Bye everyone! - Off to Windsor Hills and WDW!!

[5mins2disney]

Hi gang...short update! We spent today doing some maintenance on our home, some decorating type of things, more upgrades, etc, and most of the day over at the resort / clubhouse pool swimming with the kids!! Good fun! They've just replaced / upgraded all of the clubhouse furniture / cushions I noticed, and they're about to open up a 2nd guardhouse / manned security gate into the resort this week as well.

Tonight we had Cirque du Soleil tickets, La Nouba, took our kids, and they (and we) just LOVED it! Incredible show, I highly HIGHLY recommend it to anyone visiting Orlando / DTD! It was my 6th Cirque du Soleil show, and one of my very favorite ones actually, just incredible!

Afterwards we walked through DTD..ended up trying to eat dinner at Planet Hollywood. I would NOT recommend this place. The 15 min wait they promised us turned into an hour and 15 mins...the food arrived overcooked and cold ( I ordered a cheeseburger and sent it back it was so bad ), the place is loud, and I mean LOUD....way overpriced, overcrowded, terrible food, mediocre service, do yourself a favor and go to...oh...Denny's...much better food! LOL

Anyhow, off to bed, we have character dining in the AM at Disney MGM!

Cheers!
- George

 

[lexie32]

Good to hear you're having a great time George

Sorry to pester you on your holiday , but do you think it would be possible to walk back from the 192? as we both would like a beverage or two with an evening meal.

Also where is the new gatehouse going to be situated?

hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday

 

[5mins2disney]

Good to hear you're having a great time George

Sorry to pester you on your holiday , but do you think it would be possible to walk back from the 192? as we both would like a beverage or two with an evening meal.

Also where is the new gatehouse going to be situated?

hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday

You could probably walk from the 192...but it's kind of on the long and somewhat dangerous side, Old Lake Wilson is a busy / fast 2 lane highway, no sidewalks, that sort of thing. Not sure where you'd go for a drink that's walkable close...depending on how lively activity you want, you might want to take a cab to DTD and visit PI...and cab it back home, the $20 you might spend each way is cheap insurance compared to what a DWI costs! (This is what we do when we really want to go out and party some!)

The new guard house will be on Livingston Road, it runs East-West on the north side of the resort.

By the way...we're cracking up...my DS7 said "La Nouba is the greatest show on earth, not Ringling Brothers!" LOL

 

[dani blaski]

Wow George, sounds like an awesome experience so far (with exceptions to Planet Hollywood). I live in Lincoln Park so I do know where Elmhurst is--nice little suburb

I have looked at your photos online of WH and such beautiful homes! Great job & I look forward to seeing the new improvements you have been doing. We are planning a trip in Xmas 2008 and I will definitely keep checking your availibilty calendar to book one of the homes.

Have a Dole whip for me sir & enjoy the real deal spring weather, not like what we are having here in Chicago...

 

[5mins2disney]

Off to MGM Studios today, then Fantasmic tonight! (My favorite!)

 

[sympatico]

George, glad you're having a good vacation. I've got a couple of quick questions about WH. We've stayed a couple of times and I have a map of it but on the map it shows that above the Bassnet Circle area WH stops. I've got pictures that show the street ( Teascone or Bassnet ) that goes straight up from where the townhouses are to the playground and beyond to the top of the hill. Is that still WH. This is the area that was still under construction when we were there? And is the new entrance at the end of Manesty Lane?

 

[Mainebound]

George, glad you're having a good vacation. I've got a couple of quick questions about WH. We've stayed a couple of times and I have a map of it but on the map it shows that above the Bassnet Circle area WH stops. I've got pictures that show the street ( Teascone or Bassnet ) that goes straight up from where the townhouses are to the playground and beyond to the top of the hill. Is that still WH. This is the area that was still under construction when we were there? And is the new entrance at the end of Manesty Lane?

We stayed right near where the construction starts, and you can see photos if you go the review board and look at my post. It is called "Windsor Hills Reserve" , features tile roofed hmes form the $400,000s, and it is a HUGE HUGE area under construction. You can walk some of it (streets are paved) but other areas are "do not enter". This was accurate as of March 29.

 

[5mins2disney]

George, glad you're having a good vacation. I've got a couple of quick questions about WH. We've stayed a couple of times and I have a map of it but on the map it shows that above the Bassnet Circle area WH stops. I've got pictures that show the street ( Teascone or Bassnet ) that goes straight up from where the townhouses are to the playground and beyond to the top of the hill. Is that still WH. This is the area that was still under construction when we were there? And is the new entrance at the end of Manesty Lane?

Yes the "Reserve" is on the western edge of the resort. From where I'm at (in the townhomes) you'd never even know it's there! Same with the condos...it's a pretty big place / resort actually...1000 homes here. The new guardhouse is on the north side of the resort...towards the NW corner...by Livingston Road and Manesty (I believe).

I drove around over there the other day, those pool homes look gorgeous with the tile roofs and all! I have a friend building one there right now which is 90 days from completion (4 bedroom unit), they're really excited!

Livingston Road by the way is a better route to get to the Formosa Gardens road, which takes you to the Giordanos shoppign plaza (than Funie Steed...since Funie Steed is a dirt road..but admittedly fun to drive in a rental car! hehe...)


We just got back from spending the day at MGM...boy and I tired..we convinced the kids to skip Fantasmic (mom and dad are beat!) in favor of ice cream and swimming in our pool! (I'm sitting next to the pool writing this to you guys as we speak!) ahh...WiFI and a drink... life just doesn't get any better than this!

