Some Haphazard Disney World Tips – Part 1
We’ve been back from another trip to Walt Disney World for a couple of weeks, and thought now might be a good time to on the trip, and share some tips about hotels, dining, transportation, and more that we learned while there.
Despite visiting Walt Disney World “far too often” (per our loved ones…but can they really be “loved” ones if they think you can go to Walt Disney World too often?! 😉 ), we seem to learn something new each time we visit.
On this trip, we really did a lot: multiple visits to Food & Wine Festival (teaser: it was a dramatically different experience as compared to last time we did it), Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (no teaser there: we already wrote our recap on this year’s Halloween Party), plus numerous hotels, new-to-us restaurants, a couple of days at Universal, lots of hotel-hopping, plus a dash of espionage for you James Bond fans.
In this installment of our “Haphazard Tips” posts, we’ll cover the hotels and transportation. If these exciting topics don’t have you on the edge of your seat, then you probably don’t have a pulse. Let’s dig in…
Hotels
One of the upsides to being a Disney blogger is being able to justify eating ridiculous amounts of desserts in the name of research, because the people must know how that African Milk Tart tastes!!! I know you probably think this is desserts, pool slides, and character meals all the time, like some family-friendly T-Pain music video, but there are downsides, too.
The biggest one of those hotels, and moving to a new hotel nightly or every other night in the name of research. I know, I know: “first world problems.” Actually, I enjoy this, too, as hotels truly fascinate me and hotel reviews are one of my favorite types of posts to write. It’s just a hassle that eats an inordinate amount of time out of each day.
On this trip, we stayed at 6 different hotels at or near Walt Disney World, and also dropped in at another thanks to some friends. We will post full reviews of each in due time, but we don’t want this to turn into “The Anaheim & Orlando-Area Hotel Hopper Blog” so we’re trying to space out these reviews and mix them among other posts.
For now, here’s where we stayed, plus brief thoughts on the hotel:
- Port Orleans French Quarter – It’s been ages since I stayed here, partly because it’s rarely discounted and partly because the hotel didn’t do much for me. Suffice to say, I’m now a fan and I see why so many others love it. This makes ranking the Moderates really difficult (my previous post is basically obsolete now, and I’ll probably draft something from scratch soon), as they all have pros.
- Villas at Wilderness Lodge – While I’m cautiously optimistic about the Disney Vacation Club expansion at Wilderness Lodge, I’m unequivocally enthusiastic about the redone rooms here. The previous rooms were very busy, whereas these are more subdued while having a lot of cool thematic touches. More importantly, they much more efficiently utilize space.
- Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress – We already reviewed this one…
- Villas of Grand Cypress – After staying here, it’s no surprise this is the #1 hotel in Orlando with a 5/5 average score on TripAdvisor. The villas are gorgeous and well-appointed, with quality superior to Disney Vacation Club villas. Even if you don’t golf, the area is beautiful, peaceful, and relaxing. If you do golf, it’s a no-brainer.
- Waldorf Astoria Orlando – This hotel lives up to the reputation of the Muppet after whom it’s named (don’t be surprised if I recycle this line a few times). The rooms are ornate and well-appointed, but it’s the pampering service that impressed us most here. It doesn’t have resort amenities on par with the Hyatt Regency, but it’s the most luxurious hotel at which we’ve stayed in Orlando.
- Wyndham Grand Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort – This is definitely a nice resort with great rooms and amenities, especially for the price, and we’d recommend it. Something about it felt like “bland luxury” (I’ve coined the term McHotel to describe hotels like this), but it’s still a solid option, just not from a design perspective.
- Holiday Inn Orlando Disney Springs – There are some serious heavy hitters–some of the highest rated hotels in Orlando–on the list above. While no Holiday Inn could go toe-to-toe with the Waldorf Astoria–they’re simply different types of hotels at very different price points–this Holiday Inn had the best beds out of all of the hotels at which we stayed this trip. That’s something right there.
Part of the reason why doing all of this grueling hotel-hopping (I know, I know… “cry me a river”) wasn’t all that bad was because we chose some really good ones this time. While each has its negatives that we’ll cover in the reviews, the pros of every single one far outweigh the cons. It was a welcome reprieve from testing hotels in the Disneyland area; California may have many things on Florida, but there’s no question that Orlando’s hotel game is stronger than Anaheim’s.
For our experiences with Walt Disney World transportation, including some new tips for using Uber, continue reading this post on Page 2.
Hi Tom, We just got back from Disney last night, stayed at the Bora Bora Bungalows.
Based on an earlier article you wrote on Uber we tried it and were so pleased. We used Uber from the Polynesian to Beach Club (for a lunch reservation) and were charged 8$, and did it in reverse after a long day at epcot for the same fee.
We used Uber leaving epcot because we were at the rear exit of epcot and much closer to the Beach Club.
