Just back from brief stays at Wyndham Palace and Hilton DTD

[yecats]

Hi,

I just returned from my FTP vacation at PORS but extended my vacation one night both before and after my FTP ended on Disney property. I spent my first night of vacation (11/14/03) at the Wyndham DTD and I spent the last night of my vacation (11/22/03) at the Hilton in DTD. Both rooms were obtained by bidding on Priceline.

Wyndham Palace - great experience and even bumped into a minisuite. Swam in pool and enjoyed hot tub, ordered room service and had a great night in the room.

Hilton DTD - hotel and rooms are nice (room seems a bit smaller than moderate room on Disney property) but it is a different setup. Rooms and furniture are in good shape and looked relatively refurbished. However, funky problem with doors at this hotel. Every door in the wing I was in (Room #767) was 1/2 inch short of the floor which caused the funky problem. Everyone can hear everyone else as everyone's doors are cut short. I could clearly hear my two neighbors as well as the people across the hall. If you went out into the hallway and walked toward the elevators, you can clearly hear everyone's conversations as your approaching and passing their rooms and they are not IMO talking loud what so ever. It's wierd.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[xlstacey]

I have a couple of friends that are going to be staying at the Wyndham Resort and Spa, Dec 25-Jan 1. This was a gift to them and they have never been to WDW. I have a few questions that I would like to ask you for them. (they do not have internet access ... don't know how people manage this way??) Anyway, as of now, they are not renting a car and am wondering what is around this resort food and activity wise? I just checked into car rentals and WOW is the price up there Does it cost to take the shuttles to parks and other places ... I thought it would and my friend was thinking it was complementary? Any thoughts, ideas would be greatly appreciated Thx much

(I accidently posted this on another post, so I pasted and copied it to your post) Thx so very much

 

[CarolA]

DTD hotel shuttles are free to the Disney parks. Not sure about shuttles to anything else.

The Wyndam hotel is within EASY walking distance of DTD where there are lots of food options. The hotel has a two sitdown resturants and a food court type place.

 

[yecats]

Hi Stacey, I'm a Stacey to.

Your friends will love the hotel. The shuttle to the Disney theme parks are free to those staying at the hotel and run about every 1/2 hour (they will need to keep this little brochure they give you at checkin for the bus stop #'s at each park). I split my days in the theme parks so even though they may start out at Magic Kingdom, they may end up at Epcot and will need to know which bus stop to get the shuttle back to their hotel or they can just take the Disney bus back to DTD and walk back to the hotel. However the hotels at DTD all share the same shuttle service so they may be making a few stops either way but this can be useful to them as well. When stopping at the other hotels on the strip, they can eat at any hotel along the strip as well as the DTD area. I did not rent a car and used Disney transportation everyday. Even though it is convenient, I still missed having my vehicle.

Also, all they have to do is walk through the recreation island area of the hotel and follow the pathway beyond the pools out to the street. Directly across the street are the Disney bus stations which are free to anyone. There are posted signs on each bus station stating where that bus will be taking people to (ie. will say if taking to Magic Kingdom, Epoct or if stopping at one of the Disney hotels which they may want to eat at as well).

If they want to rent a vehicle, you may want to check into priceline for them. Check out a site called biddingfortravel. Many people bid for compact and midsize vehicles on priceline and get winning bids for $14-$22 dollars per day from MCO airport (this is explained on the bidding site). However, you will need one of their credit cards to reserve and once Priceline accepts the bid, they are stuck with it no matter what - there are no returns, all sales are final.

If they are looking for cheaper places to eat, there really are none in the DTD area. They would need a car or take a taxi about 3/4 to 1 1/2 miles down to the Crossroads area where there are a few other places to eat or obtain groceries. Please keep in mind that most DTD hotels sell things at the same prices that your going to find in the parks. A 20oz bottle of Coke is $2.50, water, etc. and there aren't a lot of other options. Many of the DTD rest. are nice to eat at as well but can be pricey. They can also take the boats from DTD to Old Key West and Port Orleans Riverside and eat at the food courts or sit down restaurants there. The boat ride is free and about 15 minutes each way.

There is so much to do but so little time to do it.

 

[yecats]

Stacey, I forgot that your friends are going when the parks are there busiest meaning right during the holiday season. You may want to advise them that crowds will be at their peak and they may want to plan out some of their days and make Priority seating reservations as restaurants in the parks and DTD will be full. If you want to see some menu items, go to wdwig.com and print out a few options to give them some pricing guidelines. Honestly, when I go, I use a 10, 10, 30 scale for meals. Breakfast is usually $10 per person, lunch $10 per person and dinner $30 per person. I usually purchased one box of popcorn per day, a coke, a bottle of water and sometimes and icecream and those 4 items alone were an extra $10. Just some of the pricing they will run across.

 

[xlstacey]

Thank you all I will have to print out a bunch of info for them ... they just have no idea about anything.

 

[SnackyStacky]

Originally posted by yecats
There are posted signs on each bus station stating where that bus will be taking people to (ie. will say if taking to Magic Kingdom, Epoct or if stopping at one of the Disney hotels which they may want to eat at as well).

Just a word of warning that there are NO busses to ANY of the theme parks from within Downtown Disney. They cut them because people were parking for free at Downtown Disney, and taking the shuttles to the parks. If you walk to Downtown Disney, you'll have to go to a Disney resort, and get a connecting bus to one of the theme parks.

The only direct route to the parks from the Downtown Disney hotels is on the shuttles that pick you up right at the hotel.