Homewood Suites by Convention Center

[Southernmickey]

Anyone stay at the Homewood Suites on Harbour Blvd by the Convention Center? Reviews? How difficult is it to walk to the Toy Story Parking Lot and use the shuttle to the parks? Any problems with not parking a car there, it using the shuttle?

 

[10SE]

The walk to Toy Story is pretty easy but the you have to cross one signal light and the pickup area is in the middle of the lot so it’s not as close as it may seem. You don’t have to park there to use the shuttle.

We found that walking to the park took about the same amount of time as the shuttles if the lot wasn’t crowded. I’d plan on about 20 minutes either way under normal conditions. If there is a huge line for the shuttles then walking would most likely be quicker but that depends on your fitness level. The return shuttle lines can get long depending on the time of the day (after fireworks walking would definitely be faster)

 

[Abbey1]

We’ve stayed here several times and it is very convenient to walk to the Toy Story lot, maybe 7 or 8 minutes? We’ve never had any issue with using the lot while not parking there. Many of the nearby hotel guests do the same (we do the same thing staying at the Hilton across the street).

We enjoy this hotel. They have a good complimentary breakfast, and the extra space is nice. They also project Disney movies out in their pool area certain nights, but I was told they will start one any evening that you request them to.

 

[smartlabelprint]

We love this place!! It’s our go to.

Agree with pp. the walk or ride is the same time. But we enjoyed riding on occasion to save our legs. We just as often walked back because easier to not dismantle stroller. I miss the quick bwppi but we NEED a suite.

 

[MonocularVision]

We just stayed there Sunday-Thursday for the first time. I would say around 10 minutes door to bus in the Toy Story lot. Way, way faster than walking all the way. We did have to wait a long while on Monday morning because we arrived around 10am for a 9am opening and Disney operations generally seemed completely and utterly unprepared for the level of attendance early this week. Tuesday and Wednesday there was no wait at all.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

There is no one limiting or watching access to this lot for pedisterians - in other words, you would NOT encounter a CM if you are walking in because the toll booths are set farther forward than where you walk in.

We have stayed twice, and I have both walked it and taken the shuttle. I prefer the shuttle.

LOVE this hotel, and it is our go-to now.

Just noticed on my last visit this hidden access to the lot BEFORE you would cross the street. I just google mapped it and it looks like a handicap ramp, but anyone can use it - it's just a cement path up to the lot that would allow you to enter without crossing the street. You would then walk up to the busses like you would if you crossed the street.

Would love to hear if anyone has tried this access.

 

[MonocularVision]

We have used that before when staying at Raffles Inn but this trip it was closed every morning when we were going to the shuttle. It was open when coming back but since we weren’t sure we didn’t try it.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We stayed at the Homewood last month. It's a great hotel. The room was nice, the breakfast was very good and the staff was polite and helpful. We did have an issue when our smoke alarm bad a low battery and started beeping intermittently at 4:00 a.m. When we reported it, it was fixed immediately and the front desk agent comped the parking fees for our entire stay.

In terms of the Toy Story shuttle, it is a good option if the lines aren't too long. On the first morning, we drove in from LA and were getting on the bus around 9:00 a.m. The line was very long and we waited at least 20 minutes to get on a bus. The lines were also fairly long for a return bus each night. We ended up using Uber twice in the mornings. It saved the walk to the parking lot and got us to the parks faster.

Regarding hotel guests using the shuttles, I have heard that it's perfectly fine. Disney is happy to take anyone to the parks whether they paid for parking or not. It's good for their bottom line!