Kiwi Flyer

Posts older than 2015 for this OPEN THREAD can be found in the

ARCHIVE THREAD for DISCUSSION for Hilton Honors Hotels in or near Orlando, Florida, USA {US-HI}

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Kiwi Flyer
Hilton HHonors forum co-moderator

IAATM

I've a 3-night reservation coming up at the WA Orlando with the spouse and kids, and am wondering if there are any creative ideas out there to avoid the daily $26 parking fee. I'm burning some points on the room itself, so it's not going to kill me to pay $26/day for parking, but I just dislike the idea of paying $26/day on top of the $60/day that I'm planning to pay for my rental car. Just to get your creative juices flowing, here are some of my own crazy ideas, although I've not been to the WA Orlando myself, so all of this comes from reading FT threads.

• don't rent a car, and just take a taxi from the airport and to Disney/restaurants
• Park somewhere else off property
• Sneak into the garage through the service entrance

IsleOfMan

You could park at Downtown Disney, take Disney bus to The Contemporary Resort, walk or Monorail to Magic Kingdom, and then catch the Hilton/W=A shuttle... But that is a HUGE hassle and time loss... nowhere near worth it.

ENG17

I'm a little confused why the Homewood Suites Orlando/Lake Buena Vista is shown on the list as "no longer a Hilton property". I just booked a stay there for this fall off the Hilton Honors website. It shows it as a Category 5 hotel. Stayed there a little over a year ago as well. Just curious, is there something I'm missing?

sanfran8080

I do love the ES on Int'l Drive. However they tend to be jam packed with kids.

epigram

first time visitor to walt disney world orlando. am undecided between the WA orland or the HH lake buena vista. which would you choose?

writerguyfl

I've never stayed at the Waldorf, but be sure to check their Disney shuttle schedule. In some cases, the time between shuttles can be 2 hours. So, if you miss a shuttle by a few minutes, you have to pay for a taxi or wait. In comparison, the shuttle to the Hilton LBV is every 30 minutes all day long. The Bonnet Creek Shuttle schedule: http://www.bonnetshuttle.com/

I've stayed many times at the Hilton LBV...about 30 nights in the past 18 months. It is an average hotel with an excellent location. Although, with massive construction at Downtown Disney, the location is not as good right now.

I'd also consider the DoubleTree Suites Lake Buena Vista. That property is down the street from the Hilton LBV and shares the shuttle. Every room is a two-room suite and I've found the employees to be much nicer than at the Hilton LBV. There is no resort fee, either.

epigram

thanks for the heads up on the doubletree. will consider that.

jfe

If you are going with kids

http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/flo...HHH/index.html

It's an awesome hotel, the pool is fantastic

My kids can't stop talking about it, and we went a year ago

My first choice is to always go there if possible

SR12

How long would a taxi from Hilton Bonnet Creek/Waldorf or one of the Lake Buena Vista properties to Turner Field-Citrus Bowl generally take and how much would it end up costing me?

arlflyer

Google maps says 27 minutes.

Uber fare estimator says $19-25 for UberX.

I would user UberX over a taxi.

SR12

Thanks. Had forgotten about Uber and that they offer a tool for approximate fare.

Michael19887

I stayed for 4 nights recently and thought this was a very solid property. Upgraded as a diamond from King to king exec in advance. When I saw the stack of letters on the front desk welcoming "more than 700 Microsoft employees", I didn't ask for a suite, and I appreciated being right by the lounge. The common areas and the pool area/lazy river are very nice. The valet staff were on point. Was given 2 coupons for the large Evian bottled water in the room, but often housekeeping refreshed the bottle and left the coupon for me to reuse which I appreciated. The lounge was fine. I never had a problem finding a table and it has a good view of sea world roller coasters and the pool below. Overheard a gold checking in and they get access as well. It had one hot item at breakfast and the ususal continental items, and evening apps were 2 hot items, veggies, 2 types of hummus, and bruschetta. You have to ask for bottled water because the staff said they had too many problems with people take tons and tons of bottles and filling up bags. Soda is self serve from a bar gun (no cans for the same reason). Diamond wifi was on its own faster network accessed with a password. Food on property was fine and the gastropub wasn't terribly overpriced. I would definitely return.

arlflyer

Wow, that's pretty cool. Having never worked in the industry, I've never actually used one of those.

MrHilton

A new low point at the Hilton Grand Vacations!

Daily Resort Charge will be added to the room rate and includes: Guest internet access; domestic long distance calls (30 min max per day); DVD NOW with unlimited movies; 2 complimentary cups of Starbucks Coffee OR 2 16 oz. bottles of water per day; 1-800/local calls.

This only applies to the properties in Orlando (Sea World, IDrive, Parc Soleil)

The resort charge is a whopping $25 PER DAY

I find this a scam, and absolutely refuse to pay these fees

The amenities included in the fee are worthless to me, internet is always free as a diamond member, I have a cellphone with unlimited minutes (prepaid $35/Month) DVD now, I don't care I have Netflix. 2 bottles of water per day , lol buy a gallon for under a buck.

Everybody should start to refuse paying resort fees let's see how they respond to that. If we all continue to agree with paying them it will only get worse.

I never agree with them, and never did pay or never will pay them. I just refuse it. Since all of the amenities it covers are covered by a diamond card or just useless.

Another low point at the Grand Vacations is that they now guide everybody who checks in to their time share people, who waste your time until you agree to take a tour. Just do it and cancel it on the day it is planned. But do not take it the next day since otherwise if you cancel they have the amusing habit of calling you at 9AM to make a new appointment.

I always loved HGVC because of no resort fee and the beautiful properties, but these two things are a bad evolution.

On top of this the average daily rates have not been lowered so they just raised it all with $25 + tax per night.