What is the Hilton at Downtown Disney like?

[Kris Puyear]

Well, my husband just dropped a bombshell in my lap. He said,"hey, why don't we go to WDW for a few days around New Year's?" Well needless to say, I almost fell out of my chair (we already have a trip planned for Easter).

The problem is that I can't find a WDW resort for the dates, but can find the Hilton at Downtown Disney. Can anyone provide any information about this place?

Many thanks,
Kris

 

[ducklite]

It's a Hilton. We liked it. The rooms were comfortable and clean, and the little mini-mart/cafe type place in the lobby serves Starbucks and was great for a quick bite.

I wouldn't have a problem staying there in the future should the need arise. In fact after buying concert tickets for a show at House of Blues on NYE, we tried to book it but they were full, so we ended up at SSR.

Anne

 

[terryfromhawaii]

Read about the Hilton at tripadvisor (just punch in hilton at downtown disney in disney world. My review is the one that says, "Very Disappointed." We just returned from Florida on 11/27/05. We stayed 2 nights at the Hilton and did NOT like it at all!! I'll cut and paste my review here.

Just came back from a 9 day trip to Florida which included hopping to 5 different hotels. We planned this trip waaaay in advance and read the reviews for the Hilton at Walt Disney World and thought they were overall good reviews so we decided to give it a try. We visited Disney World 2 years ago and stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and the Boardwalk Inn and never got a chance to visit Downtown Disney. We chose Hilton over Port Orleans because it was closer (within walking distance of Downtown Disney) and it had a Concierge Lounge whereas the Port Orleans did not. Anyhoo, where do I begin.... For one thing, the rooms were very small considering that the Towers rooms were supposed to be bigger. The carpet was wet right as soon as you walk in to the room. The shower walls and bathtub were peeling and the little flakes stuck to our feet as we walked out onto the carpet. The shower and shower door track was full of mildew/mold. And room service is simply delivery from the store down below which is delivered by way of a paper bag and plastic utensils. Not to mention that there really wasn't anything to do at Downtown Disney (there are stores/restaurants throughout the parks that are just as good). Disney Quest was way too crowded and we never ended up doing that. Oh, and another thing, they did not have any laundry facilities in their hotel so we had to drive to the Doubletree down the street which was affiliated with Hilton. So all, in all, our time at the Hilton was a waste!! I would never stay there again. Just a side note, we had stayed at the Hilton near DisneyLAND last year and it was just as bad but we thought the reviews for the Disney World one were good so it must be different. NOT! Save yourself some time, do NOT stay at the Hilton near Downtown Disney in Disney World!!

We also stayed at Beach Club and Grand Floridian. GF was the best!!!

Terry in Hawaii

 

[ducklite]

So it's the Hilton's fault that you didn't like DTD and didn't research amenities like laundry facilities before booking? It sounds like by the time you got there you were tired of changing hotels, and I think that likely had a lot to do with it. I'm just not sure why you call your stay there a waste--it sounds like you were disaapointed with DTD--take that out on Disney, not the Hilton.

To the OP--our room was spotless, well maintained, and well appointed.

Anne

 

[travelin' girl]

We're Hilton Honor Members, and we stayed 2 days here (Fri 11/25-Sun 11/27), and found our room to be nice. I used "points", so our room was "free". We were in a king room and requested a rollaway. I found the service and cleanliness of the room fine. The location for shopping at DTD can't be beat!!! We then finished our trip at the GF concierge!! At the Hilton, we were in room #570, and it had a view of the pool off to the left, some of the hall's roof, and a pretty nice view of DTD lit up at night. The room appeared to be newly refurbished. The bed board of a checkerboard was whimsical! The bus service to MGM was s-l-o-w...

 

[fivefordisney]

The carpet was wet right as soon as you walk in to the room. The shower walls and bathtub were peeling and the little flakes stuck to our feet as we walked out onto the carpet. The shower and shower door track was full of mildew/mold. And room service is simply delivery from the store down below which is delivered by way of a paper bag and plastic utensils.

Terry in Hawaii

What a bummer! Did you call housekeeping? Thanks for the info...

 

[robinb]

So all, in all, our time at the Hilton was a waste!! I would never stay there again. Just a side note, we had stayed at the Hilton near DisneyLAND last year and it was just as bad but we thought the reviews for the Disney World one were good so it must be different. NOT! Save yourself some time, do NOT stay at the Hilton near Downtown Disney in Disney World!!

Terry ... I have to say that my experience at the Hilton, both in DisneyLAND (Oct 2005) and Disney WORLD (Nov 2001) was much different. The room was very clean, although rather "standard" in layout. I never used the bus system as we had APs and could park for free. The paking lot was at one end of the hotel and the tower at the other, so it was a bit of a walk to/from the car every day. All in all, the hotel and the staff were quite pleasant. My stay at the Anaheim Hilton was even better with a free upgrade to a 2 room suite with a park view.

I think the Hilton will be fine! As an aside, I wonder what if there will be any restrictions to the DTD hotel busses into the parks on NYE.

