The truth about HIFS??

[dahess]

I am sorry, I know this has been answered before but search is not working. How close to the parks is HIFS? How about the pool, is it a decent size? Our 1st day in Florida we are arrving at 12:00 (noon), do you think our room will be ready? We leave our home for the airport at 4:15 am & I am sure we will need a power nap. I know we will not spend a lot of time in our room but I want the place to be decent, is it clean? Any other info would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[taylor1293]

Your room may or may not be ready, it just depends on how full the hotel is.

The hotel is literally 2 minutes from WDW property. You are probably closer to some attractions at HIFS then some on-site hotels.

The rooms are very clean and comfortable, and the pool is huge.

Have fun,

Teresa

 

[tmli]

Has anyone used hifs shuttle? I don't want a rental car and I'm wondering how convenient it is?

I've also seen some great entertainment rates posted, but when i check entertainment card website, HIFS is not listed as a discounted property. Did i just miss it?

 

[dahess]

Tmli, I just looked also & didn't see it. I think I read somewhere that there is a card in the back of the book that you use. Also, I read at Mousesavers.com that there is a limited # of rooms available for each night with the discount card/coupon. Hopefully someone else can verify all this info.

 

[taylor1293]

Tmli - we didn't use the shuttle so I have no idea how convenient it is? Sorry.

I have the Entertainment Card rate booked. I didn't check the entertainment website or my book to see if the hotel was even on the list, because I heard about it on here. So I have no idea why it isn't listed? I just called the hotel directly and inquired about the rate. They do accept it, but there are a limited number of rooms set aside at this great discount.

Teresa

 

[lejaf]

After I reserved my entertainment rate, I asked why the hotel was not listed in my book and the reservation clerk had no idea. Maybe they started accepting the entertainment card after the new books were published...who knows!

 

[TreeOfLife]

Has anyone used hifs shuttle?

Oh heaven, if anyone has posted the most realistic feedback about those posts here it is me! Let me just tell you that one experience was all we needed to decide to never return..

First, the "shuttles" are school buses. Oh they are painted white and red but are school buses. No AC on hot days and you sit on those sticky, foamy seats. No safety adaptations for standees and most times you'll travel standing up. They stop at several resorts before they come to you.

If you get there at noon and want to go to the MK, for example, and the bus left at noon and you missed it, you'll have to wait until 4:00 or 4:30 PM to catch the next one. That is just to get there! They drop you off VERY far from the gates, you waste about 20 minutes just walking (walking with Disney excitement, more if you walk slowly) to and from the gates to your bus station. And then if you get there at 8:30 AM and say by 1:00 PM wish you could go back to shower or rest and take a nap, you're stuck in the park until 5:00 PM or so! They aren't running constantly. You can only imagine what would happen if you drag a kid around that gets so tired he becomes cranky on you at 2:00 PM, won't take a nap and you still have to wait three hours before you can cool off!

The shuttles are hideous. If you can, stay onsite and use Disney's transportation. But if you can't, rent a car. I just don't like the pushing and shoving that goes on getting in and out of those trams... The buses leave you where you don't need to ride them, right in front of the gates. Of course, teh more expensive your resort, the closer to the gate you'll be dropped off. But staying at the AS resorts does not mean you'll walk as much as people traveling in those offsite shuttles will!

 

[zaxmom]

We stayed there in 2001 and I think you will like the hotel. We checked in early, but had to wait for our room to be ready, but we also had a special request. The pool is great, the only thing it lacks is a slide. I thought it was very clean. The bus was not a school bus, it was a full size coach or whatever. Had a/c and only made the one stop. I would still not reccomend this. It was terrible the way they crammed people in there. I felt that if we were in an accident my children would have been smothered by people. We had to spend a half hour waiting to go back to the hotel while they crammed more and more people on it. Driver said we were going no where untill everyone was on. They could have made two trips in that time. We did it one day and said never again. Rent a car or stay on site. Save yourself the torment. Your on vacation after all.

 

[martina857]

RENT A CAR!!! The HIFS shuttle is horrendous! The HIFS is not much better but the shuttle is truly awful. It is very close to the parks but the only reason I can now see to stay there as aposed to a 3 bed condo or townhouse would be maid service.
I suppose it is a case of what you are willing to put up with, different people different tastes, but never again will I go HIFS!!!!!

 

[TreeOfLife]

never again will I go HIFS!!!!!

Neither will I, Martina. One experience was all I needed too...

 

[tmli]

Now don't sugar coat it for me say what you really think! LOL Just kidding, thank you for the very strong opinions. Are you saying don't stay at HIFS I'd be better off at AS or are you saying HIFS is great as long as you have a rental car?

