Atlantis Aquaventure by Booking Room at Comfort Suites?

[herrmannpt]

Trying to plan ahead for our January cruise. We will be doing B2B cruises on the Disney Dream. My 7 yo son loves water slides and desperately wants to go to Atlantis, but man is it expensive doing it through the ship!!! We are a family of 4 with 2 adults and 2 kids (7 and 5). I've heard that you can book a room at the Comfort Suites Paradise Island, basically check in and out at the same time, and have full access to Atlantis Aquaventure. I went to the website for Comfort Suites and it looks like we can book a room for $278 including all taxes and fees. Booking through the ship, it looks like it will cost us $668. Is this too good to be true? Has anyone done this and can share your experience?

 

[Bellabully]

Watching this. Cruising on the Dream 4/20/18-4/23/18.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

That is is exactly. It is EASY. There are taxis waiting there, we told them Comfort Suites and off we went. I am pretty sure we were in a van with other passengers on the way there but I am blanking that memory. I know for sure we were on the way back. I mention this because my DH and I feel safer with our daughter by being amongst other guests rather than just us in a taxi by ourselves. Anyway! They pull up, you walk in, complete the tranaction, and get your paperwork. The staff there is very use to guests doing the check-in/check-out scenario. My DH was a bit nervous thinking they were going to somehow challenge us or something. Instead, they direct you which way to go to get to the resort which is across the way. There is quite a bit of walking through Atlantis, in my opinion, to get to the desk where you turn in your papers to get the wristbands. I mention the long walk because you have young kids. Right after that, you will see many aquariums and amazing fish and beyond that are the pools and slides. When you are finished and ready to go back to the ship, you just walk out front and get a taxi van. I hope you are able to go for it!

My other tip is to be very careful in the lazy river which is not lazy at all. I am not sure what the attraction is called but there are large rapids and our tubes were rockin. Just try to read all you can before you go so uou know what to expect.

Finally, my opinion is that I am glad we went as we had always wanted to visit Atlantis, but it was NOT anywhere as pretty and sparkly as it looks on TV! And I was not impressed with the beach there. We had a very nice time, and I would consider going again. We actually used hotel points to get our room. So we essentially went for free. I am glad we did not pay almost $700 for our family of four.

 

[remlap]

We've done it too Easy and the hotel didn't bat an eye. As some of the other posters have said, it is a bit of a trek from CS to the pool area, but part of it is thru the aquarium, which is cool.

Just fyi, we've DIY twice to atlantis on DCL cruises. The first time we did Comfort Suites, the second time, it was actually cheaper to book direct with Atlantis. Reading the DIS boards, I think this was rare, but do check both hotels out.

 

[herrmannpt]

Excellent! Even if it is a bit of walk, I think it will be well worth it to save a few hundred dollars. Thanks to all who answered!

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Excellent! Even if it is a bit of walk, I think it will be well worth it to save a few hundred dollars. Thanks to all who answered!

Yes! It absolutely is well worth it to save the money. Have fun!

 

[Pagosa Springs]

We took advantage of this on our last cruise. The only downside that i can see is if the weather is bad. Comfort Suites requires cancellation 5 days before or you pay full price. I was a little concerned going in, but the weather was awesome and we had a good time.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

That is is exactly. It is EASY. There are taxis waiting there, we told them Comfort Suites and off we went. I am pretty sure we were in a van with other passengers on the way there but I am blanking that memory. I know for sure we were on the way back. I mention this because my DH and I feel safer with our daughter by being amongst other guests rather than just us in a taxi by ourselves. Anyway! They pull up, you walk in, complete the tranaction, and get your paperwork. The staff there is very use to guests doing the check-in/check-out scenario. My DH was a bit nervous thinking they were going to somehow challenge us or something. Instead, they direct you which way to go to get to the resort which is across the way. There is quite a bit of walking through Atlantis, in my opinion, to get to the desk where you turn in your papers to get the wristbands. I mention the long walk because you have young kids. Right after that, you will see many aquariums and amazing fish and beyond that are the pools and slides. When you are finished and ready to go back to the ship, you just walk out front and get a taxi van. I hope you are able to go for it!

My other tip is to be very careful in the lazy river which is not lazy at all. I am not sure what the attraction is called but there are large rapids and our tubes were rockin. Just try to read all you can before you go so uou know what to expect.

