Should I Stay at a Disney Good Neighbor Hotel?

In addition to the many Disney hotels and resorts located on Disney World property, Disney offers “off-property” hotels that get their stamp of approval. These are called Disney Good Neighbor Hotels.

Walt Disney World only partners with the very best hotels in the Kissimmee and Lake Buena Vista areas. Only the best of the best are considered Disney Good Neighbor Hotels. These hotels have been inspected and vetted by Disney to make sure that they meet the highest standards.

Disney uses these hotels to accommodate Disney property “overflow” guests and youth groups. Many families choose these hotels because they are Disney-approved even if they are not on Disney property.

P.S. Disney offers Good Neighbor Hotels at Disney World and Disneyland. This post is about our stay at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Should We Stay at a Disney Good Neighbor Hotel?

Here are some pros and cons of staying at a Disney Good Neighbor Hotel. You can weigh these and see if these hotels are a good fit for your family for your Disney vacation:

Pros:

• Discounted nightly rates
• Have a Guest Services desk to assist with Walt Disney World vacation planning
• You can use hotel points for free nights (we paid $69/night)
• Free Breakfast
• Transportation to and from the Disney Parks (NOTE: Our hotel offered free transportation, but some Disney Good Neighbor Hotels charge a fee for rides to and from the parks)
• A room with a kitchenette, office area, and couch that also makes a bed
• Rooms tend to be larger and roomier
• Family-friendly resorts/hotels

Cons:

• Nothing beats staying on Disney property (sorry, but it’s true)
• Transportation was not offered all day like Disney buses, monorails, boats, and Skyliner
• NO free Magic Band
• Not all offer Magic Hours at the Disney Parks
• 60-Day FastPass+ Booking Window is not offered at all Good Neighbor Hotels (some offer the 30-Day Fastpass+)
• Free transportation from Orlando International Airport via Disney’s Magical Express is not offered
• You can’t book your Advanced Dining 180 days in advance

***You can book a Magic Your Way Package with a hotel room and tickets and get the Magic Hours and the 60-day Fastpass+ booking window.

The hotels included in this offer are:

• Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
• Holiday Inn Orlando- Disney Springs
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
• DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando
• Best Western Lake Buena Vista
• B Resort & Spa

Our Stay

For this Disney vacation, we stayed at Springhill Suites (by Marriott). For a full list of all of Disney’s Good Neighbor Hotels CLICK HERE.

Perks of our Stay at SpringHill Inn and Suites (we were not paid or sponsored to stay here. This is just our honest experience at a Disney Good Neighbor Hotel):

• 1 mile from the Disney Outlet Store
• 5 minutes from Disney Springs (where we could hop on a Disney bus to visit resorts/ride the Skyliner)
• Room with a kitchenette (coffee pot, mini-fridge, microwave, and sink)
• Free (HUGE) Buffet Breakfast – with MICKEY WAFFLES
• Huge swimming pool, hot tub, and splash pad play area
• Disney Theming at the Hotel (it’s minimal, but it’s there)
• Security – drive-thru security checkpoint to enter the hotel complex and gated parking
• We could use any pool, hot tub, or restaurant at SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites, or the Courtyard by Marriott (all in very close proximity). We used the room service option at the neighboring hotel and it was yummy!

Use Hotel Points or Get a (Sometimes) Lower Room Rate

My husband travels out of town for work and we travel a lot so we have signed up with just about every major hotel chain. We collect points all throughout the year and then use them for big vacations.

We were going to use hotel points for this Disney trip but the rates were incredibly low for our stay. Our trip was mid-week in October and the nightly rate was only $69! We decided to pay the rate since it was so low and collect the points for another trip.

Free Breakfast

One of my favorite things about our stay at Springhill was the free breakfast – it was awesome! The breakfast was buffet style and they even had Mickey waffles. As soon as we hit the parks, we run to the fun so we need a good breakfast to hold us over until lunch.

Don’t get me wrong, Disney resorts offer a great breakfast, but feeding a family breakfast can cost $50-100 (depending on how many family members you have).

I was also so happy that there were so many gluten-free options for me – eggs, sausage, grits, fruit, spinach, and yogurt.

Make Your Own Mickey Waffles!

Free Transportation to Parks

Our bus from Springhill Suites did not take us directly to the Disney Parks. It took us to the Disney Transportation Center. From there, we could get on a Disney bus, the Monorail, or grab a taxi. We had plans to visit Epcot, so we hopped off our bus and walked over to the Monorail Station. We took the Monorail straight to Epcot.

The protocol at our hotel was to make reservations for our transportation at the hotel’s Disney Service Desk (we had to do this 24 hours in advance). There, we receive a ticket (a long receipt – see the above photo). We gave the ticket to our bus driver on the day of our park visit. We chose the time that we wanted to leave for the parks and we also chose a time to return.

One of the cons of this arrangement is keeping up with the return ticket/receipt all day at the park. I kept ours with my cell phone in a waterproof cell phone case.

Buses

There were about 3 times available in the morning and 3 times available at night. This is different than the Disney Resort buses that run all throughout the day. You can’t just hop on a bus back to Springhill Suites for an afternoon by the pool (like you can with the Disney Resort buses). We had plans to spend all day at Epcot (and park-hopping over to Hollywood Studios) so we had no plans to return to the hotel until bedtime. So… this arrangement worked for us.

Plan Ahead…

At the end of our day, we took the Monorail back to the transportation center to get back on our bus. We waited for almost 30 minutes (with many other people) for the bus to arrive. My phone was dead and I couldn’t call the hotel and we didn’t want to wait 2 hours for the next bus. We decided to take a taxi back to the hotel (which cost about $30).

At the hotel, we were informed that a special bus had to be called to accommodate several guests in wheelchairs. While I appreciated their efforts to help all their guests, this would never have been an issue with Disney buses. They are all already equipped to accommodate all guests.

The situation would have been easier if my phone hadn’t died, but it was a long day and I used My Disney Experience App a lot. Even with a backup battery, my phone just didn’t make it the full 14-hour day. So…I recommend having a backup plan – for your cell phone AND transportation back to the hotel. Fortunately, there are MANY taxis’ waiting at the transportation center.

While you wait for the bus (if you are early like we are) there is a playground for the kids and a walk-up STARBUCKS for the adults who need that extra caffeine boost.

Rooms

Our rooms were very nice, clean, and comfortable. We had two full/queen beds, a bathroom (with a separate sink area), a living room with a couch that made a bed, a kitchenette, and a desk/office area. This room could easily sleep a family of 5-6. It was just the 3 of us so we were happy that each of us had our own bed.

I liked making coffee in the room and having it while we got ready. We used the fridge for bottled water that we brought and for leftovers like pizza.

Discount Offers

I can’t promise this for all of the Disney Good Neighbor Hotels, but ours offered a packet full of discount coupons for local restaurants and shops.

Would I stay at a Disney Good Neighbor Hotel again? Yes.

Would I stay at Springhill Suites in Orlando again? Definitely.

Is a Good Neighbor Hotel as good as or better than staying on property? Sorry, but no. It’s less expensive and the free breakfast is awesome, but nothing beats staying on Disney property.

Read about our stay on Disney property HERE.

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