Okay folks, not sure if this is where I'm supposed to post this...but here goes.
CAST:
me - 32 (had my b-day at DL!)
DH - 31
DS - 12
DS - 11
DD - 11
DD - 10
Trip dates: 1/14/10 - 1/18/10
We've stayed at DI&S many times and continue to go back. Keep in mind, this is not a luxury hotel by any means. It is a budget inn.
We arrived after 1am on 1/14 after 8 hours of driving (Ugh!) I jumped out of the truck near the entrance and was immediately greeted with the door held open for me. Check-in was a no brainer. Very quick. Employee was very nice. I filled out the parking form with our lisence plate number and signature. I was given a parking pass for our FREE parking and a map of the facility with our room number circled. Off to the room...
We were on the 3rd floor in a C2 suite (the largest they have). The room sleeps up to 10 people. When we entered the room we immediately noticed the 'clean' smell. We soon realized that our carpets had been cleaned not long before. Awesome and they weren't even wet!
Personally, I feel these suites are huge compared to other hotel rooms. You enter into the living space (which is small). It has a full size sofa bed, coffee table and tv w/ stand. Our DS12 slept here and used the coffee table to store his suitcase. It's nice because both doors off this living space close for privacy. If you continue forward, you enter the first bedroom. This room has 2 queen beds, tv w/stand (dresser) and bathroom. It also has a desk, an area behind the door for a suitcase and hanging clothes and a coffee maker by the sink. Our DS11 used one bed and our DD's shared the other. If you go to the left from the living space, you enter the second bedroom. This room is HUGE as it is the length of the living space and 1st bedroom put together. They easily could have put another sofa in this space. It has 2 queen beds, table and chairs, armoire with extra pillow, blanket and room to hang clothes, tv w/stand (dresser), desk, microwave, good size fridge and bathroom. There was also a hair dryer next to the sink (however, we didn't use it because we had our own.) DH and I had this room to ourselves. We used the second bed for our suitcases even though there was plenty of room for them elsewhere.
Our room was very clean. It's not fancy and some of the furnishings are older, but it is well cared for. Maid service did a great job each day cleaning and restocking the necessities. We were given plenty of towels and washclothes (which is key with a family of 6!) and stocked with more shampoo and soap even though we hadn't used all of what we were origianlly given.
We had no complaint about the beds like some others have. Granted, they are not luxurious...but they did the job. They are lower to the ground than what we have at home, but personally I like it. We all slept very well. To be honest, after 10+ hours in the park, I could fall asleep just about anywhere.
The showers were great. Plenty of hot water and good water pressure.
There is free WiFi, but we have our own and didn't need it.
We had one issue with noise on this trip. In the past we've never had a noise issue. I feel this was an exception though and had nothing to do with the hotel itself. On our first night, we fell into bed around 2am after getting settled in the room. Within minutes, the party started above us. We're not talking your average noisy feet that you sometimes hear in a hotel. We're talking screaming, laughing, pounding on walls, yelling out the windows and jumping off the beds. It was like nothing I've ever experienced before!! I called the front desk, they sent someone up right away and thankfully the chaos ended. The rest of the stay was quiet.
We took advantage of the free breakfast each day. They had bread for toasting (w/ butter and jam), pastries, fresh fruit and two kinds of cereal. To drink we had the option of orange juice another fruit juice who's name currently escapes me, milk and coffee. The breakfast room is small, but clean. There are a few booths inside to sit at or there is also outdoor seating. We usually took the food to our room and ate while we finished getting ready. Breakfast started at 7:30am. The food was more than enough for us. We don't like to do a large breakfast before the park anyway. Who wants to be weighed down before hitting space mountain?! Yikes!
We pack snacks and then enjoy a good lunch later in the day.
Overall, I'd rate this hotel a 9.
I don't think any place deserves a 10 because there is always room for improvment. The only things I don't like about this place is the pool (which we never use anyway so it doesn't affect our stay) and the small breakfast room. Next door to the breakfast room is a gift shop (that I've never been in) that I think they should consider getting rid of in order to expand the breakfast space. I don't buy my souvenEARS at hotel gift shops anyway, I buy at the park. 
All and all, it depends on your priorities. If you are looking for luxury or a cool pool to hang out at, go somewhere else. This is a budget inn. For us, this choice is perfect. The price is right and it includes the space we need, parking, breakfast and a SUPER close location to the park.
