Staying at a Downtown Disney Hotel question

[kcnole]

I'm contemplating booking a stay at one of the hotels at Downtown Disney. I know they have many of the same benefits as onsite hotels like extra magic hours, etc... Do they also allow for free parking at the parks like staying at a resort hotel would or is that an extra cost like it would be at other hotels not affiliated with Disney?

 

[DisneyJoe]

EMH participating resorts:

-- Walt Disney World-owned resorts
-- Walt Disney World Dolphin & Swan Resorts
-- Hilton Resort at Downtown Disney
-- Shades of Green

 

[wdwmagic]

I'm contemplating booking a stay at one of the hotels at Downtown Disney. I know they have many of the same benefits as onsite hotels like extra magic hours, etc... Do they also allow for free parking at the parks like staying at a resort hotel would or is that an extra cost like it would be at other hotels not affiliated with Disney?

I believe only the Hilton in the DTD area has access to EMH.

 

[mightynine]

Not sure about the EMH, but the hotel could have bus service to the parks, so you wouldn't have to worry about parking. However, they do not run as often as Disney buses - every half hour, on average - and they do make more than one stop.

I just did a quick one-day stop at Epcot and stayed at the Best Western Lake Buena Vista, and was pleasantly surprised. Nice place, with bus service, and the added benefit of Pizza Hut as room service!

 

[Master Yoda]

Actually the majority of those resorts offer none of the benefits that the Disney resorts do. To my knowledge the only one that has any of the Disney resort benefits is the Hilton and that is only EMH. I do not know of a single one that offers free parking at the parks.

 

[tizzo]

Both access to EMH and free parking vary from hotel to hotel. I have specific knowledge about the Hilton and the Best Western. My sister has stayed at the Hilton the last two Novembers. Both times, she and her family got EMH. They also had free parking (at the hotel, not at Disney parks) in 2008, but by 2009 Hilton had started charging for parking - illustrating that not only do things vary from hotel to hotel, but from year to year at the same hotel. They had a shuttle to the parks, but it only ran every half hour or so. They brought their rental car to the parks and one of us always rode with them so they could get free parking (we have APs).

In November 2009, my wife and I spent a couple of nights at the Best Western (across Hotel Plaza Boulevard from Hilton) during my sister's visit. It was a last minute decision to stay nearby instead of driving out from the coast every night to spend time with them, and Hilton was either full or too expensive, can't remember which. Best Western did have free parking, but did NOT have access to EMH. I didn't bother asking about parking at the parks, or transportation, since we had our car and the APs.

Anyway, I'd say call any hotel before you book to make sure of the amenities. And if you book pretty far ahead, call again when your trip gets closer to make sure nothing's changed.