Formosa Gardens, Emerald Island, Windsor Palms? Which to choose?

[zerolast]

I'm planning a trip for the week right after July 4th. Traveling with Family of 4 (kids ages 3 and 8) and 2 grandparents. Which villa community is the newest and best? Formosa Gardens, Emerald Island, or Windsor Palms? I'm pretty sure all 3 are within 5 minutes of Disney, but I'm looking for a place that is quiet with newer villas and great amenities (pool at villa, games room, etc...). Any ideas? Thanks in advance. Dave

 

[RobinMarie]

I'm not exactly positive but ...

I beleive we stayed in the Windsor Palms community and drove right past the Formosa Gardens on the way - I seem to remember them being pretty close. There were quite a few developments that pretty much all looked nice.

 

[maps]

emerald island is fairly new and i believe there is still construction going on. it has more of a resort like atmosphere with townhouses and villas.it has a clubhouse with pool, spa, game room and i think a movie theater.

we stayed in indian creek which is across the street from formosa gardens(which has really large, high end homes). emerald island was a block or so away.

the location was great.

 

[martina857]

Definately Emerald Island for me ! Try this website for villas etc. I have now rented 2 from here www.emerald-island-resort.com
Have fun

 

[Robinrs]

All three are beautiful properties.

There is ongoing construction at EI but the entire subdivision is older than Windsor Palms, which is the newest at 2 years old. It, too has ongoing construction.

I've only stayed at Windsor and just loved it. It has a theatre, a warm pool, a convenience store, unique amenities. It is also very close to Disney and is a gorgeous property.

 

[kazzie]

If you are after community features for kids/teens then forget Formosa Gardens.

This is just a villa resort with no community things (that I saw anyway!).you enter via a gate you put a code into.

On WP there is a large community pool,small cinema,pool,table tennis,shop,basketball court,gym etc.There is a guard on the gate checking everyone who enters/leaves.

On EI there is a community pool,nature walk,internet cafe, etc.

If it is a games room in the villa (and not community things)you're after then FG would be fine too

 

[zerolast]

Thanks for the info everyone. I appreciate you taking the time to give me your opinions. Dave

 

[2BigKIdz]

I have rented a home in Emerald Island for the same week so I can't tell you about the resort, but I rented mine from this site
florida vacations
they have hundreds of places to choose from in all of the resorts. The house I rented is only 6 mos. old. I was considering a home in Windsor Palms owned by the same couple but I needed the larger home so went with EI. If you stay there we might be neighbors

Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[UKDEB]

I think you've already got the answer to which is newest, but obviously which is best is more subjective. Each time we visit, I spend hours (weeks! ) trawling the internet for the 'newest and the best' and, even though I'd be more than happy to stay at both Emerald Island and Windsor Palms, I keep coming back to Formosa Gardens - I just seem to find the precise villa I'm looking for there.

All 3 locations are fabulous and <i>very</i> close to Disney (FG is the closest, but we're splitting hairs). Not all will have games rooms and, although they will all have pools, they won't all have separately heatable jacuzzis - a must for us. Sub-divisions are built on a phased basis and so, although we've stayed at FG over a 3 year timescale, each time we've stayed at a villa which is 12 months old or less. In July we'll be staying at Diamond Villa. In January, we stayed at the Emerald Villa next door.