july 2003

[lisaanne]

We have just booked our hol for July 2003 at the hawthorn suites, seaworld and wondered if anyone had any info on this hotel, location, food, rooms etc. The hotel also has a free shuttle bus to the parks so we thought of using this instead of hiring a car but am a little worried that we won't find this very convenient.
One last thing , what will the weather be like in july? i'm a bit worried about the rain and the thunderstorms!

Thanks lisa

 

[MKDEBS]

Hi,

Im afraid I cant comment on the hotel, but the weather I can. We went 1st two weeks in July last year. The first week was HOT!!!!! The first two days were unbearable by 3 in the afternoon, but once we got used to it, it was fine. The second week rained on and off and mostly by lunchtime and for most of the afternoon.
But as i've come to notice from these boards you just can't make any assumptions on what its going to be like because it always seems to be different every year.
Anyway there is so much to do whatever the weather we kept hitting the malls if the weather was bad. Good fun but not good for the credit card.

Debs

 

[Tartan Tigger]

I was in WDW in july this year and it was HOT HOT HOT!!! You do get used to it and if it does become unbearable all inside attractractions are air conditioned. We had one day when it rained on and off all day, the others times it rained for approx 1 hour. We had a few days with no rain at all.

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

We've been lucky with the weather at the end of July. Hot, yes, and humid too, but the occasional thunderstorm only seemed to last for 30-45 minutes around teatime, and didn't spoil our enjoyment at all. You get used to the heat, and a good strategy is to take a mid-afternoon break for a sleep or a swim to re-charge your batteries for the evening (it also avoids the worst of the queues which build up at that time of day).

As for a car, it is possible to make use of public transport and free shuttle buses, but as many people will say here, this can lead to inconvenience and frustration. If your budget can stretch to car hire I would certainly recommend it. Driving in Orlando is very easy, and nothing beats the convenience of having your own transport if you want it.

Regards

Rob

 

[signtalker]

Cant comment on the hotel but we went in late july early august last year, yes its hot but i didnt think it was that hot, depends on what some people think is hot and some dont,its was just a nice heat, and the humidity wasnt that bad either, again i think its down to whether you like heat/humidity or not, if british summers are too hot for you, then start thinking about hand held fans, etc.

We went thinking it was going to be unbareablely hot and humid and it wasnt at all. The only down side was the rain, we had been told to expect the odd rainfall in the afternoon lasting 30 minutes or so, well apart from 3/4 days it rained on and off all day, and i mean rain not just a shower.We are going back in May, purely because of the weather being so unpredictable at july time.

Jules

 

[Goofyish]

I think Vinney135 is off to the Hawthorn Suites in a few days time - I'm sure he will give you a report when he gets back

 

[banjo]

hi lisaanne, we came back sept 5th after spending 10 nights at the hawthorn suites @seaworld , the accomodation is quite good we had a 1 bedroom suite that consists of a small kitchen with a microwave, small fridge, 2 electric cooker rings and dishwasher and plenty of crockery ect ,we didnt use any of the cooking equipment as we ate out all the time. then there is a sofa bed which was comfy and also a tv in the living room, then the bedroom we had which i requested was 2 queen beds and very ample storage that was a large 2 door mirror unit and a large dresser with 6 drawers and anouther one between the beds with 3 drawers, the bathroom had the usual shower ,bath and wc and outside the bathroom was the sink unit with plenty of space on the top and the room was clean so no complaints. there is a free breakfast that consists of scrambled eggs and sausage and the next day it would be eggs and bacon with maybe small fried potatoes and toast ,orange/apple juice ,tea,coffee all self service on paper plates basically nothing to wright home about but it gives you a start in the morning. The location is farther down international drive than i thought but the bus stop is right outside although we had the car so didnt use the bus and felt sorry for those who did because sometimes we were going for dinner at night and a shower would come on and the the bus stop would be full so i was glad we had the car. onr this for sure you are very near the new mall that is due to open next month and you should see the size of this place its huge so your nice and convienient for there. anyway would i stay there again the answer is yes but would rather have the car although you could get around without it hope this helps and if you have anymore questions please ask . by the way lisne can i ask how much you payed for flights and where your leaving from as im checking out the prices for next july myself although i would really like to go for 3 wks next year byt it all depends on flight prices so if you could let me know that would be great.
margaret.

 

[lisaanne]

Hi Margaret, Thanks for the info I feel a lot better now- i was starting to panic as i couldn't find any reports on the boards regarding this hotel.That's good news about the mall being built (altho im not sure my hubbie would agree!) is there any restaurants etc close by- within walking distance.We stayed at the wyndham in March and really didn't go that far down international drive to see what was there plus we had the "FREE" car which was handy but a bit expensive for the insurance.This time we thought we'd try using the hotel shuttle service and if we find it too inconvenient hire a car .(any idea what is the cheapest company?)
We paid £2566 for our hol (2 adults and 2 Kids) flying from Newcastle and including insurance, tranfers etc(Thomas Cook Direct). Not sure if that is good or not but compared with the quotes I got it seemed to be the best deal. If we could have done it cheaper please let me know how (if not for this time for next!!!!) lisaanne

 

[banjo]

hi lisaanne,glad i could put your mind at rest and im sure you'll all have a great holiday , as for resturants near by ,i know there is a bennigans, a mcdonalds and a chinese which we did,nt try all really close (walking distance) and there is a bar at the same place that you can sit in and have a meal ,also as i said the bus stop is right outside that will take you right along international drive and they are very frequent so im sure it will be fine. as for car hire i really cant help you out there but i know you can get codes for the likes of alamo and dollar ect for discounts and im sure someone on these boards will help you out there as these boards give the best information (i think anyway). as for you getting a good deal it does seem quite good, this year we paid £289 for our flights and around £300 for the car and then we booked the hawthorn suites of the internet and got that for $56 per night which i know was quite a good deal so im trying to do the same for next year but so far the flights are £500+ so im going to hold of and see if the allocated flights (which is what we got last year)come out again and i would really love to go for 3 weeks next time so im just keeping my eyes peeled for bargains
hope this helps you out ps i forgot to mention that there isnt a bar in the hotel but that did'nt worry us to much as you can sit outside by the pool with your own drink anyway.
margaret.