Holiday Inn Family Suites Resort

[momuv4]

We just started doing research for our first family visit to WDW, which will probably be the first 4-5 days in January. We've found out that a family of 6 may have a difficult time with lodging unless willing to get 2 rooms! As of today, I'm leaning toward the Holiday Inn Family Suites Resort in the Lake Buena Vista area. ANY input would be welcome. What would be the disadvantage(s) of not being onsite? The only one I see at this point is no early admission...something else I'm not seeing?

 

[hercamore]

We have reservations next month at the Wyndham summerfield suites. A 2 bedroom unit with one king bed and two doubles with kitchen and lr inbetween brs. Also, two baths.

This is just down from Holiday Inn. Our rate is $119 nite with ent. card.

cont. bkfst included.
We did two rooms at CBR in April and decided it would be nice to have a kitchen and little more space.

 

[Klineact]

In all honesty if you have 6 people, I would seriously consider NOT staying at the HIFS....while everyone seems to rave about it, I personally dont get it...Dont get me wrong, it is a nice hotel, very clean, but the rooms are rather on the small side in my opinion, and the food is not at all good and overpriced...I have been to Disney many times and have stayed in many places on and off site,from double bedded hotel rooms to 3 bedroom villas...Last year when we visited WDW we spent 3 nights at Westgate Vacation Villas and 2 nights at HIFS....Boy was I in for the shock of my life when I left my gorgeous, spacious, Westgate $120 a night king size bedroom w jacuzzi, full kitchen etc for a HIFS kidsuite for only $20 less....You get a microwave and a small fridge so forget it if you are planning on cooking meals there....there was no room for us to all sit down and have a meal at the table even..There are 5 in my family by the way so I couldnt imagine having had a 6th...I am not knocking HIFS by any means but I just think for a party your size, you may want to look elsewhere...just IMHO

 

[chojen]

I never stayed in this hotel but there is a web site for it and may be able to give me more information on the hotel.

http://www.hifamilysuites.com

 

[dbltrbl]

If $$$ is a BIG factor.. you may want to keep in mind that HIFS has had a Second Night Free offer the past 2 years. That is THE reason we have stayed there. There is no guarantee that it will be offered again this year, but it was offered during the time frame you are considering. I honestly don't know if I would stay there at FULL price, but at $55/night it was SOOOOO worth it! Just my opinion, everyone's needs are different depending on your family/party.

 

[tink2dw]

here is a reason to stay at HIFS!!!!!

Special Disney Ticket Packages Are Now Available!
Book our Summer Sizzle package, which features a 3-Day Disney Park Hopper® Plus Ticket. This special ticket is only available through the Holiday Inn Family Suites Resort with a 2 or 3 night stay. This ticket NEVER expires!!!! Summer Hotel Rates start from $125 per night!

Special ticket prices Adult 3-Day Disney Park Hopper® Plus Ticket $151.69 Child (ages 3-9) 3-Day Disney Park Hopper® Plus Ticket $121.16

A 3-Day Disney Park Hopper® Plus Ticket allows you to visit the Magic Kingdom® Park, Epcot®, Disney-MGM Studios, and Disneys Animal Kingdom® Theme Park for 3 days, PLUS one admission to your choice of Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, River Country, Pleasure Island, or Disney's Wide World of SportsTM complex (some activities and events may be separately priced).

Call us toll-free at 1-877-387-5437 and ask for the Summer Sizzle Package!
For more hotel information, find us online at http://www.hifamilysuites.com

Hotel reservations including the special 3-Day Disney Park Hopper® Plus Tickets must be made directly through the hotels reservation department. A 2 or 3 night stay at the Holiday Inn Family Suites Resort must be booked in order to purchase the special 3-Day Disney Park Hopper® Plus Tickets. Hotel rates do not include tax and are based on availability. Reservations including the special 3-Day Disney Park Hopper® Plus Tickets must be purchased 7 days prior to arrival and not later than 12/20/01.

