Description: The good news about this hotel in the Downtown Disney area includes its proximity to Downtown Disney Marketplace and that it shares bus service only with the adjacent Hilton. The other four non-Disney hotels in this area share an unreliable, slow and surly service, but the Wyndham and Hilton bus service is almost as good as the official Disney service. Official Disney transport is available to Wyndham and Hilton guests who are willing and able to make their way to a bus stop in Downtown Disney.Further good news is the convenience of driving to the theme marks. Turn right from the exit, then left at the end of the road, and you get to Magic Kingdom without the stoplight festival that surrounds Downtown Disney. Think fast, and you can get to Epcot that way, too, but explore that yourself—directions would be confusing.However, it shares the same weakness as its sister non-Disney hotels, such as the Doubletree. These properties need to be severely damaged by a good hurricane and then renovated (as of April 2006 the Royal Plaza just reopened and the Holiday Inn is almost ready to reopen after exactly that experience).The Wyndham is a convention hotel, with a small, versatile conference center. Often there are three conferences at once, which was the case in April 2006 when I attended a conference there. I stayed at the nearby Doubletree, but was able to visit the Wyndham’s rooms—which are garden-variety with nice balconies.The main difficulty for handicapped people is the multi-level design of the Wyndham. You about cannot get from point A to point B without going on an elevator, often two. You have to go down two levels from the lobby to get to the bus stop, and the family restaurant is on a floor between. To get to the pretty-good Outback restaurant and the Kookaburra bar, you have to use the elevator to the lobby, then another elevator to the restaurant/bar level. (It is NOT an Outback Steakhouse. It is outback of the hotel, tucked in by a lake.)There are two guest room areas: the tower and the "island." The island is where the pool is, and has one of the best kid pools I’ve ever seen. Separated from the main pool by a waterfall, the 3-foot kid pool is completely under roof! Nearby is a quiet lap pool that ranges from 3 feet on the ends to 4 feet in the middle. Throw in basketball, tennis, and volleyball, and you have a pretty good recreation area, despite the lack of theming.If you attend a convention, be aware that the conference center is one level down from the lobby and NOT accessed by the main tower elevators. To find the elevator to convention area, by-pass the escalator, pass by some small meeting rooms, and look for the elevator tucked in on the right. As you exit it on the convention level, take careful note so you can find it later.
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