Fairfield Inn, Apopka/Vineland Rd - Just Returned

[TwoAtDisney]

We usually stay at this hotel when we don't stay at Disney. Used to be Country Inn & Suites. We always have a rental car, even when staying at Disney. Here's some info, in case anyone is interested.

We love, love the location. We can avoid all of the DTD & all other traffic by going thru Disney's backdoor industrial area. Such a major plus for us.

Renovated couple years ago. Clean; beds comfortable; furniture looked new.

Staff very friendly & helpful.

Hotel is next to Giordano's & Steak & Shake & some others - walk to all. Across street are CVS, Joe's Crab Shack, Shoneys. End of block = Olive Garden & Orlando Ale House. Across street from Ale House are more eating places, including Subway. Can walk to all. We could walk to Crossroads; some may find it too far.

Good complimentary buffet breakfast - the usual, eggs, sausage, make own waffles, oatmeal, etc.

We like our room to be on the 1st floor. To get it this time we had to take a suite - but was given to us at the same price as our reserved king bed guest room. We prefer the guest room because it is cheaper ($71 nite with AAA), & we think the suite is too dark in the "living" area (couch, chairs, desk, 2nd TV).

We always book AAA, even if it is a few dollars more. With AAA we can cancel up to 6pm day of arrival without penalty. So we don't buy travel insurance, since car can be cancelled, & cancelled air tics get a credit to use withing 1 year. If we stay at Disney, we still don't buy travel insurance since Disney only charges $200 cancel fee - about same as insurance. And we don't need medical coverage while traveling.

The pool is small & nothing special. It is heated, but we don't use the pool, so don't know the temp.

Some have posted they don't like the parking issue - down the side of the hotel, & behind the pool. We usually return to our room at about 2pm (after lunch to get ready for dinner), & about 7:00 pm (after dinner), & we don't go back out. So we have always found a spot near the well lighted front area. So no problem for us. Parking is complimentary.

Wireless internet is complimentary.

The main reason we keep going back to this hotel is the location. We love avoiding all of the traffic in order to go to Disney & DTD.

 

[srobinet]

Did you by chance eat the Orlando Ale House? We have never tried it. It sounds like they have a good variety and are reasonably priced. Thanks for posting the review. I sent you a PM with a few questions.

 

[laceyinwonderland]

Good review! I've been stalking this board, getting some info on offsite stays. How long did it take you to get to most of the parks?

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Did you by chance eat the Orlando Ale House? We have never tried it. It sounds like they have a good variety and are reasonably priced. Thanks for posting the review. I sent you a PM with a few questions.

We ate at the Ale House (on the 192) three times when we visited in November, our favourite by far this visit

 

[DVCJones]

We stay here every year for one night before checking into our Disney hotel. We usually come inTo Orlando late (11pm or later) and do t want to waste our DVC points for that night. I agree with everything you said. This place is great!! We usually get the bunk bed suite.

 

[kathy884]

Did you by chance eat the Orlando Ale House? We have never tried it. It sounds like they have a good variety and are reasonably priced. Thanks for posting the review. I sent you a PM with a few questions.

My old boss has a sister who live in Orlando and goes down pretty often. The Orlando Ale houses are a favorite place to go eat for him in the area. We tried one out based on his recommendation and liked it, not a must do or anything for us, but good and we'd go again. As other posters commented their menu has lots of variety and food is reasonably priced like you are thinking. // These seem to be pretty popular with locals, not just tourists which I think is always a good sign.

 

[braddillman]

I've tried the Ale House(s) on 192, i-drive and the Florida Mall. Consistent quality for all those, which was OK, no complaints. Good variety of pub food, and great prices. Great value, IMHO. But of course don't expect linen tablecloths and poached salmon with balsamic reduction ;-)

Also recommend the Panera Bread (I'm a fan) and the Carrabba's too, both walking distance from that hotel on Vineland.

 

[srobinet]

Thanks for giving me your opinion.

 

[TwoAtDisney]

Sorry so late to reply. I've been down with my usual return home "travel cold" , & plus, I forgot about this post!!!

Had a private message, so I'll answer in 2 posts. This one is the "back way" from Fairfield to Disney. The next post is a little more about the hotel & nearby restaurants.

BTW, never need to go on I4, the ultimate parking lot!

According to googlemaps,
1. If you go the "back way", it's 3.4mi/6 minutes from the hotel to Golden Oak entrance.
2. If you stay on 535 (don't go back way), from the hotel to DTD Marketplace, it's 1.2 mi/3 min. The traffic is not really that bad getting to Hotel Plaza Blvd & Crossroads, but I'm very impatient about sitting in traffic. So I will always go a further distance to avoid traffic - just me!

