Buena Vista Palace in Orlando?

Which hotel is better for Orlando parks, Buena Vista Palace or Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress?

• Will be staying with my gf for 5 night. Hyatt seems to be a much nicer hotel and cost 70 dollars more. However, Buena Vista is right across Downtown Disney? I was wondering which ...show more

• Answer:

  I'll give the best answer I can without having more details (your preferences, etc.). If you want to visit Disney parks, your best bet from these two would be Buena Vista palace. They offer complimentary shuttles to/from Disney parks, whereas the Hyatt does not seem to. However, you really need to decide why you are going... are you most interested in staying in a nice hotel, or are you more interested in visiting theme parks? If theme parks, and if money is an issue, you may want to decide on either Disney or Universal. With both, your biggest ticket cost is the first few days. So, if you go to both, you will be paying out the nose for park tickets. ($70+ for the first day at either, I think). Universal is bigger on thrills. Disney has some thrills, but is bigger on an overall "magical" experience. If your main goal is to visit theme parks, you may want to consider the Disney value or moderate resorts on property. If you are flying into Orlando and staying at a Disney resort, you get complimentary transportation to/from the airport as well as around the Disney property. So, you don't even need to rent a car (which can be a hassle). You can also pay for a shuttle to Universal (around $20 last I checked), if you thought that you wanted to visit that park for a day. Disney World has 4 theme parks (Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios) plus 2 water parks and Downtown Disney, so there is definitely plenty there to keep you busy. The ticket cost for Disney theme parks is heavily "front-loaded". In other words, a 1-day ticket ticket will cost you $79, a 3-day will be $219--BUT a 6-day is $231 (only $12 more for 3 more days). So, you can see that there is a definite benefit to buying a longer-term ticket. If you wanted to instead go the Universal route, they also have onsite hotels that you might want to investigate, since staying at their onsite hotels also provides some Universal theme park benefits. I work for a travel agency that specializes in Disney (can book other things, too). Our services are paid by the destination (Disney, Universal, etc.)--there is no cost to you. So, if you need help with it, let me know. I can probably get any question answered, but the answers to most Disney questions are already in my head. e-mail at: michael.cole @ offtoneverland.com (remove spaces) web: michaelcole.offtoneverland.com SO, getting back to your question... "better" is really a subjective term. Better for what? For getting to/from Disney parks? For sitting by a pool? For room service? If you're going to the Disney Parks and want a close hotel that looks really nice, between these two, I'd go with Buena Vista. However, the Disney-owned hotels do offer some nice perks that you might want to consider, as well.