JW Marriott Orlando Question

[Emteach]

We will be staying at the JW Marriott in Orlando in July for a dance competition and just wondering some information about it. The rooms, are there shuttle services and if so what are the costs? Any other insight you have would be great! Thanks!

 

[papertraveller]

The JW is one of our favourite hotels anywhere.

The rooms are pretty basic -- it is a huge hotel, and you can end up a long way from the elevators. They are nicely appointed, with especially large bathrooms. The fridge is an extra cost.

Parking will run you about $20 a day. There is no shuttle. The drive to Disney is about 20 minutes.

The pool area is gorgeous, with a lazy river running through about four separate pool areas. The pool restaurant is very nice, too.

There is a Starbucks on the lobby level, and the main restaurant is one floor below. The breakfast buffet will run you about $22.

 

[Emteach]

Thanks for the information. That is all great to know, it looks pretty gorgeous!

No shuttle then... hmm. When we called they mentioned there is one run by Mears but maybe that is just to SeaWorld and Universal.

Good to know about the fridge as well as we are staying a week and will need to bring some food!

 

[Danibelle]

I checked the website and it looks like the Mears shuttle was for airport transportation. I was surprised that one poster said it was pretty basic. It looks upscale to me. I have not stayed there but have stayed at other JW's and they are way more than basic. I would stay there in a heartbeat! The downside to this hotel would be the high food prices. I might look for cheaper alternatives rather than paying 20/24 for breakfast.

 

[Emteach]

I checked the website and it looks like the Mears shuttle was for airport transportation. I was surprised that one poster said it was pretty basic. It looks upscale to me. I have not stayed there but have stayed at other JW's and they are way more than basic. I would stay there in a heartbeat! The downside to this hotel would be the high food prices. I might look for cheaper alternatives rather than paying 20/24 for breakfast.

Oh hmm... will have to inquire about that again. It does look pretty lovely! Agree will definately not be eating there everyday.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Are you by chance attending Candance?

 

[Emteach]

Are you by chance attending Candance?

Why yes we are! We are looking forward... I see you are also from Ontario, are you attending also?

 

[dancin Disney style]

Not attending this year and hopefully never again. We went this past July and in general the experience with Candance, even at the regional, was not very good. I've got 19yrs dance experience so I'm far from a newbie. Considering the background of the owners I expected a whole lot more.

A few things to be prepared for.....
they will make last minute changes that can greatly affect your team(regional and national)
there will be mandatory workshop fees
the schedule at nationals is very spread out(it was the same the previous year)
if you don't buy your banquet tickets when you pay your entry fees you most likely won't be able to get any...EVEN if your kids get into the finals.
the Candance staff are not friendly or helpful.


We had a fairly serious incident at nationals that required my DD being seen by a medic. She caught the heel of her shoe on the temporary stairs that were installed and she fell down 4 steps. The Candance staff weren't overly concerned....they said 'well her legs not broken she can still dance'. We had to seek assistance from the hotel staff who called for their onsite medic.....that guy BTW, was fabulous. He spent about 20 minutes with us and insisted that I email him later with an update.

My DD had 3 numbers in the top ten final and more than half of us could not attend the awards presentation. Candance kept telling people at the start of the week that there would be tickets made available following the the announcements for the dance off. When that time came there were no tickets for parents OR dancers. We ended up cutting wrist bands in half to be able to sneek in the dancers. BTW....the banquet went on for nearly 4hrs. Thank god for cabs...those of us that had to sit out in the hall had a party of our own and by the time it ended we were a little tipsy

Overall, the whole experience at regionals and nationals left a bad taste for the majority in the group and it was a big group approx 90 families.