We just returned from Orlando where we stayed at Contry Inn and Suites at the Calypso Cay resort .. After months of trying to figure out the best choice versus cost, I finally settled on this hotel and I am so glad that I did. We paid $64 for the first 2 nights and $54 for the following 5.
We stayed in a King suite. My two children slept in the sofa sleeper in the living room which was adequate for them. Now
we've stayed in "suites" before so let me just forewarn you, this not a true suite but rather two rooms with very short passage way between them. The passage way has a door to the left for the bathroom and a counter with fridge and microwave on the right. However, there is a separate door to the bedroom. As another person mentioned, you really can't have both doors opened simultaneously because of how the doors are situated.
Another person who stayed there also mentioned that drawer and closet space was limited. The bedroom does have a small chest of drawers as does the living room. There is a small opened closet space just passed the counter where the microwave and fridge are. Again its small, but adeqequate. Trust me, my wife takes tons of clothes for the kids and we had more than enough space.
The advantage to having two separate rooms with two TV's is obvious. The kids have there own space, small mind you .. but it's theirs. I don't like the feeling of being in one large room. I will always opt for a "suite" type room of I can manage. What I liked about this arrangement was it afforded us the space without a kitchen area which for us is a waste. Virtually every suite type accomodation I looked for in Orlando / Kissimee offered that.
All king suites face the pool and those rooms that do not are fine too. The hotel is set back off the main road so there is virtually no
road noise in any of the rooms. Someone mentioned something about an RV park. Well let me assure you that it is a fair distance away on Ponciana. When you're on the property all you can see are the hotels and the townhoues that are part of Calypso Cay.
The property is very colorful.. very pleasing.
There are three pools that are located in the center the three main buildings those being Country Inn, Amerisuites and RunawayBay Apts. The pools are no terribly large but again, very adequate. I can say that we used them in the morning, afternoon and in the evenings (opened till 11 PM). There was never a time where the pool was crowded. There is a "refreshment" bungalo near the pools but it wasn't opened yet while we were there
They serve continental breakfast every morning (6:30 - 9:30 WD and 7:30 - 10:30 WE). It's your typical breakfast including cereals, toast, bagels, french toast, waffles, donuts, danish ..etc .
Not the most healthy of choices, but it's filling and free. If you miss breakfast at CI&S, you can walk over to Amerisuites. Breakfast there is from 7:00 to 11:00 daily and it's the same choices. It's a very short walk between hotels.
Someone else also mentioned about the sales people at breakfast. Yes, we say them giving their talk every single day.
I'm not sure, but I think the Calypso Cay may give away passes to Sea World or something in order to endure a 90 min sales pitch. Let me say that at NO TIME were we ever approached.
To be honest I was tempted to find out more about the time share there, but were were booked solid for the week and really didn't have the luxury.
Now for the downside ..
I suppose the only bad thing I can say about the property is where it's located. it's off of 192 (Bronson Hghy), which is great if you want gocery stores, restaurants and gift shops.. but it's not International Drive which we discovered going back to the airport as we we heading home. Also, we spent most of out time at Unversal / IOA .. so it was a bit of a drive .. Not terribly far, but a bit. We only spent one day at Magic Kingdom. I have plenty to say about our visits to the parks, but I'll post that somewhere else. Let me just say here and now that I surely hope the other Disney parks offer something comparable to Universal and IOA. I thought Magic Kingdom was well ... rather disapointing. Visually, I liked Main St and the Castle, but other than that.. I though at almost $200 for 4 people for one day was ..well I felt ripped off.
But again, it was our choice to visit just the one park for 1 day as we had puschased a 5 day pass for Universal / IOA.
In closing, for anyone who chosses Country Inn and Suites, I think you'll really enjoy your stay there. You can not beat the price and even if it were more expensive, it would still be a great place to stay.