 

[from Canada]

When we were there in 2002, the shutle bus was not a painted school bus, it was a coach bus. We rented a car anyway so that we could go out for dinner/shopping etc. (There are no stores or restaurants within walking distance). We are going back next Feb. We had a wonderful experience at HIFS. Friends of ours stayed at AS at the same time as us. I visited them and was glad we werent there. We are a family of 5, and even if we got 2 rooms at AS, I think it still would have been cramped. Not to mention the free breakfast probably saved us $20/day. We took advantage of the BOGO offer, and ended up only paying $74/night. Of course different people will have different experiences, but if the search function was working, I think you'd find that there are more positive than negative comments about this resort.
HTH
Karen

 

[martina857]

It's not fair of me to say you should not stay there, definately do not stay there without a car though!!!
We all have different expectations of a vacation to Disney, if a free breakfast, close to the parks and daily maid service are important, you will be fine. If the breakfast and maid service are not that important you would be better off staying in a condo in one of the newer resorts on 192.
As I said earlier if we were all the same and expected the same the world would be a pretty boring place.

 

[dahess]

From Canada,

What is the BOGO Offer? Thanks!

 

[TreeOfLife]

Now don't sugar coat it for me say what you really think!

hehehe Sneaker, you caught us...

Are you saying don't stay at HIFS I'd be better off at AS or are you saying HIFS is great as long as you have a rental car?

I don't know about others but I am telling you to stay onsite if you can afford it. Use Disney transportation and you will avoid lines and hassles, and wasting time in commutes.

If you can't afford to stay onsite, do anything in your power to avoid riding offsite shuttles.

BOGO normally stands for "buy one, get one".

 

[MrsMud]

My goodness! I have never heard so many negative opinions of HIFS! Don't let them dissuade you, Dahess. We love HIFS, and are going back there in Oct. I feel that your opinion of the hotel is directly related to your expectations. Of course, it is not a deluxe, onsite hotel but you are also paying half the price! And most of the deluxe hotels, condos etc. don't have the appeal for kids that HIFS does! The theming in the rooms, the lobby, the activities, the pool (yes, it is very large and the kids love it), I could go on and on. Many people choose this place because they can't afford to stay onsite, or cannot be accommodated onsite. For us, it was a combination of both. We certainly could afford a Disney value or even moderate resort, but could not fit our family of 5 there. In addition, as others have reported, it is closer to the parks than the Allstars. You get free breakfast and kids eat free, which for our family, probably saved us at least $50 a day that we could spend on other things. The only thing we all seem to agree on is that you should really look into renting a car. We didn't use the shuttle because we didn't like the idea of being tied to a schedule. A 1 week rental is really not expensive if you can get a discount, and well worth the money (IMHO). Go, and enjoy!

 

[tmli]

Having stayed on resort and off I do prefer the on site properties for convenience to the parks--I travel alone with my ds(6) and I love not worrying about parking and trams, etc.

Our trip this summer will be our 5th in 4yrs. We plan on spending less time in the parks and more time exploring everything else Disney has to offer. We will be on site at least 4nts.

What I'm trying to figure out is this......if we stayed at HIFS would we find enough to do to fill 2 or 3 nts/days. It appears there is alot to do for kids so I'm thinking we could finish off our trip just relaxing around the HIFS... is this realistic? Or would be bored out of our tree.

With only two of us I think I could get a moderate for near the same amount as HIFS and we wouldn't benefit as much from the free breakfast and child eat free programs that a larger family would. So its not about money, just different experiences.

The other option would be to split my stay between to Disney hotels for a different experience. We'd still only get 3 day park hoppers.

Sorry I think I've wondered slightly from the original thread!

 

[MrsMud]

TMLI, the activities for kids are all (or mostly?) at night, so I don't know that you could fill 3 days. Although, if your child likes the pool, you could certainly spend several hours a day there and at the playground, putting green, etc. There is also Nintendo and cable TV, which can use up a couple of hours for my kids! What we did on our "hotel days" was relax in the room, swim and play at the playground until about 2 or 3:00, then went to DTD for some shopping and dinner. Of course, there are a lot of other places you can go also, but I think 3 days just at the hotel would be pushing it.

 

[disney funseeker]

I'd have to agree with everyone else that a car rental would be best. After looking at the shuttle schedule we were very happy with our decision.

I feel that your opinion of the hotel is directly related to your expectations

The dinner buffet was the only disappointment for us but for the price we paid which included the dinner, it was worth staying at the HIFS. We weren't expecting a deluxe accomodation. The HIFS met our expectations.

The activities for kids are great but to fill 3 entire days without leaving the property might be difficult. A few hrs a day, yes, all day, no.

 

[Debbie]

When we went in 2000, there were afternoon pool games that my kids participated in. On top of that we did ping-pong and shuffleboard (it was before they had the mini-golf). HTH! Have a great trip!