Were 15 nights at HIFS in Dec. - questions?

[rockies]

Family of 4 with DD's 12 & 15. They loved the room because of the bunk beds and their own tv. We liked having our own bedroom (quite spacious). Living room area smallish...couch only fits 2 people & 1 other chair. Table seats 3 people.

Kids liked having Pizza Hut & A&W in hotel but my husband and I felt totally ripped off by the restaurant. We ate there twice, once for their dinner buffet and once we ordered off the menu...both times the food was terrible and not cheap. One thing I didn't know from reading the boards before we went was that HIFS is nowhere near anything else. It is a bit of a drive to find another restaurant so don't expect to walk somewhere else to eat. The buffet breakfast was good for a family...lots of selection, cereal, eggs, french toast etc.

The girls loved the pool, went for a swim every night when we got back from the parks. It was easy to get to and from WDW as well although the first day we went to MK the hotel lady told us just to get back on 536 but not that you have to find the right road in WDW to get on it. We somehow ended up in Celebration but managed to find our way back. Also warning....the guest services desk in the lobby is selling time shares and sometimes it's hard to get away from them when you just want directions or park hours. (They also didn't know the correct hours for Disney Quest and we ended up in Downtown Disney 2 hrs early.)

Overall we enjoyed staying at HIFS...fairly close to WDW and not hard to get other places....we went to US, IOA, Kennedy & Busch Gardens plus Orlando Science Centre & Ripleys. You definately need a car though. This was our first visit to Orlando and even staying 15 nights we didn't see everything. What a great place to take your family!

Liz

 

[ChiTownZee]

the guest services desk in the lobby is selling time shares

Timeshares to what? HIFS??

 

[yoopermom]

that on our 12/30-1/4 stay there we *never* got back to the hotel from WDW the *right* way! We just ended up getting back on 4, going down one exit, and doubling back. The exit either way both had tons of restaurants, so it actually worked out for the best, we ate there before heading back. There's obviously a lot of development in the works for that area, but right now it's really by itself, and I would *never* stay there without my own transportation.
Terri the Yoopermom

 

[Robinrs]

I totally agree with having your own transportation at the HIFS. I loved the hotel but it is isolated from the rest of the world. Luckily I had a friend who lived in town who drove me around. I promised myself I'd never stay there without a car!

I never found out what timeshares they were selling downstairs either but one of the guys was very rude to me when I told him I was not interested. Ugh...