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We spent three days at the HIFS, May 14-17. Check-In is 4 pm, but they let us check in when we arrived at 2 pm.
Got a room in building twelve, 4th floor. disney decorations, as we requested. But,we quickly discovered that the toilet didn't want to flush, and there was a horrible smell in that room (1240) that wouldn't go away, so we moved to building 14, 4th floor. What a pain that was (plus the new room was the Endangered Birds, which were kind of creepy at first, but they do grow on you after a while! LOL) They did give us $50 off our bill for the trouble, so we weren't too terribly aggravated.<br>
Building 14 was great! We had a great view of the pool, but we weren't right on top of it, so no noise. <br>
The room itself was AWESOME. Our 3-year-old loved having her own room, there was plenty of space for our 9-month-old to crawl/cruise around (worked out GREAT for naps because we didn't have to be so quiet while the kids napped!). They also have lots of space to store things... shelves in the bathroom and under sink counter space in the bathroom and "kitchenette". Plus a vanity in the main bedroom. Two hair dryers (wouldn't have packed my huge one if I'd have known). Closet space in the main bedroom, and 3 large drawers. Two smaller drawers and some shelves in the kids room. They supply TONS of towels (some hotels are so stingy with the towels) and extra blankets are stored in the drawers, and pillows (and an iron and ironing board!) are in the closet.<br>
The buffet breakfast was also excellent. Tons of variety, and the food was very good. It went until 11, which was really nice, so we didn't feel hurried. We usually ate on the enclosed veranda area and watched the swans swimming/playing in the water right outside. We had two lunches there, and our meals usually came to only $9-$10 for the four of us!! Since the kids ate free (my 9 month old even got her own meal, and we split it with her! LOL) it was by far the most reasonable lunch place in Orlando! (My only gripe is that they didn't have Dr Pepper at the soda fountain... but many Disney Area restaraunts don't have Dr Pepper... so I always store my own at the refrigerator/cooler in the hotel room! LOL)<br>
The game room looked great, but we only spent a few minutes inside it (our oldest is only 3, so we're not into that stuff yet! LOL) Side Note: Bring your Own Insect Repellant. I forgot it, and paid $9 for it at the hotel!! I nearly fell over! LOL<br>
The Pool was AMAZING! Perfect for younger kids (and the older kids seemed to enjoy it just as much!
The only bummer thing was that it closed FOUR times that we were aware of in the 3 days we were there. If any child has a bowel movement while in the pool, they immediately close it down and shock the water. Dh and I were a little leary of how many times pool water can be SHOCKED. In one 24 hour period, they shocked the water 3 times (one morning and two evenings). Two of the evenings we had reserved for swimming, the pool was closed, so we couldn't go (it's usually closed for 2 hours... but it reopened after our dd's bedtime). One employee said that they close it even if the kids ARE wearing swim diapers and poop... so it made no sense to me why they enforce the swim diaper rule...if they're going to close the pool regardless. Plus, he said it's usually closed at least once a day because of this...<br>
Anywho... we still managed to swim 2-3 times a day! LOL The lap pool was open the entire time, dh went for a swim once while the girls were napping and enjoyed it.<br>
Dh & I planned to stay here at HIFS for this visit, and stay on site for future visits... but I think we're hooked on this hotel. We can't imagine staying in a "hotel room" for a long visit anymore... having that extra bedroom and living area was more wonderful than we imagined. We paid $129 a night which I found to be very reasonable (especially since we had reserved an on-site plain-old hotel room for *twice* that price before I found out about HIFS!) <br>
The rooms were all VERY clean (once we were out of the stinky room! LOL), and the maid service was excellent. We left a $3 tip each day. All the staff we encountered during our stay were polite and friendly. When we called about the toilet problem in that first room, the guy was there quickly. We left for dinner, but I left a note about the smell, and he did deodorize the room (it just didn't work, because the problem was behind the wall...), but I was pleased that the maintenence showed up in a timely manner.<br>
We were also pleased that it is SO close to Disney!! You pull out of the parking lot, and you see the Disney sign in under a minute. We made lots of trips to Downtown Disney, and were always there in a very short time.<br>
I'd give this hotel HIGH recommendations to anyone who's heading to Orlando. I wanted to stay on-site, but I tell you what.. this hotel was so awesome, I just can't rationalize paying more money, for a smaller room... just to be on-site for the Mickey Soap. LOL<br>
We actually had so much fun at this hotel, that we decided not to go to the Magic Kingdom this trip. Since the girls were so little, we were a little leary of trying a big park... and when we found the hotel to be so convenient to so many things, and the pool to be so much fun... we decided to just hang around the hotel and relax (we did do a Character Breakfast too)! <br>
If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I'll try to answer the best I can.<br>
We spent three days at the HIFS, May 14-17. Check-In is 4 pm, but they let us check in when we arrived at 2 pm.
