Holiday Inn Orlando Disney Springs Hotel Review
Holiday Orlando – Disney Springs is a hotel at Walt Disney World. This review covers our stay at the hotel, featuring room photos and thoughts on the hotel’s amenities. In some ways, Holiday Inn Orlando – Disney Springs was exactly what you’d expect from a Holiday Inn. In other ways, it was a pleasant surprise as far as these Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels go.
It’s not a surprise to the extent of the slate of amenities or quality of any of them. In real world terms, I’d peg Holiday Inn as a fairly middle of the road chain. It’s certainly not in the luxury tier, but it’s also not a barebones motel experience. It’s where form meets function, in the gap between utilitarian and extravagant.
This means that it has amenities guests would expect from full service hotels, like a pool, fitness center, laundry, bar, restaurant, and cafe, all of which are reasonably nice, but nothing mind-blowing.
This particular Holiday Inn recently completed a $35 million top-to-bottom remodel, and I would put it on the mid to upper-end of Holiday Inns at which I’ve stayed.
The pool is solid. It’s larger than the norm with a layout that’s more interesting than a standard, cookie-cutter pool.
The arcade is…an arcade. I honestly don’t know why hotels still have these. I can’t remember the last time I took photos of a hotel when there was actually someone in the arcade. I’d imagine the only time anyone goes in here is when they get lost looking for the laundry room.
Conference space for those who are into that sort of thing…
I dined at the restaurant in the atrium for breakfast (pictured above is the bar, not the restaurant), and it was decent. Free breakfast is included in many packages here, and it’s definitely a step up from typical free continental breakfasts. Better than paying for powdered eggs and rubber bacon at a Walt Disney World quick service, but not better than a standard table service breakfast.
The same is true with the guest rooms. There’s no distinct style here, and it’s all very forgettable and interchangeable with numerous other Holiday Inn locations, but it works. The rooms are clean and fresh, and everything about them is more than satisfactory.
There’s a slight uptick when you get to the bathroom, which appeared to have been newly remodeled with walk-in showers, and upgraded fixtures.
It’s my understanding that not all of the rooms are like this (yet?), so you might still get stuck with a tub on your stay here.
The room again underscores the notion that this hotel is form meets function. Everything about the room gets the job done and is perfectly comfortable, but nothing wows. It’s the kind of place that I can see appealing to families who want a safe, clean, and pleasant place to stay during a Walt Disney World trip, but aren’t intending upon spending a lot of time at their hotel.
All of this is true until we get to the beds. Holy cow, the beds. On this same trip, we also stayed at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, Waldorf Astoria Orlando, Villas at Grand Cypress, and Wyndham Bonnet Creek (yes, it was a busy trip for hotel testing). I would rank each of those hotels among the top 10 hotels in Orlando. I would say the Holiday Inn could go toe-to-toe with any of them in terms of the mattress comfort. Seriously. Prior to me commenting on the mattress, Sarah remarked on the bed’s comfort, so I know it’s not just me imagining things. This bed felt like sleeping on a cloud. (Well, I’ve never actually slept on a cloud, but I’m guessing this is about how it would feel.)
What really has me singing the praises of the Holiday Inn Orlando – Disney Springs even more than the beds is the lack of fees. The hotel proudly boasts itself as “The No Resort Fee Hotel,” and this is something behind which I can get. If you’ve spent any time on this blog reading hotel reviews, you know I think resort fees are the work of SATAN HIMSELF…or greedy hotel management. Regardless of their cause, they are an abhorrent, consumer-unfriendly practice against which I think people should rally. No need to do that here, as the Holiday Inn Orlando – Disney Springs does not charge resort fees or parking fees (or internet fees). Huge kudos on that.
Also kudos in terms of price. It’s frequently in the $110-130/night rack rate range (full disclosure: my stay was comped), with special offers including free breakfast and kids eat free. For a hotel that’s within walking distance of Disney Springs and with rooms and amenities of this quality, I think that’s fairly good (especially those who are IHG Rewards Club members).
Overall, the greatest strength of the Holiday Inn Orlando – Disney Springs is that it doesn’t make any mistakes. It’s like the Tortoise of hotels (I’m sure they’ll love that comparison)–in some cases, slow and steady wins the race. Whereas it seems every flashy (“Hare”) hotel I’ve reviewed here has some caveat, this one doesn’t. There’s no resort fee, no parking fee, the beds are insanely comfortable, the amenities are solid, the rooms are nice, and the location is good. This hotel isn’t going to offer an unforgettably great experience, but it’s also not going to offer an unforgettably bad one. It’s a known quantity, and one that can be booked safely by families on a budget looking for a place to stay that offers good value and quality. That’s not exactly the highest praise that can be bestowed upon a hotel, but it should meet or exceed the expectations of its target demographic, and that’s what matters here.
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Your Thoughts…
Have you stayed at the Holiday Inn Orlando – Disney Springs hotel? Are you a fan of this hotel, or do you prefer something else in the Disney Springs area? Considering this hotel? Have any other thoughts or questions–please share in the comments below!
