How bad is driving to DL vs staying at close hotel?

[Lucky'sMom]

WDW vet, DL newbie here. We will have 6-7 people on our late June DL trip. I keep going back and forth between staying in a walking distance hotel, at say Desert Inn and Suites, where we can get a suite of basically 2 hotel rooms joined together, vs. staying a little further away in a townhouse rental. We always stay in vacation homes or condos at WDW, and really enjoy the space. The townhomes I am looking at say walking distance, but I think the reality is that they are at least 20 mins away, and that seems rough on the return trip home at night, when feet are sore. How is the driving situation if you drove a mile in to the parking lot? Is it crazy backed up this time of year? I'd prefer to rent a townhome and stay for a week, alternating DL/DCA days with tours of LA, Hollywood, etc. But would it be a much better idea to stay at a very close hotel for say, 4 nights, and do all of our Disney days back to back for the proximity convenience? Thanks!

 

[msdaisy]

We were at DL during the week of 4th of July in 2013. We stayed at Embassy Suites North which is around 4-5 miles away. We had no problems whatsoever. We parked at Mickey and Friends each day - we were even the family of the day on our last day and had a special parking spot

I can remember the first night as we walked to the tram, it was pulling away. I had that sinking feeling that you get like at WDW when your resort bus pulls away just as you walk up and another doesn't show up for 30 minutes.

Well no worries! The trams literally pull up one after the other. We were always back at our hotel within 15-20 minutes from the time we left the park. I was impressed since we are used to 30 minutes to one hour using the WDW bus system.

I have looked at Desert Inn & Suites myself for this June, but I can't seem to find any good deals. I can't normally find any good deals at all on hotels around DLR.

 

[VandVsmama]

If you really want to be there for rope drop on multiple mornings, then staying within walking distance makes that a lot easier. If you are not rope drop people, then staying farther away probably doesn't matter. Also if you want to take an afternoon break, it's a bit more of a hassle to do that if you drive there.

But if what you really want to do is stay in a townhouse or condo, then go for it and don't sweat it!

 

[VandVsmama]

Btw, both Camelot Inn and Tropicana Inn are having specials with 20% off the room rate if you stay 5 or more nights. I reserved a room at the Tropicana in June for $99/night (not including 17% room tax and $9/day parking fee since we'll be driving from our house to Anaheim). Two rooms there would then run you $198/night.

 

[HydroGuy]

WDW vet, DL newbie here. We will have 6-7 people on our late June DL trip. I keep going back and forth between staying in a walking distance hotel, at say Desert Inn and Suites, where we can get a suite of basically 2 hotel rooms joined together, vs. staying a little further away in a townhouse rental. We always stay in vacation homes or condos at WDW, and really enjoy the space. The townhomes I am looking at say walking distance, but I think the reality is that they are at least 20 mins away, and that seems rough on the return trip home at night, when feet are sore. How is the driving situation if you drove a mile in to the parking lot? Is it crazy backed up this time of year? I'd prefer to rent a townhome and stay for a week, alternating DL/DCA days with tours of LA, Hollywood, etc. But would it be a much better idea to stay at a very close hotel for say, 4 nights, and do all of our Disney days back to back for the proximity convenience? Thanks!

My two cents are given here:

"Hidden Time Losses When Using a Car At DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1381580

"HydroGuy's Hotel Rule" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1199862

 

[adykate]

We have done everything from staying at an RV place and driving in, staying in a house rental that was walkable, but just barely at about 15/20 minutes, staying at a nearby hotel and walking, and staying onsite. In my opinion it is invaluable to stay close enough to walk comfortably. We have young kids, so we do take a break mid day. We also like to be there by rope drop or soon after. Using the parking structures just wasted too much time for us. And we were often routed to other parking lots, and still had a bit of a walk. If your party plans on going into the parks, and staying all day/evening, then it might not be too bad to park. But if you plan to come and go, it was a hassle for us.

 

[Canuck16]

We have always stayed off site at DLR but always within a 15 minute walk to and from the parks. We always do rope drop so being able to get up and walk to the parks without the hassle of worrying about parking the car or taking ART is awesome!

 

[PinkBudgie]

If you like taking afternoon naps, then closer is better.

When we stayed further away, we had to hurry through breakfast in order to have time to drive, park, and catch the tram. We also didn't want to leave for an afternoon break because of the time it takes to do this and then drive back and then get not as good of a parking spot when we return. SO we tired out around 9pm. (If you go during shorter hours, then I guess this wouldn't matter so much)

Now we stay walking distance and we go back for an afternoon nap and then stay at the parks later. We also have more time to get ready in the morning and not rush breakfast. We often leave 15 min to park opening, get in line a few minutes before the gates open and that's good enough for us unless we have a goal of getting on something first thing like Peter Pan.

I refuse to take a bus- for me it is driving or walking. No bus!

 

[Lucky'sMom]

You all have been so helpful! It looks like staying in a close hotel for a few nights is the way to go. I really appreciate the advice.

 

[Lucky'sMom]

Hydroguy....holy cow! Your links are amazing....so helpful! Thank you.

 

[julesann]

You all have been so helpful! It looks like staying in a close hotel for a few nights is the way to go. I really appreciate the advice.