Holiday Inn Waterpark Resort (Formerly Nickelodeon)
- Thread starter dlavender
- Start date
gatormom2tots
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
Its been MANY years (about 8) but we said we would never go back. Hopefully they have done some improvements to the rooms and the monitoring of both children and adults (they really pushed the alcohol) at the pools.
halfpintpeggy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2015
Great rate, I'd go for that too!
jsanders82
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2011
Hi,
I did a girls long weekend getaway to here with my mom, myself and 18 y/o daughter.
There is a king in the "true" bedroom (has a door). My mom had this room as she has sleeping issues. The alcove - small bedroom with no door has a bunk bed. I slept on the bunk and it was comfortable. Even though there wasn't a door, I had privacy by the way it was set up. And then a pull out couch that my daughter took.
There's a sink, microwave and coffee maker in the living room / bar area.
We liked it here. It was clean and our room was updated. The only down side was one bathroom but we made it work.
There are parking and resort fees though. We booked the room with points so our cost was only the resort fees.
I did a girls long weekend getaway to here with my mom, myself and 18 y/o daughter.
There is a king in the "true" bedroom (has a door). My mom had this room as she has sleeping issues. The alcove - small bedroom with no door has a bunk bed. I slept on the bunk and it was comfortable. Even though there wasn't a door, I had privacy by the way it was set up. And then a pull out couch that my daughter took.
There's a sink, microwave and coffee maker in the living room / bar area.
We liked it here. It was clean and our room was updated. The only down side was one bathroom but we made it work.
There are parking and resort fees though. We booked the room with points so our cost was only the resort fees.
HopperFan
"It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, princess."
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2003
Nice to hear as I often see some deals and not sure if I want to bite on them.
We are all adults and really no interest in the waterpark ... but the layout looks like it could serve us well.
I love the location in regards to getting to the parks quickly!
HotMama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 20, 2005
We loved it there! The hubby and kids (ages 13 & 11), along with myself were very comfortable in our 2 bedroom suite. The living room & kitchen are perfect, the kids loved the bunk beds, and our bedroom was so comfortable. The pool area was amazing. It is big, with lots of kids activities. The hubby & I enjoyed the pool side wait staff delivering our drinks while we soaked in the sun. My kids each won a refillable soft drink cup playing the poolside games. We enjoyed walking around the resort. The staff was pleasant, everything was clean, the room was spacious, and parking was easy. We will definitely be back! Enjoy your stay. You got a great deal at a great resort!
BigredNole
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2007
We went once about 5 years ago. For the most part it was OK, but we will never go back. The few negatives are so bad, it does not warrant giving them a second chance. In order to keep up profits, filling rooms at all cost is necessary. They give out locals are nearby locals huge discounted rates just to put bodies in rooms. That brings in the lowest of the low. There were too many drunks. Drunks running through the water park knocking kids down and out of the way, just ridiculous. After an incident at the arcade the second night, we demanded a refund on the remaining nights and left. The drunks got into it with a Muslim family. Having to sit around to finalize a witness statement and witnessing more of the garbage that came with the drunks, it was not worth being there.
There are far better places to go for that $100/nt. I would just look for the deals or go somewhere nicer for a little bit more.
There are far better places to go for that $100/nt. I would just look for the deals or go somewhere nicer for a little bit more.
HotMama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 20, 2005
I would like to add that we visited less than a year ago... It was wonderful.
dlavender
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 7, 2015
I just called and confirmed our reservation as I get nervous when booking through discounts. But they confirmed we have a family suite with 1 king bed, a separate room for the kids with bunk beds, and a living room with a pull out. I’ve seen the negative reviews like @BigredNole posted above, but for the price and that large of a room we are going to test it out. Hopefully our experience aligns closer to @HotMama ’s. I’ll report back on Monday!
ETA: we wil be in the parks more than we will be at the resort so perhaps that will alleviate some of the negatives....
ETA: we wil be in the parks more than we will be at the resort so perhaps that will alleviate some of the negatives....
HopperFan
"It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, princess."
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2003
Always look at dates. The Nick Hotel was sold in 2014. At that point they decided they would rebrand and completely renovate which would take time. The hotel fully turned into the Holiday Inn Waterpark Resort just two years ago. Given all that is major change - I would only look at reviews since Summer of 2016.
HopperFan
"It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, princess."
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2003
dlavender
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 7, 2015
That is not good, it's not like it's early in the day, so no excuses.
Amen!
Took 40 mins but housekeeping manager showed up with keys to a room down the hall and moved us there. That room was clean.
