Hotel & Transportation

[Shakthi]

We just came back. We used Town Car Service to pick us up at the airport and it was perfect. I highly recommend them. We went straight to our hotel. Didn't ask for the courtesy stop.

The Holiday Inn Main Gate was OK. All in all, I'd say it's fine to get the early entrance without staying onsite. Nothing special, not that bad either. It's just OK. They have free WiFi and parking (for those who drive there). Everyone was nice, but they forgot to do our room the day before Christmas. We had to call them. They apologized saying they were short on staff that day. We requested at least clean towels, and they sent someone up.

We found the room food service provided by the Friday's next door to be unreliable. After inquiring about their delivery times on Xmas eve, we were informed orders could placed be until 9:00 pm. However, when we called later they said they wouldn't take orders at that time. Very frustrating.

The hotel shuttles don't run all day back and forth. The last one to the park leaves at 10:00 am. It only brings guests back later in the day. You need to get tickets previously. Otherwise, you either have to walk (which we found not so close or convenient), or take a cab ($5 regular cabs/$8 when the front desk calls it). If you want to go back to the hotel earlier, you either have to walk, or take a cab ($5). Not all cab drivers are happy to drive you across the street, though.

Since we had gotten the HP package through Universal to get early entry, we needed to go to City Walk beforehand to have our tickets printed. The tickets didn't say EARLY ENTRY, but there was a code in them that the IOA staff checked every time we entered the park early.

 

[macraven]

i hear you....

i stayed on Caravan Court many many years ago.....
only did that twice.
after walking back to the hotel in a downpour was not a fun way to end the evening for us.

i found it was more convenient for staying on site.
i factored in the cost of taxis, hotel fees besides room rate and compared the difference to staying onsite.
it wasn't much more, maybe $25-30, but it was a time saver.
my priority was convenience and time.



the shuttles at that time were the same as they are now timewise.
limited shuttles in the morning and evening.

sounds like you did have fun in the parks.
early entry is so good to have!
you ended up having a reasonable hotel room cost and early entry.

 

[damo]

Thanks for the review. We get a lot of inquiries about that hotel.