Tropical Palms FunSuites
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Reviewer's Name:
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Naomi Pardue |
Reviewer's Email Address:
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npardue@indiana.edu |
Date(s) of Stay:
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11/96 and 2/98 |
Location:
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Just behind Old Town off rte 192. |
Ease of WDW Park Access:
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10-15 minutes to parking lots at Epcot and MGM,
another 5 or so to the
TTC via car. |
Address:
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2650 Holiday Trail |
Phone Number:
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(407) 396-4595, (800) 64-Palms |
Facility Type:
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Cottage colony and RV campground. |
Accommodation Used:
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Cottage. (Referred to by the facility itself as a
'fun-suite.') |
Accommodations Review:
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Rate/Night (for your stay):
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We paid $39/night on our first visit $69 on our
second. (Rates vary with time of year and size of cottage.
Discounts available through AAA, Kissimmee Visitor's Bureau, and
other sources. Our rate was with AAA discount. For the largest
cottage during Christmas, you will pay about $120. Smallest
cottages during low season now run $49 with AAA discount.) Both
times we paid for the cabana, but on our second visit we were
upgraded to a 2 bedroom at no extra charge. |
# of Restaurants/Lounges:
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One outdoor cafe. No lounge. |
Restaurant/Lounge Review:
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Cafe is an outdoor restaurant right next to the
pool. Serves breakfast and lunch only. You can eat at the cafe or
bring food back to your cottage. Standard breakfast menu
(eggs, breakfast meats, pancakes, French toast, etc.) We never ate
lunch there, but menu was various hot and cold sandwiches. Prices
VERY cheap (most breakfast items under $3), and quality was good,
if not extraordinary. (Comparable to any other place you would be
likely to eat breakfast...) |
Activities/Facilities Available:
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Shop sells souvenir items, necessities, and basic
food stuffs.
Two pools. (Adult and kiddy.)
Playground.
Pleasant walking trails.
Outdoor grills and picnic tables.
I THINK they rent bicycles, but I'm not certain. |
Pool Description/Comments:
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We never used the pool (always too cold or too
busy), but it looked pleasant if not extraordinary. |
Amenities Provided:
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Transport to theme parks available, but I am not
familiar with the details. (We always had a car.) LARGE
laundry room. All cottages include full kitchens. (Stove
with oven, fridge [full-size in large cottages, waist-high in
small cottages], microwave, ample dishes, pots, dishtowels and
cleaning supplies.) Food can be purchased at the shop [prices are
fair]. Only thing I found lacking in the kitchen was salt/pepper
shakers. (We 'borrowed' packets of salt/pepper from the cafe...)
I don't recall if the TV had cable or not, but it did have a
channel with info about Disney. Non-smoking cottages
available. Don't know if there are handicapped accessible
cottages, but the paths from car to cottage would be hard in a
wheelchair so it is probably not the best choice for the disabled. |
Other Comments:
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Tropical Palms is a cottage colony. Cottages range
in size and price from one room + loft ("cabana"), to
two bedroom plus living space and loft. There is also
a large grassy area for RV travelers.
No cottage contains more than one bathroom. Cabanas technically
sleep 6 (2 in the bed, two in the convertible couch, and two
children in the loft), but I wouldn't put more than 4 in unless
they are VERY friendly and don't have much luggage.... (Once you
open out the couch, there is NO floor space and there are only 4
drawers in the bureau.)
In the cabins with separate bedrooms the bedrooms are small,
but adequate, with ample storage space. 6 would fit
comfortably here (they technically sleep 8...). Lofts have very
low ceilings and are only suitable for fairly small children. (But
they have to be old enough to climb the ladder.) My daughter
absolutely LOVED the idea of sleeping in a loft.
Cottages have only one TV (so you can't watch TV in bed if you
have a bedroom), and no phones. There is no routine housekeeping
service during your stay, but you can request it, and if you bring
your towels to the office they will give you fresh ones. (We
always started out with ample towels that we never had to do this.
If we had used the pool we probably would have needed more
towels.)
Parking is ample, and you can usually park very close to your
cottage.
Staff is friendly and helpful and noise was never a problem.
The biggest problems we encountered were that we tended to get
lost driving to our cottage. (Lots of unmarked paths and the
cottage numbers can be hard to see in the dark). Also,
the cottages are fairly close together so you will want to keep
your curtains shut for privacy.
Tropical Palms are NOT luxury accommodations by any means, but
they are very comfortable, attractive accommodations, and for a
family wanting more privacy than is available in a typical hotel
room, they are an excellent choice at a VERY fair price. |
