Just back - Hotel Royal Plaza

[janetm]

We got home last night about midnight.

First of all - Hotel Royal Plaza - absolutely beautiful. The only complaint I had was the view of our room which was a Lania room. Don't get rooms 214-217 unless you don't care about a view. Our balcony was on the roof with a high wall around it! We didn't care though as we weren't really there for the view and it was cheap. We ate at the restaurant and kids ate free. One night we ate for 20.00 and that included the tip. I had chef salad and water and my husband had a philly sandwich with fries and a coke. The kids drinks and everything were free. Same for breakfast. Buffet is 10.95 and they had an awesome selection.

My kids really didn't get into Epcot and MGM too much. They actually liked Magic Kingom and Animal Kingdom the best. The MNSSHP was great - don't know what else to say. We got there early about 6:00 and walked on every ride in Fantasy Land and the Haunted Mansion. The next afternoon we waited 1 hour to get on the pooh ride again.

98% of the time we walked onto rides with very little (5min)wait or no wait at all. The afternoons started getting crowded.

Meals - LeCellier which was great, ate counter service several times and shared meals. Spent less than 20.00 on 2 adults and 2 children each time.

If you have any questions - just ask. So much info that I am on overload.

 

[karin037]

We're going to be staying at the Royal Plaza next week. I'm so excited, this is our very first vacation!! Did you have a refrigerator in your room? I requested one, and I'm just wondering if they are really small or not? Did you use the pool, was the water warm? What time do the buses start to run and how often? Are the rooms as nice as they look on their web-site? How far is it to Downtown Disney? I would love to hear anything else you have to say about the Royal Plaza. Thanks.

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

I am also wondering about transportation to the parks. Did you use the buses at all?

 

[Misti]

Thanks! It is always nice to get a review of a DD hotel.

 

[janetm]

Sorry I forgot to talk about the busses. We rented a car but did not use it at all for the parks. The transporation was wonderful. They started 1 hour before the park opened and continued every 1/2 hour. The Animal Kingdom bus only picked up every hour at the park until an hour before closing and then it was every 1/2 hour. We used it every day and did not see a problem. It would take generally 1/2 hour to get to and from the parks. Things are really spread out. We did not see it as a waste, but as a convenience of not having to drive. They picked us up at the parking lot at the parks at spot 26 everywhere we went.

We had a refridgerator and it was a dorm size. It served our purpose for pop and milk. 20oz bottles of pop are 1.75 in the vending machines. We used the safe - but didn't touch the 2.00 candy bars in the mini bar! The rooms are beautiful and every morning we got samples from Bath and Body works.

The water in the pool was very warm. We swam one night even though the air was very chilly. We couldn't tell until we got out of the water. The shallow end is 4 ft deep and my 8 and 6 year old couldn't touch the bottom.

Back to the busses - We didn't try and leave the park right at closing so I can't help you there.

Easily walk to DTD - follow sidewalk probably 15 minutes. Seems forever though when your legs hurt!!

 

[karin037]

Thank you so much janetm. The Hotel Royal Plaza sounds great. I can't wait to get there.

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Thank you for the bus information. I have always been a little concerned about that.

 

[swankybeth]

Thanks for the report! I'm glad you had a good time.

Beth