My daughter has been asking me to take her to this hotel forever. Well I finally made reservations for her. Needless to say I was checking on the hotel reviews and they are equally horrible and good. The bad part is the horrrible is really horrible. Have any of you moms been there in the last 6 months and let me know how it really is?
I was 50/50 till i read your report on the bedbugs and I decided it just is not worth it. That absolutely scared the heck out of me
My friend just stayed there with her family and said it was disgustingly dirty and they would never stay there again! Even her kids, 11 and 9 didn't have as much fun as they thought they would. I've never been there myself but my friend buys annual passes for Disney every year and they stay on property a lot so they are always down that way at least once a month.
S.
We went last year with my daughter's Girl Scout troop....for Scout weekend. They had a couple of activities that were just for the scouts which were fun, but I felt like it was overcrowded. The room was spacious....a queen or king master bedroom, a room with two bunk beds, and a couch that pulled out. We spent alot of time waiting in line,,,,waiting for the 4D movies that cost $20 per person, waiting for the stage show, waiting for the character breakfast, etc.....I thought that it was overpriced...especially because my 7 year old didn't even know who most of the characters were....she felt too old for Dora, and barely knows Spongebob as he doesn't interest her...would rather be watching something animal, science, or real kids like Kit Kittredge or Ramona & Beezus, American girl type stuff. The pool was crazy crowded...and people are rude...there is a certain type that doesn't go anywhere unless they go with 20 of their closest relatives, and they don't say anything unless they are yelling....and slamming hotel doors like they are the only ones on property....yea....they were there..helping ruin it for everyone. I was glad at my daughter and I went and she didn't have to hear about it from her friends....but after our troop spent $1,300 for 3 rooms for 2 nights, and I had to kick in an extra $80 for movie armbands and breakfast......I wouldn't be interested in going again. I would choose any of the Disney properties over Nickelodean...including the campground!
tripadvisor lets you contact reviewers so you could ask. I did this for the Disney Polynesian and a man gave us his cell phone to call and ask him anything. He was awesome.
We stayed just down at the street at Caribe Royal - have been there 4 times and love it there and just visited again yesterday. It's pricier but it's a lot of room for families there, the rooms themselves are nice...especially the villas...awesome pool, and the entire complex is very well maintained.
Nick looks run down when we drive past it, but never been inside. A friend stayed there 2 years ago and said the bed in her son's room was broken and they had to switch rooms and get another room. So that did not impress me so I figured best to steer clear. I figure whatever they are writing on hotels.com and expedia.com is true. People usually have to be VERY upset to post something on a travel website so they are warning others not to waste their money. I think it's good to believe the horrible stories, you are best to believe the bad over the good.
I think it's a lot of rough use from the tourists and hard to maintain a lot of these hotels and keep them clean!
Good luck! I researched quite a bit and I also looked at this site. Just good to know before you go to any hotel as these nasty critters are everywhere.
I had asked this question last fall, and you are welcome to look on my page of questions and read the responses. We did not end up going, and that was OK. Hope your trip is great!!!
We went a year ago. For the first time it was new and different and very fun. I didnt think it was dirty. It is definately not modern. The poolside celebrations was fun. The food court was affordable and good food. The slide was fun, the shows with slime were entertaining spongebob was neat. We did not leave all weekend. I have no complaints at all. It is not a Must See every year. Just a fun place to go for a change.
It has been more than 6 months since we were there, but I can definitely say that we were quite pleased with our stay and we will be heading there on May 5 to celebrate our daughter's birthday. Our teenage son is looking forward to trying out the new teen club, especially since he doesn't want to hang out with his younger sister and friends the entire time.
Wow, it must have gone down hill after we were there around 2006 or 2007. My children were younger and we all had a blast. The rooms were not dirty, they were painting and fixing things around the hotel, which I thought it was a good thing, just to keep it nice and tight.
We did the pool, of course I didn't leave my children alone!! I can't understand how parents (specially mothers) can do that!!!
They did the activities at night too and had a great time. Maybe it has declined with the years. But we sure had a great time. My kids wanted to go back, but we've never had the chance to. I try to do something different every year :)
I hope that if you go, you have a good experience like we did. But if you find more negative than possitive, don't bother going. Take her to Universal Studios instead, we had a great time there too.
Blessings
It's been 2 1/2 yrs for us but we had a BLAST!!!! We went to a character breakfast, had room service, had all of our food in various restaurants there, myself & my then 10yr old boy got picked to be in a poolside, green goo trivia contest & swam to our hearts content! Our room was great, we stayed in a 'sponge bob' kidz suite/room it wasn't huge but for us it worked out great, I had the queen size pullout & the kidz (3) slept in the bunkies in a separate area, we had games & movies in our room, we watched movies & played games onsite & attended a 'parent/kidz' game one evening, there was so much to do there but if you wanted you could get free transportation to Disneyworld, Seaworld and/or Universal studios.
Everything was clean & the employees were helpful & professional, I am a Priority Club member for Holiday Inn so I got some little perks although I can't remember exactly what they were. If things have changed I am not aware of it.
Hope you have as good a time as we did if you so choose to go!
After reading the other posts I WILL agree that it seemed like there was a zillion other kidz there but it is that way with ANY place like that! We have gone to Great Wolf Lodge in VA & Blue Bayou in LA & Daytona Lagoon in FL as well & there is ALWAYZ kidz EVERYWHERE! That's 1/2 of the fun playing with & meeting new ppl.. You must alwayz keep an 'eagle eye' on your kidz no matter where you go, if you like Chuck E. Cheese, miniature golf, etc. then you will like this kind of place, if not then don't go to any of the aforementioned 'kid' destinations.
We were there last summer. It does have a bit of a ghetto feel to it, but we got past that for the most part. The pool was very fun for our daughter, but very noisy at night. We stayed there because we had friends from out-of-state that wanted to stay there for their kids, so we went. It was still a nice weekend, but not the as nice as the Disney hotels.
We have not stayed there. We did not because I booked and then talked to a friend who said it was HORRIBLE. We normally stay right across the street at the Marriott - so the kids always want to go. I think we'll never chance it though.
I haven't been in the last 6 mos, but about a year ago. It is ghetto!!! The rooms are nasty!! There were tons of little bugs that fly in the shower. Soooo gross!! The guests were all how should I put this????!!!! Ghetto.
But the pool area is great!! The character breakfast was awesome!! My kids loved that part. We were there w/my uncle & his 2 little girls. My uncle took his girls to the gift shop & bought them & my kids a ton of things. After that, they went to the arcade. My cousin put the bag down while playing skee-ball & someone stole the bag. The hotel security & management didn't care. It was $86 worth of merchandise they could have very easily replaced b/c it was all from their gift shop. My uncle (b/c he's a man), didn't follow through w/them to get it all replaced. I would have, but right after we left, I had a miscarriage & was totally consumed w/that & didnt care about the merchandise.
The kids all had a great time!! It was a very ghetto experience.
I wouldn't ever stay there again. I'd save up more $$ & stay at Disney instead.