 

[jdm]

Although I have posted on this before, I was glad to see Dena's post and learn that someone else had the same "shock of their life" when opening the door to their accomodations at HIFS. 5 Of us were sooo cramped. We were so disappointed with the "suite". It's true, you get this feeling when researching that you're going to have all this room and be able to sit with your family and eat etc. There just isn't the space for that with party's larger than 3or4 IMHO. With 6 people I would absolutley look for larger accomodations.
Jenn

 

[Klineact]

Originally posted by jdm
Although I have posted on this before, I was glad to see Dena's post and learn that someone else had the same "shock of their life" when opening the door to their accomodations at HIFS. 5 Of us were sooo cramped. We were so disappointed with the "suite". It's true, you get this feeling when researching that you're going to have all this room and be able to sit with your family and eat etc. There just isn't the space for that with party's larger than 3or4 IMHO. With 6 people I would absolutley look for larger accomodations.
Jenn

Jenn,

Glad I am not the lone dissenter here. There are much better values to be had in terms of space/$$$ in the WDW area, you just have to look. With so many hotels/condos/etc competing for business I dont think I would stay here again, at least not with 3 kids in one suite... In reality, I would hesitate to even calls these rooms "suites" as I have stayed in double bedded hotels that were larger that this. Maybe the majority of the people that have stayed here have not attempted to cram 5 or 6 people in one of these rooms, and that is why everyone thinks it is so great...dunno , but for the larger families I think a condo/villa is the way to go....The rates are certainly comparable from my experience.

 

[SimonV]

I would have thought a 2-bedroom property would definitely be the best bet for six. Hawthorn Suites, Summerfield, Buena Vista Suites and Sierra Suites are all worth looking at, and all have good locations around WDW.

 

[goofyscoot]

Check into the Villas at the Caribe Royale, just down the road.
Master bedroom has a queen size bed, second bedroom had two double beds.
Check out their site:

http://www.CaribeRoyale.com

 

[bigsis1970]

Hello All, does anyone who has stayed at this resort have photo's posted out there somewhere?? I have all the stuff from there internet site and they have sent all the
brochures to me .. but i would like to see it from someone elses camera, Know what I mean??
Thanks Michelle-We are booked 12/01 to 12/15 kidsuite bldg 7 top floor pool view..
i think its either a love it or hate it place.. feed back is great.. Thanks again

 

[dbltrbl]

bigsis1970,

A DIS member had posted some really great pics (lots of different vantage points) on the old boards. I believe it was pstepka. Maybe start a new thread.. paging pstepka.... or look up the user info and send a private email... hopefully they will provide you with a link to their pics. If you don't have any luck.. i'll dig out my pics ('00 & '01) and try to scan them on to a page for you, or email them to you. (but they aren't as good as pstepka's)
HTH!

 

[jdm]

I remember seeing the pictures a while back and I remember thinking- Wow! They make the room look so much bigger than it actually is! So.... I really don't mean to be the sound of doom and gloom at this resort. It's all personal preference. My daughter loved the kid suite and the pool area and breakfast were nice/ convenient. But! I was traveling with dh and 2 17 year old girls and a 7 year old girl. It was so hard to get around and try to eat, shower etc. Many people don't care that much about space but for us, it's a biggie when traveling. Although I hesitate to post my opinions on this hotel often because I know I am in the miniority, I know that if one person had hinted before I went that it was tight quarters, I wouldn't have chosen it and we would have been happier somewhere else. One other thing... when I settled my daughter in for the night in the top bunk in the kidsuite, I noticed there were bare wires hanging from the wall by her pillow. Turns out the speaker from the TV had been ripped out and they had just left the hole with all the wires. She was old enough to know better but a 3 or 4 year old could have gotten hurt on this if a parent hadn't really gotten up there and looked. Just FYI.
Jenn

 

[Poohmom]

Check out the rental homes. I've heard great reviews on The Premier Homes on this site.

We stayed at HIFS for 10 days in December (dh, myself, 2, 5 and 7 year old dds). It worked great for us, but if you have four kids who are older, one kidsuite may be cramped. My sister has 4 older kids, and I'd recommend checking out the homes to her. You have everything you would at home plus a private pool with some of them.

Good luck planning and have fun!