Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace

Why We Like It

Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace is a 1000+ room upscale resort hotel, directly across the street from the beautifully re-imagined Disney Springs®. We think you’ll find it’s a terrific place to enjoy a family or couples Disney vacation, and it has become a popular choice in our MouseSavers Preferred Hotels program. Since the hotel was acquired by Hilton in 2015 it has undergone some spectacular renovations.

If you visited the Palace previously, you’ll feel like you are at a brand-new resort. The rooms have been pleasantly redesigned, and the public areas have undergone a complete transformation. The main pool area features a beautiful and family-friendly “float lagoon” (think lazy river) with a zero-entry area. Next to the lagoon and swimming pool is the Shades Poolside Lounge, an indoor/outdoor full-service restaurant and bar. We love the easy walk to Disney Springs, the shuttles to the Disney theme parks, plus superb Disney Springs or Epcot views from many of the tower rooms, and the gorgeous (and very kid-friendly) pool and lounge area.

As a guest at this Disney Springs area hotel you’ll have access to Walt Disney World’s Early Theme Park Entry program! The Early Theme Park Entry program allows you to enter any of the four main theme parks 30 minutes before official opening. Early Theme Park Entry is available every day. Select attractions, dining and merchandise locations will be open. 

If you want to enjoy your days in the Disney parks and your evenings in Disney Springs, with some leisure time in the float lagoon, or having a snack or drink in between, the Hilton Buena Vista Palace is a great choice. We think this property is a tremendous value, and a great alternative to a Disney moderate or deluxe hotel.

Rooms

There are two separate guest room areas: the Towers, with king and double queen standard rooms, and the Island Building, with 1-bedroom “parlor” suites and standard rooms. The Towers are made up of four buildings connected to the main lobby, restaurants and lounges, the spa and fitness center, and other important amenities. The tallest of the Tower buildings is 27 stories high, making views from the middle and higher floors quite impressive. The Island Building is on the opposite side of the grounds, closer to the main pool area and the walkway to Disney Springs.

The guest rooms in the Tower buildings have been renovated attractively with a contemporary decor. The majority of guest rooms at this resort have a balcony or patio. Standard rooms have either two queen beds and sleep up to 4 people, or one king bed plus a small sleeper sofa and sleep up to 3 people.

Island suites have a bedroom similar to a standard hotel room, plus a separate living room with a pull-out sofa, small fridge, microwave, wet bar and additional half-bath. The Island suites sleep up to 6 people in a double queen suite and can be combined with an adjoining standard room for larger parties.

The hotel has upgraded all of the beds to the Hilton Serenity Bed featuring very comfy pillow-top mattresses, Pacific Coast Touch of Down pillows and European-style 250 thread count linens.

In-room appointments include:

• 49″ flatscreen TV
• DVD player
• wireless high-speed Internet (Wi-Fi)
• mini-refrigerator
• hairdryer
• iron/ironing board
• digital safe (large enough for a laptop computer)
• Cuisinart dual cup, single-brew coffeemaker
• Crabtree and Evelyn bath products
• phone with voicemail and a dataport

Upgrades to Epcot Fireworks View or Disney Springs view rooms are available in the Tower building for an additional $20 – $30 per night.

Cribs and high chairs are available for families traveling with small children.

Dining Options

The Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace has several dining options on site, a 24-hour grab and go market, and it’s an easy walk to Disney Springs, where you’ll find a truly astonishing array of eateries, including celebrity-chef restaurants like Frontera Cocina and Art Smith’s Homecomin’ as well as quick-service options like Blaze Pizza or longtime reader favorite Earl Of Sandwich. Generally speaking, you’ll find prices at the hotel to be about the same as Disney Springs.

Hotel guests will receive 10% off food and beverages purchased at all outlets except Citrus 28 and when ordering in-room dining. Make sure you charge items to your room to get the added discount.

Citrus 28 carries a freshly prepared light breakfast and lunch meals and sandwiches, grab and go items, and serves Starbucks coffee and specialty beverages. Citrus 28 is open daily from 6 am to 12 am.

