Has anyone stayed at the Story time town houses Windsor Hills recently?

jh81

Earning My Ears
Joined
Sep 20, 2012
Hello,

Im looking to book our holiday to Florida for May/June next year and have came across the story time rentals in Windsor hill... They look fantastic but has anyone staying in them recently as Ive read some negative reveiws from about 2007 - 2008..

They have the storytime #1 available for the dates we want to go but would feel so much more comfortable booking if I heard from someone who has stayed there recently.

Hope someone can help!!!
 
They are on facebook and have a very large following there with nothing but great things to say!

We are staying in one of their big houses in 10 days so I will let you know when I get back, but so far, the owners have been awesome to deal with!
 


As promised... coming back to give some feedback after our first offsite stay with storytime homes! I cant believe we are back and trip is already over! It was amazing!

We stayed at storytime kingdom, one of the big houses. We were only 7 of us so we really didnt need that much space but we wanted to regular pool and more than one themed kids room. One of my hesitations with being offsite was not having the disney theming... if that is your concern, storytime is the place to stay!

Owners were very easy to work with. Elias responded to my emails to him quickly, usually within an hour. He called me the week before we left to give me the code to the house and other info which was great, answered all questions, made sure we knew we could call him anytime.

Windsor hills was very easy to get to following directions on their website, we had no issues. It is a gated community and the guards were friendly and helpful. We got a parking pass and you hold it up to the scanner to get in and out. Sometimes at park closing they had someone standing there checking passes and waving you through to save time. windsor hills is very pretty. We didnt really use the clubhouse much, the pool was nice but we only went there once. Kids liked the slide. The playground is castle themed and also very very nice. It is my understanding that the townhouses are very close to the pool. The two big houses are close to the playground. My kids really liked the playground.

The house itself... just beautiful! The pictures dont do it justice. We loved it! Spacious, bright and cheerful. Disney theming in almost every room. It is clear they took time to do the decor, it was all really nice. The three themed kids rooms were amazing and our four just loved them! The master suite and bathroom are huge. Beds were very comfortable and linens nice. Speaking of there were plenty of linens and tons of regular and pool towels in the house. TVs in every room. The kids really liked the game room with the air hockey table, basketball hoop and pool table. Having a kitchen which was very well stocked was nice. We only cooked two meals and did breakfast but it was great. We had groceries delivered from garden grocer which worked well.

The house was very clean. It is a vacation rental so the main carpet in the main room is showing some wear and could stand to be replaced. But it was really only the one area I felt this to be true. They did provide one roll of toilet paper in each bathroom and one garbage bag. Supposed to have dish soap and dishwasher soap at least to start but these were not in the house. They also are supposed to have wifi and we saw the router, but couldnt find a code anywhere and kept forgetting to call and ask for it.

Only issue we had was the pool was cold. We gave it 24 hrs and called. Elias called back in less than an hour and said he would send someone out first thing next morning. The next night it still wasnt very warm so we called again, and he said they had checked it and it was ok. He promised to send someone back out. By the next night it was better... still not as warm as I would have liked with little ones, but better. Elias responded well though to both calls.

Location was great... we took the back way into AK and could be there in about 5-7 min. The other parks were only 10-15 min max... usually we would leave the house between 8-815 and were waiting at the gate for opening with plenty of time.

I would definitely rent from them again, we had a really good expereince and I like the location and the disney theming for sure. It was so nice to have the space to put the kids to bed in their own space, to have a washer and dryer, to have the kitchen. The only time I misses being onsite was when MK closes after the fireworks and you had to take the ferry or monorail back to the TTC which added more time.

Hope that helps... let me know if you have other questions!
 
Thank you so much! Sounds like a great time.

I would have gone mad without wifi to do a quick email check. ;)

Also, for the pools did you pay for pool heat? We have a little one too and she gets so cold very fast.

When booking and leading up to the date did you have any problems?

Do you have to wash all the linens and towels before you leave?

So you went and bought TP, paper towels, dish soap yourself correct?

Thanks!
 
I had my smartphone for email so the wifi wasnt an issue. I saw the router, I know they have it, we just forgot to ask when we talked to them!

Yes, the pool heat was extra. With kids we felt it important. I like really warm pool water and we didnt have that, but it was warmer for sure than the main pool at the clubhouse. That was COLD!

No problems at all with the booking and payment, etc. Emails were very prompt and phone calls returned quickly. They did call us the week before and gave us the house code and how to get to the house, answered any questions, etc.

As for leaving, there was nothing in the house with a check out list of what you were supposed to do. What I had read from other people was to take out the garbage and strip the beds. We stripped all the beds and brought the bedding and towels down to the laundry room. I did not start the laundry though since it was early and I didnt know when the cleaners would be in, and also there was nothing stating we needed to do this.

