Orlando Forum: Best alternative to staying on Disney property

Will you have kids with you? If so check out Marriott Harbour Lake or Marriott Cypress Harbour. They are across from each other and closer to SeaWorld than Disney, but we stayed at Harbour Lake and they have 1 and 2 bedrooms with livingroom, kitchen, balcony, washer and dryer in room, and it is a gated community with kids activities. I thought I liked the Disney transportation also until we rented a car for the first time two years ago and I really liked having my freedom of when and where I wanted to go. I could not believe how fast it seemed to drive to a park compared to riding the bus.

Yes, 3 kids (10, 8 and 4).

These two hotels are probably not as upscale as the Poly or Beach Club but are rated very high on Trip Advisor and I have only heard good things about them. When we stayed at the Marriott Harbour Lake they had a pirate ship pool with smaller slides coming off of it and there was a bigger pool with a bigger water slide. They had activities like cane pole fishing, mini golf, basketball, ping pong, games where you collect pirate tokens, a variety of different kids games and certain times when you can drop off your kids in the activities center for a little while, they do crafts, play the WII, etc. One night there was hula dancers by the pool and a guy who did tricks with fire. I liked that we had the extra space in our room. I have not stayed at the Cypress Harbour but you can check it out on here and I have heard good things about the place. Not sure if they have a water slide but I heard that have kids activities and paddle boats, etc. I would have to guess that the Marriott Harbour Lake is a little more kid oriented and the Cypress is a little more adult oriented but both are family friendly or adult friendly.

tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g34515-d84907-R…

Its sort of is at the property You can walk to and from Epcot use the boat to HS and Epcot and there is bus´s to the parks from the hotels :-)

Mutter

Is it just about the budget ? If so, have you looked at staying at a Moderate Resort such as Port Orleans Riverside ? Alot less $ than the Poly and BC but still has all the Disney Perks http://allears.net/acc/faq_dxl.htm

Nothing off site will have the easy access you get when staying on site. Also Keep in mind you will need to rent a car ( buy gas and pay Parking charges at the Parks and possibly the hotel ) and or pay for Transport from and back to the Airport and to all the Parks each day.

You might want to look at Floridays or the Fountains, great villa properties with fun, fun pools and close to Disney & Sea World.

Another option would be the WDW Swan & Dolphin, although not a "Disney" hotel, you will get alot of the same benefits as staying at a true Disney resort...but often there are "specials".

Waldorf Astoria,Buena Vista Palace at DTD,Swan and dolphin

Partypa - I am just looking at different price points to compare. The last few times we stayed at BC and POLY, we had either room discounts or free dining. Neither of which are available right now. :( Do you happen to know when Disney release these types of discounts for November?

Having only staying at the above properties, I liked the convenience factor. How much longer are the travel times from the moderate resorts? Will staying off-site be even worse?

A moderate is still better then offsite, many places advertise how many miles from Disney. That is to the entrance, and not driving miles. POR is a lovely resort and it does not take long to get to any of the parks from there. A Lovely boat to DTD too. Highly recommend this resort with three kids.