TheMouseForLess Resort Reviews

TheMouseForLess members review off-property resorts.

Radisson-Celebration, Kissimmee, FL

Submitted by: Linda N. Travel party included DS (age 13) and DD (age 11).

Resort: Radisson-Celebration, Kissimmee, FL

Date of Stay: June 19-20, 2008

Type of Resort: Off Property, Kissimmee, FL (Highway 192)

Rate Paid During Your Stay: $79/night plus 12.5% tax due upon booking, plus a resort fee of $11.70 due upon check in for a "Resort Fee. Total paid: $100.18.

Room sleeps: This particular room slept four people.

Please Rate the Following on a scale from 1-10 (10 being the best):

Theming: 3. It's a Florida hotel and it looks like Florida. Nothing special. Many dark sidewalks and large plants--I didn't like walking here by myself at night when I had to return to the car.
Room Size: 5. Decent size room.
Amenities: 2. Included small coffeemaker and fridge, cable TV and blazing fast internet (which was the best part of this entire stay.) If beds were comfortable and AC unit quieter I would have rated it higher.
Quality: 2. Attention to detail was lacking in this hotel (note beds and AC unit issues).
Cleanliness: 6. It seemed clean.
Transportation: 1. Terribly inconvenient. I would never use it.
Recreation: 5. Saw a game room and they had a decent pool.
Value: 5. You could pay more in Orlando, and you could pay less.

Over all rating: 5

Don't miss: The phone number for another hotel, like a Fairfield or Hampton Inn, if you're not staying with The Mouse. You can do better for the same money in Orlando.

Room Location Suggestion: Somewhere else!

The Mouse For Less Tip: Don't stay here without a vehicle. Transportation to theme parks is very inconvenient. Here is the schedule they provided me at check in -

Shuttle departs hotel at:

• 7:50am to Sea World
• 7:50am to Universal
• 8:40, 9:25, 9:55,am noon, 5:40pm to Epcot

Return shuttle picks up:

• 6:45pm Epcot (Lane 24)
• 7:30pm Universal (lane 81)
• 7:45pm Sea World
• 8:45pm, 9:30pm Epcot (Lane 24)
• 10:50pm MK (Lane 41)
• 11:30pm MK if it closes at midnight or later.

They also say that the busses have GPS tracking and are ON TIME and to arrive at least 10 minutes prior. Wheelchairs need to prearranged 24 hours in advance. Scooters are not accommodated. Groups of 10 or more cannot use the shuttle. Smoking, food, and drinks are not permitted on the shuttle. Room keys are required to board. With this transportation schedule it would be difficult to see Fantasmic and a 9:00pm Illuminations--can't get out of the World Showcase at 9:15pm and make it to the bus area for 9:30pm, so you would have to take the monorail to TTC to board the 10:50pm bus.

Comments: I booked this hotel to compare a "moderate" off-property hotel to what Disney has to offer. Even at a Disney Value resort you get a nicely themed hotel that is clean, with comfortable beds. I have never had an uncomfortable bed at a Disney hotel at any price range and I've been to every Value and Moderate resort at Disney at least a couple of times. I was very disappointed with this hotel as I was expecting a much nicer place to stay. The Radisson-Celebration was recently refurbished, and the lobby was pretty and check in went very quickly. The lobby concierge wanted to sell me things, such as park tickets and even a timeshare, and asked if my husband was joining me. I wondered why he asked me about the husband, and later someone mentioned that he was probably "qualifying" people for time share presentations and I am not "qualified" without a spouse present. When I told him I was in for one night and wasn't buying tickets he recommended I go to Old Town and Downtown Disney because they were free, and he handed me a coupon booklet. When I told him I was a travel agent who booked Disney and Orlando and had annual passes to the theme parks he changed the subject and asked what park I was going to that night, and he asked the kids what their favorite thing was at Disney. (I figured he worked on commission and could not sell me anything so he gave up.)

We went to the back of the resort to get to our room. I was at this hotel in 2003 and it looks much better with newer carpeting and paint. But it is still an old hotel with new carpet and paint, and there is not much attention to detail. There were soda cans in the public areas and room service plates in the hallways when we arrived (and they were still there when we returned to the room at 11:30pm.) Upon first impression my room was an adequate as a place to sleep but not very impressive. It was larger in square footage than a Disney Value or Moderate resort, but there was no night stand between the two beds—they were on the side. I had some work to do so I tapped in to the internet, which was part of the "resort fee." It was blazing fast. The beds in this place were among the worst I have slept on in any hotel of any price range with coarse sheets (and they had rough towels too) and a dingy looking comforter between the duvet cover (it was sticking out from the cover and what I saw didn't look too fresh.) The air conditioning unit in this particular room was also very loud (I think it was old) and did not do a very good job keeping the room at a consistent temperature—the room was warm then got very cold, then the unit shut off until it got warm again, and then it turned on and cooled the room off. It sounded like an engine when it was running and I could not hear anyone talking while sitting at the table working. I could also see in the bathroom area where it has been painted numerous times, and the seams are separating between the wall and ceiling. There are also rust marks on the wall, and the walls themselves were in poor condition with some sloppy patching and paint to cover it up. The condition of the bathroom makes or breaks a hotel room and I probably would not have even provided feedback to management on my one night stay if the bathroom looked better with more attention to detail—I would have just decided that the uncomfortable beds did not warrant a return visit. I am not complaining about housekeeping as my room seemed clean, except for some sort of unknown gunk on the upper part of the shower curtain and stained drapes. I just expected more attention to detail in a Radisson property than my room showed. While the lobby and public areas look nice at check in, my room did not seem not up to par with the rest of the hotel. Also, the room safe was locked when we checked in and I did not have time to call someone to unlock it so I ended up taking my computer with me rather than leaving it in the room. The safe should have been taken care of prior to the room being assigned.

I will not be returning to this particular hotel nor can I recommend it. For $79/night there are many hotels in Orlando that are newer with better attention to detail. In retrospect I just should have booked a Disney Value resort as it would not have been much more money than what I paid, and I would have at least had a better place to stay with more comfortable beds and no one would have asked me if my husband was joining us. Even though a Disney value resort has less square footage than this place, it would have been a more comfortable place to stay. There was absolutely NO WAY I would have spent a second night in this particular room. Had I booked a second night I would have asked for another room, it was that bad.