Please help pick my hotel!

[Stars In The Night]

Help!
I'm completely overwhelmed trying to pick a hotel! I have a budget of no more than $175/night, so right now I'm looking at The Doubletree Disney Springs, Wyndham Bonnet Creek, a camper rental at Ft. Wilderness (but I can't figure out exactly how much that would cost as there are so many fees and such). Which hotels am I missing? Which should I pick? HELP!

We need:
- at least 1 separate bedroom, as my daughter has special needs
- be close enough to come back to the hotel for afternoon nap, then go back for more park
- free or "pay once all day" shuttle to the parks
- must have an in-room fridge for medications

would like:
- fun pool/splash pad
- free breakfast (I know there are Mousesavers codes for a couple hotels)
- airport shuttle

In my dream world
- car rental place on-site (we plan on going to Kennedy Space Center, so we are renting a car for one day out of the 6 nights)
- close to a grocery store

 

[SYDCOLEMOM]

We have stayed at Wyndam Bonnet Creek for the past 3 vacations. Currently Im looking at Windsor Hills or the Reunion Resort Villas. I can get a full size 2 to 3 bedroom townhouse/condo for about $75 a night. Bonnet Creek rates have sky rocketed recently thats why I am looking elsewhere.

 

[writerguyfl]

Which hotels am I missing?

Given the requirement of a separate bedroom, your other options might include: Embassy Suites, Homewood Suites, Residence Inn, Springhill Suites, and TownePlace Suites. But, there are also many, many options because normal hotels might have one-bedroom suites at reasonable rates.

Which should I pick?

I'm a huge fan of the DoubleTree Suites Lake Buena Vista. I've stayed there multiple times and never had a bad stay. In fact, I can't even remember having any significant problems ever.

The DoubleTree Suites has all of your "needed" requirements. If you're unfamiliar, the DoubleTree is one of the seven Disney Springs hotels that provide free transportation to Disney Parks. Shuttles run every 30 minutes. There are two routes. Usually, one goes to Epcot then Disney's Hollywood Studios. The other goes to the Transportation and Ticket Center (Magic Kingdom) then Disney's Animal Kingdom.

As for your "would like" list, the DoubleTree Suites does have a pool/water area. However, no free breakfast or airport shuttle.

It does have both of your "dream world" items. There is a Budget car rental desk in the lobby. Additionally, you are a relatively short walk to several other car rental locations: Enterprise, Avis, Dollar, and Alamo. Having other options within walking distance can potentially help you save a little money.

There is also a grocery store within walking distance of the DoubleTree Suites. Goodings grocery store is located in the Crossroads Shopping Center. Although, it's not a great store. The last time I was there I noticed that most of their bakery items were at or beyond the expiration date. But, the store should work if you're buying pre-packaged items.

I made the following map for an older thread. It may help if you're not familiar with the Disney Springs area.

Key:

1. DoubleTree Suites (Budget Rental Car)
   
2. B Resort (Enterprise Rental Car)
   
3. Holiday Inn Disney Springs
   
4. Hilton Lake Buena Vista (Avis Rental Car)
   
5. Buena Vista Palace (Alamo Rental Car)
   
6. Wyndham Lake Buena Vista (Dollar Rental Car)
   
7. Best Western Lake Buena Vista
   
8. Crossroads Shopping Center (grocery store/restaurants)
   
9. Disney Springs West Side
   
10. Disney Spring Marketplace
    
11. Cirque du Soleil

You can view the interactive map on Bing. If you're a visual person, it might help to view the map using the "Bird's eye" view. Doing that gives you an idea of what views might be from any hotel. Plus, you can zoom in and see the pool. Link to the map:

http://binged.it/1PCr26H

Be sure to check out the Disney Springs Hotels marketing association website. They may have a discounted rate for your dates. Be sure to click on "Special Offers & Packages" under the hotel photo to see all the options. Here is the DoubleTree Suites page of that site:

http://disneyspringshotels.com/hotels/doubletree-suites-by-hilton/

Also, you can view all available discounts and specials on the official Hilton website for the DoubleTree Suites:

http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/offers/index.htm

Wow. That was long! Hope it helps.

