Reflection
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2000
My daughter and I returned this afternoon from a long weekend at WDW. Wanted to get some more use out of those annual passes. 
We stayed offsite at Springhill Suites in the Marriot Village complex, and had a very enjoyable stay. When we checked in on Friday, occupancy seemed low, but definitely picked up over the weekend.
The layout of the room was just right for the two us--two queen beds, one-sink vanity with a hair dryer, that is separate from bathroom, living area with couch and arm chair with ottoman, and in the 'kitchen' area, a work table with phone, cabinet with counter space, sink, microwave, and small refrigerator, which is large enough to hold several 20-25-oz bottles of water. We were on the side of the hotel away from I-4 and had one of the few rooms with a balcony. By the way, the balcony overlooks the parking lot. The workstation phone had a dataport, which was handy, as I had some work to do on a project and had to email files. There are two TVs in the room, and there is open separation between sleeping area and the living area.
Complimentary continental breakfast was included and consisted of bagels, muffins, variety of cold cereals, reduced fat, regular, and chocolate milk, apple and orange juice, fresh fruit--apples, oranges, bananas, coffee, tea, packages of hot chocolate mix, and various toppings for the bagels--individual packets of peanut butter, cream cheese, jelly. The breakfast is for hotel guests only--Springhill guests, that is, and they do check your room card.
We did not use any of the resorts other amenities--pool hopping, bus transportation--had rental car--food court, newspaper--USA Today is not delivered on weekends--arcade. Although, I did pop over to the Disney Planning Center onsite to pick-up park maps and guides. The one service I wanted to use--kid's club--had been closed due to the slow enconomy, but one of the staff told me that with business picking up they would probably be reinstituting this soon.
Access to the parks from this location was good: From Vineland SR 535 to 536 and followed the signs. No traffic at all on 536.
When I made the reservations, I was told there would be a resort fee, but the reservationist was not exactly sure what that covered. When I checked out this morning, I politely explained to the front desk staff that we did not use any of the amenities and asked if fee could be waived, and it was.
As for the parks, we experienced no crowds, with the exception of Saturday evening at MK. Since there was a later closing (9 pm or 10 pm, depending on what guide you read--acutal closing was 10:00 pm), we thought we would head over to catch the evening parade. Not a good decision. At that hour, I knew Fast Pass would not be available for most rides, and despite the fact that LOTS of people had staked out places for the parade, there were 60-min plus waits for most of the popular rides. We opted not to stay, but returned the last 2.5 hours before closing on Sunday and had a wonderful time. Bag searches were underway at all the parks, and at MK someone realized it would make for better traffic flow to have the security guards check bags a short distance from entry turnstiles.
We mainly ate offsite but had two sit down meals--both at EPCOT: Rose and Crown and Chefs de France, and did not have (or need) PS for either. At Rose and Crown, due to refursbishment in the kitchen, the plates, 'glass'ware and cutlery are plastic, but the host/hostess do explain this as you are being seated.
In closing, we had a terrific time, enjoyed our stay at the Marriott Village Springhill Suites and would probably split our August 02 stay between here and a WDW resort--hoping for another great discount for YC concierge.
We stayed offsite at Springhill Suites in the Marriot Village complex, and had a very enjoyable stay. When we checked in on Friday, occupancy seemed low, but definitely picked up over the weekend.The layout of the room was just right for the two us--two queen beds, one-sink vanity with a hair dryer, that is separate from bathroom, living area with couch and arm chair with ottoman, and in the 'kitchen' area, a work table with phone, cabinet with counter space, sink, microwave, and small refrigerator, which is large enough to hold several 20-25-oz bottles of water. We were on the side of the hotel away from I-4 and had one of the few rooms with a balcony. By the way, the balcony overlooks the parking lot. The workstation phone had a dataport, which was handy, as I had some work to do on a project and had to email files. There are two TVs in the room, and there is open separation between sleeping area and the living area.
Complimentary continental breakfast was included and consisted of bagels, muffins, variety of cold cereals, reduced fat, regular, and chocolate milk, apple and orange juice, fresh fruit--apples, oranges, bananas, coffee, tea, packages of hot chocolate mix, and various toppings for the bagels--individual packets of peanut butter, cream cheese, jelly. The breakfast is for hotel guests only--Springhill guests, that is, and they do check your room card.
We did not use any of the resorts other amenities--pool hopping, bus transportation--had rental car--food court, newspaper--USA Today is not delivered on weekends--arcade. Although, I did pop over to the Disney Planning Center onsite to pick-up park maps and guides. The one service I wanted to use--kid's club--had been closed due to the slow enconomy, but one of the staff told me that with business picking up they would probably be reinstituting this soon.
Access to the parks from this location was good: From Vineland SR 535 to 536 and followed the signs. No traffic at all on 536.
When I made the reservations, I was told there would be a resort fee, but the reservationist was not exactly sure what that covered. When I checked out this morning, I politely explained to the front desk staff that we did not use any of the amenities and asked if fee could be waived, and it was.
As for the parks, we experienced no crowds, with the exception of Saturday evening at MK. Since there was a later closing (9 pm or 10 pm, depending on what guide you read--acutal closing was 10:00 pm), we thought we would head over to catch the evening parade. Not a good decision. At that hour, I knew Fast Pass would not be available for most rides, and despite the fact that LOTS of people had staked out places for the parade, there were 60-min plus waits for most of the popular rides. We opted not to stay, but returned the last 2.5 hours before closing on Sunday and had a wonderful time. Bag searches were underway at all the parks, and at MK someone realized it would make for better traffic flow to have the security guards check bags a short distance from entry turnstiles.
We mainly ate offsite but had two sit down meals--both at EPCOT: Rose and Crown and Chefs de France, and did not have (or need) PS for either. At Rose and Crown, due to refursbishment in the kitchen, the plates, 'glass'ware and cutlery are plastic, but the host/hostess do explain this as you are being seated.
In closing, we had a terrific time, enjoyed our stay at the Marriott Village Springhill Suites and would probably split our August 02 stay between here and a WDW resort--hoping for another great discount for YC concierge.
