Double tree by downtown disney transportation question??

wdwmom2+1

Active Member
Original Poster
ok so its been about 12 years since we stayed off site.. at that time we stayed at the grosvner then it had probably been like 5 years or so before that since we stayed any other place..s o needless to say we are used to the way disney does things..

Well this trip we are staying at the double tree.. i just could NOT pass up the almost 2/3 savings to stay there compared to Disney.. SO... my questions

How does the transporation work? it says bus service is it good enough? we will use it most mornings.. don't know what to do the one morning we have breakfest at the contempary and then wnat to go to Animal Kingdom any ideas??

THanks
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
I'll be staying at the Royal Plaza (immediately next door to the Doubletree) in a couple weeks, so I'll be able to give you info after I get back. From what I've heard the Hotel Plaza Blvd hotels run more on a schedule than the Disney buses do. (Like departures on the hour and half-hour, etc)

One thing to keep in mind is that their buses are separate from where the Disney buses pick up. At Epcot and the Studios they're generally near to the Disney buses, but at Animal Kingdom they're on the opposite side of the plaza, and at Magic Kingdom it's located at the TTC.

If you need to get to the Contemporary early, you might have to spring for a taxi. If it's later, you could take the bus to the TTC and then the monorail to the Contemporary. Alternately, you can walk to the Marketplace and hop on a bus to the Contemporary, but I'm not sure what time the Downtown Disney buses start running to/from Disney resorts.

To get from the Contemporary to Animal Kingdom, your best bet would be to just use the Contemporary's bus to get there.

-Rob
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
There is no eloquent way to put this, the bus service at the HPB resorts kind of sucks. It is better than the other off property resorts, but I have never seen it measure up to what you have at the Disney resorts. Unless things have changed, one bus route covers all of the HPB resorts. The bus starts at the Hilton and makes a counter clockwise loop until it his the Wyndham. I do not have exact numbers on the number of buses they use, but I would be surprised if there are more than 2 per destination. If you need to get anywhere in under an hour you are going to need to take a cab. Otherwise, plan for a long bus ride to get anywhere. About the only good thing is the Double Tree is at right about the middle of the route.
 

wdwmom2+1

Active Member
Original Poster
Thanks! We will have a car so we can just drive.. but I know when we stayed at the old grosvener hotel (DTD) (now this was in like 2002...) we didn't mind the bus service it was good enough. I was just wondering how it is now adays :) We are trying to figure out if we'll just drive every morning to the parks or take the bus.. :)
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
Thanks! We will have a car so we can just drive.. but I know when we stayed at the old grosvener hotel (DTD) (now this was in like 2002...) we didn't mind the bus service it was good enough. I was just wondering how it is now adays :) We are trying to figure out if we'll just drive every morning to the parks or take the bus.. :)
It was not bad back then thanks to the resorts being at about 60%-70% occupancy due to the tourism slump caused by 9/11. Also just FYI...when you are running your cost numbers make sure you include the resort fees charged by double tree. (if I am not mistaken they will charge you to park at the resort, plus a resort fee) There is no question that the room there will be larger, but the fees, no EMH, no package delivery, etc, can erode the savings.
 

wdwmom2+1

Active Member
Original Poster
I have included those thanks!! we have stayed on property since that stay at Grosvener way back then.. the reason we choose to make the switch was we were going to stay at either an AOA suite or 2 rooms at pop. but options were at least 2/3 the amount we are paying at double tree. we are paying about 900 for a week at double tree (including the parking and resort fee they charge) plus we get hilton honnor points so even though this is not our first choice it seems like an ok one considering we would have spent about 3000. to stay at a disney hotel. :)
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
I have included those thanks!! we have stayed on property since that stay at Grosvener way back then.. the reason we choose to make the switch was we were going to stay at either an AOA suite or 2 rooms at pop. but options were at least 2/3 the amount we are paying at double tree. we are paying about 900 for a week at double tree (including the parking and resort fee they charge) plus we get hilton honnor points so even though this is not our first choice it seems like an ok one considering we would have spent about 3000. to stay at a disney hotel. :)
Sounds good. I just always like to check. I can't tell you how many people I have run into that get a $1000 quote from an off property hotel and end up spending a few hundred more on resort fees, parking at the resort, parking at the parks, etc.
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
I thought I read somewhere that the HPB route had been split into two routes, one with 4 hotels, the other with 3.

