Disney World Hotel

We went to DW last year and stayed at the Carribean ...we did not rent a car as they have buses that will get you to where you ned to go. We also split up our day, up early to eat breakfast and then straight to the park of the day, played until about lunch time or mid-day, ate lunch and napped or swam or just chilled, then round 2 after dinner. Loved that some of the parks stayed open later on certain days...did not get a meal plan, worked out better for us. Have a great time! It is so awesome!

Hi, A....Don't be afraid to check out the Disney specials on their own hotels right now. They are trying to get people to stay there, too. Plus, they are on Disney property and will bus you to other properties. I haven't stayed at one yet, but we have other accommodations in Orlando. But I get their newsletter, and they have some great deals for being Disney owned.

Hi A.,

I suggest checking out the Disney on property hotels as well. There are some special deals going on right now. They also provide free transportation from the airport via the Disney Express which will save you quite a bit of money. Disney has 3 classes of hotels including value resorts which include POP Century (my daughter interned there and lots of families stay there) as well as the ALL STAR Sports and Music venues. Check on these because they all provide free transportation to all the parks. If you drive a car and are not staying on Disney property, then parking is $11 or $12 a day

Some of the off-property Disney tied in hotels in Lake Buena Vista also provide free bus transportation to the parks. Check these out -I think they are part of the Disney Good Neighbor program. If you check any of the travel websites, and google Lake Buena Vista, you will get a big list of available properties.

Also with 9 people you might want to see if you could find a condo so you could have cooking facilities. I googled Lake Buena Vista condos and found one Lake Buena Vista Resort Spa that is 2 miles from park, provides free transportation, and has 2-3-4 bedroom condos. I have never stayed there so I can't give you personal experience, but there were also other condos listed.

Good luck and have a wonderful time. September is kind of off season in Orlando (since school vacations are over) so there should be some great deals. Some might not come out til later.

If you stay in a Disney resort, then all transportation around the theme parks and hotels is provided by Disney, so there's no need to rent a car. If you're flying in to Orlando, Disney also offers free bus transportation to your hotel, so again, no need to rent a car. There are TONS of hotels of varying price levels and sizes. I suggest reading a good guidebook, like passporters or something similar, to get a good idea of what might fit your needs size and location wise and go from there. Some hotels have just bus transportation; others have bus plus boat or bus plus monorail. Lots of options and Disney is having HUGE deals right now. We just went last month and stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. We've also stayed at Animal Kingdom lodge. Other friends/family have stayed at Fort Wilderness, the Yacht & Beach Club resorts, and the contemporary resort. The cheapest hotels, like All Star resorts, are often look VERY crowded and VERY loud, but I've never stayed at those.

We are going to Disney next month and we are staying at All Star Movies which is usually under $100 a night but here are places that you can find that have more rooms. Any of the places on Disney have transportation that goes all over property. Hope that helps!

Have fun!!!!!!!!!!!

A.,

I would recommend checking out these web sites: http://allears.net/index.html or http://www.mousesavers.com/. These free sites list discounts on Disney hotels and a lot of other Disney World facts.

We have stayed at a number of Disney properties but never with that large of a group. We like the Contemporary or Polynesian for their location to Magic Kingdom, but they are pricey. We, also, like the Beach Club because of it's location to EPCOT. But it is also pricey. We have also stayed in the Pop Century and All Stars when we've wanted to save money. We like the Pop Century better because it tends to be a little quieter. The groups - school, foreign, etc.- seem to stay at the All Stars more than Pop Century. I have never stayed at any of the Downtown Disney hotels, but they seem to be nice hotels.

Another tip. There are some specials on Disney rooms that offer free dining plans. If you take advantage of this offer, you need to decide on the table service restaurants soon and make your reservations. Some of them fill up so you can't always wait until you arrive to decide.

MouseSavers or All Ears should help you sort all this out.

Good luck and I hope you have a great vacation.