Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Near Disney World (Review)
The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress is a large convention resort near Disney World in the Disney Springs Area. It has 18 floors of rooms, several pools, golf courses, lake activities, and huge ballrooms, among other things. Here’s our experience from my family’s recent stay.
(Note: We are Hyatt Globalist (the highest tier of loyalty), so we benefit from perks that the average person won’t)
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Quick Opinion
The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress is an amazing option for Disney World IF you benefit from Hyatt status perks, like Globalist or Guest of Honor Award. It has great amenities, pools, activities, golf, and great rooms. However, without the perks, it’s just another large offsite resort, and it doesn’t have as robust a system of transportation or as good of a location as many others.
Some of the hours are weird, like the pool bar closing at 6, or no posted hours for the rock-climbing wall. However, the service was amazing. The food was amazing, and the hotel and rooms are beautiful. It might have prettiest pool with all of the caverns and waterfalls. It also has insane amounts of amenities with watersports, pickleball, golf, rock wall, and bike rentals—most of which are free.
It’s a great hotel for anyone, but there are other great hotels. However, if you’re Hyatt Globalist or have a Guest of Honor certificate, it rivals the best in the area—primarily because the breakfast is amazing. The breakfast is free with Globalist perks but would cost over $100 a day for a family of 4.
An absolutely beautiful property. I took this photo from the 15th floor.
At the end of the article, I’ll go over everything that came with Globalist status.
Location and View
The Hyatt Grand Cypress is located in Lake Buena Vista in the Disney Springs Area, directly behind the Drury. Despite being in close proximity to Disney Springs, it’s not walkable because of numerous lakes (swamps) in the way. You’ll need a shuttle, Uber, or car to get there.
However, the Grand Cypress’s location and height offer and amazing view of Disney Springs, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and even Magic Kingdom. If you can get a room facing the parks, you can see plenty of fireworks. If you don’t get a room with a good view, go to the top floor and look out the windows in the atrium hallway for great views.
My pic of the Tower of Terror and Swan and Dolphin from the 15th floor hallway
Contemporary, Bay Lake, and the Magic Kingdom castle in the distance.
So which room should you ask for? Something on a high floor on the left side of the center hallway. I wish I had known about this when I went. Our first room had a great view of the lake, and our second room had a great view of the highway.
Hyatt Grand Cypress Rooms
The rooms at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress were clean and upscale. We started in a standard room (a double queen room) and then moved into a VIP suite halfway through our trip. As a Globalist, I was hoping for a standard suite upgrade, but the upgrade suites were booked. Then I asked about the VIP suite, and the cost per night was reasonable for the upgrade (especially because I booked on Hyatt points, so the trip started free).
Our first room was a double queen room with a crib. You can see the tiny balcony.
Both rooms were clean, had comfortable beds, large televisions, and spacious bathrooms. They also had very shallow balconies—good for looking out but no room to sit. My only problem with the rooms is that each bed only had places for chargers on one side. There were ample USB ports and outlets elsewhere in the room.
Housekeeping came every day and did a great job straightening up. They also were very quick if we needed anything. I CAN’T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THIS. This is the first resort we’ve stayed at since the pandemic of any brand (and we’ve stayed at 20+) to offer daily housekeeping without asking.
The suite was enormous and amazing. It had an 8-seat dining room table, a huge kitchen with a minifridge and a wine cooler, a deep designer sink, and tons of (empty) cabinet space. The cabinet space felt a little odd because we could have put all our personal kitchen inside this, but it only came with glassware (no appliances except the basic coffee maker, no silverware, no pots or pans).
The kitchenette and living room of our VIP suite.
The main reason we got the suite was because it had two bathrooms, which allowed us to put the crib for our two-year-old in a bathroom/closet area so that the rest of us could use the suite without waking him up (and still have a bathroom to use).
The king bedroom in our VIP suite. Yes, that’s another pull out couch. With the one in the living room and the chaise (plus the crib), this suite could sleep 8.
The suite also had another minifridge in the king bedroom and had three balconies (still shallow).
Hyatt Grand Cypress Pool
The pool at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress was phenomenal. The lagoon-style pool was thoughtfully designed with dozens of rock features, a waterfall, a cavern through the waterfalls, several different pools, a great water slide, two hot tubs (one hot tub in the cavern and another with a waterfall), and a splash pad. It was beautiful and a fun place to hang out.
The pool is absolutely gorgeous. Looks like something from a Hawaii special on a 90s sitcom.
I have two issues and a warning about the pool. My first complaint was that there was very little area that was shallow enough for my two-year-old to stand (other than the splash pad), so I had to hold him the whole time. My other issue is the pool bar and grill closed at 6PM. The pool is open until late, and it’s gorgeous at night (especially the cavern), so it seemed odd for the bar to close so early. I’m not sure if this was reflective of the hours year round.
My warning is that because the pool is so intricate and spread out, kids can’t explore and stay in the sight of parents. My older girls were old enough to go around on their own, and my toddler was too little to go anywhere by himself, so it wasn’t really a problem for us. However, if my older girls were more like 5 or 6 years old, I would have had to follow them around a lot instead of sitting in the lounge chairs.
Our family in the cavern. That’s Figment on my hat.
There are no lifeguards at the pool (except for one staff member at the water slide. I’m not sure if this was qualified lifeguard or just someone qualified to keep children from crashing into each other), but you can get life jackets from the boat rental place to use at the pool for free. This was great for my toddler.
There's also a small beach a Lake Windsong to pretend you're at the coast. It has hammocks and lounge chairs.
