Downtown Disney Area Resorts

sbkline

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We have a newborn coming this year, making us a family of five. For our hopeful upcoming trip next year, it should be no problem to stay at Port Orleans Riverside as initially planned (before we found out we have another baby coming). But when the baby gets to be 2 or 3 years old and we become limited on what kind of rooms we can stay in as a family of 5, we may have to look at staying off property. One of the first options to think of would be those hotels right across the street from Downtown Disney. I know there is a Best Western, but can someone refresh my memory what other hotels there are in that area?

How does their shuttle service work? Is it constant running, like the WDW busses? Or is it where you pretty much have to be at the bus stop at one designated time or you ain't getting a ride back? This would be an important consideration as I would hate to feel like I am saving money to stay in a hotel just to have to fork out a good chunk of it in parking costs.

What if I don't want to take the shuttle and want to go to Downtown Disney and take their busses? I guess we could get in the van and drive to DTD, but are any of them close enough to just walk across the street and get to DTD from the hotel?
 

AndyS2992

Well-Known Member
Disney's Art of Animation Value Family Suites are an option, as are the All Star family suites. Can accommodate 5 to 8 people. The whole point of Art of Animation is that larger families stay there since 3 of the 4 sections are rooms that accommodate more than 4 people.
 
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NiarrNDisney

Well-Known Member
The resorts along Hotel Lane are B Resort (Used to be the Royal), Best Western, Doubletree Suites, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Wyndham.

The shuttle is shared by all of the resorts and arrives every 30 min. each bus travels between two parks so you will have to check with the front desk for times. The bus driver will inform you of what time and where to meet up for returning to the resort. DTD has there own bus but I have found that the short walk or a taxi is more efficient.
 

sbkline

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Our proposed trip would be May 24-June 3 of 2015, but just to get a ballpark number, I went to the website for the Holiday Inn and typed in those dates for 2014, with 2 adults and 3 kids, and it gave me a total. However, when I called today to ask the same question, and asked about occupancy, the guy on the phone said that there is an occupancy limit of 4 and that there are no rooms in their hotel which can accomodate 5 or more. When I told him that the 3rd child would be a baby (it is due in August and we just found out yesterday that it is supposed to be a girl), he told me that a baby still counts towards occupancy and that we would have too many people to be able to stay there.

Is that correct, or did I just get some new kid who didn't know what he was talking about? In general, do all of those hotels have an occupancy of 4 or 5 for a regular room?
 

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
Something to consider, the Hilton across from Downtown Disney, is the only non-Disney hotel that also offers extra magic hours. I have stayed here a few times and it is a very nice property. Plus you can walk to DTD from here. I never had any issues with their buses though, but always knew I could take a bus from the parks to DTD in case anything 'went wrong'.
 

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
You're half right. The name we are leaning towards right now is Kaytelyn Elizabeth. :D I take it Elizabeth is your name?

Yes, it's my given name, although I'm usually called by my nickname.
Dana will be disappointed, but your secret's safe with me!
 

sbkline

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So far, I am not seeing any good alternative to staying at Port Orleans Riverside as initially planned. They can accomodate 5 guests even after the baby is over 3, but I thought it might be worth considering if I can find someplace that would be alot cheaper than POR. But so far, I am finding that even if the base price is significantly cheaper, by the time you add in those stupid "resort fees" and per day parking fees, it really woudn't come up much cheaper than what I would be paying at POR with the normal 25% or 30% discount that they release each year.

I love staying on property and I love POR, so I don't mind the thought of making that our normal resort from now on. But with the expenses of having two kids, and now three, paying to send them to private school, etc, I was kind of hoping to find an option that would accomodate all 5 of us and save us a chunk of change, but so far I am not coming up with much.
 

sbkline

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Yes, it's my given name, although I'm usually called by my nickname.
Dana will be disappointed, but your secret's safe with me!

