Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando at Walt Disney World
As an Official Walt Disney World Hotel, this upscale property features amenities that are on par with Disney World Deluxe Resorts like spacious rooms, convenient transportation, a family-friendly pool and splash pad, scenic views, and a fitness center.
Drury Plaza Orlando Review
The Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando is located within the Disney Springs Resort Area, on Disney World property, in Lake Buena Vista. It opened on December 7, 2022, on the site of the form Best Western Hotel complex.
As an Official Walt Disney World Hotel, this upscale property features amenities that are on par with Disney World Deluxe Resorts like spacious rooms, convenient transportation, a family-friendly pool and splash pad, scenic views, and a fitness center.
Drury Plaza Vacation Package - Walt Disney World
What’s included
Complimentary breakfast buffet each morning
Complimentary afternoon snacks
Complimentary Kickback Service each evening
Theme park tickets
Transportation to the four Walt Disney World Theme Parks
Accomodations at the Drury Plaza Hotel
Can you walk from the Drury Plaza to Disney Springs? Yes! The Drury is located about .5 miles, or about a 10-minute walk from Disney Springs.
The Drury’s new tower was completed in the spring of 2023 for a total of 604 guest rooms and 78 two-room suites.
The Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando located within the Disney Springs Resort Area also has 17,000+ square feet of meeting and event space for up to 250 people.
Arrival and Lobby Areas
I arrived by car and found plenty of parking, self-parking is $25 per night.
This is typical for the hotels in Disney Springs, they charge between $20 and $30 per night to park.
The lobby is bright and modern, and a well-staffed check-in desk.
There’s plenty of seating in the lobby so you can get some work done, and enjoy a snack from the hotel’s grab-and-go pantry or the Kitchen + Bar lounge, both are located close to the lobby.
The Marketplace has snacks, Starbucks coffee, cold beverages, and even a Pizza Hut Express.
At first, I thought this was where the complimentary breakfast and evening snacks were served because the lobby is so spacious.
But later found out that there’s an entire section dedicated to this on the second floor, but more on that in a moment.
Just off the lobby, there’s a fully equipped video arcade for the kids and a nearby complimentary coffee stand for adults.
Room Categories
After some exploring of the lobby and amenities, it was time to check out the room.
Check-in is a 4 pm but you can enter a request with your reservation for early check-in.
This is a complimentary service and you may be able to get your room assignment as early as 10 am.
Early check-in isn’t guaranteed, however, but the hotel told me they will contact you the day before if they are unable to accommodate an early check-in for you.
When you make your reservation, be sure to let your travel agent know what time you expect to arrive at the Drury.
If your room isn’t ready when you arrive, you are welcome to use the pool and head off to a theme park or Disney Springs.
There are a number of room categories at the Drury Plaza Hotel. The most common are standard rooms with 1 king or 2 queen bed arrangements and family suites.
Standard rooms come with and without terraces.
I recommend a terrace room as long as you're not afraid of heights (because this is a tower hotel).
The terrace rooms offer spectacular views of the Disney Springs area, and the terrace rooms are a little bigger.
Some guests shared with me that they are able to see Disney fireworks from their balcony, but I did not have that view myself.
If you need more room, the spacious, two-room suite features a bedroom, separate from the living area, as well as a pull-out queen sofa sleeper for additional guests.
The Queen suite sleeps up to six people. The King suite sleeps up to five.
There are no hidden resort fees at the Drury.
Many of the Disney Springs Area hotels, including the Swan and Dolphin in the Epcot Resort Area love to nickel and dime you with hidden resort fees, so it’s nice to see Drury isn’t playing that game with its guests.
Drury Plaza Hotel Room Rates
Nightly room rates at Drury Plaza Hotel are similar to the Disney World value hotels like Disney’s All Stars Resort and Disney’s Pop Century Resort, so rates are between $150 and $200 per night depending on the time of year.
I like to book this hotel through Disney, specifically a Walt Disney World Travel Company Package because the room and tickets are included with a $200 deposit.
With a Disney World vacation package, your deposit is fully refundable up to 30 days prior to arrival.
Without the package, you’ll need to purchase your tickets separately, pay for them in full, and they are non-refundable.