As for my choice in staying at Royal Plaza over Disney, I'm attending an event next door at the Holiday Inn. As for the rate, I got an insanely good rate through the Sears Vacations website. In the fine print it also says that the "resort fee has been waived for guests". This may be a Sears only thing, or it may be temporary because of the current renovations going on at the Royal Plaza, but either way I have it in writing on my confirmation invoice, so I have a basis for fighting the charge either at the hotel or back with Sears.

Two weeks to go!

-Rob
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
I thought I read somewhere that the HPB route had been split into two routes, one with 4 hotels, the other with 3.

As for my choice in staying at Royal Plaza over Disney, I'm attending an event next door at the Holiday Inn. As for the rate, I got an insanely good rate through the Sears Vacations website. In the fine print it also says that the "resort fee has been waived for guests". This may be a Sears only thing, or it may be temporary because of the current renovations going on at the Royal Plaza, but either way I have it in writing on my confirmation invoice, so I have a basis for fighting the charge either at the hotel or back with Sears.

Two weeks to go!

-Rob
That would help quite a bit. Please let us know if you find that to be the case.
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
That would help quite a bit. Please let us know if you find that to be the case.

OK, I'm back.

The bottom-line answer is that yes, they've separated the Hotel Plaza Blvd hotels into two groupings, one for each side of the Boulevard. So at the Royal Plaza we shared buses with Hilton, Holiday Inn and the Doubletree. The other three hotels (Best Western, Wyndham and Buena Vista Palace) shared their buses.

But for each set of hotels there are only two routes. One bus serves Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, the other serves Epcot and Studios. The Epcot/Studios bus was fine for going to each of those parks, and the MK bus dropping off at the TTC was fine, but it made for a loooooong trip to get to Animal Kingdom having to drive all the way to the TTC first.

The routes for the theme park buses leave the first hotel of the route on the hour and half-hour. Ours always seemed to come about 4-5 minutes after the hour. The buses returning from the parks have their own set times half an hour apart (xx:25 and xx:55 leaving the TTC, for example). Coming back from the Studios we must've just missed our B route bus, but were able to hop on an A route bus, get off at the Best Western and walk across the street to the Royal Plaza.

Downtown Disney bus runs differently. It doesn't start until sometime in the afternoon, and it serves all 7 hotels. I presume it loops continuously, so your max wait time is however long it takes for the bus to make one complete loop of the route. (Going back it was nice to be the third stop rather than the 6th or 7th, but if I were at the Hilton, Wyndham or BVP it's a much shorter walk than walking all the way out to RP, Doubletree or BW)

I didn't pay attention to how the water parks transportation was set up.

Overall the buses weren't *bad*, but it was noticably less-convenient than all of my experiences with staying at a Disney resort and using their buses.

-Rob
 

Bluewaves

Well-Known Member
I was reading through this as I was looking at the Best Western, how bad is the walk to Downtown Disney from the hotels, it only looks like half a mile so that's a 10 minute walk for me, is it easier to take a Disney bus from the Marketplace to places or is a rental car needed?
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
I was reading through this as I was looking at the Best Western, how bad is the walk to Downtown Disney from the hotels, it only looks like half a mile so that's a 10 minute walk for me, is it easier to take a Disney bus from the Marketplace to places or is a rental car needed?

The walk isn't bad from the outer hotels (Best Western, Doubletree and Royal Plaza) distance-wise, but it was early June and it was hot and very humid, which made the walk seem much longer than it was.

If you're heading to a theme park, it's easiest to use the bus right from the hotel.

If you're heading to a resort other than the monorail resorts (because the MK bus drops off at the TTC) and you don't want to spring for a taxi, it's probably best to walk to the Marketplace and take a bus from there.
That's what we did our first night. We walked to the Marketplace, stopped by Guest Relations for a couple ticket-related things, then we walked over and hopped on a Fort Wilderness bus so we could grab dinner at Trail's End.