Just as long as she doesn't stumble on this thread, right? :p It won't stay hid from her for long though, as she is on my facebook so she is bound to see the name posted eventually. Unless, of course, she has me hidden so she doesn't have to see my politically incorrect posts. LOL
 

NiarrNDisney

Well-Known Member
Our proposed trip would be May 24-June 3 of 2015, but just to get a ballpark number, I went to the website for the Holiday Inn and typed in those dates for 2014, with 2 adults and 3 kids, and it gave me a total. However, when I called today to ask the same question, and asked about occupancy, the guy on the phone said that there is an occupancy limit of 4 and that there are no rooms in their hotel which can accomodate 5 or more. When I told him that the 3rd child would be a baby (it is due in August and we just found out yesterday that it is supposed to be a girl), he told me that a baby still counts towards occupancy and that we would have too many people to be able to stay there.

Is that correct, or did I just get some new kid who didn't know what he was talking about? In general, do all of those hotels have an occupancy of 4 or 5 for a regular room?

Congrats on your new little wonder!

I cant speak for the Holiday Inn or any hotel for the matter since each has their own policies, I know that usually it depends on the size of the room that decides the occupancy.
If you are looking for a room that would accommodate a family of 5 I would suggest out of the resorts available on Hotel Lane that your best bet would be the Doubletree Inn & Suites! The room I stayed in had a large bedroom area with two queen size beds w/t.v, a nice sized bathroom with a small area outside of it with a closet and mirror to get ready (May also fit a small crib or pack &play), and the other room was a huge living room with a pull out couch, kitchenette, and dining area.
 
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Andrew C

You know what's funny?
There is no way they should consider an infant to be counted towards occupancy. I would speak to someone else like a supervisor/manager to see if they can make an exception. I know I would if a guest asked me that.
 

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
Just as long as she doesn't stumble on this thread, right? :p It won't stay hid from her for long though, as she is on my facebook so she is bound to see the name posted eventually. Unless, of course, she has me hidden so she doesn't have to see my politically incorrect posts. LOL

You might want to reconsider that name then...:joyfull:
 

AndyS2992

Well-Known Member
So far, I am not seeing any good alternative to staying at Port Orleans Riverside as initially planned. They can accomodate 5 guests even after the baby is over 3, but I thought it might be worth considering if I can find someplace that would be alot cheaper than POR.
I'm guessing you completely missed my post at the top :rolleyes:
 

sbkline

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm guessing you completely missed my post at the top :rolleyes:

I didn't miss it, but from what I have seen, it looks like family suites (even at the Values) are more expensive than rooms at POR. Especially when you consider the discounts that are pretty much always available (even though not officially guaranteed). So far, Art of Animation is exempt from any discounts whereas POR usually offers a 25-30 percent discount, meaning that the so called "value" resort is effectively more pricey than the moderate resort.
 

deanaandrich

Well-Known Member
You may want to try looking at some of the other timeshare rental properties off property if you will have your own car. We stay at the Grand Beach resort several times a year. It's a 5 minute drive from DTD. We got a 3 bedroom, 3 bath condo for 129 a night. There's a living room, dining table, full kitchen and screened porch. Very quiet.
 

slappy magoo

Well-Known Member
If you don't mind renting DVC points, I think the plan is to renovate many of the studios so they will accommodate parties of 5 by having some kind of pullout Murphy bed. Grand Floridian studios have been like that from the get-go, and Wilderness Lodge Villas just completed their renovations or are almost done. I think, one by one all Studios will be renovated but if it's only those two...hey, at least there's those two. The Value Villas at AKL and the studios in BLT might wind up being too small, but if WLV can be converted, all the others which are as big or bigger shouldn't be an issue. Go in the offseason, Wilderness Lodge studios are 225-240 a night, which admittedly is more than mods at that time of year, especially with discounts, but still cheaper than AoA suites, and you're in Deluxe resorts with better amenities and locations, access to Magic Express to/from airport, or free parking anywhere on site if you have a car, access to extra magic hours, etc.
 

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