Holiday Inn Maingate West for uninitiated, first time WDW visitors.

[daannzzz]

I have a co-worker who, with her husband, is going to WDW for the first time. While I have been giving them loads of info they have decided to stay off site. They decided to book a packaged and are staying at teh Holiday Inn Maingate West. I researched it a bit and it seems to be an okay place, though with some odor issues. The location looks really good. I have stayed at the radisson Worldgate which is nearby.
Does anyone have any more info or opinions on this place?
Thanks.

 

[MiaSRN62]

We stayed here in 1999. We found that the hotel had recently undergone something of a rehab. The room seemed freshly painted. Carpet, bedspreads, toilet and tub seemed brand new. The room was clean and odor-free. We did have a non-smoking room. We were on the 6th floor overlooking the small courtyard and pool area. The lobby was clean and had an open-area restaurant. Kids 12 and under eat free with paying adult. The pool area was small, often crowded, but pretty clean. The area on 192 where this HI is located was a bit congested, but it rarely took us longer than 15 minutes to get to WDW. It's definitely a no-frills kind of resort.
Do your co-workers have children ? Are they getting an exceptional deal here ? Since this is their first trip to WDW I'd encourage them to go with a Disney value resort instead so they could partake of all the Disney perks (transportation, EMH, package delivery, charging privleges). I just think they'll have a better experience onsite being they are newbies. I honestly can't say anything bad about the HI Maingate West, but it was nothing too special either. The ONLY reason we stayed here is that my local grocery store was offering vouchers of 3 nights for $99 + tax. This gave us a good reason to have a last minute, unplanned get-a-way to WDW---but we've been to WDW MANY times.

 

[daannzzz]

No. They do not have children. They got a decent deal on their package. I sent links of all the Disney resorts and made a DVD of al my home video of all the Disney resorts and gave that to them but sometimes it doesn't all fall into place until you are actually in Orlando and experience everything. It sounds like this will be fine. They are next to the back road into WDW property which I will show them on a map as they will have a car. Thanks for the reveiw.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Daannzzz,
Sounds like you did your best to convince them to stay on property. I totally agree with you about the fact that sometimes the realization of the area and the experience doesn't click in until that first actual experience. Dh and I spent our honeymoon in WDW ---offsite. Ohhh, if I only knew then what I do now !
Hope your coworkers have a great trip. I'm sure you've been a great resource person for them

 

[15MinutesFromWDW]

Since they're already staying off-property, and aren't going with kids, they might be happier with Uni/I-Drive near the convention center. They'll be closer to more adult-oriented things to do, restaurants, malls, etc., but still not too far from Disney. (I think first-timers might have a less-than-favorable impression of the "maingate" area, which is as well-kept as some of the newer spots.)

 

[MiaSRN62]

they might be happier with Uni/I-Drive near the convention center. They'll be closer to more adult-oriented things to do, restaurants, malls, etc.,

Yes, you're right if they do indeed plan to go offsite to Uni/Sea World etc. The OP didn't mention anything specifically about their plans. But you can partake of all that anyway (off-site restaurants too) if you have a car. Having stayed at HI Maingate West, I felt the ambience and themeing of the WDW resorts and grounds would better enhance their vacation experience. I just felt that the HI Maingate West area was a little "touristy" & congested with shops selling t-shirts for $5 and other cheap souveniers nearby.....if ya know what I mean.
All in all, a vacation is what you make of it. So I'm hoping they will see past all this and enjoy their time in the Disney area.

 

[daannzzz]

Thanks everyone. I don't think they were planing on going to other locations....until I started mentioning what else was there. They didn't know about Sea Wordl or Universal! In any case it sounds like they may visit one non WDW park. I am sure the Holiday Inn will be fine. They sound like theme park commando's who might be in the parks from sun up until closing. Now I need to get all the early entry day info for them. They are already past their 90 PS day and I have been showing them some stuff about restaurants! This can be tough when people don't quite understand but I told them it will all make sense afterward!

 

[MiaSRN62]

They didn't know about Sea Wordl or Universal! In any case it sounds like they may visit one non WDW park. I am sure the Holiday Inn will be fine.

Wow ! Thank goodness they had you ! Sounded like they were going down there on a last minute whim !
I agree they will be fine with the HI, but I bet when they come back and if they have any plans of ever returning they will look into staying on property or maybe offsite but in a nice timeshare or suite hotel with a real nice pool etc. I think the more we go to WDW, the more we appreciate good resort accomodations. After so many trips to WDW under our belt I don't think we could ever settle for HI again, but it's not to diss the hotel, because it's a fine place to stay especially if you're only using it for sleeping. Take care