First time

[wayne1970]

Hi

Just sat looking through the virgin holidays florida book

Looking at some of the budget hotels

Does anybody know if any of these hotels are any good

Looking for things like free shuttles to wdw and universal

Thanks

 

[Goofyish]

Welcome to the DIS

We have stayed at the Best Western Plaza on IDive. It had free shuttles to WDW (not sure about Universal - although a taxi would only be about $10 each way).
Free shuttles are OK, but it does limit you to a set timetable. Not too bad for getting to WDW, but bad for getting back if you want to stay late for fireworks etc.

A package is not always the most cost effective way getting to Florida - try looking into flydrives and booking youir accomodation direct. You can then be more flexible with where and for how long you stay, perhaps having a few nights staying on site at WDW, and then moving to IDrive

 

[natalielongstaff]

welcome to the dis

i can reccomend the lake buena vista area, we stayed at the comfort inn and the free shuttle service was great

 

[Clare D]

Hi
Welcome aboard. Just to warn you this site is addictive so you will spend quite alot of time on here
Do you mean budget resorts as in the Disney budget resorts? As Goofyish said if you are looking to be as cost effective as possible book it separate. How many of there are you in your party? It may be better to think about a villa than stay in a hotel but you would then have to drive.
We stayed in the Quality Inn International right in the middle of I Drive back in '99 and found this to be very clean and comfortable
If you stay in the International Drive area they have a little bus which takes you to most of the parks. You will be a bit limited though. The Disney hotels offer free transportation within WDW.
I'm sure you'll have loads of Q's so fire away
Clare

 

[wilma-bride]

DO NOT, repeat DO NOT stay at the Howard Johnson Plaza, unless it has seriously cleaned up it's act since last year. We stayed one night (was supposed to be two weeks) but one night was more than enough.

Agree with Clare D, the QII (Lo Q) is perfectly adequate for a budget hotel. If you are going to be driving, it's not a problem but if you don't want to drive, you'd be better off staying at one of the hotels which provide transport to all the parks as getting to Disney can be complicated/expensive from I-Drive.

 

[kevin harrison]

Avoid the Premier Inn on Westwood Blvd also. The Clarion Universal is a good hotel, 5 mins drive from Universal, 15 to Disney.

 

[wifey]

We too have stopped at the Comfort Inn 8442 Palmparkway fl32836 and can highly recommend its great location, friendly efficient staff, lots of eating places,transport every day to Disney, Universal, Seaworld, close to Dixieland Stampede,local medical center,the Marriott Village at Little Lake Brian is also a good location but you may need taxis to go anywhere other than Disney .Look on Tripadvisor.com for more reviews of hotels in the LBV area! Have Fun, Wifey

 

[champagnegirl26]

I have sent you a PM

 

[disneyluva24]

Welcome to Disney!!!! I recommend staying @ the allstar resorts or POP Century...... good transportation to parks..... I've been 5 times ans stayed @ allstar movies three times and pop twice.... on August 10, 2005...I leave for my 6th trip!!! I recommend staying on property.... much easier

 

[Hilary]

hi, and welcome to the DIS UK

As has been suggested already, you could shop around and cost your trip by booking flights and accommodation separately. This might not appeal to you if it's your first trip to Orlando but, if you've been before, it's worth checking out.

Don't forget that US hotel rooms will all sleep a family of four for the cost of the room. A package trip will charge you per person. There are often signs outside some of the budget hotels around Orlando advertising rooms for less than $50 per night, but I don't know whether they'd fit the bill with shuttles, etc. Trip Advisor will give you some opinions.

Depending on how many of you are travelling, the ages of any children and any early booking discounts you might get with a package, there could be quite a difference between package / independent prices, but the only way to know for sure is to price everything up and compare like for like.

 

[muffy0110]

have been using Hotel Kingdom.Com for years. They are great. Check them
out

 

[wayne1970]

Thanks for all for the advice

Just come off the phone and booked the Best Western Plaza on I Drive for
me and my 2 daughters aged 8+5 for april 06
Wife has got to stay home as we have a baby due the first week in march but she says that i must take the girls as that is the only time i can get off work

Counting the days already

Sure i will be asking lots of stupid questions so please bare with me

Thanks

 

[disneyholic family]

Thanks for all for the advice

Just come off the phone and booked the Best Western Plaza on I Drive for
me and my 2 daughters aged 8+5 for april 06
Wife has got to stay home as we have a baby due the first week in march but she says that i must take the girls as that is the only time i can get off work

Counting the days already

Sure i will be asking lots of stupid questions so please bare with me

Thanks

Best Western is probably very reasonable, but just for fun you could also check the Disney onsite properties to see how much they are (the value resorts).
When i went alone with my two kids (at the time they were 8 and 10 years old), we stayed at Disney's All Star Music and they really loved it.

So now that you have a price to compare, you can compare it and see (assuming you can calcel without losing your deposit). It is great fun to stay on property. Although it's true that it's usually more expensive.
When the kids were much younger, we always stayed offsite to get an inexpensive suite type accomodation (but the places we stayed in no longer exist - they were torn down for newer hotels - but they were great at the time, cheap and my kids were happy with them too)