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Holiday Inn Family Suites Resort Lake Buena Vista
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Reviewer's Name: |
The Schaefer Family |
Reviewer's Email Address: |
jen@southsideweb.com |
Date(s) of Stay: |
September 16-23, 2001 |
Disney Resort: |
Walt Disney World (Florida) |
Location: |
Lake Buena Vista Area |
Ease of Disney Park Access: |
Took us no more than 3 minutes to get from the hotel
parking lot to the main gate of the property |
Complimentary Park Shuttle Available? |
Yes |
Park Shuttle Comments: |
We had reservations for the shuttle then decided against
it when we saw that the last shuttle back to the hotel was
only 30 minutes after the parks closed. We wanted the option of
lingering around if we wanted to. |
Address: |
14500 Continental Gateway Orlando, Fl 32821 |
Phone Number: |
407-387-5437 |
Facility Type: |
Resort |
Accommodation Used: |
Suite |
Accommodations Review: |
We had the kid suite in the hot air balloon theme. The room
seemed a little smaller than I had imagined, but it was so
nice. We walked in to find a sofa bed, rocker, entertainment
center with a safe (which you could use at no extra charge).
The "kitchen" area had a small table with built in
checkerboard, two chairs, a small refrigerator, microwave, coffeemaker, utility sink, and storage space for groceries or
anything else like that.
The bathroom was a nice size and came
equipped with a hairdryer and makeup mirror. It had shelves to
put personal items and seemed really homey.
The master bedroom
area had a vanity, mirrored closet, king size bed (I was only
expecting a queen), two side tables with lamps, built in
entertainment area with VCR, and also came equipped with a
ceiling fan, iron, hairdryer, makeup mirror, and ironing table.
The kids "room" was the big hit though with my family. It had
a bunk bed each with its own speaker for the TV and light.
There was a built in entertainment area with a TV and Nintendo
64. There was also a rollaway bed that was stored in a secret
compartment. There were two drawers and two shelves to put
clothes, and a couple of hooks to hang things. Then, there was
a phone, a play table with two chairs and a CD/tape/radio boom box.
The room was really clean and the maids left cute
surprises for the kids by putting their stuffed animals in
cute poses for them. The maids also after assessing we had
small children left a cup at the bath tub for hair rinsing and
put all of our toothbrushes in a cup which was very much
appreciated. The hotel was only 25% full when we went and we
had absolutely no idea that anyone was anywhere near us in the
building it was so quiet.
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Rate/Night (for your stay): |
$99.00 (September special) |
# of Restaurants/Lounges: |
4 |
Restaurant/Lounge Review: |
The restaurant was nothing to write home about. There was
a free breakfast buffet in the mornings--you get what you pay
for. They had eggs (tasted like powdered), bagels, ham or
sausage, pancakes, French toast, etc... It sounds good, but it
really wasn't that great and wasn't kind to anyone who was
health conscious. Also, if you didn't get to the buffet by 7:30
am, you could count on having to wait in line for about 30 min
and this was at 25% capacity. Saturday and Sunday were the
worst. We did see that they had a second buffet that they
would open up when it was busier. We only ate in the actual
restaurant for dinner one night. It is advertised that kids
eat free with adults. However, what they don't say is that one
adult has to order the full buffet to get the free kids meals.
The buffet is $13.95/adult. And, it's your regular run of the
mill Morison's Cafeteria type food--Ick. I really couldn't
eat because I didn't want to be up all night with heartburn.
For lunch one day, though, we ate at the fast food restaurants
they have there. They have a Pizza Hut & an A&W place
there. Kids eat free there, too, and it's a little more
reasonable. Personal Pan pizzas were regular price (about $5)
and hot dog and hamburger combo meals at A&W were about
the same. I think it is a lot better deal and the Pizza Hut
was opened until really late, too. I want to say midnight, but
I'm not sure on that. I do remember sending my husband down
for breadsticks one night, though, around 10:30 pm. It was
craving time. My advice is stick to the fast food places for
lunch and dinner if you're on a budget and don't go for
cafeteria type food. For breakfast, the parks aren't that
unreasonable and there's always a fabulous buffet (which you
have to pay for) at the Marriott across the street :c). |
Amenities / Facilities / Activities Available: |
Sundries Shop, Pool, Health Club/Spa, Playground, Hair Dryer, Laundry, In-room
Safe, Room Service, Complimentary
Airport Shuttle, Handicapped Accessible Rooms Available,
Non-Smoking Rooms Available, Smoke Detectors, Fire Sprinklers.
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Pool Description/Comments: |
The pool was a blast. It has a zero depth entry at one end
and goes all the way up to about 5 or 6 ft. at the other end.
The two "areas" were separated by sprinkler like fountains
that shot from the side into the water in an arc. The kids
area had tons of "toys" to play with. There was a water
umbrella, animal squirt guns, bicycle squirt guns, water
cannons, and a big fountain to play in. The first night we
went the water was a little cold so I don't think it is
heated. There was also an area specifically for babies and
toddlers. It looked really nice, but my four year old wanted
to play in the big pool. There was also a shop there that you
could rent floats, alligators, whales, etc... It was $5 for an
hour and could be billed to your room. You could also get
sunscreen and buy towels there. They provided towels at the
pool and there was plenty of seating and shady areas to sit
in. One day while we were there, Typhoon Lagoon people were
there with coupons to the water parks and taking free digital
camera pictures in a surfing scene. It was really cool. |
Other Comments: |
We really loved our stay here. The only complaint we had
was the food. We totally intend on staying here again (we'll
just eat breakfast at the parks and stick with Pizza Hut for
any other meals). They also advertise a kids check-in, but
that is only open M-F. They just give them a little treat bag
with crayons and coloring pages which if you ask at the front
desk you'll still get. I thought it was very well maintained
and the theming was a lot of fun, too. All in all, I was very
pleased and commented to my husband that I didn't see the need
to stay on site since we were so close.
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