Here we are on our ELEVENTH Disney World Hotel post! For our 4th of July trip we snagged an evening at Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort for only $289. Had we booked through Disney's website instead of renting Disney Vacation Club points we would have paid $762.75, whoa!
For those that are new to this series, I've been recapping my stays at the various Disney World resorts. There are different levels of resorts - Value, Moderate, Deluxe, Deluxe Villas (DVC) and Campgrounds. In my lists below I didn't separate out the Deluxe vs DVC resorts because they are technically at the same resort even though Disney groups them differently. My current list, in alphabetical order:
- All-Star Movies Resort - Value
- Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas (Jambo House) - Deluxe/DVC
- Art of Animation Resort - Value
- BoardWalk Inn/Villas - Deluxe/DVC
- Contemporary Resort/Bay Lake Tower - Deluxe/DVC
- Grand Floridian Resort & Spa - Deluxe/DVC
- Old Key West Resort - Deluxe/DVC
- Polynesian Villas & Bungalows - Deluxe/DVC
- Port Orleans Resort - French Quarter - Moderate
- Port Orleans Resort - Riverside - Moderate
- Pop Century Resort - Value
- Riviera Resort - Deluxe/DVC
- Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa - Deluxe/DVC
I still have to stay at the following resorts - minus the 2 All-Stars. If you've stayed at one, you've stayed at them all, ha ha!
- All-Star Music Resort - Value
- All-Star Movies Resort - Value
- Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas (Kidani Village) - Deluxe/DVC
- Beach Club Resort - Deluxe/DVC
- The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort - DVC
- The Campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort - Campgrounds
- Caribbean Beach Resort - Moderate
- Coronado Springs Resort - Moderate (stay tuned! 😉)
- Wilderness Lodge: non DVC, Copper Creek or Boulder Ridge - Deluxe/DVC
- Yacht Club Resort - Deluxe/DVC
I don't necessarily have to stay at Kidani Village because it's just a separate building at Animal Kingdom Lodge. The same with Yacht Club, I count this with Beach Club since they are basically the same location, but technically they are separate. So I could stay at either and I wouldn't feel the need to stay at the other just to "check it off." There are also a couple things like the Treehouses at Saratoga Springs and the Bungalows at Polynesian that I would LOVE to stay at, but those are big group/bucket list stays because
they are very expensive. The Cabins at Fort Wilderness can also fall into this category.
Now back to the Contemporary Resort!
Our stay was on July 3rd which is a very popular day to be at Magic Kingdom because they do one of their two Fourth of July fireworks shows. Magic Kingdom does 4th fireworks on the 3rd and 4th while EPCOT does their special fireworks only on the 4th. This makes most people choose to see Magic Kingdom's fireworks on the 3rd and EPCOT on the 4th, which was our game plan as well.
We were extra excited to stay at Bay Lake Tower for a couple reasons. First because they had Extended Evening Theme Park Hours at Magic Kingdom that night so we were able to enjoy shorter lines for 2 hours after official park close and another opportunity to join the Virtual Queue and ride TRON Lightcycle / Run. The second was the fact that you can walk to and from Magic Kingdom from the Contemporary Resort. This meant we didn't have to wait in crazy lines for a bus (if we were at a different resort) or the monorail. We did use the monorail once on the way back to the hotel for lunch because there was no line.
I don't usually go to Disney in the Summer becasue it is so hot and sticky but since we were already going to be down in Florida for a family trip with Christian's Mom we HAD to tack on a Disney trip, ha ha. Our plan was to spend the hotter hours of the day back at our hotel or in air conditioning. So for July 3rd we spent a lot of our day at the Contemporary Resort, but not as much as we planned because of the way Virtual Queues worked out for us.
Transportation
Monorail
Many guests stay at the Contemporary Resort because of the convenience of the Monorail. It is the quickest way to get to Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. You can also visit any of the other Monorail Resorts (Disney's Polynesian Resort and Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa) this way.
If you're heading to EPCOT and want to start your monorail journey at the Contemporary stop you'll have to switch monorails at the Ticket and Transportation Center.
Buses
Buses
are the only way (besides rideshare or driving) to get to Hollywood
Studios and Animal Kingdom. There are no buses to EPCOT or Magic Kingdom because you can use the monorail. However, if the monorail goes down they will provide buses as an alternative.
Walking
Disney's Contemporary Resort is the perfect place to stay if you'll be going to Magic Kingdom. You can walk to the park from the hotel in about 5 minutes (at our pace) and take advantage of your own small security checkpoint. It's so handy to avoid the big long lines at the general security area and going straight to the ticket scanners. It also makes it easy to stop back at your room for a mid-day break.
