I had the pleasure of staying at the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace last weekend, it is located just next door to Disney Springs and even for just a short visit, it felt like a home away from home.
On the first day, I had the pleasure of eating at Shades which is right next to the pool. Shades is a great poolside bar & restaurant that serves burgers, brews and much more. You can check out the menu here.
Check out some of these yummy menu items. The Wayfarer (above with the Shades) tastes exactly like a Lapu Lapu from Disney’s Polynesian Resort. The dessert was so good I had to show it twice!
The Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace has 4 different dining option. During my stay, I visited Shades, Citrus 28, Letterpress, and I was able to drop by Sunnies for a draft beer one night. I will share more a little later.
After a poolside meal, I did not want to leave but I had some work to do. Before I left, of course, I had to do a live video of the pool area.
Check it out:
Isn’t the pool area stunning? I wish I had time to just sit back and relax here…
Before bed, I had lots of requests to see my room, so I shot a quick video.
Check it out:
On my second day, I had some time to walk around the resort and take some photos. Words can’t express how clean the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace is. I am a little bit of a neat freak and I loved how well taken care of the resort is. Great job!
Here are some of the photos from around the resort:
It was very relaxing walking around the resort. They have a really nice gym, DVD Now DVD Rentals, Cozy Firepits and more. They even have a Zoltar Machine!!! Can you name that movie?
Later that day I found myself at Disney Springs for dinner at Maria & Enzo’s. I wanted to see how long of a walk it would take me to go from Disney Springs back to the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace.
It took me about 5 minutes to walk across the pedestrian bridge and to get to pool area/bus stop. Not bad at all. I know some Disney resorts take 10-15 minutes to make it to the main area from your room.
Speaking of buses did I mention how the Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels have their own bus system?
I used the buses all weekend long with little to no wait. They break them up 2 x 2. Bus A goes to Epcot & Hollywood Studios and Bus B goes to the Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom. Just pop a squat and wait on your letter. Speaking of letters…
On my 3rd day, it was my park day. This morning I was able to have the Disney Character Breakfast at Letterpress. Every Sunday Minnie, Goofy and Pluto drop by between 8.30am-11.30am for breakfast. You can see the menu for Letterpress here. The manager told me sometimes the characters rotate out a little bit. It is always the Fab 5 thought. Keep in mind they don’t take reservations as it is first come first searved so arrive early!
Here is a look at the yummy breakfast buffet that I got!
Letterpress offers both an all you care to eat buffet or you could order off the menu. Not sure why you would want to but you can do whatever you like 🙂
I know… I know… I am at a Disney Character Breakfast but haven’t shown any pictures of the characters. How about a live video?
Check it out:
After a full stomach from a delicious breakfast, I was off to the parks.
On my way back from a long, wet day at the parks I decided to drop by Sunnies for a cold one before heading to the room for the night. There happen to be some big football game on that I had no interest in. I enjoyed my ice cold draft for $5 and some change. The bartender said they offer specials all the time so its a great place to grab a drink. I didn’t stay to watch the game on one of there 10 TVs as the Pittsburgh Steelers were not playing so I went back to my room.
Speaking of my room here are some photos of my home away from home for the weekend. Can I say that bed was very very comfy!
I was staying in a suite which was HUGE! I spent most of my time at the desk working so I didn’t have much of a chance to lounge around. While I was working, of course, I had to turn Stacy on the television and hear about the Disney Must Do’s! Tell me I am not the only one who does that?
The staff at Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace was so sweet, when I got back to my room there was a little treat waiting for me. Like everything else that weekend, the cookies & milk were perfect. Yes I ate them all…
Departure day I had a quick breakfast (full from the cookies & milk the night before) at Citrus 28 before heading to the airport. Unlike Disney, there is no shuttle that takes you to and from the airport, unfortunately. Uber cost me about $24 each way which isn’t bad. I waited maybe 5 mins before my ride would show up both times.
It was really early so I just grabbed a cup of Starbucks to go.
I hated leaving the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace but unfortunately, I couldn’t stay at Disney forever… I had a wonderful stay at the Palace, the resort was great, the staff was even better and I love how clean the resort was.
While only at the resort for a weekend I never got a chance to spend a day lounging around the pool. Next time…
But I did manage to take a selfie on the first day!
So if you are looking for nice digs near Disney Springs and don’t want to break the bank I highly recommend staying at the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace! It is a short walk to Disney Springs and they offer transportation to the Disney Theme parks!
Before you go be sure to check out their website for special deals & offers!
Oh and I totally forgot to mention, they now offer Extra Magic Hours and you can pick your fast passes 60 days out just like all of the other Disney resorts. (You can learn more about that here)
Special thank you to the Hilton for allowing me to stay here for my busy work weekend!
Thanks for reading and see you soon!
