Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista

[guinea pig]

We booked a three night stay here over New Years Eve to go to Orlando to go to the Citrus Bowl and watch Univ of Louisville play. I wanted to stay Disney Springs so I could get a little Disney fix while we were there. Looked like most of the Disney Springs Hotels were sold out over the NYE holiday so booked at Wyndam Garden. Now, reading reviews here, it doesn't seem to be very popular! Should I keep it or try to find another hotel? Anybody stay there recently?

 

[writerguyfl]

There are actually two different hotels that share the same public areas (lobby, restaurants, pool, etc). The Wyndham Lake Buena Vista is the tower, with interior-entry rooms. The Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista is the motel-style exterior entry rooms in the adjoining buildings.

Unfortunately, the Wyndham Garden does come with some really bad reviews. Hopefully, someone with personal experience staying there will happen by and provide either confirmation or refutation of those bad reviews.

I'm currently checked into the Holiday Inn Lake Buena Vista across the street from the Wyndham. If you have any specific questions that I might be able to answer, let me know. It shouldn't be too difficult for me to walk across the street and try to get answers.

 

[guinea pig]

There are rooms at the Holiday Inn for those dates but $150 more but does include breakfast. Not sure whether its worth the switch. Does the Holiday Inn have interior or exterior doors and is the walk to Disney Springs that much different btwn the two. I also cannot figure out the the Wyndham website how to differentiate btwn the two different hotels!

 

[HopperFan]

GO CARDS!!!!

 

[writerguyfl]

There are rooms at the Holiday Inn for those dates but $150 more but does include breakfast. Not sure whether its worth the switch. Does the Holiday Inn have interior or exterior doors and is the walk to Disney Springs that much different btwn the two.

Yes, the Holiday Inn does have all interior-entry rooms. Of the 7 Disney Springs Hotels, the Holiday Inn is my 2nd favorite. (Number 1 is the DoubleTree Suites, due to the size of the rooms.) The employees at the Holiday Inn are uniformly above average to great. About half of the rooms have balconies. In-room amenities include Keurig coffeemakers, microwave, refrigerator, and DirecTV. Beds are triple sheeted and both times I've stayed here the rooms have been very clean.

The Holiday Inn is probably 4-6 minutes further in terms of walking to Disney Springs when compared to the Wyndham.

If you haven't checked, be sure to look for a possible discount for any of the Disney Springs Hotels at their marketing website. I ended up saving $24 per night for this last-minute trip by booking off of a promo on that website. (Discounts for New Year's Eve might be scarce, however.)

Disney Springs Hotels website: http://disneyspringshotels.com/

I also cannot figure out the Wyndham website how to differentiate btwn the two different hotels!

It is very confusing. I used to work in hotels, and the way they have this set up is bizarre. It is very unusual.

Wyndham Lake Buena Vista (interior-entry): https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/wyndh...a-resort-downtown-disney-resort-area/overview

Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista (exterior-entry): https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/wyndh...na-vista-downtown-disney-resort-area/overview

Note: On the Disney Springs Hotels website, they only include the Wyndham Garden.

 

[guinea pig]

Thanks for all the great info, writerguyfl! Can't decide what to do!!!

 

[kanne323]

We stayed there for two nights in late May, and had a wonderful experience. The ONLY complaint I have is that the elevator was extremely slow- thankfully we only needed it to get our luggage up and down, and we were table to use the stairs every other time. We (a group of 6 adults) had three rooms. All were clean, and the beds were more comfortable than the ones at the Dolphin at the beginning of our trip and at the resort in Key West at the end of our trip.

I have seen complaints about the parking, but we had no troubles. We self-parked two cars and never had a problem finding spots. We used the shuttle to get to Epcot, and it was fine, no complaints- we arrived well before rope drop. We also spent time at the pools at the Wyndham Garden, which were nice. We did not eat at the hotel, so I can't speak for the food. But overall, it was a good experience, and we would definitely stay there again.

 

[guinea pig]

We got back yesterday from our three night stay at the Wyndham Garden. We got there close to midnight . Both driveways in front of the hotel were filled with cars. DH went in and had an easy checkin but now the car was stuck in "traffic" as cars and come in bending me and we couldn't move. After 15 minutes of waiting, valey finally came by and check our rental car in so we got our bags and just left the car there. They did not have a requested King so we got a room with two doubles for one night then switched to a king room the next day. Hotel took took off $12 per day parking for our inconvenience. The rooms were fine, clean, bathroom a tad small but doable. I never heard any body outside till Sunday morning and I just headed suitcases being rolled down the sidewalk. First night we were on 4th floor but lobby is on the third floor so just walked up the stairs. When we moved, we were on the third floor so never used the elevators. Easy walk to Disney Springs. The elevated sidewalk to cross the street is a very short walk from the hotel entrance. We walked to the Disney Springs Resort bus stop and caught s rode to the Polynesian so we could Monorail Bar Hop! Hit Trader Sams, Mizners Lounge, and The Wave then walked to MK and caught a bus to Port Orleans to watch Yeehaa Bob and celebrate New Years Eve. After his show, there was still a party going on in the back courtyard so stayed there till that party was over. Then took cab back to Wyndham. The hotel definitely served our purpose. Although I would prefer onsite if we were actually going to the parks but that wasn't in the plans for this weekend. From want I experienced, The hotel definitely doesn't deserve such a bad reputation.

 

[NemoMomof3]

We got back yesterday from our three night stay at the Wyndham Garden. We got there close to midnight . Both driveways in front of the hotel were filled with cars. DH went in and had an easy checkin but now the car was stuck in "traffic" as cars and come in bending me and we couldn't move. After 15 minutes of waiting, valey finally came by and check our rental car in so we got our bags and just left the car there. They did not have a requested King so we got a room with two doubles for one night then switched to a king room the next day. Hotel took took off $12 per day parking for our inconvenience. The rooms were fine, clean, bathroom a tad small but doable. I never heard any body outside till Sunday morning and I just headed suitcases being rolled down the sidewalk. First night we were on 4th floor but lobby is on the third floor so just walked up the stairs. When we moved, we were on the third floor so never used the elevators. Easy walk to Disney Springs. The elevated sidewalk to cross the street is a very short walk from the hotel entrance. We walked to the Disney Springs Resort bus stop and caught s rode to the Polynesian so we could Monorail Bar Hop! Hit Trader Sams, Mizners Lounge, and The Wave then walked to MK and caught a bus to Port Orleans to watch Yeehaa Bob and celebrate New Years Eve. After his show, there was still a party going on in the back courtyard so stayed there till that party was over. Then took cab back to Wyndham. The hotel definitely served our purpose. Although I would prefer onsite if we were actually going to the parks but that wasn't in the plans for this weekend. From want I experienced, The hotel definitely doesn't deserve such a bad reputation.

Thanks for posting this update on how your trip went. I recently booked a room here for my first trip to the Food and Wine in October. Hoping to have a pleasant experience.

 

[sara_s]

Yes, thank you! I just booked 1 night here for my birthday weekend in June, and am glad to hear it's walking distance to DS. We'll be park hopping during the day, but nothing intense, so that should be perfect for what we need - a place to clean up after the parks before dinner, and to sleep.