Activities and Amenities
The Grand Cypress had tons of great activities. It has golf, minigolf, par 3 golf, pickleball, free bikes, smores, pool movie, an arcade, and a nature path (all of which was free except the arcade and the real golf). Most interesting and unique for my family were the rock wall and the water sports on Lake Windsong (lots of non-motorized boating options). There's also miles of trails, an outdoor theater (don't know what it's for), and acres of private grounds.
Our little dude is ready for a bike ride. You can see the rockclimbing wall behind him.
The resort has other amenities as well, such as the Soleil Spa, fitness center (with a Peloton bike or four to go with the new Hyatt/Peloton partnership, 100 Hyatt points per ride), and laundry facilities. The laundry was very difficult to get to, but it had bathrooms with showers for some reason.
Hyatt Grand Cypress Restaurants
The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress has two upscale restaurants, a market that serves quick service items and fancy coffee, a lobby bar, and the pool bar and grill. There aren't a ton of dining options here, but what they have is great.
Lakehouse (Globalist Breakfast)
The Lakehouse Restaurant was the go-to breakfast buffet in the morning. It had a large spread of fruit, yogurt, cereal, smoked salmon, and pastries. The hot bar had questionable-looking French toast (but it was great tasting), as well as the usual eggs, bacon, sausage, and potatoes. But what made it stand out was a pancake station, with regular buttermilk and chocolate chip, made right in front of you, and a fantastic omelet station. They also served a variety of juices. Finally, they had an a la carte menu, but nothing seemed good enough to forego the buffet.
We had breakfast every morning here at Lakehouse.
Lakehouse is also the hotel restaurant for Globalist breakfast. Globalists or people with free breakfast could choose the buffet or order from the menu, with unlimited juice and coffee. We were told it was good for four people, but they didn’t charge us for the toddler either, so we got breakfast for five every morning for free (over $100 value). It was one of the best Hyatt breakfast buffets we’ve had.
For lunch and dinner, the Lakehouse was a seafood and sushi restaurant. We didn’t get a chance to try it. However, it is also the kitchen for room service, and they made great sandwiches and chicken fingers for our girls and the babysitter when we went out for the night to Four Flamingos (next).
Four Flamingos
The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress has an incredible restaurant created by celebrity chef Richard Blais that puts out upscale, creative seafood, an extensive wine list, and craft cocktails invented by the bartender. My wife and I managed to sneak away for a date night, and we were blown away by the food. It’s priced similar to the celebrity chef restaurants at Disney Springs but cheaper than the upscale restaurants at the Disney resorts. Grab a reservation. It’s worth it.
My wife and I being seated at the Four Flamingos.
On the Rocks
On the Rocks is the Hyatt Grand Cypress pool bar. It has decent food, good drinks, BUT it closes at 6PM for some strange reason. To put things in perspective, the nightly movie at the pool starts at 6. Definitely the weirdest part of this resort.
Shuttle
The Grand Cypress shuttle is a little disappointing because it doesn't go to all the theme parks. It is a free shuttle service, but it only goes to Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney Springs, and Universal Studios. It only goes to half the parks. This wasn’t a big deal for us because we rented a car. As a Globalist you get free parking, and as an annual passholder, we get free parking at the parks. But this is definitely less than most of the offsite resorts, which usually offer free shuttles to all of the Disney parks. You can see the current schedule here.
Also, it’s important to remember that Magic Kingdom shuttles (for offsite hotels) only go to the Transportation and Ticket Center, not to the front gate. The only way to get directly to the front gate is to stay on property.
Parking at the Grand Hyatt Cypress
Parking at the Hyatt is extremely expensive. Currently it’s $51 for valet and $36 for self-parking per night. HOWEVER, if you’re Globalist, both valet and self-parking are free. The self-parking lot is a long way from the resort. You have to go through the convention center to get the guest rooms. I imagine that many guests don’t like this. However, we were thrilled to get free valet parking since most Hyatts don’t offer this.
The gray mass in the middle of the photo is the self-parking lot. All the structures close to it are the convention center. It was a LONG walk when I let the babysitter out.
Globalist Perks for Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress
As I said, the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress is a fantastic choice for Disney World if you’re Globalist with the World of Hyatt program. Here’s the perks for this particular resort (at time of writing, subject to change).
-free valet or self-parking
-free buffet breakfast or a la carte breakfast for 4
-free room upgrade on availability
-free bottled water (seems small, but Florida tap water isn’t great)
-free Wi-fi
-late check out upon availability (up to 4PM)
-free resort fee on points bookings and other eligible rates
-special check-in desk
Another thing I should mention is that as a category 4 Hyatt, you can use your category 1-4 free night certificates here, which is an amazing choice. Just remember that you can't use suite upgrades with a free night award. Here’s a generic list of Globalist perks.
Conclusion and Further Reading
The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress is a beautiful resort with a great staff. However, without Globalist it may not be the best choice for Disney World vacation. With Globalist, it might just be the best place to stay offsite for Disney World. The pool, restaurants, and service are amazing. One of the great things I haven't found space to mention is the hotel lobby. With 18-story open ceilings and tons of natural light, the lobby is gorgeous. I'll mention again that there's a macaw in the lobby. One strange thing I haven't mentioned is that you can see rooftop areas that used to be the club lounge. It shut down during Covid and hasn't reopened (hopefully some day).
The lobby is pretty awe-inspiring.
For more info on offsite hotels, check
My review on the Hilton Palace near Disney Springs
The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress is a great choice for families at Disney World, especially if you’re Globalist.