And from a technology point of view, Disney’s glitchy mobile app works a lot better when you link a Walt Disney package reservation number rather than trying to link a Disney Springs resort reservation number.
Room Amenities
In-room amenities include a 55” smart flat screen television, mini refrigerator, microwave, alarm clock with Bluetooth and charging station, executive workspaces, and in-room safe.
Hotel Services
The Drury Plaza Hotel participates in Morning Extra Magic hours just like the Walt Disney World hotels.
This means you’ll be able to enter the Disney theme parks before they open to the public.
The fitness center is amazing - this is a value-priced hotel but it has a better gym than Disney’s Contemporary Resort! And comparably priced Disney hotels don’t even have a fitness center.
Drury’s gym has treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, weights and more.
Onsite guest laundry is available 24 hours in the laundry room located on the 2nd floor.
Detergent can be purchased in The Market Place located in the lobby.
One thing I’m not a fan of is that housekeeping is only offered once per week.
And this is not exclusive to the Drury - it’s a growing problem across the hotel industry.
I get that I might not need new towels every day and new bed sheets, but isn’t it part of the hotel experience to have the bed made for you and the trash can emptied?
Why do hotels assume we don’t mind overflowing trash cans and messy beds?
But if you would like to request housekeeping, during your stay, just contact the front desk for options.
Pool and recreation
Just off the lobby, there’s an outdoor resort-style pool complex. There’s a salt-water feature pool, whirlpool, and a splash pad for little ones.
Lounge chairs and a few cabanas are available poolside as well.
Dining Options
One of my favorite things about the Drury Plaza is that each morning a complimentary breakfast is served in The Commons, a large space located on the second floor with great views.
And I’m not talking about pre-packaged bagels here. I mean an actual breakfast buffet including a pancake bar, eggs, breakfast potatoes, sausage, a cereal bar, and fruit.
Coffee, juice, and soft drinks are also complimentary.
Between 4 pm and 8 pm, free popcorn and soft drinks are served on the second floor in The Commons and from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, the Drury offers hot appetizers and snacks.
Complimentary coffee, juice, and soft drinks are available as well. This is a terrific benefit.
If you were to get these perks at a Disney World-owned hotel, you’d need to stay in a Club Level category room and the nightly rate would be hundreds of dollars more per night.
Disney’s Value hotels do not serve a complimentary breakfast so this is another great perk of the Drury.
The Kitchen + Bar is located in the lobby and offers quick, casual meals from 5 pm to 12 pm.
Lakeside Bar and Grill is a full-service restaurant bar located right next to the pool.
It has seating in the shade or in the sun, tables or lounge furniture - whichever you prefer.
Theme Park Transportation
Complimentary transportation is provided to each of the Walt Disney World theme parks and water parks.
I recommend that you make a reservation for the buses when you check in so that you’re guaranteed a spot.
Buses run frequently and on a set schedule which changes monthly. Current schedules will be available in the lobby and online.
They run frequently so you won’t have to alter your schedule too much to catch the bus.
During our visit in July, they were running every hour.
When traveling to Magic Kingdom, the bus will drop-off and pick-up a the Ticket and Transportation Center. From there you can take a monorail or ferry to Magic Kingdom.
Disney Springs is within walking distance and located about a half-mile away. Walking at an average pace, you’ll be there in about 10 minutes.
There’s a sidewalk leading directly to Disney Springs and it’s located on the same side of the street, so you won’t have to cross Hotel Plaza Blvd. which is a very busy roadway.
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New Hotel Coming to Disney Springs in 2021
Drury Hotels is developing its largest property to date, the Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista, and will begin to welcome guests by spring 2021. The new hotel will be located in the Disney Springs Resort Area and the entire project will be completed by the end of 2021, with its first set of rooms available by spring 2021.
The new property is located just steps away from Disney Springs: a walkable, 120-acre outdoor complex outside of the theme parks featuring an eclectic mix of unique boutiques, one-of-a-kind eateries, and entertainment. The hotel will be able to be booked as part of a Walt Disney World Resort vacation package. Drury also will offer transportation to and from the theme parks, as well as to other surrounding attractions.
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