Celebration Hotel vs. DTD Hotels? (one night)

[Perdie]

We are going to our DVC resort (AKV) on Sep 5th but we arrive on Sep 4th and need a one night hotel stay. We are debating between downtown disney and Celebration. We want to spend the evening at DTD and we have a reservation at Raglan Road...but we thought that Celebration Hotel would be really nice too-is it worth it? Or should we just stay at DTD HIlton or Doubletree? Celebration rates were actually really cheap-around 80 dollars I think....

Any suggestions?

Thanks!!!!

 

[Frothy]

If you want to explore DTD then I'd stay there. The Celebration Hotel is nice but I don't see any point staying there if you aren't going to explore Celebration. Celebration has some nice restaurants and is a good place to relax but if you want more to do then DTD is the better choice for you IMO.

 

[inkkognito]

Downtown Disney is a royal pain in the butt to park at, so I'd probably just stay there instead of Celebration. But the Celebration Hotel is very nice and realaxing (of course, I'm partial because I live in Celebration).

 

[P.I. Squirrel]

Also, it depends on what you want to do. If relaxation and a small town arts district feel is what you want, Celebration is a good choice. There are no Disney-related stores within Celebration; its all mom and pop type businesses.

But, if Disney immersion is more important, and you plan to be at DTD anyway that evening, staying near DTD would be a good bet.

 

[inkkognito]

There are no Disney-related stores within Celebration; its all mom and pop type businesses.

Nowadays...not so much. Chains used to be forbidden downtown (although we had a Barnies, which is part of a chain, so I guess they were the exception). Now there is Starbucks and Kilwins, and many of the mom and pop stores are empty or replaced with things that never would have been allowed before (e.g. investment firm next door to Starbucks). Still a nice place to stroll, but the character has changed radically over the past few years.

Personally, I like some of the places at Water Tower (at the entrance to Celebration) better than downtown. Clementine's is great for coffee, and there is Angelina's for Italian food and Jean Pierre's French Deli, both of which are full of locals as opposed to being touristy like downtown. It's quite a hike to Water Tower if you don't have a car though.

 

[P.I. Squirrel]

Nowadays...not so much. Chains used to be forbidden downtown (although we had a Barnies, which is part of a chain, so I guess they were the exception). Now there is Starbucks and Kilwins, and many of the mom and pop stores are empty or replaced with things that never would have been allowed before (e.g. investment firm next door to Starbucks). Still a nice place to stroll, but the character has changed radically over the past few years.

Personally, I like some of the places at Water Tower (at the entrance to Celebration) better than downtown. Clementine's is great for coffee, and there is Angelina's for Italian food and Jean Pierre's French Deli, both of which are full of locals as opposed to being touristy like downtown. It's quite a hike to Water Tower if you don't have a car though.

Yeah, I figured things would change once they lost the grocery store.

I like eating at the Joe's Crab Shack at Water Tower. Yum. Is it still there?

 

[inkkognito]

Yeah, I figured things would change once they lost the grocery store.

Yeah...sigh...now all we've got is the touristy Publix across 192. I'm just hoping the Water Tower restaurants hang on. That place seems to be a worse death knell for businesses than downtown.

 

[Perdie]

Thanks for the advice-we're still debating! I am leaning towards DTD because it's our only night to go there....but I have never been to Celebration....
I hate making decisions!!