If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
Allyson
CAST:
me - 32 (had my b-day at DL!)
DH - 31
DS - 12
DS - 11
DD - 11
DD - 10
Trip dates: 1/14/10 - 1/18/10
We've stayed at DI&S many times and continue to go back. Keep in mind, this is not a luxury hotel by any means. It is a budget inn.
We arrived after 1am on 1/14 after 8 hours of driving (Ugh!) I jumped out of the truck near the entrance and was immediately greeted with the door held open for me. Check-in was a no brainer. Very quick. Employee was very nice. I filled out the parking form with our lisence plate number and signature. I was given a parking pass for our FREE parking and a map of the facility with our room number circled. Off to the room...
We were on the 3rd floor in a C2 suite (the largest they have). The room sleeps up to 10 people. When we entered the room we immediately noticed the 'clean' smell. We soon realized that our carpets had been cleaned not long before. Awesome and they weren't even wet!
Personally, I feel these suites are huge compared to other hotel rooms. You enter into the living space (which is small). It has a full size sofa bed, coffee table and tv w/ stand. Our DS12 slept here and used the coffee table to store his suitcase. It's nice because both doors off this living space close for privacy. If you continue forward, you enter the first bedroom. This room has 2 queen beds, tv w/stand (dresser) and bathroom. It also has a desk, an area behind the door for a suitcase and hanging clothes and a coffee maker by the sink. Our DS11 used one bed and our DD's shared the other. If you go to the left from the living space, you enter the second bedroom. This room is HUGE as it is the length of the living space and 1st bedroom put together. They easily could have put another sofa in this space. It has 2 queen beds, table and chairs, armoire with extra pillow, blanket and room to hang clothes, tv w/stand (dresser), desk, microwave, good size fridge and bathroom. There was also a hair dryer next to the sink (however, we didn't use it because we had our own.) DH and I had this room to ourselves. We used the second bed for our suitcases even though there was plenty of room for them elsewhere.
Our room was very clean. It's not fancy and some of the furnishings are older, but it is well cared for. Maid service did a great job each day cleaning and restocking the necessities. We were given plenty of towels and washclothes (which is key with a family of 6!) and stocked with more shampoo and soap even though we hadn't used all of what we were origianlly given.
We had no complaint about the beds like some others have. Granted, they are not luxurious...but they did the job. They are lower to the ground than what we have at home, but personally I like it. We all slept very well. To be honest, after 10+ hours in the park, I could fall asleep just about anywhere.
The showers were great. Plenty of hot water and good water pressure.
There is free WiFi, but we have our own and didn't need it.
We had one issue with noise on this trip. In the past we've never had a noise issue. I feel this was an exception though and had nothing to do with the hotel itself. On our first night, we fell into bed around 2am after getting settled in the room. Within minutes, the party started above us. We're not talking your average noisy feet that you sometimes hear in a hotel. We're talking screaming, laughing, pounding on walls, yelling out the windows and jumping off the beds. It was like nothing I've ever experienced before!! I called the front desk, they sent someone up right away and thankfully the chaos ended. The rest of the stay was quiet.
We took advantage of the free breakfast each day. They had bread for toasting (w/ butter and jam), pastries, fresh fruit and two kinds of cereal. To drink we had the option of orange juice another fruit juice who's name currently escapes me, milk and coffee. The breakfast room is small, but clean. There are a few booths inside to sit at or there is also outdoor seating. We usually took the food to our room and ate while we finished getting ready. Breakfast started at 7:30am. The food was more than enough for us. We don't like to do a large breakfast before the park anyway. Who wants to be weighed down before hitting space mountain?! Yikes!
We pack snacks and then enjoy a good lunch later in the day.Overall, I'd rate this hotel a 9.
I don't think any place deserves a 10 because there is always room for improvment. The only things I don't like about this place is the pool (which we never use anyway so it doesn't affect our stay) and the small breakfast room. Next door to the breakfast room is a gift shop (that I've never been in) that I think they should consider getting rid of in order to expand the breakfast space. I don't buy my souvenEARS at hotel gift shops anyway, I buy at the park. All and all, it depends on your priorities. If you are looking for luxury or a cool pool to hang out at, go somewhere else. This is a budget inn. For us, this choice is perfect. The price is right and it includes the space we need, parking, breakfast and a SUPER close location to the park.
If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
Allyson
