Hyatt Grand Cypress at Disney World
 

Haven't been to Disney World in years, but thinking about a week in January. I can get a great deal at Hyatt's Grand Cypress and I do like that property. But is the transportation to the various parks (probably four days, pretty much one day in each park) as easy as it would be if at say the Lodge at Wild Animal Kingdom or one of the Epcot resorts?

The plan is to stay four nights at Disney, then move for two nights and two days at Universal -- Loew's Portofino Resort.

No, it's not nearly as easy as staying at Disney hotel. But if you are willing to pay for parking, it's not that bad since the hotel is pretty close to WDW. See if the per-day parking charges are more than the extra cost to stay on-site. (But in order to make full use of Disney Transportation, you have to stay in a Disney-owned hotel; non-Disney hotels---even those on Disney property---generally have a wildly inferior bus system.

Doug, are you aware that the Grand Cypress has its own vans, not part of the other Buena Vista Hotels which I know from experience can be pretty "iffy" as they make the round of a bunch of hotels? I'm actually thinking of no car -- it kills me to think of renting one when I have one sitting in Florida -- and we really wouldn't use it except to and from the airport and between Disney and Universal once. But Grand Cypress even provides free transportation to Universal. Parking at the Grand Cypress is just $11 a day, though. I also know from personal experience that driving yourself and parking at the parks from Buena Vista can be VERY slow as traffic backs up in the morning and leaving when the parks close. I can't see us doing that at all. And entering Universal from Portofino is a piece of cake!
I guess I'm really asking if anyone knows specifically how "wildly inferior" or "decent" Grand Cypresses transportation system might be.

Don't know but I love the Portofino! Have a great trip :-)

I don't know specifically about the Grand Cypress. It has a very good reputation, but I've never stayed there. But my experience has always been that off-site properties have poor transportation. Many off-site hotels provide free transportation, but their buses usually go just once or twice a day and are often crowded. Most hotel vans also don't run to the parks at night, just from, so you can't usually go back to see the fireworks after taking a nap in the afternoon.

But the Grand Cypress is really close to WDW property (about 5 minutes drive), so if their vans run at convenient times for you and with sufficient frequency that you can escape when it gets hot and crowded, it would probably be worth the trouble. I hope someone who has stayed here can really answer this for you because all I can do is generalize.

We stayed at Grand Cypress several years ago(probably 10 years ago). Having stayed on Disney Property 3 or 4 other occasions and yet another time off property, it just isn't the same as staying "on sight Disney". That said, I think really the places with monorail service area really the only ones far superior.

Grand Cypress was very very nice though. I am nearly positive that they had some sort of transportation then. I am not sure whether we used it or not. Plus, it's not that big of a deal unless you have a small child and need to go back to the hotel a couple of times during the day.

If your getting a good deal on it or have some rewards coming, heck yeah I would do it.

The best I remember it was pretty darn close to the part of it anyway. You can bet that those on sight Disney buses are packed too. Try riding one of those to a waterpark or getting on one right after the fireworks. It's really all the same, IMOP.

The Grand Cypress and Portofino Bay!!! I might be tempted to skip Disney and just enjoy the resorts.

The Grand Cypress is a very nice hotel - and unlike Disney is not overrun with small kids, It has a small conference center (was there for a meeting once) and several golf courses including villas for people staying longer than a few nights.

Although near Disney, Disney is NOT the focus. We had a rented car that we used - but we were doing Disney, Sea World, Universal and the town or orlando - and wanted a car to be able to go out to dinner at night.. Heard a couple of people who wanted to use the shuttle say it didn;t run very often. If you really intend to use it I would contact the hotel directly to understand the shuttle timing and route. (They may have one shuttle doing a continuous circuit - meaning little room and a lot of stops to get anywhere.)

I have been to Universal/WDW at least 15 times in the last 10 years. I've stayed onsite Deluxe, onsite Budget, offsite, and now I own a house nearby. Driving to and from the parks is much easier than taking any bus, including Disney's. When I drive, I have always gotten into the parks with no more than a five minute wait. The trams make it very easy to get from your car to the front gate. At closing time, you will get to your car quickly using the tram. Then you will wait in the relative comfort of your car while leaving a park. You can sometimes wait an hour to get on a bus at closing time and then you often get to stand most of the way back to your hotel. If you stay at a monorail hotel, the ride to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot is quite easy. I enjoy the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal, and I think it is the hotel that is the most convenient to the Parks there.