What's the difference between a moderate hotel and the Hilton Downtown Disney?

[LeahA]

Besides being sprinkled with Pixie Dust when you check in, what are the main differences between a moderate hotel and a hotel like the Hilton Downtown Disney?

They both have bus service to theme parks.
They both have rooms similar in size with same amenities.
They both offer free parking for you car.
They both have playground, pool, kiddie pool, whirlpool.

Just would like some personal insight, since I've never stayed onsite.

Thanks!



Leah

 

[SeaSpray]

I am actually curious about this myself! I have stayed onsite during my last 2 trips to WDW and absolutely loved it. However when we travel to other places I really love the Hilton hotels. I've stayed at the Hilton in Boston and the brand new one overlooking the falls in Niagara Falls, Canada. Both were very, very nice upscale hotels.

Having said that, I can tell you what I love about CBR, since that's the only moderate I've stayed at. CBR has a complete theme to the entire resort. You really feel as if you're on 2 vacations, in a way. While you're at the resort you look around you and see pretty pastel buildings, bright colorful flowers and trees, lush tropical plants, etc. Near the pool, I noticed the seashell impressions in the cement on the walkway around the main pool (I even have a picture of this on my CBR web page!), the main pool's theme is consistant throughout the entire pool area, including Parrot Cay island, with it's pirate's fort walkway across the pool and private little pathways on the island itself.....etc etc etc. Then there's the lake with the white-sand beaches, huge hammocks, beach chairs, lounge chairs, watermice, pontoon boats, etc. right there at the marina. The rooms follow the tropical theming with the bedspreads, upholstery, carpeting, etc.

Now, if someone weren't interested in a themed resort, then I imagine the Downtown Disney Hilton would be a great place to stay. Is the DD Hilton just as nice as the other Hilton's I've been to, I wonder?

 

[ducklite]

The bus service is quite different. It's not as frequent and not direct to the front gate of the parks.

Anne

 

[Gregg]

I can stay in a Hilton 5 miles from my house in NJ. Wouldn't matter to me if the Hilton rooms were bigger, etc. It's just a different atmosphere that you can't find elsewhere.

We are staying off-site this trip (April) only for the 1st night on 4/20, because the great resort deals didn't start until 4/21. That will be the first night ever that we've stayed at Disney offsite.

Take a walk through the Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge and I think you'll notice a difference from the Hilton.

Good luck!
Gregg

 

[SeaSpray]

Thanks for mentioning that Anne....that'd be a big issue with me. I like as much convenience as possible! I don't want to take a bus then still have to take the tram in from the parking lot to get to the entrances of the parks. Is that how all the DD hotels work?

 

[Shannon G]

I don't know that you would have to take tram from the parking lot, but you don't get dropped off right at the entrance. We stayed two nights at the Grosvenor last year, but we only used the bus service once - to MGM. There was a special area in the parking lot for the "non-disney" buses, and the bus was assigned to a particular parking space ( the bus spaces were numbered). The bus parked there, and we had to walk to the entrance - not a horribly long walk, but definitely not as convenient as the Disney buses. The bus driver told us the times the bus would be available to leave the park, and that it would be parked in the same space in the lot to pick up as it was for drop-off. I think there was about 1/2 hour between buses. The only benefit to the Hotel Boulevard buses over the Disney buses is that they are the tour buses with nice cushioned seats. However, because transportation definitely wasn't as convenient as at a Disney resort, we used our car most of the time.

To answer your other question, yes, this is how all the DD hotels work. They actually share the same buses. The bus goes to all of the DD hotels, the to whatever park it is assigned to, the back to each of the hotels again, and so on.

 

[ducklite]

The bus service is quite different. It's not as frequent and not direct to the front gate of the parks.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

The bus service is quite different. It's not as frequent and not direct to the front gate of the parks.

Anne

 

[caverill]

We have never stayed at the Hilton at DD but we did stay at the Courtyard (right next door, I believe).

The Hilton is a Hilton. You will get what you expect at a Hilton hotel. I agree that staying on-site at a Disney hotel is a different experience (feeling). You will have to be the judge if it is worth any money difference.

The bus service from the DD resorts was poor in 1998. It could have changed by now, but I doubt it. All the DD hotels share the same bus, which makes the bus ride long, since you end up going through lots of other hotel parking lots. If you drive a car and don't use the buses it might not be to bad.

The bus service was so poor when we were there, we walked to DD and took the Disney buses to the parks. It is about a 5-10 minute walk depending on traffic (you also cross a very busy road).

After our stay at the Courtyard, we decided we would never stay off-site again. I guess we love the Disney experience 24x7.

 

[DeeP]

I always stay on site, so I could be wrong but...I do not think you get free parking for your car at the WDW parks if you are staying at a DTD hotel. I met some people in Dec that were staying at a DTD hotel and they were very unhappy with the bus transportation to the parks. I do know that the DTD hotel buses stop at ALL the DTD hotels because I returned a rental car to the Marriott once and did not realize they(Dollar rental car) would drive me back to BWV and I took the DTD hotel bus, it took over an hour to get to Epcot's parking lot!