Got a room in building twelve, 4th floor. disney decorations, as we requested. But,we quickly discovered that the toilet didn't want to flush, and there was a horrible smell in that room (1240) that wouldn't go away, so we moved to building 14, 4th floor. What a pain that was (plus the new room was the Endangered Birds, which were kind of creepy at first, but they do grow on you after a while! LOL) They did give us $50 off our bill for the trouble, so we weren't too terribly aggravated.<br>Building 14 was great! We had a great view of the pool, but we weren't right on top of it, so no noise. <br>
The room itself was AWESOME. Our 3-year-old loved having her own room, there was plenty of space for our 9-month-old to crawl/cruise around (worked out GREAT for naps because we didn't have to be so quiet while the kids napped!). They also have lots of space to store things... shelves in the bathroom and under sink counter space in the bathroom and "kitchenette". Plus a vanity in the main bedroom. Two hair dryers (wouldn't have packed my huge one if I'd have known). Closet space in the main bedroom, and 3 large drawers. Two smaller drawers and some shelves in the kids room. They supply TONS of towels (some hotels are so stingy with the towels) and extra blankets are stored in the drawers, and pillows (and an iron and ironing board!) are in the closet.<br>
The buffet breakfast was also excellent. Tons of variety, and the food was very good. It went until 11, which was really nice, so we didn't feel hurried. We usually ate on the enclosed veranda area and watched the swans swimming/playing in the water right outside. We had two lunches there, and our meals usually came to only $9-$10 for the four of us!! Since the kids ate free (my 9 month old even got her own meal, and we split it with her! LOL) it was by far the most reasonable lunch place in Orlando!
(My only gripe is that they didn't have Dr Pepper at the soda fountain... but many Disney Area restaraunts don't have Dr Pepper... so I always store my own at the refrigerator/cooler in the hotel room! LOL)<br>The game room looked great, but we only spent a few minutes inside it (our oldest is only 3, so we're not into that stuff yet! LOL) Side Note: Bring your Own Insect Repellant. I forgot it, and paid $9 for it at the hotel!! I nearly fell over! LOL<br>
The Pool was AMAZING! Perfect for younger kids (and the older kids seemed to enjoy it just as much!
The only bummer thing was that it closed FOUR times that we were aware of in the 3 days we were there. If any child has a bowel movement while in the pool, they immediately close it down and shock the water. Dh and I were a little leary of how many times pool water can be SHOCKED. In one 24 hour period, they shocked the water 3 times (one morning and two evenings). Two of the evenings we had reserved for swimming, the pool was closed, so we couldn't go (it's usually closed for 2 hours... but it reopened after our dd's bedtime). One employee said that they close it even if the kids ARE wearing swim diapers and poop... so it made no sense to me why they enforce the swim diaper rule...if they're going to close the pool regardless. Plus, he said it's usually closed at least once a day because of this...<br>Anywho... we still managed to swim 2-3 times a day! LOL The lap pool was open the entire time, dh went for a swim once while the girls were napping and enjoyed it.<br>
Dh & I planned to stay here at HIFS for this visit, and stay on site for future visits... but I think we're hooked on this hotel. We can't imagine staying in a "hotel room" for a long visit anymore... having that extra bedroom and living area was more wonderful than we imagined. We paid $129 a night which I found to be very reasonable (especially since we had reserved an on-site plain-old hotel room for *twice* that price before I found out about HIFS!) <br>
The rooms were all VERY clean (once we were out of the stinky room! LOL), and the maid service was excellent. We left a $3 tip each day. All the staff we encountered during our stay were polite and friendly. When we called about the toilet problem in that first room, the guy was there quickly. We left for dinner, but I left a note about the smell, and he did deodorize the room (it just didn't work, because the problem was behind the wall...), but I was pleased that the maintenence showed up in a timely manner.<br>
We were also pleased that it is SO close to Disney!! You pull out of the parking lot, and you see the Disney sign in under a minute. We made lots of trips to Downtown Disney, and were always there in a very short time.<br>
I'd give this hotel HIGH recommendations to anyone who's heading to Orlando. I wanted to stay on-site, but I tell you what.. this hotel was so awesome, I just can't rationalize paying more money, for a smaller room... just to be on-site for the Mickey Soap.
LOL<br>We actually had so much fun at this hotel, that we decided not to go to the Magic Kingdom this trip. Since the girls were so little, we were a little leary of trying a big park... and when we found the hotel to be so convenient to so many things, and the pool to be so much fun... we decided to just hang around the hotel and relax (we did do a Character Breakfast too)!
<br>If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I'll try to answer the best I can.
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My dh travels alot for work and gets bonus points from Holiday Inn, so 4 of our nights are free! Wahoo! (just had to brag a bit, we are also using frequent flier miles to fly all 4 of us!)
