If you've been to Disney

[idoinjuly]

Is staying at one of the themed hotels an important part of the whole experience?  Or can I get a $65 hotel on Hotwire and still have fun?  I have no idea about anything to do with Disney, but we're thinking about attending a relative's wedding then tacking on a few days at Disney so I want to start doing my homework.

[karinothing]

I have never stayed at a theme hotel and have always had plenty of fun

[vicky]

The best part about staying on disney property are the transportation benefits and early/late admission to parks. But otherwise, it's no better than any other resort.

[LynnWriter]

I'm a bit of a Disney nut, and we travel there at least once every year, so take this for what it's worth:

OHMIGOSH YES YOU HAVE TO STAY IN A DISNEY HOTEL!

Value hotel preference: Pop Century
Moderate hotel preference: Port Orleans Riverside
Deluxe hotel preference: Polynesian

[hopecounts]

They are fun but not essential.
The perks (easy transport to and from the parks, early in and late out, etc.) are fabulous though.
And if you have young kids or anyone who may need to head back early for any reason the not needing 2 cars and it being easy for them to head back when they want/need to may be worth the money.
The value resorts are good and not that pricey (not cheap but not insane).
There are also hotels that are not in the park but are right at the property that have shuttle service. We stayed at one when we went when I was 6 months pregnant (family thing) and it was awesome day 1 I was worn out so I hopped the shuttle and went to take a nap so I could enjoy the fireworks later that night while everyone else stayed and had fun. It makes it easier for everyone to do what they want without messing up eachother's fun.

[goaskalice]

Having grown up in SoCal and gone to Disneyland from my own boring house, I say it's fun regardless of where you stay. But the extra benefits of the Disney hotels in FL may outweigh the savings of staying just anywhere.

[RoxMonster]

We stayed out of the park when we went in '07. I think it was called the Sheraton Safari. It wasn't like an OMG wonderful hotel, but it had a nice enough pool and hot tub and free shuttles to all of the parks very regularly, so getting to WDW was never an issue. It was a fraction of the price of a Disney resort.

ETA: It was so affordable, that my package of round-trip plane ticket from Chicago plus 4 nights at this hotel was $380. Seriously.

[Deleted]

Do Hotwire.  We stayed at a Disney hotel last time and it is crazy overpriced.  With what we spent on a moderate resort we could have gotten a 4+ star on Hotwire or Priceline.  Then the resort food is crazy overpriced.  It turned into such an expensive trip and really didn't have to be.

We are going next week and I got a nice Westin resort on priceline.  It's rated 4.5/5 on tripadvisor and we're paying under $100 a night. 

We stayed at the Disney Port Orleans last time for well over $100 a night (maybe $150 but I can't remember), and we could have gotten an equivalent type hotel for around $65 on Hotwire.

[madringal]

We stayed on property when we went this month and it was a great experience. The shuttles made it easy to get back and forth.

As soon as you know when you are going, book your charachter dining. They fill up fast!

[copperboom]

The theme aspect is not important at all, but I will never stay off property at Disney. It's so, so nice to have transportation to and from the parks, and be able to leave and come back easily. We left every day around one for naps and came back around 4. Also, anything you purchase in the parks can be sent to your hotel at no charge, so you don't have to lug around bags. And you get the extra magic hour, aka early admission to one of the parks each day for guests on Disney property. I have stayed both on and off property, and it is so, so worth the extra money.

[Deleted]

We never stay on property. I'd rather have a spacious condo or suite in the Lake Buena Vista/Downtown Disney area than pay more money for s small, standard hotel room. You can find some great places with amazing pools within a mile of the main gate. Disney hotels are a rip-off.


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[rex]

No. I've been to Disney over a dozen times.

Sometimes we rented a house, sometimes we stayed at a cheapo Embassy Suites right outside the park, and only once or twice did we stay on property. My baby sister is spoiled because my parents are Vacation Club members now so she stays at Disney hotels where you walk out the door and you are IN the park already. It's not necessary and she never even talks about the hotel. So spending extra is not worth it.

