Fantasy World Club Villas??

[mb168]

Has anyone ever stayed here? I recently signed up on Expedia and have all four of our kids this week, DD12, DS11, DD9, and DD5, so DW and I decided to take them on a surprise trip this week. I booked Thur-Sun here, we intend on going to a park on Fri, and hanging at the resort on Sat. It looks decent online and had good reviews but I'm DVC and didn't want to use that many points to take 6 people on a weekend trip. The room we got is a 2 BR villa and it was only $88/night. I'm the type that thinks things that seem too good to be true usually are and right now a room at a Value resort on property, WITH an AP discount code, is $94/night and I would have needed 2 of them for 3 nights making it an expensive trip to be cooped up in 2 little Value rooms, this is a 2 story, 1,000 sq ft villa. So I wonder why this place has a 2BR for $88. I keep envisioning the kids on National Lampoons Vacation, running up to the pool to find a mud pit with dicks swimming in it .

I don't know why I didn't think of checking the forum to see if anyone has been there, a search didn't turn up anything here though. I'll be sure to post her as well as my website our experience there. We are spoiled by staying on property in either DVC resorts or getting AP discounts for room on site and occasionally we do stay off property on last minute trips but we usually don't hang at the resort, it's only a place to sleep. This trip we will spend at least a day and a half there.

Thanks!

 

[dougsmom98]

We stayed here in 2004. It was our first time in a villa and we really enjoyed it. It is an older property, but it is clean and gave us much more space than a hotel room so we were thrilled. The washer and dryer in your unit will come in handy. I think they collected trash daily. The pool area was nice but not huge. If I remember correctly there was a pool bar and music playing. There is an Olive Garden right near Fantasy World Villas and Krispy Kreme Donuts were not too far either. For $88 I think you will be very happy.

 

[Dopey's twin Dippy]

we also stayed here but its been a while. we enjoyed it. it was very nice and clean. the pool and tub was good. we did not have any problems with anything. small store area, bar . and you can walk to olive garden,its right beside it. and other stores and restaurants. i would def. give it a try .,have fun.

 

[mb168]

Thanks guys. They have a lot of good reviews on Expedia and only one somewhat negative recent one. I'm going with the expectation that this is NOT Disney, even though we are spoiled, and that this trip likely would not happen if it weren't for the great room rate. Since I booked this weekend, my dad and step mom have booked another room there too so now it will be 3 generations there. Except now I wish I had waited to book because he got a free $50 gas card with his booking today, dang it. So much for being prompt. I'll be sure to report back here and it will be on my trip report on my website.

Thanks again

 

[exbjd]

I stayed there in April 2008. They were doing major overhauls on all the interiors. Our townehouse was newly remodeled and very nice. Pools, tennis courts, club house and lots of other things to do.

 

[dougsmom98]

I stayed there in April 2008. They were doing major overhauls on all the interiors.

We were actually suppose to stay there in 2006 and got a call from our booking agency and they had to send up elsewhere because they started the renovations then and our unit was being worked on, so I'll bet the OP will be pleased with the upgrades. Please let us know how it is.

 

[mb168]

I'm sitting here right now on the back porch, they have free wi-fi throughout which is definitely a plus, though I've not tested it everywhere but it supposedly works in all the common areas and I see little poles all over with antenna clusters pointing every which way so it prob does work most anywhere . I am trying to keep an objective opinion here because as I've mentioned, we are DVC and VERY spoiled by that, and trying to remember that I paid $88 to stay here. The rooms are a little smaller than what I thought but I think that was partly because the virtual tour on Expedia shows a rotation through the living room area that has a huge mirror behind the couch making it appear twice as big as it really is. Fortunately my parents came and are in the unit next to us or we would be a little tight on space, I think 6 people are too many for it. DW and I are in the master, DD12 and DD9 are in the other room. Night before last DS11 and DD5 stayed with my parents but last night DD5 stayed with us and started out in the bed with DD9 but somehow ended up in between DW and I. I was up at 2:30 and again at 4:30, she's a bit like sleeping with the Tasmanian Devil. So I came downstairs to blog a little and catch up on the DIS.