Both times the drivers came right up to the doors of the hotel entrance, were there within minutes of our calling, were polite and had nice clean cars.
It was a huge time savings and in our case my husband has very bad knees and it saved a tremendous amount of walking.
I feel if you are going to blow 11$ on a beer, 8$ for a ride is nothing!
Your last line hits the nail on the head for me. People don’t even blink at spending that much money on a drink, but won’t pay for transportation since Disney provides it for “free.” Well, free isn’t so free when it takes an extra hour. Vacation time *is* money.
Great tips about Uber! We were there a few weeks ago in September for our “Disneymoon” and used Uber to get from All Star Music to Universal for around $15 one way. It was super easy! They picked us right up in the taxi/shuttle circle at the hotel! They were also very prompt. I think we waited less than 10 minutes each time.
For our Disney Park days we used Disney buses and noticed the screens for bus arrival times too. They seemed pretty accurate! I hope they integrate this into the app soon too!
Thanks so much! Going to WDW and Universal in May and just trying to plan ahead. We’re staying at Port Orleans Riverside and wanting to do two days at Universal. I was planning to get the Universal ticket that includes roundtrip transportation to/from Disney hotels, but it still seems pretty expensive to me ($700+ for park tickets for two people, two days). Are familiar with that service and would you recommend Uber above it?
Uber is going to be around $30-40 for roundtrip transportation (total), so yes, I’d stick with Uber and standard Universal tickets.
We took an Uber from the Swan and Dolphin Food and Wine Classic back to our resort, which was the best thing we did all trip. Our only other option was to take the bus (or boat) to a park, and then take a bus from that park to our resort (taking 45 minutes to an hour I’m sure), but instead we paid $6 for an Uber that showed up 3 minutes after we requested it, and drove us directly to our resort. Perfect! Best money I spent all trip.
Thanks for this information. Do you know how many passengers Uber can accommodate. We are a family of five wanting to go from the Poly to Discovery Cove and back? Thanks.
You should probably go with UberXL instead of UberX.
Also, kudos for referencing “The Keeper of the Bridge of Death”. Uber driver’s should bone up on the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.
Pretty sure that’s included in the Uber Driving Test. If not, it should be.
Those boards are at all resorts now, I think. I saw them at at least 3, including an All Star, on my recent trip. And they all seemed to be accurate
If I may vote, more details on French Quarter soon. We’ll be there in a matter of weeks and we’ve never been to Disney. I would love to know what to expect.
About how much were you paying each way (before surge pricing) for Uber to Universal? Staying at Pop Century next month and trying to decide between Uber and Mears shuttle (for 2 people). Thanks
We paid $13-14 each way from POR when my husband and I went to Universal a couple times in the spring.
Would the hassle at the gate at epcot be negated by us having an AP? We have 8am breakfast in future world so Beach Club International gateway is not a good option
I am very excited about the LED transportation screens! Thanks for posting that. I am in complete agreement about linking it with the app. That has to be coming soon! Great update! Keep up the great work Tom!
Thanks for the info. I have been coming to Disney World from Toronto Canada quite often lately but have always used Disney transportation while here. Our biggest concern has always been “but we can’t go to church on sunday without a car” and never even thought of Uber as an option. Cab fares from Disney Resorts to a local church always seemed so expensive just to go to church but that was the only option offered to us by the concierge desk. Can uber pick up from a Disney Resort or do we have to walk to the gate to meet the driver? We have stayed at Saratoga Springs, Animal Kingdom Lodge and Pop Century over the years.
Which hotel was the first photo under “Hotels” taken at? It looks great!
That is the one bedroom villa at the Wilderness Lodge.
So you recommend taking Uber from MCO to my hotel rather than ME but they don’t allow pickups at MCO…what do you recommend? I rarely fly to FL (drive) so I’m not familiar with the area to walk somewhere. Going in December, staying at Boardwalk.
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board walks resorts
This feels like an obvious question, but reading through past transportation discussions I am still not 100% sure – are you just taking Uber between one park and a hotel (or other offsite location), or between parks? I’m going to Disney World in December and hoping to parkhop a little bit, and I’m not sure if Uber would be quicker than the Disney buses (I would say more reliable, but happily this update seems to indicate a little more reliability than before!).
Typically not between parks, just because that’s an unnecessary expense, and usually park-to-park isn’t that bad, especially Epcot <-> MK (monorail) or Epcot <-> DHS (boat, foot). We usually try to strategize so we’re using monorail or boat between the parks.
Awesome, thank you!
Thanks for re-reviewing French Quarter, planning on staying there in May, so hope we made the right choice.
Thank you!!!
Thanks for the updated Uber information, especially suggested drop off points.
No problem! The intersection drop-off is easier if you don’t have kids (and less of a hassle than going through Contempo’s security), but probably not advised if you have kids.