My advice? Pick a cheap hotel with a pool near the park that has shuttles to the park.

[dragonfly08]

Depends on what you're looking for. I've done both. A Disney vacation is always fun, regardless of whether I'm on or off property, but there's definitely a different feel when you're surrounded by the theme and you can rely on Disney transportation and take advantage of extra hours and Magical Express to and from the airport (if you fly). Plus, now when I go I have two kids and the theming is a huge part of *their* experience, which in turn really impacts me, so it'll be a long while before I stay off property again!

[Deleted]

Jun 29, 2013 12:30:50 GMT -5 @kirkette said:

I don't think it matters.
Never stayed at a property for Disneyland as we are locals.
We stayed at Port Orleans at Disneyworld for a race weekend. It was great! We had originally booked All Star Sports. However, after being there overnight we quickly realized it was out of our comfort zone , and switched.

How was it out of your comfort zone?

[idoinjuly]

Thank you for your replies, ladies! You've given me something to think about. The transportation would be great. I don't know how much we would use the extra hour before and after the parks open. I wonder what the odds are that we'd get a hotel on property through Hotwire. I'm going to check out betterbidding.com and see what hotels people have gotten. If we do decide to go, I'm sure I'll have a bazillion more questions. I haven't been since I was a kid.

[pooh8402]

Jun 29, 2013 11:44:43 GMT -5 vino said:

We never stay on property. I'd rather have a spacious condo or suite in the Lake Buena Vista/Downtown Disney area than pay more money for s small, standard hotel room. You can find some great places with amazing pools within a mile of the main gate. Disney hotels are a rip-off.


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This is what we did and I loved it. A condo within walking distance to Downtown Disney. We rented one vehicle, went to a park in the evening, back to the hotel in the afternoon for naps, then back to the parks about 5ish.

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[vicky]

Jun 29, 2013 12:51:36 GMT -5 @godawgs said:

Jun 29, 2013 12:30:50 GMT -5 @kirkette said:

I don't think it matters.
Never stayed at a property for Disneyland as we are locals.
We stayed at Port Orleans at Disneyworld for a race weekend. It was great! We had originally booked All Star Sports. However, after being there overnight we quickly realized it was out of our comfort zone , and switched.

How was it out of your comfort zone?

It's better to stay in the Moderates - my favorites are Old Key West and Caribbean.

The All Stars are dark, small, and the room I stayed in smelled like mildew. You get what you pay for, really. Also, the buses run a lot less frequently to the All Stars.

[kristie]

I want to try the new cheap Disney one. I know addy would love it. Art of animation. They have a nemo pool/splash park and affordable suites.

[wannabe]

if we're talking World, i'm with PP who said they'd never stay off-property. it's such a clusterfuck over there (compared to the ease of the much smaller disneyland resort, anyway) and it's nice to have the shuttles and the package delivery and all of those things.

[hymen]

We just stayed off property for the first time last week and I couldn't believe how much time was added just in terms of transportation. You need to factor a good hour from the time you leave the parks until you get back to your hotel, (or vice versa) especially if leaving/arriving at peak times. For example, there at Magic Kingdom there is no parking lot immediately outside the park. You have to park at the ticket and transportation center, which is accessible to MK by other ferry boat or monorail. So you park at the center, take a tram (which often has long lines) or walk to the center (about 10-15 minute walk depending how far out our car is parked), then wait in line for monorail or ferry boat, and then a 5-10 minute ride to MK gates.

Honestly, even though it's cheaper to stay off property, the benefits are much better. You can get extra magic hours and knowing that your hotel is only a bus ride away is amazing. The value resorts (All Stars or Pop Century) are actually really nice and not much more than a regular hotel per night.

Also, when are you going? Sometimes you can get free dining plans depending on time of year. There's a promotion for free dining in September right now.

[hymen]

Jun 29, 2013 12:07:05 GMT -5 rex said:

No. I've been to Disney over a dozen times.

