Red Lion Orlando Lake Buena Vista South is a hotel near Walt Disney World that offers complimentary shuttles to the theme parks. The hotel is a short drive away from WDW and offers rooms that are routinely under $100. In this post, we’ll review the Red Lion’s rooms, amenities, location and value, discussing whether it’s a viable place to stay for a trip to Disney World.

I’ve never been shy about my preference for staying on-site at Walt Disney World. The convenience, especially for a west coaster like me, is tough to beat. That’s still the case, even with no airport shuttle and a number of quality options just outside of WDW property popping up. But even someone like me can find a use for the many close-to-WDW hotels!

We flew into Orlando late one night and wanted a spot close to the parks but every Disney owned hotel costed way more than we wanted to pay for 7 hours of sleep. That led us to Red Lion Orlando Lake Buena Vista South. I will not be typing that full name ever again! With the price point under $100, it was easy to see the appeal and usefulness of the hotel. That’s even more true for those driving or just taking a long weekend trip to Walt Disney World.

No matter what your length of stay is, proximity to Walt Disney World is a huge factor. As you can see, the hotel is southeast of WDW. The map hilariously had every theme park besides Hollywood Studios on it, so I beautifully wrote that one in. Nice prank, Google. From the Red Lion, all of the parks are less than a 15 minute drive away and between 6-9 miles depending on the route.

If driving isn’t your thing, the hotel does offer a complimentary shuttle to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Those only run once per day though and aren’t the full theme park hours. For some groups that will definitely work, others will want more freedom. Lyft or Uber might save a little bit of money off of parking but not much. The location isn’t a positive but not terrible if you’re driving anyway.

Are there merits to the Red Lion outside of “kinda close to Disney World?” Let’s start with the room! There’s this very red wall, which is a choice. I get that the word red is in the name of the hotel but that’s not a good enough reason to remind me that The Shining took place in a hotel. There’s style and then there’s painting an accent wall blood red! Honestly, that feature ruined what is otherwise a fine hotel room.

The beds were comfortable enough and nothing felt overly dated. The whole room was pretty spacious and all of the features were nice, albeit nothing more than just your standard hotel. But that wall!

The room was bigger than Disney World’s value resorts and probably the same square footage as the other studio sized rooms.

The TV was a decent size but there was a good amount of empty and wasted space in the room. Not that hotel art is great but there wasn’t anything on the walls here. It felt bare but roomy. On a totally different note, the backlighting of me taking a photo of the TV is the scariest I’ve ever looked!

Here’s me looking less menacing. The red wall is the worst feature of the room but the sink being small and right up against the door is an easy second place. I’m not sure why they went with that design choice.

On the flip side, the room was clean and that included the bathroom. I’ve stayed at some hotels near Disneyland and Disney World that I never want to set foot in again. The Red Lion room was much better than that, it just had some questionable quirks!

The hotel’s best feature, outside of the price, was the pool! There was a decent sized space to swim and a lazy river. That also included a slide and plenty of seating. If you were staying here for a week long trip and had a rest day, this is a good option to spend a few hours at! Also outside are a basketball court, tennis court and hot tub.

I was honestly impressed by the Red Lion’s amenities. There was a very full gift shop, an exercise room, on-site Mexican restaurant and a few nice public areas. The lobby wasn’t amazing but they had a help desk for guests who needed to buy tickets or had other Orlando related questions. While the room didn’t impress, the rest of the hotel blew my expectations out of the water.

Those expectations were so low because of the nightly price. I scanned the most popular dates of summer and never saw prices go over $105/night. Most of the time the cost was closer to $85. Even after tacking on the $13 resort fee, the Red Lion is going to be one of the cheapest options around Walt Disney World. Knowing that the rooms are decent enough and the amenities are surprisingly nice, that price point fills a void.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not planning to stay at that Red Lion again anytime soon. But if I lived within driving distance of WDW and was planning for a cheaper weekend trip then I’d definitely be checking the prices. There are days when the Disney Springs hotels and WDW’s on-site options are all near $200/night and that’s when the Red Lion becomes really enticing. The hotel is certainly not going to wow anyone but it will do for those on a budget!

Overall Rating – 7/10

Have you stayed at this Red Lion near Disney World? Let us know your thoughts or any questions you might have in the comments below. Planning a trip to Walt Disney World? Check out our Disney World Trip Planning Guide to help you out. Looking for discount tickets? Check out this site! If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!