 

[brtls5]

We transferred to the Hilton from POR on the 21st. The hotel was nice, it wasn't a Disney hotel in the way of theming. But it was very nice. We stayed in the towers on the 10th floor. Our room was great.. I thought it was good sized. We had a little vanity area outside of the bathroom. Then, we had the two beds.. and a chair. Then there was a desk area with a very nice desk chair. We managed to fit a rollaway bed in there with plenty of room left. The beds were.. wonderful!! SO soft!! We loved turn down service. Room service was great! It came served on a cart/table thing with white table cloth. We always had water glasses in goblets available for everyone. It was wonderful. The lounge was put to use a lot! There was always coffee/juices/hot chocolate and sodas available. I discovered later you could get bottled water. There were yummy cookies out in the afternoon and night for snacks. Breakfast had danishes, rolls, fruit, bagels,muffins and toast available. Appetizers in the evening were different each night we were there. One night there were meatballs.. I cant remember what else. There was always 3 hot dishes plus veggie tray and cheese tray.
The kids LOVED to just go and get a soda, along with cookies or something before bed.

We really enjoyed staying here. The bus service... was bad! We never used it because when we inquired, we were told it was a 40 minute ride, plus at that time the wait was 40 minutes. We decided to use a town car everywhere we went. That was FABULOUS!! We were let off very close to front of park, we never had to wait for transportation or did we have to share with someone. No standing on the bus! We totally loved it. It was great to walk to the car, get in and zoom off as the children snuggled down to relax.

Downtown Disney was literally across the street. We'd walk across the street, which was very nice!!
It was a great hotel. We'd stay there again if we were looking to stay offsite. My daughter was in a pageant so we needed to be at the HIlton. My first pick would be onsite, but I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again if I needed to.

HTH

 

[terryfromhawaii]

So it's the Hilton's fault that you didn't like DTD and didn't research amenities like laundry facilities before booking? It sounds like by the time you got there you were tired of changing hotels, and I think that likely had a lot to do with it. I'm just not sure why you call your stay there a waste--it sounds like you were disaapointed with DTD--take that out on Disney, not the Hilton.

To the OP--our room was spotless, well maintained, and well appointed.

Anne

Hi Anne,

I'm not sure why you feel my comments about the Hilton have to do with the fact that I was disappointed with DTD. If you re-read my comments, it was because of the conditions of the room and my overall stay there that caused me to be disappointed with my stay the Hilton (wouldn't you be disappointed with the same conditions I had to deal with?). As to doing research on the laundry facilities, actually I did ask about that and the person on the other end of the phone told me that they did have self serve laundry, but apparently they were mistaken. That is one of the first things I ask every hotel I plan to make reservations at. I plan my vacations waaaay in advance. Thanks for the warm welcome. :-(

Terry in Hawaii

Originally Posted by terryfromhawaii
The carpet was wet right as soon as you walk in to the room. The shower walls and bathtub were peeling and the little flakes stuck to our feet as we walked out onto the carpet. The shower and shower door track was full of mildew/mold. And room service is simply delivery from the store down below which is delivered by way of a paper bag and plastic utensils.

Terry in Hawaii

 

[ducklite]

Hi Anne,

I'm not sure why you feel my comments about the Hilton have to do with the fact that I was disappointed with DTD. If you re-read my comments, it was because of the conditions of the room and my overall stay there that caused me to be disappointed with my stay the Hilton (wouldn't you be disappointed with the same conditions I had to deal with?). As to doing research on the laundry facilities, actually I did ask about that and the person on the other end of the phone told me that they did have self serve laundry, but apparently they were mistaken. That is one of the first things I ask every hotel I plan to make reservations at. I plan my vacations waaaay in advance. Thanks for the warm welcome. :-(

Terry in Hawaii

Originally Posted by terryfromhawaii
The carpet was wet right as soon as you walk in to the room. The shower walls and bathtub were peeling and the little flakes stuck to our feet as we walked out onto the carpet. The shower and shower door track was full of mildew/mold. And room service is simply delivery from the store down below which is delivered by way of a paper bag and plastic utensils.

Terry in Hawaii

Terry, I can understand your disappointement in the room, but much of your post focused on negatives that Hilton had no control over as well. As far as room service, it's not in a bag, it's on a rolling cart. I'm very confused how you ended up with stuff in a paper bag--this is not normal.

As far as the condition of the room, did you ask for a new one? Or have them send housekeeping to rememdy the problems?

Anne

 

[kilee]

I think if you're going to compare the Hilton to a place like the GF- well you'll probably be disappointed. Otherwise it is a nice hotel- it usually gets pretty good reviews. I think overall as long as your expectations are equivalent to what a Hilton should be- this one will fit the bill.

 

[terryfromhawaii]

Terry, I can understand your disappointement in the room, but much of your post focused on negatives that Hilton had no control over as well. As far as room service, it's not in a bag, it's on a rolling cart. I'm very confused how you ended up with stuff in a paper bag--this is not normal.

