Non-Disney hotel but right next to Downtown Disney...

[Maybelle]

I have a couple of questions about the hotels right outside Downtown Disney, as I would really like to plan a trip, but don't think I can afford a Disney resort this time around. However, my dh does not want to have to rent a car. One of the things he loves about going to Disney is not having to worry about driving anywhere, parking, etc...

So, are the hotels right outside Downtown Disney easy walking distance to DD in order to get a bus, or eat? Are the shuttles adequate and frequent, or do you really need to have a car when staying at one of these hotels?

Thanks a lot!!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Oh you have opened a can of worms.... The fact is that it is frowned upon for people at staying off property to take transportation ment for those of us staying on property. Plus the buses at DTD only go to and from Disney resorts they do not go to any parks.

Have you looked into staying at the Disney value resorts? When are you going and how many people will be going? Depending on when you are going you can get a value resort for as little at $70.

 

[FrankieDplus3]

I agree Shelly.

I was able to book a value resort using the Room Only Discount promotion. My price comparisons showed that paying for an off-site was either equal to or more expensive, especially when I factored-in my own transportation back and forth from the park and/or parking.

 

[maggiew]

We stayed at a DTD hotel once, but it was awhile ago. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott and used my Marriott points, so it was free. However, that property is no longer a Marriott.

Anyway, the buses came every half hour. More frequently than other offsite hotels who have certain scheduled times for the shuttle (like 2 times in the morning and 2 times in the evening.) It did stop at all the DTD hotels, I think, however. And the buses dropped you off in the offsite hotel parking lot type spaces so it was a little farther to walk. (Although at EPCOT I seem to remember it was the same distance as the Pop Century buses.)

This was all several years ago, so I am not sure if it has changed.

If that property had remained a Marriott, I would probably have stayed there every time since that trip. It was adequate service for us. We are brand loyal to Marriott. The one thing I dislike about our Disney trips is that we are staying in hotels and not receiving loyalty rewards!! I'm tempted every trip to stay at the Little Lake Bryan Marriotts, but then the convenience of staying onsite without a car always wins out.

Maggie

 

[Traveliz]

Honestly its rare if you can get one of the DTD hotel boulevard hotels for a cheaper price than one of Disney's Value Resorts. The one closest to DTD is the Hilton and it is very nice. You can manage a combination of using their shuttle and the DTD buses to the various resorts for your bussing needs but the price probably won't be less than a value and the convenience factor won't be so great when traveling from place to place.

Liz

 

[Mousefan72]

I recently stayed at one of the offsite Downtown Disney hotels. They had shuttles to all the parks and although the wait was a bit longer than I've experienced at the onsite resorts, we were still able to get to the resorts without renting a car. Besides taking a bus from Downtown Disney to a Disney resort, if you'd like to eat dinner at another resort, you could grab a taxi from your hotel or just hop on a Disney bus from a park to the resort you need. But definitely check out the resort only discount codes.

 

[maggiew]

Honestly its rare if you can get one of the DTD hotel boulevard hotels for a cheaper price than one of Disney's Value Resorts. The one closest to DTD is the Hilton and it is very nice. You can manage a combination of using their shuttle and the DTD buses to the various resorts for your bussing needs but the price probably won't be less than a value and the convenience factor won't be so great when traveling from place to place.

Liz

I think the dynamics change, however, if you have 5 or more people in a room. Some (all?) of the DTD hotels can house 5 or more people, which the value resorts cannot. (Except the ASMu suites, but those are pretty expensive.)

We don't know how many people the OP has.

Maggie

 

[Maybelle]

OP here. Thanks for the replies. We are only 3, so we do not need a suite or anything. Have never stayed at a value, although I have looked into it...I am just looking into making things the most economical for us as possible, and never having stayed offsite, it is helpful to get different viewpoints, so I appreciate the input. I have a Hilton rewards card through AMEX, so that would alleviate some of the hotel cost should we stay there, hence the question.