Dining
Steakhouse 71
Steakhouse 71 is one of my favorite spots, mostly because they have one of the best appetizers - Sea Salt-dusted Potato Brioche.... YUM! They also have what many call the best burger on property: The Stack Burger. I must agree it is delicious and is currently Christian's favorite burger. I have dined here for lunch and dinner multiple times and always have a great time. I even went by myself solely for the brioche. I sat by myself and enjoyed both rolls with a nice cold Coca Cola. One day we'll try breakfast, just haven't found the perfect time yet, planning park days and restaurants is like a puzzle.
The theming of this restaurant is really fun becasue it shows some of the history of the Walt Disney World Resort. There are old photos of Walt during the construction along the walls and some pretty murals. Be sure to walk around and check it all out! The 71 in the name is to celebrate the opening of Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Contemporary Resort in 1971.
California Grill
Christian and I had one of our favorite restaurant experiences here in March 2023. It was during the 50th anniversary celebration so they had a special menu. We will have to go again to try the new menu! At $89 a person it’s pricey, but the experience, fireworks and food made it feel worth it. It is a Disney Signature Dining experience so you will be expected to dress the part - try not to wear your "park clothes."
California Grill is located on the 15th floor of the Contemporary Resort with panoramic views of the lagoon, Magic Kingdom and even EPCOT from some tables. If you are dining during fireworks they dim the lights in the restaurant and play the music so you can watch the fireworks while you eat. If you don't have a window seat you can get up from your table and go out to the observation deck to watch the fireworks and go back in to complete your meal after.
Currently they are only open for dinner, but in the past you could have a breakfast or lunch reservation and head back up to the restaurant to view the nightly Magic Kingdom fireworks as long as you had your receipt as proof. We'll see if they bring back other meal times as an option.
Chef Mickey's
One of the more popular restaurants on Disney property because it is a great way to meet Mickey Mouse and friends without having a theme park ticket! This is a character dining buffet so you can eat your heart out while meeting your favorite characters. They are currently open for breakfast and dinner. We have not dined here yet because Christian isn't big on character meals and I'd rather try others first.
Contempo Cafe
This is the hotel's quick service location where you can grab easy breakfasts, lunches and dinners. We did not eat here on this trip, but on a solo "resort hopping" day last year I grabbed a fruit cup as a snack.
Bars/Snacks
The resort also has a few bars and snack locations: Contemporary Grounds for coffee/pastry/smoothies, Cove Bar private pool bar/lounge at Bay Lake Tower, The Sand Bar pool bar for drinks and snacks and Outer Rim cocktail bar within the main building. Since we only stayed one night we didn't partake in any of these lounges (we also don't drink so we would have just tried snacks.)
Recreation
Pools
We are not pool people on our Disney trips but the Contemporary has a Feature Pool and then a quieter Bay Lake Pool where loud noises and splashing are discouraged. The feature pool has a 17-foot-high, curving waterslide!
Activities
The Contemporary also has a lot of other recreation activities for those who want to spend more time at the hotel. There's an arcade, community hall for crafting and other activities, playgrounds and running trails. You can also play volleyball or tennis and even rent bikes! Take part in evening campfires and make some s'mores. Don't forget about Movies Under the Stars where they will show a Disney movie outside.
Main Building
The main building of the Contemporary Resort is iconic. It opened along with Magic Kingdom in 1971 and contains all the amazing restaurants, some gift shops and even a convention center! To make it even cooler, the monorail drives right through it!
Another iconic part of the hotel is the Mary Blair Grand Canyon mural. Mary is a Disney legend responsible for many beautiful pieces of Disney concept art as well as the It's a Small World ride theming. Make sure to look for the 5 legged goat which symbolized the idea that nothing man-made is perfect.
At Christmas-time this resort is one of the few that get a Gingerbread creation! I had the pleasure of meeting the chef in charge of the 2019 display.
Bay Lake Tower
We stayed at Bay Lake Tower on this trip which is the DVC building connected by a sky walkway. Our room was on the first floor and we have a view of the water as well as the main building. The main building rooms are themed with The Incredibles but these DVC rooms are Mickey themed.
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| View from room |
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| View from Room |
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| Walkway from Bay Lake Tower to the main building of the Contemporary Resort |
On our latest trip Christian and I spent our final night at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. We rented someone's Disney Vacation Club points and spent $255 on the night for a Preferred room, through Disney it would have been $620. Yowza!
