For those wanting to save wknd points/other DTD Sheraton Safari $59 incl. weekends!

[LIFERBABE]

I saw this posted on the Resorts board and have recommended my cousins stay here for their first night (saturday) in October before their SSR checkin on Sunday.

It has good reviews here on the DIS and TripAdvisor for those that want clean and safe accomodations. Its a DTD Good Neighbor hotel located 1 block from DTD.

This is 50% off their normal rate and now they don't have to stay on I-Drive with all that construction!!

If anyone can recommend another option in the $35 range (their target) please let me know! I cant find anything I would recommend because they have a small toddler and other 3 other kids under 6.

Hope this helps someone else!!

http://hotels.travelzoo.com/orlando-hotels/203246

Im hoping maybe we can keep this thread going with other good options for late arrivals or weekends before/after a DVC stay. Many of us have small kids, so we can't just stay anywhere (ie Priceline) or will add days to a trip last minute and cant get WDW/DVC ressies because they are sold out so although we normally use weekend points, we will sometimes require alternate accomodations too.

 

[Caskbill]

We stayed there once, and it's not too bad of a hotel.

It's not just a block from DD, much farther. Too far to walk if anybody's thinking that. It's all the way out past the exit of hotel row, a couple of blocks from cross-roads.

They do have surcharges there. For example there's a safe in the room and an automatic surcharge (I think it was $3.00/day) whether you use the safe or not.

If your cousins are looking in the $35 range, probably the only place they'll find that kind of rate is at the low-end hotels on route 192.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Is it worth the $59? The other option I found was the Comfort Inn LBV for $45. $35 was a target, but I don't think they really understand what is available at that rate. They will have kids crawling on floors and wanting to use pools etc so Im trying to provide them with some choices that may cost $20 -30 more but still enjoy their first day.

I know it is only for one night, but if you have to sleep with one eye open or just are not comfortable, it could ruin the next day too.

We've never stayed in offsite hotels in Orlando so I am reading everything I can find.
Hopefully others with more experience than I will share. I know for their trip in October, they have 5 so the values would be out and a moderate would be way over budget.

 

[Caskbill]

The Sheraton Safari is basically a Conference Hotel, with a number of conference meeting rooms. It's build as a large Square, with the inside of the square being a huge courtyard with pool, etc. It's very nice.

Yes, that's a good price. But, some of the rooms are fairly old. When we stayed there for a similar price, they put us into the older section which was quite a ways from everything. This was about 2-years ago, and they may have remodeled since then. (There was some remodeling going on at the time)

There is a restaurant there but a little expensive (Probably because so many guests are business travelers there for a conference). There's a small store, and a fairly nice information booth area. When we checked in they gave us a little ticket to take to the information booth for a 'welcome gift' which was a nice little packet of literature, candy, and such. They also made their pitch to see some timeshare presentations, and get discounted theme park tickets. This is common in the WDW area. We declined (since we had AP's), and there was no real pressure to sign up.

Parking in the front is limited, but lots of parking around the back. It's a little further walks to the rooms but not an issue if you won't be going back and forth to the car.

The room itself was just OK. Nothing fancy. A little smaller than most hotel rooms today since it's a little older. They had high speed internet, but at a cost (not free) if you wanted it.

I don't know if they have a limit on the number of guests in a room. Our room was just a King Size bed, so the other rooms might be a little larger.

Since the hotel is a little larger and spread out, they'll need to keep an eye on the kids if they leave the room. I haven't stayed at the Comfort Inn you mentioned, buy typically they're a little more family friendly.

If the cost is really a deciding factor, I'd think the Comfort Inn would be nice.

Bottom line, if they're going to stay right at the hotel and not go anywhere that first night, and they'd like some hotel amenities, then it's nice for that. The courtyard has the pool, bar, and other amenities. Everything is designed around a jungle theme, lots of vegetation, etc.

But if your cousins' are just going to stay in their room and watch TV, then a Comfort Inn might be fine.