Glad I listened to my wife and we checked in before going to MK. Would have been much worse if this happened now at midnight! Missed a FP but at least we got squared away.
HopperFan
"It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, princess."
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2003
Please do and if you took any, pictures. Have a magical weekend!
ClapYourHands
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2018
Does anyone know about shuttles to Disney parks from this hotel? Available? Run fairly often? Go to all parks or just one and you make your way from there? I'd love to make rope drop in the morning, and be able to come back for a midday pool break because the pool area looks pretty epic!
dlavender
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 7, 2015
Just arrived back from another great weekend at WDW!
I'll list the pros and cons that we experienced at this hotel:
Pros
Overall, we felt that we got a good deal. However, if we would have paid more than we did, we may have been more critical. The waterpark area is great, but it was so crowded we didn't really get to enjoy it. We spent 3 hours at the pool closer to our room and loved it! It's just a basic pool (although very large), and had a nice pool bar and hot tub. Also had a large checkerboard, table tennis, and pool table. It was not crowded over there at all. The restaurant on property boasts that kids eat free with paying adult. It's a buffet set up for breakfast and dinner (they don't serve lunch). The offerings for breakfast looked ok, but we passed and just ate what we brought (pop tarts, muffins, cereal). Dinner buffet honestly looked terrible. They charge 18.95 per adult for dinner, not including any drinks. Hot dogs, chicken fingers, salad bar, and what I believe was tilapia. A lot of desserts. We passed and went off property for dinner. There is also a Subway and a Pizza place in the marketplace. They have a good sized arcade, laser tag, and a 4D theater on property. We did not utilize those. Honestly, I would put it on par with the Embassy Suites Lake Buena Vista. But not the Embassy at Lake Buena Vista South. That one is so far above the others in service and quality.
We would stay there again if we found the same deal. I would not pay more than we did to stay there, however. I'm glad we went and have no regrets (even with our early troubles). If you can get a deal to stay there for around $100, I would suggest it.
I've attached some pictures. Don't mind the master bed pic, it was check out time and I had to snap some quick pics! Also, DD in the corner of the kids room is not in time out, but she's incredibly shy and did not want to be a part of this post! 
I'll list the pros and cons that we experienced at this hotel:
Pros
- Great location! Only a 7-10 minute drive in to the MK, and that was mostly traffic once we crossed through the WDW gates
- Room layout was perfect for us
- Noise level. Didn't hear a peep at night, and we even were on one side of a lockout unit, and those are notoriously terrible for noise
- Pool bar, and general amenities
- Main pool was very crowded. Couldn't find a spot and didn't feel comfortable with our kids in the pool and waterpark area with that many people. We did have a great time at the other pool, though
- Outward facing room (already knew this going in, still not our favorite)
- Even though the rooms appear newer, can tell they are made more on the cheaper end of the spectrum (pillows, sheets not up to par with other chains)
- Check in was a zoo. A lot of people checking in and not enough staff to handle that.
Overall, we felt that we got a good deal. However, if we would have paid more than we did, we may have been more critical. The waterpark area is great, but it was so crowded we didn't really get to enjoy it. We spent 3 hours at the pool closer to our room and loved it! It's just a basic pool (although very large), and had a nice pool bar and hot tub. Also had a large checkerboard, table tennis, and pool table. It was not crowded over there at all. The restaurant on property boasts that kids eat free with paying adult. It's a buffet set up for breakfast and dinner (they don't serve lunch). The offerings for breakfast looked ok, but we passed and just ate what we brought (pop tarts, muffins, cereal). Dinner buffet honestly looked terrible. They charge 18.95 per adult for dinner, not including any drinks. Hot dogs, chicken fingers, salad bar, and what I believe was tilapia. A lot of desserts. We passed and went off property for dinner. There is also a Subway and a Pizza place in the marketplace. They have a good sized arcade, laser tag, and a 4D theater on property. We did not utilize those. Honestly, I would put it on par with the Embassy Suites Lake Buena Vista. But not the Embassy at Lake Buena Vista South. That one is so far above the others in service and quality.
We would stay there again if we found the same deal. I would not pay more than we did to stay there, however. I'm glad we went and have no regrets (even with our early troubles). If you can get a deal to stay there for around $100, I would suggest it.
I've attached some pictures. Don't mind the master bed pic, it was check out time and I had to snap some quick pics! Also, DD in the corner of the kids room is not in time out, but she's incredibly shy and did not want to be a part of this post!
dlavender
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 7, 2015
They did have shuttles. We didn’t use them. I believe they just have limited service, though. Like 2 departures and 1 or 2 coming back. I also think you had to schedule it with them. But I’d call and ask.
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