Choosing Non-Disney Accommodation

by Katie-Anne Gustafsson | More from this Blogger

16 Feb 2007 05:10 AM

Staying at one of the Disney hotels will immerse you fully in the Disney experience, but unfortunately, the expense of this will put it outside of the budget of those with limited finance to spend on a room they don't intend to spend much time in. There are however many other types of accommodation within the area that are far lower in cost and although perhaps not as luxurious as the Disney ones, they do provide you with a clean room in which to recharge your batteries overnight.

When choosing your non-Disney accommodation the first thing you need to consider is transportation to the Disney parks. Look for hotels that offer complementary transport - some will offer transport that goes just to Disney, others will offer transport to the other main parks in the area also, such as Universal Studios and Sea World. This is something that will save you time and money as they will usually pick up at a few hotels located near your hotel, and then go directly to the park. They will have their own designated pick-up/drop-off area at the park so you will know where to find them for your return journey. You can of course get to the attractions by using the public transport system if you don't have your own car, but check how far the bus stops are from the hotels you are considering before you make your final decision.

If you intend to use a car, either your own or a hire car, make sure that the hotels you put on your short-list have car parking facilities for all guests, or whether you have to pay an additional fee for using these. Also make sure that you don't have to reserve a car parking space when you book so that you don't arrive and find there's nowhere to park the car.

Other things to keep in mind when choosing your non-Disney accommodation are the other features that the hotel has. Does it have a restaurant offering food after the time you'd expect getting back from your day of sightseeing for example? Does it offer a full breakfast menu (stock up on a good cheap buffet breakfast and you'll avoid needing any main meals at the parks)? What about dinner menus? Do they have children's menus? Is there air conditioning? What about soda/snack machines? Is there a pool - what are the opening times for this? Is there anything else that's important for you to have in a hotel room that you need to find out about before booking - designated non-smoking rooms for example?

Before making your final choice, take your short list and run each hotel through your favourite search engine to see if there are any reviews about it online. If people have had a good experience there, or a bad one, these reviews will help you decide which of your short list seems to offer the best kind of accommodation for you at the price you can afford.

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Learn more about Katie-Anne Gustafsson

Hi,I'm a work at home mom of 2 preschoolers, Jake and Connor, and wife to Mikael.

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