TMNT Summer Of Shell At The Nick Hotel

Disclosure: All opinions are my own. We received a discounted stay and a free character breakfast in exchange for this review.

Happy summer everyone! We have been having a great fun-filled summer so far, and we started it all off back at the end of May at the Nickelodeon Suites Resort. We picked the kids up from school on their last day and headed off for a few days of fun with SpongeBob and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

When we arrived at the resort, my kids were so excited to see the bright colored buildings that showcased the different Nickelodeon characters. The check-in process seemed to take a long time for each guest, but lucky for us, the lobby was very kid-friendly and my kids didn’t seem to mind the wait.

Our room was a 2-bedroom SpongeBob Suite, which included a master bedroom with a king-sized bed, a semi-private kids’ room with two twin beds, one full bathroom, a living area with a pull-out sofa and a kitchenette.

When we first opened the door, the room looked like any other ordinary hotel room. When we walked into the kids’ room, though, that’s where all of the fun was. One wall was painted as a scene right out of Bikini Bottom and featured SpongeBob and all of his friends. The kids loved that, and were especially excited to see a TV in their room, since they don’t have TVs in their rooms at home!

Since it is the Nick Hotel, there are actually TVs in each room. Of course Nickelodeon is one of the many channels available, and there was always something for everyone to watch.

We were fortunate to have a suite overlooking the Lagoon pool area, which was definitely nice for us, but if you need complete silence to sleep, you may want a room in a different part of the hotel. When we arrived at our room, we looked down and saw the Turtle Power poolside show happening, and the hotel guests were partying with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Since we were there to review the property, we received a few cute gifts from our friends at the resort. They left us a TMNT tote bag, a stuffed Dora, a stuffed Boots, two tubes of slime, and some stickers. My kids were thrilled!

We also purchased the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Package when we checked in. This package included one magnet photo frame, four unlimited 4-D Experience wristbands, two TMNT bags, two TMNT tattoos, four TMNT masks, two unlimited refill souvenir cups and four TMNT wrist bands.

I believe the package was $99, and was definitely worth the price tag. We got our money’s worth in the 4-D movie theater, and it was nice to be able to refill our soda cups whenever we were thirsty. I highly recommend purchasing this package when you check in!

First up on our itinerary was the Double Dare Live show, so we headed to Studio Nick in The Mall. I was pretty excited about watching the live show since I used to watch Double Dare on TV when I was a kid. I had always dreamed of being a contestant on Double Dare when I was younger, and if my kids had been older during our visit, I might have been able to make that dream a reality. Each day they hold a casting call for the evening shows where teams of one adult and one child can try out for the show.

It was a great show, and we all enjoyed watching all of the different stunts performed by the contestants. Of course there was slime, and my kids laughed out loud any time someone had the goo poured over them.

After the Double Dare show, we headed to The Mall to get some dinner. Along with the sit down restaurant – Nicktoons Café – there are also several other dining options. Guests can choose from pizza and pasta from Antonio’s, sandwiches from Subway, and even ice cream and Starbucks coffee from Cravings.

After we finished eating, my husband and the kids went for a quick dip in the pool before it closed. Our good friends arrived at the resort around this time, and when we all met back at our suite, we found that we couldn’t get in. It’s a long story, so I’ll save you the details, but our door lock mechanism had to be changed out twice, and was finally fixed around midnight. While it was an inconvenience, I will say that I was really impressed with the service and was glad that they had a great maintenance department on the property.

Early the next morning, we headed down to the Nicktoons Café for SpongeBob’s Bikini Bottom Breakfast. It was a buffet breakfast with great food and awesome fun! SpongeBob and his friends entertained us while we ate, and then came around to our tables for photos. My kids loved every second of it!

We rushed down to the Lagoon Pool after breakfast to get in position for the Mass Sliming. Everyone stood under the water park area and waited for the slime to come spraying down. (It wasn’t really slime, but green-colored water instead.) Even though I wasn’t standing directly under it, the whole thing was pretty cool.

We rented one of the cabanas for a half day, which was worth the $99 fee. We had a private cabana with a few chairs, a refrigerator, and of course, a TV. It was nice to be able to take a break from the sun when we wanted to have some lunch or just relax, and we didn’t have to worry about leaving our stuff out on the chairs by the pool. This is also a great option for the day you check out, so you can stay and enjoy the pool, and then have a private area for changing your clothes and packing up. (We also had the cabana the next day when we checked out.)

The Lagoon pool is like a little water park, right there in the center of the hotel. There were several slides to slide down, which my daughter loved. Unfortunately, my son wasn’t tall enough for most of them, but he was happy to go on the one small slide he was allowed on. The pool itself was huge, so it didn’t seem all that crowded, even though there were several people in it. One end has a shallow area for kids to splash around in, and the other end was deeper for swimming.

The Oasis Pool is at the other end of the hotel, but when we went over to check it out, it was closed. I think it is only open on the weekends, and we were there during the week.

After several hours of fun in the sun, we headed over to The Mall for some 4-D movies. We watched SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D: The Great Jelly Rescue, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Dora and Diego’s 4-D Adventure, Pirates Rapids and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – The 4-D Experience. The movies play all day, and our wristbands came in handy because my kids watched them several times during our stay. The 4-D experience is complete with moving seats, light rain showers and even bubbles!

That evening, we dined with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Antonio’s Pizza Rama Dinner. It was totally awesome! The Turtles entertained us while we ate awesome food from the Italian buffet, and then came around to our tables for photos and fun. I think this was my son’s favorite part of our stay – he loves the Turtles!

After dinner, we spent some time in the arcade and checked out the Nick.com Cyberzone. The kids had a blast in the arcade, but we could never get the computers in the Cyberzone to do anything.

Even though we checked out the next morning, we still spent a large part of the day at the resort. As I mentioned, we had the cabana by the Lagoon pool for the earlier half of the day, so we got to see a couple more poolside shows and ride the slides a few more times. After we loaded the car, we spent a little time over at The Mall watching the 4-D moves (again), getting tattoos and hair wraps at the Kids’ Spa, and doing a little shopping in the gift shop.

As you can see, there is SO MUCH to do at the Nickelodeon Suites Resort, and I highly recommend it for any family vacation. Be prepared to spend a little money, though, especially on food. There is a fee for all of the character dining experiences, which you won’t want to miss, along with the 4-D theater. There are many special offers for stays at the resort, though, so make sure you check out the Nick Hotel website.

If your kids love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as much as mine do, this is the summer to visit! There are many family activities during the TMNT Summer of Shell, including TMNT-themed suites, the all-new Turtle Power poolside show, character meet and greets, and the Pizza-Rama dinner. There will also be a Guinness Record attempt for “Most People in One Location Dressed as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” on August 9, 2014.

For more information about the hotel, the amazing fun you can have or the TMNT Summer of Shell package, visit nickhotel.com.

Have a great summer!