The screened in back porch is nice other than the roof is also screened in so sitting outside in the rain is out and then everything is wet afterward and needs to be wiped down. They are still doing refurbs too, we have storage containers near our building and yesterday they were offloading a truckload of refrigerators in one. Our room backs up to one of the quiet pools and tennis courts which actually look to be in good shape. The stove in our unit is old, not certain if that is permanent or new ones are coming. Our mattress in our master is squeeky but comfortable, I'm just not sure where this particular unit is on the schedule but I have a feeling that they are not doing it building by building but piecemeal as they are able, I've read about refurbs happening now for a few years. But again, I paid $88 for it and I could not have stayed on property for $88. 2 rooms at a Value with an AP discount code was $94/night/room. But this is why I bought DVC to begin with, so I could bring 6-7 of us and stay on site comfortably.

The dining area in the room is a nice size and the kitchen is comparable to a DVC other than just older looking. There are 2 bathrooms which is a plus with 4 females and the upstairs one is a decent size too, downstairs is a little small and has only a standup shower, upstairs has a tub/shower.

I think this place has a lot of potential. I hope they are still doing work here, it could definitely end up being a really nice place to stay. Again, I'm am tainted by DVC and I freely admit it. I have stayed in a LOT worse places than this and paid more for them. It doesn't smell of smoke or that typical Florida dank/humid cheap motel smell. The AC works awesome, I went to the porch this morning partly out of being quiet but also because I was cold, especially with DD5 pulling the covers off me. The drive to DTD is only 3-4 miles.

Sorry if this was disjointed, I'll write more later when I'm awake and have been here a little while longer.

 

[dougsmom98]

Thanks for the update! I am glad things are working out for you. When you mentioned in your first post that there were 6 of you going, I thought it might be tight, but you had already booked so I didn't say anything. We had the kids stay on the pull out couch when we stayed here, but after that time we decided that when we rent a place, everyone gets a bedroom. Even though we had a perfectly great time at Fantasy World Villas, the next year they were doing renovations and the company we booked with had to upgrade us to Windsor Palms. You can't even compare Fantasy World Villas to Windsor Palms. There is nothing wrong with Fantasy World Villas and compared to a hotel room, it wins hands down, but we were spoiled when we went to Windsor Palms and that started our love affair with vacation rentals. If you ever can't get into your DVC and you have a little more time to plan for a trip, next time consider renting a condo or townhouse directly from an owner it is fantastic. I do think you got a pretty good price though. When we stayed there we got it for $68/nt but I have not seen that price for at least two years. The company we booked through, www.hotelmartusa.com, has it listed for $129/nt now.

 

[*disgal*]

Good to hear everything is ok, though a little tight.

like the pp, I had some hesitation also, but you already booked, so I didn't want to be a damper.

My friends own a timeshare there, after some advice not to. Not that it's bad, but they can do better. Now they are trying to sell and can't give it away. I digress........

Anyway, just to let you know, you can always try a last minute deal. I would either try vrbo.com to deal directly with owners or windsorhillsrent.com for the same thing only it's just WH. There might be one for windsor palms also, I don't know.

On the WHrent site, you can email all the "2 bedroom" owners, "4 bedroom" owners..........all with ONE form you fill out. You can ask for them to give you their best deal, especially knowing it is more last minute. What's the harm? The worst they can say is no. Then pick from there.

Example: It's not for Orlando, but for North Myrtle beach,sc..........we decided last minute to join my family in NMB for next week. I wanted the same resort, (we didn't have to be next door but I wanted the same resort) so I looked on vrbo.com and saw 4 open 2 bedroom condos. I made a list and started with the first one. Exactly one week from when I needed it, I sent an email to the owner asking if he would take $500 total for the next week. I figure it's probably better than him getting nothing by it being empty.

He took it. Now, this isn't beach front. My family is staying at some hauwty-tauwty golf resort but it does have a "beach house" (bathrooms, showers, snacks) on the beach that we can use. It's very pretty and has a king, 2 doubles and a roll-away. It's just 5 of us, so we should be fine.

WH and WP have SO many places that I would think you wouldn't have any trouble getting a last minute deal............ofcourse, you might not ever need this info, who knows. But if it happens again................