How was Best Western Plus Park Place Inn AND Courtyard Waterpark Theme Park Entrance?

[pepe3penelope]

We are locals and are planning a mini-vacation w/my cousin and his children from Orlando. We are local DL passholders, but we have never stayed at either property. We are looking at July 2016.

I would love to hear positives and negatives from both properties. Between our 2 families, it will be 3 adults and 5 children ranging from 5 to 15 years old.

I really want to stay at the waterpark for obvious reasons (waterpark, new, spacious, & I booked suites for each of us).

Best Western appeals to me because of the included breakfast & park proximity (I booked the 2 queens w/sofa.).

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[Metalliman98]

I've never stayed at the Best Western, but have stayed at the Courtyard twice (coming home just yesterday as a matter of fact). The Courtyard is great, though full disclosure I travel frequently for work and Marriotts are my hotel of choice, so both of our stays were on points. The rooms are all family rooms; the standard is two queens and a twin bunk, with a bathroom with a shower and a shower/tub, and a microwave and mini fridge. I'm sure they have other configurations, especially for the suites which I believe have a great view of the fireworks. You can also sign into Netflix on the in room tv, which is nice. The waterpark is cool, we didn't use it on this trip but did when we came in October, our 4 yo loved it. Parking is valet only at $20 a day, no other parking allowed. Valet and bell staff are super quick and nice. True that it is not as close as the Best Western, but it is just down the street, maybe an extra 3 minute walk, tops? No free breakfast, but they do have a place to buy hot food in the lobby for breakfast and dinner, and Mimi's, Panera (opening soon), and McDonalds are all on the way to the parks.

We may try the Best Western someday (though it looks like it has exterior hallways, which turn me off) but the Courtyard is a great choice!

 

[NiceOneSimba]

We're staying at the Best Western again in two weeks. It's been several years since I've stayed there, so my review is a bit dated.

The BWPPI is a basic motel. It's clean. It's comfortable. It's as close as you can get to the crosswalk on Harbor. We had a minisuite (the room with 2 queens and a couch) and found it plenty roomy for our family of 3. The room had a microwave and a biggish fridge--we ordered groceries from Von's, and everything fit in the fridge with room left over. Breakfast is nothing fancy, but was very nice to have. I am the earliest riser in my family, so I typically went and brought back a tray for my husband and daughter. They will hold your luggage if you arrive early and are staying late. Staff has been nothing but pleasant and accommodating (they fixed my TV during the NFC championship game two years ago in lighning speed--GO HAWKS!!). Amazingly close to return for an afternoon rest or nap.

Onto the cons: When we stayed, the decor was definitely dated. Everything was clean and in good repair, but it was a bamboo-o-rama. The pool is small and somewhat shaded, and the water was a bit cool for my liking. No real fireworks view. Exterior hallways.

If you're just looking for a place to sleep, the BWPPI is great. If you're looking for more of a break from the parks in the afternoon to do something more than nap, the Courtyard has that amazing water park! It's a matter of what you're looking for. For us, it's clean, close and cheap--that makes the BWPPI a great choice.

 

[figment_jii]

The BWPPI is my family's typical place to stay because of the proximity to the parks. The BBWPPI is a motel...so nothing really fancy or special about it. The rooms are okay, but do look old and kind of worn. The walls aren't very thick so you can hear voices in the room next door (especially if there is a joining room door). The complimentary breakfast is fine, but the food is pretty basic (usually there are potatoes, some bread product (e.g., begals, toast), some meat product (e.g., sausages or Canadian bacon), fruit, cereal, and drinks (e.g., coffee, tea, milk, oj)). I do like that you can pick up food and take it back to your room. Most of the time, the staff has been friendly and responsive. No covered parking and sometimes it's hard to find a parking spot near the room (there is a daily parking fee). The pool is nothing special, but it is centrally located. You do have carry your own luggage, but they do have luggage carts at the lobby.

The Courtyard Waterpark Theme Park Entrance is a hotel (rather than a motel). It's still new, so the rooms look pretty good with a generally modern feel. The rooms seemed pretty quiet (I couldn't hear anything from the adjacent rooms). The staff seemed friendly and responsive as well. Valet parking is the only option, so you do have to call down (or text) to get your car. There are bellhops that will help with your luggage. They do have a cafe type place downstairs for food, but it can get pricey if you eat there a lot. The Waterpark is a lot of fun...there are two big slides and another small one. If you don't want to get wet, make sure you stand outside of the water cannon range (I didn't and ended up getting wet!). The walk to the parks is not bad, but it's longer than the one from BWPPI.

Overall, if your looking for just a place to sleep, I would go with the BWPPI because it's less expensive. I liked the Courtyard a lot and would happily stay there again, but it is more expensive and I would only stay there once in a while.

 

[Disney127]

We usually stay at the BWPPI - still here as I type this, it is just DD14 and myself. We only use our room for sleeping so we don't use the pool or need anything fancy. We like just crossing the crosswalk and heading straight to our room after time in the parks. By the end of the day, we would rather not walk a few more minutes or a few more steps to another hotel but this is just our opinion.

 

[Indiana Scott]

We've stayed at BWPPI many times and will do so again. You just cant get closer to the turnstiles that this hotel and it's clean, modern and offers one of the better free breakfasts. I would rate the Park View Inn about the same.

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

I'll be at the new Courtyard next weekend, with a review coming on the 1/17 podcast.

 

[pepe3penelope]

Thank you to everyone's responses. I'm keeping both reservations for now. We may opt for Courtyard because of the space & waterpark. We plan on staying 3 nights & 4 days. Plan on only doing 2 day passes for my cousin & his family. The rest of the time will relax in hotel & waterpark, downtown Disney, etc.

Does anyone have suggestions for where to get discounted park passes? I'm not sure whether or not my cousin would be willing to pay for park hopper passes for 4 people. Possible he'd only want to do one park each day.

As a passholder, am I able to buy discounted passes for him?

TIA!

 

[pepe3penelope]

I'll be at the new Courtyard next weekend, with a review coming on the 1/17 podcast.

Thank you for mentioning this!