The Disney maingate area is basically the area east and west of World drive on 192.This was the area where most people stayed back in the 70's and 80's when Disney didn't have 20 hotels and the Lake Buena Vista and International Drive area closer to Universal and Sea World were less developed and not full of hotels,restaurants and attractions.Knowing that, many of the hotels in the maingate area are not that new and is not my favorite area to stay.There are some nice places though,as someone mentioned the Comfort Suites Maingate east is a place I have no problem staying at,pretty new hotel with a great breakfast and clean rooms and it's tucked back a few hundred yards from 192.With that said there are some areas that can be considered sketchy and I wouldn't stay at,for example do not book any hotel east of 535 on 192,the whole area goes downhill fast and the few hotels left there are not going to be nice places.I usually book my rooms mostly around International Drive even if it's an extra 15 minutes of driving time.