Inexpensive, but nice accomadations near Disney World
 

A friend of mine is travelling to Walt Disney world, mid June. She will be taking 6 adults and 2 children with her. She is looking for nice accomadations near Disney, but doesn't want to spend a fortune. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My personal favorite is the Radisson Parkway Resort in Kissimmee. This hotel has a wonderful tropical atmosphere. There are two pools (one of which has a waterfall and slide---tubes, noodles and floats are available for rental), several hot tubs, tropical birds by the pool, an exercise facility, a snack bar for poolside dining, a poolside bar, an inside snack bar, a lounge, a restaurant with an excellent buffet, and a Pizza Hut that will deliver to your room (or you can go pick it up at the restaurant).
They provide a shuttle to the Disney Parks and Universal. There is also a travel desk that will assist you in any ticket purchases, airline needs, or car rentals. The hotel is located within walking distance of other restaurants and stores. My husband and I have stayed there three times and have always been satisfied. We have reservations for this Spring and paid $89.00 per night on a SuperSaver promotion. If you need additional information, please feel free to e-mail me.

Interesting! We just stayed there (10.5 years later) and payed almost exactly the same rate.

If she really wants to save money, then I think she'll probably do better just staying at one of the All-Star resorts. The room prices are similar to those outside WDW, but you have the advantage of free park transportation. Granted, food can be a little more in the parks, but the All-Star resorts have cheaper food courts. Airport transportation is even included when you stay in the resort, and while the in-resort bus system has its drawbacks, I've never had a completely positive experience with hotel shuttles, which don't run very often.

The one way this group might be able to save significantly by staying outside the resort area is to stay in a condo, but a 3-bedroom condo might be as expensive as 3 rooms at an All-star resort, so I actually think it will be a wash once you consider the cost of a rented van to carry everyone.

With that many people I think it would be best to rent a house. You can get them with their own pools on vrbo.

www.vrbo.com

I'd also recommend staying at the All-Star resorts or Pop Century, if they're available, primarily based on the size of your group. At an outside resort, you'd probably need a rental car -- which would have to be a minivan to accomodate everyone (which eats into your savings and costs more for gas), and you'd all have to be willing to follow the same schedule every...single...moment of every...single...day.

This thread was started so long ago, the children that went on the trip may be adults by now.

There are some tangible advantages to staying on-site at Disney as Doug mentioned. When you factor in the cost of transportation for 8 people, the ability to use Disney's free system is a big savings.

I have sometimes overlooked the ancient history date of a post so I am glad to see that even a Fodor editor can miss the date on a post! :)

AAARRRGGHHH - Let it die!!!!!

Yes, I too was duped by the age of the post. I think I just saw the editor's response and didn't check the original. BUT IT MUST STOP!!!!!

Someone brought this to the top, and it's an especially relevant issue today since WDW has made strong efforts to increase the amount of budget lodging. I don't see any harm in re-starting this conversation, but I'm happy to let this thread die and wait until someone planning a trip now starts asking.

Well before it dies, I was fascinated with the thought by kirbyks, who topped this old post to inform us that the rates at the All Star Resorts are still the same as what was mentioned here 10 1/2 years ago. That's "news" worth noting. How many places haven't increased in price in that period of time?

We stayed at the Disney All Star Sports resort on Disney property. It was not expensive. our average cost per night was 110. With the convience of the shuttle system it was worth it. The rooms were nice and basic. Not plush but very servicable. If you are going to disney you will only be sleeping and planning your next day in the room. We had a blast as just 2 adults no kids. The bar at the resort was fine. The kids that we saw seemed to get a kick out of the resorts ameneties. Our trip report is at http://www.dave-lori-home.com/disneyworld.htm