Shades Poolside Lounge, adjacent to the lap pool, serves a variety of appetizers, salads, burgers and sandwiches, as well as refreshing drinks and cocktails. Check out the menu.

Sunnies, a lounge bar off the main lobby, is open until 10pm. In addition to a cool drink you can also find a bite to eat. 

Letterpress Cafe, open for breakfast (7 am – 11 am), brunch (7 am – 2 pm) and dinner (5 pm – 10 pm) has a hip café feel, loosely designed like a modern printing shop with huge windows facing the resort’s lagoon and pool area. Breakfast offerings include a full buffet or à la carte; the buffet is $25/per person plus tax and gratuity. 

In-room dining (room service) is available from 7 am – 11 am and 4 pm – 11 pm. Guests can order room service online using a QR code, and all items are delivered in to-go packaging. 

Amenities

The grounds are the largest of the Disney Springs area resorts, and are beautifully maintained. The hotel has multiple pools. Two of them — the large main pool and the winding “float lagoon” pool with a zero-entry area — are located on Recreation Island, a lovely park-like area between the Towers and the Island Building. There are plenty of roomy inner tubes for those who want to float down the lazy river and comfortable lounge chairs for people who prefer to remain stationary. 

Private cabanas with comfy lounge furniture, flat-screen tvs, safes, ceiling fans, a mini-fridge and various drink and dining packages are available around the lagoon.

There is also a lovely courtyard area outside the main tower building by the Disney shuttle stop where you can sit at a small tables and relax, and a spacious fitness center with everything from treadmills to free weights.

• access to Early Theme Park Entry 
• winding lagoon and pool with zero-entry area
• FREE inner tubes for pool use
• lap pool
• adult pool
• private pool-side cabanas (available for daily rental from $199)
• fitness center (guests under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult)
• ATM
• car rental desk
• business center
• concierge desk
• Travel Traders gift shop with Disney merchandise, hats, clothing and swim gear
• guest activity/recreation desk
• laundry
• multi-lingual staff
• safety deposit box

Additionally, the resort offers a number of activities for adults and children Fridays through Sundays throughout the summer. Enjoy outdoor yoga, scavenger hunts and more! View this summer’s activities and more about the hotel’s services and amenities here. 

Transportation

The resort is within easy walking distance of Disney Springs — it’s right across the street from the Marketplace section, with a pedestrian overpass so you don’t have to wait for traffic lights.

Disney Theme Park shuttles run from the hotel to the four Walt Disney World theme parks. Shuttles depart hourly at 35 minutes past the hour; the first shuttle departs 90 minutes before the park opens; last shuttles return at 10 minutes past the hour from the parks with the last shuttle leaving 60 minutes after closing. Reservations are required. You can make reservations here. Reservations can be made up to 72 hours in advance. This service is included as part of the daily resort fee.  

You may find you don’t even need or want a rental car during your stay, which can mean less stress, and can give you extra money to use on meals or treats.

If you have a car, self-parking is $25/night + 6.5% tax and valet parking is $35/night + tax, but self-parking for 1 vehicle is waived for MouseSavers readers. 

If you do need a car, there is a car rental desk at the hotel, or you can find rental car discounts in advance. Lyft or a taxi service are also available.

You Should Know

The hotel’s main entrance and lobby are uphill from the parking area. Upon arrival, you may want to pull up to drop off guests and bags. The walk from the parking lot with luggage in tow on a hot day or late at night can be strenuous. 

If you are a Hilton Honors member, you can collect points for your stay with the MouseSavers site offer. Terms may vary if you are booking a special Hot Deals or Newsletter offer.

Guests can request and confirm connecting room reservations when booking at least 3 days in advance. 

Walt Disney World’s Early Theme Park Entry program allows guests with WDW tickets who are staying at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista (and other WDW and Disney Springs hotels and resorts) to enter any of the four main theme parks 30 minutes before official opening.