Just back from HIFS - March 27 - April 1

[goofiesgirlies]

Third time in three years and we loved it once again! The only construction noticeable was an area that will be the new check-in site. Totally separate from the hotel and did not affect us in the least.

Our two previous trips were at the beginning of March so this was a new experience for us during spring break. (DD is now in kindergarten.) The only downfall was not being able to check-in until 4:00 p.m. previously we were always able to check-in at noon when our flight arrived.

The breakfast buffet was crowded between 8:30 & 9:30 but if you went earlier or later it was just fine.

We had an 'obstructed' view of the pool so we did not have to pay the extra $20 per night. Obstructed meant we were above the mini golf course and the railing was a closed railing. No big deal! In fact I'm sure it acted as a nice sound barrier and worked out great.

We had a Disney themed room which we took pictures of since it will be changed to Nickolodean theme's next year.

We had a wonderful time and again I would highly recommend this hotel. I'm not sure how we could stay at a regular hotel room after having the space of a suite.

Any questions? Let me know!

--Jn

 

[sweet tooth]

Hi -

I can't wait for our first trip to HIFS in July. I was wondering about check-in. Since you weren't able to check in until 4 p.m., were you able to drop off your luggage and come back later to formally check in - like a disney resort?? Did you eat any dinners at the Club Car and, if so, any comments on the food??

Glad you enjoyed your stay!!

 

[dpratt68]

bounce: We are on the 12 day countdown to our trip to HIFS/WDW. I have only read good things. Are the arcades really free? How is the nightly kids entertainment? the food? Sorry for the million questions but I just want everything to be perfect. Was there one thing that when you got there you wished you had packed? Appreciate any info

 

[curlyjbs]

dpratt: I am pretty sure the arcade games are not free (they weren't whenever we stayed) BUT I do know that HIFS gives lots of tokens away as "prizes" and there are also some tokens in the kids check in bags.

HTH

curly

 

[cheermom]

Is there a Dance Revolution game in the arcade room? It is a large game where you dance on the mat. My kids saw it on the HIFS site awhile ago, and now the picture is gone. We are going in May and hoep the renovations don't interfere too much!

 

[tink2dw]

Can you post a picture of the Disney Theme??

I forgot to take a photo when we were there. And now with it all changing[BOO-HOO] I would love to see a pic of it, as I know we won't be back before its all changes.

 

[livsea2]

Hoe's the food in the restaurant?
Thanks in advance.

 

[MrsMud]

Was there one thing that when you got there you wished you had packed?

Sugar. They do give you coffee (one decaf and one regular) each morning, but only two sugar packets and two Sweet N Lows. If you are "need at least one cup of coffee before I go to breakfast" people like we are, you'll want to bring sugar.
And

Hoe's the food in the restaurant?

Not very good. Breakfast is fine but I would try to plan dinners elsewhere. Our first stay there we ate at the restaurant three times for dinner and it was pretty bad. Our last trip we only ate there once because I had gotten the 50 % off GC from restaurants.com. Once was more than enough!
Otherwise HIFS is great, you'll love it!

 

[goofiesgirlies]

Hi all!

Wow - busy all day and didn't think to look till now. Let's see most of the questions are answered but I'll try to add my two cents.

The arcade is not free. I know that you need tokens but I can't answer specifically what machines are there because we just ended up walking by.

Food at breakfast is what you expect for a 'free buffet.' If you are looking for anything above that then expect to eat offsite. Since we aren't big breakfast eaters it was more than adequate. What can possibly go wrong with cereal, toast, donut, bagel? One thing not included at breakfast is 'soda' or pop as we call it. Last year it was available at breakfast. My DH is a big pop drinker so he was a little bit upset when he found this out.

Time is money to us. At least we didn't waste time at a Denny's waiting for our food, waiter, check, etc. It got us up and running and out to MK or wherever when the parks open. (Key during spring break!)

We ate dinner at the Club Car one night. It was a seafood buffet night (Tues.) so we opted to order off the menu. I had a chicken breast and hubby had pot roast. It was ok. The options on the menu were very limited and the food had the "canned" hotel taste to it. It wouldn't be my first pick. Definitely expect to eat offsite for dinner.

Entertainment looked really cool but we were too busy or too tired to do too much. We saw the face painter several times. She had a long line but did some fantastic art work! The magician was there one evening when I walked by and the room looked packed with families and they were all laughing so he must have been pretty good. DD and I took the little train ride. Nothing too exciting but the kids thought it was fun. (Parents are welcome to go along for the ride.)

As far as the pool - crowded but kids don't care and the parents just try to work around it as best they can. The water is wonderful - not too hot or cool. Felt terrific. DH & DD went swimming two evenings and we also went at least once during the day. The pool was closed one afternoon for cleaning but reopened around 3:00 p.m. Wasn't too bad since we just got back from Downtown Disney around 1:30 or so. But I know I would have been disappointed if that had been designated our 'pool' day. Yes, there are pool hogs with the chairs, but we always seemed to find a chair or two when we went to the pool. I'm sure this happens at most of the hotel pools during spring break.

I don't have my pictures developed yet, but if I get a good one I'll try to post the Disney theme so you can see it.

Just read the other post regarding HIFS - I'll just say that we have two totally different viewpoints. I loved the activity and the kids and so did my DD. It was crowded, but I can't think of a hotel that isn't during spring break. Just shows that every one has different likes/dislikes.

I hope you enjoy your time at HIFS! Any more questions I'll be happy to answer what I can.

--Jn

 

[dpratt68]

thanks for the great info. We're almost into single digits-11 more days!