If you stay off property.... About This Page:

[lovemickey44]

I need your help! We have always stayed on property but this next trip we are going to probably stay off property in order to save some $. I am clueless as to which hotels are good! I would need shuttle service since we will not rent a car and I am not picky, it just needs to be clean and have a bed. lol Pool would be a bonus! I have heard some good things about HOJO Express Parkside. Any recommendations?

[KMB733]

I once stayed at the Holiday Inn Maingate East once. It was a nice hotel and it was very clean. The shuttle service is not like Disney. The off property hotels have certain times when they pick up and drop off.

[lovemickey44]

Thanks! I really go back and forth and I really want to stay ON PROPERTY! But I just don't know if we can swing it, I am trying though. lol

[janicelovesmickey]

check the AAA book or website for good area hotels,we stayed at the ramada maingate, it was pretty nice for only 44.00 per night, but we rented a car.

[minemoz1]

You could try Hotwire, but you would most likely need to rent a car as you don't know the location of the hotel and if they offer a shuttle. We've always had good luck with anything 3 stars or over.

[MBUS]

I would definitely suggest renting a car if you are staying off site. As others mentioned, hotel shuttles run much less frequently than Disney shuttles.

Beth

[paradox]

Check mousesavers.com they have several good hotels listed.

[minushka72]

We stayed at the Howard Johnson on W Irlo Bronson Hwy (192 I believe). They were clean comfortable rooms. 2 dbl beds. The pool looked really nice but we did not go in as we were only staying 2 nights before heading to Port Canaveral for our DCL cruise. We stayed there 2/28/08 and 2/29/08. Free wifi in the lobby and an IHOP on the property. 2 nights came to approx $90 including tax and AAA discount.

[Joanne929]

I stayed at the Grosvenor years ago, twice actually. It's on Hotel Plaza Blvd right across from DTD (now it's Regal Sun Resort - I just looked it up).
It was very nice then and they've recently redone it. They have a pool (or 2?), a nice restaurant (that used to offer Disney character meals a few times a week), and I think they have their own bus to/from the Disney parks (most of the off-site resorts on the Boulevard share with more than one). We would use the Disney busses between the parks and then back to DTD if it was more convenient (which I'm pretty sure, as a Hotel Plaza guest, is allowed with no problem - I seem to remember having a pass of some sort from the hotel, that we never needed to show).

Your other option to stay on site would be the value resorts - not sure of your budge or what you're looking for though.
Good luck!

[spiceypj]

Originally Posted by lovemickey44

I need your help! We have always stayed on property but this next trip we are going to probably stay off property in order to save some $. I am clueless as to which hotels are good! I would need shuttle service since we will not rent a car and I am not picky, it just needs to be clean and have a bed. lol Pool would be a bonus! I have heard some good things about HOJO Express Parkside. Any recommendations?

if you are going to stay offsite you need a car.

if you can't or won't get one - then stick to Dolphin, Swan - or the DTD hotels - they all have pretty good transportation.

one of my old favorites is Best Western Lakeside (got some bad reviews lately) this is their bus schedule
http://www.bestwesternlakeside.com/shuttles.htm

they go to the parks once and general pick up once.

also you can't get pick up - if the bus is going drop offs - these are not WDW buses.

sometimes the bus is full - it will not come back again - so you are stuck using a taxi.

most of the time the bus leaves before the fireworks - so again if you stay to see them taxi.

taxis are expensive - it is far cheaper to get just a rental car.

there are a couple of timeshares with buses - but unless you rent from the resort itself - they are not free.

sheraton vistana resort is one.

hojo was one of the ones that some people were defending for a while - then they went back to it - they were going to say how wonderful it was. Well they never came back.

HoJo have a bad reputation in the area. So you are taken a chance - which is unnecessary. Also sometimes it shares with the other Hojo - which is never a good situation because they are pretty far apart.

lots of the hotels along US 192 will share - so once they pick you up instead of going to the parks they go pick someone else up - this continues until the bus has make all the stops or worst the bus is packed and can't make any further stops

[bgdiznee]

We have stayed at the Raddison Celebration and loved it. They have bus service that runs on a very frequent schedule every day that drops you off at the TTC. From there you can get transportation to whatever park you plan to tour that day. But you must catch the return bus service from the TTC as this is the only bus stop.
It was very easy for my DH and I to take the bus to the TCC, do what we liked even ADRs and then catch a cab back if we didn't want to wait. If you have children with you, renting a car is probably your best option.
Anyway the Raddison was very nice with a great themed pool area, a Starbucks, several restaurants and nice rooms. There is usually a link on mousesavers and other disney message boards sites that have nice discounts.

BTW, the Raddison is located on Iro Bronson Hwy across from Celebration so it is very convient to WDW. You are barely off property and within spitting distance to the AK area.

