Disney's Contemporary Resort Evacuated Late Last Night - Inside the Magic

Comments for Disney’s Contemporary Resort Evacuated Late Last Night

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Left Image Credit: Disney / Right Image Credit: Twitter User @rj_c

24 Comments

  1. Nick

    WHY SHOULD I CARE? Disney is all about safety!

  2. An actual “evacuation” over a false fire alarm of a expensive hotel like the contemporary is unusual. It sounds like it was a power trip thing by Disney security and they should have realized much more quickly that evacuation was not required. Some people like to act way more authoritarian than they should be. I suspect Security Officer Brutality.

    1. Ray

      Maybe you pulled the fire alarm. PLUS, don’t point fingers at Security they have to abide by the resorts manager authority. Security is only there to assist. Why don’t we mention the big cry babies that come to Disney looking to get free upgrades because they can’t get ICE-CREAM. And adults fighting at 2am. People should stay home if they can’t act normal in public.

      1. Roz

        AMEN !!!

    2. nobs

      No, it isnt unusual. Anytime a fire alarm signals, that location is immediately evacuated. Sop for wdw.

    3. Michael Johnson

      You ALWAYS obey fire code. Anything less and you’re fired after the hotel receives its code violation and fine. Reedy Creek will still hand out code violations even though they are also owned by disney. I’ve run hotels in multiple cities and states and I’ve never come across any fire dept that even let’s you silence the alarms without at least an ass chewing from the on scene leader.

  3. We would have assumed it was a false alarm. A hotel of that quality is extremely fire safe with sprinklers, etc. We would have locked the door, chained it, and went back to sleep. No way are we evacuating a room well over $500 per night for just any reason, especially over an obvious prank like this. They’d have to drag us out.

    1. Evan

      And if there was a fire, firefighters and paramedics can roll you out on gurneys in body bags after you succumb to smoke inhalation. Sounds like $500 is the value you place on you and your family’s lives. Fire suppression systems fail too. Ignorance is bliss. Sad….

      1. Joanna Coors

        Idiots like Cameron would deserve that scenario.

  4. Dony

    This place should be shut down permanently. It’s an eyesore and a motel six. They charge a premium because of the monorail but you’ll still need to hop buses, spending the better part of your day waiting.

    1. Joe

      Disney’s all about waiting. You got the money to waste to stay there, don’t complain.

    2. Walt

      Clearly you don’t understand how Disney operates . Busses are for all other parks but kingdom and Epcot. It would cost over 5 billion to connect the other parks to the monorail so busses are cheaper

    3. Ken G

      If you’re talking about the Bay Lake DVC tower – well maybe. But if you’re talking about the main Contemporary Resort Hotel building then I totally disagree.

      It is actually an architectural marvel and it is listed on the American Institute of Architecture (AIA) as a milestone building.

      Originally all the rooms were built offsite as the main structure went up. The rooms were basically complete, including the interior finishes, etc. They were then slipped into the slots of the structure like draws. The resort main building was put up in like 90 days (not counting the remaining months to finish the interiors, landscape, etc.)

      You should take the time to read about it because it was the first of it’s kind to do that. It’s an icon of WDW for sure and was so from the start.

  5. Paul

    My goodness, folks seem to have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!

    Fire alarm in a hotel goes off – get your tookus outta there. If there is a fire then you’re not only putting yourself at risk, but also the fire department who would have to verify everyone is out and go after anyone remaining behind.

    And yes, Bay Lake Towers is expensive. But three years ago we had a family reunion and rented a two-bedroom suite for eight of us. That was less expensive than separate rooms at any of the deluxe resorts. And we had a full kitchen, full-size washer/dryer, three baths, and a jacuzzi, all of which we used. We were in *very* easy walking distance of the Magic Kingdom, which is where we spent most of our time with our 6, 8, and 10-year old great nieces. And easy walking back to the hotel at the end of the day, and one day to the pool when the girls had a bit of a meltdown. Monorail to Epcot – yeah baby. And for the adults, a monorail bar hopping & appetizer tour of Contemporary, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian.

    I’d do that again in a heartbeat.

  6. Marmielin

    We begin our stay next week! Contemporary was renovated 18 months ago! Can’t wait to get there!!!

  7. Ken G

    Someone mention this was a “power trip” by Disney – Really?

    Well I remember very well that same thing happened during the first weeks of when the Grand Californian opened at Disneyland in 2001. If fact, I was in DTD early one morning waiting for DCA to open and all of a sudden dozens of guests in bath ropes, etc. came out from emergency doors into DTD. Same reason as it turned out a false alarm (not unusual in a new building).

    I also remember working at Sony PlayStation (the premier year for that system) in a building that was being remodeled. At least twice a week an alarm was set off, we had to leave the building and the fire dept. came – each time!

    So no – This is not a “Power trip” – It’s SOP for safety! (Seriously….)

  8. Michael Johnson

    Being someone who has operated high rise hotels I will say safety first. And this shouldnt be Disney’s fault. But I will also say if it was the whole hotel and not just the affected floor and 1 floor above and below, that does surprise me. Now I’m not going to even begin to think I know the fire codes for the state, county, or Disney. But the high rises I ran in NYC, NJ, and PA all had codes that states if 1 alarm goes off, then just the affected floors I mentioned earlier. If a second goes off, then the whole building because that means whatever is happening is not contained. Just 1 head can be dust or ut just went bad. 1 pull station could just be a prank. 2 or more. Then you start to think its serious

    1. Cheryl

      All this armchair qb’ing is crazy. It happened. It’s procedure. It’s over. You don’t like the rooms -stay elsewhere. Simple. Some people believe actually believe their expertise aka bs that comes outta their mouth. It makes me sad that people are -well, people. Procedures are for safety. I can guarantee if entire hotel was not evacuated-same people would complain about that. Wah wah wah. The new mantra.

  9. Tom

    A false alarm in the middle of the night is Disney’s problem. They should refund every room at Bay Lake Tower for that night. Disney is stressful on parents enough already, and this makes it harder on them, plus makes for crabby kids the next day. They refunded everyone at The Contemporary one one night due to a Night of Joy sound check that lasted until 3 A.M. We love The Contemporary because of the monorail, quick walk to Magic Kingdom, and Chef Mickey’s, but have stayed at The Beach Club recently. Closest resort to any park (Epcot), much less expensive, bigger rooms, higher occupancy limit, and better pool. Like everything else about Disney World, resorts are a racket, but you do pay for convenience. We had to stay at a Westin near Downtown Disney/Disney Springs one trip, and hated how long we needed to be on buses.

  10. Bob

    Be glad the alarm works. If not and it was real, not a good ending to a vacation.

  11. Darth Doctor

    They pulled the fire alarm because there was somebody in the building with CoVid19.

  12. Matthew Brewster

    I hope the hotel doesn’t use natural gas!

  13. Kb

    A guest was screaming in the hallways on level 8 of the hotel. The screaming guest who was so loud it woke everyone up down the hall including us well before the alarm went off. He then pulled the fire alarm. Security came and the incident lasted about an hour. Talk about a crazy night and a very tired day the next day ?????

  14. Rebecca

    The Contemporary Resort was also where Nixon originally said “I’m not a crook”. Look it up.

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