We are heading to Orlando and plan to visit Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure, Sea World, Wet & Wild plus maybe Typhoon Lagoon. We've been to WDW before and want to focus on the other attractions this time, although we may visit animal Kingdom which we missed last time.

Here's the question: are there any nice hotels outside of WDW that have a neat pool but cost less than, say $150 per night? I've been browsing the web and most of the hotels I've found are pretty drab and boring looking. We'd also prefer a "suite" so we can sleep in a separate room from our son who is a night owl (13 years old).

Whatever you do, avoid the Delta Orlando Resort. It's right across from the entrance to Universal, and looks real nice on their website, but..... it's very run down, dirty around the pool area, stinks like garbage when walking to the pool. I didn't do a lot of homework beforehand on that hotel. That's because it is owned by the same company that owns the Delta Chelsea in Toronto, which is a very nice, upscale hotel in downtown Toronto. I guess I thought I would get something similar at their Orlando property.

Try to stay at one of the on-site hotels and get express line access all day at Universal and Islands of Adventure. They have Entertainment Book rates, Fan Club rates, and Loew's First rates that are below $150. The Hard Rock Hotel is incredible and your teen would LOVE it. Go to www.disboards.com
for loads of great info.

We stayed at the Sheraton in Orlando. They have a free trolley into Disney (right off park), and wen we went to Universal Studios (go to IOA, the new park, way better) we called a cab and took a 10 minute drive. I think it was like, 10 dollars or something. Totally easy. There are a ton of cabs when you leave the park too to take you back. The Sheraton was clean, nice, basic, about $125 a night in January.

When posting about amusement parks please include the city in the header. There are Disney and Universal Studio Parks both in Florida and California.

almost all the hotels on/near International Drive have free shuttle to Universal Studios, and if your's doesn't, probably one nearby does.

Another nice thing about "I Drive" is the trolley. $0.75/ride, $2. for 1 day unlimited, $3. 3 days unlimited, etc.

Thanks for the tips. Sorry about the header. We've decided to stay at the Embassy Suites Jamaican Court. $117/night. Unless anyone has had a bad experience there?

I don't know when you are going, but I just stayed at the Wyndham Orlando Resort at the corner of International Drive and Sand Lake Road and it's a beautiful 48 acres of property. The best part was that I paid $30 (yes $30) per night through Priceline including the daily resort fee! For that price we got two adjoining rooms and still only paid $73 for both rooms including tax!