Originally Posted by Cloudship

There are 3 Hilton owned properties either in the WDW Resort or so surrounded by it that it makes no difference. These are the Hilton in the WDW Resort (technically renamed to Hilton Orlando Resort Lake Buena Vista) and Hilton Bonnet Creek and adjoining Waldorf Astoria. Many people get confused, so be careful about that. This thread I am assuming is talking about the one by the WDW Marketplace.

The Hotel is OK, not the newest hotel, but it pretty good condition. Supposedly they were just bought back by the company (it was a franchise for a while) and are putting a little effort into the place. I stayed there last week.

The benefits of the place are definitely location, location, location. This hotel is the closest to the marketplace, and definitely within walking distance of that. The pool is OK, not incredible, not terrible. They don't have a true lounge, but a breakfast lounge, with a pretty so-so continental breakfast and no room - during busy times don't bother. On weekdays you can get I think $7 off the rather pricey regular buffet downstairs if you ask as a HH. This is not a Disney themed hotel, though there is a small Disney gift shop. This is not a bad thing, by the way.

The best benefit is that this is your one (and only affordable, in most cases) option of getting Disney's Extra Magical Hours, which allow you to stay in select parks earlier or later depending upon the schedule. Note that the Bonnet Creek does NOT offer that benefit! Rooms are pretty nice, and they have the new non-alergenic rooms available. They don't have a view of the parks (even if they say resort view - you are too far away from them and angled wrong to see anything). Upgrade chances depend a lot on when - there can be some pretty tough competition for rooms at times.

Parking is a bit expensive - but I still highly recommend a car - the resort is huge and it saves you much time driving between parks than waiting on busses. Unfortunately they also love to nickel and dime you here - watch out for the bottled water (they leave the expensive stuff on the table, while you have to get a wet bar key and leave a slip for your free water). And when parking they give you a slip of paper to use to get you through the gate - watch that you put it in the right slot and don't just press the green button for the parking gate, otherwise they charge you for that, too.

Overall a decent value. You have to check the prices between the two - sometimes Bonnet Creek has great deals, other times they dont. The extra magic hours, though, you can only get through this one.