concourse configuration allows noise pollution into guest rooms, especially if you’re staying on a lower floor. (Pro tip: request a higher-floor room on the MK end of the resort to minimize noise disruptions.)  If a large convention happens to be at the Contemporary at the same time you are, expect the lobby to be a loud, chaotic mess nearly all of the time.

• Quick service dining.  I found the Contempo Cafe to be really…meh.  CP had a Caesar salad that consisted mostly of iceberg lettuce and stale croutons, and I had a chicken sandwich that was greasy, flabby, and fairly unappetizing. Snack options were pretty minimal. The seating area was often crowded and not very clean. The Mara at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, for example, does resort quick service much better.

• Elevators. This might have been because of the large number of conference attendees staying at the Contemporary when we did , but nevertheless we were often annoyed by the slow-running elevators. We spent a lot of time waiting for elevators, and many times they showed up completely full. Not a deal-breaker by any means, but if you’re an impatient person, you might be better off at a place like the BoardWalk or Polynesian.

• (Perceived) sterility.  If you’re one of those people (or if you have kids who are) that needs Mickey heads on your comforter and character silhouettes in your curtains, the Contemporary might not be for you. Sure, there are subtle Disney touches, but on the whole the resort is very…adult. For us this was refreshing, but if you want to breathe Disney and have it seep out of your pores 24/7, other resorts might give you a more immersive themed experience.

On the whole, we had a great time at the Contemporary and wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again if given the right opportunity. But that’s the bottom line, I think – I can’t give the Contemporary my unqualified support; I find it’s a place where you stay when the circumstances are right/call for it. It’s a fantastic splurge and a wonderful way to indulge nostalgia, but its small problems and nearly prohibitive cost mean we wouldn’t stay here on every trip. What do you think?

And now for a photo tour:

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