Just back from DL and the Candy Cane inn~

[OJulie67]

Just thought I would post a quick review since some of you were so helpful a few nights ago about my question about the Candy Cane inn.
First of all, we had a fabulous time! The parks were not at all crowded on Thursday evening and Friday until later in the day and we did and saw all we wanted to see.
Pirates had a breakdown and it took them an hour or so to fix it and we caught the line just when it was opening up again, so we only waited in line for about 10 minutes! Great new special effects!

Okay...on to the Candy Cane Inn. I was hesitant because I don't like Motels at all. AT ALL.
However, I must say it is a very pretty little place. Beautiful grounds and a convenient little walk to DL and the shuttle is awesome. The employees are fabulous. So nice. Everywhere we walked we were greeted.
I can honestly say that the rooms were shockingly nice for a "motel." I was pleasantly surprised. Small, yet nice. We had a premium room #241, conveniently hidden away in a corner and by a stairway. It was very quiet and we had no noise issues at all.
The beds were comfortable and the rooms were VERY clean. I have stayed at much nicer resorts that were not as clean. The fresh baked cookies were awesome, my kids loved the popcorn and the ability to have a VCR. We normally travel everywhere with a DVD player...this saved us room.
We loved having the "free" breakfast delivered in the mornings...with a paper. They were prompt and very efficient with everything we wanted. Our room att. even refilled my coffee preference when she noticed I had used all my beans. I appreciated that ALOT! The kids loved the turn down service and the candy left on their pillows when we would come home from a long day.
The only problem I had was that I didn't care for the pool. It was VERY small. It was also kinda dirty. It was smaller than I pictured for any motel/hotel. We went once for a couple hours, but ditched our pool day option today for Knotts Soak City instead!
The other problem was for the rate we paid...$169.00 a night PLUS a $25.00 resort tax PER NIGHT (which they didn't tell me about when I made the reservations) I thought $388.00 for 2 nights in a MOTEL was way too steep. But, in a pinch, I would stay there again and I would reccommend it to friends at a lower rate.
Overall a great time, but most likely we will stay on site next visit due to their high rates.
A beautiful MOTEL. Wonderful employees.

 

[disneyfreak75]

you get free breakfast delivered to your room???? I thought about staying there as I read a lot of great reviews on tripadvisor.com....but I think it is a longer walk to DL??

 

[crazymomof 4]

We stay here when AP rates are not so hot! The walk is not bad at all, and the Shuttle is always quick and convenient. If you reserve on line with AAA it is a pretty good deal! You only get breakfast served to you in Premium rooms!

 

[TwingleMum]

What was the breakfast?? What was the room like?

 

[TiffJ]

This is the first I've heard of a resort tax too. Is this on all rooms or just premium? Its not really a resort so what's it for? We are staying in Sept & would love to know if we need to add $25/night to our budget.

 

[ibouncetoo]

The resort tax is for every room and (I believe) every hotel. I know I got a big surprise at the Hilton Anaheim about 2 years ago when I went to check out. That's when I learned my lesson about asking for the TOTAL cost including all taxes and fees when I make my reservations. We got a $119 AAA rate at the CCI for next Friday and Saturday for the Deluxe room (just slightly larger that the standard) and the total for the two nights is $273.70. MOST hotels DO NOT include these fees when advertising and quoting room rates.

 

[tlovesdis]

I just stayed at the Candy Cane Inn June 22-26 and DID NOT pay any kind of resort tax! My room was $97 a night plus regular tax and that was it!!

 

[samkj]

Standard room tax is 15% which for a rate of $169 is just over $25. Like Ibounce said this is the same anywhere. You don't see it when you purchase a package since it is included in the price.

I'm glad you had a great stay. I'm still on the fence about where to stay for our trip next year. CCI is in the running, so I enjoyed reading your review.

 

[OJulie67]

What was the breakfast?? What was the room like?

If you book a premium room they bring your desired choices to your room the next morning when you want them to. The last time choice was 9:15-9:30 They also bring you a USA today newspaper.
We liked having the ability to eat when we wanted and at our leisure. The regular and deluxe rooms still offer the same breakfast choices, but you have to go down to the pool area to get it between 6-9 am.

The breakfast includes juices, coffee, tea, milk and hot chocolate. There is doughnuts, croissants, assort. muffins, (Chocolate chip was really good!)toast and jelly, and assorted bagels with cream cheese. Fresh fruit, oatmeal, and 4-5 different kinds of cereal. It's not ham and eggs, but it will definitely fill you. If your not big breakfast eaters, like us...it's perfect.

The room we had was premium, so it was a bit larger than the others. I found it to be quite comfortable for 4. There was 2 queen beds (with duvet and down comforters) divided by a small dresser. An armoire with TV and VCR is against the main wall with a small table and 2 comfortable chairs. The bath area has a vanity with one sink, a microwave, small fridge and coffee maker and all the coffee making supplies you need including a coffee grinder and fresh beans. (loved that) Cream in the fridge.
Lots of counter space. The bath area is just basic small tub/shower and toilet. Nothing fancy in there. But, clean...VERY CLEAN.

I thought the place was very nice. Had we just gotten a regular room without all the little extras I would have not been as happy. All in all a cute, well maintained place with incredible employees!!

 

[LuvOrlando]

-

 

[OJulie67]

The walk is not long at all. My husband and I thought it was right there. I think it's a longer walk when we drive and park in the parking structure and have to walk to the trams and into the grounds.

