Walking distance to Universal

[ky07]

It is the Holiday Inn on Kirkman. And in October 2011, they were still working on renovations - perhaps they started a phase II or something. The rooms were nice, but the staff didn't pick up people's dirty room service dishes (from breakfast) until after midnight, making the hallway full of trash and smelling like rotten food. Both the elevator and staircase closest to my room were out of order and under construction. So was the staircase closest to the back parking lot.

There was rather loud construction noise starting early every morning. I could only hear it a little in the main part of my room, but it was very loud in the bathroom. When I checked out, a couple that was staying on the floor above mine complained about the noise, and the staff confirmed it was construction work from renovations. The couple said it was so loud they couldn't stay in their room during the early morning hours. They asked to meet with the manager to discuss the issue.

Feel free to check it out for yourself - maybe they are finally done with the work and you will have a better experience. I usually enjoy Holiday Inns, the others I have stayed at were all very nice, but I will not return to this one.

We were there in July and have to agree cause the same stuff happened to us and it was the worst hotel I have stayed at in my life and not to mention I came home sick from all of the chemical smells coming from the construction on the floor where we was and asked to be moved and were totally ignored and will never stay at this place agian

 

[macraven]

Good afternoon! This is my first thread in this forum, so please ignore any repetitive questions. I am still learning how to search the forum. If you can answer my questions, great. If you can't or won't, then please just ignore me.

if you need some specific info, i can pull up the sources for you.
i use the search button a lot to help others.


First of all, we are going to be staying there from March 23-31. I just realized that this is the same week of Spring Break for Orange County students; hopefully it isn't too busy.

i think you will see some crowds during your time in orlando.
the spring break in my area stagger their school breaks between march 15th thru april, first week.

This isn't our first trip there, by any means. I grew up in SW Florida, so we have made many trips to WDW and Universal over the years. I took my son there a lot when we lived there, and had annual passes. Now that we are out of state, we get back once a year or so. Usually we alternate from WDW to Universal. This time I am trying to be a little better prepared.

1. We are staying here at the Hyatt Place on Caravan Court <Sorry, I had to remove the link since I can't do it since I am a new member> Their website and the front desk clerk says that it is only a 10 minute walk, and is only 1/4 mile away from Universal. Is that accurate? They also offer free shuttles back and forth, but only 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening.

i have stayed at caravan court before but at a different hotel.
i thought the walk was about 15 minutes for us once we left the hotel room.

the shuttle times they gave you really stink. if the shuttle leaves the hotel around 8:30ish and goes to other hotels, it could take you longer than you want to wait to begin fun in the parks.

you need to go early in the morning to avoid heavy crowds later in the day.
if you don't have to reserve seats on the shuttle to use it, maybe you could use it for the last return trip to your hotel.


2. Has anyone used the wait time app for the iphone? I just downloaded it. I know that it relies on others to update while they are in line. How reliable is it?

i was with a friend who used the app a few months back.
sometimes it was on target and sometimes it wasn't.
it all depends on the person submitting the info.
don't remember which app she used...

3. I have already mentioned that I will be there the week of Spring Break, and that is the same week that Orange County schools are also out. Will this hurt us? Do the locals tend to stay away on Sprint Break, or is this just a great time for the local teenagers to go hang out and cause the rides to have longer lines?

i'll let a TM or local answer this question

4. City coupon books. Some cities offer coupon books for $30 or so. Those include buy one get one free dinners at various participating restaurants. Are these available?
are you referring to the Entertainment books?
most of those have coupons offsite of the parks/citywalk.


5. Kids eat free tickets. Has anyone bought this ticket? I had to remove the link since I can't post links due to being a new member. It seems like a good deal. I just wanted to get some others feedback.

the coupons for kids eat free that i am aware of are in city walk and the onsite hotels restuarant.
be careful with them as some have a time period they are valid.
some have specific choices of menus for the kids.
some are kids eat free when 2 adult entrees are ordered.

if you are referring to this kids eat free coupon site:
http://www.universalorlando.com/The...ok-details.aspx?Intsrch=kids eat free tickets

it does have some restrictions on the menu w/ adult entrees ordered.

i can pull up that booklet for you later if you want to see what is included on those tickets.
you can get that coupon booklet for free when you order multi day tickets.



That is all that I can think of right now. I may post later if I can't find the answer to a specific question in the forum.

Thanks again!!!!!

post again if you have more questions.

 

[brianjb]

Thank you macraven!

We are still 10 weeks and a few days away from leaving, so I can't think of anything else right now.

Some of my other questions are being answered by reading the new posts to this forum daily.

One thing that I hadn't thought of was carrying a bag and stowing it on rides. I would hate to wait in two lines for each ride. One to put stuff in a locker and one to ride the actual ride. But I also don't want to carry fanny pack.

Normally this is what we carry when we go into parks (ponchos, snacks, water, DSLR). I am thinking of ways to get creative and not have to carry a bag. For example, roll the ponchos up and put them in a cargo shorts pocket. Same thing for snacks. DSLR can be work around neck all day. It can be taken apart and stowed in pockets on a ride. Put the body in one pocket and the lense in another. That just leaves the water. Normally we carry a Klean Kanteen around our necks. Any advice from others? Are the locker lines that bad? Can one person go put stuff in locker while the rest of the party is waiting in line, and I catch up? Or will that be seen as jumping in line?