If you’re planning a Disney vacation and looking for a hotel that’s budget-friendly, family-friendly, and packed with perks, the Drury Hotel Disney Springs might just be for you. Tucked right in the heart of Lake Buena Vista, this newly renovated Disney Springs hotel offers the comfort of a resort without the steep price tag of official Disney hotels—but still includes some magical extras like Early Theme Park Entry!
In this full Drury Hotel Disney Springs review, you’ll get the scoop on everything from the spacious rooms and pet-friendly policy to the free hot breakfast, nightly dinner buffet, and the unbeatable Drury Plaza Disney Springs shuttle schedule. Plus, it’s one of the hotels within walking distance to Disney Springs, home to some of the best food at Disney World, fantastic restaurants, and live entertainment.
Whether it’s your first Disney trip, you’re planning a Disney vacation on a budget, or looking for hotels closest to Disney Springs, this post breaks down what makes Drury Hotel Orlando / Disney Springs a standout!
We recently returned from our yearly Disney trip and had such a wonderful experience at the Drury Hotel Disney Springs that I started writing this review on the drive home. We absolutely LOVED our stay here and think this is the best Disney Springs hotel!
This was the first time in years we stayed off-property. We usually stay at Port Orleans Riverside, our all-time favorite resort. Admittedly, I was a little sad not to be staying in what most Disney addicts refer to as our Disney bubble, but the sadness dissipated quickly. By the time we checked in, got to our room, and explored the hotel, we knew we had made a great choice!
Drury Hotel Disney Springs Full Review
Although it may look and feel brand new, the building is actually the site of the former Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort Hotel. The Drury Hotel brand purchased the building in 2017 and completely renovated the entire hotel, adding a tower and nearly doubling the number of rooms. If you had told me this wasn’t a brand-new building, I wouldn’t have believed you. Every square inch of the hotel was immaculate!
The Drury is not a Disney-owned and operated hotel. It’s a “Good Neighbor” hotel, which means you can book it as part of a Disney vacation package, and it comes with perks like Morning Extra Magic hours at the parks.
Before I discuss everything we loved about this hotel, let’s first discuss the one thing we didn’t.
Cheerleading Competitions At Disney World
We’ll start with the only negative thing about our experience, and it really had nothing to do with the hotel itself. The first and last weekends of our two-week stay overlapped with the national cheerleading competitions held every year at Disney. AllEars.net does a great job of updating the dates of the competitions as well as the resorts and hotels that are impacted. The Drury at Disney Springs was one of them. If you book during one of these competitions, here are some things you should know.
- While the cheerleading teams are there, the elevators will be packed, especially in the mornings.
- They leave for their competitions early, so the breakfast buffet is crowded in the mornings.
- You will hear them practicing their cheers. It’s fun to watch, but not fun if you’re trying to sleep.
- They inundated the hotel from Friday to Sunday, but typically start clearing out on Monday.
- In the morning, when they’re headed out to competitions, the area in front of the hotel is crowded with buses. If you are trying to check in or out, you won’t be able to pull your car up in front of the lobby until the buses leave.
Is The Drury at Disney Springs Pet Friendly?
I have been frustrated for years by the lack of decent pet-friendly hotels and boarding options on Disney property. If someone were to open a state-of-the-art boarding center for pets, I think it would be a huge success. Good news, though. The Drury Hotel is pet-friendly! Here are the details.
- No more than 2 pets per room.
- The total combined weight of the pets is not to exceed 80 lbs.
- Rooms with pets will be charged a DAILY $50 fee.
- You can read the Drury pet policy here.
The daily fee of $50 is the highest pet fee I’ve ever seen. We were staying for two weeks, so I ended up talking to the manager (as advised by the reservation agent), and he was able to work with us. Having said that, the fee is comparable to what you would pay at Best Friends Pet Resort on Disney property, depending on the size of the room you reserve.
Walking To Disney Springs From The Drury
Walking to Disney Springs from the Drury is one of my favorite things about this hotel. We timed this walk several times, and it never took more than 15 minutes. It’s also a nice walk. The sidewalks are wide, and you never have to cross the street. The sidewalk brings you to a small building with an elevator that leads to a walking bridge over to Disney Springs. You’ll enter Disney Springs on the Marketplace side near eet by Maneet Chauhan and The Spice & Tea Exchange. Of course, you can drive your own vehicle or take an Uber, but it’s so close that we enjoyed the walk. It was also January, so the weather was beautiful!
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The Lobby
The lobby is spacious, beautifully decorated, and feels both modern and comfortable. There is ample seating throughout, with comfortable chairs and small couches. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the large windows on the far side of the lobby leading out to the pool and deck area, which overlooks a lake and Disney Springs. It’s gorgeous!
The Kitchen + Bar is also in the lobby, serving craft cocktails, locally sourced beer, and food. A small store called Market Place is well stocked with food, drinks, toiletries, and other items you may need or want during your stay. Inside, you’ll also find a small self-serve Starbucks and a Pizza Hut Express.
I was very happy to find out there is a coffee station set up 24 hours a day, and the coffee was surprisingly good. In fact, we’re so used to coffee being terrible in hotels that we always travel with our coffee setup to make coffee in the room, but we never used it during our stay. Hot tea is also available at the coffee station downstairs, but the tea selection is better upstairs, where the buffet is.
