Disney Land Hotel or Int Drv ?? Advice please

Me my husband and two kids age 4 and 6 are planning to go to Disney Land next May.

I am unable to decide were would be the best place to stay.

My friend has just come back and she stayed 10 days at int drive and 4 at Disney hotel, she said she wishes she would have just stayed at int drv as if she wanted to go for a quick bite to eat there was not much around unless you want to pay over the odds at either the hotel or at the disney land resort, where as with int drv she could just pop our or even get a take away back in her room.

This is our first time in Florida and not sure when we would be able to do this again so want to make sure we make the right choice.

I really like the thought of the parks opening early and late if you stay in the hotels, but dont want to spend all our money on food.

I was considering the Disney Dining Plan but not sure if it is any good??

Thanks

Tracy

Disney Land Hotel or Int Drv ?? Advice please

Hi Tracy,

The Disney Dining Plan is a good value if you are folks who like a good ';sit down'; meal each day of your visit or like to do the dinner shows or character dining. The only time it wouldn%26#39;t be good for you is if you are a %26#39;fast food only%26#39; type of family. You will have all the food you really need with this plan as well, unless you are simply huge eaters.

Yes, it%26#39;s very nice to stay at Disney when visiting the Disney venues to get the perks of transporation, no parking fees, Extra Magic Hours, etc.

I like I-Drive o.k. for a Universal or SeaWorld part of a visit, but not for a Disney portion, as it%26#39;s too far from Disney to be practical.

If you plan to do all sections of Orlando, split your stay, as that%26#39;s what we do.

Disney Land Hotel or Int Drv ?? Advice please

If Walt Disney World is your Sole Destination, I highly recomend staying at a Disney Resort. The Perks are are nice feature :)

If you%26#39;d like to get an idea of costs

www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com

you can request a Free Quote and compare, they are very reliable and will find any available discounts for you. If you decide to book with them, they will even make all your Dining Reservations for you

Disneyland is in California, Disney World is in Florida.

If you can afford it, stay at a Disney hotel, more convenient, more perks. If you are renting a car, you can still pop out for food if you like. International drive or Disney hotels, you will either be driving (or riding buses) to either get to the restaurants off site or to the parks anyway.

Unfortunately what suits one doesnt suit another - i was just talking to a friend who stayed at a disney hotel for the entire holiday, with the disney dining plan, and the benefits of the disney hotel, transport to parks, extra magic hours etc.

I was speaking to her today, and they are hoping to go back next August (09), but was waiting for me to come back to see how hot it is, they went last April. She said if they go again, they wouldnt stay in a disney resort, but would prefer a villa and have the freedom to explore universal as well - didnt get the chance to go their last time as they thought they should concentrate on disney as they were in a disney hotel.

So, it really does depend on what you want from a holiday, which is i know, difficult if you%26#39;ve never been before.

We have opted for a condo, in universal boulevard, we intend to explore disney as well as universal and a few days at waterparks and shopping too! I hope!!! Whether we%26#39;ll regret this option or not i dont know til we%26#39;ve tried it!

As others have said, if you are going to spend the Majority (75% or more) of the time in the Disney system, then I would probably stay on Disney to take advantage of the extras like the EMH and the ability to get back to your room for a quick break..

If budget is an issue or you won%26#39;t be in Disney as much, probably off-site as better.

As far as the dining plan, it makes the most sense if you will be eating the majority of the time in Disney AND will eat on average at least one table service meal a day.

See: http://www.loonbeam.com/DisneyDining.htm for a sample breakdown of the dining plan.

Having children aged 4 and 6, I%26#39;d recommend staying on site Disney if you can afford it. It just is easier. If you aren%26#39;t sure on that, look at places near downtown Disney on Lake Buena Vista Drive.

Hello fatherboyle ;-)

I have stayed in both disney and I Drive and my preference is I drive as there is much more choice for restaurants and other things and also I Drive is dead centre of everything going on i.e Universal, WDW, Seaworld, Wet%26#39;n%26#39;wild, the malls outlets etc etc.

Now a very good eal to be had is at the ';Homewood Suites'; 8745 I drive, I got this hotel from travelrepublic.co.uk at a very very good price, I did a review of this hotel and everything it offers a while back but i shall try and find it and post it again.

I say I Drive for the sheer location.

Cheers ;-) Wullie

We stayed on I-Drive on our first visit last year and we are staying there again this year. The Disney hotels are nice but we found having a apartment/condo on a resort better because of the seperate rooms for the kids (9 + 4). We hired a car and found driving really easy after a day or so, you can find some good deals on www.booking.com

here is the review i did Fatherboyle, hope its of use to you.

The suites are large with full kitchen %26amp; table n chairs etc huge fridge freezer(for all the beers) the bedroom has an abolutely huge and I mean HUGE bed ensuite, large TV with built in playstation and room ';Safe'; the main sitting room has a double sofa pull out bed again with large Tv with loads of ';Sky'; channels.

Free hot n cold breakfasts every morning tea n coffee all day.

Free evening snack monday - thursday with free beer;-) wine soft drinks, tea, coffee etc, the evening snacks range from pasta dishes to chilli n nacho%26#39;s etc nothing extravagant but a nice touch, on the beer front drink as many as you wish they encourage you to get stuck in lol.

Location - I think its the best location on I drive as its right behind TGI fridays, with loads of good eateries close by and also pointe orlando only 500 yards away(if that), the I Trolly bus stop is right outside(both sides) the Lynx bus stop is again right outside (both ways)

The free transport to Universal is good, gets you there about 9am gets you back i think 7pm ish and the bus only shares with the hotel across the road (the quality inn) so no long journey for drop offs.

The transport to WDW is slightly different as they take you by mini bus and drop you at Epcot where you need to wait for a WDW bus to take you to whichever park you are going to and you need to be at epcot for a certain time to get home(I think its 21:30pm) after the fireworks. but you need to tell reception everytime when you are going.

Over all in my opinion I think this hotel is absolutely great value for money with a great location for all the attractions.

One thing I will warn you about is the Universal booth at the front desk, there are 2 people who work this booth 1. is an older woman named ';Toasie'; the other a younger girl, now they both will try to sell you everything that universal has, the older woman is in all honesty very nice and to be fair she is trying to make a living, BUT the younger girl would rip you off at the blink of an eye, so just watch if you are gona buy anything from the booth.

hope you enjoy ;-)

Cheers again ;-) Wullie