[Susanne]

Hello again,

I have to say, I just love this site! Everyone is so quick to try and help and I really appreciate it.

At least one person has suggested the Holiday Inn Family Suites as an off-site hotel suited to our needs (kids ages 2 and 4). I understand from Mousesavers that the hotel is currently under construction. Can anyone who has stayed there recently comment on the construction and whether it bothered you? There's a good chance that we'd be at the hotel at least a bit during "business hours" as our little one still needs afternoon naps. We're also likely to have at least one "rest day" where we won't be at the parks.

Any comments are appreciated!

Thanks,

Susanne

[sjpurple]

We stayed there Oct.1st and 2nd. We didn't have much problem with the construction. The restaurant was very nice. Excellent breakfast bar included.
I call the hotel direct and made mt reservations. I was told if I had the entertainment book(comes with a card) my room would be cheaper. We paid 76.00 a nite. You can get the link through mousavers and shipping is free. The book can save alot of money on food. I also got restaurant certificates from Restaurant.com for the club car restaurant at the hotel. I got 2 for 3.00 each the value of the certificate was 25.00. There is a link at mousesavers for this also.
We used the pool both days at HIFS. The VCR in the kids room wouldn't work and neither would the CD player. We called about it and they brought a brand new CD/ boom box and hooked up the VCR. They came in less than 30 min. I would definately stay there again. We drove to the Grand Floridian and DTD. It was very close.

[disneyguy]

HIFS is a very high quality resort. I have had the plasure to stay there twice, and it is wondeful. I would even go as far as to say that the HIFS is a Disney quality resort, with so many great features.

[Susanne]

Thanks so much for your comments. Shirley, I called the hotel today and they said that for our planned dates, the Oasis pool would be open, but the Family Fun pool would be closed. Was that how it was while you were there? Can you (or anyone else) comment on whether the Oasis pool is good for small kids (ages 2 and 4). Of course I'm assuming the weather will be warm enough to swim...

Susanne

[sjpurple]

I am reall not sure which pool we went in. I know it was zero depth and there was spraying water at one end it was about 5'5" deep at one end.
They also have an area just for little kids, a playground with a pool.
I hope this helps.

[jk8]

Hi Susanne,

I don't know if you have made your plans yet but I can tell you a little about what we saw at HIFS. We were in Orlando for a funeral and decided to take a look at the 2 hotels where we have reseravations for our trip coming up in 9 days.

HIFS really seems to have their act together during this contstruction. Their temporary lobby was adequate. We asked to see 2 sizes of rooms and were escorted their by some very nice security/bellman types. The rooms were redone models so everything was new. I feel sure thought that all rooms are clean and would meet your needs.

The pool area had some equipment that seemed to be used for high building painting. It was off to the side (it was early evening) and many were using the pools. What looked to be a "baby" pool was closed. The main pool had zero entry and lots of fun things. I think you said the hotel said the Oasis pool would be open when you stay (when are you going?) I have a new flyer that says that pool will have "water flumes and slides, interactive wet play area with pop jets & splash zone, sand play area with slide, 2 whirlpools". It is sure one of the 2 will be open and they are both nice sounding.

There were nice covered walkways, a nice gameroom with games appropriate for young children, the food areas look nice. The staff was very nice.

We have changed our plans back to staying there. We were going to stay at the Staybridge Suites which had plenty of room in the room and was cheaper but was a bit depressing when compared to HIFS.

Having said all of that I would still stay onsite at POP Century over HIFS because you can't beat the magic and Pop is cheaper. POP that is if I was going with just my family. This time I am going with 5yr old ds, my mom and a friend of ours and everyone wants their own space. If you are one that needs to put your kids to bed in one room and still want to stay up then HIFS would be great.

[disneyguy]

Thanks for that awesome information!!!! We have been hearing so much info, but nothing first hand..

BTW: That pool sounds awesome!!!!

[dab]

I hate to be the bad guy here but I didn't like it very much! We were just there Oct. 22nd-23rd for a spur of the moment bday trip for me. We decided to go at 6pm and left home at 8pm so my lodging options were limited. All the disney resorts were booked. I've never stayed there before. The only issue with construction was parking and it wasn't a big deal. The room was in dire need of remodeling. I felt it wasn't clean... we even had ants on the door of our bedroom which they came to our room to spray but no change. The curtains were torn, the wallpaper was peeling off the wall in the kids room and there was a yucky mystery stain on the wall in the kids room. There was mold on the shower curtain. We had to pay $123 a night usuing my moms AAA discount. I definatley wouldn't pay that price to stay there! The free breakfast was a nice feature. Get there between 7:00 & 7:30 if you don't want to wait too long for a table. The pool is nice and will be even better when completed. It is well suited for any age children as it is zero entry... like you would walk into the ocean. So, little ones could go as far as they wanted. they also have cute floats for rent. I would stay there again but only if it were completely finished. If I had a choice I would stay on property at a Disney resort! It really lacked the Disney magic!

[itsmyfirsttime]

We were there also Oct 7-13 at HIFS. We booked ours through expedia so I dont actually remember the rate per night. The construction wasnt too big of a deal to us, although the lobby is in a trailer and the game room, gift shop, spa and photo store are in suites on the ground floor temporarily until the new lobby is done.
The breakfast is an awesome feature and saved us tons of $$. I wouldnt bother doing meals in the restaurant, the prices are so expensive that it cancels out kids eating free.
The pool was awesome, but we werent there much in the daytime to enjoy it. We also didnt get to enjoy some of the other kid features that were scheduled in the daytime because we were at the parks.
The location of the hotel was very close to disney and there wasnt alot of traffic.
I would stay there again!

[Susanne]

Thanks so much to everyone for your detailed trip reports! I made a booking at HIFS last week for the first week of December and got their AAA rate of $108 per night. However, it looks like we're going to have to postpone our trip until next year, so I'll be cancelling the booking.

Thanks again to all who took the time to tell me about the hotel. I really appreciate the time and effort you've made to help me. Hope to chat with everyone again in another 6 months or so!

Susanne

[15 mins to wdw]

the hotel is looking better every time I drive by, however I have not stoped in there. I did want to pass along that the HIFS may be a bit more full in the next couple of weeks due to hurricane damage at the holiday inn dtd, they had to close the Holiday inn DTD and the one next to it, due to the damage and nethier have reopened as of yet, I have heard there have been some rebookings to the family suite hotel for people who had already booked at the closed hotels.