OMG panic email today Downtown Disney Hotel Closing at Christmas

[danandjackie]

Despite making advance plans and getting a great rate through Hotwire today I received a email to say that the Holiday Inn Downtown Disney will be closed at Christmas during our vacation...

Major problem as we have booked every PS meal in the evening at great restaurants based on the use of Disney transport so we can enjoy fine wine and food and not have to bother with the car..

Hotwire could only offer to move us to a resort in Lake Buena Vista.. After ringing Holiday Inn to double check they were in deed actually closed (They are, after having complaints about the standard of accomodation and have decided to refit !I can understand this but why start a refit at christmas)..I have now managed to cancel the Holiday inn reservations and have booked into the Hilton Downtown Disney...

So does anybody know anything about the HIlton does the Magic Hour deal still apply from this Hotel?..ps actually hasnt cost much more as I managed to get 150$ compensation back out of Hotwire always shows its worth asking for something..Though I suspect they`ll claim it back off Holiday Inn...

 

[Miffy2003]

Hiya,

I'm not sure I understand what you mean about the Magic Hour deal?

The Hilton is the only DTD hotel that offers the "Extra Magic Hour" perk anyway, so you would not have got it at the Hoilday Inn, so I'm not sure that's what you mean? But the Hilton definitely does give you this perk.

If you are keen to take advantage of the Disney transportation, have you considered staying at an actual Disney resort hotel?

You've done well out of this though I would say as I gather the Hilton is superior to the Holiday Inn Funny thing is, we were going to stay here this December (we nearly booked it when it was the Courtyard by Marriott) so I could have been in the same predicament as you!

Cheers

Karen

 

[danandjackie]

I was just checking on the magic hour thingy because i used simons book to quickly look at other hotels in downtown disney and noticed it in his description of the hilton..just wondered if it still applied..

 

[UKANGEL]

hi! is this where the Dollar renta car is sited too? If so we're in trouble coz we're renting a car from there!

Do you know what date they're closing please?

 

[danandjackie]

I believe they close end of november but it should have no effect on your car rental whatsoever.....

 

[UKANGEL]

thanks but having checked with them the lobby closes tomorrow for 8 weeks thus affecting our rental!

we now have to arrange to pick up from another location......

thanks for the heads up!

 

[danandjackie]

no prob...wont the rental firm drop of at the hotel or villa your staying at..might be worth a try tell them its not your fault....

 

[Pootle]

Just seen your post. My friend and her DH stayed at the Hilton in September and enjoyed it. She said the room was a good size and very very nice. The Unofficial Guide to WDW gives it a good report but gives the Wyndham Palace (across the road) a higher score for children's activities. I think they have conventions here sometimes which would give it a slighter more 'adult' feel - not likely to be happening over Christmas though .

I think Karen is right; this is a superior hotel to the Holiday Inn. It is an easier walk to Disney's Market Place, PI etc from here too of course and it is the only non-Disney hotel with the extra Magic Hour. If you have any specific questions, send me a PM and I will ask my friend.

 

[CarolynU]

Have stayed at The Hilton quite a bit, and loved it. Always used our car, but the bus service seemed good too. The pool was a litle bit colder than at other hotels that I've stayed in, but it may be too cold for swimming anyway at Xmas.
Carolyn

 

[danandjackie]

Its just us two thirtsomething chlidren making the trip so no children to worry about and I think our itinery doesnt give us a spare moment to be spending in the pool...In fact I`ll have to rework the plans a little now to make use of the early entry system....Thanks a lot though..

 

[Vista1100]

Originally posted by danandjackie
Despite making advance plans and getting a great rate through Hotwire today I received a email to say that the Holiday Inn Downtown Disney will be closed at Christmas during our vacation...

...based on the use of Disney transport so we can enjoy fine wine and food and not have to bother with the car..

Did you know when you booked with Hotwire that you were going to be in Downtown Disney hotel, or was just lucky?

 

[danandjackie]

it was just lucky though we did go for a higher grade on their system.. However once the problems with the Holiday Inn came up Hotwire did admit they would be unable to get another Downtown Hotel as their deals worked exclusively with the Holiday inn...When you initially book through their site it actually only specifies a Disney Area Hotel which doesnt guarantee a downtown disney premises...Once we had been given a Downtown location however we made all our PS arrangements based on this so it became imperative we had this location..On explaining this to them they seemed to understand and admitted they could not replace their original offer and offered half the difference of the upgrade cost to the Hilton.