Disney newbie - Hilton Hotel near Disney?

[revolution]

If you want any of the character meals or sit down table service meals, book now!


Figure out which day you want to do which park.  (I do it by using crowd calendars and visiting them on the least busiest day I can find for each).  That will help you get a schedule/plan.  From there, you can work on dining plans, if you choose to do any of the table service meals.  

Start thinking about what you want fast passes for so you can book them when it is your time.

I like to use touringplans.com for the crowd calendars and the fast pass needs.

[cincodemayo]

I haven’t stayed there, but I’ve heard great things about Bonnet Creek. It’s very close to MK.

[revolution]

May 12, 2019 8:03:40 GMT -5 landmermaid said:

We're going to Disney in September! I'm so excited and we're going to surprise our kids, 7 and 5. We've got our flights booked, but I'm not sure where to start for the rest of the trip. My husband has a gazillion points with Hilton so we want to stay at one of their places. Can anyone recommend which one would be best distance wise and has decent amenities?

Other than that, I have no idea what I'm doing. We're planning on going to the parks for 4 days, but broken up as we'll be visiting family in the area, too. I was thinking MK twice, Epcot, and maybe a water park? I'd also like to check out their Halloween. I've heard great things.

If all goes well, I'll also be 6.5 months pregnant. I assume this will limit me with rides, but anything else I should consider?

Thank you for your suggestions and advice

There's a good bit you should still be able to ride. There are a ton of rides you can take a lap child on, so I'd assume you can ride pregnant also. I held DS on a bunch of rides when he was tiny.

[landmermaid]

May 12, 2019 8:45:36 GMT -5 revolution said:

If you want any of the character meals or sit down table service meals, book now!


Figure out which day you want to do which park.  (I do it by using crowd calendars and visiting them on the least busiest day I can find for each).  That will help you get a schedule/plan.  From there, you can work on dining plans, if you choose to do any of the table service meals.  

Start thinking about what you want fast passes for so you can book them when it is your time.

I like to use touringplans.com for the crowd calendars and the fast pass needs.

Edit: I Googled! Lol. Just booked a character meal at Epcot. Thank you for the heads up to get it done now. Already weren't many options available there either. Thanks!

I was thinking of a character meal. I looked at the Cinderella one when we booked flights as it's the only one I know of, but that was already full. Is there a place that has all the character meal options listed?

Sorry for all the questions. I really appreciate your help!

[broadsheet]

Bonnet Creek or Waldorf if you want a great pool and resort amenities; Doubletree if you want to be near Disney Springs. (The regular Hiltons at Disney Springs are a bit tired, IMO.) Both will get you access to 60 day fast passes and extra magic hours.

[landmermaid]

May 12, 2019 10:42:11 GMT -5 broadsheet said:

Bonnet Creek or Waldorf if you want a great pool and resort amenities; Doubletree if you want to be near Disney Springs. (The regular Hiltons at Disney Springs are a bit tired, IMO.) Both will get you access to 60 day fast passes and extra magic hours.

Thank you! I'll look into these. I was leaning towards one of the regular Disney Springs Hiltons, their websites looked great! But their reviews echoed exactly what you were saying. Glad to have an honest opinion.

[jaycee]

You can make reservations for fast passes for rides at 30 days out, be sure to do that! Google a fast pass priority list for the park you're in, it'll tell you which rides to use a fast pass for and which rides don't necessarily need a fast pass.

Check out a map of the park and create a basic plan (going in one huge circle around Magic Kingdom - instead of criss crossing the park).

We kept our first trip simple and skipped the autograph book, pressed penny machines, etc. Some people have had lots of fun with those, but we wanted to keep it as simple as possible for the first trip.

Get to the park very very early (sometimes people recommend an hour before it even opens).

Look into the Early Morning Magic event, it's a separate ticketed event where you can enter certain lands two hours before the rest of the park opens. It includes breakfast. It was the best thing we did when we went in February. It's only available on certain days and for only Fantasyland/Tomorrowland in MK or Toy Story land in Hollywood Studios.

Youtube is an excellent resource. You can look up videos for any ride or for tips (Disney Food Blog does an excellent job).

What else are you wondering about? What do your kids love (princesses, star wars, etc)?

[milano]

We recently stayed at the Waldorf and were very happy with the transportation to the parks, the fact that we could see 2 fireworks shows from our room, and the pool. We went without our kids but used the pool at bonnet creek sometimes because it has a lazy river. We said if we went back without our kids and stayed offsite we would do Hilton bonnet creek for sure. The restaurants at both hotels were very good as well.

