Review of Days Inn Kissimmee-Why You Stay On-Site!

[SandmanGStefani24]

I decided last trip I was going to save some green and stay offsite with a budget chain. Now POP isn't expensive by any means, and at $85 a night which I was quoted, I would have been getting a huge bargain considering what you get for that amount. Still, I decided I would go with Days Inn since they quoted $34.95 a night. I figured I would only be there to sleep and get cleaned up for the next day, so it was a good choice.
Negative, ghost rider. Staying onsite means you stay in the land where dreams come true. This motel was the land that dreams forgot. Now some of kissimmee is ok, but this neighborhood was not. The motel was past its prime, and not anything like the website showed. The much-touted Tiki Bar was a shack, and closed at that. The room guide said it was "open seasonally", something the website forgot. The gameroom was a closet with 3 older games in it, and the room itself had seen better days. There were dents in the walls, peeling walpaper in the bathroom, a TV with a whopping 10 channels on it, and a pay-per-play Super Nintendo. (no, not a playstation or xbox, Super nintendo) Local calls could be made for $1.50 per call, and there was a nice note that said if I took any of their plain white towels I would be charged for it. The walkways on the 3rd floor were rickety and sagged alarmingly when I walked on certian spots. (I guess my 145 pounds were too much for it!) Lastly the lowest of the low, I was approached twice by thugs selling gold chains (with pricetags still attached) and drugs. :mad:
Now this is not to say ALL Days Inns are bad, or that this motel was a total mess. (The room was quiet, and the A/C and shower were tip-top.) It's more a message to my Intercot friends to remind you that you get what you pay for. I wanted a cheap motel, and got one. Any Value resort at WDW is a GREAT deal for what you're paying. I will never stay offsite again when traveling to the World. Take it from me, sometimes paying a little more is well worth it!:D

[TheRustyScupper]

1) The Days Inn and Days Inn Suites you mentioned are old.
2) Due to low occupancy, they are poorly maintained.
3) For the price, it is a room.
4) However, there are far better choices for the same bucks.
5) The WDW-area has several under-$40 hotels that are quite acceptable.
6) Next time you want off-site, post as question, and us locals can help.

[SandmanGStefani24]

wow...seems like I hit a nerve.

sorry if you took offense to my post, I really just wanted to let my Intercot friends know how good a value the Value Resorts are and to be careful about rates that seem too good to be true. We're all here to help, right?

[Ms.Disney]

Yes well you do get what you pay for.

[Jasper]

The other thing about staying at a Disney property is that no matter how old it is you know that it is always in decent repair. Even when a Disney property gets close to its time for a serious refurbishment it is still in better shape than it sounds like this one was.

Sorry to hear that you had a bad time, even though it doesn't in any way reflect on Disney you still want EVERY part of your trip to WDW to be wonderful.

[MickeyandTink]

wow...seems like I hit a nerve.

sorry if you took offense to my post, I really just wanted to let my Intercot friends know how good a value the Value Resorts are and to be careful about rates that seem too good to be true. We're all here to help, right?

Maybe it's just me, but I've noticed a few posts the last couple of days where people seem to have taken offense when it appears none was intended. Since I discovered Intercot a little over a year ago, I've found it to be filled with good information provided by people who want to share their knowledge to help other Disney fans. That is the beauty of the internet.

Of course, the downside is that communicating online fails to allow us to see "how" something is said. Therefore, people may unintentionally be seen as being offensive or provocative when no such approach was intended.

As a fellow intercotee, please try to view each response to your postings as someone else trying to be helpful to you and others. If a post is made that really appears to be inflammatory, the mods seem to do an excellent job taking care of it. :soapbox:

OK, now I'll step down.

[brewcrew26]

I'm so sorry to hear about your accomodations! I'm sure the Disney part of the trip was fine and made up for it!

I remember visiting my sister one year (we were staying at POFQ) while she was staying off site in Kissimmee, this was year's ago. I think it was a Sheraton, but they had a lake and it was aptly named "Black Lake". It looked like sewage had backed up into and it smelled really funky.

Needless to say, I was glad I was staying on-site! For all those naysayers, you really do get what you pay for, although, it is nice to really find a $30 hotel that is up to Disney standards.

[GrumpyFan]

Been there, done that, won't go back. Several times in the past when we have driven, we would stay one night off-property at places we found for cheap. The saying, "you get what you pay for" rings true with a lot of these hotels.

[TheRustyScupper]

wow...seems like I hit a nerve.

1) Nope.
2) No nerve struck and no offense taken.
3) I simply tried to state facts about those hotels.
4) I sincerely apologize if it sounded wrong or impolite.

NOTE: Yes,m on-site hotels are nice, but there are also fine off-site hotels, regardless of your budget. Unfortunately, there are some hotels that are "clean" but in need of serious repair or updating.

