You may want to check out the DoubleTree Suites near Disney Springs. It checks off a lot of items on your wish list.
Official website:
http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/ho...rlando-disney-springs-area-MCOFHDT/index.html
- All rooms are two-room suites that measure 540 square feet. (For comparison, that's twice the size of a Disney Value Resort room.)
- The suites have a mini refrigerator, small microwave, wet-bar sink.
- Suites are have 1 king bed or two queen beds in the bedroom (where the bathroom is located) plus a sleeper sofa in the living room.
- Although not as convenient as buses at Disney resorts, the hotel has continuous scheduled transportation to the theme parks every 30 minutes. (See below.)
- Someone asked a year or so ago about ECVs and the buses, so I confirmed it with the bus drivers that every bus they use can handle them.
- Bus service is provided by Mears Transportation. They are a long-time Disney partner (and they operate Disney's Magical Express).
- I've stayed many nights (50+ in the past few years) at the DoubleTree Suites. The staff is great and I've never had any major issues. Minor ones (like a dead TV remote or toiletries that didn't get replaced) were solved with a single phone call.
In looking at rates, it appears they are constant through all of next October. Really, it's too soon to see any discounts. So, if you book, there's a chance that the rate might drop. Anyway, the current rate for a king bedded room (with the sleeper sofa) is $143/night for 2 adults or $162/night for 3 adults. For the two queen beds, the rate is $153/night for 2 adults or $172/night for 3 adults. Adding children shouldn't change those rates. Although, I think the total number of occupants can only be 4 with the king beds and 6 for the two queens.
Note: The rates are listed under Honors Discount. Hilton Honors is a frequent guest program that is completely free to join. You'd certainly want to do that before staying at a Hilton hotel (like the DoubleTree Suites). Staying 14 nights at $143 would earn you roughly 30,000 points. That's enough for a free night at some Hilton-branded hotels. Hotels in high-profile locations like Disney World are available for 50,000 points per night. Points don't expire as long as you have a qualifying activity every 12 months. (A qualifying activity can be a hotel stay or even something as small as making an online purchase through a link from the Hilton Honors shopping mall.)
Finally, a note on transportation: The DoubleTree Suites is one of seven hotels at Disney Springs. Those seven hotels share the buses. They split the hotels into two "sides", with each side running two routes. The DoubleTree is on the "A" side and it shares a bus with the Hilton Lake Buena Vista, Holiday Inn, and B Resort. All of these hotels are literally next to each other, so it usually only takes 1-2 minutes to get from one to another. And, although 4 hotels sound like a lot, each of the hotels are much smaller than the behemoth Disney Resorts. In my experience, the bus system isn't overcrowded.
The biggest downfall is that each route hits two parks. Usually, one bus goes to Epcot followed by Disney's Hollywood Studios. The other bus goes to the Transportation and Ticket Center (transfer to boat/monorail for Magic Kingdom) followed by Disney's Animal Kingdom. While it's not great if you're going to that second park, the system is typically MUCH better than the transportation provided by off-site hotels.
More information about the Disney Springs Hotels:
http://disneyspringshotels.com/
Feel free to ask, if you have questions about any of this.
