Just got back after 4 nights at Rosen Shingle Creek and am back to report as promised.
The resort, grounds, etc are gorgeous but not someplace we will stay again if we have a choice for several reasons.
Let me preface this by saying that the costs of our stay were covered by my DH company but since that is not the norm I will reply as if we paid out of pocket since it appears you will be.
The rooms can be reserved cheaply online but you will spend the money on other things.
When you pull up to check-in the porters are all over you and your car. They will not give you a luggage cart (we asked), they expect to handle it all and of course be tipped so depending on how many bags you have it can be $20 or more checking in and checking out.
Self Parking is $15 per night, day parking is $18 and valet is $20. Self parking is no less than a 5 minute walk from the front door and often up to 10 minutes if there is an event happening there. We had 2 conventions happening there so we often had to park far, far away. Not a bad thing in the morning but awful in the evening. DH mentioned he would never let me walk out there alone at night as it very dark and lots of places for people to hide. Even using the gate at night is not safe for a women and you have to swipe your key to get it to open and it is set so far back you have to either hang out the car window or get out of the car to do that.
There are plenty places on property to eat but expensive for vacation. DH and I each had sausage and biscuits and coffee and it was $27. There are no microwaves in the rooms. There is a pizza place across the road next to Publix but that is the only place to eat within 5-10 minutes of the main gate.
They have wonderful pools but nothing else for kids to do. I actually think the atmosphere of the place would have parents on edge trying to keep their kids entertained, behaving and quiet. Not much fun for the kids or parents. We did not see many children there at all.
The guest rooms are comfortable, we had a room with 2 queens and had plenty of space to spread out and move around. The view was awesome (we were on the 14th, with a pool view).
The drive to the parks is amazingly close. It never took more than 15 minutes from parking lot to parking lot (I went for rope drops and traffic was non-existent at this time of day) and there are no toll roads to contend with. We went to DTD twice for dinner and each time it took about 15 minutes driving time, mostly because of the traffic lights at Cross Roads center.
If we were going to pay out of pocket we would not stay there again. Just not our comfort zone and DH said if they host the conference there again next year we will stay on WDW property and he will do the driving back and forth to Rosen Shingle.
If you have direct questions I haven't addressed let me know and I will see what I can do to answer them. No matter what you decide, have a great trip.
