We are a family of 4, 2 DD's 12 & 15. This was our first time to Orlando and it was the perfect family holiday. We stayed off-site at the Holiday Inn Family Suites (just outside WDW). We had 7-day park-hopper passes, 3-day US & IOA passes & Busch Gardens passes before we went. Our girls picked Busch Gardens as their favourite park (it was nearly empty when we went on a Thursday and they got to ride the roller coasters endlessly and they saw more animals than at AK.) Their favourite rides were Hulk at IOA, Men in Black at Universal and Tower of Terror & Rockin' Roller Coaster at MGM. We had a car so we also visited Kennedy, Orlando Science Centre & Ripleys. We did the trip through Holiday House but did the airfare separately...flew out of Spokane, Wash. (The only time we had to show i.d. for the girls was when we went through the border & then we only needed their birth certificates.) Car rental was through Dollar. If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to help.
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Spent 15 nights there in Dec. Questions?
- Thread starter rockies
- Start date
from Canada
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2000
Wow...sounds like you really packed a lot inot the 15 days!!!
We're going to HIFS in 24 days!! Im glad to hear you liked it. I hope we do. Im trying not to get my hopes up to high about HIFS, and then maybe Ill be pleasantly surprised. With the BOGO offer, it works out to $82/ night, so I'm sure Ill be happy with it.
I know there are TONS of posts about HIFS, but could you share one or two things about the hotel that perhaps you didnt know before you went?
Welcome Back!
Karen
We're going to HIFS in 24 days!! Im glad to hear you liked it. I hope we do. Im trying not to get my hopes up to high about HIFS, and then maybe Ill be pleasantly surprised. With the BOGO offer, it works out to $82/ night, so I'm sure Ill be happy with it.
I know there are TONS of posts about HIFS, but could you share one or two things about the hotel that perhaps you didnt know before you went?
Welcome Back!
Karen
Karen,
The biggest thing for us about HIFS that we didn't know before we went was that there is nowhere else in walking distance to eat so you definately need a car. The kids loved Pizza Hut & A&W in the hotel but the restaurant was terrible. My husband & I ate there twice, once from the buffet and once ordering off the menu and both times the food was awful (and expensive.) I thought there would be other restaurants and/or hotels right nearby but there aren't. There are places not too far away (about 10 minutes by car) but when you come back exhausted from the parks it would have been nice to have a better restaurant in the hotel itself. Best bet is to grab dinner on your way back from the parks. The laundry room is good, I took laundry soap & bounce sheets with me but it's available there as well. If I can think of anything else, I'll let you know.
Liz
The biggest thing for us about HIFS that we didn't know before we went was that there is nowhere else in walking distance to eat so you definately need a car. The kids loved Pizza Hut & A&W in the hotel but the restaurant was terrible. My husband & I ate there twice, once from the buffet and once ordering off the menu and both times the food was awful (and expensive.) I thought there would be other restaurants and/or hotels right nearby but there aren't. There are places not too far away (about 10 minutes by car) but when you come back exhausted from the parks it would have been nice to have a better restaurant in the hotel itself. Best bet is to grab dinner on your way back from the parks. The laundry room is good, I took laundry soap & bounce sheets with me but it's available there as well. If I can think of anything else, I'll let you know.
Liz
from Canada
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2000
Liz,
thanks for the heads up about the restaurant. Ive already got my sample tide and bounce ready to go.
Did you notice if there was a better (ie quieter) day to do laundry? How many machines were there? I'd like to do 3 or 4 loads simultaneously if I could. Can you leave the stuff in the washer and then come back fo it, or would it be better to wait. (As you can see, Ive rarely used a coin laundry. Our last trip was only a week, so laundry was done when we got home).
What restaurants did you drive to that you WOULD go to again/recommend? We like family type restaurants like Kelseys, East side marios, Outback.
Thanks again
Karen
thanks for the heads up about the restaurant. Ive already got my sample tide and bounce ready to go.
Did you notice if there was a better (ie quieter) day to do laundry? How many machines were there? I'd like to do 3 or 4 loads simultaneously if I could. Can you leave the stuff in the washer and then come back fo it, or would it be better to wait. (As you can see, Ive rarely used a coin laundry. Our last trip was only a week, so laundry was done when we got home).
What restaurants did you drive to that you WOULD go to again/recommend? We like family type restaurants like Kelseys, East side marios, Outback.
Thanks again
Karen
Karen,
In the laundry room there was about 5 washers & 8 dryers. I did laundry in the morning twice and it wasn't too busy. I was up earlier than the rest of the family so I took my book and coffee with me and stayed while I did it but there were lots of people who left it and came back...I think it's pretty safe to leave it. I think there is a laundry room for each couple of buildings. We were in building 9 and the laundry was in 10 but the buildings are all connected by the balconies anyway. We had American change at home so we took two rolls of quarters with us, one I used for laundry and the other we left in the glove compartment of the car for toll roads. They came in handy but I had them in my pack when we went on the plane and security made me take them out to show them because they didn't know what they were on the scanner.
