Hotel Location Help

[tlelliott]

We will be arriving in Orlando Friday 9/7 and moving to WDW on Sunday....for the evening of the 7th and the 8th, we were hoping to either see SeaWorld, a beach trip or Universal Studios...not sure which yet.

Which or What Hotel offsite would be our best option? We have a 6 and 4 yr old too.

TIA

 

[tlelliott]

Anyone have suggestions on where to stay the 2 nights off WDW?

I'm not familiar with the Orlando area, do we stay closer to SeaWorld/Universal or closer to WDW since we will be moving to CSR on 9/9?

Also, does it make sense to go back to the airport and use WDW Express or just take a shuttle from our hotel outside to WDW?

 

[LISAMWDW]

I have stayed at Sheraton World next to Sea World quite a few years ago. We really liked it and would stay there again if we didn't prefer to be in WDW. It's walking distance to Sea World.

 

[dougsmom98]

I don't have personal experience at this place, but there were a few threads a while back about the Universal Studios off site lodging and many people recommended Homewood Suites. They offer free breakfast and a manager's reception where they also serve food and drinks. If you do a forum search you will find the threads about this.
My mom and sister have stayed at Comfort Suites Main Gate East and they really enjoyed it. It is not right next door to Universal or Sea World but not more than a 10-15 minute drive either. They have a free breakfast too.
I am not sure how to respond to the transportation question as I have never used Magical Express. I highly recommend renting a car for those days that you are off site though. You can pick the car up at the airport and then return it to a drop off location on Disney property. Most off site hotel shuttles are very sporadic and time consuming. With small children, you might want to have the freedom that a rental car would give you to come and go as you need to.
You can use hotelmartusa.com or hotelkingdom.com to search for other hotel options and deals. Good luck.

 

[crazelion]

Hawthorne Suites on Canada Avenue is close to US and Sea World. I know that one is clean and have plenty of restaurants within walking distance. They have another Hawthorne Suites that is closer to Sea World. Getting to WDW from Hawthorne Suites on Canada Avenue is breeze and idiot proof. Take it from a person that get lost in the parking lot and have not sense of direction.