One night stay - where?

[Hopeful8]

We are getting in to Orlando on a Friday evening- the day before our Windsor Hills rental begins (got a great deal on a flight close to home, hence the day early arrival!) and we decided to spend one night at a WDW resort hotel. Things we are considering: my son has food allergies and so I would like a place where we can get a decent breakfast on site; cost - we are Canadian so have to convert the prices to our pitiful dollar hoping to get a place under $250 US/night; taking those things into consideration, what would you recommend?
Thank you!

Eta: our kids are 9 y.o.

 

[Skullcrusher]

Depending o the time of year I would go mid level to POR or PRFQ. If $ are no option I would do the Poly or WL.

 

[Mousemommy1]

I think AKL would be fun for 1-2 nights.

 

[saskdw]

I think AKL would be fun for 1-2 nights.

Not for under $250 a night.

Depends what you plan on doing that evening. I would consider POR/POFQ for the boat ride to Disney Springs if you plan to go there for the evening. If not, any of the mods will be the same or I would possibly consider AoA.

 

[Sue M]

POR has a nice food court, I love the make your own omelet station. Let a CM at the food court know about allergy, they are very good about discussing options. Will prob call out one of the chefs to help you..

If you want a non Disney resort but sorta in Disney, the hotels in the DTD (now Disney Springs) may be a good option. We had a nice deal using a Mousesavers.com code for The Doubletree Suites. Room discount and free breakfast. You can walk to DTD, lots of food options there! We had a 1 bdrm suite at Doubletree.

I've noticed Mousesavers also has discounts for The B Resort. Looks nice.

I hear you about our sinking CAD :-( our August trip is going to hurt. Be sure you track when Disney releases discounts. Many times POFQ is excluded from discounts, but POR Riverside gets them. When you see discounts released, book right away, rooms go fast.

 

[OnceUponATime15]

At $250US a night you would be able to book any value or moderate and stay well on budget. Depending on when you are traveling, a deluxe could be do-able on the "magical deal" that is often referred to on these boards..

 

[Mousemommy1]

Not for under $250 a night.

Depends what you plan on doing that evening. I would consider POR/POFQ for the boat ride to Disney Springs if you plan to go there for the evening. If not, any of the mods will be the same or I would possibly consider AoA.

A standard view room at the right time of year at 30% off would be around $220 + tax. It's doable.

 

[Hopeful8]

We did get an email for 30% off from Disney, I will look into it. SueM, Doubletree Suites look really nice and DH is a Hilton honours member.

What do you do with your luggage in a situation like this, just leave it in the trunk after checking out of the hotel & before checking into our villa?

Eta: time of year is April...

 

[Starwind]

We are getting in to Orlando on a Friday evening- the day before our Windsor Hills rental begins (got a great deal on a flight close to home, hence the day early arrival!) and we decided to spend one night at a WDW resort hotel. Things we are considering: my son has food allergies and so I would like a place where we can get a decent breakfast on site; cost - we are Canadian so have to convert the prices to our pitiful dollar hoping to get a place under $250 US/night; taking those things into consideration, what would you recommend?
Thank you!

Eta: our kids are 9 y.o.

If you are traveling when there is a good "room only" offer for the deluxe resorts, you may be able to stay at Wilderness Lodge within or very close to your budget. Our stay at WL in December 2015 had a room only offer and the nightly cost was US$270 (plus taxes) for a courtyard view room (there are standard and woods view rooms that would have been even cheaper). I have found the Roaring Forks quick service restaurant to be good with food allergies (I have several) and whispering canyon is also supposed to be nice for breakfast and good with food allergies (but is a TS so more $).

We also stayed at Art of Animation in a Little Mermaids room, however I had a bad experience with breakfast at their food court and would be hesitant to recommend them (however: others have had great experiences, and our dinner there was just fine, so clearly YMMV). Personally, I much preferred WL -- inside hallways, all one building, no walking through pouring rain to the building we are staying in, with our luggage... also, easy access to go exploring the other MK resorts -- a nice boat ride to Contemporary, explore, then take the monorail to and explore Polynesian and Grand Floridian. This is especially fun when they are decorated for the Holidays, but we have enjoyed it at other times of the year, too. And you can get dole Whip at Poly -- no need to go into MK !

As a Canadian, my sympathies on the dollar. I cried a little when I saw the 1.44 exchange rate on some of our charges for our Dec 2015 trip. :-( When we first booked nearly a year before the exchange rate was only 1.19 (bad enough, but stomachable)... Not amused it is now >1.4 :-(

SW

 

[Sue M]

We did get an email for 30% off from Disney, I will look into it. SueM, Doubletree Suites look really nice and DH is a Hilton honours member.

What do you do with your luggage in a situation like this, just leave it in the trunk after checking out of the hotel & before checking into our villa?

Eta: time of year is April...

I don't know much about Windsor Hills, if they have an early check in or Bell Service? But you could ask Doubletree if their Bell Service could hold on to the luggage untill you're ready to go to Windsor Hills. Otherwise, if all else fails, leave it in the trunk.

 

[Babsy]

I looked at the Swan and saw rates as low as $212 per night for some nights in April. You need to add about $25 resort fee and $17 parking fee to that, though. I didn't check the Dolphin, but that is also a possibility for a deluxe hotel walking distance to Epcot and DHS, and possibly in your price range.

There are a lot of different discounts available at the Swan/Dolphin - teacher, nurse and military are usually the best. CAA will also get good discounts. Check to see what the different ones are that you might qualify for when you call or look online. SPG membership can score you a room category upgrade, if available. You do need to ask. My DIL has asked and received an upgrade on every visit at the Dolphin.

The Swan has two queen beds and the Dolphin has two doubles.

Fresh at the Dolphin serves good smoothies and lots of fresh breakfast items. we have found the breakfast to be quite good there. Wherever you eat in WDW, they will take good care of your son's allergies. My Mom has several allergies and we have always been looked after very well. Be sure to let them know when you check in, they will likely have the chef come to let you know what is safe or not for your son to eat. Advance notice will sometimes allow them to prepare something special for him. (My DGD also has shellfish and egg allergies and has had excellent assistance getting lots of good food that is safe for her in WDW. Last visit in Nov the Chef made her a special dessert that looked absolutely awesome! It was so sweet of him! Looking after specific health issues is still one area where WDW CM's shine, IMO.

Back to the resort:
If you want real WDW, as others have said, standard view at the Animal Kingdom Lodge or a room at any of the moderates would likely fit your budget. The moderate that I would choose would be CSR or POR with 9 year olds. A preferred room is worth the extra $$ as it will keep you in the most convenient area of the resort. If you book Business class at CSR, you will have fruit, cold cereal, pastries, yogurt, coffee, tea and juices available in the lounge for breakfast. Depending upon what your son's allergies are, this may or may not work for you. There is an additional cost for BC, so a preferred room might be a better option, in your situation.

Keep checking for discounts. Availability changes all the time. You can usually get a discount applied - as long as there is availability for your room type and resort.

Good luck! I hope that you have an awesome trip!

 

[Babsy]

We did get an email for 30% off from Disney, I will look into it. SueM, Doubletree Suites look really nice and DH is a Hilton honours member.

What do you do with your luggage in a situation like this, just leave it in the trunk after checking out of the hotel & before checking into our villa?

Eta: time of year is April...

The resort that you stay in should be able to hold your luggage with Bell Services after check out until you are ready to depart. Also, you can request a late check out. Sometimes it is possible.