This was our third visit to Walt Disney World, and our third different hotel.
I have written about where to stay at Walt Disney World before, and in my humble opinion, unless you are staying off property for free, it does not make sense to stay anywhere but at a Walt Disney World resort. That does not mean I am writing an ad for them, it just means I have done my own investigation for when I return and am paying out of my own pocket.
The first amenity for all guests is the Disney Magical Express Bus. A free ride from the Orlando airport to your hotel. It goes to every Walt Disney World (WDW) property. Round trip you are saving over $100. But what f you rent a car you ask. Then you have a $14 per day parking charge. And a farther walk into the park than those of us taking the free buses that, again, go from every WDW property to every WDW park.
But WDW hotels are expensive. Yes, some can be over $500 a night! But some can also be $100 a night. Shop around, there are WDW hotels for every budget and they all have the same amenities re the Disney Magical Express and buses to all parks for free.
If you book early enough you get to take your luggage to the airport and not see it again until you check into your hotel as part of your Disney Magical Express experience. And also free baggage check for your return flight! When you are leaving WDW, you can check your luggage with an actual TSA agent at your hotel and get your boarding passes so you can go straight to security when you arrive at the airport for your return flight. Is this convenient enough yet?
This trip we stayed at the Contemporary Hotel. The monorail stops here. This hotel and the others on the monorail line are perfect for younger families who will be spending most of their time at The Magic Kingdom. We had no intention of spending all that time with the younger crowd and would probably not stay here in the future, but it did turn out that we spent most of our time at The Magic Kingdom, I guess I am a young kid at heart!
The pool was fun, I went down the slide a few times myself, I do not believe only kids should have all the fun. There was also a beach and a hot tub. We were very happy that we were also able to pop in for a late night swim one evening. My son also got to spend sometime in the game room, he had a perfect vacation at this property!
Disclosure: I attended this event as a guest of Walt Disney World. I paid a conference fee and received free park tickets, some lodging and some meals. All opinions are always 100% honest and my own. I was not required to write this post as part of my conference attendance. The above picture was taken from the Walt Disney World website.
mel says
Man, this is my all time favorite hotel of all time!
Angela says
Great post! I loved staying at the Contemporary. It was so easy to get to all the parks, and the hotel is super nice!
Nikki says
That hotel is gorgeous! I’ve heard that it’s just better to stay in the park. Even if you can find a less expensive place outside, the bonuses of staying inside make up for the savings.
Dede says
We haven’t stayed at the Contemporary yet. We LOVE Disney and I totally agree with staying onsite, especially if you want to completely relax the whole time.
Amy Green says
I wonder if they’ve spotlighted this on The Travel Channel. I love it when they do specials on the Disney theme parks!