Travel Need HELP! Disneyland FL

Soleil

Soleil

twilight
Mar 31, 2006
998
4
#1
After all these years, I am finally going to set foot on the long awaited Disneyland FL:yahoo:
My hubby and I will be bringing along our 3 kids - 18, 7 & 4. Are there any good Hotels or Resorts nearby? The tour agent recommended the Westgate Towers but I would love to hear more about the hotel resorts / villa from you all. So excited now..... :drool: oh, forgot to mention, we'll be there in June:woohoo:
 
#2
Are you renting a car? I stayed in a condo in Kissimmee with friends and we really needed a car to get around even though we were very close to Disneyworld, so thankfully we had rented.

The whole family went a couple of years ago & we stayed at one of the Disney value resorts - not the best hotel but a good value & had a pool, restaurant/bar & transportation via bus to all the Disney parks so no rental was needed.

I guess it depends what you're looking for & how long you'll be there.
 
#3
If I was going with three kids, I would hire a car.

But I don't recommend the Disney hotels - they are super busy, takes you like 10 minutes past the entrance to get to your room, maids wake you up at like 6:30, the pool area is packed with people and its hard to breath!

When I was last in orlando, I stayed in a nice villa rented from Last Minute Villas that was about 15 mins approx from most of the parks.
Heres the site; http://www.lastminutevillas.net/
 
#4
I think you should stay on site if you want to get the full disney experience! I dont know how much you are looking to spend but Disney's Animal Kingdom lodge and the Grand Floridian are both amazinggggg!
 
#5
With a 4 and 7 year old, I would stay in one of the Disney Hotels that is close to the monorail. That way if one of them gets tired, you can get to your hotel without leaving the park. I've stayed at the Contemporary and it was nice being close to the resort just to be able to go back and take a nap, or swim.
 
#6
If you are going to go to DisneyWorld for more than a day, you really ought to stay in a resort within DisneyWorld. The Disney All-Star resorts are reasonably priced, and it is much easier to get around to the parks using Disney's transportation system, for which there is no extra fee.

We stay at the Beach Club Resort, which is right outside of Epcot. It's pricey, but we love it.
 
#7
Westgate Towers has its own agents all over the place to recruit customers. They often give out these 'tours' with a discount to Disney World that are aimed to sort of bribe people to stay at their resort. Their agents often say stuff like 'we are paying you for your time'. Their place is kind of pricey though. Can't say if it's a good place to stay or not as I have never stayed there myself. But that's what I've heard of them.

I strongly recommend Mike Ditka Runaway Beach Club. Trust me, after staying there, you will be staying there again on your next vacay to Orlando. They have near perfect testimonials from their customers, and I am one of them. Their resort is like a little piece of paradise. I can go on forever about it but I think I have already blabbed on and on about it in another thread I'll just provide you with the website:

http://www.runawaybeachhotel.com/

Have fun!
 
#8
oh thank you all so much for your input! :yes: I am checking out the links now. Just a bit annoyed that my agent gave me such limited choices of resorts.

We are planning to spend at least 7 days in Orlando, and since the kids are coming along, I have a feeling we are going to be at the Disney World the whole time!:nuts: Hmm.... does Disney World offer any weekly pass/ticket? I'm weary of driving in a completely new environment, so taking public transport is the only way to go.

Grand Floridian is calling out to me.... but it's soooo pricey for a week's stay!:sad:

Anyway, keep your ideas coming, gladly appreciate it!!:tup:
 
#9
I'm going to Disney World in May! I'm so excited. I already booked a hotel. It's Disney's Port Orleans Riverside. I recommend that you book a Disney hotel too. They offer freepickup and dropoff from the airport, free on property transportation, and extra magic hours in the morning or afternoon on certain days. That extra magic hours is when you can get in to a certain park 1 hour earlier in the morning or stay 3 hours past their closing time.

One resource I've found very helpful has been http://www.disboards.com
The people who post there love Disney like we love our bags. :P

Did you order the free trip planning DVD and map from the Disney site yet? That's really helpful in helping you to select a Disney hotel.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. It's my first time too but I've done a lot of research and I already booked my whole trip.
 