Returning to the hotel from Disney, I rarely go World Drive (leaving Disney) to 535 (& then going under the I4 bridge past Golden Corral) - to me, traffic is too heavy - reminds me of a slow moving parking lot, especially on the weekends! Just don't ever get in the far right lane (near sidewalk). That lane creeps because of letting all the cars out of the parking lots for the various shops, etc. Note - Going from hotel to World Drive in the mornings is usually not bad & an easier way to get into MK. For the other 3 parks, I prefer using Buena Vista Drive (goes by DTD, then Old Key West, then Caribbean Beach, etc.).

The back way from the hotel to Disney - may want to look at this on a map system to see the following streets. This route goes thru Disney's warehouse area. Sounds indepth, but it's easy to follow & there is NO traffic - like country roads!
1. From hotel, stay in parking lot & go past Steak & Shake. Will lead to the parking lot exit that has a stoplite. Turn Left onto 535 from that hotel parking lot stoplite.

2. On 535, will immediately come to stoplite at 535 & Winter Garden Vineland Rd/Palm Parkway. Turn Right at that lite.

3. Take Winter Garden to Buena Vista Drive (has stoplite). Turn Left onto BVD. Note - BVD is past Grand Cypress & I think there is a Firehouse Station on the Left (go past that). If you miss BVD, turn Left at the next road - Vista Drive (no stoplite; goes to same place but passes thru Disney's heavy trucks area; watch for speed bumps).

4. Buena Vista Drive to Live Oak Lane = 1st road - turn Right onto LOL. No stop sign, no stop light, but easy to see. Note - If you missed BVD & took Vista Drive (as mentioned above), just go straight on Vista. Note - If stay on Buena Vista Drive & don't turn onto Live Oak Lane, will end up at DTD Marketplace.

5. On Live Oak Lane (watch for 2 speed bumps) will soon come to 4 way stop. Turn Left onto Vista Drive.

6. Stay on Vista Drive & will soon come to Golden Oak (Bonnet Creek Parkway) & to POR back entrance. From there can go straight to Ft. Wilderness Campground, Poly, Shades of Green, Wilderness Lodge, Contempory. Or turn Left onto Bonnet Creek & go to Epcot Center Drive (1st Right), POFQ, Studios, Animal Kingdom, other Resorts, etc.

 

[TwoAtDisney]

Other hotel info & nearby restaurants -

Hotel - http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mcofv-fairfield-inn-and-suites-orlando-lake-buena-vista/

Can't really rate the mattresses, because if we sleep good & the mattresses don't bother us, we don't pay any attention.

Two free use computers in the lobby with printer for printing boarding passes. Airline site didn't work for us; went to front desk; printed our boarding passes for us - very friendly & helpful staff.

I did not see anything on the hotel's website about a Disney shuttle; so don't know. But I've heard that the hotel shuttles are frustrating to use, so be careful & ask lots of questions.

Restaurants - Of the ones listed below, we've eated only at
1. Steak & Shake - hadn't been to one in decades; was real yummy; may have to wait to get seated; 2-4pm shakes 1/2 price; many $4 meals with burger/chicken & fries;
2. Miller Ale House on IDrive - We like it very much. Special one day is a meatloaf dinner (which DH loves; $4.99 or $5.99) & the meatloaf was longer than the plate was round! Was good too. We've also eaten their lobster special (1 day @ week) & it was good. Actually, we've never gotten a bad meal there & the prices are so cheap!
3. Olive Garden - decades ago, but it was really good, better than the one at our home location.
4. Golden Corral - seemed upscale from our home location; lots of food; typical buffet, but we would go back.
5. Lone Star - decades ago; was good.
6. Red Lobster - few years ago; was better than the one at home, but RL at home & we heard everywhere else, has cut down on their portions.
7. Fridays - years ago; was typical; we liked it.
8. Chevys - years ago; I didn't like their salsa; wouldn't go back; have heard the quality is not so good any more.
9. Joes Crab Shack - at home only & love the M-F Lunch all can eat clam chowder & salad; don't know if this location offers that.
10. Pizza Hut - typical; we liked it.

Restaurants listed on hotel site with distance - http://www.marriott.com/hotels/restaurants/mcofv-fairfield-inn-and-suites-orlando-lake-buena-vista/

In the same parking lot area (easy walk right outside the hotel door) - Sizzler, Steak & Shake, Giordanos, a chinese buffet that looked scary, & an expensive Mexican spot (looked private owned, not a chain).

Across the street (easy walk, but across a 5-6 lane very busy road; there is a stop lite) - Walgreens, Joe's Crab Shack, Chili's, Shoney's, & on the corner is Orlando Ale House. Google shows Dunkin Donuts & Macaroni Grill, but I don't remember those.

Across from Orlando Ale House (I could walk it & I'm 72yo) is a strip mall with Subway, mini market, Qdoba, Ihop.

Across the street from the above, is Olive Garden (easy walk), Black Angus Steakhouse, & I think there's a Burger King. Note - before crossing Palm Parkway to get to the above places, there is a Pizza Hut (easy walk).