[curbsideprophet]

You can filter by character dining on the app or website

[ribollita]

A few do have 60 day fast pass privileges so I’d consider one of them. If you don’t care about a fancy pool I like the Doubletree at Disney Springs.

[landmermaid]

Thank you so much for those tips, jaycee. The early park opening sounds amazing!

I definitely have princess obsessed girls. I booked a princess character late lunch/early dinner thing in Epcot, but anything along the princess lines would be much loved.

[landmermaid]

Seriously. This has been so helpful. Thank you very much everyone!

[chocolatepie]

I loooove Hilton Bonnet Creek and Waldorf (next door). I did not love Doubletree at Disney Springs but see the value with children. I will pick Hilton Bonnet Creek/Waldorf over onsite Disney hotels almost everytime.

Bonnet Creek and Disney Springs hotels grant you 60 day FP and extra hours.

If there is a meal you really want to book, but it's currently not showing availability, don't stress. Set up a dining finder on TouringPlans.com - they will text/email you once it's available. There isn't a single restaurant that doesn't become available as trips grow closer (esp the week prior!). You have to join the site but don't have to subscribe to use the dining finder.

Just remember it's incredibly hot and humid in September, and hurricane season. Trip insurance would be worth purchasing due to the hurricanes that seem to love hitting in Sept. It also rains almost every afternoon that time of year so come prepared with ponchos, spare shoes, etc. Drink lots of water, esp if you're pregnant, and take breaks. It's usually best to hit the parks in the morning and then take an afternoon break.

[nicolewi]

You can mobile order at many quick-service sites. That would be a big help to you to minimize waiting.

You can bring princess dresses to put on and off over clothes if you want to, for meeting princesses. You can meet Anna & Elsa in Norway in Epcot. You can actually meet a lot of princesses in Epcot, although we didn't do that. I think they post the schedule (who will be available where & when) on the Disney app.

We really liked the Bon Voyage breakfast at Trattoria al Forno and the 1900 Park Fare dinner at Grand Floridian, for character meals. We were on the dining plan. Also Cinderella's Royal Table really is great but is usually booked.

Definitely book your fast passes early on the first day you can do so! You can move them around as you wish, but it's really important. Enchanted Tales with Belle is good to FP in the MK for your princess lovers, especially if that's more of a priority than the big thrill rides.

Absolutely stay for the MK fireworks show one night--it's amazing. Your girls would also probably love the parade.

[minniemouse]

We have done many character meals through the years! There’s a ton of options
Chef mickeys at the Contemporary - Mickey, minnie, goody, Pluto, Donald
Cinderella’s royal table -MK princesses
Crystal palace - MK - Winnie the Pooh and friends
Akershaus - Epcot princesses (food quality has gone way down in my opinion)
1900 Park Faire - grand Floridian- Cinderella, Prince Charming, evil stepmother and stepsisters - a lot of fun, but haven’t done it since 2012
Artists pointe - Wilderness lodge - Snow White, 2 dwarfs and evil queen. Did this one last month, it was fantastic!
My sister likes this one, but I’ve never been- Tusker house -animal kingdom. Mickey, Minnie and friends

[bowies]

Friends of ours just got back from staying at one of the DS Hiltons, I can post an update later with her thoughts. She did tell me that she booked FPs 62 days out. I didn’t believe her, but she showed me on her phone. It had to have been a glitch in the system. I was pretty jealous!

I would for sure prioritize a hotel that offers steady transportation to the parks and nice pools. September is a hot month there so dependable A/C and a cold swim will be important.

[humpforfree]

May 13, 2019 9:25:50 GMT -5 landmermaid said:

Seriously. This has been so helpful. Thank you very much everyone!

Hi!! We went in February. I’m a Disney lifer and have been a ton of times, but this was our first time with kids (and I hadn’t been in years). Anyway, like you have found there is so much to plan/schedule and I had no clue how to do it all 🤣 I actually ended up using a Disney planner and she helped me figure out what we wanted to do & then did all the scheduling for me. It was freaking amazing. And free. They are paid by Disney! Five stars. highly recommend. There are a couple on the board here! We used countthestars

[jeaniebueller]

I don't know if you can use points here, but we stayed here on our last trip and it was awesome

www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/hilton-grand-vacations-at-seaworld-ORLSWGV/index.html

[lishie]

The Doubletree at DS is all suites, so if you can use your points you'll get a bigger room and access to 60 day fast passes. I have a room booked there for a girls' trip. We have DVC, but all our points were allocated for the year so this bonus trip will be my first not in a disney hotel