Sometimes we rented a house, sometimes we stayed at a cheapo Embassy Suites right outside the park, and only once or twice did we stay on property. My baby sister is spoiled because my parents are Vacation Club members now so she stays at Disney hotels where you walk out the door and you are IN the park already. It's not necessary and she never even talks about the hotel. So spending extra is not worth it.

My advice? Pick a cheap hotel with a pool near the park that has shuttles to the park.

Yeah, my ILs are vacation club members. Last time we were with them we stayed at the Boardwalk and were within walking distance of Epcot and Studios. It was so hard to go from that to staying off property. My H and I are probably going to buy into DVC here within the next year.

[tacokick]

We stayed at the Grand Floridan and it was awesome.

[papie]

We only went once to WDW and stayed at the polynesian. It was amazing. The number one thing was proximity. We could go back to the room for a quick nap, swim, rest and then go back to the park right after. With young children, it is priceless.

[ilikedonuts]

Jun 29, 2013 14:14:37 GMT -5 hymen said:

Jun 29, 2013 12:07:05 GMT -5 rex said:

No. I've been to Disney over a dozen times.

Sometimes we rented a house, sometimes we stayed at a cheapo Embassy Suites right outside the park, and only once or twice did we stay on property. My baby sister is spoiled because my parents are Vacation Club members now so she stays at Disney hotels where you walk out the door and you are IN the park already. It's not necessary and she never even talks about the hotel. So spending extra is not worth it.

My advice? Pick a cheap hotel with a pool near the park that has shuttles to the park.

Yeah, my ILs are vacation club members. Last time we were with them we stayed at the Boardwalk and were within walking distance of Epcot and Studios. It was so hard to go from that to staying off property. My H and I are probably going to buy into DVC here within the next year.

We own DVC (at Bay Lake Tower) and we are so spoiled now. I don't see how we could ever stay in anything other than a 1 bedroom (on property through DVC) now that we have a kid (and one on the way).

[lolly]

I've never gone with kids but the 2 times I have gone I stayed in Disney hotels and really enjoyed them.

The Grand Floridian was really nice and I loved being able to take the monorail (this was over 10 years ago though).

I also stayed at Coronado Springs for a work conference just a couple years ago and it was lovely. The buses to the parks were very convenient.

[hymen]

I would like to buy into Bay alike but my H wants an Epcot resort. We are looking st buying resale at Bowrdwalk or Beach Club. Not sure what sort of limitations there are when you don't buy directly from Disney, so we have to look into it first.

[jgb]

Another vote for staying on property. My favorite is Wilderness Lodge. The rooms are great. The resort is compact (so not a lot of walking to get to your room or restaurants). The pool is awesome. And the very best part is the boat that takes you from your hotel to the entrance of MK. With small kids, this is the very best way to travel IMO. We'd leave our room, and within 20 minutes we are inside MK. And, tons of buses to the other parks and resorts for your visits there. That's where we stay typically, although if I can get a decent deal, next time I'd like to try the Polynesian or Grand Floridian.

[ilikedonuts]

Jun 29, 2013 17:04:04 GMT -5 hymen said:

I would like to buy into Bay alike but my H wants an Epcot resort. We are looking st buying resale at Bowrdwalk or Beach Club. Not sure what sort of limitations there are when you don't buy directly from Disney, so we have to look into it first.

Not much on the resale restrictions really. You can't use your posts for Disney cruises or Disney Collection (non-DVC disney hotels). But neither are really a good use of points anyways. Its better to rent your points and then just pay cash for the cruise or other hotel.

We just stayed at Animal Kingdom Village- Kidani last month and DH was like "we will never stay anywhere other than Bay Lake and maybe an Epcot resort while we have young kids." Bay Lake being walking distance to Magic Kingdom is just way too convenient!

[RandZB]

We stay on property for the transportation, the dining plan, and the delivery service back to the room. I also like being able to charge things to the room so I only need my key to the world card instead of money/debit card.

[Deleted]

As a child, we never stayed in property and I still had a blast. I would love to use the Disney resorts, but it just is not in the budget.