Then a little further of course, is Crossroads with lots of restaurants. Many people walk to Crossroads; I probably wouldn't, especially since there is so much other walking at Disney! Goodings Grocery, Chevys, McD, TGIFridays, Red Lobster, Taco Bell, several pizza places, & I think there is a Sweet Tomatoes there, & many others that I missed, I'm sure.

Short drive (just under I4 bridge) to Golden Corral, Bahama Breeze, Wendys, Lone Star, I think a Chick-Fil-A, & others.

Back at hotel parking lot - If turn Right, 535 will lead thru the Dr. Phillips area to Sand Lake Road - 4 miles. Turn Right onto SLR & there are too many places to count, plus lots of shopping. Continue on SLR & will come to IDrive - we go that way if we want IDrive.

Hope this helps someone. Any more questions, let me know. Enjoy!

P.S. To the person who private messaged me, I did reply to you. But I've only used that method a couple of times, so I don't know if it worked.

 

[kiki02]

Where do you book and what was your rate? thanks

We usually stay at this hotel when we don't stay at Disney. Used to be Country Inn & Suites. We always have a rental car, even when staying at Disney. Here's some info, in case anyone is interested.

We love, love the location. We can avoid all of the DTD & all other traffic by going thru Disney's backdoor industrial area. Such a major plus for us.

Renovated couple years ago. Clean; beds comfortable; furniture looked new.

Staff very friendly & helpful.

Hotel is next to Giordano's & Steak & Shake & some others - walk to all. Across street are CVS, Joe's Crab Shack, Shoneys. End of block = Olive Garden & Orlando Ale House. Across street from Ale House are more eating places, including Subway. Can walk to all. We could walk to Crossroads; some may find it too far.

Good complimentary buffet breakfast - the usual, eggs, sausage, make own waffles, oatmeal, etc.

We like our room to be on the 1st floor. To get it this time we had to take a suite - but was given to us at the same price as our reserved king bed guest room. We prefer the guest room because it is cheaper ($71 nite with AAA), & we think the suite is too dark in the "living" area (couch, chairs, desk, 2nd TV).

We always book AAA, even if it is a few dollars more. With AAA we can cancel up to 6pm day of arrival without penalty. So we don't buy travel insurance, since car can be cancelled, & cancelled air tics get a credit to use withing 1 year. If we stay at Disney, we still don't buy travel insurance since Disney only charges $200 cancel fee - about same as insurance. And we don't need medical coverage while traveling.

The pool is small & nothing special. It is heated, but we don't use the pool, so don't know the temp.

Some have posted they don't like the parking issue - down the side of the hotel, & behind the pool. We usually return to our room at about 2pm (after lunch to get ready for dinner), & about 7:00 pm (after dinner), & we don't go back out. So we have always found a spot near the well lighted front area. So no problem for us. Parking is complimentary.

Wireless internet is complimentary.

The main reason we keep going back to this hotel is the location. We love avoiding all of the traffic in order to go to Disney & DTD.

 

[srobinet]

Two At Disney, thank you so much. This is great information and I appreciate it very much. Since I have the information I was looking for I can plan meals and try to pay some ahead. I did receive the PM. How do you get to Disney from the Industrial Park way? Is it pretty straight forward?

 

[panda5000]

We stayed here on our vacation in August. We loved the hotel and the location, and will probably stay here again the next time we visit Orlando.

 

[TwoAtDisney]

kiki, we book on the marriott.com site. Put Lake Buena Vista as our location. Select the one on Apopka Vineland Road. We select the AAA rate so we can cancel w/o penalty. But sometimes the regular rate is cheaper than AAA.

12/1 - 12/7/13 = $71 plus tax - 2 adults - booked a Guest Room King, but they gave us a suite King. We like the Guest Room because it has more light & we don't need or use the extra couch area, which is very dark.

2/9-14/14 = I think it was $84? Checked this am, but decided to stay at POFQ.

Srobinet, it's in my directions post, so not sure what you need - maybe it's confusing. If you don't find it in there, let me know.

 

[DOOM1001]

I stayed there when it was Country Inn and Suites,I have also stayed at the other Country Inn and Suites in the tourist area and thought this one looked a bit older and just not as nice,not run down or anything just older.The weird location basically in the shopping center's parking lot also was a detraction.Not saying it was all bad as it's in a great location with plenty of places to eat,Giordanos next door has great pizza.Did the hotel get a refurbishment when it switched to Fairfield?Nearby this hotel and even closer and walking distance to DTD is another hotel that I've stayed at several times called the Orlando Vista hotel(the hotel with the pineapple), I just drove by it a couple days ago and noticed it was closed and was being converted into a higher end brand,I forgot which one now.For this hotel I think that's a good change as the Vista hotel was pretty old in certain areas,I always wanted to stay in the pineapple hotel and when I did I was a bit dissapointed.

 

[TwoAtDisney]

Yes, the hotel was completely refurbished. The lobby & part of the dining area have been totally reconfigured. Everything looks new.

I also thought the Country Inn & Suites was worn & tacky - guess because they knew it would sold, so why spend money on it.