I know that the busses are available for onsite guests. I would consider using them if I were going to one of the resorts for dinner. To me the fact that I will be a guest at that resort's restaurant is a fair use of the bus, although I know there will be dissention on that.

I am more concerned with crossing busy streets at night, and how long the walk is into DTD from the offsite, but close-by hotels as I am thinking if we went this route, we would eat quite often in DTD.
Also wondering about the accessibility of shuttles into the parks from the DTD hotels. We like to be at the gate before rope drop (we don't do EMH, so that is not a concern), and would want to make sure we could get there early.

Thanks again for the replies. Any other info is greatly appreciated.

 

[Traveliz]

OP here. Thanks for the replies. We are only 3, so we do not need a suite or anything. Have never stayed at a value, although I have looked into it...I am just looking into making things the most economical for us as possible, and never having stayed offsite, it is helpful to get different viewpoints, so I appreciate the input. I have a Hilton rewards card through AMEX, so that would alleviate some of the hotel cost should we stay there, hence the question.

I know that the busses are available for onsite guests. I would consider using them if I were going to one of the resorts for dinner. To me the fact that I will be a guest at that resort's restaurant is a fair use of the bus, although I know there will be dissention on that.

I am more concerned with crossing busy streets at night, and how long the walk is into DTD from the offsite, but close-by hotels as I am thinking if we went this route, we would eat quite often in DTD.

Thanks again for the replies. Any other info is greatly appreciated.

Anyone can use the buses, you are a guest if you are going to a park, restaurant, whatever, don't worry about that.

From the Hilton there is a side exit that is closest to the walkway to DTD that the bellman will show you.

The street is VERY busy but there are wide sidewalks, wide crosswalks, long crossing lights and a ZILLION people crossing the streets at all times.

If you have Hilton points to use, great, if you are earning HIlton points, better. Still probably more expensive than a value.

Liz

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

While I think it's fine to walk from the DTD hotels to catch the bus to Disney I would not recommend it simply becaues it's going to SIGNIFICANTLY delay your arrival at the park. Buses don't start running FROM there to the hotels until an hour after opening, then you have to get another bus to the park.....

The DTD hotels have pretty decent bus systems, it's included in the hotel charge so no . Take them. I know people will say they aren't as good as "Disney" but they run every 30 minutes or so all day to all of the parks. Very easy and good transport!

If you use the crosswalk lights as intended there is no real danger. If like a lot of idiots I see you try to beat the light or "jaywalk" then you will be in danger!

 

[tigger51276]

I know once upon a time I looked into the DTD non disney hotels and actually found the prices more expensive than the All Stars so that is what I went with instead.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I know once upon a time I looked into the DTD non disney hotels and actually found the prices more expensive than the All Stars so that is what I went with instead.

I have done the same and stying on property was always the best choice for us. And because we love EMH, there is no other option for us.

Suzanne

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Honestly its rare if you can get one of the DTD hotel boulevard hotels for a cheaper price than one of Disney's Value Resorts. The one closest to DTD is the Hilton and it is very nice. You can manage a combination of using their shuttle and the DTD buses to the various resorts for your bussing needs but the price probably won't be less than a value and the convenience factor won't be so great when traveling from place to place.

Liz

Well, you will also get

1. Interior corridords
2. A coffee pot
3. Often a fridge
4. Rewards points for free stays
5. No outside walk in the rain to your building
6 WIRELESS internet (what a concept)
7. A QUEEN size bed
8. A resturnat
9. Room Service

and so on...

Some of us don't really think the "values" are the "be all and end all"
(AKA as "if it's Disney it must be better") And I generally do pay about the same for a DTD as a "Value" and get more value for my $$ IMHO (Sorry putting bright paint and a staute of Buzz don't make a hotel worth a lot of money. Fun to visit, but...)


By the way the Hilto gives you EMH and transport to EMH.

