windsor hills or emerald island resort

[tiggerbaby]

I am planning my first trip to Disney World and we are looking for a pool home. I found a house I really like at Emerald Island Resort and the owner is offering me an excellent price for a home. They will be beautifully renovating the whole house and putting new mattresses and will give me their current price so I was about to bite but when I came on these boards all I see is a reference to Windsor Hills.

So now I'm starting to feel nervous. Is Emerald Island a good resort?

 

[sympatico]

Yes, Emerald Island is very nice also. It doesn't have as big a community pool or playground as Windsor Hills but it does have a tiki bar by the pool and some planned activities. Before Windsor Hills, it was the place to be. Windsor Hills is just newer with grander amenities.
Emerald Island is very nicely landscaped with more trees than WH. We have stayed at both and have found that when we have a pool at the house that we don't even use the community pool so it doesn't matter how big it is.
Both communities have a manned gate and are in the same general area, only about a half mile apart.

 

[KayR]

I want to echo Sympatico's post. Emerald Island Resort is a nice community, I love the landscaping and spacious feel of Emerald Island. It is different from WH, but not a bad resort because of it. When we stay at Emerald Island, we spend most of our time in the home itself. With a condo or townhome, the resort amenities may be more important, but with a pool home, people typically spend more time in the home (or at the attractions) than at community amenities.

If you have found a home that you like and suits your family, that is more important (IMHO, of course) as that is where you will spend most of your non attraction time.

If you have any specific questions on Emerald Island, let me know,

--Kay

 

[MichelleVW]

I've stayed at Emerald Island in January and we loved it!

 

[tiggerbaby]

Thank you for your replies. Feeling better now. Also, looking on the maps, the 2 resorts seem to be in the same area.

I will go ahead and book. The pictures the owner sent me were beautiful and we are really excited. We've never stayed in a pool home before. Actually, we've never even stepped foot in a house with a pool before!!!

Now I'm going to start planning the parks.

 

[mnrose]

Adding my agreement that Emerald Island is a nice place. We didn't once use the community pool, but we sure did use the pool conveniently located out back. LOL! The community pool at any resort held no appeal to us...we wanted one that we could get to quickly with no walking. The two are located so close together that it makes no practical difference in how long it takes to get to the parks (maybe 1-2 minutes). Given all the time you spend waiting at Disney, does that 1-2 minutes matter? Not to me.

We got a very nice house for a great price at Emerald Island. Found nothing comparable at WH.

 

[MichelleVW]

We got a very nice house for a great price at Emerald Island. Found nothing comparable at WH.

That's what sealed the deal for us on our trip next week. Emerald Island seemed to have houses with more bedrooms/bathrooms for a cheaper price. With 12 people we needed the maximum number of bathrooms and we got a 7 bedroom 5 1/2 bathroom at Emerald Island and I couldn't find a house like that at WH.

 

[isla bonita]

Emerald Island Resort is a great place with more landscape then hardscape.

Here is some information on the resort.

http://www.emeraldislandhoa.org/outside_home.asp

 

[Mickeypooh99]

Where do you look to find homes in Emerald Island? I know for Windsor hills I have used windsorhillsrent website. Does Emerald Island have a similar site?

 

[KayR]

www.StayAtEmeraldIsland.com

for homes at Emerald Island

 

[Wolfie68]

I am looking for a 3 or 4 bedroom pool house at either WH or EI, does anyone have a recommendation for a specific pool house at either that I can look at? I have found a ton of townhomes at WH that I will request feedback on, but nothing so far at EI. I am going the week of Dec 11-18 2010 thanks!!

Shan

 

[tiggerbaby]

Thanks to everyone for their help on these boards. Just thought I'd give a quick update!!

Emerald Island resort was beautiful and the house we stayed in was absolutely gorgeous! For about the same price as a hotel room we had a 4 bedroom house with a pool!! This was my first time renting directly from an owner and it was an excellent experience!! The main reason why I initially chose Emerald Island was because it was more competitively priced than Windsor Hills. I was still on pins and needles until we reached the home because I kept reading here about Windsor Hills so I was hoping I wouldn't regret it.

The resort is less than 5 minutes from everything. Target, Walmart, TONS of restaurants and Disney was less than 10 minutes away depending on which park. It was really convenient. The only thing I found I did not like was the supplies like shampoo were not there so we had to go out to pick up items on our first day there. But after that it was great.

