Holiday Inn Family Suites

[minnieandmickey]

How far is this hotel from WDW and what are the rooms like? We are currently booked at Wilderness Lodge, but it is soooo expensive and my kids just want to stay there because of the bunks. Please give me any information.

 

[disneymom1]

You can checkout their web site at www.hifamily suites.com. There are photos of the rooms which give you a pretty good idea of what the rooms are like.

The parents room has a king bed. The kids room is pretty small (perhaps 10x7) and has a bunk bed as well as a cot sized bed that pulls out of the wall and works like a sofa bed (you can fold it back up to get it out of the way in the morning). The kids room also has its own TV and nintendo.

The living room is nice although the sofa is a bit hard. There is also a chair and small table with 2 chairs. The mini kitchen has a small refridgerator with a microwave and a wet bar. The bathroom is fairly large and modern. In total you get 3 small rooms and the bath. You can put the kids to bed and sit up if you want and you get 3 TV's!!

The rooms I have stayed in have always been clean.

There are evening activities for kids like bingo, the pools are nice and the morning buffet, while not gourmet, has a good variety of hot and cold items.

My only complaint is that the sheets do not seem to fit the bunkbeds very well. Otherwise I would consider it a very nice Holiday Inn.

 

[lejaf]

Yes, I agree with everything that disneymom1 said and just thought I'd add that it is about a 5 minute drive to Downtown Disney. My kids absolutley love it there and so after looking at a ton of other places, it looks like we are going back again this year. I got an entertainment rate of $99 and just can't pass that up. Besides the free breakfast buffet (which my fmaily loves...eggs bacon or sausage, french toast or pancakes, hashbrowns, cereal, muffins, toast fruit yogurt...pretty much anything you could be looking for at breakfast) the kids also eat free for other meals too. At night they also have a dinner buffet which my kids loved because they could pick and chose whatever they wanted. The other thing that is great for my family is the zero depth entry pool because I have a 2 year old so she can easily walk into the pool up to whatever depth she wants, (of course eshe is fearless so she is always diving head first into the water whatever depth she is in, but at least it makes it a little easier on me that i don't have to hold her in the pool. There is also a sand box near the parking lot which she had fun in while my other kids went in the jacuzzi with my husband. The place is totally geered towards kids, so they feel like it's just a giant play ground for them!

 

[grlzmom]

Had a question, maybe one of you HIFS veterans can help me

We are staying there for first time in April. Just me and three daughters ages 6, 8, 10. Havent gone to disney with hubbie before but this is a cheerleading thing and he will be staying home with out littler ones. Getting King Kidsuite. Any suggestions for room requests? Should I pay extra for poolside? Request first floor or anything like that?

Also, anyone use laundry there? How was it.

Thanks in advance

Jeanne

 

[disneymom1]

They usually charge extra for a pool view room and I have found them to be noisy. People are in the pools quite late at night and with the enclosed courtyard the noise can get quite loud. I prefer the parking lot view (you don't have a balcony to sit on anyway). It's much quieter. As long as you are not in building 12 or 13, all locations are just a short walk to the main building

I have heard some complain about the elevators being slow. They are about the same as most hotel elevators in my opinion. If it bothers you to wait a miunte for an elevator, request a room on a lower floor.

As far as the laundry is concerned, there a a couple of washers and dryers in each laundry room. (I believe there are 3 or 4 laundry rooms throughout the complex). They did an OK job the one time I had to use them.

 

[pstepka]

We were there two years ago...building #8, 3rd floor, that overlooked the pool and when our door was shut, we could not hear any pool noise.

We absolutely loved it. At the time, my kids were 1-1/2, 3-1/2, and 11. They LOVED being able to see the pool from our room. It was nice, also, when one of us took the kids down and the other stayed in the room because we could pop out and watch them.

The free breakfast buffet, in my opinion, is awsome. They have just about everything you could want, plus you can take a to-go container to your room, if you'd like.

 

[ZachnElli]

We stayed in July 2001 and had a pool room on the first level. It was VERY noisy with kids running back and forth. I did not request a pool view, just requested a Disney themed room. Otherwise it was a great hotel, my kids loved it!

 

[WDWKim]

We were there this past September, stayed on the 5th floor (poolview) and loved it. We also had a laundry room right at the end of the hall, so it was nice and close to us......I used that a couple of times. We didn't have any problem with the noise level at all, like someone else said, once the door was shut you couldn't hear a thing.

 

[mom22belles]

We just stayed there in Dec. and had problems with the laundry rooms. There are 3 the two that where closest to our room where either always busy or out of order. These two where closet to the family pool floors 5 and 6 i think. I had much better luck with the 1st floor laundry room it was close to the adult pool. It had more machines and was an actually room ( other to are alcoves) as well as a tv to kill the time. By the way the machines if I remember correctly where 1.25 to wash and 1.00 to dry. Soap wash about 1.00 and dry sheets where two for 1.00.

nancy13

 

[grayhawk]

Just wondered how you got that rate at the Holiday Inn suites. I've been quoted $139. We've been quoted $79 for the Holiday Inn Maingate East which also has suites but isn't as nice as the Family Suites from the look of things. We are 3 adults and 2 kids so we need a pull out sofa bed I think. I think the little extra bed in the kids room wouldn't work very well.

 

[minnieandmickey]

Grayhawk.
I just made my reservation this week for a kids suite and was quoted149.00 but was given a rate of 102.20, this is for an extended stay (we are staying 8 nights). Or try booking with Dream Res(the sponsers of this site) sometimes they can get a good rate for you too. Thanks everyone for your opinions.

 

[bat4less]

we're staying there for a week and got a buy one get one free stay

averages out to 80 ducks per night

 

[MELSMICE]

We stayed in HIFS in Nov. of 2001 & really enjoyed it. I am a die-hard Disney fan & I thought it was a great hotel for families. The price is reasonable & you can't beat the deal on the food.

It is probably one of the closest resorts you can get to Disney property. The pool was a lot of fun & a real plus for my family was that you could get Dippin' Dots right at the pool refreshment stand.

I still prefer staying on site, but this is a close 2nd.

 

[bat4less]

yes i agree, staying on site is much better

we're staying at the hifs for a week then going over onsite for 2 more- doing the pga merchandise show first

i forgot about the meal deals- very good deals- adequate food

 

[coachv]

How do I go about getting the entertainment rate? I stayed there in June '01 and my kids loved it and it was close to the parks. I got a rate of $89 then and stayed 6 nights. Would love to get that rate for this June.

 

[D&D's Mom]

Is there a closing door between the kids area & the adult area? Sometimes a little extra privacy is needed, ya know....Or is it just a curtain? Thanks for the info!

 

[mom22belles]

Just a curtain on kids room adult room had a door though.

 

[D&D's Mom]

Thanks for that quick reply ..... now, I am sorry to be a pest, but just to clarify.... Is the kids room accessible from the adult room, or do they both open to the living room area? It is hard to tell from the diagram on their website. Thanks again!

 

[vellamint]

Correct me if I am wrong someone but I believe they do NOT open into each other but into a common area. The door and curtain are near each other but the adults still can close an actual door for privacy....

 

[from Canada]

that is correct. not only does the adult room have a door, but you can lock it! the kids room does not connect to the adults room. both exits from the rooms come out to a little (very little) hallway type area that joins to the "family room/kitchen area".