Disney's CONTEMPORARY RESORT Information & Questions

[Ahabart]

Did you upgrade at the front desk when you checked in?

Yes! Only we had already checked in and had been assigned a room. I just decided to take the chance and ask if it would be possible.

 

[jemtx]

Yes! Only we had already checked in and had been assigned a room. I just decided to take the chance and ask if it would be possible.

That’s cool. It never hurts to ask. Glad you got some magic.

 

[Chrizwald]

Hey there, has anybody already posted the October activities and/or pool hours and stuff? I've been trying to follow this one but I haven't seen it yet.

 

[Avery&Todd]

Can someone refresh my memory pls - it's been since Feb 2019 that I've been to Disney and I think things have changed since then - but if I'm bringing money to pay for food/stuff with gift cards, I know I can't link a gift card to the room and it has to be a credit card (which is fine) but how often do they charge the card? The last time I was able to go to the front desk every 2 or 3 days and pay off what we'd charged but I *think* that timeline is different (shorter) now?

Or is it better to just use the gift cards at the meal itself and not charge it back to the room?

and can I link a gift card to my magic band since I know I already have a credit card linked?

THANKS!!! 6 days until our first stay at BLT and we're SUPER excited!!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hey there, has anybody already posted the October activities and/or pool hours and stuff? I've been trying to follow this one but I haven't seen it yet.

Disney hasn’t been publishing the monthly recreation calendar since reopening, so we’re dependent on if the recreation people happen to do a white board or similar down by the pool (which can change every day) and someone taking a pic. Although I’m not sure I’ve seen CR doing a white board, or if they have it’s not been posted frequently. :-(

I’m not there so not 100% certain, but from what I’ve seen posted on other resort threads I believe most/all of the resort feature pool hours are still 10am-10pm.

 

[Chrizwald]

Can someone refresh my memory pls - it's been since Feb 2019 that I've been to Disney and I think things have changed since then - but if I'm bringing money to pay for food/stuff with gift cards, I know I can't link a gift card to the room and it has to be a credit card (which is fine) but how often do they charge the card? The last time I was able to go to the front desk every 2 or 3 days and pay off what we'd charged but I *think* that timeline is different (shorter) now?

Or is it better to just use the gift cards at the meal itself and not charge it back to the room?

and can I link a gift card to my magic band since I know I already have a credit card linked?

THANKS!!! 6 days until our first stay at BLT and we're SUPER excited!!

I would be sure to pay it off the night before checkout.

 

[Avery&Todd]

I would be sure to pay it off the night before checkout.

I just thought I had read somewhere on here that they were charging the credit card on file nightly or every other day or something like that and if you waited until the end of the trip it was too late as it had already been fully charged to the credit card...

or am I making that up??

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I just thought I had read somewhere on here that they were charging the credit card on file nightly or every other day or something like that and if you waited until the end of the trip it was too late as it had already been fully charged to the credit card...

or am I making that up??

May want to pop your question out to a new thread on the main Resorts board. There are threads about this every few weeks or so and honestly I can’t keep up with the exact recommendations, but plenty of helpful DISers around that will probably chime in. I keep saying I should probably sticky the topic as FAQ since it comes up so often!

 

[Phatscott25]

I just thought I had read somewhere on here that they were charging the credit card on file nightly or every other day or something like that and if you waited until the end of the trip it was too late as it had already been fully charged to the credit card...

or am I making that up??

My experience last month was they initially authorize your card for $100. Once your spending goes over $100 they authorize additional based on whatever you spent. I made it a habit of going each/every other morning with gift cards to pay but I was close to the lobby and it wasn't a big deal. The other nice thing about that is they won't make subsequent authorizations until your balance goes over what has already been authorized.

Example day one they added $231 to the initial $100 authorized (my room balance was $331). I went to front desk the next morning and paid it off. They didn't authorize more until my spending went above $331 so I didn't go back to pay it off until my spending went above and they authorized more. At one point my balance was over $1,500 and they still didn't charge the card they just kept making additional authorizations. However they will charge the card for any balance remaining overnight before checkout. So if you have a balance on your room the day before checkout you'll wake up on checkout day with no balance and your card charged.

 

[Avery&Todd]

My experience last month was they initially authorize your card for $100. Once your spending goes over $100 they authorize additional based on whatever you spent. I made it a habit of going each/every other morning with gift cards to pay but I was close to the lobby and it wasn't a big deal. The other nice thing about that is they won't make subsequent authorizations until your balance goes over what has already been authorized.

Example day one they added $231 to the initial $100 authorized (my room balance was $331). I went to front desk the next morning and paid it off. They didn't authorize more until my spending went above $331 so I didn't go back to pay it off until my spending went above and they authorized more. At one point my balance was over $1,500 and they still didn't charge the card they just kept making additional authorizations. However they will charge the card for any balance remaining overnight before checkout. So if you have a balance on your room the day before checkout you'll wake up on checkout day with no balance and your card charged.

PERFECT!! that's what I wanted clarification on! The credit card has no balance so there isn't an issue with them authorizing and we are eating most dinners at BLT so I could see my popping to the front desk daily to pay off our charges...
THANK YOU!!

 

[Phatscott25]

You're welcome, happy to help!

 

[DanSchwartz]

Looks like Chef Mickey's may open soon with characters.

 

[Dave006]

Ahh not real soon since the date for Breakfast with Characters at Chief Mickey's does not start until Dec. 16.

The good news is that you may start to make ADRs starting on Oct. 17th the 60 day ADR window.

Dave

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Looks like Kona at Poly and The Wave at CR are about to join Sanaa at AKL with offering To Go orders. It’s not live in the app yet, but presumably it’s coming sometime soon.

View attachment 529770View attachment 529771

FYI, this now appears to be live in the app.

Assuming they can pull off to go orders with a half way decent execution, I think this is a great new feature for resort guests.

 

[albertoromero85]

Great to see more openings are happening! We should be visiting in a few weeks time so looking fwd to reporting that as well

 

[JPM4]

The boat to WL is not running right now correct?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

The boat to WL is not running right now correct?

No, it’s not. Unless it has quietly restarted recently and no one has reported it yet (probably low chance of that).

 

[Love Ft Wilderness]

Does the Contemporary have Halloween decorations up now? Thanks!

 

[AngelsAmongUs]

Can someone refresh my memory pls - it's been since Feb 2019 that I've been to Disney and I think things have changed since then - but if I'm bringing money to pay for food/stuff with gift cards, I know I can't link a gift card to the room and it has to be a credit card (which is fine) but how often do they charge the card? The last time I was able to go to the front desk every 2 or 3 days and pay off what we'd charged but I *think* that timeline is different (shorter) now?

Or is it better to just use the gift cards at the meal itself and not charge it back to the room?

and can I link a gift card to my magic band since I know I already have a credit card linked?

THANKS!!! 6 days until our first stay at BLT and we're SUPER excited!!

I feel like something's different about the way Disney is charging, but I'm not sure what it is. I'll just tell you my experience.

We had room only and I had paid that in full before we left home. So the credit card was only used for the things we randomly decided to charge to the room on our MagicBands.

A charge was run through on our card a few times different during our stay for amounts in roughly the $150-$200 range I think? But they were all pending charges that fell off after a few days. On the last day, the amount of the folio was charged to the credit card and went through. I can't go back and check the details (since the pending charges are no longer there) but that's kind of what I remember seeing when I went to set up a payment for the folio amount.

 

[mrhat]

I saw elsewhere that Contempo Grounds is back open, but havent noticed any info on that in this thread (easily could have missed)....just want to check. normal 7 days a week 6am -1ish hours? Thanks