ResortTV1

We end up at Disney Springs half the days anyway and we have lots of Hilton points to use and between that an annual passes and airline miles the trip could be really inexpensive. But cautious about staying in a non-Disney hotel.

Yes! I have stayed quite a few times at the Wyndham literally across the street from Disney Springs. It is often a consideration when I plan a trip. I have heard good things about the other locations along the street there. I don’t think there’s really a bad one. It’s been an overall really good experience staying at Wyndham. Great room and location.

But, you can definitely tell the hotels are not Disney. I know price is a factor as it is for my trips, but Disney hotels do have some magic to them. The only other thing to consider, that is a bigger factor, is transportation. They have shuttles that run every 30 minutes, but it can actually be longer. They also drop off at weird locations at the park, like Animal Kingdom was an odd spot in the parking lot.

However, there are some tricks to getting around transportation like going across the street to Disney Springs and hopping on a resort bus there (or direct park buses once those start again). And you can always stop by Starbucks on the way to the bus that way! That also ends up being a good alternative transportation back to the hotels - go via Disney springs bus from a nearby resort.

I actually stayed at a Good Neighbor hotel (Springhill Suites LBV, Marriott) and there was still a Disney feel to it - you could get park tickets there, most families were going to the park, etc.

They had shuttles but they were not the greatest. As someone else mentioned they dropped off at weird locations. This was pre-pandemic but (where we stayed) had 1 shuttle and the shuttle served multiple hotels, so on the way back to the hotel, there was often a long line waiting to get back. Also, they only went to Disney Springs at 1 time and came back at one time. (This may not be true for them all, just my experience)

Long story short, there can be benefits staying off-site - potential free breakfast, more spacious room, more restaurants for evening dining (vs. 1 quick service in the lobby), access to stores (i.e. going to CVS to pick up something cheap vs. paying a lot to get it in the hotel lobby) & now with no early fast pass, no real extra magic hours it may pay to stay somewhere else. But transportation is a huge chunk of it (including airport transport if you're going this year while they're still doing the Magical Express). Check out their website:https://www.wdwgoodneighborhotels.com/browse-hotels/