Disney Hotel - or somewhere else?

[kristieuk]

Hi,

Was wondering if anyone could help....

We go to Florida every year, but we always stay down on the Gulf beaches near Sarasota.

Our daughter is five now, and so although we always make the trip up to Magic Kingdom, this year she has asked to go to MGM also.

We therefore plan to drive up to Orlando, go to MGM, stay overnight, and go to Magic Kingdom the following day.

We have never stayed in Orlando before, and we don't really want to spend loads on a hotel because we'll probably be in it only ten hours while we sleep, but we are also quite fussy and don't want anywhere too basic. The closer to Disney, the better.

What suggestions can you give?

 

[Hilary]

For one night, I'd say definitely stay on-site in one of the WDW resorts.

It won't be as inexpensive as a room elsewhere but, if you opt for one of the budget resorts (All Stars or Pop Century), you'll get all the benefits of staying on-site at a reasonable price without being "too basic".

For a single night I think you might regret having to leave the 'magic' to go off site and, as your DD is still quite young, you might like to be able to easily return to your room for a break during the day. With travelling to / from the coast added to your park time on both days, you'll have a longish couple of days and will probably appreciate the proximity of being on-site.

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

Hi Kri
stie If you are only intending to do MK and MGM, then I would definitely agree with Hilary that staying onsite would be best.

All depending on how much $$ you want to spend, there are some very nice hotels onsite at Disney. If you want REAL onsite, then the monorail resorts will take you straight into MK (Poly, Contemporary and Grand Floridian), but these are some of the most expensive.

I know you can get the water taxi from the "Epcot" resorts, like Swan & Dolphin (slightly cheaper than the other Disney hotels because they are owned by Sheraton) - check out the link on the DIS home page, you can can discounts at these hotels if you are an education worker, member of military or AA member

Take a look on the Disney Resorts page here on the DIS - gives you an idea of how much and what they're all about.

One of the more magical things for staying onsite for your daughter would be getting a wake up call from Mickey

 

[kristieuk]

Thanks for the great advice. I think we will definitely end up in a Disney hotel, it seems the way to go. And all in all, I think we would regret spending $$$$ on the nicer resorts, just because we probably wouldn't want to leave them!

I'm thinking that we'll (try to!) book Cinderella's Table for breakfast on our MK day, so we really are only go to be wherever we stay for hours.

Pop Century sounds like a good bet.

 

[paulh]

IF DD likes the water i would reqamend Yaught and Beach as pool the best in disney and close to MGM so you could drop bags of go to MGM then come back to check in and do pool
Paulh

 

[vernon]

I would treat this as an opportunity to test out the options available for if/when you decide to spend a little more time at WDW on a vacation. If you've only ever visited the MK before, on a day visit, you will find there is an incredable array of other choices available to you. With a girl of that age I think she has made a good choice in MGM as her second choice of theme park. For a little girl MGM has some very nice shows and rides that I'm sure she will enjoy.

Personally I would consider making it 2 or 3 nights because it allows you to visit one park on day one, sleep at WDW, another park on day two, sleep at Disney and then either drive back to the coast fully rested or
1) spend a day either at one of the waterparks,
2) split AK (if she likes animals) and a waterpark (kids love the Disney waterparks) half a day each or
3)have a day round the pool enjoying the facilities of the Disney hotel
Then drive back to the coast fully rested. You could spend the morning at the hotel pool then leave WDW area around 3 in the afternoon, you'd have had a relatively relaxing time and you'd get the drive done in daylight.

Your other options mean that whoever is driving will have to take on a 2,3,4 hour drive after two days in the themeparks ( which can be tiring) relatively late at night , on relatively dangerous roads, in the dark, when you're tired (never a good combination). An extra night at a hotel in Orlando will mean you can drive back after a full nights sleep, in daylight fully rested. It also has the added benefit that your daughter won't have to sleep in the back of the car while you drive home. For the sake of $70-80 on a hotel room I really don't think it's worth the aggravation of taking on the drive but most of all the, admitted small, risk of taking on the late night drive.

Which level of hotel you go for depends on if/what you plan to do on a third day. If you'd want to visit AK and a waterpark then. IMHO there is little point in spending the extra on a delux hotel, if you'd use the hotel facilities it would likely save you a couple of hundred $ in themepark admissions so you may be prepared to spend that money on a better quality hotel.

 

[kristieuk]

The reason why we only plan a couple of days on Orlando is that we're really beach people. Over the years, we have done most of the parks, although we have only ever taken our daughter to MK. We holiday in Florida every November, so we work on the basis that we'll just do a couple of parks each trip now that she's old enough to really appreciate them.

I usually drive up and back in a day, so the trip isn't a problem, and it normally takes about 2 hours which is not too bad.
I think that from the responses it would definitely be worth our while staying at a Disney hotel, but I'm leaning towards the moderately priced ones, as a happy medium.

If that's the case, which is anyone able to recommend?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Miffy2003]

Hi Kristie,

we spent a fortnight at All Star Movies in December and my 5 and 8 year old daughters absolutely loved it here. It was slightly basic in terms of facilities but very magical and for the price we paid ($70 per room per night) I was absolutely delighted with what we got. Here's a bit from my Trip Report about it:

Overall impressions of All Star Movies

We loved it! Yes the rooms are quite small but we found them absolutely ample for the four of us and all our luggage (we had a lot!). The room was extremely clean and nicely themed. The furnishings are bold and brash and don’t feel deluxe in any way, but that is exactly what I had expected. The grounds were beautifully kept and the large Disney icons were a huge hit with the children as well as us! There are lots of little touches all round the resort that act as a constant reminder that you are on Disney property.

We thought the reception area was great; there was a lovely big TV screen showing Disney movies and this kept the girls entertained on several occasions (including one when we had to post a parcel and it took over an hour for the CM to work out how to do it!). The shop was every Disney fan’s merchandising dream with a great selection of toys, games, clothes, plushes and all the other bits and pieces you expect in a Disney shop. There were lots of sweets, cookies and crisps and the like and they also sold small bottles of spirits behind the counter. We were very happy with the cocktails served at the pool bar! The food court had a pretty good selection and was a reasonably pleasant dining experience – far superior to a similar set up in the UK but obviously it is cafeteria style. We thought the prices were reasonable – not as cheap as going offsite but you could easily feed a family of four for one meal for $25 or so. The refillable mugs saved us an absolute fortune! The girls gave the arcade a big thumbs up. We thought the pools were great - unfortunately we didn't get the chance to enjoy them much due to the weather!

We found the bus service excellent. The longest we waited was twenty minutes – unluckily for us that was on a cold and windy night! But apart from that time, I think we waited for under ten minutes for every other journey. I wish our local bus service - which allegedly follows a timetable but often fails to show up - was as good! It felt like a luxury to not have to drive and it is ideal when you consider how close to the parks you get dropped off and picked up. We did have to stand a few times, but it’s not like it is ever a long journey!

Overall, and bearing in mind the price we paid to stay here, the resort was even better than our expectations had been. Massive thumbs up from the Goviers!

Please feel free to ask me anything you want to. I've also head very good things about Pop Century which is the same price as All Star Movies.

 

[kristieuk]

Great trip report! Thanks for that advice.

None of the responses have even suggested that we stay at a non Disney hotel with Disneyworld, so I'm persuaded on that front at least. I guess my only decision is whether to go budget or moderate. I think I'll see what kind of deals are around, but from what has been said, even the budget options won't disappoint.