Off site resort - Nickhotel - help!

[Ivette1980]

I came back from a trip in Feb and stayed at the All Star Music, Im already itching to go back, but now wonder is there a big difference staying off site vs. on? First top choice would be the Nickelodeon Hotel.

Any input on hotel. How can I get from airport to hotel since I cant use DME and not renting car.

Please help ...thanx in advance

 

[Malibustyle23]

I have been to WDW 3 times. First trip was offsite, second was POP, third was ASM. I will never stay offsite again.
We always book a package and apply a code if applicable and dont compare any other prices.
I prefer the Disney transportation we dont have to rent a car or drive anywhere as we stay grounded to WDW.
Plus they pick up our luggage and deliver it magically to our room.
We can purchase anything charge it to our room pay all at once at checkout and send any packages bought at DTD or the parks back to out hotel for easy pick-up.
We also love that its always Disney themed never a break from Disneymania at the hotel.
Plus we get to have the EMH, no need to park at the parks, walk to the parked cars or pay for parking.
Im sure there are other good points I enjoy but those are the firsts that come to mind.

ANd unless your hotel offers airport pickup you would probably be stuck with a taxi ride to the hotel.

 

[lovetoscrap]

Moving this to the our Orlando Hotels Board.

 

[BubblesNH]

I think the best advantage to being on-site is the ability to come back to the room in the early afternoon, have a rest and hit the pool and then to return to the parks in late afternoon early evening. If you have small kids this is a must! If you are staying off-site its just too much of a hassle and you stay all day until everyone is dragging.

 

[leagirl12]

I wouldn't stay anywhere but on site.....it is just too dang convenient.

 

[lastminutemom]

In my opinion, a car is necessary at Nick Hotel. There is nothing in the general area to walk to and the hotel food options are overpriced and not particularly good. They do run a shuttle to the parks (but I am not sure it is free) and you have to go on their schedule.

I wouldn't say offsite without a car.

 

[toverly]

We just got back from the Nick Hotel and loved it. Thus said, I wouldn't stay there without a car. It is only about 5 minutes or less from Pop Century. But the Disney transportation is the way to go without a car.

 

[dhdozier]

I love both the Nick and Disney hotels. Are you staying long enough to break it up to stay at a Disney Value and then a night or two at Nick? And you def. need to rent a car if you are considering staying off site - I know there are folks on this board who can help you find some great rental deals!

 

[redrosesix]

Nick Hotel looks amazing! However I have heard some complaints from parents who couldn't get their kids to leave to go to the parks We are considering doing 2 or 3 nights there next year, but those will not be park days. If you still want to do WDW, I agree with the PP that a split stay is the way to go.

You will have to rent a car to stay there, but if you rent from Alamo you could do some nights at Nick Hotel and then drop your car off at CCC -- they will shuttle you to your WDW resort. Or do Nick Hotel at the end and pick up from CCC.

You didn't say how old your kids are -- if they're older (10 and up) they might really like US. Hard Rock Hotel is supposed to be great for kids and if you stay there you get free FOTL passes (US has an amazing deal on tickets right now, too)

We love WDW, but we realize it's not the only game in town.

 

[Ivette1980]

So do u think it would be possible to split bet. on and off site. Staying at the Nick hotel first, then switching to a Disney hotel. Not rent a car at all but stay at the hotel for the first couple of days so that kids can enjoy their characters and then cab it to the other hotel and enjoy the disney transportation?

My last vacation in Feb for 7 days we did not rent and bused everywhere we went and took advantage of the DME. I know the Nick has the shuttle to and from airport so that cool. I just love the fact that they would be able to enjoy the best of both the Nick & Disney world.

 

[jjjmranch]

My friends just came back from the Nick hotel and loved it. They hated the shuttle service. They used their rental car to go to the parks after the first day.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

My opinion is on-site is a Disney vacation and the only way to go if you are spending all your time at Disney.

Off-site to me is a Florida vacation with some Disney. We had a wonderful trip this past December off-site. We visited Coco Beach/Daytona beach and they were heavenly plus their is a huge savings as neither requires tickets. We visite Lake Eola which was also beautiful. Ate at some very nice off-site resturants. Visited the Gaylord. Had a much larger room then we would at Disney, had a suite/ free internet/ free breakfast/free dinner/ a kitchen/ full fridge/microwave/diswasher that the maid ran daily all this much much cheaper than WDW. Shoped at the outlets and got great deals on Disney merchandise. And of course visited the MK and downtown Disney.