My kids especially loved the themed rooms and the pool.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

 

[kidshop]

Thanks to everyone for their help on these boards. Just thought I'd give a quick update!!

Emerald Island resort was beautiful and the house we stayed in was absolutely gorgeous! For about the same price as a hotel room we had a 4 bedroom house with a pool!! This was my first time renting directly from an owner and it was an excellent experience!! The main reason why I initially chose Emerald Island was because it was more competitively priced than Windsor Hills. I was still on pins and needles until we reached the home because I kept reading here about Windsor Hills so I was hoping I wouldn't regret it.

The resort is less than 5 minutes from everything. Target, Walmart, TONS of restaurants and Disney was less than 10 minutes away depending on which park. It was really convenient. The only thing I found I did not like was the supplies like shampoo were not there so we had to go out to pick up items on our first day there. But after that it was great.

My kids especially loved the themed rooms and the pool.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

Please link to the house. Did it have a game room? I'm glad you had a good time!

 

[MichelleVW]

So glad you liked it!!! I've stayed at Emerald Island twice and I loved it both times. Once we got a townhouse, and this summer we had a 7 bedroom house with a pool.

Windsor Hills looks nice, but the prices at Emerald Island are so much cheaper and it's still really close to the parks.

 

[sympatico]

Thanks to everyone for their help on these boards. Just thought I'd give a quick update!!

Emerald Island resort was beautiful and the house we stayed in was absolutely gorgeous! For about the same price as a hotel room we had a 4 bedroom house with a pool!! This was my first time renting directly from an owner and it was an excellent experience!! The main reason why I initially chose Emerald Island was because it was more competitively priced than Windsor Hills. I was still on pins and needles until we reached the home because I kept reading here about Windsor Hills so I was hoping I wouldn't regret it.

The resort is less than 5 minutes from everything. Target, Walmart, TONS of restaurants and Disney was less than 10 minutes away depending on which park. It was really convenient. The only thing I found I did not like was the supplies like shampoo were not there so we had to go out to pick up items on our first day there. But after that it was great.

My kids especially loved the themed rooms and the pool.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

Glad you had a nice vacation. Can you post the website for the home. I like to bookmark those that get good reviews for future consideration.
These homes are self-catering so most don't have the use-upable (new word ) stuff that you get in hotels/timeshares. We know that we'll be making the soap and paper run when we get there. (dish soap, laundry soap, toilet paper, paper towels etc).

 

[tiggerbaby]

I rented from
www.sweetdreamsofdisney.com

I found the home through VRBO.

 

[melissasmithpackett]

for the first time and appreciate any suggestions

 

[momuv8im1]

We love vacation homes and just recently stayed in a WH condo for the first and last time. We have to have our own pool for the times when one child wants to watch tv and the others want to swim or when some are napping or when parents are doing laundry and kids want to swim etc. etc. We just need the luxury of having it out our back door and did not care for the community pool option. YMMV
As far as supplies go I always take my own since we fly SW and I can check two bags a person. I save my bottles of shampoo and body wash that are down to their last few ounces and throw them in the suitcases in plastic bags. I take washing machine and dishwasher pod detergents and several trash bags along with TP and paper towels. Takes up little room and I always need room to bring back souvenirs anyways.

 

[mjplantz]

We loved Emerald Island, no complaints at all. We did not use the community pool as the house already had that. We stayed here:

http://www.puffsvacationhome.com/gallery/index.html

Can't say enough great things about Terry and the rental house. Obviously based on the reservation calendar they have a quality product! We are locked in for Thanksgiving 2014 because it books up so fast.

 

[ParkHopperFan]

We have tried several properties at Windsor Hills including a townhouse and a large 6 bedroom for a vacation with extended family. The last few times we stayed at a 4 bedroom home called Villa Park Lane. www.villaparklane.com

The house was recently remodeled and has everything you could think of. It is spotless every time we stay and the owner is great to deal with. The kids love the pool and the game room. They have a Wii and Playstation 3 along with toys and a pool table. They even have a giant box of pool toys for the kids. We even cut down on our days at the park just to stay at the house and swim and relax. We are staying again in November and can't wait to go! Windsor Hills is fabulous!

Enjoy your trip!