[WillCAD]

Originally Posted by lovemickey44

I need your help! We have always stayed on property but this next trip we are going to probably stay off property in order to save some $. I am clueless as to which hotels are good! I would need shuttle service since we will not rent a car and I am not picky, it just needs to be clean and have a bed. lol Pool would be a bonus! I have heard some good things about HOJO Express Parkside. Any recommendations?

I have stayed off-site many times and don't mind in the slightest going to a non-Disney hotel - especially when they are half the price of comparable Disney resorts!

But I can tell you without hesitation that there is no force on Earth that could get me to stay off-site without a car! Never, not once, uh-uh, not gonna do it!

Shuttle busses - forget about it!
Shuttle service to most hotels in the Maingate, Westgate, DTD, and LBV areas is provided by a bus company; in other words, the hotels don't have their own shuttle service, they contract a private bus company to do the work for them. But this means that many off-site resorts have 3-5 scheduled pick-up/drop-off times per day, and the busses are shared by multiple resorts. It can take up to 45 minutes to get from your hotel to Downtown Disney or the TTC, and once you get there, you still have to take a Disney bus to get where you're going.

Staying off-site without a car can eat up as much as 4 hours of your day in travel time, coming and going. Add to that the fact that if you have any kind emergency, your only option to get back to the hotel will be a cab, and the money you save by not renting a car doesn't look so attractive.

Having stayed off-site so many times, I can tell you from experience that the money you save by going with a cheap, off-site hotel can often completely offset the cost of a rental car - if you know how to shop for hotels and cars.

Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista
My last two off-site stays (Dec 2006 and Dec 2007) have been at the Comfort Inn LBV, which is on Palm Parkway, about 1/2 mile from Downtown Disney. It's a nice, cheap, reasonably clean and well-kept hotel, with a few basic ammenities and a great location. My stays there have typically been booked through Hotels.com and I have gotten rates of $48 per night each time (both were in December).

AmeriSuites Lake Buena Vista
I also had a great experience in Dec 2005 at the AmeriSuites LBV, which is about 2 miles south of Downtown Disney, just off of SR 535, near the super WalMart. Unfortunately, the rates there are not as great as they once were, but if you can catch an affordable rate, grab it, because it's a great place to stay - large two-room suites, immaculate grounds, free continental breakfast, and a nice, quiet neighborhood full of rental condos and a few other hotels. I got a rate of $49, but these days I believe it's going for around $79-$89. My one complaint with this property was the lack of a safe in the room.

Best Western Lakeside
One of my best friends has spent his last 3 trips (Feb and Mar 2006-2008) at the Best Western Lakeside, on US 192 in the Maingate area, about 1/2 mile west of World Drive (one traffic signal past Sherberth Road). This is also a nice, clean, well-kept hotel, with a very personable staff, quiet location, and excellent rates from $29-$79 depending on season.

Parc Corniche
In 2000 I stayed at a place called Parc Corniche, on I-drive South near the Orlando Premium Outlets. It's a condo-style hotel with 1br and 2br units, located next to a championchip golf course. It's quiet and peaceful, and although it's about 15 minutes from Disney property, I didn't find the location all that inconvenient. I got a great deal on a 2br unit in October of 2000 - $99 a night. These days, I think the 1br units are going for about $99-$149 and the 2br units are in the $149-$189 range depending on season (not sure about those rates, I haven't looked it up in a while).

Ramada Inn Convention Center I-Drive
Once more place - if you happen to be in the Universal area and need a nice, cheap place, try the Ramada Inn Convention Center on Jamaican Court, near the convention center (Jamaican Court is a small D-shaped frontage road with about 4 or 5 hotels on it). This is a small hotel, with very small rooms - but extremely clean and well-kept (I believe it's been recently refurbbed), with very nice staff and a location that's convenient to Universal and Wet-N-Wild. Despite its proximity to I-4, I heard no road noise at all in my room. The bed was also comfy, and there is free wi-fi internet in all the guest rooms. I stayed there in May 2008 and I just wish this place were closer to WDW so I could stay there more often.

[kelkan]

I stayed at Doubletree Suites at Downtown Disney and their shuttles run every 1/2 hr starting 8am til about 1 hour after park closing... the driver will tell you when the last bus picks up.... The shuttle is shared with the other Downtown Disney hotels but separate A or B depending on which side the hotel is..... Our shuttle pick up at Hilton 1st, then Royal then Doubletree so the shuttle for MK was packed for the 1st bus out So the day we went to MK, we just took our rental car so we could be there when it opened.... FYI Hilton is the only one at Downtown Disney to give EMH to guests if you still want that feature

[bsblady01]

if you are trying to save money and still want to say on property I would stay in a value resort they are only $82 a night.

[MMMD]

I think renting a car is a must if you are staying offsite. Good luck.