Just arrived from Orlando, any questions welcome.

[petechan]

I won't bore you with a lot of details.

The six of us stayed at Doubletree guest suites during our stay. Went to Universal Studios and IOA for one day each, spent 1.5 days each at MK, Epcot and one day each at MGM and AK. Got to finish about 90% of the rides attractions and including the parades and nighttime spectaculars.

I would be happy to answer any questions that anyone has about the parks at this time. I will check back on this thread and try to answer you within 24hrs. Since this forum has helped me with planning as well.

It was exhausting but with planning it can be done.

 

[TX_Mommy]

I just found your thread... I'd love to find out about your experience with the DoubleTree shuttle. (We're only doing Disney parks)

Four of us will be there 9/25 through 10/1. We have 2 small children (one infant) and the lure of a suite was too good to pass up (especially with the MouseSavers rate we got of $79 per night!)

I'm debating now whether or not to rent a car.

Oh, and could you fill me in on what the breakfast was like? Free breakfast is a part of the package we booked as well.

Thanks in advance! There are so few Off-siters out there.

 

[petechan]

First of all I envy you that you were able to get such a good rate. I paid $240a night and that included no breakfast. Of course this was right before Easter weekend and that suite room was the last one available (two weeks before my trip). We just ate our meals in the room, they wanted to charge $65 for breakfast for four.

The doubletree shuttle will have their first pickup about one hour prior to park opening (During our stay, MK and AK opened at 8am, so the shuttle drove by around 7:10 am, while Ep and MGM opened at 9am, so their shuttle came by at 8:10 or so; the buses were grouped, two destinations a piece, the destinations indicated in the front window). The shuttles picked up at Hilton first, then Royal Plaza, then Doubletree. By the time it got to us often 3/4 of the bus was full, but then if you are travelling at a less busy time, this may not be a problem at all). After the first pickup they would come about every30 minutes. We would catch the first shuttle to make park opening. At around 3:30 pm they switched from bringing you to the park, to pickup. This means that before 3:30 pm, if you were at the park coming home, you waited for an arriving bus to disgorge passengers to the park then hopped in, after 3:30 pm the bus would wait at the parking lot for passengers to bring home (this part we did not really try since we were at the park till closing each day), but with an infant this may be important for you.

The parking lot of the buses are furthest away from the park entrance and so their was a walk to get there, not too bad in my opinion. The buses pick up till 1.5 hours after the park closes. We always were able to catch the first bus that left the park after we got out (although we heard some people missed the first bus and had to wait another 30 min to 1 hour due to all the people- don't know if that would be an issue with you due to your time of year should not be too busy since school has started).

Overall, considering that the parking fee is $11, it ended up that we never used the car going to Disney parks. We used it only to go to the Universal Parks. So I think if you can get to the hotel some way, I may not even rent a car. In fact they even have a bus that operates in the afternoons that will bring you to Downtown Disney and pick you up also.

I hope this helps. The hotel room was nice, the beds were very comfortable. Ask me any other questions you think of.

 

[TX_Mommy]

This is great info! (Sorry I just found your response to my post).

We certainly want to arrive as soon as the parks open, but will probably head back in the afternoons for nap time/rest time.

Other quick question... how long did it take the shuttles to get you there? We have ADRs all over the place, so I'm considering cabs if timing is any issue.



I may have more questions later, so I'm bookmarking this just in case.

TIA!

 

[petechan]

The actual trip from the hotel to the park or back is only about 10 minutes. So the main issue is when you board the bus and when it leaves. In the morning my typical wait was 10-15 minutes before the bus picks up (first bus in morning). From the park we always took the bus that left right at park closing, I would say the average wait from the park gate is about 15-20 minutes. If I remember rightly, I was told that the bus schedule during mid-day is every 30-45 minutes, though I would ask the hotel since this may change depending on the season. I hope this helps. We did not have any ADRs since it took all of our time just to finish seeing everything in the park without having time for a sit down dinner.