Marriott Courtyard in Downtown Disney???

[kacey99]

I'm trying to decide whether I shold stay at the Marriott Courtyard in downtown Disney or the Coronado Spring. I can save over $200. How is the Marriott Courtyard? I want our first family Disney trip to be nice. My husband and I both have been there but not together and long ago. Now we are married with 2.5 years old boy.

 

[sheilap]

You can do a search on these boards to see other comments people have made about this (and other) hotels. On the top of the screen there is a "search" tab.

Based on the comments I reviewed, I cancelled Coronado and booked Courtyard for our Jan. trip. I got a $59/night rate and I just couldn't justify the difference. Especially since we spend an extremely large portion of our "non-park" time at Downtown Disney. If you are looking for 100% of the "Disney touch" you will probably be disappointed if you stay anywhere except a Disney resort. But if you are looking for a good location, good quality (not 4 star resort), and good price...you should be pretty happy with any of the DTD hotels. Do your homework, search these and other boards/sites, and know what to expect.

Just my humble opionion

 

[Lou-Ann]

We first stayed there last September. I love Disney properties but sometimes cannot justify the price. I can honestly state that the bed we had there was much more comfortable than the one we had at a Disney Deluxe. We will be going back later in Dec and split our stay between this resort and a Deluxe on property. What we save on one affords a few nights at the other. We enjoyed our stay there. The folks we dealt with went out of their way to be sure we were happy.

 

[allshookup]

Well I have to give my opinion! My DH and I got a terrific rate of 20.02 per night at Courtyard by Marriott this past summer. We thought for 20.02 at a Marriott you can't go wrong. Well we after staying there, we were disappointed. The rooms were clean but not pretty and don't expect to sit on the balcony and enjoy a view, because most are enclosed and don't even have chairs on them. Most of the staff were friendly, and the afternoon free beer and wine were great. However....after leaving the parks late at night and waiting in the middle of the parking lot for sometimes almost an hour and watching one Disney bus after another come in and pick up guests and leave, we both looked at each other and said "never again will we stay at a non-Disney hotel"!

We try to get to DW at least every other year and sometimes once a year; However it is still a big trip for us. We feel that since we are going to spend the money to do DW, we might as well spend the extra money and really get all the enjoyment we can out of a Disney vacation, which for us means staying in DW 24/7. We don't like the hassle of driving anywhere so the transportation is a huge plus for us and since we are night owls we really enjoy having a resort you take a quiet walk around (CSR is beautiful for a late night or early morning stroll) and we love to go for a late night swim. The Marriott closes the pool at 11:00 pm (security guards it like Fort Knox) but we've never had a problem swimming late at night at a Disney Resort.

Just MHO, but we will never stay non-Disney again!

 

[sheilap]

That's a good review, Allshookup. We are staying at Courtyard for a couple of reasons. We are really trying to do this trip on a budget (but we don't want to stay too far offsite), we have a car so we don't have to wait for buses and we like to drive where/when we want, we don't spend too much time in our room so we don't mind not having a balcony (most of the Disney moderates don't either), and we don't plan swimming too much (might be too cold in Jan, esp. at night).

Like I said in my previous post, if you want nothing but Disney magic, the DTD hotels probably aren't for you. At least now you know for next time where to stay...or rather where not to stay...so you have a really enjoyable trip.

We try to go everyother year as well, and this will be our first "off"-site stay. Maybe we'll found out, as you did, that it just isn't the same as being onsite, but I'm just happy we're going to DW

 

[miko]

We just got back from 5 night stay. 2 rooms with tax cost around $360 ($29 rate from Dreams). Rooms were clean, minor problem with outside bathroom sink in one quickly corrected. Rooms had balconies but not much of a view. The only few hotels I need a "view" at are AKL (savannah), Ploy, GF, and CR if you want fireworks. A room with a view of a pool doesn't do much for me. We always have a car so bus service from Courtyard was not too important, but in 2 previuos stays there this year on business trips I did use the bus system and it was not too bad. I have had more issues with Wilderness Lodge busses than Courtyard!
Staff was great, maybe because I am a platinum Marriott member but it seemed like everyone was getting good service.
We stay on site more than off (almost never off recently while on vacation) but as long as the room is clean and safe it's ok with me.
Convenience of walking to Downtown with parking issues is also a great bonus.
I would (have) recommend people to stay at the Courtyard, just don't expect most of the Disney atmosphere (or the higher price). For some this is a bonus too after a long day at Parks.

