Sell me on staying at a Disney Springs hotel!!!

[discookiemonsta]

We go to Disney every year at Christmas. We have always only stayed at Disney resorts. With a family of 6 now as well as Disney prices increasing every year, we now have to broaden our options. One of them being staying a Disney Springs hotel. Specifically the one we are considering is the Doubletree Hilton. Some info that might help you all in giving me advice, tips et....we have 4 children, two of whom will still be in strollers. We will be solely relying on the hotel transportation.

I am just not convinced I can be happy outside of the the Disney resort bubble.

Please sell me on staying at a Disney Springs, if you can.

 

[BigredNole]

Without your own transportation and having 2 strollers and 4 kids, I would be hard pressed to sell you on staying offsite.

 

[SunniKC]

In 2009 we stayed at the one that is now the Wyndham Garden hotel. We really enjoyed the hotel but transportation was another story. We drove so we did have our own car but the first park day we used the hotel transport. It was fine going but return was a different matter. Two hours to get from the park to the hotel after the electric parade because instead of going directly from the park to the hotel circuit he went out of the way to AK to drop off (it was supposed to be MK only). We took our car and paid parking the remaining days. If I had to rely on their transport I'm not sure I would do it again. It did save us a good amount even with extra daily parking fees because we paid under $800 for 9 nights over Christmas.

 

[Dr Gevil]

The DoubleTree at DS is a great hotel - we are staying there again this Thanksgiving after staying there Oct. 2011. (Full disclosure - we are DVC members, but staying at the DoubleTree for a week "free" on Hilton Honors points.)

But I agree with PP's - without your own car and with 4 kids and 2 strollers, it will be a exercise in patience. For example, the drop for MK is at the TTC, not the front of the park. You then have to take the ferry or monorail over. And park dropoff/pick up times vary much more from the WDW onsite buses, with the added bonus of having the most far away drop off/pick up points from the entrances. And it stops/pickups at all the DS hotels on the loop - not DoubleTree exclusive. We are renting a car this time, knowing our experience from our last visit.

The good thing is that you are WDW vets and have been several times, so you probably don't have the feeling to get everything in during this trip. But offsite bus transport, especially during Xmas, may challenge your sanity at some point.

Good luck!

 

[Grumpy92]

I have stayed at the Doubletree Suits and it is very nice. But for your group and with you going at Christmas I would try for a Disney resorts. Staying at the DS hotels for the holidays will be exhausting.

 

[AntFarm]

Just got back last week and the Double Tree suites was really nice. We are hooked on staying in the Disney Springs area now. We drove down so I don't know how good or bad the bus service was.

 

[nursejackie]

We stayed off site and used the transportation several times but of course they are only at certain times so if anyone is tired, ill or just plain bored (unlikely but you never know) you can't just leave when you want to or you will have to pay for a cab back. And as another reply stated, the off site hotel bus stops are the furthest away. We pay (alot) for the on site convenience but you will have to way up what is most important to you ,your family and your budget.