clonetopia
Cheap Father of Four
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2014
We had such a great experience here in August 2014 that I had to come and post. We are a family of six so we can not fit into a standard on-site room. We have always stayed on-site but our youngest turned four so she finally "counted". In order to save money we headed off-site.
The rooms had been recently updated and felt very modern. Everything was clean and well maintained. The halls were clean and quiet. We put two kids on the sleeper sofa in the front room. We left it unfolded every day and housekeeping re-made it up as a third bed. They even realized that kids were sleeping there and made up their animals into "scenes", kind of like Disney housekeeping.
I have read in reviews of other hotels that there have been issues of theft but I don't see how that would happen here. With four kids we have plenty of electronics. We left out multiple laptops, iPhones, iPods, Vinylmations, pins and loose change and not one thing was ever missing.
We used the bus system that is provided. The time leaving the hotel varies a little bit and we never quite figured out that schedule but the pick-up times in the park were within five minutes of the posted time.
The pool was nice, although not overly large. There is a splash pad for little ones and a hot tub, too. We swam every day and it was never more than 8 people in the pool.
The breakfast buffet was included in the price of our room. The listed price for breakfast was $18/person. There was fresh fruit, eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, waffles, pastries and made-to-order omelets. We were only supposed to get vouchers for two adults and two children but when we checked in they asked us how many kids we had and they threw in two more vouchers (for all 10 days we were there) for free. Breakfast is served from 6AM-11AM, I think.
Laundry services are available on the top floor. They are a little pricey but take a credit card. There is a small Disney store in the lobby that sells park merchandise and also a separate dry goods shop run by the hotel that sold soda, snacks, and toiletries.
Room service is pretty good. If feeding kids, the room service pizza was pretty good. We ordered from Uno (about a block away) one night. The food came in an hour and was cold/chewy. Kinda expensive, too. Room service came quickly and was fresh. Plus, they came to our room so we didn't have to go down to the lobby to get it. Price was about a third less of having it delivered, too.
The hotel is technically within waling distance of Downtown Disney (about a half-mile)? They do run a bus from the hotel but it only comes every half-hour so if you miss it you might as well walk.
Hilton HHonors Silver members get wi-fi for free, otherwise it is $10/night per device. Someone told me the wi-fi was free in the lobby but I didn't check it out. There are also terminals that you can use for free.
We used the MouseSavers link to get a rate for $109/night. To get a suite that would sleep all six for us plus free quality breakfast and bus transportation, all for $109/night, is crazy to me. It would cost at least twice that on-site.
If there is one big thing that I would change it would be the $15/night parking fee. Free in-room wi-fi in the would probably be nice, too. Especially since you can get free wi-fi in the parks now. Even with the extra fee(s) I think you are getting a great room at a great price. My wife and I couldn't stop talking about how "lucky" we were to be in this room/hotel. It's going to be our default choice for future trips.
The rooms had been recently updated and felt very modern. Everything was clean and well maintained. The halls were clean and quiet. We put two kids on the sleeper sofa in the front room. We left it unfolded every day and housekeeping re-made it up as a third bed. They even realized that kids were sleeping there and made up their animals into "scenes", kind of like Disney housekeeping.
I have read in reviews of other hotels that there have been issues of theft but I don't see how that would happen here. With four kids we have plenty of electronics. We left out multiple laptops, iPhones, iPods, Vinylmations, pins and loose change and not one thing was ever missing.
We used the bus system that is provided. The time leaving the hotel varies a little bit and we never quite figured out that schedule but the pick-up times in the park were within five minutes of the posted time.
The pool was nice, although not overly large. There is a splash pad for little ones and a hot tub, too. We swam every day and it was never more than 8 people in the pool.
The breakfast buffet was included in the price of our room. The listed price for breakfast was $18/person. There was fresh fruit, eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, waffles, pastries and made-to-order omelets. We were only supposed to get vouchers for two adults and two children but when we checked in they asked us how many kids we had and they threw in two more vouchers (for all 10 days we were there) for free. Breakfast is served from 6AM-11AM, I think.
Laundry services are available on the top floor. They are a little pricey but take a credit card. There is a small Disney store in the lobby that sells park merchandise and also a separate dry goods shop run by the hotel that sold soda, snacks, and toiletries.
Room service is pretty good. If feeding kids, the room service pizza was pretty good. We ordered from Uno (about a block away) one night. The food came in an hour and was cold/chewy. Kinda expensive, too. Room service came quickly and was fresh. Plus, they came to our room so we didn't have to go down to the lobby to get it. Price was about a third less of having it delivered, too.
The hotel is technically within waling distance of Downtown Disney (about a half-mile)? They do run a bus from the hotel but it only comes every half-hour so if you miss it you might as well walk.
Hilton HHonors Silver members get wi-fi for free, otherwise it is $10/night per device. Someone told me the wi-fi was free in the lobby but I didn't check it out. There are also terminals that you can use for free.
We used the MouseSavers link to get a rate for $109/night. To get a suite that would sleep all six for us plus free quality breakfast and bus transportation, all for $109/night, is crazy to me. It would cost at least twice that on-site.
If there is one big thing that I would change it would be the $15/night parking fee. Free in-room wi-fi in the would probably be nice, too. Especially since you can get free wi-fi in the parks now. Even with the extra fee(s) I think you are getting a great room at a great price. My wife and I couldn't stop talking about how "lucky" we were to be in this room/hotel. It's going to be our default choice for future trips.