Dingdongler

Hi

Had some very helpful advice from members here a few weeks ago. I'm now closer to booking. Can anybody tell me whether there is any advantage to staying at one of the Disney world hotels, or are they best avoided?

Thanks

FlightMan

Extra Magic Hours. Exclusive park access for Disney guests only. Normally an hour before the park opens or a hour after it shuts.

Free car parking. Saves $14 a day.

Dingdongler

Thanks FM, but do these advantages outweigh any potential downsides?

Thanks again

mike2.5subaru

Hi, I've stayed at The All Star Music hotel twice and they are the lower end of the Disney hotels. They are all very good. The All Star Music rooms are as good as any I've stayed in, very clean & quiet 10/10. The pools are also 10/10 warm & clean. the food hall is like a Mcdonalds in that its fast food, but with more choice and some salad type meals, the same as 95% of the affordable food that you're likely to buy in the parks, but it is good for what it is. Downsides... I can't think of any, other than going off site, but if you want to go say, shopping the the hotel run trips or cheaper taxis for the odd day. if this is your first time then you won't find much spare time to do much more than the Disney parcs... Positives... the bus system is amazing, max. 10 minute wait, min. waiting for you in the onsite bus park, to sum it up, If iI was going for the first time or to mainly do disney the it would be All Star Music, coach transfer, (no need for car) and Disney Ultimate tickets. hope this helps Mike

FlightMan

Downside is it's Disney 24/7. I'ma big fan but it's too much of a good thing. Get a nice villa, and chill is my advice.

Dingdongler

Thanks Mike and FM

I'm spending one week away from Disney, probably in Clearwater. So for the week I intend to do Disney, Seaworld, Bush Gardens etc perhaps it would be better to stay in a Disney hotel? I will get away from it after a week so its not as though I won't see anything else of the region.

I'd appreciate your thoughts as I really need to make my mind up very soon

FlightMan

Busch Gardens is Clearwater way, I'd leave that to week two.

If you're only there for 7 days and want the full on Disney experience then a Disney hotel is the way to go! Depending on your budget, if it's a once in a lifetime experience, then The Grand Floridian takes some beating.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

I rented a house near the parks saved a fortune at the time but that was in 1990 so and can't remember where i got the info at the time.
But the internet is your friend.

Kev_turbo

Just got back from disney last weekend, we stayed in one of the downtown disney affiliated hotels, there is a holiday inn, hilton, wyndham lake, double trees and a couple of others.

Much cheaper than the actual disney ones, 10-15 minutes by free bus to the parks, 5 minutes walk from downtown disney(shops, eateries, etc) itself. 5 minutes walk from an offsite retail place with supermarket for cheap water/beer/etc, TGI's, curry house, other eateries.

They all have decent pools and are all a high standard although we stayed there 7 days with a 6 day disney pass and only used the pool for 2 sessions and the hotel for sleeping in. If you plan on hammering the parks like we did then you won't need much from a hotel, save yourself some cash.

Kev

Kev_turbo

We also didnt bother with a car, airport to hotel is $50 each way and like I said once in Disney all the bus transfers are free. Seaworld was going to be $30 round trip by taxi if we went. Hotel parking is $10 a night minimum, parking at the parks $14 a day

little-ginge

We stayed away from the disney hotels. Stayed in one of them when we went ot Eurodisney, and as above it's nice to have a break away from all things Disney.

it depends on what you want from your holiday, but we get a car everytime. That way we can please ourselves what we do & when, and if you want to go to the malls and outlet places you can just get in and go.

All the hotels in Orlando are within a short drive of the different parks. If you go to Universal, its worth paying the few $ extra to have the equivalent of VIP parking. If you have kids, after walking round the parks all day, the hike back to the normal car park would be murder.

If you do stay off site, go here for your tickets - we used them, and although the place looks like a doss motel when you drive in, the guy is really helpful, and even gave us upgrades FOC on both our Universal & Disney tickets..and they were cheaper to start with!!
http://www.mapleleaftickets.com/aboutus.htm

Busch Gardens is fabulous- about 1.5 drive from orlando iirc. Stay down in Clearwater. the beach is superb. and you HAVE to do the safari tour at busch.. it looks like they have split it into 3 parts, but you get to go 'behind the scenes' and see some of the animals close up, and help feed them. To hand feed a giraffe is beyond words. We also fed a black rhino, baby pygmy hippo and got to sit right next to the orangutans 'private' enclosure, and get to see and experience about the endangered species protection breeding programme that Busch Gardens are involved with. It costs extra but is well worth doing.

mamoon2

You can do that at Knowsley Safari Park

billythekid

What time of year are you going? Drop me a line.

Leslie

Crystal Springs is worth a visit in the Tampa direction. Nice ride in a glass bottom boat and a load of very tame deer.

Les

Dingdongler

Thanks for all the info.

LG, thanks for the heads up on the tickets.

Billy, the plan is to go first week of June.

Can I ask will it be mega busy at that time of year? Do they have any sort of queue jumping tickets you can purchase?

Also I've had some packages priced up by Virgin holidays. Can somebody give me an idea of what something like this would cost if I booked it via an independent agent?

http://www.virginholidays.co.uk/broc...lands_reserve/



Thanks again

FlightMan

June is the start of the US school summer holidays.
Fastpass tickets are available in all of the Disney parks, FOC.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

What do you want to spend? We had a 4 bed villa with a pool on a gated estate - $1250 for two weeks. Equivalent hotel costs was a lot more.

We were 20mins from Disney, Seaworld and Universal.

Mifo

iTrader: (10)

yes get a house ,probably wont be much different in price.

I used to go to florida every year but not been for about 4 now.

little-ginge

Gazzy_b

iTrader: (3)

For the amount of time you're in the hotel, i'd personally recommend staying elsewhere, and using another hotel.

We go to Orlando every other year, in fact got back last month, and stayed at the Holiday Inn International Airport, was a great hotel, great price, and well located for everything.

It was the first time we'd stayed off International Drive, and we liked the fact that there was no long waits to get into the local restaurants.

One thing we did comment on this time round was how much more expensive it seemed to previous years, a sign of a changing economy for sure, so save a couple of thousand dollars on the hotel you'll very rarely be in for extra spending money

The Zohan

YHPM

WRXBOB

If you go in hurrican season don't start a thread when you get back moaning about the weather!
In my opinion, spring time is the best tiem to go to florida.

DCI Gene Hunt

Don't wander round looking for a late night party...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13110039