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We recently stayed at this IHG Good Neighbor Hotel near Walt Disney World. About ten minutes from the parks in the South Lake Buena Vista area (Kissimmee), consider this Holiday Inn Express a budget-friendly option for families with a rental car or a schedule that can flex with the complimentary hotel shuttle (more on that below). We’ll cover the card we used to book this hotel, Good Neighbor specific and other hotel benefits, and the Calypso Cay water area.
IHG Premier Card
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For the past few years when my husband traveled to Orlando for work, he found himself booking the same IHG property every time. As he started racking up points, we decided to open IHG cards; luckily, IHG recently upped their game and become competitive with their IHG One Rewards program.
Open an IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card and earn 140,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. Enjoy a Reward Night after each account anniversary year at eligible IHG hotels worldwide (plus, enjoy a reward night when you redeem points for any stay of 3 or more nights: book three nights get the fourth night free). Use a Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS Statement Credit of up to $100 every 4 years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to your card. You’ll have Platinum Elite status as long as you remain a Premier card member. Cardholders earn up to 26 points total per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel! Earn 5 points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, gas stations, and restaurants! Earn 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases!
Because of our Platinum Elite status as Premier cardholders, we received an automatic room upgrade upon arrival, which was nice. An upgrade at a Holiday Inn Express means our bedroom was separate from a sitting area with a couch, chair and desk, and our room had two TVs and a pool view.
Good Neighbor Benefits
When you stay off property at Disney World, you have to think about transportation: you can’t walk or ride a bus, monorail, or boat to the parks. Luckily, Good Neighbor Hotels offer shuttle services, which vary in terms of how much they cost (if anything) and where they’ll transport you when.
This Holiday Inn’s complimentary shuttle ran twice a day: you could catch a ride to Magic Kingdom at 8:15am or Hollywood Studios at 11:30am (returning at 7:15pm). On our two park days, we ended up driving and paying $25 to park, because we wanted to be in the parks open to close. The drive was fast, easy and convenient. If you’re not concerned with rope-dropping or staying until the parks close, the shuttle times might work for you. In any case, call ahead so you can plan your transportation accordingly.
We didn’t end up using the Magic Kingdom shuttle, because we didn’t visit that park this trip, but I did use the Hollywood Studios shuttle one morning when my husband went into work. I signed up for the shuttle on my way to the pool around 9am, spent the morning relaxing, then at 11:30, one other couple and I shuttled to HS (while the ride was technically free, there was a very large sign inside the shuttle with the driver’s venmo so that I could send a tip).
Once you’re at HS, you can catch an air-conditioned bus to nearly anywhere on property you might want to go. I took a bus to the Polynesian resort to meet a friend for lunch, and could have easily caught a bus to Disney Springs or another park. That’s the thing with shuttles; if you can get to the parks, you can find a bus that will take you wherever else you need to go.
Check out this post with even more WDW Good Neighbor Hotels you can book with points:
Other Perks: Free breakfast & parking
You may have followed us long enough to know that we love a free hotel breakfast; after eating, we grab coffee for the road as well as a few pieces of fruit to save in our backpacks for later in the parks. The breakfast at this location had plenty of hot options including eggs, sausage and pancakes, as well as cereal, fruit, pastries etc. The breakfast room looks out onto one of the pools and also has a nice outdoor seating area.
It was also convenient to have free parking for our rental car. On park days, we drove to and from and paid for Disney parking; on non-park days, my husband commuted to the office and I used the shuttle.
Calypso Cay
The best thing about this property by far is the Calypso Cay pools and recreational areas. Families will love it and there’s something for everyone! There’s a pool with a waterslide, two hot tubs, a quiet adult pool and a large wade-in kiddie pool. For refreshments, there’s a bar and several Starbucks. If you have a large group gathering, there are grills, lots of seating and a put-put golf course; kids will love the splash pad, basketball court and rock-climbing wall.
It’s nice to have a refreshing pool area for days when you’re taking a break from the park; you can grab & drop pool towels at the front desk.
Takeaways
If you don’t mind a short drive to the parks, this might be the right budget option for your next Disney World vacation. Kids will love frolicking in the Cay on rest days, the free shuttles will get you on Disney property, and with the right IHG card you’ll be earning up to 26x points for your next stay!
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