 

[pepperandchips]

Writerguy gave some GREAT advice! We are "drivers" so I figured I would add one more perspective - we don't like waiting on buses and would much rather get in our car and go when we are ready. You can find good rates on car rentals in Orlando if you keep an eye on deals. This would cut out the shuttle entirely. If you are bus people and NEED the shuttle, you should rule out Wyndham Bonnet Creek as their shuttle service is really expensive.

There are lots of great timeshare resorts around Disney that would give you the space you are looking for on a budget if you are willing to rent the car rather than relying on shuttles - Bonnet Creek (Wyndham timeshare) and Sheraton Vistana Resort are two of the most popular options. You can often find weeks at these resorts on Sky Auction, eBay, or VRBO. Sky Auction can be as low as $399 for a two bedroom condo for the week and the prices go on up to folks asking several thousand dollars for the more expensive ebay "buy it now" options. I decided what I was willing to pay (<$140 per night) at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and then messaged owners on VRBO until I found what I was looking for. With a similar rate you might find it less expensive to do that and rent the car than booking at a suite-style hotel for the extra space. At the timeshare resorts parking is usually not an extra charge. Just something to think about.

 

[kalamazoo]

I second the idea of renting a car for the entire trip. Unless you are staying at a Disney hotel that has Magical Express bus service from the airport you will have to pay to get to and from the airport. It might be cheaper for you to rent a car for your entire stay. A lot (if not all) of the hotels near Disney Springs charge for parking but there are plenty of other nearby resorts (like the ones mentioned by pepperandchips) that don't charge. I'll throw another one into the mix - we have always enjoyed our stays at the Marriott Grande Vista. It is at the south end of International Drive, close to the parks, outlet mall, grocery store (Publix) and restaurants but very quiet compared to further up I-Drive. It is a beautiful resort which has a very convent location if you have a car.

 

[Stars In The Night]

What is the traffic like around Disney? I would imagine it's bumper-to-bumper chaos. Does it take an hour to drive from one end of the place to the other? (We are going in "Value time" August)

 

[bankr63]

What is the traffic like around Disney? I would imagine it's bumper-to-bumper chaos. Does it take an hour to drive from one end of the place to the other? (We are going in "Value time" August)

Depends on where you are staying. Hotel Blvd can be a bit of a horror show at times, although despite all the current construction I think the measures are starting to pay off and it actually seemed quicker to me this month.

From Vistana/Marriott complexes at 535/World Centre it is 10-15 minutes to the parking lots of any of the four parks. World Centre and/or Osceola Pkwy are very free flowing right to the parking gates. Access to Universal and other off park options is also very good.

 

[pepperandchips]

What is the traffic like around Disney? I would imagine it's bumper-to-bumper chaos. Does it take an hour to drive from one end of the place to the other? (We are going in "Value time" August)

Depends on where you are staying. Hotel Blvd can be a bit of a horror show at times, although despite all the current construction I think the measures are starting to pay off and it actually seemed quicker to me this month.

From Vistana/Marriott complexes at 535/World Centre it is 10-15 minutes to the parking lots of any of the four parks. World Centre and/or Osceola Pkwy are very free flowing right to the parking gates. Access to Universal and other off park options is also very good.

Bear in mind that the buses don't really get any advantage when it comes to traffic. If you are staying at Disney Springs and relying on their bus service, the buses have to sit in traffic along with cars. I personally prefer to sit in traffic with a seatbelt on and a selection of my own music rather than beholden to bus crowds... But to be honest I haven't found the traffic to be bad recently like it was when the parking garage construction was first underway at Downtown Disney. We find it EXTREMELY easy and almost never encounter traffic when driving from Bonnet Creek to the parks. We have also stayed offsite near the Vistana Resort and found it an easy commute as well. I do understand the luxury of not driving on vacation so there are definitely pros and cons.

 

[writerguyfl]

What is the traffic like around Disney? I would imagine it's bumper-to-bumper chaos. Does it take an hour to drive from one end of the place to the other? (We are going in "Value time" August)

The time needed to get between two point in the WDW area is mostly due to distance, not traffic. Certainly, there are a few bottleneck intersections, but none of them are significant enough to factor into hotel choice.

Bear in mind that the buses don't really get any advantage when it comes to traffic. If you are staying at Disney Springs and relying on their bus service, the buses have to sit in traffic along with cars.

While it's true that buses still compete with cars, the Disney Springs shuttles use different roads than most guests. The buses always bypass Disney Springs, usually by using Disney Vacation Club Way. That route bypasses the construction zone.