................

[C.Ann]

.........

 

[tebright]

I will be there then. We will be checking in on Dec 1st and leaving on 12/7. We have friends who stayed there with children 2 years ago and they loved it. I really liked the fact of having seperate rooms and all of us having our space. Hopefully we'll meet up there.

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

Hey! We are going to be there too - 12/3 - 12/6. We really wanted to stay onsite, but we are leaving for the Disney Cruise on the 6-13(where the bulk of our money will be spent), so the entertainment rate was just too good to pass up. Free breakfast for all (not doing a character breakfast in the park b/c we get one on the ship), and kids eating free w/adult did the trick. Heck - I want to save my money for the spa and shopping the islands! We also requested the Disney room as first choice - I'm sure they have alot of them, but I guess we will see who gets it

 

[momtotwinglesx4]

Hi C.Ann!

We stayed at HIFS in 09/2001 (2 adults, 4 kids at the time). The 3 oldest kids enjoyed having their "own room", and the baby slept with us in the king. Plenty of sleeping room for us. I think the living room would have been very tight if someone opened up the sleeper sofa though. Kitchenette VERY small, and tiny table for 2, so not the greatest for eating in. Breakfast buffet certainly not gourmet food, lol, but definitely adequate to feed a hungry tribe before heading to the parks. Even if you skip the cafeteria-quality scrambled eggs, pancakes/french toast, potatoes, there is plenty of fruit, cereals, juice, coffee, milk, rolls, bagels, etc., so even picky eaters should be fine. Absolutely a money saver, especially if you fill up and can just have a light snack for lunch.

As for room decor, I asked the reservationist to tell me the different choices, and I think I chose the jungle theme. Anyway, we did get the theme I had asked for.

We didn't hang around for any of the activities since we spent all of our time in the parks and basically collapsed in our room at night, but I do recall a video game arcade in the main lobby area if he likes that sort of thing. There was also a Nintendo (or some such thing) in the kids room and my dd rented some games at the arcade to take back to the room.

The pool was nice, but I thought the water was a bit chilly for my taste--and this was in September! On the other hand, perhaps they'll crank up the pool heat in December, who knows. There was also a dry playground area near the pool that my kids really enjoyed, with plenty of seating for the adults.

I know you are a big fan of Tropical Palms (we enjoyed our stay there as well in 05/2002) so here is my comparison of the two:
TP's kitchen/dining area MUCH better; HIFS bathroom bigger/better; HIFS newer, "nicer" suite; HIFS pool/playground bigger and better; HIFS seemed more crowded to me (breakfast, pool) but this could just be a fluke; ease and quickness of drive to the parks--I'd say fairly equal--HIFS might have been a little closer. I liked the grounds at TP better--older more mature palm trees, just seemed more secluded and, well, TROPICAL! HIFS parking lot looked like a vast sea of concrete like you'd find at any chain hotel. Once inside the courtyard area, it was fine though. I just didn't like driving in and parking and walking thru the lot at HIFS--not pretty.

That's all I can think of right now. If you have other specific questions, I'll be glad to try to answer!

Sue

 

[momofdbsdc]

You'll have a blast! We stayed there last Sptember with 5 children!!! They all were wild about this hotel and are still begging to go back. They loved everything about the hotel and always wanted to leave Disney to go back for the evening activities.

Have a great time!

Kim

Mom of Dakota, Brandon, Savannah , Dalton, Cameron, & Baby due in Sept.

 

[C.Ann]

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[momtotwinglesx4]

Did you eat any other meals there?

We ate at the restaurant off the lobby (can't recall the name) for a late lunch when we checked in. Kids ate free, but service was S....L....O.....W................maddeningly so, especially considering that we were practically the only people in the place then. Can't remember what we ate, or how it was, just the amount of time we wasted there! We also picked up a pizza or something at the fast food place (?was it Pizza Hut or A&W--can't remember) and brought it back to the room one night.


Oh - and does the bathroom have a tub - or just a shower?

The usual tub/shower combo


Any extra "fees" I should be aware of

The only thing that comes to mind is that the "kids eat free" deal only applies to certain hours--I think it ended around 5 or 6pm maybe? At any rate, the hours we would have been using that nice feature (after the parks closed, later in the evening) it was no longer offered.

Sue

 

[newmousecateer]

C.Ann! Sorry, can't help you out, just wanted to say how happy I am that you went and did it! We are going to WDW in September, and my DGD will be with us too!

 

[disneyeveryyear]

We have been to HIFS three times and love it.

