Who has stayed at the Offsite Downtown Disney Hotels?

[Mogie]

We usually stay at the Dolphin Swan for low AAA rates and convenient walk/boat/bus to the park.

Has anyone stayed at the off-site Downtown Disney Hotels? How are they?

Are they walking distance to Downtown Disney?
Are the buses convenient?
Know of any specific deals or rates at any of the hotels?

[KODABEAR]

Just stayed at the Wyndom(Regal Sun changed name in Nov.) Free WIFI was nice plus they had a small coffee shop area with snacks open 24 hrs. In Aug. was at the Hilton. very nice but more $. Liked that the EMH were available to guests. Also stayed at the LBVP in Sept. had a tower room with fabulous view's saw the fireworks from both Epcot and Disney studios. Price's varied but they all use the discout sites ie Hotel.com, Priceline.

[tinkergal]

Stayed @ the Wyndham (Regal Sun when we were there) in Sept. It was OK.

Last Dec., stayed @ the Buena Vista Palace, tower room w/ balcony - much preferred this hotel. I like the sink outside the bathroom & the room was bigger. Nice amenities.

Bus service was OK on both; not a real difference from POR as that goes.

We liked walking to DtD, too.

[faline]

We once spent a long weekend at a spot across from Downtown Disney. The hotel was pretty tired and worn (but I've heard it has since been refurbished). It worked for the weekend but we still missed being "really" on-site! Although we were across from Downtown Disney, we drove our rental everyone including to this location. I could not have imagined trying to get across the busy traffic from one side to the other on foot!

[buzznwoodysmom]

We've stayed at one of the DTD hotels once. I think it was the Royal Plaza Hotel. It was a very nice hotel, with spacious rooms, huge bathrooms, and the breakfast buffet was great. We were only there for one night, or I should say a few hours. We checked in around 2am, and were leaving the room before 10am. What we saw we really liked. We had a suite type room that included 2 super comfy queen beds, and a pull out sofa. It was something like $177 a night, but is a great deal if you have a family of 5 or 6 and want a nice hotel.

[Mousemates]

we've stayed at DTD and our experience with the bus system is actually one of the primary things that made us "on property people."

[jnfr2424]

Stayed at the Doubletree after a week of resort hopping and it was culture shock ( don't mean to sound like a deluxe snob) even though the rooms are all deluxes with a microwave and mini fridge and a pullout sofa bed but it would have to be a last, last, last reosrt option for us to go back

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Yes they are within walking distance of DTD...we stayed once in the Buena Vista Best Western and it was more expensive than our Disney World room at Coronado Springs and it was a disappointment...the room was old and worn and smelled like cigarete smoke...also had mold in bathroom

[big blue and hairy]

We stayed at the Best Western for a night last week and we didn't have any of those problems.

As far as price goes, you really need to shop. We have found the Hilton at DTD the cheapest, and we have found the Buena Vista Palace the cheapest. It depends on the weekend and there doesn't appear to be any rhyme or reason.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

We stayed at the Best Western for a night last week and we didn't have any of those problems.

As far as price goes, you really need to shop. We have found the Hilton at DTD the cheapest, and we have found the Buena Vista Palace the cheapest. It depends on the weekend and there doesn't appear to be any rhyme or reason.

Well, that was in 2005 and they may have made improvements since then

[eandrsmom]

We stayed offsite last year at the Marriott Royal Palms. It isn't in the Downtown Disney area, but is very close to the parks. If you have a car, I would consider it. For a family of six, the two BR villa was really nice and spacious for the week. It was a fraction of what I would pay for a 2 BR on property. Plus, they usually offer AAA discounts or Marriott reward offers, so you can get a pretty decent rate. We've actually decided to cancel our onsite reservation for 2 rooms at CBR in favor of the Marriott villa again. Even with free dining offered during our stay, we will still come out ahead staying right off property.