I just returned from the Marriott Orlando World Center. I decided to try bidding on Priceline for the first time and ended up paying $53.00/night (plus $5. bonus money) and received this Resort Category property. I was very pleased with the price I paid.

I arrived on Christmas evening from MCO. Being extremely exhausted from our trip, we elected to valet park the car (yowza - $14.84/day). Check in was painless and quick. My family of 3 was assigned a room on the 10th floor in the North tower, overlooking Downtown Disney. This apparently is the "preferred view." Being tired but hungry, we ordered Pizza Hut medium cheese pizza via room service (my 9 year olds choice for Christmas Dinner) and 3 little bottles of coke (I think they were 10 oz). Fee was $28.72.
Additionally, they ordered an in-room movie ($11.65).

Our room was a decent size and featured two double beds. There was a desk with an in-room internet connection ($9.95/day). It included a balcony with 2 chairs and a small round table. There was a double sink located outside the bathroom. There were three small Neutrogena bottles: Shampoo, Conditioner and Lotion. No shower cap, shoe mitt, sewing kit. There were plenty of towels and wash cloths. The room was clean and comfortable. Since it was around 38 degrees outside we had the heat on which made the room very dry. The beds were very comfortable and featured a thin down comforter and bedspread. I slept very well.

The following morning when I opened the door I found two newspapers outside my door: USA Today and The Orlando Sentinel. The resort fee (rip-off fee) is $9.54/day. I don't know what else the resort fee "got me" besides the newspapers.

There is a huge pool (the size of a lake) outside. Additionally there is an indoor pool (plenty of pool towels were available). To get to the indoor pool, you had to go outside???? 38 degree weather and going outside to swim indoors didn't sound like it was planned too well (just my humble opinion). There was no life guard at the indoor pool while I was there.

The Marriott was a very close drive to Walt Disney World and a very reasonable distance to Universal Studios/Sea World (about 15 minutes to Universal, Sea World is closer).

We chose to drive our rental car to all of the amusement parks. I believe there is a shuttle available from the hotel to WDW for a fee (why doesn't the $9.54 resort fee cover this?).

When we returned from our immense walking experience, we chose again to valet park (heck, we're on vacation). The thought of parking "way out there" and then walking back to the hotel was too daunting a prospect. We came back for an afternoon nap around 2:30. Our room had not been "made-up" by housekeeping. We threw the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door and settled down for our nap. Housekeeping called about a half hour later to find out when they could make-up our room (how about in the morning, this is a vacation destination). We told them to come at 4:30.

Later on we returned to WDW. Upon our return to The Marriott, our room had been made up satisfactorily.

Unfortunately, for the 4 nights that we were there, this happened every day. Our room was not made up until the afternoon.

There were quite a few places to obtain Food and Beverage within "The World." There was a Starbucks, Newstand with bottled beverages, Solaris restaurant (served food all day), a Japanese steak house, Italian Restaurant, Champions Sports bar, a food court and a steak house. I'm not sure if there were other options. They were putting the finishing touches on a lobby bar. It looked like it would be very nice (had a piano in it).

I didn't use it or see it but other guests were commenting on how good the "gym" was.

I'd like to consider this rating two ways.

If I was attending a conference at this facility, I would be immensely pleased. After a day of exhibiting/attending, I don't want to spend time locating a restaurant or other services. I noticed they had a large exhibit area on the lower level and many break out rooms. I understand the convention rates are around the $250-$300/nite rate. Pricey yes, but this is the cost of doing business. And the convenience of valet parking/newspapers outside my door etc is extremely favorable.

Now since I was staying here for a vacation, I think I have to look at things from this perspective. If I paid the standard $250-$300/nite to attend theme parks, I would be sorely disappointed. Additionally, all the additional charges could really put a dent in your vacation budget. Since I paid a very reasonable $53./nite via Priceline, I was very satisfied.






Recommended: Yes