Where to stay in Orlando

Disney Resort hotel guests get three perks that change how a day works. First, 30 minutes of early entry to any Disney theme park each day of the stay; Disney says most of its partner hotels on property offer the same. Second, Lightning Lane booking opens 7 days before the stay for the whole stay (up to 14 days), against 3 days for everyone else; the same window applies at the Swan, Dolphin, Swan Reserve and Shades of Green. Third, parking: overnight self-parking at Disney Resort hotels is complimentary, and standard theme park parking is included, which saves the $35 a day other drivers pay.

Valet at Disney Deluxe resorts and Coronado Springs costs $42 a night plus tax. The Swan, Dolphin and Swan Reserve charge their own guests $40 a day for self-parking and $51 to $61 for valet, plus tax.

Lake Buena Vista, around Disney Springs, gives you the location without the Disney price, but usually without the perks: check whether a given hotel offers early entry and what it charges to park. Whether on-site is worth the premium is its own question, answered in Is staying on Disney property worth it?

Universal's own hotels are clustered around the resort off Kirkman Road and Vineland. Guests get Early Park Admission to a theme park up to an hour before opening, and Universal runs complimentary shuttle buses, with water taxis and walking paths at some hotels.

The big perk is at three hotels only: guests at the Loews Portofino Bay, the Hard Rock Hotel and Loews Royal Pacific get free Universal Express Unlimited at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. It does not cover Epic Universe. Bought separately, Express Unlimited for those two parks starts at $164.99 per person per day, or $659.96 for four people, which is the number to set against the room rate.

Value hotels such as Cabana Bay and Stella Nova keep early admission but not Express. If Epic Universe is the focus, look at Helios Grand, which Universal built alongside that park.

International Drive is the compromise base. It has the convention center, SeaWorld at its south end and the I-Ride Trolley, which runs daily from 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. A ride costs $2 (children 3 to 9 $1, seniors 25 cents) and unlimited passes cost $8 for 1 day, $10 for 3 days, $12 for 5 days, $18 for 7 days and $22 for 14 days. The trolley does not go to Disney, so you still need a car, a hotel shuttle or rideshare for those parks.

Kissimmee and US-192 is where the vacation homes and the cheapest chain hotels are. It works for Disney-heavy trips by car. It is a poor base for Universal-heavy trips, and hotel sales tax is higher: Osceola County adds a 1.5% surtax to the 6% state rate, for 7.5%.

If parks are one or two days of a longer trip, stay in the city. Downtown Orlando has Lake Eola, the Mills 50 restaurants and nightlife; Winter Park has Park Avenue, the Morse Museum and The Alfond Inn. Both need a car or rideshare for the parks, and SunRail, the commuter train that serves them, runs Monday to Friday only and does not go to the parks or the airport.

If you are not visiting the parks at all, skip the resort areas entirely.

In Orange County, a hotel bill carries a 6% tourist development tax (the county's rate since September 1, 2006) plus 6.5% sales tax (6% state and 0.5% county). That is 12.5% on top of the quoted rate. A $250 room is really about $281 a night before any resort fee.

Then add parking. Theme park parking is $35 a day at both Disney and Universal unless your hotel includes it, and many off-site hotels charge their own nightly parking fee. The parks' full rate cards are on our parking page. Resort fees vary by hotel and are not published in one place, so check the booking total, not the headline rate.