DTD Hotels Question

[momoftwins]

Which of the hotels usually mentioned are closest to DTD (ex: Courtyard Marriott, Hilton, etc)

Those of you with small children, is it such a pain to use off-site transportation?

Is it a safe walk from DTD to the hotels such as the Courtyard or Hilton?

Is the hotel transportation free from these hotels?

Right now we have an Apr 04 reservations with the Pop Century value resort. Supposedly, there are no AAA discounts for our time frame so we would pay $121 per night - yikes for a value resort this is awfully high. I know I have plenty of time between now and then, but boy if the Courtyard offered a $20 rate for late April - how could I not take it?

Just thought of something else. Do they allow you to upgrade to a higher floor room, for example a DTD view) and just pay extra?

Thanks for your input and have a good night.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Hilton and Wyndham Palace are probably the closest ones. The buses are not the same as the Disney buses and don't run as frequently. I think they hit all the DTD hotels before they head over to the TTC. The Disney resorts are much more convenient.

 

[Bonnie40]

Hi!

I will try and answer some of your questions...

We stayed at the DTD Courtyard by Marriott for the 1st time last March. The Hilton is probably the closest hotel to DTD and the Courtyard is next to it (parking lots are large so there is distance between hotels). We have 3 children (but not small) and we enjoyed our stay. From what I know, I believe the Hilton is a much nicer hotel than CBM, probably more expensive as well, but it is the only DTD hotel that offers early entry which is a real bonus. Also, I don't think that CBM offers that $20/night special in the spring, it is usually offered in the fall when things are slow. The transportation is fine once you figure out the schedule and the coach buses they use are very nice. People on the boards have commented that they like the DTD transportation system as well or better than the resort transportation. We always enjoyed walking back from DTD in the evenings as well. The sidewalks are wide and even though it's a busy road, it was a nice 10 minute walk to CBM.

Hope this info helps!

 

[momoftwins]

for the great info. If it were just my husband and myself, a DTD hotel would be fine. There is nothing worse on a trip than crabby 7 yr olds, well maybe crabby parents - lol.

Both of my kids have very different levels of park stamina. My daughter could go from morning til night, til morning til night - you get what I mean. My son when he wants a rest, he wants a rest.

Disney is something we really have to save for, so I am always looking at options.

Have a great day.

 

[Pat_Elliott]

When you fall into the "Onsite vs offsite" debate, it can get interesting, and DTD is just a gray area between the two. Personally, I think DTD is great because A) we do mostly Epcot, MGM, and PI, and there's no place more convenient to the above without paying BC/YC pricing; and B) I always bring or rent a car. When I've stayed in DTD, I've heard grumbling about transport (every half hour, I think? And in season the busses crowd up fast).

But as for walking distance....I stayed last September at the BW, which I THINK is the longest walk to DTD and we found, as the above folk, that the sidewalks are wide and great, we felt safe, and it took us ten minutes to get to the Marketplace, fifteen minutes to get to the West Side. This was especially nice at night, when we'd go to PI and not have to sit and wonder what side of .08 BAC when driving home after two or three drinks.

Pat

 

[scarlett873]

i've stayed in the DTD hotels twice. i have stayed at the hotel royal plaza (1995) and the courtyard (1998).

i LOVED my stay at the courtyard! when i was there, i was still married to my now ex-husband and we took my parents and his parents with us. the front desk was able to get our rooms right beside each other (not sure if that was actually good or bad lol) and we were all on the first floor. right outside our patio doors was the pool! it was wonderful being able to walk right from our room to the pool/hot tub. the front desk staff remembered our names and greeted us each night we came in. over all, we had a great experience there!

the transportation did run about every 30 minutes and the benefit of staying at the courtyward was that you were one of the first pick ups and first drop offs for the buses. the buses do tend to get crowded though if you are returning around park closing time.

one thing that i really enjoyed about these hotels...being within walking distance to the downtown disney area. i loved walking down there after it closed up and walking along the water...it was so peaceful and relaxing to me! but i can understand why you may not take advantage of that one with little ones.

i have only tayed in one on site resort and that was ASMu. it was nice and served it's purpose, but we prefer a hotel with a little more to offer. (hot tub among other things) but i would stay there again if my budget required it.

if you're able to snag one of those awesome $20 rates for the courtyard, i say go for it! i'm hoping for one for our next trip down there next year...i just need one night! but with it being thanksgiving weekend, i'm not sure i'll be able to get it...

 

[Bonnie40]

Me again...

$121/night seems like alot to me for Pop Century. I think you'd be surprised at what you can get for that price or cheaper. Lots of people talk about Holiday Inn Family Suites as a great alternative and I believe they provide a very nice breakfast. When you factor in the cost of breakfast on top of the $121 - it really adds up.

I can fully understand your concern about meltdowns with children. We never do a park all day - we get there for opening, leave around noon, go to Typhoon Lagoon and then back to the parks late afternoon. It works out great and gives the kids a break. We did the same schedule at DTD Courtyard and it worked out fine.