Disney's Contemporary Resort

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Newer Logo

Older Logo

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 first opened on October 1, 1971, at which time it featured state-of-the-art facilities. It is currently in the process of renovation to make it state-of-the-art again. It is categorized as a 'Deluxe' Disney resort.

The monorail runs through the interior of the Contemporary Resort.

A prominent mosaic by Mary Blair seen in the Grand Canyon Concourse.

1 Resort facts
2 Design
3 Guest rooms
4 Restaurants
5 Entertainment and activities
6 2005 refurbishment
7 Resort photos
8 External links

[edit] Resort facts

Category: Deluxe
Theme: Retro-Futuristic
Location: Magic Kingdom Area Resorts
Opened: October 1, 1971
Last Renovated: 2005-late 2006
Areas: Contemporary Tower and Garden Rooms
Rooms: 1053

[edit] 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 by Disney, the United States Steel Corporation, and Los Angeles architect Welton Becket. To construct it, steel frames were erected on site and modular pre-constructed rooms were lifted into place by crane. Approximately 500 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 irremovable. Most of Disney's Polynesian Resort was built this way also. Another resort in Orlando that was built by US Steel was the Court of Flags Resort in 1972. They also had the slide in modular units. As of 2006 that resort has been demolished.

Construction Pictures & More Pictures

Construction video from US Steel

The Contemporary Tower houses most of the resort's key facilities, including resort registration and guest services (concierge). 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 System runs through the inside of this building, providing a monorail station here for resort guests. Also adorning the concourse walls is an enormous mosaic designed by Mary Blair.

Monorail thru Contemporary

Two three-story wings flank the north and south sides of the Tower, and offer an additional two 250 rooms each. A convention center was added to the resort and opened on November 11, 1991, with more than 90,000 square feet (more than 8,300 square meters) of convention space.

As of November 2006, the North Wing has been closed and surrounded by construction walls that also appear to encompass portions of the guest parking lot. It is not known if this is part of an extensive rehab or possibly a demolition project to make way for future expansion.

[edit] 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. The Guest Rooms make use of muted Browns, Reds, Purples and Greens as a part of their theming, partially inspired from current Asian interior design trends. Rooms previously made use of vivid primary colors red, yellow and blue, to match the theming of the hotel, which was 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.

[edit] 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 (a bird and animal island sanctuary that was closed when Animal Kingdom opened) and River Country (a water park which is now closed). Open for dinner. It offers a magnificent view of the Magic Kingdom's fireworks shows.

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 at peak times of the year. (CLOSED)

[edit] 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, personal watercraft rides, fishing tours and rentals. A full array of tennis activities including professional lessons are available as well as court time on two professionally maintained soft courts at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.

The Magic Kingdom's nightly fireworks show "Wishes" is visible 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 the Contemporary Resort nightly at around 10:05 p.m., pending any inclement weather or other technical conditions.

[edit] 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.

[edit] New guest rooms

Using muted colors, updated furnishings and linens, guest rooms of the resort will receive the most drastic of changes, creating a modern appearance consistent with the resort's name. 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, however the rooms still receive analog video signals, so don't expect an HD picture. Bathrooms also receive similar treatment, with new modern "flat sinks", new mirrors and new wallpaper.

[edit] 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 will 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 rumored to also be in the works, but few details are available.

[edit] Schedule, current resort conditions

Current refurbishment of the Contemporary Resort includes a portion of each of the resort's garden wings, and various floors of the main resort Tower. Work has been fully completed on the tenth, ninth and eighth floors of the resort tower, in addition to some rooms on the end of the South Garden Wing. Work is continuing on a rolling basis, by certain areas of the resort at a time. Work is expected to be completed in the fall 2006.

[edit] Resort photos

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.