First time at Windsor Hills and enjoying it immensely!

[busyshrew]

I just want to post about our experience so far here at Windsor Hills. Because it was the many previous posts of other DISers that helped us pick this place. DIS, we thank you soooo much!.

We rented a 2 bedroom condo at WH through FloridaSunVacation homes. (Stars & Stripes Mickey, to be exact). All of our booking & reservations experience was completely professional and there was plenty of communication and reassurance from FSVH. As for our unit, the decor and the layout is EXACTLY as the photos show it on their website.

What the photos don't show? The unit is getting a bit older, and the wear and tear is pretty evident. The kitchen & bathrooms are clean but very bare-bones, and the appliances are older. The carpet is in especially poor shape, with stains, and some pulled up areas where the actual carpet tacks are exposed. Some of the faucets are a bit loose. Oh, and the dishwasher is INCREDIBLY UNBELIEVABLY NOISY.

But but BUT!!!! It was very clear to me that despite the aging and the wear and tear (rather to be expected, in my opinion), the unit had been meticulously cleaned before our arrival, and the kitchen and bathrooms were as spotless as could be. The beds are comfortable. The bedroom TVs are dated but they get a full range of channels. There are plenty of towels and all the other amenities, right here in the unit. The kitchen is nicely equipped and everything works.
And the unit is QUIET. We barely heard our neighbours. (Well, to be honest, on our second night, the neighbours above us did a lot of jumping on / off their living room couches. But a hard day at Disney seems to have silenced them nicely ).

And oh, the common areas!!!! The pool and hot tub, oh my!!!

Windsor Hills really IS 5 minutes away from Disney.
Windsor Hills really DOES have a beautiful pool. Parents, be warned, your young children will be reluctant to leave in the morning and will be begging to leave the Disney parks early.... because they want to get back to that pool....

We would definitely recommend FSVH, and we love love love Windsor Hills!

 

[MamaJessie]

We're headed there in September and I am so happy to read another good review.

 

[o2bnoz]

We're headed to our first Windor Hills stay in 3 weeks! I can't wait!

I am encouraged by the fact that you posted in February and that you've been using the pool. It's warm enough? That's so great!

Let me know details on that if you can. I have looked at the weather predictions, but it never gives me enough information

Anything at WH that we absolutely need to do while there?

Thank you! Glad you're having fun!!

 

[leanne11]

can u tell me if the grocery store was easy to find...i see a walmart somewhere also? any cheapo souvineoir stores and cheapo rest.. on the way to the parks?

 

[busyshrew]

Ok, here's more of my opinions:

Yes, DD & DH have gone swimming EVERY SINGLE DAY. I can't keep her out of the pool! Today was hot (by our Canadian standards) - 24 degrees, but with humidity felt more like 27 or 28. DD was begging to leave the park and get into the pool. They keep the main pool beautifully heated and the hot tub is lovely. However, I would make sure to bring warm robes: the walk from the pool to your unit might be lengthy and you could get chilled if it is windy.

If your stay is a week or longer, don't worry about weather predictions. My experience with Orlando in February is this: yes, there is occasional rain day, but rarely is it cold AND raining for an entire week. The weather always seems to change! We had sun for the first 4 days of our trip, and it was actually a nice relief to have partial clouds yesterday and cloudy weather today.

WH is a bit remote - nothing in walking distance whatsoever. That makes it quiet and peaceful. The closest intersection is Old Lake Wilson & Hwy 192 (Irlo Bronson Mem Hwy). You can see a McD's, IHOP, Ponderosa, Cici's.... all the usual offenders of cheap chain eats are right there.

There are 2 Publix in the vicinity - we found the one on 192 to be easier to get to.

I wish I had brought more toilet paper (we spent more time in our condo than I thought we would), and more laundry detergent (it was so easy to do laundry, I've been tossing in one load every night). And I really could've used a thermal mug to bring myself a nice hot coffee into the parks on all those early, early, early mornings!

My biggest advice to parents of younger children would be: stock up on the groceries. I found that after an early morning at the parks (we hit rope drop 4 days out of 6), we would usually be back at the condo by about 3 pm. DD would have a rest, watch some TV, and then be in the pool from 4:30 until 5:30 or 6 pm. After her swim, she was in NO MOOD to venture out to a restaurant - not when there was a kitchen and a Mommy right there!!! So I'd feed her a quick supper in our unit and pop her into bed by 7:30 and she would be out like a light. We managed to eat supper out twice this week (one of those times was a 4:30 supper at Sweet Tomatoes, following a later day in the parks).

Hope this helps.

 

[*disgal*]

glad you enjoyed it. I agree, WH is a great resort. My kids also LOVED the pool.

 

[MamaJessie]

Thanks for updating us and the tips!!

 

[isla bonita]

It sound like you had a great time.

Can I also suggest when you all are making your grocery purchases there are some fun ice cream treats and this makes for a very inexpensive special treat for the little ones and most big ones by the pool.