#10
http://www.tripadvisor.com

Check that site out for reviews and photos people have taken of hotels. I found that really helpful in making my decision for which hotel to stay at.

As for your question about tickets, you can add that to your room key if you go with a Disney hotel. I'm going for 7 days too. It costs less if you buy your ticket for more days.
 
#11
No joke, I have been there over 34 times through out my life =( I am 19 now and my parents still go there, sometimes I tag along with the fam. We usually stay at the grand Floridian and sometimes at the Yacht club. I would suggest renting a car because you are free to visit other places besides Disney. If you want to visit the local grocery store its also a plus. The local transportation is also great because they are always on time.

Disney now has this community for people to live in, its quite amazing because its so out of the norm. It's like something out of desperate housewife's. Make it a stop on you trip, you wont regret it. I think my parents are going to invest in a place down there. It's called celebration.

If you have any questions PM me =)
 
#12
Soleil said:
oh thank you all so much for your input! :yes: I am checking out the links now. Just a bit annoyed that my agent gave me such limited choices of resorts.

We are planning to spend at least 7 days in Orlando, and since the kids are coming along, I have a feeling we are going to be at the Disney World the whole time!:nuts: Hmm.... does Disney World offer any weekly pass/ticket? I'm weary of driving in a completely new environment, so taking public transport is the only way to go.

Grand Floridian is calling out to me.... but it's soooo pricey for a week's stay!:sad:

Anyway, keep your ideas coming, gladly appreciate it!!:tup:
Click to expand...

I stayed at the Runaway Beach Club for the week I was there and they have a complimentary shuttle bus that takes you to Epcot. Once you get there, Disney has its own complimentary shuttle buses to take you to the other 3 parks. It's also very close to the resort. I'd say about a 10 minute or so drive.

If you want something that is very affordable yet VERY luxurious, I'd strongly recommend this resort.
 
#13
Soleil said:
oh thank you all so much for your input! :yes: I am checking out the links now. Just a bit annoyed that my agent gave me such limited choices of resorts.

We are planning to spend at least 7 days in Orlando, and since the kids are coming along, I have a feeling we are going to be at the Disney World the whole time!:nuts: Hmm.... does Disney World offer any weekly pass/ticket? I'm weary of driving in a completely new environment, so taking public transport is the only way to go.

Grand Floridian is calling out to me.... but it's soooo pricey for a week's stay!:sad:

Anyway, keep your ideas coming, gladly appreciate it!!:tup:
Click to expand...

If you don't want to drive I definitely recommend staying at one of the disney resorts.
When we went there was not a long wait for the buses (we went during Thanksgiving week maybe was slower? IDK). They all lined up at the resort & you got on the one going to which park you wanted. Really it was so easy. Plus there were 8 of us - we would have needed more than 1 rental to make everyone happy. If you think you'll be @ Disney the whole time I say stay with Disney!
 
#14
Living in Miami, we go to Disney often with the grandkids. We stay inside the resort, where, once you get there from the Airport you don't need a car if you stay at either
Hard Rock Hotel Resort
Royal Pacific Hotel Resort.

These two are our favorites.....plenty of choices room wise, they have both van services and boat services to take you to Universal and many restaurants. Both of them have plenty of restaurant options inside and plenty of activities for the kids and adults. I don't know which one I like most of the two., both are great.

There is also the Disney Grand Floridian with its own beach., we have not stayed at that one yet.:heart:H
 
#15
Archipelago said:
I'm going to Disney World in May! I'm so excited. I already booked a hotel. It's Disney's Port Orleans Riverside. I recommend that you book a Disney hotel too. They offer freepickup and dropoff from the airport, free on property transportation, and extra magic hours in the morning or afternoon on certain days. That extra magic hours is when you can get in to a certain park 1 hour earlier in the morning or stay 3 hours past their closing time.

One resource I've found very helpful has been http://www.disboards.com
The people who post there love Disney like we love our bags. :P

Did you order the free trip planning DVD and map from the Disney site yet? That's really helpful in helping you to select a Disney hotel.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. It's my first time too but I've done a lot of research and I already booked my whole trip.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info!! I've just registered at the disboards.com ;) That site is really as you said it is, they love Disney World as much as we love our bags!!
 
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