When you leave the CCI you turn left and walk down about 2 city blocks and your there. We are 30ish and fit and our kids are used to walking places, so for us the walk was just nice. We only used the shuttle once and only because it was leaving exactly when we got down to the street. The shuttle runs every 1/2 hour on the 15 and 45 minute marks. It's a NICE shuttle, very clean and well kept and they had 2 or 3 shuttles running while we were there. It only goes from CCI to the park. Alot of other hotels make you stop and pick people up at different hotels and your on the shuttle forever.

 

[wowsmom]

We just got back recently from our third stay at the Candy Cane Inn in 3 years. We love staying there.

DH and I are early 40s, not physically fit and still managed to walk from CCI to the park on our 3rd day at the parks. It only took about 6-7 minutes.

 

[jocotter]

I have stayed at the CCI probably at least 20+ times over 15 years. We used to pay the same for the preminum rooms as the regular rooms up to about 4 years ago, when they started the premium service. While I like all that you mentioned about the CCI, I would have a hard time paying $169 + $25 per night. Wow that is alot for what is essentially a nice hotel.

Last November, we went with our daughter and her 2 girls. We would have had to have 2 rooms and none of the CCI rooms connect inside the rooms and they couldn't guarentee we would be next to or even near each other. So we got a C-1 suite at the Desert Inn and Suites for $109 a night and it had two full rooms, 4 queen beds, a fridge, two bathrooms and a fold out couch. The rooms were recently remodeled and although not as nicely furnished as the CCI, they were extremely clean. I think that the CCI's prices have increased due to the #1 rating on Tripadvisor. Sigh.....

 

[wowsmom]

I have stayed at the CCI probably at least 20+ times over 15 years. We used to pay the same for the preminum rooms as the regular rooms up to about 4 years ago, when they started the premium service. While I like all that you mentioned about the CCI, I would have a hard time paying $169 + $25 per night. Wow that is alot for what is essentially a nice hotel.

Last November, we went with our daughter and her 2 girls. We would have had to have 2 rooms and none of the CCI rooms connect inside the rooms and they couldn't guarentee we would be next to or even near each other. So we got a C-1 suite at the Desert Inn and Suites for $109 a night and it had two full rooms, 4 queen beds, a fridge, two bathrooms and a fold out couch. The rooms were recently remodeled and although not as nicely furnished as the CCI, they were extremely clean. I think that the CCI's prices have increased due to the #1 rating on Tripadvisor. Sigh.....

I just want to point out that the CCI actually does have connecting rooms. My family just had connecting deluxe rooms for our week long stay 6/25-7/01. When you make your reservation, you can request them, but they will not guarantee that you get them. They also have connecting premium rooms - we stayed in those 2 years ago before they actually had the premium package.

 

[jocotter]

The connecting door was inside the rooms? I would have stayed at CCI, but when I called, they said that none of their rooms connect with interior doors, that the closest they could do was hope to put you side by side. Since we had grandchildren who would be going to bed early in one of the rooms, we had to have the interior doors. That's the reason we stayed at Desert Inn. Also, of course, they wanted $120 for each room, not guaranteed to be near each other for a total of $240. We paid less than half and could walk across the street.

Don't get me wrong, we ALWAYS stayed at CCI since about 1990. It was always a great place for us to park right outside the room and with the shuttle and all. I just think it's getting overpriced from all the word of mouth.

 

[wowsmom]

Jocotter, I wonder if you had asked them about the standard room? As far as I know, those don't actually have connecting doors. But the deluxe and premium rooms do. It's possible you talked to somebody who had just started and didn't know what they were talking about. All 3 of our stays have been in rooms with inside connecting doors - some years we have used them, others we haven't.

As far as the price, it does seem to go up in more popular times, but sometimes you can still get a decent price. We paid $107 a night for our rooms back in June.

 

[lntsmom]

I paid $69 a night for three of us, and was kicking myself because if I'd have booked two weeks earlier I would have paid $59 a night. This was for the last week of May.

The last couple of times I've checked their rates, they were similar to what you're quoting for CCI.

Have they doubled room prices in the past year? Did I manage to hit some unbelievable sale???? I know we didn't go during an off time because the repositioning cruise came into town the same day we did, and the hotel was filled with those folks. I am trying to figure out what sort of magic got me the rates I found!

 

[jocotter]

We've been staying there for between $80 - $120, depending on the rooms. I asked for connecting rooms, any connecting rooms. I guess it's possible that they were sold out of them. I've just never noticed the connecting doors when we stayed in the premium rooms, but it's good to know for the future in case I can get a good off season price.

 

[Lissete]

I paid $69 a night for three of us, and was kicking myself because if I'd have booked two weeks earlier I would have paid $59 a night.

I haven't seen a rate like that ANYWHERE in a gazillion years! Great find on that one!

As for the resort tax, anywhere you stay they will charge a hotel tax usually it's the total of the state's tax plus about 5-8%. We just stayed in a Deluxe room at the CCI in June. We paid $107 AAA plus 15% tax. Our room sounds very much like how the Premium room was described above. All things being equal (except for turn down svc. & the vcr, I think), I would be more than happy to pay $60 less per nt. and walk down to breakfast. Although 2 out of 3 nts. my girls probably felt like they were in a premium, because they slept in while DH & I brought breakfast up for them!

We are also non-motel people but this last trip we spent 16 days in different inns & motels and we were very happy with all of them!