There was one morning we were having a late breakfast at Boma with friends who were at the Holiday Inn next door, so the 4 of us spring for a taxi to AKL, the only taxi we took all week.

-Rob
 

Tater tot

Well-Known Member
I was reading through this as I was looking at the Best Western, how bad is the walk to Downtown Disney from the hotels, it only looks like half a mile so that's a 10 minute walk for me, is it easier to take a Disney bus from the Marketplace to places or is a rental car needed?

I've stayed a few times at the Holiday Inn which is not that far from the Best Western. I always walked to Downtown Disney. Not a bad walk at all and for me it is relaxing. The busses run every 30 minutes but expect at least one hour to get to the parks once your board and same for going back to the hotel. Sometimes I have found it was quicker just to hop on a bus at the market place going to one of the value resorts and then catching another bus to whichever park. Same for the return trip back. There seemed to be a quicker turn around time of busses at the value resorts.

Driving your car to the parks is the simplest but coming back to your resort in evenings can get frustrating because of all the traffic. It gets really backed up.
 

jkraup

New Member
I have stayed in the Downtown Disney area multiple times over the past 20 years--most recently at the DoubleTree Guest Suites this past May and plan on staying there again this coming November. There are 2 bus runs from this area that run every 20-30 minutes 1 hr prior to park opening and 2 hrs after they close (note last bus actually leave 1 1/2 hrs after park closes to have you back at hotel in 2hrs from park close). 1 bus runs Hilton to DoubleTree (4 hotels total) and the other runs Best Western to LBV Palace (3 hotels total). TIP:If you are staying at DT and want to go to Shopping Village (and don't have car) I walk across street to Best Western and get on their bus--get off next stop at Wyndam and walk to village--less than 2 minutes! Upon return, I go to back of Hilton and get on bus and get off at DoubleTree (DT)--saves a lot of walking. Buses are actually more comfortable than Disney buses and run fairly frequently. As w/Disney buses, the return is SRO and but they will send more buses if full and more people are waiting. Also as Disney buses, at non-peak times, there will be 1 bus for 2 parks--the will drop off and pick up at both each trip so w/3 or 4 hotels to pick up/drop off at and 2 parks/run you can see how the buses get full. I have never really had a problem and while it is not quite as convenient as Disney transportation, is it also much less in price and is worth the stay. These buses also run to Disney Westside after 6pm. DT does NOT charge a resort fee (as of this posting)--only the standard 12.5% tax but DO charge for parking (self and valet). All rooms are suites and are currently undergoing major room renovations (started past May and plan to be done by December). This is one of my favorite hotels because of the price and space it offers. Staff have always been pleasant and accommodating. Also closest hotel if you want to walk out to the crossroads where there are tons of shopping/eating/& mini-golf. Just remember to cross the street to the Best Western and walk to crossroads as there are sidewalks and crosswalk lights on that side of road. If you walk on the other side of the road, you will walk in grass and depending on the time of day, the auto sprinklers will come on and you will get a free shower--there are also NO crosswalk lights on this side and you would have to cross 8 lanes of traffic. Anyone staying in Downtown Disney are can email me and I would be happy to try and answer your questions.
 

jkraup

New Member
It was not bad back then thanks to the resorts being at about 60%-70% occupancy due to the tourism slump caused by 9/11. Also just FYI...when you are running your cost numbers make sure you include the resort fees charged by double tree. (if I am not mistaken they will charge you to park at the resort, plus a resort fee) There is no question that the room there will be larger, but the fees, no EMH, no package delivery, etc, can erode the savings.
I recently stayed at the DoubleTree and I did not pay a resort fee. There is a parking fee. I do not see that they charge one on their website. Also, I have had packages sent to the DT from the parks--when filling out the form, the "boulevard" hotels are all listed as being able send packages to as long as you are not checking out the next day. The only hotel in that area to offer EMH for disney parks is the HIlton--they DO charge $21/day resort fee.
 

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