I know that there are a few folks on our boards that have stayed outside of the Disney Bubble on their recent vacations. Where are your favorite hotels in the surrounding area?
I know that there are a few folks on our boards that have stayed outside of the Disney Bubble on their recent vacations. Where are your favorite hotels in the surrounding area?
We always do a timeshare exchange, so we don't have any experience with Orlando-area hotels.
We have stayed all over the place. We often stay in villas or condos that are very close to disney. If more than 1 hotel room is needed it's usually cheaper to then stay in a villa.
We usually stay in different hotels outside of disney, whatever gets a good rating on tripadvisor and is within our budget. We did once stay at a hotel for a second time, first time it was great but the second was awful, it was almost exactly a year later.
Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa
I was off property during all of my 2012 trips. I stayed in Marriott properties - the Vista Centre Courtyard, the Fairfield on S. Apopka, and the Fairfield on Vineland. The Vista Centre Courtyard ended up being my favorite - really close to DTD, and easy to get in and out of. However, it is the older of the list above, and could use some updating.
That said, it was fine, convenient, and works well if you are not looking to hang out a lot at the hotel anyway. The prices were also good, coming in well under the lowest tier of value restorts.
The Vineland Marriott hotels - Residence Inn, Fairfield, and Courtyard, and more time consuming to access - more traffic, waiting at lights a lot - but very nice and modern too, with eateries within walking distance.
We only stayed off property once, and that was in 2003. We rented a vacation home. It was nice, but my heart belongs to on-property these days.
In a related question, any suggestions on where you would stay for one night while waiting for your deluxe resort? Would you stay off property, or stay at one of the values? The working assumption being you get to Orlando late at night and dont want to waste the cost of a deluxe for that night.
Oh, and if you would recommend a value for that one night, which one would be the quietest?
Jeff, I think in that instance i would stay onsite in a value, as you can leave your bags early the next morning and go off to the parks, and then when you check in at your deluxe later that day your bags will be there waiting for you
Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa
We usually stay at the Hampton Inn on Palm Parkway, just at the end of Hotel row. It's really clean, great rates and a good breakfast comes with the room. We have stayed there several times and really liked it. If we where on a tight budget and had to stay in a value resort, we would probably stay at the Hampton first.
Jeff, quite often we arrive to late in the evening to pay to sleep in the deluxe resorts. We prefer to stay at the Hampton Inn in Lake buena Vista. It is right around the corner from Downtown Disney. We pay around $119 for the night which even includes breakfast the next morning. It is clean, very close for a very early check in the next morning and has always been very quiet. In fact we already have it booked for the night we arrive in July. It is a Disney Good Neighbor Hotel so you will see Mickey on the rug in the elevator as well as Disney looking flags when you pull up to it.
Lol, I guess I should have asked Mr Hub if he was answering this before I did.
Last may we took the RV and stayed off of the Disney property here: http://www.tropicalpalmsresortfl.com/
It's a really cute RV park, but they also have nice little cottages that you can rent to stay in! It wasn't the same as staying on Disney, but it wasn't bad, either. They had a cool little carnival-type thing right up the road from it, too, with go-carts, arcade games, a few rides, etc. It was just something different to do/see.
A very long time ago, we stayed at Double Trees (by DTD) on a couple of occasions. It was really nice to be able to walk to DTD and Crossroads. The resort had a nice feel to it, although I don't know what it is like now. I think any of the hotels on Hotel Plaza Boulevard would be a good as they are so close to DTD and also have transportation to the parks.
We have also stayed in a suite at the Waldorf Astoria for one night. Although it had everything, I have no desire to go back, it was luxurious but lacked atmosphere and warmth.
We have stayed in a villa in Kissimmee but it just doesn't work for us as I am the only driver, but I like to have a glass of wine or a cocktail - it is part of the vacation for me. Therefore we end up having to use taxis all the time. So we would literally spend hundreds of dollars on taxis if we were to stay in a villa for a two week vacation.
My choice every time is to stay on Disney property if we can. Usually moderate (POR or POFQ) although I am excited about trying different resorts.
no ticker
In January we stayed 3 nights at the Wyndham Grand Orlando. It was a nice place, very pretty, gorgeous view, beautiful room, and totally not us. Everyone was in the large lobby and lobby bar area hanging out in suits. Even the kids were dressed up. All day long. We stuck out like a sore thumb in our jeans and tennis shoes and Disney bags. They only have 4 or 5 buses a day to each park. Thankfully we drove, and are AP holders. Had to pay $13/day parking at the resort though. We were able to watch Illuminations from our room, which was a nice surprise. In the winter, not all the restaurants are open every day. They would not seat us in the one restaurant that was open because of our attire, but offered to serve us at one of the lobby tables. That always makes you feel good. Had to go to the outdoor pool bar/restaurant to get food that my kids would eat. And it was a fairly cold evening. We would have eaten at a park, but because we were trying this resort only once, we decided to try to take advantage of what they offered for dinner that one night. Our mistake. The resort was gorgeous! But not the Disney feel that I have grown to know and love.
Thankfully, for nights 4 - 7 we were at CBR and were so much more comfortable at the Disney resort. Even though we were not all that impressed with our room, I will take that any day over off property. We missed the perks of Disney property for those 3 long nights.
Jeff, we stayed one night at Sports in 2011 before 9 nights at SSR. Our room was perfect! Next to the parking lot, which was a good thing for unloading and loading after 1 night. (We had a toddler and an infant, so a lot of gear) It was a quiet room. Easy access to the main area, we were right next to it. We would do that again. I can't suggest which one Value to stay in, but I can say that we will NEVER stay at Music again. That was NOT a magical vacation. They were pretty rude and unaccommodating there, all week long. Most others have had a great experience there.