Hilton Resort in Down Town Disney

[PumpKiNWiTcH]

Me and my family will be soon vacationing to DW, and we will be staying at the Hilton Resort that is part of the Walt Disney affiliation of hotels. This hotel includes the standard on-site/on-resort privileges as the other Disney hotels. They include magic hours and free transportation to and from the parks.

I've looked at pictures online, and read some reviews, but I wanted to know what you guys think of this hotel? I will be staying here for 10 days for the entire length of my trip. I would appreciate any comments if you've stayed here yourself, or what is the general rating of this hotel. Thanks.

Note: The other hotels I've stayed to before in my previous Disney trips have all been value resorts. Would this hotel be better in comparison to that?

 

[CarolA]

I have stayed there several times and find it to be a nice hotel. Your basic Hilton. The rooms were redone a few years ago in kind of an "art deco" look.

There is a timeshare desk in the lobby. Some folks have reported being harrassed by the people there, but I have never had anyone bother me.

It's a VERY EASY walk to DTD! Nice pool. Good service!

Yes, it's nicer then a Disney Value. Interior corridors, better bedding etc. You do give up the "themeing"

 

[zackiedawg]

Ditto what Carol said. I was there just last month for a conference - transferring there after 4 nights at OKW...the hotel is very nice - clean and modern, nd nicely refreshed. Considering it's an old 70's property, it's surprisingly modern and current inside with the new makeover. The rooms are Scandinavian style, with comfortable pillowtop matresses and assortment of pillows, feather comforters, spa-type shower and bath amenities, modern designer desks in room, and pretty quiet too. The outside grounds are nice, big pool, a few good restaurants and bars inside, and it is directly across the street from Downtown Disney for easy access. I never used the hotel transportation for getting around Disney, actually preferring to walk across the street to the Marketplace bus stop, grab a bus to the Disney resort closest to where I was going, and head in from there (Wilderness Lodge to get to MK so i could take the boat in, Boardwalk for Epcot or Hollywood Studios so I could walk or boat in, any resort for AK to transfer to a Disney bus).

Agreed on the theming - you don't get the totally immersive Disney feeling...heading back to the hotel feels like stepping just outside of Disney despite being so close. but some rooms have views into DD, and upper rooms can see fireworks, so that keeps reminding you that you're close.

It's a very nice hotel overall, and would be on par with Disney's Deluxe resorts in amenities and decor, while closer to Disney's Moderate resorts in room size.

 

[EnnEss]

Just to check, the transportation isnt the same as at disney hotels is it? I thought it was significantly less frequent shuttles? It was suggested I rent a car if staying there as getting to MK can be time consuming. Im not sure, im just curious.

 

[zackiedawg]

It's not the same transportation. The Downtown Disney Resort hotels have their own shuttles. They can be as randomly timed as Disney busses, which is to say you can get lucky and get them fairly quickly, or unlucky and wait a while. But with Marketplace right across the street, it's about a 100-yard walk to the Disney bus stop to jump on a bus to a resort, which to me was generally faster anyway (the shuttle parks a little farther out in the bus lot than the Disney busses, doesn't run on quite the same schedule, and in the case of MK, takes you to the TTL). I found entering Epcot via the Boardwalk Int'l Gateway, and MK via Wilderness Lodge's boat, to be both faster and more scenic and convenient.

 

[Tonya2426]

I was there about 2 weeks ago and thought it was great. The room was very nice and quiet and the beds and pillows were super comfortable. We were on the 8th floor and I watched Wishes fireworks twice in my comfy PJs. We couldn't see the castle but could see the Contemporary and BLT.

I was so excited that they had the Stacy Disney channel so I could see the Top Things to do at Disney. (Okay, so I can only watch it once through and then I want to kill Stacy - but it was nice to see when you first get there to get in the Disney mood.)

A mini fridge in the room would have been nice but I managed without it. It only took about 5 minutes for our luggage to be delivered by bell services (very rare in a Disney hotel). And the quick walk to Earl of Sandwich at DTD was the best part of the whole stay. (I love me some Earl of Sandwich!!!)

I did have the pizza one night from the 24 hour "deli" in the lobby and it was dreadful - and the napoleon pastry wasn't all that good either (get one at the French pavillion in Epcot instead.) But having Benihana in the lobby was great. And it seems that they have a Character Buffet on Sunday at one of the restaurants - which would be fun to do.

We didn't use the Hotel Plaza buses since I had my car and but saw people using them.

I would certainly stay at the Hilton again.

 

[mjh8955]

We were there last July for a short stay, wished it could have been longer. We loved the place. The rooms are not huge and the showers are a little dated. However, for our family with two teens having an extra sink outside the bathroom was far more critical than space. We had our car and drove to the parks so I can't speak to the bus transportation.

 

[scrappindad]

We stayed club level at the Hilton when we were there in Jan. and liked it very much. It's much nicer than a Disney Value resort. We rented a car so I can't comment on transportation.

Debbie

 

[LeCras]

We stayed at the DTD Hilton for a couple of nights earlier this year, before checking into our DVC villa at AKV.

We had a suite, which was very roomy and nicely decorated. The bathroom was a bit on the small side, but then again we didn't really spend much time there..!

A couple of things we really liked:

• Very quick walk to DTD, literally past the pool and across the street. Very convenient for shopping and food options.
• Starbucks coffee in the lobby. DH was over the moon and now insists that we will be visiting the Hilton every WDW trip for this reason!
• The bar - very lively, and great atmosphere. Again, somewhere we will probably come back to even if we are not staying at the Hilton.
• The pool was nice and quiet, no problems finding an open spot.

We didn't think much of the executive lounge - not at all what I am used to from staying in other Hilton hotels on business. They are ususally a tranquil place to relax with a paper and a snack. Not so here; packed full of families whose goal seemed to be to cram as much free food as possible into both mouths and bags! We turned around in the door.

The bus transportation to the Disney parks is nowhere near as convenient as the Disney buses - there are far fewer buses and the bus stops can be a bit of a hike from the park entrance. If you can take this in your stride you won't have a problem, if you think this would stress you out I definitely recommend getting a rental car.

We did see the Hilton Vacation Club stand in the lobby, but nobody approached us about this at all.

Overalll I would definitely recommend this hotel.

Charlotte