Disney's Contemporary Resort
Disney's Contemporary Resort is a resort hotel located at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company, and was first opened on October 1, 1971, at which time it featured state-of-the-art facilities.
Design
The most prominent of the hotel's four stand-alone buildings is the Contemporary Tower, built as an A-frame with outer walls which slope inwards around an inner atrium. This design was a collaboration between Disney, the United States Steel Corporation, and Los Angeles architect Welton Becket. To construct it, concrete frames were erected on site and modular pre-constructed rooms were lifted into place by crane. Approximately five hundred guest rooms line the outer walls of this building. Room renovation should have been a simple matter of replacing modules when refurbishment was needed; however, it was found that the modules settled and became stuck in place, rendering them unremovable.
The Contemporary Tower houses most of the resort's key facilities, including resort check-in. The main hall, named the Grand Canyon Concourse, is also located in the main Tower, and houses two restaurants and a variety of shops. The Walt Disney World Monorail runs through the inside of this building, providing a monorail station here for resort guests. Also adorning the concourse is an enormous mosaic designed by Mary Blair.
Two three-story wings flank the north and south sides of the Tower, and offer an additional two hundred fifty rooms each. A convention center was added to the resort in the 1990s, with more than ninety thousand square feet (more than 8,300 square meters) of convention space.
Guest rooms
While rooms vary slightly, standard guest rooms contain two queen beds (or one king bed) a day bed/couch, a sitting table, a credenza with a TV and a coffee maker, a small refrigerator, and a fairly large closet. Bathrooms for standard rooms at the Contemporary usually have dual sinks and vanity, a standard western toilet and a bathtub. Rooms make use of vivid primary colors; red, yellow and blue, to match the current theming of the hotel, that which is said to be influenced by Contemporary Art from the 1960s and 1970s. As one of the original resorts on property, the Contemporary Resort sports some of the largest rooms on Disney property, matched only by Disney's Polynesian Resort which also opened in 1971.
The Contemporary Resort also offers a variety of suites, as well as two levels of concierge (sometimes referred to as "club") service on the 12th and 14th floors.
Restaurants
There are several restaurants in the Contemporary Resort's main building.
- The California Grill provides a high-class and critically-acclaimed dining experience featuring exotic dishes and attentive service. Located at the top of the Contemporary Resort's main building, the California Grill offers sweeping views of the Magic Kingdom, the Seven Seas Lagoon, Bay Lake, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort, Disney's Polynesian Resort, Discovery Island and River Country. Open for dinner.
- Chef Mickey's, on the Grand Canyon Concourse, is a buffet which features appearances from Disney characters. Open for breakfast and dinner.
- The Concourse Steakhouse, also on the Grand Canyon Concourse, is a casual sit-down restaurant. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- The Food and Fun Center, in the main lobby area, is a counter service eatery serving light fare and snacks with a large video game arcade. It is open 24 hours a day.
Entertainment and activities
The Contemporary Resort offers two pools and a private beach on Bay Lake. A marina offers several water activities, such as boat rentals, jet-ski rides, fishing tours and rentals.
The Magic Kingdom's nightly fireworks show "Wishes" can be watched from the Contemporary Resort, with the show's soundtrack played over speakers in various locations from which the fireworks can be seen. The Electrical Water Pageant also passes by the Contemporary Resort nightly at around 10:05 PM, pending any inclement weather or other technical conditions.
Each June, the adjoining convention center plays host to the Panasonic Academic Challenge, one of the national championship tournaments for American secondary school quizbowl.
2005 refurbishment
Disney has begun a renovation of all guest rooms and public areas throughout the resort. The renovation is expected to be completed in autumn 2006. The current decor, changed little through the resort's history, is being replaced with more modern decor and furnishings.
New guest rooms
Using muted colors, modern furnishings and linens, guest rooms of the resort will receive the most drastic of changes, creating some of the most elegant rooms on property. New beds will be installed with white duvets and sheets, with a suede headboard that runs the height of the room. A clear glass desk workspace will be added to rooms, while a new light-green futon style day bed/couch will also be introduced. Carpet and wall colors now incorporate a soft "chocolate" brown color, while the new entertainment center brings in rich wood touches to the room. This entertainment center includes a 32" high definition LCD_television. Bathrooms also receive similar treatment, with new modern "flat sinks", new mirrors and new wallpaper being installed.
Restaurants renewed
Restaurants have also been subject to speculation on pending renovations, with the Orlando Sentinel reporting that all of the restaurants at the resort will be entirely reworked. California Grill and Chef Mickey's are both rumored to receive design updates to compliment the rest of the resort refurbishment, while the Concourse Steakhouse and "Food & Fun Center" will be completely demolished and move locations, leaving the steakhouse on the lobby level, and the resort's snack center and arcade on the Grand Canyon Concourse fourth floor. A new restaurant is also in the works, but little details are know as of this time.
Schedule, current resort conditions
Current refurbishment of the Contemporary Resort includes a portion of the South Garden Wing and ninth floor of the main resort Tower. Work has been fully completed on the tenth floor of the resort tower, and rooms on this floor are being assigned to guests. Work is continuing on a rolling basis, by closing one floor of the resort at a time. Work is expected to be completed in fall 2006.
In the meantime however, the Walt Disney Company continues to ensure a good guest experience, with work only being completed during certain times of the day, and more importantly, not impeding on public areas that guests access.
Resort photos
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Among the stylized denizens of the mosaic is a five-legged goat. It can only be seen from the monorail level. -
The Resort Monorail stops here; the Express Monorail goes through without stopping. -
The landscaping leading up to the main entrance is arranged to look like a Mickey Mouse wristwatch. This view can only be seen from the resort monorail or from rooms on the west-facing side of the building.
