Where should we spend one night?

[Hot Lava]

We are considering driving. we would drive the day before we move to a on property resort. So I am trying to figure out where to stay.

We kind of thought about around Seaworld, but it really is not open late enough for us to enjoy and I am not paying 80 for at most maybe 2 hours in the park.

What about downtown Orlando? Anything worth seeing? We have a toddler, so no late night carousing.

Just stay around WDW or Universal? If so, where?

Sorry I am so vague, I just am not familiar enough with things away from WDW or Universal properties to know what would be good.

 

[HollyAD]

I agree with the above post. You can actually find deals for the Dolphin but look out for the resort fees. The boardwalk at night cab actually be fun. There are street performers and I used to like having a treat at the boardwalk bakery or grabbing a pizza, which are all inexpensive items. You can stay at a value resort such as Pop Century, or All Star resorts ( I think Movies is the best of the all stars). These resorts can run around $100 or less if you are lucky and you can hop a bus to Downtown Disney which also has nightly entertainment and shopping. There are also many restaurants here for every budget. Some resorts also offer pool games in the afternoons and movies outside at night which are free. My 3 year old at the time did enjoy the pool games and just the bright atmosphere of POP. You can still visit the boardwalk no matter where you stay onsite. You can hop and bus to downtown and then transfer to a bus to the Boardwalk. You can also drive there and parking is free if you are staying onsite.

 

[Hot Lava]

We are already splurging for part of the actual trip (deluxe). I looked at the Swan prices (Dolphin said there were no rooms); I dont think my husband will go for it. I think I need a place off property.

 

[Disneykidder]

What about a value resort like AoA?

If you are really set on off property, how about the Nick hotel? They have a really expansive outdoor water park with slime drops. They are not really expensive, either.

 

[ParentsOf4]

What about downtown Orlando? Anything worth seeing? We have a toddler, so no late night carousing.

So 2 adults and a toddler, is that right?

It really depends on how much you want to spend. You mentioned you will be moving into a WDW Deluxe Resort on the second night and it sounds like you don't want to spend a lot for this one night. Maybe consider one of the Rosen hotels, perhaps Rosen Shingle Creek. That way you can explore the International Drive area, have lunch or dinner around there, and then head to your WDW hotel the next morning.

Obviously staying onsite at Universal would be a real treat but it's also a lot of money for one night.

 

[HollyAD]

Check trip advisor and hotels.com for deals. I found a few places that were very reasonable near Univeral that have a shuttle to Universal City Walk for free and a free breakfast in the AM. One was the Best Western Universal Inn which had some good reviews and was about $70. City Walk is an okay tourist attraction outside of Universal but you have to pay for parking. If your hotel had a shuttle you wouldn't have to pay. Just an idea... There are some cool places to grab dinner at City Walk. Same goes for down town disney hotels. There are several hotels in the Lake Buena Vista area that are inexpensive but close to down town disney where there is shopping, entertainment, and restaurants. I just looked on hotels.com and mousesavers.com for discounts and found some info on mousesavers.com for discounts of downtown disney area hotels for subscribers.

 

[Hot Lava]

Mousesavers - good idea!

 

[momof1princess]

Someone on another thread mentioned a Best Western really close to DTD. If you could figure out where they were talking about, that would be a fun place to spend a few hours.

 

[jrab0616]

We've stayed at the Best Western Lake Buena Vista at DTD before. It's nice and Mousesavers usually has a good deal on it. It's technically still on Disney property, though not Disney owned. You could spend the evening at DTD and/or enjoy the pool.

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

We stayed at the Embassy Suites Lake Buena Vista, atleast 5 times prior to our Disney vacation, and loved it. There's a manager's reception every night (snacks and free beer or wine) and an unbelievable breakfast buffet every morning. It's 5 minutes from DTD. Free movies at night outside over the pool and very spacious suites. Ask for a Lanai view room.

 

[mouselvrmom]

We drove down in 2011. We had reservations at OKW on July 4th, but decided we wanted to be down on the 3rd to see the fireworks the day before. So we reserved a night at the Holiday Inn (used to be the Sunspree). We didn't care much about the room, we just wanted a place to stay relatively cheap.

Well, we ended up driving straight through instead of stopping somewhere in Georgia, so we were there around 10pm on the 2nd. I'm sure you could imagine how every single hotel that we went to was booked for the night. I was starting to worry that we may be sleeping in our car, but we ended up finding the last room at the DoubleTree DTD. It was more expensive that the Holiday Inn, but the staff there was super accommodating. I felt a little like crying when they searched for a room and found one for us.

Either way, we were just happy to be there early even if neither of them could quite live up to staying on property.

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

How about splurging a little bit and stay at the Dolphin or the Swan? That way you can enjoy their lovely pool, the Crescent Lake area, the Boardwalk, and explore the 3 Epcot Resorts without paying Disney's Deluxe Resort prices.

I'd recommend a WDW Deluxe Resort but those are big bucks.

I was going to write that, too! I think staying at the Swan or Dolphin would be a fantastic idea. You can walk around the Boardwalk hotel and the Yacht and Beach Club. It is an amazing stroll. You can end up on the beach and watch the EPCOT's fireworks.

Whatever you do, have fun!!!

 

[deanaandrich]

You really can't go wrong with the DTD hotels. You are still in the middle if the action and rates are more reasonable. We stay at the best western in DTD quite a bit- actually will be there next weekend. And there is a group of Marriott owned hotels on Vineland- less than 5 minutes away. We go there often too. You can normally get any if them for less than 100.

 

[Jim Chandler]

Many years ago we decided on the way back from Cape Kennedy to stay at the Poly for one night. It was great and the kids loved going around the grounds and DTD. The nice thing is DTD allows you to get a Disney fix with out a major price tag. Food, entertainment (bowling/movies/music/etc...) and if you want go mini golfing at one of the two courses