Finally, my opinion is that I am glad we went as we had always wanted to visit Atlantis, but it was NOT anywhere as pretty and sparkly as it looks on TV! And I was not impressed with the beach there. We had a very nice time, and I would consider going again. We actually used hotel points to get our room. So we essentially went for free. I am glad we did not pay almost $700 for our family of four.

The Lazy River is in fact a Lazy River. My then 3 and 5 year old rode in it (with an adult) and we never felt uncomfortable with the currents or lack of. You're speaking of The Current: Guests are propelled along through lush, tropical foliage along a mile-long river in their inner tubes via water escalators, rolling waves and extreme rapids powered by master blaster technology. Never leave the water as you are propelled back up the slide tower via water conveyors.

They're two completely different attractions not remotely close in proximity.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Thanks for pointing out my inaccurate info between the lazy river and The Currant. I am drawing a complete blank on there being a regular lazy river!!! I do not remember it at all, so I appreciate you posting about it so that others will know there is one!!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Thanks for pointing out my inaccurate info between the lazy river and The Currant. I am drawing a complete blank on there being a regular lazy river!!! I do not remember it at all, so I appreciate you posting about it so that others will know there is one!!

Not a problem! The Lazy River, if I recall, is near the Coral Towers so away from the main water park area. It really was quite a peaceful ride. I could relax in there for hours! The Current not so much lol

 

[Dallas_Lady]

What parts of Atlantis do you get access to when booking with Comfort Suites? The map looks massive, can you use any of the pools/water features?

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

What parts of Atlantis do you get access to when booking with Comfort Suites? The map looks massive, can you use any of the pools/water features?

You get access to the entire property as if you were a guest of Atlantis. You will get a wristband to show for identification.

 

[sdd1841]

That is is exactly. It is EASY. There are taxis waiting there, we told them Comfort Suites and off we went. I am pretty sure we were in a van with other passengers on the way there but I am blanking that memory. I know for sure we were on the way back. I mention this because my DH and I feel safer with our daughter by being amongst other guests rather than just us in a taxi by ourselves. Anyway! They pull up, you walk in, complete the tranaction, and get your paperwork. The staff there is very use to guests doing the check-in/check-out scenario. My DH was a bit nervous thinking they were going to somehow challenge us or something. Instead, they direct you which way to go to get to the resort which is across the way. There is quite a bit of walking through Atlantis, in my opinion, to get to the desk where you turn in your papers to get the wristbands. I mention the long walk because you have young kids. Right after that, you will see many aquariums and amazing fish and beyond that are the pools and slides. When you are finished and ready to go back to the ship, you just walk out front and get a taxi van. I hope you are able to go for it!

My other tip is to be very careful in the lazy river which is not lazy at all. I am not sure what the attraction is called but there are large rapids and our tubes were rockin. Just try to read all you can before you go so uou know what to expect.

Finally, my opinion is that I am glad we went as we had always wanted to visit Atlantis, but it was NOT anywhere as pretty and sparkly as it looks on TV! And I was not impressed with the beach there. We had a very nice time, and I would consider going again. We actually used hotel points to get our room. So we essentially went for free. I am glad we did not pay almost $700 for our family of four.

How long did you stay at Atlantis? We dock around 9am and leave around 6pm - I was actually hoping to linger on the ship a bit a wait for the crowds to thin out before heading to Atlantis.

 

[JanBlessed]

Great thread. I was considering this!

 

[Carrie in AZ]

I think we stayed until about 3:00 or so. One reason we left earlier than planned is because we somehow left the ship with very little money and for some reason I don't remember them taking CCs which seems odd to me now or maybe I left my CC on the ship--the details are hazy now but I do remember our family of 4 had only $22 to spend at Atlantis! I think we were hungry and returned to the ship. Another reason we cut the day short was because it was rainy at points and they even closed down some attractions, temporarily, due to lightening.

Another thing to keep in mind when visiting Atlantis. You can Google the port schedule and determine how many ships are in port that day. On our day in October 2014, I think we were the only ship there that day, so the excursion visitor count was low. If you will be there on a day when many ships are in port, then maybe you do not want to linger on the ship. You will want to get to Atlantis and start your fun to avoid waiting in long lines for the slides.

Good luck to everyone! I still feel so grateful we were able to visit Atlantis.