help in choosing hotel at WDW Orlando
 

We are a party of 3 (2 adults + teenager)and will be at WDW for 10 nights end of Sept. beginning of Oct. Our travel agent has suggested All STar Music as a budget hotel. Has anyone stayed there recently? What about the Doubletree Suites? We will not have a car so we are counting on the shuttles to get us to all the Disney attractions as well as Downtown Disney. We will be taking day tour to Kennedy Space Center with transport (there is a stop at the All Star Music); perhaps airboat; La Noube and Sea World. All suggestions will be appreciated. Hotel advertisements say they have shuttle services to all Disney attractions but don't know how often and if they are reliable.

The All Star Resorts would have more frequent shuttles than the Double Tree as they are considered to be "on site" at WDW. The Disney transport system can get you to all the places you mentioned. Go with the All Star (unless you can afford one of the moderates rather than budget hotel).

Not sure exactly what your budget is, but the Dolphin-Swan resort is on-property and especially convenient to Epcot and boat transport. Great pool at the Dolphin. They usually have very good govt, teacher and/or Entertainment book rates.

Make sure you visit this website for good all-around info and money-saving trips: www.disboard.com

The all star resorts are the least expensive but the rooms have two double beds with no room for a cot.

We prefer all star sports because the shuttle bus picks up there first, (plenty of empty seats on the bus), and also drops off there first on the way back. We've never had a problem with noise there even though we haven't paid the $15 extra per night for the "deluxe location" rooms.

Check the reviews, as you might find out that Music has been more recently renovated, or that All Star Movies has construction going on etc.

Late Sept is not busy season and you may find some good deals popping up at grander resorts for not much more $ per night. Disboards.com and mousesavers.com are great places to sign up for info on all-things-WDW.

Thanks Fodorites. Will check out the All Star Sports and some of the moderately priced hotels and see what differences there are per night.
We do want to stay at an 'on site' hotel so hopefully we will come up with one in our budget

Hello TYGER :)

For many years, my DH and I have visited WDW and have stayed off-site or at the upscale Beach Club.

But this past January we took a very last-minute trip, took advantage of one of their $49/night specials, and stayed at the All Star Music Resort.

We were very pleased with our stay there. The rooms are basic, but very clean and well-functioning. Our room was at the back of the property, with a beautiful copse of trees (in their fall colors, in January, lol!) when we opened the door. To go to the bus stop or the food court was but a short 5-minute walk thru the pleasant pool areas.

The bus service was very prompt, never waiting more than 5 minutes for a bus to wherever we were going within the park.

While I agree totally that the location of the Beach & Yacht Club and Boardwalk resorts have the very best location (walking distance to Epcot), the price we paid for the Music Resort was worth taking the bus. It was an unbelievable value for an in-park stay. Truly.

Happy travels!

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is if you stay at "on site" you can use the complimentary Disney Magical Express - a coach bus that takes you from the airport to your resort (return).

They send you tags for your luggage that you put on before you check your luggage at your home airport. They pick up your luggage from MCO luggage carousel and deliver it to your room in about 3 hours (so you don't have to claim it or get it on the bus - with most major airlines; contact your travel agent or check out the Dis website for details). Hauling luggage isn't a big deal to me but not having to arrange my own transportation to/from the airport was a wonderful break logistically and for our wallet.

Dis bus transporation from resorts to parks runs at least every 20 mins.

Enjoy-la!

I'll just chime in here quickly because I actually stayed at the Doubletree Suties the last time I was at WDW. The hotel itself is great, though the breakfast buffet is seriously overpriced at almost $20 (add that up and see if you are really saving any money by staying there). The hotel is also within walking distance (15 minutes) of the outer edge of Downtown Disney, which is a plus, though it's far from the Cirque du Soleil end, so I ended up driving anyway.

But it's impossible to stay there without a car. The food in the onsite restaurant (aside from the very good breakfast) was very mediocre and very expensive.

The clincher for me is the transportation. I give Disney credit for offering free transportation, but the shuttles serving the group of hotels that includes the Doubletree is among the worst. Although you are staying on Disney property, you get completely second-class service. If you go to the Magic Kingdom, you are not dropped off at the front gates as are guests of all the "official" Disney hotels; instead, you get dropped off at the transport center and have to take the ferry or monorail in like all non-Disney guests. The shuttles are not frequent to these hotels and are very crowded, and they always park in the most distant spot imaginable, not right up by the gates where the official Disney guests get off. There aren't any bus shelters for these shuttles; you are literally dropped off in the middle of a vast parking lot at all the parks. A lot of people complained about the reliability of the shuttles, but they mostly left within 10 minutes of when they were scheduled. The only good part is that you are near the beginning of the bus line, so you will probably get a seat if you leave early in the AM.