It's SOOO nice to be at home...relaxing..the kids can swim...I'm on the laptop....drink in hand...etc...this is the best part of having your own pool. There's no way right now I'd want to trudge on over to the clubhouse pool...even if we were in a condo right next to it...we wouldn't be going..here..everyone's happy!

 

[dopeygirl156]

wow have a great trip i'am there right now also in windsor hills

 

[andrychowski]

We visit WH from May 1 - 9 while we are renting a townshouse. I was wondering how busy WH is. Are many of the homes rented this week? They saw May is a good time to visit DW, but wondering about the Resort.

Just curious.

 

[5mins2disney]

We visit WH from May 1 - 9 while we are renting a townshouse. I was wondering how busy WH is. Are many of the homes rented this week? They saw May is a good time to visit DW, but wondering about the Resort.

Just curious.

It depends on what you mean by "busy" I suppose...it's certainly not as busy as ..say...Easter week, where it's 100% full.

I'm here right now, the Easter crowds seem to have died off...and during the days at least...it seems like a lot of people are off at the parks and stuff. The pool is not over crowded, not empty either, just about right! Early May is a GREAT time to visit Disney, we did it the last few years, not too hot, not too crowded yet, you will love it!

Saturdays here tend to be busier days, this is the day that most guests arrive / leave WHR...and for some reason, the pool tends to be a lot busier too.

We've been swimming in our townhome pool all morning actually, it's just so convenient, it's hard to "move" everyone over to the clubhouse when your pool is 5 feet out your back door! LOL

82, sunny, and gorgeous here right now...ahh...but now we're going to the clubhouse!

Cheers from FL And Windsor Hills!

- George

 

[5mins2disney]

Another GORGEOUS day in Florida....80 degrees...sunny...slight breeze blowing! Spent all day swimming at the resort pool and our townhome pool yesterday.

Well, now we're off to Epcot for the day, cheers everyone!



- George

 

[Big V]

I'm jealous! I love Epcot!

 

[msjpatt]

Hi George - I am renting Townhouse #2 from you for arrival May 12-19. Since you are there, can you tell me if we need to spend the extra $$$ to heat the splash pool or do you think it will be ok without the heating?

Thanks - Maria Patterson and a very excited family

 

[5mins2disney]

Hi George - I am renting Townhouse #2 from you for arrival May 12-19. Since you are there, can you tell me if we need to spend the extra $$$ to heat the splash pool or do you think it will be ok without the heating?

Thanks - Maria Patterson and a very excited family

Hmm.....that's a tough one! It depends on how the weather is that week...just last week it got very warm here...was 90 every day. Our guests had pool heat and called and asked for it to be turned off.

Now we're here, and we have it on, we like our pool warm though. The first few days here it was 65-70 degrees every day...so it would have been too cold without it, and at night it's been down into the 50s. Usually people say Nov - March/April for pool heat though. I think personally, I might wait and see, you can always call the MC and they will make arrangements to come out and turn it on for you if you think it's too cold. It would just take roughly a day to heat up.

I went and saw our other guests in that townhome the other day by the way, they are just loving it! They said they were just in a rental in Key Largo for a few days, and it wasn't clean, and the place there didn't feel safe to them, they said it's a complete 180 degree difference here in WHR and especially the townhome!

My kids just asked "dad...can't we just live here!?" LOL

It's now officially adult margarita hour in the pool! Gotta run, hi everyone, greetings from paradise!

 

[5mins2disney]

Off to see "Illuminations" now! One of our favorites!

 

[Big V]

Off to see "Illuminations" now! One of our favorites!

Lucky you! That is my favorite!

 

[5mins2disney]

I forgot to mention, on Wed, the kids got to ride in front of the monorail as "co pilots" ...VERY cool for them, they all got "monorail copilot licenses" to take home with them! (I'll post pictures soon!).

Today we packed up the home, and spent the day at Sea World, pretty fun! Saw Shamu, Clyde & Seymour, Sharks, rode Atlantis, etc.

Oh..hehe...I also went "shopping" this morning...townhome shopping! Thinking about buying another one actually! LOL Last year when I first had this "crazy" idea my DW thought I was completely nuts, now she thinks it's a good idea! It was pretty risky I guess doing your first one, but hey, we've got some experience at it now, so we really know what we're getting into at least now...and...I said..."honey...should I buy the townhome...or another sailboat!" (We used to own a big one here in Chicago...you know the old adage about a hole in the water you throw your $$ into?!) Makes a townhome look much MUCH better! LOL

Anyhow, just a GREAT trip, SO hard to leave and come back though, I'll post some pics shortly...I think we need to stay longer than a week though, a week just isn't enough!

 

[5mins2disney]

Pics I took the other day from the top of the pool slide..at the resort pool, thought I'd share these with you all!

Toddler splash area

Next to the pool there is a wetlands / marshy conservation area and little lake...it is surrounded by pool home villas. (No you can't fish in it and you can't go down by it either in case you're wondering..) You can see the backs of a few townhomes in the top of the pic...

The waterslide! 48" min height to ride this, a guest was there yelling at the attendant while I was standing there because her kid couldn't go on it...sigh. The landing area is 4 feet deep and that's why...the shorter kids can't touch the bottom when they come down.

Resort pool from another end of the pool deck, you can see the slide!

 

[sympatico]

George, I think you should buy one of the 6 bedroom homes so that we can rent it in Nov.