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. Another resort that was built in Orlando by US Steel was the Court of Flags in 1974. They too had the slide in modular units. They also had the same issues as the Contemporary.

 

Construction Pictures & More Pictures

 

US Steel had their own set of suites on the 14th floor, and held their stock holder's convention there in late 1971. The original room rates in the A-Frame building were under $50/night in 1971, and less in the North & South Annex buildings, some were as low as $22/night without a view.

 

 

US Steel showing off the modular slide in design of the Contemporary and Polynesian

They built 15 rooms a day on an assembly line

 

 

Video from US Steel on the construction of the Contemporary Resort

WMV or iOS video formats

The Contemporary, Polynesian, and the Court of Flags were all built in similar ways.

Contemporary and the Court of Flags rooms were slid in, the Polynesian had them stacked.

 

 

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.

 

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, 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 (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 firework show at 9:00 p.m. Jiminy Cricket is the narrator.

• 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.

 

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.

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 to 2009 refurbishment

Disney has begun a renovation of all guest rooms and public areas throughout the resort. 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, updated furnishings and linens, guest rooms of the resort will receive the most drastic of changes, creating a modern appearance consistent with the resorts' 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. Bathrooms also receive similar treatment, with new modern "flat sinks", new mirrors and new wallpaper.

 

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.

 

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. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

 

Resort facts

• Category: Deluxe

• Theme: Retro-Futuristic

• Location: Magic Kingdom Resort Area

• Opened: October 1, 1971

• Areas: Contemporary Tower and Garden Rooms

• Rooms: 1053