Sorry for the rant. I really liked the hotel and totally recommend it as a hotel, but I found myself longing to drive and even pay the huge parking fee for the convenience, but doing that would have completely negated the cost savings.

I'd choose a moderately priced resort instead of one of the All-Star resorts, which are the most distant from all the parks except Animal Kingdom. It's worth it to be more central. That's when the Disney transport system works best, and it does work quite well except when the park is really overcrowded.

I just did a price check the other day for a trip my family is planning with my sister's family to give her an idea of price differences among the on-site resorts. For the week I checked, there was only a few hundred dollars difference between the All Stars and one of the moderates. And the moderate was barely different than Animal Kingdom Lodge. The week I looked into is in "value season" for deluxe hotels, but the moral of the story is don't discount some of the resorts because they are labeled "moderate" or "deluxe" as you might be able to get a deal. If you are a AAA member book through them for savings as well.

We love the resorts on the monorail but stayed once at the All Star Sports. The room was smaller and there are less things to do on property, but we would consider staying there again (just at Movies or Music in hopes of avoiding some of the teen groups on school/sports team trips). But no matter what, we would always choose on-site WDW over off.
Have a great trip!

Thanks Swisshiker for putting in a good word. The rate you got was incredible, of course. It looks like the All Star Music will be our choice so far due to price and being a Disney Hotel and all that comes with it: good shuttles and free airport transportion. Hopefully the room won't be too crowded. Will keep my eyes open for special deals as we are going end of Sept/Oct for 10 nights. Doug Stallings, appreciated the in depth info re Doubletree suites which helped making a decision. Since the trip is quite costly (we are coming from Israel) and we are continuing to NY for 6 nights, we are trying to cut hotel costs at WDW so we can really treat our granddaughter (first out of the country trip) to lots of 'treats'and make it a memorable gift from her grandparents. Thanks to all your good wishes and great informatin.

Hello again TYGER :)

Have you been to these website:
mousesavers.com
allearsnet.com
disboards.com

I check out the "accommdations" specials often at mousesavers. Oftentimes, you will find discounts available or packages that include dining or parkhopper upgrades, etc.

Keep in mind when phoning into the Disney reservation line to make a "room reservation only", you will have to pay one night up front as a deposit. The rest is due upon arrival. You can cancel the reservation and get your deposit returned so long as you do it 4 or 5 days before anticipated arrival.

However, if you purchase a package which includes dining and tickets, I believe they want everything prepaid, like 30 days ahead, or something like that.

This is all detailed on the mousesavers website and probably the other sites I listed as well. It's just good to know the details before booking.

Another tip: your first day, have each person in your party purchase one of their "refillable" mugs. It was around $12 when we were there. Good for refills at the hotel's food court for ANY type of beverage (well, not alcoholic or probably like oj in the morning) - but hot chocolate, coffee, soft drinks, etc.
In September, you probably won't be needing hot chocolate, but you'll find it handy in the mornings, afternoons when you need a break, and the evenings before you retire for bed. We used it for 7 nights and thought it was a great value. For your 10 nights, a super deal! ((y))

The Food and Wine Festival may still be going at Epcot then too. Lots of good eats "around the world" for sampling (well, $3-5 apiece, but lots of fun).

Happy travels!

If you are not going to have a car, the Disney resorts are the best option. Other hotels may have a shuttle to the parks, but will they have shuttles to to Downtown Disney, the water parks, other hotels you might want to visit?

Staying on-site also provides the benefit of extra magic hours. With a teen you might really enjoy the ability to stay at the park until well past midnight.

Forgot one thing about checking mousesavers for discounts.

If your arrival dates do not include any sort of discount at this time, keep checking their website. Discounted room rates (assuming you are not a FL resident or annual passholder) generally start appearing 2 months or so before their validity.

Even if you have already made a reservation, when the discounts come up, give Disney a call and see if they will change your rate. If discounted rooms are available, you should get a rate reduction. They are very limited, however, so you need to act quickly!