The Hilton at Downtown Disney does NOT give you access to the disney bus system. It has its own bus service that it shares with the Holiday Inn, Doubletree and some other hotel. The one disadvantage of that bus system is that if you are going to Magic Kingdom you get dropped off at the ticket and transportation center which requires you to get on the monorail to get to Magic Kingdom(can be a goodly line to get on if you go at a busy time). The disney bus system drops you off directly at magic kingdom. Hilton does have access to the extra magic hours. It also has a character breakfast but i think it is only on Sundays.
If he is getting a car then the Magical Express is kind of irrelevant if they get car from airport. Mears runs a bus system from airport which is more economical than a cab and it is pretty good.
Originally Posted by
AUDirt
I would 2nd the recommendation for the SPG AMEX. The Swan and Dolphin are in really good locations on Disney property (easy walking distance to Epcot; 10-min walk to Hollywood Studios).
Plus -- and to me, this is big -- the Swan/Dolphin give you Magic Hours. Those are usually the best hours of the day where the non-Disney guests get kicked out and the lines get (much) smaller.
Not having Magic Express is painful and the cab fare from MCO to Disney is absolutely shocking (I think the last time we did it, the fare was over $50). BUT... the advantages of staying on property are huge.
Another possibility... put together a Hilton HHonors app-o-rama. The Hilton in Downtown Disney is (technically) on Disney property. As such, it also gives access to the Disney bus system as well as Magic Hours. I don't think it includes Magic Express, though.
One other note: I don't know about other travel sites, but I'm 99% sure that the CC travel sites that utilize Travelocity as the back-end should allow you to book rooms at Disney hotels. That method would give you all of the normal Disney resort perks. I know that USBank uses Travelocity for their booking engine. I don't know how American Express does it, but the Disney resorts show up in their search results.