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Looking to book for a young family later in the year – all the hotels around Disneyland look good : probably the Buena Vista one better but all offer early entry and rides to park etc.Any experiences and advice re : what is better.I have never been before but the ‘disney springs’ area does look good and something nice.Any recommendations / experiences ?
We have Hilton Lake Buena Vista Palace booked for August mainly for the pool / lazy river, the reviews aren’t great at the moment but I’m putting them down to post Covid high expectations and reduced service and ignoring!
We were in the Holiday Inn, but judt to confirm that Disney Springs is 100% the best area for families.
Free outdoor kids’ entertainment in the evenings/music/shops/eateries, etc.Like I say on all Orlando threads….
…. Orlando is the land of expensive mediocre hotels and cheap villas with great facilities. For the cost of your single hotel room you can likely get a 3-4 bedroom villa with your own pool – in a gated community that also has resort facilities comparable to a hotel.
Check out Solterra (my personal favourite in the price vs facilities sweetspot), Reunion, Encore, Champions Gate, Windsor Hills, etc, etc.
Disney Springs is pleasant and has a nice choice of restaurants, but it’s basically just a large shopping mall; you won’t want to spend more than 1 or 2 evenings there.
We had the Buena Vista Palace booked with Hilton points last November for a 5 night stay right at the end of our trip. We also saw the negative reviews and between those, the daily parking fee and the pretty poor bus service to the parks, we cancelled about 4 days out.
We thought about the Signia at Bonnet Creek instead but actually ended up paying cash for the Cabana Bay at Universal. £120 per night through Virgin holidays including parking and a free cocktail plus walking distance to Universal parks and an easy drive back to Disney when we wanted. We’d started our stay in Orlando there at the Royal Pacific hotel and were very happy to go back.
It was great going back to Disney last year when the US opened to us, but the crowds were insane and overall I much preferred the atmosphere and more relaxed pace at Universal.
I’m not so worried about the parking fee as with car hire astronomical at the moment we are planning to use Uber / Lift, early entry to the parks is going to be useful with a completely Star Wars mad 7 year old in tow as I hear the lines for Rise of the Resistance are crazy and we got a pretty good return on our points by booking early and a few strategic cancellations / re-booking. Still, not going till August so plenty of time to change my mind 🙂
I’m still torn about doing Universal to be honest but I have my eye on Royal Pacific if we do decide to switch.
Don’t get too caught up on being in one of the on-site Disney hotels.
Most of the major hotels offer bus transfers to Disney. Yes, it means you are restricted to certain arrival and departure times – but there is usually a considerable price differential. For some that’s the difference between two trips to Orlando and just one.
Be mindful if you have older children/teens that many hotels on International Drive are within walking distance of Universal, or 12-15 minute easy walk from the trolley stops at the junction of International Drive and Universal Boulevard.
When I visit Orlando, I usually stay at the Doubletree, Seaworld. It’s definitely not a “WOW” hotel with some areas quite dated and some rooms onto outside corridors. But there isn’t anything wrong with it. More importantly it’s on the direct service bus 111 route to MCO and Florida Mall that operates every 30 minutes, the trolleys stop outside, daily bus service to Disney, most of the major tourist coaches do pick ups and drop-offs and there’s a back gate directly to Seaworld.
Isn’t one of the main advantages of being onsite the enhanced Fastpass which you can get? Or has that all gone now Genie is a thing?
Hey everyone thank you for the comments and thoughts : wealth of knowledge.Will look into the fast pass bit too before I book.Also thank you for pointing out not so nice reviews of the hotel.Will look at alternates too
There is a waldorf astoria in orlando I believe? I have no personal experience of staying there but might be worth considering as an alternative
Hey everyone thank you for the comments and thoughts : wealth of knowledge.Will look into the fast pass bit too before I book.Also thank you for pointing out not so nice reviews of the hotel.Will look at alternates too
Hi again, Ali: not sure of your “type” of trip, but one more thing about the Holiday Inn for families is that the rooms
have microwave and fridge, so just gives a little more flexibility over eating.
Oh, and Uber to park was extremely easy and cheap!Hey everyone thank you for the comments and thoughts : wealth of knowledge.Will look into the fast pass bit too before I book.Also thank you for pointing out not so nice reviews of the hotel.Will look at alternates too
Hi again, Ali: not sure of your “type” of trip, but one more thing about the Holiday Inn for families is that the rooms
have microwave and fridge, so just gives a little more flexibility over eating.
Oh, and Uber to park was extremely easy and cheap!thank you this is helpful
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