The staff was some of the friendliest we’ve encountered. We had to make several changes to our reservation throughout our stay, and they were always accommodating without ever making us feel like we were a burden. I cannot say enough good things about the staff here!
The Pool, Splash Pad, And Outdoor Bar
The Pool + Deck Area at Drury Plaza Hotel Disney Springs was our favorite part of the entire hotel! You could find us here in the mornings sipping coffee or in the evenings listening to live music and sipping on a cocktail. There is ample seating, and the bar area is far enough away from the pool to feel like two separate spaces.
There’s a splash pad for kids that’s fully fenced in and has plenty of seating for adults. We’ve taken our grandson here many times and just let him run and play without fear of him getting out. The water can easily be turned off, which was nice considering it was January!
As I mentioned above, there is a bar inside the lobby, but there is a second bar outside near the pool that offers both food and drinks. My husband got the burger three times and said it was the best he had during our entire stay. I LOVED the brisket queso and chips and ordered it twice!
Dining At Drury Disney Springs
One of the best perks of staying at a Drury is the complimentary hot breakfast and dinner buffet. One of my favorite tips for how to travel cheap is to stay at hotels that offer a complimentary breakfast. At the Drury, you get TWO free meals and complimentary adult beverages! This can save a profound amount of money, depending on the number of people in your party. There is also complimentary popcorn and soft drinks in the buffet area from 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm every single night. For more tips for doing Disney on a budget, we have tons of tips and tricks here.
At breakfast, they’re making real scrambled eggs. In fact, you can watch them being cooked on a giant grill. The selection of hot food items, including pastries, bagels, muffins, fresh fruit, yogurt, and oatmeal, was impressive, to say the least. There is truly something for everyone, including making your own Mickey waffles!
There are three hot bars, all featuring the same thing. This was helpful when it gets crowded and keeps everyone spaced out.
The dinner selection rotates every night. You can find the Drury Kickback menu here. I loved that there was a salad bar every night, and I was impressed by how fresh everything was. As for the hot food, it isn’t the best food you’ll ever eat, but it’s good—and free. The meatballs are decent, and everyone loved the chicken strips. When you check in, you’ll receive a drink card that you can bring to a bar area that is set up during Kickback hours. Considering alcoholic drinks on Disney property can easily be $15 or more, this is a significant perk!
The food area is on the hotel’s second floor, which was nice. It was completely separate from the lobby area. The buffet area also has tons of seating—in fact, it’s massive—which was nice while the cheerleaders were there. We still had no problem finding a place to sit!
Drury Disney Springs Food & Beverage Hours
- Free Hot Breakfast on the 2nd Floor: 6:00 am – 10:00 am
- Free 5:30 Kickback on the 2nd Floor: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
- Kitchen + Bar: 5:00 pm – 12:00 am Mon-Sat and 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm Sun
- Lakeside Bar & Grill: 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
- The Marketplace: 6:00 am – 12:00 am
- Pizza Hut Express®: 6:00 am – 12:00 am
Rooms At Drury Hotel Disney Springs
We stayed in a two-queen deluxe with a terrace for two weeks and had plenty of space. The room was spacious and comfortable, but my favorite part was the foyer area upon entering. There is a small refrigerator, microwave, safe, storage cubby, large counter, and a separate sink. The separate sink was so convenient, especially since the bathroom only had one.
My only gripe about the room was that there was no real closet. The space where you hang your clothes is very small (as shown in the photo below). We were there in January, and I had brought a ton of sweaters and jackets, so I had to fold most of them and put them on top.
If you need more space, the Drury offers a spacious, two-room suite with a bedroom separate from the living area. This would be very convenient for anyone traveling with kids who may need to create a separate sleeping space. There is also a pull-out queen sofa sleeper for extra sleeping space.
The bathroom was spacious and clean, with plenty of storage (photo below). I always bring a small hanging organizer for my skin care and makeup and an over-the-door organizer. There was plenty of room to hang both without getting in the way. I highly recommend doing this, especially if you have kids or bring a lot of stuff like me—ha! It keeps everything off the counter and organized.
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Amenities At The Drury Plaza Hotel Disney Springs
The list of amenities at Drury Hotel Disney Springs is long!
- The fitness center and business center are open 24 hours for registered guests.
- Free hot breakfast is available from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. daily.
- Free 5:30 Kickback dinner is offered from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. nightly.
- A fully equipped game room, Level Up Arcade, includes an impressive number of games.
- A resort-style 20,000-square-foot deck featuring a saltwater pool, whirlpool, kids’ splash zone, and bar.
- Packages can be delivered to the hotel front desk. I had numerous things delivered (see photo).
- Traveling with kids or need an extra sleeping place? Rollaways are available for $10 per day, and Pack ’n Plays are available at no additional charge. I suggest making your request when making your reservation.
- Free complimentary shuttle service to Magic Kingdom Park, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Shuttle service begins one and a half hours before the park opening and runs one and a half hours after the park closes.
Have you been to the Drury Hotel at Disney Springs? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
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Good afternoon. Yes, we have visited another Drury location, but the part that we really enjoyed was the kickback hour, it was ample enough food for our family that we didn’t have to worry about dinner for the night.
We will actually be visiting this one near Disney Springs next month. Looking forward to it.