Yay or Nay-Drury Plaza Hotel Disney Springs
Positioning itself as a family friendly cost effective alternative to Disney Resorts, we look at whether Drury Plaza Disney Springs is a yay or nay for travelers looking to stay in the Orlando area.
We stayed at the Drury Plaza Hotel Disney Springs between Thanksgiving and December 2, 2025. We were there for a soccer tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports, and this is the hotel the team selected. Honestly, we’re not big Disney people (no shade to those that are–it’s just not our cup of tea) and probably wouldn’t have found and subsequently stayed this hotel without the team. That being said, overall, I’m glad that we did.
This seems like a fairly popular hotel and I believe it was at capacity several nights of our trip. However, it didn’t feel overcrowded. Negotiating the cafeteria was sometimes a challenge, but generally, no different than a buffet at an all-inclusive. The hotel is well cared for and the rooms clean. There are two different towers, one that has balconies and another that does not. We did not book a balcony, but we did have a room with a Disney fireworks view (that we didn’t use–go figure!). Staff were generally pleasant and responsive.
The price point is really good for what is included, although I do think charging for parking is a missed opportunity to really lean into the needs of their target market. What do I mean by that? This hotel largely serves people coming to Orlando to head to Disney or Universal Parks. It stands out, because it is cost effective, its proximity to the Disney parks, and offers a fairly large bang for your buck–breakfast, dinner, 3 free drinks at dinner, and shuttles to all the Disney sites. Its market is middle class individuals who want to take their families to Disney, but can’t or don’t want to afford Disney Resorts. Charging for parking, and again, we did not rent a car, seems counterintuitive.
Our room was clean at arrival and a reasonable size. We had two queen beds. The pillows were fairly comfortable–I like a slightly squishy pillow, and these fit that description. I would also say the mattress was pretty good. Generally, slept okay. I would have preferred an additional blanket, but I kept forgetting to ask the front desk, so that’s on me. The view from our room was great. I liked the high ceilings and the full wall of windows.
We did not prefer the hotel provided toiletries–they dried out our skin and hair. So if you have sensitive skin or strong preferences, definitely bring your own toiletries. Additionally, the shampoo container was filled 2/3 of the way with water. It sat directly below a drip from the showerhead and was diluted as a result. We also ran out of conditioner and it was never refilled despite having turndown service daily. Again, I’m sure I could have asked the staff, but as it happens, I got distracted and forgot. I mentioned this in my official review on the hotel page as well, but the showerhead was lower pressure–not a deal breaker, in fact it’s my youngest’s preference, but I prefer a little more oomph from my showerhead.
The hotel stay includes breakfast and what they call a daily “Kick Back” from 5:30-7:00p each evening. The breakfast selection was more robust than a typical continental breakfast, and everyone was able to find something to eat. The evening “Kick Back,” which could be called a light dinner, had a rotating menu with some staple options–nachos and a type of salad were available every night. It is worth noting that the salad options were generally light (lettuce, tomatoes, croutons, and cheese). The food was bland, but I believe that’s intentional to appeal to a larger number of people. They do have a good selection of hot sauces for those that need to spice things up a bit. We enjoyed the soups and never went hungry.
The drinks were also a fun addition. I didn’t imbibe every night we were there, but when I did, it was nice to have. They had two beers on tap, a couple of signature drinks, and a small selection of hard liquors. My drink of choice was a Cuba Libre. Again, as noted in my review, those drinks would often lead to more drinks down at the bar, which are not complimentary, and can quickly run up your bill. We traveled with my daughter’s team, and part of the trip was getting to know the other parents better, so this worked for us, but might not for everyone else.
The hotel bar had a standard selection of bar food and what we had was okay. The desserts, however, chef’s kiss. We ordered far too many lava cakes and cookies with ice cream. What’s especially nice, is the bar has a happy hour that reduces the price of the desserts to $5 each between the hours of 5:30p and 7:30p. Worth noting, there is a different drink menu between the pool bar and lobby bar. I preferred the drinks from the pool bar. They had a great spicy margarita that I enjoyed while working from the pool deck.
All in all, this was a great stay for the price point. This is our team’s preferred hotel for the Orlando area, so we will likely be returning, but regardless, think this is a wonderful options for families looking to visit the parks and maintain some semblance of a budget while doing so.
So, Drury Plaza Hotel Disney Springs gets the StruggleBus stamp of approval and is a yay.
If you have stayed at the Drury Plaza Hotel Disney Springs before and have something to add, be sure to write your own review here–StruggleBus is community built, so we rely on your experience and expertise as well!
