Day 1 (7th Nov) - Arrival at Hotel:
Arrived at our hotel Courtyard by Marriott at WDW Resort - at around 5pm and parked up in the enormous car park. Checked in and ended up on the fourth floor in the wing section. The room was huge. Biggest hotel room I have stayed in outside the UK in over ten years of travelling. I saw a tower room and although the decor was nicer, the room was certainly smaller than the ones in the wing. Back to our room; not much decor but the size made up for it. There is a large closet for clothes and plenty of drawer space. There is a powerful shower and a part sunken tub. We also had tea/coffee making facilities and a free newspaper during the weekdays. Balcony overlooked the pool and from there you could see most of the Wishes fireworks at MK although you could not see the castle. Hotel itself I thought was very good. Complimentary tea/coffee all day (found beside the Tipsy parrot bar). And at 5pm to 6pm every day was managers happy hour where you could have free beer and soft drinks (Im not sure if spirits were included). I thought this was a nice touch and many people took advantage of it. The swimming pool area was not very scenic but the pools were heated. Also there is a Jacuzzi tub which was very hot. Also there were extra towels you could pick up as you entered the pool area (Saves bringing your own). Hotel also does free shuttle busses for transportation to the Disney parks. And starting at 6pm, every half hour, are busses to Downtown Disney. The busses drop you off near MacDonalds and pick up from the same spot right through till 3am in the morning (Handy for all you night owls visiting pleasure Island). Have to say though that by the time the bus goes round the other hotels, you could have walked to the Downtown Marketplace. I think whether you use the bus or not will depend on your laziness factor or how tired your feet are (We used the bus!!). The hotel restaurant we used several times for breakfast. The quality was very good (on a par with Golden Corral and certainly better than Ponderosa). The price was $7.99. There is plenty of selection and they can also make you an omelette or large waffle if you ask them. Hotel location I think is excellent. Close to all Disney parks, 10 minutes to Sea World and 15 to Universal. And only 5 minutes (by car) to Downtown Disney. Near the hotel is the crossroads shopping centre where there are many of the more popular restaurants. We ate in this area a lot of times. You have an Olive Garden, Pizza Hut, Dennys, Pebbles, Chevys, TGI Fridays. Access to I Drive and Kissimmee is also easy from the hotel as you are very close to the Interstate 4. Finally the hotel has inside corridors to the rooms. This is one of the main reasons I chose the hotel. I dont like outside corridor access to rooms. After we settled in we headed for our first meal. Nearby on S.Apopka/Vineland rd heading South we found a Bennigans. Very nice meal and reasonably priced. Even though it was busy and people were waiting to be seated, we were taken to a table straight away (think it was because there were only 2 of us). Left the restaurant and headed across the road to the 7-11 beside the petrol station. This petrol station (located just South of the turning for Vineland Av at Lake Bryan) has some of the cheapest petrol in the area ($1.63 per gallon). Headed back to the hotel for a long needed sleep. Big day tomorrow as we are visiting Epcot. Should be good fun as it will be a Saturday and Food & Wine Festival still on!!.
Sorry if most of you already know about all the above details. I thought I would include them for the benefit of people who stay off site. I know most people on the forums stay and eat in the Disney hotels, thus this report will be from a slightly different perspective.
Day 2 Epcot. to follow
Arrived at our hotel Courtyard by Marriott at WDW Resort - at around 5pm and parked up in the enormous car park. Checked in and ended up on the fourth floor in the wing section. The room was huge. Biggest hotel room I have stayed in outside the UK in over ten years of travelling. I saw a tower room and although the decor was nicer, the room was certainly smaller than the ones in the wing. Back to our room; not much decor but the size made up for it. There is a large closet for clothes and plenty of drawer space. There is a powerful shower and a part sunken tub. We also had tea/coffee making facilities and a free newspaper during the weekdays. Balcony overlooked the pool and from there you could see most of the Wishes fireworks at MK although you could not see the castle. Hotel itself I thought was very good. Complimentary tea/coffee all day (found beside the Tipsy parrot bar). And at 5pm to 6pm every day was managers happy hour where you could have free beer and soft drinks (Im not sure if spirits were included). I thought this was a nice touch and many people took advantage of it. The swimming pool area was not very scenic but the pools were heated. Also there is a Jacuzzi tub which was very hot. Also there were extra towels you could pick up as you entered the pool area (Saves bringing your own). Hotel also does free shuttle busses for transportation to the Disney parks. And starting at 6pm, every half hour, are busses to Downtown Disney. The busses drop you off near MacDonalds and pick up from the same spot right through till 3am in the morning (Handy for all you night owls visiting pleasure Island). Have to say though that by the time the bus goes round the other hotels, you could have walked to the Downtown Marketplace. I think whether you use the bus or not will depend on your laziness factor or how tired your feet are (We used the bus!!). The hotel restaurant we used several times for breakfast. The quality was very good (on a par with Golden Corral and certainly better than Ponderosa). The price was $7.99. There is plenty of selection and they can also make you an omelette or large waffle if you ask them. Hotel location I think is excellent. Close to all Disney parks, 10 minutes to Sea World and 15 to Universal. And only 5 minutes (by car) to Downtown Disney. Near the hotel is the crossroads shopping centre where there are many of the more popular restaurants. We ate in this area a lot of times. You have an Olive Garden, Pizza Hut, Dennys, Pebbles, Chevys, TGI Fridays. Access to I Drive and Kissimmee is also easy from the hotel as you are very close to the Interstate 4. Finally the hotel has inside corridors to the rooms. This is one of the main reasons I chose the hotel. I dont like outside corridor access to rooms. After we settled in we headed for our first meal. Nearby on S.Apopka/Vineland rd heading South we found a Bennigans. Very nice meal and reasonably priced. Even though it was busy and people were waiting to be seated, we were taken to a table straight away (think it was because there were only 2 of us). Left the restaurant and headed across the road to the 7-11 beside the petrol station. This petrol station (located just South of the turning for Vineland Av at Lake Bryan) has some of the cheapest petrol in the area ($1.63 per gallon). Headed back to the hotel for a long needed sleep. Big day tomorrow as we are visiting Epcot. Should be good fun as it will be a Saturday and Food & Wine Festival still on!!.
Sorry if most of you already know about all the above details. I thought I would include them for the benefit of people who stay off site. I know most people on the forums stay and eat in the Disney hotels, thus this report will be from a slightly different perspective.
Day 2 Epcot. to follow
