Holiday Inn Family Suites??

[scottie]

Hi!

We are long time veterans of the Disney Resorts but are pondering the idea of sneaking outside the magic walls of Disney World and possibly book two nights at Holiday Inn Family Suites in late September after we get back from the Disney Cruise. Any personal experience info with the Family (kids) Suites would be much appreciated so that we can make our final decision.

Thanks!
Scott and Sunny

 

[Tluvs2talk]

We just booked 5 nights there for October. We are Disney Resort lovers but are taking our Niece and Nephew with us and wanted our own room. We will have a kingsize bed in our room , and they will have bunkbeds. There is also a seperate sitting area with mini fridge, microwave, etc. We got a great rate from www.mousesavers.com We are paying $119 a night. This comes with a free breakfast buffet for each person every morning. I looked at their website and was impressed with the way the resort looks. We are also cruising!!! We go in October after staying 5 nights at Holiday INN Suites

 

[minniesfriend]

Hi Scottie and Sunny:

We stayed at the hifs last year for one nite at the front end of our vacation. There were 6 of us in a kidsuite. The fold out sofa was uncomfortable. The kids loved their room.

The resort was clean. Towels were small and thin. The sitting room in the front was a little small, but we had 6 people in there. There is a great breakfast bar that is included in your room. It is close to Disney but will still take extra time to get to the MK because of parking and the TTC. The resort is a deal all things considered.

The pool was fine but there were several loud, rough kids running around apparently unattended who thought it was fun playing in the toddler area. (We have small kids - 3-5 at the time so this was a pain.) I did notice there seemed to be a quiet, smaller pool last time we drove by.

It was fine to stay for the night. I wouldn't want to spend my vacation there. I'm a disney resort fanatic, too. I love the transportation and disney feel.

We went on the Disney Cruise last year for our 10th anniversary. Have a wonderful time!!!

 

[tink2dw]

WE spent 5 days at Hifs and we loved our Disney themed room!! Dh and I really appreciated the Master bedroom door. We were there with our 15 yr.old and 22 yr. old. There were no complaints about the fold out sofa. !5 yr.old love the in room nintendo 64,cd player,there were 3 tv's,a microwave,a college size refridgerator,and a kichen sink. the kids loved the Kareoke,too

 

[wdisneelvr]

There is a special that runs the rest of the year for HIFS at www.mousesavers.com

hope this helps

 

[babus1]

Is there a slide in the pool and did they have bus transportation to the parks? How frequently?

 

[hockey mom]

There is no slide in the pool. Yes there is shuttle service to the parks, but I never used it so cannot comment on times. Another great feature that my kids loved is the free bingo and kareoke every night. They had a blast doing this, and won lots of stuff.

 

[bigsis1970]

Hi we stayed there in Dec 2001 for 8 nights and loved it too..
we had the choo-choo room and my kids liked it just fine..
the free breakfast was worth it..and we did the kids eat free w/ and adult a few times too.. there was 3 adult and 2 kids ( age 8 and 5 ) the pool doesn't have a slide but is huge and has a zero entry .. Yes it has bus transportation and it was Ok you will have to make adjustments to your schedule most likely though but we made it work ( we also had a car too ) ..ps if you are a senior ( over 50 ) then you can get a better rate than the mousesaver rate check www.hifamilysuites.com and click specials and then senior savors. ( we brought my mom who was 50 and saved about 60 a night ) hope this helps.. Michelle

 

[skip]

michelle thanks for the info on senior rate.we are going in july and my mother is meeting us there to stay with us and i'll be saving $45 from regular rates and $35 from mousesavers.
do you know if you had to put the room under her name and use her credit card?i would rather put it on mine instead of writing a check to her for credit card charges.(but if we do no problem too.)

 

[FirstNo]

Originally posted by scottie
Hi!

We are long time veterans of the Disney Resorts but are pondering the idea of sneaking outside the magic walls of Disney World and possibly book two nights at Holiday Inn Family Suites in late September after we get back from the Disney Cruise. Any personal experience info with the Family (kids) Suites would be much appreciated so that we can make our final decision.

Thanks!
Scott and Sunny

If this is the one I think it is (the one across from the Mariott World Center) my parents LOVED it. They've been come to DW since 74 and have always stayed on site. However, when they came down last Oct, they got a rate of $120 and change/nt, including tax, for a Residential Suite. They told me they'll never stay on site again. They were extremely pleased with the room, location and the attitude of the employees and owner.

I stopped by on my way home from work to check it out and then I had dinner with them one night in the room. I have to admit, I was very much impressed with it as well. You are less than 30 seconds (driving) from the Disney property. You could be in Typhoon Lagoon/Downtown Disney in less than 5 min, MGM in less than 10. The room was a nice size for my parents or even a party of 3, but for me (and I think for them too) 4 would be too much in that suite. I would imagine the kids' suites would be larger. There were 2 tvs and 2 vcrs. A king bed in the BR with lots of closet space. Full size bathroom and a separate vanity area outside of the bath. The kitchen was small, but had every thing except for a standard oven (included full size fridge w/freezer, sink, stove, microwave and cofee maker complete with all types of silverware, cutlery and pots and pans). When Dad realized some of the standard items were missing from the room, we called the front desk to let them know. Within 10 minutes, an employee was knocking and replaced every thing that was missing (he admitted that items are frequently stolen by the guests).

We walked around the hotel. They had a nice area to sit and watch the swans in the water (the area is lit up at night like Xmas time with the lights). There was free face painting for the kids. A small arcade. Free bingo 2 or 3x a week (we played one night and it was funnier than any sitcom on tv). The night I stopped by on my way home from work, they were having free storytelling for the kids and had just finished a magic show. This was when we met the hotel's owner, who at the time, was dressed as a clown. She was very nice and gracious and thanked my parents for not staying home and coming down to FL to spend their money (this was about 6 weeks after Sep 11 and when this area was hit hard by the lack of tourism). I don't think I've ever met an owner of a hotel who dressed up like a clown to entertain the guests. Most impressive.

There was a small store where you could purchase things like milk and bread and peanut butter and such. Of course, you were paying for it, but it was no more unreasonable than things on the Disney property. If you'll have a car, there's a Publix grocery store that will be less than 10 minutes from this hotel. It's an easy shot and you can't possibly get lost in finding it. Your dollar will go further there if you want to cook in your room like my parents did.

We checked out the main pools. They had a larger pool, which was kid-friendly in it's items to entertain the kids (like water shooting things and fountains) and a NICE smaller kids play area. There was another larger pool that was supposed to be for adults only, however we didn't go over that way.

As for the food, unless the rules had changed, breakfast (buffet) was free for every one. For dinner, up to 4 children eat free for each paying adult. I don't think you'll find much that will beat that. Mom & Dad ate breakfast there each day and had no complaints about the food.

I still have the brochure I was given last Oct. It has the layouts of the different types of suites. If you have any questions on them, I'll be happy to look at it and give you the answer off the brochure. I didn't stay there, only visited, but I was very much impressed with the place and my parents have told me they intend on staying there again.

 

[bigsis1970]

Yes we had to have it in her name and she gave her cc to hold the room and then when we checked out i paid cash for my part and she put the rest on her own cc.. Michelle

 

[momm2four]

Just a note about the senior citizen's rate...I had already made reservations in my name and with my ccard info, and then I found the senior's rate. I called back and they put my mom's name on the reservation, but told me that I could still keep my card as the cc info on file. The lady I talked to said that my mom must be present at check-in and at check-out in order to get the $99 rate we got, but that we can use our ccard to pay.

Lori P.