Best Disney Downtown Hotel

[OHIOVACATIONER]

Anyone tell me about their experiences at Disney Downtown Hotels? No kids just 2 adults looking for quiet and peaceful when we are not at disney

 

[mbb]

Hilton would get my vote

Or...the Swan/Dolphin for the same price range, actually would get my vote first...then, if I found a *really* great rate at the Hilton, I'd go there!! LOL!

HTH!!

 

[Lewisc]

A low,below $70, PL bid (resort, WDW zone) will generally get you the Hilton or nothing.

 

[raspberrysharpei]

We stayed at the DTD DoubleTree earlier this month. Nice hotel, clean and spacious, all rooms are suites--really liked the beds . Bathrooms were a bit dated. Convenient to on site & off site activities. Continental breakfast each day. Pool & hot-tub so-so. Did not use the provided transportation, another guest did not have good things to say about it, we had a rental car.

I would choose either DT or Hilton for a return trip. I have heard not so good reviews about the Grosvenor.

 

[we3disneygo]

glad to hear you liked the DoubleTree -were heading there in 9 days! what was so-so about the pool and hot tub? did you eat in the resturant? thanks!

 

[flagdaytwins]

Also heading to the DT end of September......should we rent a car or do the hotel transportation is the only detail left I have to plan.

Supposedly we have a balcony room to view the fireworks -- anyone who has stayed there, can you confirm this? do all the balconies look at the fireworks?

 

[raspberrysharpei]

we3disneygo--Didn't swim myself-Dneice & Dnephew did, guess I wasn't in the mood. Maybe because it was busy & I heard a story about unidentified object floating in the pool, from another guest staying there. Fact or Crap? Who knows. The pool bar was not open during our 6 day stay-no biggie.

We had continental breakfast each day. One evening meal in the restaurant. A bit expensive for typical American food. We opted for taking advantage of the location & visited The Crossings right outside the Dis property, PLENTY of dining options.

I think all in all we made the perfect choice with this hotel. Have a great trip & we did request first floor for convenience.

Don't recall ANY balconies, you might want to check that. We did rent a car & glad we did. Didn't hear any good things about the transportation provided.

 

[tweetylori]

Haven't stayed there yet, but I did do Priceline and got the Hilton for $62 for a few days in Sept. (per night)...will be going sept.12-14.

 

[Rhongepooh]

I've stayed at the Sheriton Safari and it was really nice. THE MOST comfortable beds that I've ever had. I told them by email that we liked extra pillows and they were already in the room when we got there! We just stayed overnight there.

2 years ago we stayed at the Best Western Downtown Disney ( since it was in october we figured that we would be ok without the extra hour). It was also really great. I got it through buying from priceline and when I called the hotel I was able to add $10 to my $65 dollar rate a night to get an epcot view. At night you could see the epcot fireworks and the magic kingdom fireworks. One night I even stayed up and saw the pleasure island fireworks. They did all the animals in the towels things. I would be more than happy to stay there again. However, I did the priceline thing this time . . . got the 70 dollar rate for the Saturday night before Thanksgiving. With the discounts that just came out I was able to stay an extra night. I called the Best Western to see what we could do, if I could get it at the same rate or what there cheapest rate was. It was $150 and the receptionist and her supervisior were both pretty grouchie. So To keep from moving 3 times ( hotel for the first 2 nights and the contemporary for the other 5 other nights) I'm just throwing that $60 away I guess. We're doing the Raddison.

Also, when we stayed they had these free chocolate covered coconut and line squares (sounds horrible) but my eldest dd LOVED them!

RHongepooh

 

[HopperFan]

Also heading to the DT end of September......should we rent a car or do the hotel transportation is the only detail left I have to plan.

Supposedly we have a balcony room to view the fireworks -- anyone who has stayed there, can you confirm this? do all the balconies look at the fireworks?

I don't believe there are any balcony rooms at DoubleTree Suites. We stayed in a room facing the DTD area and could see the fireworks - out of our windows. The other side of the hallway all faced the pool area. There are some rooms on the first floor with patios facing the pool, but would have no view of fireworks.

