Has anyone stayed at a non-Disney hotel?

[bajam]

When we went to WDW for the first time we were only there for 4 days. We had a bit of sticker shock at the price. With a family of 5 it is expensive at the Disney hotels. My DH collects points for a brand of hotels. The hotel is in DTD and it will be renovated this Nov. I was thinking it would be great to be able to use his points for a trip so the hotel stay is free. We didn't make it to DTD on our trip so I don't know anything about that area.

Has anyone here stayed at DTD? Is it a pain to get to the parks? Did you miss out on the Disney feel of things?

It sure would be cheaper to just pay for tickets and food.

[arob414]

We have stayed at the Marriott Springhill Suites in Lake Buena Vista and loved it. We went a friend of mine and her neice so we needed something that slept 5. Price was good, location was just outside the DTD gates. We spent so much time in Disney that not staying there didn't detract. However, we really like staying in the park, flew the last time so staying there was a good, too. Next yr, there will be 6 of us, including a 2 yr old so we are looking at either a family suite at All Star Music or separate rooms at Pop Century.

[kimntrent]

We have stayed at bonnet Creek right next door to Carribean beach and you can usually get some good vacation club getaway prices. They have awesome transportation and we have stayed at the Westin and Sheraton Dolphin and Swan which is awesome too and the Sheraton Vistansa. When we stayed at the Westin it was 100 a night and would have been cheaper with points.

[bartleby1]

We have never stayed at a DTD hotel, however, we did stay offsite for our first few trips. Once we tried onsite though, I have to say I don't think I'd stay offsite again unless it was a really, really, really good deal because to me it just doesn't feel the same.

However, FREE is really hard to pass up! And I do think that a hotel in DTD would be better than where we used to stay (usually out on I-drive). I think I'd strongly consider it if you had the points to stay for free. That is very tempting!

Otherwise, for a family of 5, your cheapest onsite option is POR. It is the only mod that lets you stay with 5. If you are willing to do value season, rack rate is $149 but you can usually get some kind of discount. We're going in August this year and paying $149 for 6 nites but getting free dining. Then for the next 6 nites we have a 40% off room code so it brings it down to $89.40. I think that is very reasonable for onsite.

Good luck with your decision!

[fourfoxesinpa]

I think you're talking about the new Holiday Inn. If so, we stayed there when it was a Marriott and liked the location. Since the Downtown Disney area has a bus service, we felt like we were "in" and you could just walk to Downtown Disney (nice walk, but you could walk). DH now racks up Priority Club points and we'll be trying out that Holiday Inn during the marathon.

When he was earning Marriott points, we stayed at the Marriott Grande Vista and the Residence Inn across from Sea World which we really, really liked. It gets great reviews at Tripadvisor but, you do miss out on the feeling you get by being onsite. But, that feeling isn't so important when there's no hotel charge.

If it's free...it's for me.

(pssst...I hope you're booking his hotel stays through Intercontinental at SR and maximizing his points with the promotion codes found on another board that specialized in frequent flyer points/bonuses)

[sunshinecindy]

We always stay at the Orlando Vista Hotel. I love it. Its clean and they give you a fresh hot choc chip cookie when you check in. Nice pool, kiddie pool, hot tub, very clean rooms and within walking distance of downtown Disney. People usually refer to it as the Pineapple hotel. Oh ya, they havea little bar in there, and a cute little restaruant thats cheap but they are right next to tons of restaurants and a drugstore that sells Disney stuff cheap.

[bajam]

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like free outweighs staying onsite! Hopefully I can get the logistics worked out.

He used to travel all the time, but has not been the last couple of years. I did see that you can book through SR. We tried it for his upcoming trip. I have my fingers crossed that it works because it's a doozy of a trip. Can you PM me the site you were referring to about the promotion codes? I don't think I know what that one is.

I was talking about the Holiday Inn. They've been renovating it forever. It should be nice, then. Is it in DTD, like in a location we could easily catch a bus from?

[fourfoxesinpa]

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like free outweighs staying onsite! Hopefully I can get the logistics worked out.

He used to travel all the time, but has not been the last couple of years. I did see that you can book through SR. We tried it for his upcoming trip. I have my fingers crossed that it works because it's a doozy of a trip. Can you PM me the site you were referring to about the promotion codes? I don't think I know what that one is.

I was talking about the Holiday Inn. They've been renovating it forever. It should be nice, then. Is it in DTD, like in a location we could easily catch a bus from?

There is a strip of hotels on Hotel Plaza Boulevard. That's where the Holiday Inn is located. The Downtown Disney Hotels have their own bus system and it was very easy and frequent, the last time we stayed there. Now, it was some time ago but on our June trip, we often saw the DTD buses. I'll PM the name of the frequent flyer mileage site to you.

They have been taking a looooooong time to finish up those renovations!

[~Kathie]

I've stayed at the Doubletree (Hilton) free on points several times and it was great. We always have a car so don't rely on the DTD transportation.

Free is best....and it is part of the Disney Good Neighbor Hotel system.