Comfort Suites Maingate East

KathyT

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 3, 2001
Messages
126
Sorry this is so long.
This hotel is located on Florida Plaza Blvd near Old Town. We checked in on 8/25. Check in was at 3:00 but our room was ready at 11:30. We were on the 5th floor overlooking the pool. The pool was nice and the kids were able to swim as one end was about 5 foot. There is also a hot tub and a small pool area for the kids.
As soon as you walk in the room you are in the small kitchen area which contains a sink, cupboards, mini-frig, small microwave. To the right is the bathroom which has a large counter area and is supplied with a hair dryer.
Right after the kitchen area is a table with 2 chairs. To the right is a couch which folds out into a bed, a coffee table and end table with lamp.
After this the wall on each side extends about a foot to separate the room. You are then in the bedroom area which has two queen beds. The dresser, with a tv on top, faces the beds and contains 4 drawers. Next to the dresser is a desk with chair. Then comes the closet with folding double glass doors.
Inside the closet is the safe along with a iron and ironing board.

Near the elevators there is a room with a washer & dryer which costs $1 each. There is also a soda machine and ice machine. Each floor has this except for the 1st floor.

Next to the registration desk is a mini store. Very small but you can buy snacks and film items. Across the lobby is a arcade area for the kids which gets very crowded when it rains. Next to the arcade is a booth where you can get information on attractions and purchase tickets. Here you can also get information on the hotel shuttles.
We only took the shuttle once to Seaworld and we were not impressed. The shuttle was almost full when it picked us up and then proceeded to go to 4 other hotels. There were about 28 people standing in the aisle. The seats weren't comfortable and if you sat back the seat kept going back. Instead of taking the shuttle back to the hotel we called a taxi. We gladly paid the $20 to get back. I don't know if this was an unusual occurrence but I would not recommend the shuttle from the hotel.
Every morning this hotel has a continental breakfast which was very good. It is from 7-10 and free to guests. They had white and wheat bread, english muffins, bagels, pancakes, waffles, bananas, oranges, apples, flavored applesause, yogurt, orange juice, apple juice, fuit juice, milk, hot cereal and 3 different types of cold cereal. They also have hot tea, decaf coffee and regular coffee. On the side is a microwave and toasters. You can get coffee 24 hours a day.

Nearby are many restaurants you can walk to. You can also walk to Old Town and Pirates Cove mini golf. We really enjoyed our stay here and would highly recommend it. The cleaning lady was very good. She would leave towels in the bathroom in the shapes of flower arrangements. She also set up my daughters stuffed animals in different arrangements on the bed which she loved.

This hotel is very nice and we enjoyed our stay there. The only thing we did not like was our one attempt at the hotel shuttle.
 
I am so glad you enjoyed your stay. We will be staying there in November and I have been looking for some feedback on this hotel.
I am a little concerned about the shuttles now. Among other things, I picked this hotel because they have shuttles to all the parks. Since we plan to go to Universal, Islands of Adventure, Sea World and MGM, I had high hopes that this hotel was the answer to all my concerns. Oh well.

Can you please tell me what attractions/restaurants are within walking distance? We are looking for something to do our first night there. Thanks in advance.
 
Thanks so much, KathyT! we will be staying there in November as well. had originally planned to only stay one night and then the rest at the Polynesian, but then the pool liner went ($800 to fix) so we have opted to stay 4 nights at CIME and forego the Poly. We will have our own car so will not need the shuttle. I just wanted a clean decent room that would fit the 5 of us. Is there a pizza place nearby?? We usually like to get pizza and salad when we get back from a long day at the park and are too tired to do a restaurant. also, any idea how far a ride to MGM and MK from the hotel?? Thanks!
 
Good to hear positive feedback on this hotel. We are considering staying here when we go to WDW in 2003.
 

In reply to luvtogo12.
We only tried the one shuttle to Seaworld and did not like it. I don't know if they are all like the one we had or if we just had a bad experience. There was someone else on this board that had a positive experience with their shuttles. I can't remember their name but they had no problems. You could do a search on the hotel to find it.

Reply to luvtogo12 and anne60.
In regards to places around the hotel you can ask them to send you a map of the area. They sent it to us automatically about a month before our trip.
For attractions - Pirates Cove Miniature Cove, Mulligans Golf, Old Town which has rides sort of like the ones at fairs along with a bungee type ride. We went to all of these. Old Town also has restaurants and souvenier type stores. It gets pretty busy on the weekends with the car shows.
Restaurants - the hotel leaves menus in your room for pizza places which will deliver. We did this a couple nights when we got back and didn't feel like going to a restaurant. When you call them they'll ask for your hotel name and room number and then they will deliver it right to your room so you don't have to wait in the lobby.
Walking distance restaurants: Red Lobster, Ponderosa, Pacinos Italian Restaurant, Chinese Buffet place, Barbeque restaurant (forgot the name), Pizza Hut, Checkers which sells burgers. There are others too but I can not think of the names and I can't find the map I had.
There are also a couple small markets you can easily walk to so you can keep drinks and snacks in your room.
 
I stayed at the Comfort Suites Maingate East last August. I used the shuttles every day to get to the parks and it was excellent for us. I don't know if they changed shuttle bus companies, you could possibly ask if they have changed bus companies since last August, but our bus was brand new with plush seats, very clean and always on time. (When they say departing at 8:15 they really do) We got left one morning. Be outside the hotel at least 10 or 15 min. prior to departure. We were always the first group picked up. People who got on at the other hotels sometimes had to stand.

We opted for a taxi one day while at Magic Kingdom it was really too hot and everyone wanted to go back to the hotels pool. Pickup wasn't until 5 in the evening, so we took a taxi around 2pm back to the hotel.

We just returned from vacationing at the Westgate Villas, August 23-30, 2002 and had to pay Mears 10 dollars per person, roundtrip to Disney and 12 dollars per person, roundtrip to Universal. There was 4 of us, so this was really costly.

I always look for a resort with free shuttle buses and this was our first time staying on a property with no shuttle service it was very costly, but I don't like to drive while I'm on vacation, so I forked over the cash.

My experience was positive with the shuttles at the Comfort Suites Resort, the hotel is very, very nice.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:
 














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