On check-in day we decided to take a walk over to Disney Springs for a late dinner and snack. The following day, check-out day, I headed to Animal Kingdom for the first half of the day while Christian worked from the hotel. After I finished with the park I hung out with Christian in the dining area until it was time to head to the airport for our flight.
Transportation
Buses
The main form of transportation besides driving yourself or using rideshare is buses. Because the resort is so big there is an internal bus loop as well as buses to the parks. The bus stops to the parks are as follows:
- The Grandstand
- The Carousel
- The Paddock
- Congress Park
- The
Springs
Boat
Heading to Disney Springs?
There's a boat dock by the hospitality building that will take you over
to the Marketplace entrance of Disney Springs via the Sassagoula River Cruise. I would only do this if I had a lot of time to kill or you can't walk for a mile. Since you can walk from the resort it's a waste of time taking the boat because you first have to wait up to 20 minutes for a boat and then ride the boat to Disney Springs.
Walking
It is possible to walk to Disney Springs from the resort. There is a nice path along the water that lets you in at the Marketplace entrance of the Springs, the same spot as the boat. When the weather is nice we much prefer walking over other forms of transportation. It's less full of people and often way faster because you aren't waiting on a bus or boat.
Dining
Since we only stayed one night we didn't really have time to enjoy the food at the resort. We did check out the quick service location to see what offerings they had but since we were so close to Disney Springs we opted for that for dinner. Next time we will probably try one of the table service options.
The Turf Club Bar and Grill
Turf Club is the resorts table service restaurant. They serve up steaks and seasonal dishes in horse-racing club themed dining area. The Turf Club also has a Lounge where you can grab cocktails and beer. We weren't able to find a last minute dining reservation here so we'll hit it next time we're at the resort!
The Artist’s Palette
This is the resort's quick service location where you can find groceries, grab a to-go snack or sit down for a meal. We noticed a lot of fun desserts when we perused the offerings. If I hadn't brought us back a snack from Animal Kingdom on check-out day we would have tried one of their themed desserts.
Pool Bars
The Paddock Grill, On The Rocks, and the Backstretch Pool Bar serve up alcoholic beverages and light snacks! The Paddock Grill also serves breakfast, lunch and dinner because it's on the opposite side of the resort/the quick service dining there.
Recreation
Pools
We
did not take advantage of any pools on our trip, but there are five scattered throughout the resort. There are three
"leisure" pools at the Treehouse Villas, Congress Park and The Grandstand
sections. There are also two larger pools - High Rock Spring Pool and The Paddock Pool.
Activities
As with other Disney hotels there are various activities to take part in. Campfires with s'mores, movies under the stars and much more! Be sure to check at the lobby to see what types of fun they are hosting while you're there. All the activities available at the resort can be found on the recreation page.
You can also rent a 2 or 4-person Surrey Bike to ride around the resort. Saratoga Springs Resort also has normal bike rentals you can take advantage of (they come with helmets so you don't have to bring one!)
The Lake Buena Vista golf course is part of this resort. More information including how to book a tee time can be found on the Disney website.
Saratoga Springs also has a Community Hall where you can find everything from complimentary ping-pong, foosball, arts and crafts, video games, DVDs, board games and more. They had a whole craft room where children (and adults) can paint ceramics, canvas, color a button and much more (for a fee!)
Rooms
We stayed in a Preferred Deluxe Studio, meaning we were in a room closer to amenities. We were in The Springs building, which was right across from The Carriage House. The Carriage House is where the lobby and main restaurants are. It was the perfect spot for our quick stay, we didn't have to worry about navigating all over the resort and I was easily able to bring all our bags to Bell Services the morning we checked out so I could head to the park and Christian could start working in the main building after he had to leave the room at 11am.
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| The Springs building at Saratoga Springs Resort |
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| Saratoga Springs Resort Deluxe Studio Room; Preferred |
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| The murphy bed/sofa |
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| Taking my luggage to bell services before heading to Animal Kingdom |
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| View from our room |
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| The back part of The Springs building (your can see our balcony from here, the top one on the right of the pink section) |
I took a somewhat unplanned trip to Disney World at the beginning of January. After our December trip and being sad that Christian and I wouldn't be back until February, my friend jokingly said "you're welcome to join me Marathon weekend." Don't have to tempt me twice, haha! Sadly I had to leave Christian at home because he didn't want to take days off work.
