One of the most common questions we get from guests booking our Downtown Collection is simple: “Can we still do the parks from there?” The answer is yes — and for a lot of trips, basing yourself downtown and driving in for park days works better than staying inside the tourist corridor for your whole visit.
Walt Disney World sits about 20–25 minutes south of downtown Orlando depending on traffic and which park you’re headed to. Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure are even closer, generally 10–15 minutes from our downtown homes. SeaWorld splits the difference. None of these are far enough to feel like a real commute, but they’re far enough that when you’re back “home” in the evening, you’re somewhere that feels like Orlando rather than a resort loop.
Our take, after two decades of watching guests plan these trips: pick two or three park days and build the rest of your stay around downtown and Central Florida instead of trying to do it all inside the parks. You’ll spend less on parking (every one of our homes includes free parking, which the resort hotels charge $30–$50 a day for), and you’ll come home to a real neighborhood instead of a hotel corridor.
If your group is bigger or you’re staying longer, our Family & Group Homes across Central Florida put you even closer to the parks — some just minutes away — while still giving you the space of a full house instead of stacked hotel rooms. Pool, full kitchen, room to spread out after a 12-hour park day. That’s the whole reason that collection exists alongside the downtown homes.
Either way, the trick to an Orlando theme park trip is not treating it as an all-or-nothing decision between “the parks” and “the city.” With the right home base, you get both, on your own schedule.
Whether you want walkable downtown living or a family home minutes from the gates, browse our properties to find the right fit, or check availability for your travel dates.