buena vista palace, anyone stayed or been there?

[missingthemagic]

Hi all, looking to book for this september but havent made our minds up onsite/offsite. this one hotel seems to tick all the right boxes , so we would like to see if anyone here has stayed. thanks again
dan

 

[mikki.young]

I haven't stayed there but have been to the hotel a few times as we used to pick up our Alamo car from there. It's an easy walk to Downtown Disney so great for getting buses to the various Disney resorts as well as shopping and rstaurants. The hotel looks pretty standard - nice walkways and 'island' pool and a couple of shops in the hotel itself. Not seen any rooms so can't help there.

 

[wifey]

I think last summer it had a major refit it was either this hotel or one adjacent, we went passed it almost everyday via an access road to Disney which goes around the rear of DTD. So all the beds carpets furniture and bathroom facilities were replaced, we saw the workmen through the room windows moving the old stuff out and unwrapping the new stuff before fitting it, may have decided to chance things after the hurricanes went over Florida. Just as we finished our vacation it was nearly done so everything will be fairly new, it's ideally located for access to Disney and only a 30 minute walk to the Crossroads shopping area.

 

[cheryl.UK]

The one that was being refitted last year was the Holiday Inn (formally the Courtyard by Marriott). The Buena Vista is being refitted this year.

We stayed there last year and really liked it. The room was spacious and we could see both PI and EPCOT fireworks from our balcony. The pool are was great and my only complaint was the cost of the breakfasts which were more expensive than the character breakfasts in the parks. Still it was so close to the Crossroads that we ate there most days.

We are going again this year despite the refits. We've been assured that they will not affect us ase they are working on them one floor at a time (between 9am and 6pm) We're mostly out then anyway. It's one the guest floors that are affected, not the communal areas.

 

[wifey]

Thanks for that my memory is a little rusty, I'm sure it will be amazing when it's done!!

 

[sarahsw19]

I stayed there a couple of times a few years ago and liked it very much.
We are going back this Christmas - it is useful to us as we are too scared to drive in America , so being close to Downtown Disney is a great bonus for us. I can't remember it exactly though - does anyone know if you can get from Buena Vista Palace Hotel to other Disney hotels via the buses ?
Just worried over the Christmas period that we may have problems with dinner reservations - so thought about checking out nearby Disney hotels.
Also - does this hotel qualify for Extra Magic Hours ?
Can you get tours to Cape Canaveral and Discovery Cove without a car ??
thanks
sarah

 

[missingthemagic]

thanks for your replies guys, but since posting this we have decided to book the poly for 2 weeks in september

 

[Miffy2003]

I stayed there a couple of times a few years ago and liked it very much.
We are going back this Christmas - it is useful to us as we are too scared to drive in America , so being close to Downtown Disney is a great bonus for us. I can't remember it exactly though - does anyone know if you can get from Buena Vista Palace Hotel to other Disney hotels via the buses ?
Just worried over the Christmas period that we may have problems with dinner reservations - so thought about checking out nearby Disney hotels.
Also - does this hotel qualify for Extra Magic Hours ?
Can you get tours to Cape Canaveral and Discovery Cove without a car ??
thanks
sarah

Hi Sarah and welcome to the Dis

You are likely to get a better response to your questions if you start a separate thread


The hotel won't qualify for EMH (I believe the only non Disney owned DTD hotel to offer this is the Hilton).

I would be very surprised if your hotel offers buses to Disney resorts but if you are within walking distance of DTD you could always pick up buses to Disney resorts from there

Definitely pre-book your dinner reservations. We went over Xmas in 2004 and the restaurants were packed.

Can't help with your other questions though, sorry.

 

[cheryl.UK]

The BVP buses deffinitely don't go to the WDW hotels, so you'll need to drive, get a taxi or walk to DTD and catch a bus from there.

Deffinitely book meals as soon as you can. When we last went at christmas I was on the phone from the second PS was open and still couldn't get all the times I wanted despite making PS ressies by 5 minutes after opening.

On Xmas day there were an awful lot of p'd off looking people who were being turned away from restaurants that we'd booked 6 months previously.

Most tour companies offere tours to the space coast and DC. Check your brochure or Keith Prowes who I think also organises tours.

 

[Scot-n-Michelle]

thanks for the info on the buena lake vista palace - i am bummed to know that this hotel does not qualify for EMH - we just booked our hotel for march 07 - this will be our second trip to disney!! We went there this past april. Thanks for the info on this hotel.