So it depends what you want. We actually had such a great time off-site that I am leaving in 3 days for a week at Daytona Beach and no Disney. Yikes, never thought I would do that! I'll make up for it in June though with 8 nights at the Contemporary.

 

[toverly]

Splitting would be the best of both worlds. But I would do Disney first and Nick second. The reason is that Nick is so relaxing for parents. Your kids will play and play at the pool and you will get a chance to sit back and relax in the sun. They are so close, even a cab ride would not be much.

 

[CTmommyx3]

We just got back from our 3rd stay at Nick Hotle a few weeks ago. I LOVE it. We did have a car. If you have a car then it is super close to the parks. We left Epcot to come back swim and eat and really did not find it too much trouble at all. My kids are 7 1/2 6 and 2. YES last year they did want to leave MK to go back to the hotel!! But if you have a plan to not be at a park everyday then it is so much fun! The kids all loved the pools, the characters, the show and all. For us our next trip will also be Nick hotel.
They have food in the mall area, yes overpriced but really so is any Disney food I have had! But we had the 50 dollar a day food credit so we had some meals there for free anyway.
I have this slide show of some of our pictures from the hotel.

 

[Ivette1980]

It looks like so much fun. Do you think it would be simple to get a taxi from Nick hotel to one of the DW resorts. I am planning 10 days trip next yr. A couple of days at Nick hotel, then the rest at AKV. I do plan on staying in just the Nick hotel relaxing and enjoying the pools and sun. One thing we did not get to do when we stood at ASM, of course pools there were'nt so thrilling but we were always on the go. This time I want to enjoy more than a good nights rest.

Once we get over to AKV, like our past trip, we did not have a car and bused everywhere. it was easy, didn't miss a thing. What do ya'll think?

 

[kellydizfan]

We are doing 8 days, 7 nights at POR than transferring for 2 nights at the Nick Hotel July/August of this year. Have never stayed there and looking forward to it. We have a Spongebob room reserved for the 2 nights. We will have our car as we are driving. We usually stay our full vacation at Disney. We have never been to Universal as a family. My DD's have with my Mom & Aunt back in 2004 but we are just going to Nick to relax before heading home - yes the kids will be busy but we can sit and enjoy the sun, etc. Figured we don't need to hit the water parks at Disney - save the days for the other parks - 2 days in each park.

 

[kittymarcy]

Just got back from Nick 1 1/2 weeks ago. The boys loved it. They hated to leave for the parks. My 3-year old has still not taken his orange armband from the hotel off "becasue they won't let me in the pool at the nick hotel" if he does that. Our bed sucked, but the boys loved their spongebob bunks. We all had fun at the pool and shows. The character b'fast was amazing. I have never had so much personal interaction and photo ops ever at a disney character meal. But yeah, the food was ok to good. It's really all about the kids at the nick hotel. If you derive extreme pleasure from seeing your kids ecstatic, this is the place to be! Shuttle is free, but I wouldn't stay there without a car. Very close to downtown disney. I would stay here over Pop Century anyday. Have fun!!!

 

[Ivette1980]

thanx so much kelly ... i think I may just reverse my plans. go to AKV first, then Nick hotel. I think with all the fun they would hate to leave to switch over even for the live animals at AKV. I think that would be even more cool to go through the wonders of the parks and leave off with relaxation at the hotels and fun in the sun.

Hubby would love that too. It will also give me time to slowly pack up. Something I was too tired to do on our last trip and wound up throwing everything in the luggage.

Thanx for the ideas guys! Huge help.

 

[Ivette1980]

Just got back from Nick 1 1/2 weeks ago. The boys loved it. They hated to leave for the parks. My 3-year old has still not taken his orange armband from the hotel off "becasue they won't let me in the pool at the nick hotel" if he does that. Our bed sucked, but the boys loved their spongebob bunks. We all had fun at the pool and shows. The character b'fast was amazing. I have never had so much personal interaction and photo ops ever at a disney character meal. But yeah, the food was ok to good. It's really all about the kids at the nick hotel. If you derive extreme pleasure from seeing your kids ecstatic, this is the place to be! Shuttle is free, but I wouldn't stay there without a car. Very close to downtown disney. I would stay here over Pop Century anyday. Have fun!!!

Yeah I do thrive on their joy. I can't wait to begin my plans. Is anyone a DVC member?

 

[lademps]

Thanks for the great reviews on Nick Hotel. I am thinking we will finish up the last 2 days of our week at WDW at this hotel. DS7 will LOVE this!
Just curious - how did everyone go about booking this hotel? Expedia, priceline? I have never booked with any of these, just usually directly with the hotel. We will be there at the end of this month, so hopefully I am not too late with my reservations.