Downtown Disney Hotels

[hatchlings]

I'm new and need some advice on the hotels that are within walking distance to Downtown Disney. We've never been to WDW, so we are a little lost! Which hotels in the would you recommend and which ones should we steer clear of? Thanks in advance!

 

[Wild4Walt]

If you are staying on property the only one that is walking distance is the SSR. They have a walkway from their resort to the Marketplace side of DTD.

One or two of the hotel partners on Hotel Blvd. would be within walking distance: Grovesnor ( I think the name may have changed on this hotel to Soliel ) and possibly the Hilton.

 

[dan and scott]

The hilton is across the street from Downtown Disney we've stayed there 6-7 yrs. ago and are staying there for 1 night this Sept.
It was ok for a Hilton but they have renovated the rooms recently so we will see if it is a bit nicer.
Traffic there at DTD is sort of dangerous as it is a very busy intersection so I would take the kids by the hand if crossing
Scott

 

[Stacy's a freak]

I stayed in one of these hotels in 2003 and while it was a nice enough hotel, it didn't have the Disney "magic". It was within walking distance to DTD - it was the Marriot which I think is the Holiday Inn now. Strangely enough, it was about the same price as a moderate on-property WDW resort and we felt that the bus service wasn't as good and we felt "out of the magic" at our hotel. So the moral of the story is 'check out the disney hotels too'.

 

[choochmac]

Frm my research, the DTD hotels that are truly easy walks are the Hilton, Regal Sun (formerly Grosevnor), and Buena Vista Palace. The Royal Plaza, Best Western, and Doubletree Suites are farther and a longer walk (although supposedly doable). If you are going to be spending a lot of time there, go with one of the first three. All of the DTD hotels run a free shuttle to DTD in the evening (and parking is free, but I am assuming you won't have a car), but you might have to wait awhile to catch the next one, so I would stick to one of those three.

We are having a family reunion of sorts next month and part of my family is staying at the Doubletree, but its for space reasons ($99 for a large suite which sleeps six - hard to beat). BTW- the Hilton guests get Extra Magic Hours unlike the other DTD resorts, if that matters to you.

 

[oreilly76]

We have stayed in Grosvenor (now Regal Sun), Royal Plaza and Buena Vista Palace. Hated Grosvenor, but it could be nicer now... that was in like 2002 we stayed there.
BV Palace was alright. I would stay there again.
We LOVE Royal Plaza. For the price and location we think it can't be beat! Have never stayed in the Hilton, but seems to be the closest and easiest to walk. We have never had a problem staying in Royal Plaza walking and we would walk back and forth there a couple of times a day. I feel like it is about a 5 minute walk. It doesn't seem long at all.

 

[hatchlings]

Thanks everyone! I think we are leaning towards the Hilton. If it's a flop maybe I can convince dh to come back and splurge on the GF! LOL!

 

[rosiep]

Just my 2 cents:

I have stayed at both the Royal Plaza and the Grosvener. They were both perfectly fine hotels and while the bus service wasn't as great as Disney it was useful. I liked these hotels because I like room service
Having said that though, I soon realized that with the resort fees, and fee for renting a fridge it actually cost me more to stay off site at DTD than at a Moderate. This year I'm staying at CSR which offers a small selection for room service (Not just pizza). The only moderate to do so.