 

[allshookup]

Originally posted by sheilap

Like I said in my previous post, if you want nothing but Disney magic, the DTD hotels probably aren't for you. At least now you know for next time where to stay...or rather where not to stay...so you have a really enjoyable trip.

Sheilap I guess that's what I was trying to say exactly! For us it was a learning experience and things that are a big deal to us are not necessarily a big deal to others. We now know that staying at a Dis resort is important to us but this is not the case with everyone. Maybe you really have to experience it either way to really make the right decision for you?

Kacey I hope your trip is enjoyable no matter what you decide!

 

[dgaston]

My DH and I also took advantage of the $20.02 rate in August, but our experience was far more positive. We found the bus transportation better than Disney transpo and loved the manager's reception in the afternoon. We ended up at the hotel more than we thought we would due to afternoon showers/downpours. We especially thought the staff was going out of their way to create good experiences for guests.

 

[TarraLee]

DH just made me cancel the WL trip I've been planning for months because the Ctyd is offering $39/night when we're there next week.

I'm bummed about not staying on-site, just bc I've never done it, but we've stayed at the Ctyd before, and it is nice, clean, and a bonus for us, close to DtD. I wasn't thrilled with the bus service, but I've heard worse about Disney's bus service than what we had with the Ctyd. And, we can get a rental car and stay at the CTyd still for $300 less than WL. So, I'm glad just to be going to WDW!

It's totally up to your family's preferences, but with a 2.5 yr old, I'm guessing afternoon naps will be part of the trip. If you can get the ctyd and a rental car for less than a Disney hotel, go for it! Or, if the Disney hotel is one of the "further out" (like All Stars), maybe go for the ctyd if its close in price.

Hope you have a magical trip!

 

[maciec]

How far of a walk is the Courtyard from Downtown Disney? I did read somewhere (I foget where though) that if you stay at the Courtyard guests have priveledges to use Disney transportation. Is that true? We are planning for December 2003.

 

[TarraLee]

Ctyd to DtD took us about 15 minutes or so to the part of DtD where Ghardellis is, by World Of Disney and Lego Store, sort of. Its not going to be an easy stoll, especailly if you're carrying a 3 year old. We were with a group all in our 20s, and walked to PI and back, and it was a long walk back for us

Ctyd guests can use Disney transport. To get to the parks, you take a motorcoach bus (think charter, cushy seats- well, compared to disney's plastic- public transportation-type-seats). It goes to all the DtD hotels, then to the parks, and lets you off and picks you up in Parking Space 26. They are on a schedule, and we found them to be good about staying on schedule for pick ups from the hotels, but a little more iffy from the parks back to hotels. They did put people's strollers under the bus in the luggage part a year ago.

We are staying there next week, so I'll post when we get back about the trip. If there are any questions you want to know, maybe post and I'll look for answers for you when we are there.

 

[djkeenan]

We're still in shock, that we could be at Disney and in such a lovely room for $29 a night (via wdwinfo.com dreams unlimited). This isn't OKW, but the savings on 2 rooms for 4 nights is considerable. I believe it's the best deal in Orlando.
We asked for a room with a view of the fireworks and got it, overlooking the pools and hot tub and just a few blocks from DtD. What a beautiful sight!
The room is large and comfortable, the bed excellent. My daughters (21 & 24) are in the room next door which is equally as nice. The staff have been very helpful and polite.
We'd be happy to stay here again, anytime the price is more than $10 less than a "Disney" hotel.

 

[gravymom]

I'm in the boat with allshookup. Except that my boat has a little more water in it. We had the $25 rate in September and this was our first time off-site. We got there very late and the only room (so we were told) was on the first floor right next to the highway. I would not have stayed the night there if they had paid me $25. It was afwul. They finally dug up another room, but it was pretty dismal as well.

We got on the phone and got into CSR (for a lot more money, but it just didn't matter at that point). I cannot tell you exactly what was different at CSR, but it felt cleaner, nice, safer. I was honestly scared to be in that first room at the Courtyard.

I would stay at the ASSp again before I would do the Courtyard, but that is just my opinion. As my husband told me time and again on that trip, you get what you pay for.