 

[Maybelle]

Well, you will also get

1. Interior corridords
2. A coffee pot
3. Often a fridge
4. Rewards points for free stays
5. No outside walk in the rain to your building
6 WIRELESS internet (what a concept)
7. A QUEEN size bed
8. A resturnat
9. Room Service

and so on...

Some of us don't really think the "values" are the "be all and end all"
(AKA as "if it's Disney it must be better") And I generally do pay about the same for a DTD as a "Value" and get more value for my $$ IMHO (Sorry putting bright paint and a staute of Buzz don't make a hotel worth a lot of money. Fun to visit, but...)


By the way the Hilto gives you EMH and transport to EMH.

We don't generally participate in EMH, but this is good to know, just in case.

Thank you everyone for all the info. I will definitely consider this as an option.

 

[Dax]

I was just in the Hilton a few weeks ago. Its a really nice, large hotel. One of the features I thought was really cool while checking it out, was the 24hr place inside that had everything from Starbucks coffee, to hot dogs, to cold sandwhichs. It was a nice little place, though the prices were a bit steep.

 

[PatsMom]

I spent a night at the Grosvenor a few years ago (it has a different name now but I can't remember what it is). We were travelling from Naples back to Orlando to catch a plane home and wanted something different than the value hotel we booked for the Disney portion of my mother/sister trip. It was very nice, had a nice pool and the room was OK. I have read that they completely refurbished when the name changed.

I read the bus schedule and it certainly seemed OK to get to the parks if I had been inclined to do so. I thought about the Hoop-de-doo for that night and my plan was to take the bus from DTD to Fort Wilderness but my mom and sister weren't that interested - they wanted to shop!

The walk to DTD was short and the crossing areas well lit and safe. There was quite a bit of pedestrian traffic. We had a great time eating at DTD and shopping. No delivery to the hotel so we had to carry our packages but that wasn't a big deal.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Well, you will also get

1. Interior corridords
2. A coffee pot
3. Often a fridge
4. Rewards points for free stays
5. No outside walk in the rain to your building
6 WIRELESS internet (what a concept)
7. A QUEEN size bed
8. A resturnat
9. Room Service

and so on...

Some of us don't really think the "values" are the "be all and end all"
(AKA as "if it's Disney it must be better") And I generally do pay about the same for a DTD as a "Value" and get more value for my $$ IMHO (Sorry putting bright paint and a staute of Buzz don't make a hotel worth a lot of money. Fun to visit, but...)


By the way the Hilto gives you EMH and transport to EMH.

You may not, but some of us do. And it really is so much easier to stay on site. We stayed one night offsite (Sheraton Safari on points) in Dec and let me tell you it was a huge hassle when you are used to staying onsite. We got 2 queen beds, but since we are just 2 adults, at Pop we always have a King Bed (I think that might be luck), I odn't need a fridge, coffee pot, internet, or room service. And we love the food court at Pop.

But, now that we qualify to stay at Shades of Green, we may not stay at the Values as often, depends on the season we go in.

Suzanne

 

[Tiger926]

The other thing is that all of the Downtown Disney hotels charge daily resort fees that range from less than $10.00/night to almost $20.00/night. From my understanding, none of them will waive this fee either.

OP really needs to do her homework in terms of price.

Tiger

 

[disneyfreakk]

We have stayed at Buena Vista Palace a couple of years ago, and are staying there this year too. It used to be the Wyndham hotel, but it is right across the street from DTD, over by where the Disney hotel buses stop. It was refurbished a few years ago (like maybe 3?). Its a nice hotel, but I doubt you will be able to get it for less money than the value resorts.

Is the Hilton closer than this property?

 

[deakam]

DTD Hilton offers EMH and right now they are offering a kids eat free option at mousesavers.com. I stayed at the DTD Lake Buena Vista Hotel over christmas. They have a shuttle to DTD that runs every 1/2 hour but does not start until 6pm. The buses to the parks start an hour prior to opening and run every 30 minutes. Nice cushy buses. You can also get a Mears shuttle to any DTD hotel for about $33.00 per person round trip.