We ordered one pack of TP from garden grocer as well as some dish soap and dishwasher detergent with our groceries. We left them with the house. We ended up not needing more TP since we werent there a ton and there was a roll in each bathroom. We did use the soaps. There was a full roll of paper towels there. We also bought a small thing of laundry soap. Oh and there was one garbage bag in the kitchen, so we had packed a couple. We also packed a handful of coffee filters. Everything else was there.
 


We stayed in Storytime #2 in May of this year. We stayed for 9 nights, and absolutely loved it. I too read the reviews from back a few years ago, and was a little nervous, but when we got there, I was extremely surprised at how good the place looked. The reviews should be removed as the place looks very very well kept, and the paint looked new. Nothing looked out dated or worn.. the sofa showed a little wear and tear, but nothing to complain about really. The home really was in excellent condition.
We are planning another trip to DW and my family wants to stay there again!

The driving was easy, there is even an emergency clinic right down the road which we used, and shopping is sooo easy! Grocery, gas, food everthing you need is right there!

Don't worry and dont hesitate on staying there!
Have a great time!:dance3:
 
Is there some sort of lock to help keeps little kids from getting into the pool? We watch our kids good, but would feel better if there was a high lock on that door?
 
YES!! The door to the pool area has an alarm and there is a fence betwwen the door and pool. I was worried with a 1 yr old but needlessly so. Very secure.
 
Thanks! If AOA can get the air conditioning issue figured out we will stay there, but if people are still complaining a year from now we'll try Storytime :)

YES!! The door to the pool area has an alarm and there is a fence betwwen the door and pool. I was worried with a 1 yr old but needlessly so. Very secure.
 
I stayed at the Story Time Castle in Nov 2009 and I still think about the house and the trip!!! It was magical!!! First, Elias was was quick to reply to any emails and the house was spotless when we arrived. My hubby noticed a lightbulb was burnt out and that the blender "leaked". I called Elisas to tell him how wonderful the house was and that we arrived safely. I did mention the bulb and blender just to let him know so they could fix it for the next renters. Well, I was floored when, within an hour, someone was at the house to replace the bulb and when he couldn't repair the blender, went out and bought one and brought it right back! We were all shocked as I only mentioned those minor details in passing. I mean that really impressed my husband and I!!! The house was sooooo awesome. We could all spread out and relax. Like someone mentioned, you still feel connected to Disney with the theming. I also notice that they have a LOT of repeat business. The same people just keep coming back. That really says a lot about the homes and the owners I think. In fact we are also planning a return trip to the the Castle in 2013!! Can't wait!!! I am so happy we found someone we can trust. Good luck with planning your trip!:cool1:
 
Hey Everyone,

Just thought I'd bump this one again...

We are seriously considering Story Time as well and was interested in finding out if anyone had a recent experience.

OP - did you decide to go with them? Has the communication been okay?

We've stayed at WH before in one of the Vacation Central Florida units and it was pretty good, but we are thinking about trying a different owner this time. And, we really think we need a little more space.

Thoughts? Insight?

Hope everyone had a great holiday!!

Thanks for any info you could share :)
 
See my post #5 above. We were there in Oct 2012. I gave a pretty detailed review. I wouldnt hesitate to stay with them again! Let me know if you have other questions. They also have a facebook page with many positive comments!
 
The above review was NOT our experience in the same property. With the exception of the carpet being worn in the main room we loved the house!
 
Argh! Thanks for your responses.

I remember looking at this specific group of houses for a previous trip and we didn't go with them because of some poor reviews on the DisBoard and other sites.

However, recently, I've been looking around and have noticed great feedback from other Dis'ers. So, I thought we would research them again and see what changes have been made. Turns out I learned they switched managment companies and things SEEM to be much better.

But, alas...I worry after reading the TA review. My kids would go nuts for this place. The pictures are just amazing. But, it is so hard selecting a place when there is such a variance of experiences.

I very much appreciate your feedback and speedy replies.

Have a great day!
 
The above review was NOT our experience in the same property. With the exception of the carpet being worn in the main room we loved the house!

It may not have been your experience, but it is the experience of others. Several people have mentioned the problem with pool heat, and nobody is getting refunded for heat they paid for. That would be an issue for me. What is important to some may not be an issue for others. I take into account all of the reviews before choosing a rental.
 
It may not have been your experience, but it is the experience of others. Several people have mentioned the problem with pool heat, and nobody is getting refunded for heat they paid for. That would be an issue for me. What is important to some may not be an issue for others. I take into account all of the reviews before choosing a rental.

Absolutely. I wasnt intending to say anyone was lying just that it was not our experience staying the same month as that poster. It surprised me greatly that is all.
 

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