Most hotels that are not walking distance have a shuttle that comes every 30 minutes. Like at the Coast Anaheim, it picked up at 5 and 35 after the hour all day long except for a 2 hour lunch break. So it will probably be something similar. As long as you make it so that you are down there right at shuttle time and not right after one leaves (which would make you wait there for a 1/2 hour!) then you will be fine.
I am sure your hotel is being paid for by DH's company, but like hydroguy said, the biggest advantage is having close walking distance hotels. If you can take advantage, I would. If not, a free hotel sounds great too!!
Adding to what MATTERHORN is saying here, for those who read my posts you know I am a detail person - not everyone's cup of tea, but for those who are interested, read on.
A reliable and regular shuttle is better than none at all. To those who may be tempted to think that shuttles (or buses) are just as good (or nearly as good) as a walking distance hotel, I would suggest otherwise. My basic reason for saying this is based on the idea that time at Disney resorts is at a premium. If you pay thousands of dollars to visit a Disney resort, you should be aware of "hidden time losses" that might have a number of negative consequences.
Here is what I mean...
Let's take the most basic comparison and use MATTERHORN's example here for the sake of discussion - regular shuttles every half hour. I will compare it to a place we have stayed twice - the Best Western Park Place Inn (BWPPI) - the closest good neighbor hotel to DLR.
When we leave our room at the BWPPI we are at the DLR security line at the plaza in 5-7 minutes. If your hotel is close and you take a shuttle, I would guess that if you time it perfectly and leave your room just as the shuttle is getting ready to leave, and then ride the shuttle to DLR, it will take at minimum 10 minutes one way for the closest hotels. But in general you will want to be to the shuttle early so you do not miss it - so you will get there at least 5 minutes early. Thus lets call the room to gate time 15 minutes - at minimum. That is, roughly, 10 minutes more each way, or 20 minutes more round trip, or 40 more minutes total each day if you take a break at any time back to the hotel. And that is at minimum. If you time the shuttle poorly, or you are further away, it will be more than 40 minutes per day. Any time you miss your shuttle you will have another 30 minutes burnt up.
Further, you have reduced flexibility. On one of our trips on 2005 we left our BWPPI room to get to the DLR gates early in the morning, and forgot something in the room. But we did not have to be concerned about missing a shuttle because we were walking. This delayed us about 5-10 minutes, but it was not a big deal.
If you want to avoid lines and get on more rides, like most of us do, it is essential to be able to get to the DLR gates early each morning. This puts you ahead of the curve on rides - because all of the lines are short - and Fastpass collecting. If you start collecting Fastpasses right when the park opens vs. 2 hours after the park opens, it can net you at least 4 more Fastpasses per day.
In the end, a Disney visit is supposed to be fun and many people would prefer to relax and not think about these things. Why be so uptight about 5 or 10 minutes here and there? I find that staying at a hotel closer to the gates gives us so much flexibility that it makes me feel more relaxed. I hate waiting in lines, and after waiting in lines at DLR - even if they are short lines - I do not want to wait once again for a shuttle. Knowing how easy it is to get back to our room makes me feel relaxed. And that helps me enjoy things more.
Here is another thing that Disney visitors do not seem to grasp - when we visited WDW we spent $7500 on air fare and lodging. What is another $10-15 for a taxi compared to $7500? It is nothing. We used Disney transportation most of the time - and it worked fine - but in certain cases I just got a taxi.
The same thing holds true at DLR. If you are paying thousands of dollars to visit DLR, a $10 taxi ride is nothing. If your hotel is not close enough to walk, do not be penny wise but pound foolish. Get a taxi when you have to wait excessively long for a shuttle or bus. In fact, forget about shuttles and buses and just get taxis - especially first thing in the morning when you want to get to the gates early.
you may want to stay closer.
thumbsup2 ), but we are looking to stay a couple more days on DL property. We'll see if we can change our airline departure....
was great after a long day in park. The close proximity allowed us to walk back for an afternoon break and pick up warmer gear for the evening. The room was immaculate.