 

[OHIOVACATIONER]

How does the priceline thing work. Do you choose your hotel? I would be afraid of getting put somewhere I didn't like. Can you change your mind? Sounds like alot of people use it

 

[chalee94]

you can improve your odds by watching people post the results of their bids but no, you can't choose your hotel and once they accept your bid, you are stuck with what they give you.

that's just the tradeoff for the low prices...

-chalee (got the hilton for $62 a couple of years ago and loved it.)

 

[jsmla]

How does the priceline thing work. Do you choose your hotel? I would be afraid of getting put somewhere I didn't like. Can you change your mind? Sounds like alot of people use it

We use Priceline almost every Disney visit for our arrival night. There's no way to guarantee that you will win a certain hotel but check out biddingfortravel.com and watch what others are getting for your dates. The hotels at the resorts level in the Priceline WDW zone are all pretty nice. We like the Hilton for our first night stays and I have found that if you put in a relatively low bid ($60-$70) you will usually get the Hilton or get refused. In the past ten years or so I've only received a resort other than the Hilton twice. Once, seven or eight years ago, we got the Marriott World Center. Last year we were at the Gaylord Palms which was fab, much nicer than the Hilton, but not located in DTD. I believe my bid last year was somewhere in the $70 range. I usually start at $50 and work my way up.

I think the hotels listed on biddingfortravel as resorts in the WDW zone are:
Hilton DTD
Marriott World Center
Gaylord Palms (very nice place)
Omni Championsgate (also very nice, gorgeous pool, but not super close to WDW)
Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress
WDW Swan
WDW Dolphin
(I may have missed one or two)
I see the Hilton, the Gaylord and the Omni pop up most often.

Hope this helps!

 

[pixiewytch]

DH and I stayed at Hotel Royal Plaza a few years ago and really enjoyed it. We got an awesome rate of only $70 a night from mousesavers.com. Oh, and that was with an upgrade to a room with an oversized garden tub in the bathroom. The rooms were spacious with a nice sitting area and it was very quiet. I think it is a great sophisticated vibe for adults. Yet, they still had many Disney touches like a gift shop and mickey waffles for breakfast.

We used the bus transportation to Disney when we were there with minimal problems or waits. Another nice thing is that it is the last hotel on the DTD strip which means you are a hop, skip, and a jump away from off property dining, shopping ,etc. if you are planning to do that sort of thing.

I understand they have recently renovated so I'm sure it is even nicer now than it was when we stayed.

 

[CarolA]

The Hilton is my favorite.

I have stayed at the Buena Vista Palace and the Royal Plaza (the latter just a few weeks ago) and my stays at both were fine.

Hitlon however has some perks like EMH that I like to have even if I wind up not using them on that visit.

I agree the Swan/Dolphin are nice but geneally have much higher rates!

 

[tweetylori]

I'm staying at The Hilton next week for two nights. Got it for a Priceline bid of $62. I was bidding for a 4-star, but it came back as a "resort". I can let you know next week how it is.

 

[DaddyDon]

I have stayed at the Grovsner....Hilton and the wyndhamn,The Hilton wins hands down!I had a great view of dtd from the wyndhamn and a very nice room but the bed just could not be beat at the Hilton.I ate at the restraunt at the hilton(kobe) i think and was treated to some of the best Suhi i have had in a while.Walking to dtd was a snap and everyone was friendly!

 

[Alicnwondrln]

hilton or double tree guests suites those were great last time we stayed there
easy walk to DTD
nice rooms clean
and they are all suites

 

[tweetylori]

Just got back from the Hilton and it was great. I was a solo traveller who was in town to visit an elderly relative, so I was not there for a Disney experience (although I had to escape to Downtown Disney to do some shopping), but it was very nice, especially for the price!

 

[TourGuideBarbie]

We enjoyed the Hilton multiple times before we moved to Florida. Always got it on Priceline and never paid more then 70.00 a night.