[DDuck66]

wow...seems like I hit a nerve.

sorry if you took offense to my post, I really just wanted to let my Intercot friends know how good a value the Value Resorts are and to be careful about rates that seem too good to be true. We're all here to help, right?

Rusty Scupper is not taking offense...he always answers his post in numerical order much like listing "bullet points" on a memo. You will get used to his as time goes on. It seemed that way to me when he was on some of my earlier posts...but his answers always have great factual information.
As to the original question, we live about an hour away and we stay offsite many times especially if it is just for a weekend...and there are places we stay and places that we will not go to. You just have to look around. Whenever we want to try a new spot we ask on Intercot for local reviews.

[laprana]

That's a bummer about your hotel!! I'm always so wary about booking hotels online because sometimes they can make the place look so much better than it really is! My family ran into this in 2005...we went through a major online travel site (not sure if I'm allowed to post the name? :confused:) to book a condo in Kissimmee for our WDW trip. Man, did it look nice on the site with great photos that made the condo look top notch and the whole complex impressive. But, when we got there, we thought we were at the wrong place! It was a dump to say the least! The condo was rundown and in major disrepair. The tiny pool was disgusting and looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a year. The whole place was just horrible. From that point on, we vowed our next trip we were staying on-site! Now, anytime I have to book a hotel anywhere, I do a lot of homework - look up customer ratings, AAA ratings, etc. But, unfortunately, you just never know for sure if it's going to be what you saw online or not till you get there! I hope the rest of your trip was great!! :mickey:

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Is this the Days Inn outside of Downtown Disney? If so we stayed there the night before our checkin in Jan '03 and I think it was $49.95 per night. It was older but seemed clean. We stayed at The Best Western in Downtown Disney the night before our checkin in December 05 and it was horrible, the bathroom was moldy and the room smelled musty and smoky, even though it was non-smoking. I think it cost around $170 per night with discount. If I had to compare the two, I'd say the Days Inn was nicer.

However, I agree 100% that neither of these had the magical Disney touch which is why on the night of our arrival on our December 08 trip we will be staying in a Disney Hotel!!!
:number1:

2003-All Stars Movies
2005-Coronado Springs
Dec. 2008-Pop Century

[KylesMom]

Is this the Days Inn outside of Downtown Disney? Nope, different one. 17 years ago we stayed at the same hotel as Sandman on our honeymoon (my first trip to Disney) - we booked it through our bank travel department. I remember walking into a "standard" room and crying - it was in bad shape then. I went down to the front office, and they upgraded us to a nicer suite for the week. PHEW! I remember hanging out at the tiki bar a few nights - that was the best thing the hotel had going for it!

From that experience, we decided that we'd never stay off-site again if we made a return trip!

[Piglet822]

wow...seems like I hit a nerve.



That's justs how Rusty posts, short, sweet and to the point but very knowledgeable and helpful when it comes to Disney. You'll get used to him ;)

Now for the reason I responded :blush:. After reading some of the posts it reminded me of the time a few years back that my best friend and I went to Jacksonville Beach for a book signing by one of our favorite authors.
I've always done well by Days Inn so off to the computer I went to find a room :)
I found one, I booked it, and I got directions and when the time came, off we went :D
We got off the exit, followed the diretions, made the last turn and my jaw literally dropped :eek:
There were two buildings on the right side of the street, both hotels. The first one was completely boarded up, the 2nd hotel was ours. The first building on the left side of the street was also closed and boarded up and the next building was some kind of a nightclub.
Our room was clean but the door had not been shut properly. Like idiots we went in anyway, everything was fine, thank goodness! The walkway outside our room was badly in need of paint and sagged just a bit under our weight (and we are both well in excess of 145 lbs :blush: )
Overall the accommodations were adequate, it served the purpose, was neat and clean but not in the best part of town and I definitely would not care to repeat that experience - I will definitely be sure to do my homework next time.

[BluewaterBrad]

For $34.95 a night that is what you get!:mickey:

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

wow...seems like I hit a nerve.

sorry if you took offense to my post, I really just wanted to let my Intercot friends know how good a value the Value Resorts are and to be careful about rates that seem too good to be true. We're all here to help, right?

I think it's the fact that he numbers them. Sometimes it comes across as harsh or like it's factual. You'll get used to it.

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. You know it's really hard to tell about resorts online. Sometimes pictures look great but the hotel isn't. We stayed at a hotel in South Beach....looked beautiful and wasn't cheap. It was terrible. I've been to La Quintas much nicer. It's unfortunate that due to the internet getting these great deals that so many travel agencies have gone out of business. Travel agents really know their stuff.

[Harley-Davidson_Guy]

Not funny at all but it made me chuckle....I think I stayed here too. We stayed at one that sounds just like you describe and it taught me to never go by the picture on the internet. They took those pictures when they first opened and never updated them. I will nevern stay in a Days Inn ever again because of our experiance. We arrived there at 3am after driving 17 hours. We were very tired and all we wanted to do was sleep. There was a drunk guy out in the parking lot going to the bathroom on a tree. :ack: Once we got to the room it was so dirty that we were afraid to have the kids take their shoes off and when I went into the bathroom there was a white towel on the bathtub with dried blood on it! :jaw: I am not kidding! All I wanted to do was sleep long enough to get out of there and check into Disney! I would have been happier in the truck.

