Sea World hotel choice & planning advice

[cinjam]

Hello All,

Well we just booked our airfare for our Disney cruise in April and decided to tack on two days at the end and visit SW. DH & I were there years ago, but our children (7 & 10 at time of travel) never have been; although they've been to WDW & Universal several times. We will be there 4/16, 4/17, departing 4/18

HOTELS: I am researching hotels first and narrowed it down to Marriott Renaissance (2 Queen room $149), Hilton Grand Vacation Suites (King Suite $152) and the Double Tree (2 Queen Deluxe $127). I am leaning towards the Hilton. Can anyone reccommend one over the other? Pros, Cons?

FOOD: How about your recommendations on where we should eat. We'll have two dinners in the area and I am totally open to suggestions!!!! We are all foodies (kids too!)

PLANS: I do not think we are going to do Discovery Cove - unless discounts come out for my time-frame, and then I might change my mind (right now price is $289pp -- and just too much for us), so I will just stick with SW for the time. Any suggestions, tips? I am scouring older posts to pick up tips and suggestion, but thought I would throw it out here as well.

TIA for anything you can suggest!!

 

[tfoster]

Can't help very much, but I just want to share we're going to SW this December. We ended up deciding upon the Marriott Renaissance across the street from Seaworld. We're staying two nights there before we head to Universal. The first night at the Renaissance, we got a room for $239 that includes 4 tickets to SW. The second night, we got a AAA rate of $82. If you haven't already checked what the AAA rate is for your stay, you might want to do so.

We won't have a vehicle so it was important for us to get back and forth between SW and the hotel as easily as possible.

 

[toontoy]

I have stayed at the Hilton Vacation club before and own a unit there so I may be biased. The resort is great and accross the street from Sea World. It also has 3 large pools and 2 kids pools. Its more of a resort style and they have things going on all throughout the day. Pizza hut and a deli are on site. I love this hilton resort and my wife does as well, we do have some we don't prefer but this one is nice.

I have stayed in the double tree, its right near Universal. Its nice but you would need to drive or walk a bit to take the I drive trolley to sea world. Its a typical hotel which has a nice but small pool and typical lobby and hotel amenities.

I havent stayed at the marriot so I can't help you much there.

We are going to sea world in December and can't waite its my wife's first time going to Sea World in orlando.

Nathan

 

[cinjam]

Thank you both for the suggestions.

tfoster - I have to see about getting the combo room & SW tickets - I hand't thought about that. The rate I posted is their AAA rate for both nights.

Toontoy: I was reading several reviews on tripadviser for the Hilton Vacation Club and some of the recent reviews are not so great. Many mention that the rooms are in need of a refurbishment. Have you ever stayed in the King Suite (the one that is 800+ square feet) - that's the one that I am eyeing up and both DH & the kids have voted for!

Thanks again!

 

[finucane]

We stayed in the King Suite at the Hilton Grand Vacation and had a great experience. One extra bonus I didn't see mentioned was the full kitchen you get. We saved a ton by having several meals at the room (particularly breakfast.) It was also nice to have a washer/dryer unit in the room. Not sure if it would ever be an issue, but it was nice to have a hotel room with 2 flat screen TVs in it as well, one in the living room, and one in bedroom.

 

[cinjam]

Thanks finucane - I wound up booking the king suite after reviewing the options with my husband. I saw that it had a washer & dryer and that was the selling point (LOL - yes, I'll do laundry on vacation...especially if it's right in my room!)

It looks like a wonderful room and i hope we enjoy it!!