Nice hotel with good park transportation?

[HunnyPots]

We may be trying offsite next June, as DH did not enjoy our stay at Pop, due to room size and bus issues, and the mods are just too pricey for what you get now that June discounts seem to be a thing of the past. I've seen some great deals for what appear to be really nice offsite hotels but we would rather not rent a car while there if possible. Are there any nice offsite properties that offer reliable bus service to the parks?

 

[Lisa BC]

I think there is an uptapped market for reliable bus transportation to WDW from resort hotels...lol.

If DH had experienced problems with WDW buses, then you don't want to depend on the offsite buses. Check out the transportation board, you may find some more info there. The trips are generally a few in the morning, a few at night... and maybe one during the midday. And, if the shuttle is "free"/included in your room rate, you probably will be stopping at more than one property.

You might consider staying offsite in a condo, it is a very economical way to stay. Lots of space, a full kitchen and very comparably priced to moderate hotels offsite. A recent poster reported staying at a new resort, Seven Dwarfs Lane for $499 per week for a 4bed/3bath townhome. check out www.vrbo.com, general nightly rates are $69 - $89 per night. (Once you get used to the space in a condo or villa, you never want to stay in a regular hotel room again for more than 2 nights...lol) Of if you would like to go higher end, then look at Windsor Hills, the resort is beautiful and the pool is much nicer than the WDW moderate resorts. I'd suspect that summer rates at WH are in the $120-$160 per night range though.

Yes, you'll have to rent a car, but you can find good deals on rentals too. You can get an econo car for about $165 a week with taxes (plus $10 to park at Disney per day) but still an over all good value for all the space. You could also take cabs, about $20-$25 one way to the parks if you just don't want to drive.

Good luck!

Lisa

 

[HeatherC]

Also...check out Bonnet Creek Resort. Next door to the Caribbean Beach Resort....

It is a Wyndham Timeshare Resort. It is brand new, beautiful and much nicer in my opinion than the Disney moderates. The location can't be beat. We rented there in February through an owner.

We've stayed in tons of places in Orlando and this place was one of the nicest!!!

You can find lots of weeks available on EBAY or www.vacationtimesharerentals.com.

You would practically be onsite....but not "technically" because it is not owned by Disney.

check out the reviews on www.tripadvisor.com.

Hope this helps.
HeatherC

 

[misteroleary]

Hi,
Does Bonnet Creek have bus transportation to the parks and other areas of disney (ie: boardwalk)? We are staying at Ft. Wilderness Cabins for part of our vacation next week...but wanted to end the vacation with something a little bit less rustic..No disney resorts at Boardwalk/beachclub are available. Wyndam Bonnet Creek does have availability...just wondering whether to do that or the Cabins. Also, do they have disney early hours? Thanks. Lia.

 

[fla4fun]

Have you also considered the Hotel Plaza Blvd. hotels? You can get a lot more room for your money. However, the trade off will be in transportation. You do get complimentary transportaton all over Disney property, but it's not as frequent as the on property buses. You can walk to DTD and catch Disney buses to the resorts, but then you're right back where you started - using Disney buses that your DH didn't like.

As I see it, you have three choices.

You can rent a condo or home, or offsite hotel room, and rent a car. Renting a car gives you the flexibility to come and go as you please, to be at the parks as early or late as you want to, and plenty of room to carry anything with you that you might need during the day. It also makes it easy to take a mid day break if you need to.

You can stay at an off property hotel and you will probably end up with worse transportation than you experienced at Disney (and they may charge you a fee for it as well). Most of them have one or two shuttles early in the morning and one or two shuttles in the early evening. Some of them drop everyone off in one place (such as Epcot) regardless of which park you want to go to, so you have to use Disney transport anyway. You also won't get to stay until the parks close, or you'll miss your shuttle. You can't go back to your hotel for a mid day break either.

You can save up a little longer and either rent DVC points from an owner or stay at one of the deluxe resorts. Deluxe resorts typically have more transportation options, and some of them even allow you to walk to some of the parks. The villas at BW and BC also have the walking option. You won't be completely bus free, but you won't feel like you're at the mercy of crowded buses all the time.

 

[HeatherC]

Lia - They don't do early entry or extra magic hours at Bonnet Creek.

There is a shuttle...but when we were there in Feb. people said you had to pick a time to be picked up to go to the parks and a time to be picked up from the parks. We had a car. But...also heard several people saying the shuttle worked very well and was there waiting when they asked it to be.

Hope this helps.
HeatherC

 

[HunnyPots]

Good ideas- thanks!
The issue DH had with Pop buses was that they seemed so few and far between and since it was July, we had to wait out in the very hot sun because there is no covered bus stop at Pop. I don't get that one. I mean, I know it's a value resort but for pete's sake how much more would it cost to build a cover on the bus stop! Anyway, we had no trouble at all with buses at CBR either time. It could also have been because we were at Pop in July and CBR in June. The crowds were much heavier in July so that could account for the bus issues.

But either way, we agree that our family has outgrown the value rooms and we want something bigger and a llittle nicer.

The DTD hotels look pretty good. Maybe I should find the hotel I like and then just try to find a good deal on car rental so the buses won't be an issue at all. I'd hate to have a great hotel room but have our trip ruined by unreliable transporatation.

Thanks again!