We stayed in a King suite. My two children slept in the sofa sleeper in the living room which was adequate for them. Now
we've stayed in "suites" before so let me just forewarn you, this not a true suite but rather two rooms with very short passage way between them. The passage way has a door to the left for the bathroom and a counter with fridge and microwave on the right. However, there is a separate door to the bedroom. As another person mentioned, you really can't have both doors opened simultaneously because of how the doors are situated.
Another person who stayed there also mentioned that drawer and closet space was limited. The bedroom does have a small chest of drawers as does the living room. There is a small opened closet space just passed the counter where the microwave and fridge are. Again its small, but adeqequate. Trust me, my wife takes tons of clothes for the kids and we had more than enough space.
The advantage to having two separate rooms with two TV's is obvious. The kids have there own space, small mind you .. but it's theirs. I don't like the feeling of being in one large room. I will always opt for a "suite" type room of I can manage. What I liked about this arrangement was it afforded us the space without a kitchen area which for us is a waste. Virtually every suite type accomodation I looked for in Orlando / Kissimee offered that.
All king suites face the pool and those rooms that do not are fine too. The hotel is set back off the main road so there is virtually no
road noise in any of the rooms. Someone mentioned something about an RV park. Well let me assure you that it is a fair distance away on Ponciana. When you're on the property all you can see are the hotels and the townhoues that are part of Calypso Cay.
The property is very colorful.. very pleasing.
There are three pools that are located in the center the three main buildings those being Country Inn, Amerisuites and RunawayBay Apts. The pools are no terribly large but again, very adequate. I can say that we used them in the morning, afternoon and in the evenings (opened till 11 PM). There was never a time where the pool was crowded. There is a "refreshment" bungalo near the pools but it wasn't opened yet while we were there
They serve continental breakfast every morning (6:30 - 9:30 WD and 7:30 - 10:30 WE). It's your typical breakfast including cereals, toast, bagels, french toast, waffles, donuts, danish ..etc .
Not the most healthy of choices, but it's filling and free. If you miss breakfast at CI&S, you can walk over to Amerisuites. Breakfast there is from 7:00 to 11:00 daily and it's the same choices. It's a very short walk between hotels.
Someone else also mentioned about the sales people at breakfast. Yes, we say them giving their talk every single day.
I'm not sure, but I think the Calypso Cay may give away passes to Sea World or something in order to endure a 90 min sales pitch. Let me say that at NO TIME were we ever approached.
To be honest I was tempted to find out more about the time share there, but were were booked solid for the week and really didn't have the luxury.
Now for the downside ..
I suppose the only bad thing I can say about the property is where it's located. it's off of 192 (Bronson Hghy), which is great if you want gocery stores, restaurants and gift shops.. but it's not International Drive which we discovered going back to the airport as we we heading home. Also, we spent most of out time at Unversal / IOA .. so it was a bit of a drive .. Not terribly far, but a bit. We only spent one day at Magic Kingdom. I have plenty to say about our visits to the parks, but I'll post that somewhere else. Let me just say here and now that I surely hope the other Disney parks offer something comparable to Universal and IOA. I thought Magic Kingdom was well ... rather disapointing. Visually, I liked Main St and the Castle, but other than that.. I though at almost $200 for 4 people for one day was ..well I felt ripped off.
But again, it was our choice to visit just the one park for 1 day as we had puschased a 5 day pass for Universal / IOA.
In closing, for anyone who chosses Country Inn and Suites, I think you'll really enjoy your stay there. You can not beat the price and even if it were more expensive, it would still be a great place to stay.
. Your point about the passes is an excellent one. One of the ways that we have been able to stomach the large costs involved with all parks, Disney is purchasing season passes, getting in as much as 20+ plus days in the parks on the passes. This drove down our daily park admission for the 3 of us, the little one does not yet require a pass, to around $40 a day total. Just remember that when you compare MK to IOA , you are comparing parks that are much different in age, their target audience, etc. A point that has been discussed on these boards is that Disney has been a little lax in maintaining their parks the way they seemed to do in the past. Hopefully, they will remedy this sooner rather than later.