We were originally staying at Pop Century Resort, old faithful, but a week before the trip we saw our dates pop up on a DVC Rental Facebook group for Disney's Old Key West Resort. We paid $865 for 4 nights by renting DVC points versus $2,043 booking directly through Disney. It ended up being cheaper than our Pop Century cost!
This resort was one of the lower on my list because it's a bit far from some of the parks and isn't in a theme I'm super excited about. But I'm glad I finally stayed here because I do want to stay at all the Disney World Resorts at some point.
Since the resort is so big, we got to take a golf cart to our room with our luggage so we didn't have to lug it the whole way to the room. You can also request this service on your checkout day as well. They carts are a little noisy but it was so fun! It's the little things, I guess, ha ha.
The rooms are in small buildings that house a few rooms each. We were on the second floor of our building. Be warned, there are no elevators at this resort so if you need accessibility accommodations make sure you let that be known. The ice stations are also not part of the buildings. We saw some at the various bus stops and I believe I read there are some by the pools as well.
Transportation
Buses
The main form of transportation besides driving yourself or using rideshare is buses. Because the resort is so big there is an internal bus loop as well as buses to the parks. The bus stops are as follows:
- Peninsular Road
- Old Turtle Pond Road (this was our stop!)
- South Point
- Miller’s Road
- Hospitality House / North Cove
Heading to the parks the bus stops in the above order, the same with returning from the parks. If you're coming from Disney Springs it will stop at the hospitality house first on the way back. It takes around 10-15 minutes to do the internal loop through Disney's Old Key West Resort. Once the bus leaves the resort at the Hospitality House, it takes about 10-15 minutes to arrive at Epcot or Disney's Hollywood Studios and 15-20 minutes to arrive at Magic Kingdom Park or Disney's Animal Kingdom Park.
Boat
Heading to Disney Springs? There's a boat dock by the hospitality building that will take you over to the Marketplace entrance of Disney Springs. There are also buses, but if you want a more fun ride, and have some time to kill, take the boat. It takes about 15 minutes once you're on a boat.
Walking
It is also possible to walk to Disney Springs from the resort. It is a little over a mile and a quarter (1.3 to be exact) and you'll be walking along the water. This trail, called Conch Flats Trail, will take you to the entrance near near Cirque du Soleil.Dining
Olivia's Cafe
Olivia's is well known for their tasty breakfast, more specifically their buttermilk fried chicken. I had only ever heard good things so I was very excited for our breakfast. Unfortunately, I should have looked at photos before ordering because the breakfast version came with a huge ladle full of southern gravy on it that wasn't listed on the menu. It was listed for the "lunch" version so I assumed that meant it wasn't on breakfast. I didn't want to make a big deal so I scraped it off the best I could but was left a little unsatisfied because I lost a lot of the crispy breading. The Olivia's Breakfast Potatoes also weren't what I was expecting, I assumed a dry seasoned potato but they had a sauce. So make sure you look at photos to make sure you'll enjoy the offerings. I'll get the pancakes next time, haha!
Good's Food to Go
This was Caleb's go to spot for breakfast and late dinners. I actually didn't end up eating here at all because I wanted to save for snacks and breakfast in the park (and when we had dinner at the hotel I ate somewhere else.) Next time I'll make sure to grab something from here too. The breakfast did look very good, I just wanted my Cheshire cat tail from Magic Kingdom instead, haha! They stay open until 10pm if you need a quick bite after a long park day!
Gurgling Suitcase Libations and Spirits
This is mainly a bar but on one of our evenings I got the Savory Hushpuppies which are also available at Olivia's. I opted for no key lime mustard on mine. They were very good, I even brought a few home for Christian to try and they traveled pretty well. It was a little pricey at $14 since I also had to tip the bartender even though I just grabbed them for takeout. They are usually open until 11pm, but hours may vary.
Turtle Shack Poolside Snacks
We did not eat here on our stay but they have basic food items as well as a bar. Grab a pizza, sandwich or even a cheese board while you relax by the pool.
Recreation
Pools
We did not take advantage of any pools on our trip, but there are three "leisure" pools in the Old Turtle Pond, South Point and Miller’s Road sections. There is also the feature pool, aptly called Sandcastle Pool because it has a huge sandcastle slide.
Sporting Activities
Old Key West also has Tennis and Pickleball courts, a basketball court AND a volleyball court for those wanting some fun competition during their stay. The Lake Buena Vista golf course is also visible from the Resort grounds. More information including how to book a tee time can be found on the Disney website.
