Hilton Buena Vista

[grodgers49]

We are going to spend three nights at the Hilton Buena Vista. We have not seen the property. Has anyone stayed there? How is the bus system to the parks? How about the swimming pool? Any info will be nice. Thanks.

 

[Magnetic]

We just spent a week in Disney in May - split stay between the YC and the DTD Hilton Lake Buena Vista. The hotel is beautiful, and the pool area is outstanding! There are two huge pools, one heated, one unheated. They're side by side, so you don't have to walk too far to enjoy both. There's also a round kiddie pool near them, and there are two hot tubs built into a rocky area of the pool deck.

The rooms are pretty spacious. The resort fee at the Hilton includes free Starbucks coupons & unlimited movie rentals. The Hilton's bus system runs from the hotel to Disney's TTC, where you can then take the monorail, boat or buses to the various parks.

Best part: The DTD Hilton is an extremely short walk from Downtown Disney's West Side. There is a path from the Hilton's pool area that leads you across the street and right to DTD. Once you get there, the Disney resort bus station is right there too.

I would say you are equally as close to Downtown Disney as if you stayed on-property at Saratoga Springs -- this was our first time ever off-site and we loved the Hilton. The whole area is under construction right now as they're improving the walkways and installing over-the-road bridges between the Hilton and DTD and other area hotels.

I blogged about it here, with photos and a video to show the short walk from the Hilton to DTD - photos & video of the Hilton begin midway down the page after our Yacht Club stay:

http://jillcataldo.com/2015-walt-disney-world-trip-part-2

 

[Grumpy92]

The Hilton is a good hotel. Pros: the location cant be beat. Love the ability to walk to DTD. The pools are hotel pools nothing special. They did just redo them earlier this year. Large bathrooms.

Cons: Rooms are fine but should be rehabbed soon. More then 2 adults with luggage make it cramped. The walk to DTD is not the straight shot it used to be you have to walk around construction walls. Fees: Parking fee per night, Resort fee per night (coffee/water, free movie, bus service, EMH) As of Jan 1 they will no longer offer the EMH perk.

Bus service - I have stayed at this property many times. The bus service is slow and overcrowded. We don't like the stop at EC as it is in the hot sun, no cover. We waited so long, we finally gave up and walked over to the OKW bus and took the boat to DTD, then walked back. The bus serves 4 DTD hotels before it goes to 2 parks. Frankly we started taking Disney resort buses across the street (at DTD) to the nearest resort of the park we wanted to go to and it was better. DTD does not have park buses.

 

[DrivenByDisney]

The bus service for the DTD hotels runs on two routes. 'A Bus' and the 'B Bus'. The Hilton runs on the A Bus schedule which goes to the following properties in order:

Hilton
Holiday Inn Express
B Resort
Double Tree

The buses typically run every 30 minutes or so, usually :35 and :55 past the hour and up to 90 minutes after the parks close. Yes, the buses are crowded, though I have never seen a Disney bus that was not in peak hours and dates at the parks. One benefit is the Hilton is the first stop for pick up so the bus "should" be easy to get on and find a seat.

The bad is that you have to go to all the other properties before heading to the parks. Just adds a little more time is all. You can walk across the street to the Wyndham LBV and jump on that bus (B Bus) which only has three stops and runs the same time frame as your bus will. You can also do this coming back from the parks if your bus is not there yet. Just jump on the B Bus and get off at the Wyndham LBV and walk to the Hilton. It's right across the street.

As Grumpy92 mentioned, Since the Hilton is so close to DTD, you can get buses there and walk across the street as well. Be ready for a wait there as well if you visit now during the summer. I see a line of Disney buses sitting there waiting to get into their DTD area for a good while at times due to all the traffic of other buses as well as typical DTD traffic.

Speaking to a family the other night (this week) at The Boathouse. They said they waited on a bus in the bus queue at DTD coming from EPCOT for close to 30 minutes before getting off at DTD. So, it's a pick your poison really. I have stayed at every property on Hotel Plaza Blvd. several times and have had very few issues with bus transportation, to and from the parks.

p.s. - Not really sure why these properties are referred to as "off site" when they are in fact on Disney Property. I guess them not being "Disney Resorts" makes them off site? Oh well, just something I see a lot of I guess.

 

[Sinders99]

http://jillcataldo.com/2015-walt-disney-world-trip-part-2

What a great blog!!! So many helpful tips and hints! Thanks so so much. Your blog really helped to ease my mind about staying at the Hilton LBV and having access to Disney Springs rather than checking in at the Hilton Double Tree Universal.