Will be returning in November pre and post cruise.

Some of your questions:

Whenever we have asked for a specific theme, we have always recieved it. If you haven't joined the HI Priority Club, do so now. I believe the PC members get first priority in bookings. They now have on record that we like first floor rooms near pond. When we checked in at 1:00 a.m. the second time we went I assumed that we would be stuck in timbucktu nowhere, but we had our first floor room right next to pond. Since we were priority club with a guaranteed reservation, they saved it for us.

The breakfast is more than adequate. It is usually busy, especially if you wait until the end of service, but we have always found a table right away. Always have hot cereal; cold fruit, both whole and cut up; hash, eggs and a meat which rotates between ham, sausage and bacon, either pancakes, waffles, or french toast; usually have some kind of breakfast potato. In addition they have a selection of about 4 cold cereals, donuts, danish (I think), bread for toast, bagels, and even more than I can remember. Coffee, tea, soda, juice, milk and chocolate milk to drink. We would fill cups on way out to take with us and put ice in our cups for the parks. In addition, we would fill zip bags with dry cereal for kids to munch on when they got hungry in parks. My kids love froot loops so this was great.

The kids eat free is only at lunch time in food court, Pizza Hut, A&W and ice cream. However, I believe it is both lunch and dinner in dining room. I know we went to pasta buffet in dining room one night (about 8:00 p.m.) for dinner and the kids both ate free. It was a great dinner for the 4 of us for $25.00 (including drinks and tax).

My kids have been going since they were 5 and 1 and they absolutely love it. The themed room, their own TV, it's great.

To describe it, the king bedroom is probably 10 x 13 with a king bed; two night stands with clock, lamps and phone; dressing table with chair and lighted make up mirror and phone; closet and built in dresser with TV & VCR. It has a door that closes for privacy.

The kids bedroom is the width of a bunkbed lengthwise - probably 6 feet and about 10 feet long. It had the bunk beds, a murphy bed that pulls out of wall, small game table, build ins for TV, VCR, Nintendo 64 and phone; small shelves with drawers beneath. It has a privacy curtain.

Livingroom/Kitchenette is approximately 9 x 13 with sleeper sofa, easy chair, side table with phone; shelves with TV, VCR and safe; small kitchen table and 2 chair and counter with sink and coffeepot. Small fridge and build it microwave with cabinets above.

Bathroom is quite large, 9 x 6. Regular size tub with built in shower, sink, stool and recessed shelves that held all the bathroom supplies for 5 people with room left. My DM used these shelves for her clothing since she was sleeping in bunkroom with kids.

I must be off in my dimensions because I come up with 361 sq. ft. and I think it is more like 450 sq. ft. according to HIFS web site. You can log on there and they have a lay out the rooms for you.

I forgot activities, they have a great zero depth pool, a small playground, putt putt, a jacuzzi that sits next to the putt putt (DH and I are in hot tub, kids are putting, works great). They have a video arcade with video game rentals as someone mentioned. They have nightly family entertainment, bingo, karaoke, etc. And I have recently read that they have started some type of spa for little girls, haven't seen it yet, but I will report back in November if nobody else has yet.

YOU WILL LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AND SO WILL YOUR GRANDDAUGHTER.

Hope it helps, let me know if you need anything else, you can pm me. I usually check at least once a day.

 

[jcemom]

I booked for February...it sounds great!

My question is...how long does it take to get the the Disney parks from HIFS? Specifically, Magic Kingdom?

 

[hercamore]

Hi,

Did you sign up for the Priority Club thru the national holiday inn website?

You can rack up some flyer miles if you're staying there for that long a time.

herc.

 

[jcemom]

I signed up for the Priority Club but I don't really know what it's all about or how it works.

When I booked online I was asked if I wanted to join...so I did!

 

[vellamint]

Those of you that have stayed here - how old were your children....I know my 9 year old twin daughters will love this hotel but I am worried that my 11 and 12 year old sons will be too "old" for it already. Is it geared toward the younger set do you think? Did you see many tweeners there?

Thanks.

 

[momtotwinglesx4]

When we stayed my children were dd13, dd5, ds5 (twins), and ds 19 mos. They younger kids loved it of course, but my dd13 thought it was cool having a tv and nintendo in their room. In fact, one afternoon the rest of us went out to the pool, and she chose to stay in the room and play a rented game on the nintendo! (She doesn't have one at home, so it was a "treat" for her). She's not much into hanging out at pools unless there are cute teenaged boys there

Sue