Sunday, May 9, 2010

Disney Weekend

For mother's day we took my mom to the Magic Kingdom. Even though we've been to the Magic Kingdom 10+ times in the past two years, we've only been at night (why, I have no idea). This was a totally different experience and we loved it.

We got to the park around 1:00pm and had reservations for the Crystal Palace. I would recommend this character dinning. Lunch is $22.00 and Dinner is $32.00 (but really no difference) and the food is pretty good.

Mom meeting pooh (her first character meal)





Great band on Main Street


Loved the show in front of the castle!


Window Shopping


We had a great day


We arrived at the Radisson around 1:00am. My mom requested that I book a hotel “that you walk into your room from the outside” (b/c she smokes). As a result of that type of hotel not being what we prefer I visited lastminutetravel.com and booked a three star hotel at Disney’s Main Gate. I was able to determine which hotel it was by the name of the restaurant being in the description (which they often do). We purchased two hotel rooms for one night for a grand total of $82.00. This included tax and fees.

Would I stay there again? Yes I would if we were on a budget and needed a reasonable priced hotel. The main reason we booked that hotel was because it was where I knew my mom would feel most comfortable. If we took her to a 4 or 5 star hotel, she would have been uncomfortable. The hotel is obviously on the older side, but the service was good, and it was in a good location. Naturally the rooms were worn, small stains on the carpet and a little on the outdated side, but for $35.00 a night, you get what you pay for. For families they had a cute little movie room with Mickey chairs for kids (with a schedule). In addition they had this little section with Rock Band and PS3s set up. Every time we walked by this area there were little kids in the rooms having a great time.

This morning we got up and lay by the pool for a few hours and it was awesome.


The link to the hotel:
http://www.radisson.com/kissimmeefl

Here is a picture of our room

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Hotels We've Visited That We Really Like

Okay, so if you're going on vacation, you should only book your hotels through priceline, hotwire or lastminute travel. I have never had a bad experience and must have used them at least 50 times. Here are some tips. Always use betterbidding.com, and read closely on hotwire. You can compare the tripadvisor ratings to the hotwire site and 9 out of 10 times you can figure it out.

Here is a list of some of our favorites hotels and ones that we love too. In no particular order. While we have stayed at many more hotels in NJ, NY, Pittsburgh and throughout Florida, these are the ones that stand out. (From the following list all but three were purchased on hotwire or priceline)

Some of our favorite hotels:
Hilton Bonnet Creek – Orlando
Rosen Shingle Creek – Orlando
The Peabody - Orlando
Hilton Clearwater beach – Clearwater beach
One Ocean – Atlantic Beach
The Shores – Daytona Beach
Paris – Las Vegas
Royal Pacific Resort- Universal
W Hotel - Jersey City NJ

Hotels that we have visited that we really like:
Doubletree Universal – Orlando
Crowne Plaza – Pittsburgh
Crowne Plaza – Universal Orlando
Renaissance SeaWorld
Bahir Mar – Fort Lauderdale beach
The Palms – Miami
Sawgrass Marriot – Ponte Vedra
Hilton –Fort Lauderdale beach

and can't leave out the worst hotel we have ever stayed:

The Staten Island Hotel. I would rather sleep in my car. Nothing else to say

If you have any questions just ask!