Nickelodeon Family Suites...please read!!

[Happy-go-Lucky]

Hey everyone,
I know that the Nickelodeon Family Suites on property is not a Disney Resort but I would like to hear from anyone who has stayed there. We just booked a suite there and would like info!!! I'm really curious about it. Thanks!!
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[WDWRLD]

You know that Nick is the competition? You say "on property", you realize that its on Universal property. Theres no disney bus service or anything else that disney has there. You can not use EMH either. Nick hotel is my guess a 30 min ride from the disney parks. From what ive seen on tv nick hotel is trying to copy disneys ssucess with themeing their rooms to kids as in ASsports,ASmusic,and POP. I hope that if your staying there you plan on spending most of your time at "The Competition".

 

[wannabeBelle]

Hey everyone,
I know that the Nickelodeon Family Suites on property is not a Disney Resort but I would like to hear from anyone who has stayed there. We just booked a suite there and would like info!!! I'm really curious about it. Thanks!!
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Are you referring to the hotel JUST outside of the gates when you come in, which is just slightly up the street from Marriott World?? if so, that is still NOT on property. Are you are looking for the same benefits such as EMH, transportation etc. that you would get staying with Disney? Belle

 

[Ducky_Love]

This hotel is just down the road from the Gaylord Palms on South International.. just to give you an idea of the area.

The first point is that I don't believe they provide transportation. If you are driving or are used to staying off property this shouldn't be a problem. I also don't know that they provide any other benefits of your typical economy suites (free breakfast, managers reception, ect)

However, with this hotel I feel you are paying for the "theme". You can get a comparable suite for far less at other hotels. This is actually a Holiday Inn with a fancy paint job and neat pool. I have not stayed at the property since the renovation, but I have toured the site.

Just my two cents.. it is a nice hotel as long as you go expecting a Holiday Inn and not a themed resort. :wave:

 

[kal1484]

Nick hotel is my guess a 30 min ride from the disney parks. \QUOTE]

Actually it's about 5 min from Epcot/MGM, 15ish to AK, and about 10 to MK...

The hotel is on 536, so it isnt actually on property. It is really just a glorified hotel. However, the pool area looked nice from the outside, as well as the lobby. If your kids love Nick, then you should make a reservation for their breakfast, only guests at the hotel can eat there.

 

[Happy-go-Lucky]

Yes. That's the hotel I'm talking about. It's 1 mile from WDW and about that as well to Magic Kingdom. I'm looking for a "suite" of some kind since we have 3 adults and 4 children. I can't necessarily pay $3,000-$4,000 to stay on property because with this many people, we have to get 2 rooms. We also don't really want to stay at the value resorts because then we're on top of each other with so many kids. We're really ina bind here with lodging. I talked to them this morning for a long time and they said they have transportation to and from all parks by bus (every 20 minutes), 2 water parks within the facility, character breakfasts and tons more. I didn't even think about this being "the competition." The only thing they don't have is the EMH, which I wasn't necessarily big on this trip anyway. Any ideas Belle????

 

[Happy-go-Lucky]

You know that Nick is the competition? You say "on property", you realize that its on Universal property. Theres no disney bus service or anything else that disney has there. You can not use EMH either. Nick hotel is my guess a 30 min ride from the disney parks. From what ive seen on tv nick hotel is trying to copy disneys ssucess with themeing their rooms to kids as in ASsports,ASmusic,and POP. I hope that if your staying there you plan on spending most of your time at "The Competition".

It is directly outside the gate. It's only 1 mile from WDW. She said they're not on ANY property...just their own.

 

[Ducky_Love]

Correction, they do have bus service:
http://www.nickhotel.com/freebies_bus_schedule.jsp


It also looks like they have organized activitiesfor kids:
http://www.nickhotel.com/suite_events.jsp


HOWEVER, if you are just looking for a nice place to stay with comparable bus service... I still say you could find something cheaper.

 

[wannabeBelle]

Hi there again, I can research the hotel itself more this evening but one of my first questions was how many bathrooms do you have for that many people? THAT is a big issue!!! Belle

 

[Ducky_Love]

It is directly outside the gate. It's only 1 mile from WDW. She said they're not on ANY property...just their own.

They are on their own property... but they are further than one mile. Still the distance is trivial if you are driving. They are in a nice location.

 

[nemobruce]

We have stayed there and the kids loved it. It has a nice pool area and the dinning was not that bad. Expect the noise level to be very high there is transportation to the Disney parks and universal. I believe the hotel is run by Holiday Inn.

 

[Master Yoda]

Like others have stated it is not "on property" in fact it is on the opposite side of I-4.

