Buena Vista Palace - DTD

[WooPigScientist]

Anyone familiar with Buena Vista Palace and what's going on with their renovations? We have a meeting there the last week of January, and I am needing to book our rooms soon. Our options with the convention rate include a water view or resort view room (water is $10 more). Just wondering if anyone has any input as to which would be better. I'd prefer not to be staring at construction if possible, but maybe we're going to be seeing it no matter what?

On a side note: we have been provided with "special" ticket offers for Disney parks if we buy in advance. Partial day tickets, single or multi-day tickets, etc. The prices seemed a little wonky to me, and after consulting Disney's website the one day base tickets are actually higher ($111 for MK, $103 for Epcot, DHS, AK). What the heck? An after 4pm MK ticket cost $69, which didn't seem like much of a deal since MK closes at 8:00.

 

[writerguyfl]

I was there last week dropping off a rental car. The renovation had just begun. They are starting by completely changing the main pool area. Here is a photo I took that shows part of the destruction:

I had several reservations to stay at the hotel in the next few months, so I stopped by the Front Desk to ask about the renovation. From what I learned, it will be extensive. Basically, everything will be changed/upgraded, including the guest rooms. Some facilities (rental car office, spa, fitness center) have already been temporarily relocated to the hotel's convention center. I was told that the Front Desk will be relocated during the lobby renovation. The main restaurant will be closed for an extended period.

I've worked in hotels that have been renovated. Unfortunately, the process is prone to delays. The hotel is at the mercy of contractors and sub-contractors. Other times, the city/county building inspectors may not approve things in a timely basis. So, if you call the hotel and ask what the hotel will look like in January, what you're told might not be the truth. (I'm not saying that anyone at the hotel would lie to you. It's just hard to know what will happen in the course of 3-4 months.)

As far as the guest rooms go, I pulled this image off of Bing Maps. To view the unedited version, visit this link: http://binged.it/1Onw6iC

Key:
A) The building above and to the right of letter "A" is the main building that houses the lobby, restaurants, and tower guest rooms.
B) The area under and to the right of letter "B" is the convention center.
C) Letter "C" on the left side of the photo is the Island building.
D) The main pool area is "D". The partially destroyed building the photo above is here.
E) Letter "E" is the approximate location of where I took the photo.

As I understand it, water-view rooms can be found in both buildings. It's hard to know what the main pool area will look like come January. But, as it seems as though the majority of the water-view rooms also face the pool area, that means they will also have a view of construction. Of course, if you choose a resort-view room you could get stuck with a view of a parking lot full of dumpsters.

I hope that information helps.

 

[WooPigScientist]

Thank you - that is very helpful! Especially the map. I think I'd rather have a view of a parking lot or dumpsters than construction noise right outside the window
I'll probably call and get an idea of which category is less likely to be all up in the construction. Not sure why I didn't think of that!

 

[Sheilaras]

I was just there this weekend. The entire Island Recreation area is gone. We were woken up on our 2 sleep-in days by the construction noise of the clean up crew picking up all the concrete. We had a suite and an adjoining room, so 3 balconies facing the construction, we were in the Island Building. I actually liked the location, though, the path to DTD was right off the side of the building and the bus pick-up for the parks was just at the end of the covered walkway to the main building. We had an OK room, only saw the huge roach on the last day! The small spa pool was pretty dirty. We asked about them taking us to the other Hilton for the pool and they said they would do that no problem but we never took them up on it. We went to DTD almost everyday because it was so easy. That being said, they are currently constructing the walkway over the intersection. When that is done, you will need to either take the elevator or stairs up, cross over, then come back down again. They crosswalk will be completely gone when they are finished. If you crossed the street right at the BVP path entrance, it would put you right into the bus depot area of DTD. We didn't see anyone stopping people from doing that, but I wouldn't do it with kids, that's for sure.

 

[writerguyfl]

Thanks for the update, Sheilaras. I'll be making a trip up to Orlando in the next few weeks and I'm on the fence about staying at the Buena Vista Palace. I agree that the hotel's location is great. Personally, I think that the elevated crossing to Disney Springs is a major improvement. On my last visit, I was staying at the Hilton LBV. I got stuck in a sudden rain shower waiting for the crosswalk. I know the walkway won't be covered and I'd probably get just as wet. Still, standing in the rain seems worse than running through the rain.

As for crossing Buena Vista Drive at the bus depot area, I have seen Disney Cast Members stopping people from crossing at that location.

 

[ColdNorway]

This hotel will become a Hilton (yep now they will have 3 on HPBLV) very soon.
Bookings are available on hilton.com.
The new name for this hotel are not yet decided,
Good news are,for the MOMENT,there are NO resort fee,for all of 2016(the usall 25$ a night resort fee are gone).

 

[writerguyfl]

I just returned from a 4-night trip to WDW. I was booked for all 4 nights at the Buena Vista Palace, but switched hotels after the first night. My advice: Avoid this hotel until after the renovation.

Currently, there is no lobby and the entire property is under construction. According to the Front Desk, 75% of the rooms have construction views. The website says that the (tiny) spa pool is available. Here is a picture of the entrance to the spa pool midday last Monday:

I was assigned a room on the 18th floor. Even that high up, I was still woken up by the sounds of construction on the main pool. I can't imagine how loud it would have been on a lower floor.

The most troubling thing was the lack of an accessible path from the main hotel to the outer building, shuttle bus stop, and path to Disney Springs. You exit the main building on the 3rd floor and go down two steep paths to the ground level. One of those paths is the side of the road. It is uneven. I have zero mobility issues and I found the path slippery when it was wet.

I ended up staying the remainder of my stay at the Holiday Inn just down the street. It was $20 cheaper and every employee I encountered seemed genuinely happy and welcoming.

 

[missnic]

I just spent 2 nights here (1/28-29) because of a fantastic deal I found on Orbitz, and because I couldn't find a Value room on property. I paid about $70/night, which was totally reasonable.
The room: We were given a King room on the 10th floor, and it had a theme park view. We could see all 3 fireworks shows from our balcony. The room itself was fine. Clean, a little worn but nothing major. Perfectly acceptable.
The hotel itself: I knew it was under renovation, which didn't bother me. No plans to use any of the amenities anyway. However, I did not particularly enjoy the 4 mile hike to the parking area, which was not lit well.
The staff: Horrible. At check in, we were given a vague instruction that parking was down the weird little hill and around the convention center. No map, or any additional direction. That wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't dark and raining. Concierge had no idea how to get to the path to Disney Springs. The valet told us to walk out to the vehicle entrance and follow the sidewalk. Luckily, on our way back we noticed a nice covered walkway that would have been much quicker - and drier. Concierge also could not tell us when the shuttle bus would be arriving.
Conventioneers: Worse than the staff. The conventioneers in the room next to ours decided that 2:30am was a fab time to have a kegger on the balcony. Due to the weird accoustics, we could hear every single word. Security knocked on their door and called the room for an hour trying to get them to open it. I was not amused. I realize this isn't the hotel's fault, but if you stay here, maybe ask to be separated from the convention blocks.

I might stay here again, for the same price I paid.. but not much more.