I have found that my children love the parks but are half fish. Must come from the other side of the family and could spend most days just swimming. After you have stayed in a home you all know that is so true!!!!

 

[leanne11]

can i ask how early and how hard were the rope drops? when did u leave wh and how long was it,, travel time?

 

[Pembo]

We stayed at WH last summer and did rope drops. Park opening at 9, we left our condo at 8:15 and had plenty of time.

There is a small Winn Dixie grocery store just to the west of WH. Go up to 192, turn left and the shopping center will be on your left. It's in a shopping center and wasn't well marked. They had the best ready to cook pizza!

Good to hear the pool is warm. We are headed back in March and dd is already talking about the awesome slide.

 

[DFD]

 

[gopherlawyer]

Thanks for posting on your experience at WH. We are heading to WH in March and can't wait. Looks like we should plan to spend some afternoons at the pool.

 

[MamaJessie]

We stayed at WH last summer and did rope drops. Park opening at 9, we left our condo at 8:15 and had plenty of time.

There is a small Winn Dixie grocery store just to the west of WH. Go up to 192, turn left and the shopping center will be on your left. It's in a shopping center and wasn't well marked. They had the best ready to cook pizza!

Good to hear the pool is warm. We are headed back in March and dd is already talking about the awesome slide.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[James65]

We'll be there early next month. Also stayed here in Feb 2009. Thanks for the tip about bringing a robe (now, why didn't I think of that) for walking back from the pool.

I remember it didn't take long at all to drive to the parks in the morning.

 

[loveysbydesign]

We stayed at WH last summer and did rope drops. Park opening at 9, we left our condo at 8:15 and had plenty of time.

There is a small Winn Dixie grocery store just to the west of WH. Go up to 192, turn left and the shopping center will be on your left. It's in a shopping center and wasn't well marked. They had the best ready to cook pizza!

Good to hear the pool is warm. We are headed back in March and dd is already talking about the awesome slide.

We love WH too..and now Indian Creek as well!
There is a new Super Target right on Rte 192 that is great! Go left out of Wh make your 1st left (right after/at corner at Crestwynd Bay) Drive appx.1/2 mile to stop sign and go right onto Formosa Gardens Blvd. Follow to Rte 192. Turn left onto Rte 192 and go about 1 mile or so and it will be on your left hand side. Also a bunch of restaurants near there.

 

[MamaJessie]

We love WH too..and now Indian Creek as well!
There is a new Super Target right on Rte 192 that is great! Go left out of Wh make your 1st left (right after/at corner at Crestwynd Bay) Drive appx.1/2 mile to stop sign and go right onto Formosa Gardens Blvd. Follow to Rte 192. Turn left onto Rte 192 and go about 1 mile or so and it will be on your left hand side. Also a bunch of restaurants near there.

I have never been to a Super Target - how are the groceries there?

 

[loveysbydesign]

I have never been to a Super Target - how are the groceries there?

I had never been to one before either as there are none near where I live. I was pleasantly surprised by the low prices and variety of groceries to choose from. We stocked up on fresh fruit, yogurt, oj, milk, snacks, string cheese etc. I now wish I had one near me.
The best part was I had collected Target gift cards from my local regular Target to use on the trip so I already had $75 in g.c. to use towards our groceries.

 

[speedyreb]

We just got back from 10 days at Windsor Hills and really like the resort facility. We rented a 3 bedroom townhouse (Windsor Wonderland from Magical VacationHomes.com) with it's own little pool which was great. The weather was pretty nice when we were there and we used that pool everyday. It took 2 days for it to heat up initially so we paid for 10 days of pool heat but only could enjoy 8 so keep that in mind when paying for pool heat in the winter. Our DS loved the big pool as well. The furnishings and amenities at our townhouse were nice but the home was really showing it's age as well, the carpets were really DIRTY going up the stairs and on the second floor, pulling away with exposed tacks as well and they really need to be replaced. We also found big BUGS, DH thinks they were cockroaches and I agree because have never seen bugs that big up here in Canada! They had 2 twin beds on the first floor which were really cheap, no springs or support and an adult could not sleep on them without getting tossed off everytime they moved or turned over as it was soooo wobbly which was unfortunate for us as my parents (in their 70's) came with us and were planning on sleeping on the first floor as the stairs are too much for them. I would go back to WH but NOT to that particular townhome. The Super Target on 192 was awesome, better than WalMart, clean and well organized, the food selection was great and there is a Starbucks inside

 

[Elky]

I will be there for the first time in march. We rent a 3 bedroom condo.

Which one is the closest Walmart or Super Target?

Someone know if there are a Costco near of WH?

Which road did you take to go at Disney from WH?

 

[lugnut33]

can i ask how early and how hard were the rope drops? when did u leave wh and how long was it,, travel time?

You can get to the parks quicker from Windsor Hills than you can using Disney Transportation from on-site resorts. We stayed at WH at the end of Dec. and loved how easy it was to get to the parks, but be warned, there can be a huge traffic jam at night with people trying to get back to their resorts on Irlo Bronson Hwy. One night it was backed up about over a mile.