With it not being a Disney hotel all the perks of free parking, EMH and Disney transportation all go out the window. They will more than likely provide some form of park transportation but the frequency will be at best 25% that of Disney transportation.

As for the resort itself I have heard some really good things. However this was before the resort was officially open and the prices shot up. At the time the average price for the larger suites was hovering around the $120 per night range. When we checked on the same suites a few months ago they were nearly double to triple that.

If the suites were on Disney property and carried the same benefits you might be able to justify the price. But when you consider that you can rent a 3 bedroom vacation home with a pool and about the same distance from the parks for less than $200 a night it would take an awfully big Sponge Bob fan to justify the extra coin.

 

[JimboJones123]

We have stayed there and the kids loved it. It has a nice pool area and the dinning was not that bad. Expect the noise level to be very high there is transportation to the Disney parks and universal. I believe the hotel is run by Holiday Inn.

prices look to equal moderates -- and you get suites... might be a nice break from overdisneyfying trip.. at least a night or two.

 

[kal1484]

They are on their own property... but they are further than one mile. Still the distance is trivial if you are driving. They are in a nice location.

Actually, it probably is just over a mile to get on property, but not too much more....depends on how litteral you want to take it. Epcot 5, DTD 3.5..etc...(this is how I got to work everyday, one day I counted miles.

 

[Ducky_Love]

Actually, it probably is just over a mile to get on property, but not too much more....depends on how litteral you want to take it. Epcot 5, DTD 3.5..etc...(this is how I got to work everyday, one day I counted miles.

Me too. Actually I live VERY near this hotel.. that is the reason I know is actually more than a mile to GET anywhere. It may only be a mile before you pull under the WDW arch (I'll have to measure it on my way home! )

 

[Laura]

I've stayed there - I'll give you a review.

Now keep in mind I'm a huge Disney snob. I don't like the idea of taking a Disney vacation and staying off site. But we LOVEEEEEEEED staying at the family suites!

We went in July 2003 - spent half a week at Pop Century and half a week at Holiday Inn Family Suites (now Nick hotel). We were miserable staying at Pop Century, moving over to Nick hotel was awesome.

Here's a comparision of Nick Hotel and Pop Century...

Nick Hotel - has it's own HUGE water park (free)
Pop Century - has regular pools

Nick Hotel - park right near your room, so coming and going is easy
Pop Century - park pretty far away, exhausting walking to and from the car

Nick Hotel & Pop Century - both about the same distance from all Disney attractions, both very convenient

Nick Hotel - TONS of space, couple bedrooms, living room, kitchen
Pop Century - Tiny room for all to share with no fridge or anything

Nick Hotel - free huge breakfast buffet each morning (at least there was in 2003)
Pop Century - pay a fortune for your breakfast each morning

Really, the only disadvantage I could think of for Nick Hotel was that you don't get the perks of staying onsite (extra magic hours and such). It was a really, really nice and fun place and I'd love to go back again.

I would definitely choose Nick over a Disney value or moderate resort, but I'd choose a deluxe Disney resort over Nick. It is very comparable to the value resorts as far as theming, but then it takes it up a notch by giving you more space, a waterpark, and free breakfast. And it's just plain nice at the end of a tiring day at the Disney park to just get out of your car and have a 2 second walk into your room, where at the Disney resorts you usually have to walk FOREVER to get to your room.

I LOVE Disney resorts, but I loved this place too. It was great and I recommend it to anyone with kids to try at least once. Even if just for a couple nights.

 

[Laura]

You know that Nick is the competition? You say "on property", you realize that its on Universal property. Theres no disney bus service or anything else that disney has there. You can not use EMH either. Nick hotel is my guess a 30 min ride from the disney parks. From what ive seen on tv nick hotel is trying to copy disneys ssucess with themeing their rooms to kids as in ASsports,ASmusic,and POP. I hope that if your staying there you plan on spending most of your time at "The Competition".

You're totally wrong. Nick Hotel is RIGHT next to Disney, and quite a long drive away from Universal. You can practically see the Disney arch from Nick Hotel - it's just over the bridge from it. You should try not to judge the place if you've only seen it on TV. It's VERY nice.

 

[WDWRLD]

I was only going on the 30 min drive time because I was under the wrong information apparently. We had recieved some travel information from universal studios a few weeks ago and in it was a brochure for nick hotel. It made it appear as if they were located together or at least close.

 

[Happy-go-Lucky]

Ok...then I have one more question. How hard is it if you're staying off property to drive to the parks? Is it hard to park there and HOW MUCH would we expect to pay for parking at the parks????

 

[Laura]

If you're staying at Nick Hotel - it's extremely convenient to the parks. I mean no traffic or anything - just hop over the bridge and you're in Disney.

I think parking is like $8-9 a day? I'm not really sure because I always park free.