need help with hotel plan... PLEASE

[lf214]

ok , I thought I had a plan, now I'm doubting myself and am SCARED and have no clue what to do now.

background - we're planning a 4 night trip down late august to do seaworld and universal. I'll have a 4year old and a 8 year old. When we do disney we stay onsite at the values. The goal is to keep costs down reasonable - my husband and I have a hard time when you can stay at disney value for around $80 a night so we want to stay in that ballpark cost. Looking for a hotel that would be good for the kids - more than the normal 1 pool standard plain old hotel pool. Of course they want the nick hotel, but the $$$ is outrageous (I think). so.....

I booked the radisson orlando celebration on a deal through mousesavers a few weeks back. Got a sleep number room for 75$ night. (of course you have to add on that fee of 10$ - even though we're getting a car after realizing the "shuttle's" to seaworld there are literally once a day).

Next problem - reviews. allears.net and mousesavers recommend this place but then you read other reviews and they are bad (tripadvisor,etc). Seems like the reviews are all over the place on this. So now I'm scared and am scrambling to see if there is somewhere else that would fit our bill for this trip.

HELP! anyone have any insight? Are there other hotels I should be "watching" for deals to try to get into for the same price range?
Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[2minnies]

If you don't mind spending a little more you can get a 2 bedroom condo at Cypress Pointe or CP Grande Villas for around $100/night. A 1 bedroom is even less. We book thru www.hotelkingdom.com.

I realize some posters have had problems with hotel kingdom, however we have used them many times and have never had an issue.

 

[Anc96]

ok , I thought I had a plan, now I'm doubting myself and am SCARED and have no clue what to do now.

background - we're planning a 4 night trip down late august to do seaworld and universal. I'll have a 4year old and a 8 year old. When we do disney we stay onsite at the values. The goal is to keep costs down reasonable - my husband and I have a hard time when you can stay at disney value for around $80 a night so we want to stay in that ballpark cost. Looking for a hotel that would be good for the kids - more than the normal 1 pool standard plain old hotel pool. Of course they want the nick hotel, but the $$$ is outrageous (I think). so.....

I booked the radisson orlando celebration on a deal through mousesavers a few weeks back. Got a sleep number room for 75$ night. (of course you have to add on that fee of 10$ - even though we're getting a car after realizing the "shuttle's" to seaworld there are literally once a day).

Next problem - reviews. allears.net and mousesavers recommend this place but then you read other reviews and they are bad (tripadvisor,etc). Seems like the reviews are all over the place on this. So now I'm scared and am scrambling to see if there is somewhere else that would fit our bill for this trip.

HELP! anyone have any insight? Are there other hotels I should be "watching" for deals to try to get into for the same price range?
Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Ok.. don't be scared. This is your vacation, be excited

I have stayed at the Radisson Resort Celebration, and it's not bad. The rooms are a good size (much bigger than the value resorts!), the pool area is very nice, and the prices, as you see, are reasonable.
The large pool with slide & waterfall is beautiful, but cold for me. My dd (she was 8 the first time we stayed there) LOVED the big pool and didn't mind the coldness at all. Neither did all the other kids splashing around..lol. The other large pool was more my liking. Not fancy, but large and warmer.

I'm not trying to convice you into this place.. but if it's what you have to stay with, I just wanted you to know it's not bad at all!

Bookit.com is having a special for the Hotel Royal Plaza on Disney property. It does run at the end of August, but there are blackout dates too.. put your dates in and see if it works for you.
The special is $99 a night PLUS every 4th night free PLUS an upgrade to a deluxe tower room. It comes out to be just $74.25 per night for 4 nights.
If you're interested, try this link: http://hotels.bookit.com/florida/orlando/hotelroyalplazahotelinwaltdisneyworld/

Good luck in whatever you decide.. but enjoy the planning! It's part of the fun!

 

[lf214]

what month did you stay there? with the younger child we'll have to be in the pool too, and I dont like "COLD!" will the non-heated pool be an issue in august?

 

[Anc96]

what month did you stay there? with the younger child we'll have to be in the pool too, and I dont like "COLD!" will the non-heated pool be an issue in august?

We were there last year in early July for 4 nights, and in 2005 in June.
I don't like cold either.. and I was unable to go in the big pool. I wanted to because the waterfall was really pretty... but, I like bath water. The other pool is big enough and heated.. but I would have liked it even warmer. I did swim in it fine though. They have several hot tub/spas .. they're a bit small, but VERY nice, and the water is great. They're around a side area that's beautifully landscaped.
The Radisson is not the best place we'd ever stayed, though last year we had a really nice stay (better than the year before but that was nice too). I also found everyone really friendly and helpful. I know people had have different experiences though. I hope if you go you find it nice too.

Also.. the Wyndham Orlando Resort (which is pretty close to Sea World and I believe has shuttles to there too), is only $105 late August through Travelocity. Maybe you could search around there.

Have you looked into Hotwire? I just got an incredible price on The Peabody, only $83 a night for 6 nights (that's for June though). I was 95% sure what hotel it was before I purchased it. I don't know if you ever used hotwire, but if not this site is very helpful http://www.betterbidding.com/ . I've been able to identify any hotel I've ever purchased, or at least narrow it down to 2.
You can probably get a really good deal in the area you want.

Good Luck!