Hotel Royal Plaza in DTD

[DMC-12]

Hi Gang...

I posted this in another part of the forum... but it was not even looked at... so I thought I would post it here since it is a "Official WDW Hotel"

I am thinking about staying Hotel Royal Plaza in DTD during my next trip... I wanna stay down there a bit longer than I usually do... so I was looking at some of the DTD hotels... (for prices)... I got a good quote.... & I will be going solo

Anybody stay here ? http://www.royalplaza.com/
It looks nice from the pictures... Are the food places in the hotel decent? Is the transporation to the parks and such ok?

Any info would be much appreciated...

Thanks :wave:

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Jer, I haven't stayed in this particular one but I did stay at the Best Western and Doubletree in DTD...The transportation is fine but if you wanna get where you wanna be...you could just walk to DTD (it's, at most, a 10 minute walk).

When are you thinking of going?

 

[DMC-12]

Originally posted by WDWFREAK53
Jer, I haven't stayed in this particular one but I did stay at the Best Western and Doubletree in DTD...The transportation is fine but if you wanna get where you wanna be...you could just walk to DTD (it's, at most, a 10 minute walk).

When are you thinking of going?

Bri,

How is the Best Western? When I was getting quotes.. I got a Higher rate there though... than I did at the Royal Plaza... go figure....

I am thinking of going the first or second week of March... I will have a better idea next week... after I call this guy back about a job

 

[figmentmom]

I've never stayed at the Hotel Royal Plaza, but friends have and liked it very much. I've stayed at the Grosvenor many times, and loved it - you might want to check their rates! It's even closer to DTD - just a very short walk away. The bus service to and from the parks isn't bad, either. Hve a great time!

 

[MonorailBlack]

Originally posted by DMC-12
Bri,

How is the Best Western? When I was getting quotes.. I got a Higher rate there though... than I did at the Royal Plaza... go figure....

I am thinking of going the first or second week of March... I will have a better idea next week... after I call this guy back about a job

Best Western is one of the best, and the reason the prices are higher is the fact that the entire hotel is part of the 'tower' section, therefore they all have really nice views, either of the parks or Downtown Disney, therefore you get to see nightly fireworks shows!

Now, on the other hand, at the Grosvenor resort, if you are in the pool at midnight, you can see te fireworks from the pool...actualy sit in the pool and watch....very romantic!!!!

Hope it helps.

 

[Debbie]

I stayed at the Royal Plaza for the 25th Anniversary. The bathroom was nice with a garden tub and the vanity was nice (girl thing). We payed $89.00 per nite, which was a walk-in rate from the welcome center in Ocala. Every thing else was booked. The room was nice and we enjoyed going to the bar at night. If the price is right; I would stay there again. The only thing that we didn't like was the transportation. It seemed to take forever for the bus to come and getting back was worse. I think the transportation at the time covered three other hotels and we were packed like sardines. The bus isn't near as roomy as Disney transports are. We wound up driving the van after the first day since we got to park for free.

 

[Nansafan]

Stayed at the Royal Plaza the very first time we visited WDW in 1980 and again for our honeymoon in 1984. Both times were very nice. Bear in minde that was a few years ago. Don't know if it's still there or not but they had a great club "The Giraffe" I think it was called for dancing and drinks. The bus transportation was great even then.

 

[EthylCooper]

I enjoyed my stay at the Royal Plaza. We had one of the larger rooms with the jacuzzi and it was very comfortable. We weren't there long enough to try the restaurants.
The Best Western was okay, but my big concern with it was that smoking was allowed in the lobby so we couldn't get from the front door to the elevator without going through the haze. This might not be an issue for you, though. The hallways have a very unusual shape at the BW....it was interesting, but it made a short distance seem like a long walk, almost doubling back from the elevator to get to the room. Our view was very cool, but distant. We could see Space Mountain, Spaceship Earth, and the Earful Tower, but they were very far away over a sea of trees. I remember seeing signs about Illuminations viewing, but I usually watched it from Epcot. :animwink:

I've heard people complaining about the buses, but I never had a problem, and I've stayed on HPB 4 times (counting my 2 at the Grosvenor). They come every 30 minutes (instead of every 20 min. w/Disney Transport), but they seem to hold to that schedule more reliably. I've waited 50 min for Disney buses and then seen 2 come right together, but I've never waited more than 15 or maybe 20 on Hotel Plaza Boulevard. They have time bus times posted out front, so you know when it's coming.

I'm surprised that you got a better rate at HRP than BW....I would jump on it (unless you find a better offer at the Grosvenor).

 

[RandeB]

We stayed at the Hilton about 5 years ago, didn't really think much of the bus service. Stopping at the various other hotels and taking a while to get to the parks bugged us, as well as ending up needing the monorail or ferry to get to the MK. We stay at All Stars now for better access.

 

[DZannini]

My wife and I are DVC members, but usually spend the first night (our travel day) in a Downtown Disney hotel. We stayed at the Royal Plaza in Jan. and thought it was very nice. Probably one of the nicest in that area.

 

[DMC-12]

Originally posted by MonorailBlack
Best Western is one of the best, and the reason the prices are higher is the fact that the entire hotel is part of the 'tower' section, therefore they all have really nice views, either of the parks or Downtown Disney, therefore you get to see nightly fireworks shows!

Thanks for the info! Yeah... its a toss up between the BW and HRP now... I will pay the lil bit extra for the BW if it means a nice balcony with a good view

 

[KathyG/poohbear]

I like the Wyndham in DTD. I got it in season for a steal $69 a night on hotwire. The pool area is great and open 24 hours a day and it is real close to DTD. I would stay there again. The rooms were nice too.

 

[mousefan17]

I stayed there 2 summers ago and i thought that it was very nice. I had neevr not stayed in a "Disney Hotel" so it was a bit of a change for me.

My only complaint was the bus service. Every half hour like someone else said. But to get to Epcot, you had to wait for the bus, which then brings you to the TTC, and you get to Epcot and MK from there. On the way home, after walking around MK and Epcot all day, (long story short, we did the 2 parks in one day). To get back to the hotel, we had to fight the crowds onto the monerail, then take the monerail to the TTC, where we then had to go stand and wait 25 minutes for the next bus to come. We were standing in the middle of the parking lot. And after a long day at the parks, waiting 25 minutes wasnt that much fun!

But other than that, it was very nice! For shampoo and stuff in the room, its Bath & Body Works stuff, so that was a nice treat!

 

[EthylCooper]

Originally posted by DMC-12
Thanks for the info! Yeah... its a toss up between the BW and HRP now... I will pay the lil bit extra for the BW if it means a nice balcony with a good view

Now that you mention balconies...I just remembered something else. Our room at the HRP had a "balcony", but it was about 6 inches of concrete and a railing. The view of Downtown Disney was great, but you'd be sitting inside to see it. I would consider it a better view than we had at the BW (because those park attractions were pretty far away), even though our BW view was cool for other reasons (and BW had a real balcony). I don't know if all the HRP balconies are as small, or if they are only that way for the type of room we were in.

And about the Epcot bus...I've never had it take me to the TTC any of the times I've stayed at the DTD hotels. They have a MK bus, an Epcot/MGM bus, and an AK bus. They all run at 30 min. intervals in the morning but in the afternoon the AK starts running once an hour. The Epcot bus has always dropped me off at space 26 in the Epcot parking lot. They may have had a different system in place when mousefan17 was there. My BW visit was Dec. 2000 and my HRP visit was March 2001. (My Grosvenors were May 2001 and Dec. 2001.)