There are restaurants like Denny's, Perkins etc. but our favourite was the Olive Garden which was in the Hotel Plaza Blvd. (?) area in WDW (past downtown Disney - where the on-site but not Disney hotels are). There was a bunch of restaurants there but we didn't find that area until we were there about 10 days. If you are at HIFS you will have to head for WDW to get to the above restaurants. If you go the other direction to International Drive there are restaurants like Tony Roma's & one we ate at called Bennigan's (at the Bee-way Express intersection on Int. Dr.). It was good & much like a Earl's or East Side Marios. You have to go a fair bit up International Drive to get to them though (past Sea World).
HIFS sits between 2 main roads. The road at the back of the hotel is 536 which if you turn left takes you to WDW and right takes you to International Drive (going to Int. Dr. go straight through the first set of lights and you will turn left at the Int. Dr. turnoff.) If you turn right out the front of the hotel (lobby side) and go up about 2 lights there is another main road called 192 that has lots of restaurants as well. (Also when we drove to the hotel from the airport we followed the directions on the hotel brochure and it took us right to HIFS.)
The Marriott is across 536 from HIFS and is a good landmark when you are finding your way to the hotel. When you are in WDW there are many different roads and the road you come out of a park on is not usually the same one you went in on. They have lots of signs though and you eventually circle right through so if you are heading back to HIFS look for signs that say "Epcot Resorts". That road will take you to the exit for 536 which takes you right back to the hotel. (We got lost the first time we were there and ended up in Celebration.) My best advice is to get a map that has all the roads on it. Some of the tourist maps just show main roads and attractions and they're are not great for finding your way around with a car.
This message is turning into a book so I better go. If you think of anything else I can help you with let me know. I hope you have a great time on your holiday...we sure did. I don't know how long you are there or how old your kids are but if you get time, try to go to Islands of Adventure. There is lots there for young kids & teenagers. Our girls (12 & 15) loved Seuss Landing at IOA even though it is geared to younger children.
Liz
p.s. There is a Wal-Mart on 192 as well. Turn right on the road on the lobby side of the hotel, turn left on 192 and go down about 5-6 miles and it's on your right. It's a combo store & grocery store Wal-Mart. We bought 2 dozen bottles of water there and put them in the fridge to take with us to the parks along with snacks for the kids.
In the laundry room there was about 5 washers & 8 dryers. I did laundry in the morning twice and it wasn't too busy. I was up earlier than the rest of the family so I took my book and coffee with me and stayed while I did it but there were lots of people who left it and came back...I think it's pretty safe to leave it. I think there is a laundry room for each couple of buildings. We were in building 9 and the laundry was in 10 but the buildings are all connected by the balconies anyway. We had American change at home so we took two rolls of quarters with us, one I used for laundry and the other we left in the glove compartment of the car for toll roads. They came in handy but I had them in my pack when we went on the plane and security made me take them out to show them because they didn't know what they were on the scanner.
There are restaurants like Denny's, Perkins etc. but our favourite was the Olive Garden which was in the Hotel Plaza Blvd. (?) area in WDW (past downtown Disney - where the on-site but not Disney hotels are). There was a bunch of restaurants there but we didn't find that area until we were there about 10 days. If you are at HIFS you will have to head for WDW to get to the above restaurants. If you go the other direction to International Drive there are restaurants like Tony Roma's & one we ate at called Bennigan's (at the Bee-way Express intersection on Int. Dr.). It was good & much like a Earl's or East Side Marios. You have to go a fair bit up International Drive to get to them though (past Sea World).
HIFS sits between 2 main roads. The road at the back of the hotel is 536 which if you turn left takes you to WDW and right takes you to International Drive (going to Int. Dr. go straight through the first set of lights and you will turn left at the Int. Dr. turnoff.) If you turn right out the front of the hotel (lobby side) and go up about 2 lights there is another main road called 192 that has lots of restaurants as well. (Also when we drove to the hotel from the airport we followed the directions on the hotel brochure and it took us right to HIFS.)
The Marriott is across 536 from HIFS and is a good landmark when you are finding your way to the hotel. When you are in WDW there are many different roads and the road you come out of a park on is not usually the same one you went in on. They have lots of signs though and you eventually circle right through so if you are heading back to HIFS look for signs that say "Epcot Resorts". That road will take you to the exit for 536 which takes you right back to the hotel. (We got lost the first time we were there and ended up in Celebration.) My best advice is to get a map that has all the roads on it. Some of the tourist maps just show main roads and attractions and they're are not great for finding your way around with a car.
This message is turning into a book so I better go. If you think of anything else I can help you with let me know. I hope you have a great time on your holiday...we sure did. I don't know how long you are there or how old your kids are but if you get time, try to go to Islands of Adventure. There is lots there for young kids & teenagers. Our girls (12 & 15) loved Seuss Landing at IOA even though it is geared to younger children.
Liz
p.s. There is a Wal-Mart on 192 as well. Turn right on the road on the lobby side of the hotel, turn left on 192 and go down about 5-6 miles and it's on your right. It's a combo store & grocery store Wal-Mart. We bought 2 dozen bottles of water there and put them in the fridge to take with us to the parks along with snacks for the kids.
#1 Disney Fan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 15, 2000
Welcome back, Rockies! 
I love the HIFS, we've stayed there on our last 2 trips to WDW. Nice place.
I love the HIFS, we've stayed there on our last 2 trips to WDW. Nice place. Share this page
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