Have emailed the Holiday Inn, asking if they have a Resort and Parking Fee. 35 dollars resort fee and 20 dollars per night for parking. So certainly not free !
Does the Holiday inn Orlando, have bus service for the MVMCP? Does it pick up at midnight?
There’s no a fee for parking, AND a $18-ish resort fee PER NIGHT.
$14 a night to self-park and resort fees are now a thing at this hotel. There was an “extra fee” of $480 when I did a soft book for 8 nights… and this was before the parking fee. So no idea what all the fees were for, but that’s pretty high. You should update this review. I didn’t read the comments section before I went to price out our stay for next year only to ind the ugly changes. Honestly, the price is still lowest of everything I’ve seen so far, but no Disney transportation like with the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista or the B Resort, etc. This Holiday Inn DOES have some Disney benefits though: Purchase delivery to hotel and 60 day Fast Pass booking abilities.
Love your website. Thanks!
To answer Robert and Sam’s questions: all Disney Springs hotels have park transportation, but the Hilton is the only one that gets Extra Magic Hours.
I’ve stayed here a few times and always found it to be neat, clean, affordable, and in a great location. As stated they do not charge a resort fee, but there is a daily parking fee.
Did you book through a third party site? Everything I see on their site includes parking (it does say a $12 value, though).
During my last Saratoga Springs stay. I spent 3+ hours walking over & touring through all the non-Disney hotels next to Downtown Disney/Disney Springs.
The Holiday Inn really stood out as one I think I would enjoy staying at.
I loved the atrium. And as you stated, the pool was unique & inviting.
Do you by chance have any pictures of the food?
Thanks
I didn’t take any, sorry!
What about transportation. Is there a shuttle service to the parks or Disney Transportation Center?
There’s a shared shuttle with the other Disney Springs Area Hotels. In my experience, it’s fine, fairly comparable to Disney buses EXCEPT for Magic Kingdom, since it goes to the TTC instead of the park directly.
I’ve never stayed here, but am a rewards member. Sounds like it is worth checking out. The photo that overlooked the Buena Vista Palace reminded me that I had a terrible experience there in November. You gave it a great review a while ago, and I’ve stayed there several times and liked it. Hilton bought it out last fall and is renovating the pool area, and the lobby, and so much more. I was there for a conference and we had no prior warning. My group was staying out in the suites, and we ad a difficult time getting around construction. We also had lots of reservation issues, but that isnt surprising since they had to transfer between systems. I hope once they finish that it will be great, as I’m supposed to go again next fall. For now, I would warn people away.
Either I’ve read your comment about Buena Vista Palace twice, or I saw someone else express similar sentiment somewhere else. That’s really a disappointment. I hope Hilton’s management is ultimately good, but what’s happening now certainly doesn’t bode well.
I’ve stayed at fantastic Hilton’s, and terrible ones. I’m hoping this will turn out well.My group has been promised that everything will be much better by this summer. Guess we’ll see.
A no fee hotel on property. Plus, it is in the low 100 range that’s not bad. Does this hotel offer extra magic hours?
It looks clean and it a hotel is a place to sleep.
Where is the free disney Christmas download that your site promises?
Did you enter your email address and follow the instructions in the email you received?
We travel to Disney 4 or 5 times a year, living 4 hours away. We usually stay at a Disney hotel with the Coronado Springs being our favorite. We loved the Coronado Springs because it has a huge hot tub which was open late so we could use it after a long day at the parks. Our last 3 visits to the Coronado were plagued with problems, lost reservations, dirty rooms, a broken hot tub (for 3 visits) and the new practice of closing the pool at 11 pm with big rolling signs, not to mention that the rate per night had gotten higher and higher. We started checking out the hotels in the Disney Springs area and were pleasantly surprised !`We’ve stayed at the Holiday Inn Orlando twice with a Florida resident rate that was half the price of the Coronado Springs! We love the comfy beds, the nice clean rooms, the great pool, and free breakfast. We have become Holiday Inn Rewards club members for more discounts. The only negative things I could say about our visits was the bus service back from the parks (it’s a long walk to get to your bus to go back to the hotel) and the pool closing at 11 pm (a security guard makes you get out of the pool). We also tried and liked the Resort B, which is also in the Disney Springs area. It has a W hotel vibe to it with great rooms, pool, and they also had a Florida Resident rate!
I’ve been curious about this hotel as one could presumably stay here on IHG points, of which I have many. Much like the Hilton up the road where we stayed last time, it seems solid if unspectacular, which is fine if you’re going to spend a lot of time in the parks anyway.
No character breakfast, it sounds like? At least a couple of the other Disney Springs hotels have them, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Hi Carl, you are looking at 35,000 IHG points per night to stay here. Not cheap, but the Holiday Inn Resort and Staybridge Suites Lake Buena Vista are the same amount of points, so I think the Holiday Inn Disney Springs is a far better choice then those 2 if visiting Disney.
No character breakfast.