As far as the condition of the room, did you ask for a new one? Or have them send housekeeping to rememdy the problems?

Anne

In answer to your questions/comments, Why I received room service in a paper bag if this is not normal, I do not have the answers, I'm just telling it like it happened. Why someone gave me wrong info on the laundry facilities? Again, I just went with whatever I was told over the phone. Were we offered another room, yes, but when you are travelling in a party of 10 with 2 connecting rooms and 1 other room right next to it and 4 small children and an elderly MIL, you cannot easily switch rooms. We just had to grin and bear it. As far as my post focusing on negatives that Hilton had no control over, I do not agree. Having a shower stall and tub that had flakes peeling off all over with a 3 year old playing with it in the tub and all of us walking off with it on our feet, mold and mildew all over the shower walls/doors/tracks and wet carpet to deal with, bad communication about the laundry facilities, poor room service compared with my complaint that DTD was not worth visiting, that's 5 to 1.

 

[CarolA]

I have stayed there several times and would not hesitate to recommend it.

 

[RitaZ.]

We have stayed there and were very happy with the hotel. Last time we stayed there, we got a deluxe room overlooking DD, we were on the highest floor. It was awesome! We could see everything, the parks in the distance, the fireworks. etc. I was really impressed. Their breakfast was pricey though. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it or stay there again.

 

[brtls5]

Yes, we were on the top floor. The view was amazing!!!! We ate breakfast in the concierge lounge each morning. Saved us a bundle!!

 

[wayneg]

We stayed here last Xmas (25th Dec-1st Jan) I wanted a Disney hotel for guaranteed admission New Years Eve. Don't like Disney's Value hotels and won't pay the price for moderate rooms so Hilton was a very good alternative at $89 per night. Clean room & friendly staff. Had a fantastic view from our room of fireworks at midnight NYE over DTD area.

 

[Patricia721]

I just returned from a 3 nite stay at the Hilton@WDW and wanted to give the OP some feedback. Overall, I was impressed. My room was on the 9th floor - this was the "executive" level. I had a perfect view of Downtown Disney and Epcot's fireworks, TOT in the distance and probably most of Saratoga Springs. The king size bed was very comfortable with plenty of down pillows. The room was nice sized, with an easy chair & ottoman, big desk with chair & large armoire with a large flat screen TV. The only negative I found was the bathroom - while it was obvious that the room had been remodeled, the bathroom looked to be pretty much original fixtures. It was also on the small size - 2 people could manage but it would definitely be tight for a family. The executive level lounge was very nice, breakfast was good (freshly cut melons & pineapple, danishes, muffins, etc., toast, juices, coffee). During the day, there were apples, bananas, oranges & great cookies. Soft drinks & water were always available (dispensers though, not cans/bottles). Concierge was always pleasant and eager to help. Actually, all the staff I encountered were very pleasant. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again! aw:

 

[HayGan]

We stayed at the Hilton 12/3-12/6 and were pleased with our accomodations. The room was nice and clean and exactly what I expect from a Hilton (HHonors gold here) The distance to Downtown Disney is great and it was such a nice walk in the evening. It certainly doesn't have a theme like Disney resorts but we had no problems with it at all. We got a fantastic rate because we agreed to do a 90 minute timeshare presenation which was fine and not at all high pressure.

We took the bus over to the MK for MVMCP on 12/4 and had no problems with it at all.

We may stay here for a few days next December as well!

 

[LuvTheMagic985]

We stayed @ this hotel in Feb. this year following our Dis. cruise. Maybe we were spoiled after that, but the Hilton just didn't rate high for us. The room was standard layout, however, we got a handicap room with a tremendously huge bathroom which was wonderful. It had everything the previous posts laid out...iotw...the minibar,games, etc. The nicest thing about the hotel was it's proximity to Downtown Disney....just a walk across the street. Still I guess we hungered for that Disney touch which there is NONE of at this hotel. The other downside...we (especially my DH) found the food in their restaurants ridiculously priced. We paid $5.00 for a 20oz Cola...even the parks prices r better. For the price (I got it for a mere $70/nite) I'd stay there again if I had to, but I chose one of the value resorts instead. If ur not into the "magic"...u'll have no problem w/ this hotel. It is well kept and our maid service was great and very prompt each day. They also provided us turn down service at no charge. I'd give it 3 stars out of 5.

 

[bravokid]

I just returned from a four night stay at the Downtown Disney Hilton. If I am not planning to stay at a Disney hotel, I always use Priceline for Orlando hotels. It is usually extremely easy to secure a nice roo at a great price. We stayed at the Hilton for 62.00 a night. My only problem was that they had no non-smoking rooms left. However, after a day, the smell was not noticeable. The rooms are fine, and the beds are very comfortable. Parking is free and is relatively close to building. This hotel also is considered an official Disney hotel, so you qualify for extra hours. However, free parking at the parks is not a benefit. If you do need the "Disney Feel" , this property is an excellent buy at a great price. It is certainly a step or so above the value resorts. I will always consider staying here and especially at Priceline rates.