[luvdiznee]

To the OP, sorry you had a bad experience. But at the same time ThankYou for posting that honest experience, as I showed this to my sis who is coming with us to Disney for the first time and was asking why do we have to stat at their resort. I agree there are other hotels offsite that are better but at the same time there are many other reasons, I'd rather stay on site. As someone else also said, been there done that as we have too, once on a trip to PA. When I took the family to Sesame Place and Hershey Park. Glad we were only one night in each of those. :sick:But again Thank You! :mickey:

[kmo84]

I agree with Rusty, there are nice off-site accomodations, you just have to do a little research.
It's good to know about that Days Inn. Accomodations in Kissimmee can be hit or miss. Getting approached by drug dealers is pretty scary! I prefer Lake Buena Vista when I am staying off site. It's a nicer area.
You aren't likely to find anything there for $34.95, though!

[Young@Heart]

We booked a $50/night (through hotwire) room the night we checked out of POP back in 2006 (we drove down and wanted to get some sleep before the drive back). It was a NIGHTMARE!!!! The floors in the halls were warped, the whole place smelled, and our bathroom had a huge leak-there was a pool of water on the floor and it was dripping down from the ceiling. :confused: These places give a really bad name to any of the decent hotels/motels in the area.

[merlinmagic4]

You really do have to do your research. Tripadvisor and some other sites have reviews and you can get a general feel for a hotel that way. If it's as bad as yours was, there won't be any good reviews! Personally, I would not even look at a hotel that was much under 100.00 a night. You are right in that it makes sense to get a value on-site if all you are looking for is hotel room - they're cheap enough. We prefer the 2 bedroom/2bath condo with laundry so staying offsite has turned into a better option for us financially.

[wvgoofyfan]

Yep, I just stayed offsite at a Days Inn on I192 very close to the Kissamee downtown area.

For the $28.95 rate I got, I got what I paid for.
Not much, lol!

I did appreciate being close to very good off-site food, i.e. Red Lobster, etc. but I had a
15 mile drive to the Welcome to Disney sign. It was a different experience and I would not
recommend this Days Inn either. It was musty, in an unsafe neighborhood, (I insisted on ground floor and mad a very quick dash nightly into my room), and the place was so run down the maid left me a note thanking me for the tip! Poor thing, tips must be hard to come by!

The worst thing about this Days Inn and probably the most dangerous. There was a small 2 cup coffeepot in the room and they did provide coffee you could make yourself daily, but the only cups they could provide were those thin, cold plastic cups. I burnt myself the 1st morning and quickly fixed that problem by bringing my stryrofoam cup back from ChickFillet and using it the rest of the week.
The second worst thing about this Days Inn was that I had to go to Target and buy a towel and washcloth to shower. I could not use their
towels, they were like sandpaper and so thin I could read thru them.

I enjoyed the "different" experience offsite, I have an AP, but never, never again Days Inn.

I agree that if I ever stayed offsite again, I would really research the hotel/motel.:thumbsup:

[AKL Mom]

1) The Days Inn and Days Inn Suites you mentioned are old.
2) Due to low occupancy, they are poorly maintained.
3) For the price, it is a room.
4) However, there are far better choices for the same bucks.
5) The WDW-area has several under-$40 hotels that are quite acceptable.
6) Next time you want off-site, post as question, and us locals can help.
What do you think of the Radison -Celebration at Kissimmee. We are staying off site our first night and have read good things about this hotel on this website and others but first hand knowledge is always the best.

[Darbylew]

Sorry about your hotel off site. We have never
stayed off site. I want to be in the Magic at all
times. I like parking my car and not having to
use it until I am ready to go home which is
never but I have to leave.......:mickey:

[SandmanGStefani24]

lots of great comments here, as always. i am especially glad to read that I wasn't the only one that experienced the days experience. thanks to wvgoofyfan and harleydavidsonguy for sharing your stories as well. I will gladly pay a little more to stay on-site every other time I go to WDW.
Of course there is a slight chance that I was simply so spoiled by POP that anything less was doomed to a poor review. Either way, the Days Inn is safe from a return visit from me. :D I'll probably try a moderate resort next visit just to try something new. Now to decide which one....

[CrazyStudent]

Been there, done that. About twelve or thirteen years ago before I got a cell phone, the transportation from the expensive off-site hotel I stayed at was 45 minutes late picking us up after Epcot closed. The Epcot parking lot after the park closes in winter is not the funnest place to be stuck. It wasn't freezing but it wasn't warm, either.

The transportation privileges alone is worth the price of staying on-site.