Gaylord Palms

[Disneylover2470]

Has anyone ever stayed at the Gaylord Palms? What is it like? Is it nice? Comparable to what Disney Resort? I can get a teacher rate of $99 per night and they have shuttle to the parks. Can someone please let me know about their experiences with this resort, thanks.

 

[Telcogirl]

I have never stayed there, but I attend a conference that is held there every year. The resort is gorgeous. There are mutliple pool areas, food choices and the ambiance is very lush and tropical.

The cheapest conference rates we are able to get on rooms is $250. If you can book a room there for $99, I would do it.

Think, paying for Pop and staying at Grand Floridian. That is how I would compare these rates to Disney rates/hotels.

Of course, this is room only and does not include all the onsite extras you get when staying on property. But, if you are looking for some resort time, then this would be a good choice.

 

[Princess Nancy]

I have stayed there. It is beautiful!! I really enjoyed my stay. Getting to the parks by cais was perfect. It is super easy!

I do not like the hustle and bustle of staying onsite. I have to escape it all. This was quiet and peaceful but not at all stuffy. At $99 a night I would do it!!

We always drive to the park. I do not like Disney transportation, too many crowds, so this would be a great option for my family!!

Hope it works out for you!!

 

[WDWisTheBest]

At that price, I would suggest you book it.

 

[Disneylover2470]

Was the transportation to and from the parks reliable and how late could you stay at the parks or even DD?

 

[clarabelle]

I have stayed there and enjoyed it

But
They charge for parking -self park is in an out of the way place -they are trying to encourage you to use valet
Also there was a resort fee -so I would check on that.
Our room overlooked the amazing lobby and there were bands playing there and other things going on that would make it tough if you were trying to get to bed early

 

[manhattan]

We have stayed there during the Holidays and we loved it! The resort was beautiful! The grounds are huge, and the rooms were very nice. We were put in a corner room and it almost doubled the space. We had a room just above the japanese restaurant overlooking the court. We would open the doors just to listen to the music and sit and watch the light show. For $99 I would book it! As for the transportation, can't tell you since we drove our own car. I do remember looking at the timetable and thinking it would be a little difficult for us to use it, since we are a go with the flow family. It was a little too cool for us to use the pool in December, but I promised my daughter we would go during the summer....am planning a quick trip in a few weeks, may have to fulfill that promise to my daughter!

 

[Disneylover2470]

Our last visit was to the Beach Club so I feel pretty good about the comments that are being made. I was kindof worried that we would be disappointed with the ambiance of resort. I am a little wishy washy about it because its not Disney but we cant even stay at POP for $99 per night and we would be able to stay for twice as long. I did call and the resort fee is $10 per night and the total with tax, resort fees, parking and room is $140 per night.

Does anyone have any pictures that they can post, I would really really appreciate it. Also, how far is it from Gaylord Palms to Disney, like 10 minutes or what?

Oh and what restuarants are in the resort itself, like what kind of food?

 

[clarabelle]

Food was expensive There was one counter service and several sit downs.

I think it was about 10 minutes to the MK parking lot -maybe even less.
The hotel was right outside the park entrance gate.

I don't have any hotel pics -sorry

 

[dfchelbay]

Has anyone ever stayed at the Gaylord Palms? What is it like? Is it nice? Comparable to what Disney Resort? I can get a teacher rate of $99 per night and they have shuttle to the parks. Can someone please let me know about their experiences with this resort, thanks.

My DH just stayed there a couple weeks ago for work. It is very beautiful, but VERY expensive. Food is very pricey. He also said that the shuttles to the parks have certain hours. Make sure you know what they are ahead of time. He said without a car, he would not stay there on his own dime because of the above reasons. You need to be able to get off their property for food alone. His breakfast was nearly $30, lunch even more and for dinner for two people, it was nearly $160. If you have a rental car, you should be alright. He and his co-worker did not. He said it is a very beautiful hotel, inside and out. You are a mere 1/2 mile from the property on Oceola Pky too...can't beat that.

 

[jgates]

Easy easy access to Disney property. The hotel itself for the price of $140 including parking is a good value. The beds are comfy & the rooms are nice. You should receive internet access in the resort fee also, plus I believe 2 bottles of water per day.

It is MASSIVE so it can be a long walk. You may be better off requesting a room that is closer to the self-parking area (we had this). It is farther from the pools, but it can be a 10 minute walk to the other end of the hotel from parking otherwise. I can't honestly remember what the price difference was for valet vs. self parking - we only self parked.

Food is absolute HORRIBLE in price. As long as you have a car, I would suggest heading somewhere early to get breakfast or just eating at the parks. We actually left off-site & ate supper at DTD (Earl of Sandwich) or Bahama Breeze or Outlet Mall when we didn't have a conference meal. Even the Java Coast (or whichever coffee outlet they have there) ended up at $35+ I think for 4 of us to get food for breakfast & beverages when we stayed there ourselves on a different trip (we won the room & a couple meals so we just paid parking).

I would check their hours for their shuttle service carefully - if it is good for timing, it may work better than paying the additional parking fee at Disney. Otherwise, you might want to just pay & drive yourself. I know the hours were set but we were not going to the parks, so didn't really pay much attention.

 

[SillyOldBear]

I just stayed there 2 nights ago. The resort fee was 15.00 per nt and the self parking was 13.00 or valet for 20.00 As some people said it was pricy for food. Our family of 5 (3 adts and 2 kids) paid $68.00 for 4 sandwiches/4 bags of chips and 4 sodas. I almost died when she rang it all up. The sit down restaurants were very pricy. We looked at the menus posted. It is a quiet resort and very nice looking. We had 2 regular rooms that overlooked the parking lot, but I got a rate of $89.00 thru bookit.com so I can't complain.

 

[malibuconlee]

Had friends that stayed there during a MOPS conference last year, but I didnt go. I wouldn't stay there unless I had a rental car. Your food options are going to be expensive at the resort and pretty limited without a car. I did hear it was beautiful tho.