Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

How did you handle dining at other hotels? We're staying at the pop century and are not planning on renting a car. I was reading the Unofficial Guide to walt disney world, and it said that it is very hard to get from one resort to another.

I know it's 3 months away, but I love planning, and want to make sure I can get priority seating at the restaurants at which we want to eat!

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

I'm not sure if ours was a value hotel. It was not owned by Disney, but it was on their property. It was amazing and reasonable. It was closer to the park then The Pop century. There was a constant shuttle bus that took us to the park and trams so that we could go to all the restaurant.

If you are still planning, try Mouse Savers I got a lot of great information from them! Now, can I come with you

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

We stayed in all star music. I would stay in another Value again. They were clean and cheap and on Disney property. We drove to Florida but our car sat in the lot the whole time we where there. We got on the bus everyday to take us to the parks. You can use a bus to goto the other locations Monorail or ferry. Very easy to get around.

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

You have FM..


In general there's no way to get from one hotel to another directly (unless you're going from one of the MK monorial connected hotels to another), so you basically have to go to a park or the TTC (transportation and ticketing center) and then get the bus, ferry or monorail that goes to the hotel you want. I gave you more specifics in FM, but if anyone wants any specific info, feel free to ask or FM.

To get to AKL it's really easy from the values becuase they are in the Animal Kingdom areas, so you take the bus to animal kingdom, and from there you take the bus to AKL.

To get to the contemporary you take the bus to the magic kingdom and either walk (very easy) or take the monorail. For the grand floridian you can go to the magic kingdom and take the ferry or monorail.

If you're coming from another park, just take the bus to the hotel you want, and if you're ever confused about how to get somewhere ASK, but also going to the TTC is a safe bet because it has transportation for EVERYWHERE including downtown disney, which you don't ordinarily find at the parks.

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

i know its expensive but i would suggest renting a car. if you want to go outside of the disney property, there is no other way. especailly if you are not familiar with orlando. we went 4 years ago and were very happy we had a car to get around it. jmo

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

I have to disagree about the car rental thing. If you're paying to be at dinsye, there's SO much to do there, and it's like double paying to do other things, plus you have to drive in traffic and deal with parking hassles. Some parks actually have shuttles out to teh parking lots. I LOVE the stress free life of taking the bus and not worrying about anything. JMO

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

we stayed at the pop century...we had to rent a mini-van because we were a large group, so I can't really compare or give you advice about renting vs. bus...I personally would go with a rental..leaves you the freedom to come and go as you please, and you don't have to deal the crowded buses...jmo

I also wanted to let you know.. Pop Century is VERY family oriented, so expect ALOT of kids, EVERYWHERE! Also, their restaurant is more like a cafeteria style...you get on line, pick up your food, then get back on another line to pay...the food was pretty decent, but like I said, it was cafeteria-like, and loud.

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

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Posted by marymoon

I have to disagree about the car rental thing. If you're paying to be at dinsye, there's SO much to do there, and it's like double paying to do other things, plus you have to drive in traffic and deal with parking hassles. Some parks actually have shuttles out to teh parking lots. I LOVE the stress free life of taking the bus and not worrying about anything. JMO

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i agree about the shuttles and the whole no driving thing, but we found it easier to get around. plus we went to universal and disney does not offer a shuttle there, for obvious reasons. we took the shuttles to all the disney parks and that was great, but as far as getting anywhere not in disney, its kind of a challange w/o a car

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

I agree with the car if you are leaving the disney area. But like I said we stayed on Disney property had our car and didn't use it once. We liked using the bus because after a long day in the park who wants to drive back. And if you stay till the park closes then you have to sit in traffic to get out of the park.

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

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Posted by june262004

I agree with the car if you are leaving the disney area. But like I said we stayed on Disney property had our car and didn't use it once. We liked using the bus because after a long day in the park who wants to drive back. And if you stay till the park closes then you have to sit in traffic to get out of the park.

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i agree and the bus was great for getting to and from the parks. but the car made it easier to get around outside of disney

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

yup. I agree with everything above.

And also I want toa dd that maybe I am stupid, but I found driving around disney to be really confusing. All we had to do was find the hotel, then go gas up the car, then drive to another hotel to drop off the rental car (we ahd driven in from ft. lauderdale) and it took us over an hour. we were totally confused!

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

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Posted by smm2675

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Posted by june262004

I agree with the car if you are leaving the disney area. But like I said we stayed on Disney property had our car and didn't use it once. We liked using the bus because after a long day in the park who wants to drive back. And if you stay till the park closes then you have to sit in traffic to get out of the park.

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i agree and the bus was great for getting to and from the parks. but the car made it easier to get around outside of disney

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Thats what im saying if you plan on going to universal or anywhere outside of disney then YOU NEED a car.

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

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Posted by marymoon

yup. I agree with everything above.

And also I want toa dd that maybe I am stupid, but I found driving around disney to be really confusing. All we had to do was find the hotel, then go gas up the car, then drive to another hotel to drop off the rental car (we ahd driven in from ft. lauderdale) and it took us over an hour. we were totally confused!

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oh man, you couldn't be more right about the driving. especially not being familiar with the area, it was a PITA to get around.

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

thanks everyone. We aren't planning on leaving Disney. If we were, we would have stayed off of disney property and driven to all the parks..we decided to keep it all within WDW.

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

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Posted by Jax430

thanks everyone. We aren't planning on leaving Disney. If we were, we would have stayed off of disney property and driven to all the parks..we decided to keep it all within WDW.

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then you should have no problem, enjoy it! we had a blast and can't wait to go back

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

I would never do Disney without a car ... I think the buses are awful!

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

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Posted by wc0143

I would never do Disney without a car ... I think the buses are awful!

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Well then since we are DRIVING to FL, I'm actually GLAD now we'll have the car with us

I have done the buses before and they are kind of iffy at best ... and besides, we are going to Universal so a car is a must have

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

We stayed at the Pop Century in January and got around fine without renting a car. We ate at different resorts all the time. Like Marymoon said we took the bus to a park or to the TTC (kinda like a hub) and then transferred to the bus/monarail/etc that could take us to different resorts. The only place that we couldn't get to using Disney Transportation, even though it is on Disney property, is Wide World of Sports. We took a cab there and it was pretty easy & cheap.

We ate at the following places, that I would recommend:
- House of Blues (Downtown Disney)
- Potobello Yacht Club (Downtown Disney)
- Fulton's Crab House (Downtown Disney)
- Wolf Gang Puck Express (Downtown Disney)
- 'Ohana (Polynesian Resort)
- All Star Cafe (Wide World of Sports)
- Spoodles (Boardwalk)
- Italy & Japan (Epcot)
- Sci Fi Dine in Theater (MGM)
- 50's Prime Time Cafe (MGM)

Let me know if you have any questions about resteraunts. Over the past so many years we have tried a bunch and some are really good. Plus some are a lot of fun!

Re: Question for those of you who have stayed at the 'value' Disney hotels

I didn't think the buses were that bad. And the plus with staying at Pop Century is that it has its own bus. See All Star Music,sports and Movies share a bus. So you have to sometimes sit through other resorts before getting off (it takes longer to get on sometimes too) BUT Pop Century you don't have to do all that. You get right on and Right off. We took the bus to pleasure island one night and BOY are we glad we did. We were feeling a little good. Never would/could have drove back. They had these Beach buckets that they put drinks in after 2 of thouse I was feeling good (and I can drink).

Anyway no matter how you do disney you will have SO much FUN!!!!!!!