Downtown Disney Hotels

[Sparrow624]

Has anyone stayed at any of the downtown Disney hotels? Hilton, Wyndham, etc?

My wife and I are considering doing a few nights in one of these hotels and then 2 or 3 at Disney. Any thoughts/suggestions will be appreciated. We would have a 15 month old with us.

 

[SnapesGirl]

I personally haven't but my aunt, uncle, and 6 year old cousin stayed at the Wyndham last September and loved it. They really enjoyed the hotel and pool and the close proximity to Downtown Disney.

 

[MinnieSummer]

We've stayed at three of them and will be staying at another this coming weekend. They are OK. The Wyndham, Buena Vista Palace and Hilton are all within walking distance to DTD so that is a nice feature. I do not like where you have to wait for the busses when leaving the parks. You are in the middle of the parking lot, which, if it raining or really hot is a serious problem. I also didn't like that the busses don't run with as much frequency as the Disney busses and they share with the other resorts in DTD. We prefer to stay on property but sometimes, like this trip, it is just not in the budget and we are also going to Universal for Horror Nights. Given the choice, we would stay on property.

 

[Sparrow624]

Yeah, on a pretty big budget this year and staying at one of the DTD hotels and spending a couple of days walking DTD (no parks) would help to extend our vacation.

 

[KonaKaiTom]

I'm staying at Buena Vista Palace for a conference I'm speaking at from 10/21-10/24 -- I'd be happy to give you an update when I get back. Note, I am transferring over to GF post conference so I won't do the update until I get home 10/31.

Tom

 

[MinnieSummer]

I neglected to say that we have stayed at Buena Vista Palace, The Hilton and the Wyndham (during it's incarnations as Grovesnor, and the Sun something). We are staying at the Royal Plaza this trip. They are all decent hotels, for the price as compared to what Disney is charging they are great. I just prefer to use Disney transportation and be not have to deal with either a car or waiting in a parking lot for the bus.

 

[sschochet]

Have stayed at Hilton and Buena Vista Palace for business. Both convenient to walk to DTD, Both very nice resorts with lots of ammenaties. I think the Hilton has some extra beni's though, they may get extra magic hours. Double check with the hotels before choosing.

 

[Lynne M]

I'm going to send this over to the Orlando Hotels board for you, you'll find all sorts of discussion of the DTD hotels, and other nearby hotels.

 

[tgropp]

We have stayed at the Royal Plaza a few times and enjoyed our stay. The poolside rooms are the best

 

[Zeppelin]

stayed at the Hilton for one night in August, the day before we left....unimpressed; the bathrooms were cramped, rust in the shower curtain area...

though its not really a DTD hotel i reccomend Royal Caribe, which is just down the road some...stayed there one night in '11, the day before we arrived at WDW, and thought it was terrific...

 

[LittleMissMagic]

I've stayed at the DtD Doubletree, and while the hotel itself was okay (though rated too highly by Hilton - they gave it 4 stars on their website, but this is clearly a 3 star property).

The DtD Park Shuttles are terrible. They come every 30 minutes, may or may not list the correct park that they're traveling too on the front of the bus (first bus said Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom, second bus said Epcot/Animal Kingdom... who was going to Hollywood Studios? "Oh, the driver must've put the wrong name on the front of the bus." ), and if you're staying at the last bus on the route, it's typically full by the time it comes.

I think all resorts charge for parking (Doubletree's was $10/day), so in order to drive, you're also paying for parking when you get to the parks. The next best option is to hire a car service.