Had terrible offsite experience, talk me back into it.

[GSUJillybean]

I am looking at Windsor Hills if Disney doesn't end up offering free dining to the public for our dates, but last year, I booked a night at a Westgate on Hotwire, and it was the world's nastiest room ever.

Also, I don't want to be sold a timeshare. Can someone walk me through all of this so I don't end up in a dump getting a million phonecalls trying to talk me into some presentation?

 

[sympatico]

Windsor Hills isn't a timeshare resort. The owners own these homes fully. Some bought them for the sole purpose to rent them out for income and some use them themselves for part of the year then rent them out the other part. Since each home is individually owned the decor varies. I usually look for ones that have updated furnishings and electronics. Besides Windsor Hills other places in the area with condo/townhouses are Crestwynd Bay, Emerald Island, Windsor Palms, Paradise Palms etc. Individual pool homes can be found in all of these except CB and lots of other communities like Rolling Hills, Formosa Gardens Estates, Oak Island, Indian Creek, Sunset Lakes and lots more.
Map: Windsor Hills is # and the rest are blue markers to the left.
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=...8.272032,-81.608849&spn=0.068335,0.11055&z=13

 

[nugov2]

We stayed off site at WH in June. We loved it. The resort was very nice and clean. The house we stayed in was Disney themed so we had lots of Disney Magic! The kids loved it. It was very clean. We were very happy. Like pp said, it is not a time share. Just a gated community with vacation rentals. Here is a link to the one we stayed at. We stayed in the 6bdrm Kingdom, but they have other options. The owner was friendly and easy to work with. My kids loved having the private pool We will for sure go back.

http://storytimeorlandorental.com/

 

[DCbride]

Not sure how many rooms you need but I loved renting from this private owner

http://www.mickeyscondo.com/safari/

The family is from NJ and own 2 Disney themed condos and 1 -5 bedroom home all in Windsor Hills.

My biggest fear is showing up to a dirty room with a terrible view! One time in Vegas I made poor DH change rooms 4 times at Mandalay Bay because I didn't like the rooms- guess I am a room snob

 

[winterwhite]

We have stayed offsite and at the Swolphin and had excellent stays for fraction of the cost of onsite.

We loved HI Orange Lake (very close to a grocery store as well, handy if you plan to use the kitchen). Our only mediocre stay was at the Springhill Suites in the Marriott Village. We had a housekeeping issue there and there was a large school group staying there as well.

If you want the onsite perks and the lower price, I'd consider the swan/dolphin before a truly offsite property-- or Bonnet Creek which is inside the gates as well.

 

[Sandysbuddy]

Windsor Hills isn't a timeshare resort. The owners own these homes fully. Some bought them for the sole purpose to rent them out for income and some use them themselves for part of the year then rent them out the other part. Since each home is individually owned the decor varies. I usually look for ones that have updated furnishings and electronics. Besides Windsor Hills other places in the area with condo/townhouses are Crestwynd Bay, Emerald Island, Windsor Palms, Paradise Palms etc. Individual pool homes can be found in all of these except CB and lots of other communities like Rolling Hills, Formosa Gardens Estates, Oak Island, Indian Creek, Sunset Lakes and lots more.
Map: Windsor Hills is # and the rest are blue markers to the left.
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=...8.272032,-81.608849&spn=0.068335,0.11055&z=13

Thanks so much for the map link! We have reservations for Windsor Hills that we will be using if there are no discounts for our dates. Having the short cut and locations for grocery stores, etc. is wonderful.

 

[GSUJillybean]

You guys are so awesome! I think I'm going to go with a condo because I have two little escape artists that I don't trust around a pool.

 

[GSUJillybean]

We have stayed offsite and at the Swolphin and had excellent stays for fraction of the cost of onsite.

We loved HI Orange Lake (very close to a grocery store as well, handy if you plan to use the kitchen). Our only mediocre stay was at the Springhill Suites in the Marriott Village. We had a housekeeping issue there and there was a large school group staying there as well.

If you want the onsite perks and the lower price, I'd consider the swan/dolphin before a truly offsite property-- or Bonnet Creek which is inside the gates as well.

The Swolphin?

I will look into it because I just assumed it's really expensive, so I hadn't.

 

[winterwhite]

The Swolphin?

I will look into it because I just assumed it's really expensive, so I hadn't.

Current rates are right around $150/nt and the highest I've seen is $249/nt which would still put you way under a deluxe resort, and the hotel is literally right next to the boardwalk and across the lake from BC/YC.

 

[iheartdisney]

You guys are so awesome! I think I'm going to go with a condo because I have two little escape artists that I don't trust around a pool.

Fyi- Florida law is that all doors that lead to a pool must be alarmed. It was the biggest PITA at our rental house, be wise we couldn't just hang out by the pool with the door open- after 10 seconds the alarm started beeping. But better safe than sorry!!

 

[aubriee]

The Swolphin?

I will look into it because I just assumed it's really expensive, so I hadn't.

They give discounts for nurses, teachers, and I believe state employees. I've checked into them and with the nurses discounts have been quoted $99.00-$149.00 per night, depending on the time of year. However, they do add in a mandatory resort fee, which adds to that price.

We like Wyndham Bonnet Creek though. Going through a third party you can usually get a one or two bedroom for less than $100.00/night. They also have three and four bedroom units.

 

[sb682]

I'll make a list:
1) Better sleep for everyone. In a standard room, DS will stay awake past his bedtime because Mommy and Daddy are RIGHT THERE and they're not asleep yet, so he thinks he can stay up, too! If we have a condo, we can close the door and he will be able to calm down and unwind enough to take a good nap or sleep through the night. Rarely happens when we share a room.
2) We love to unwind in our room during naps or after DS's bedtime. We can have the TV and lights on, we can talk, we can take a nice hot bath in the whirlpool tub with some Epsom salts and rest our legs for another day in the parks.
3) The kitchen. It's so nice to be able to eat breakfast in the room or to get our coffee fix. I bring our Keurig Mini and for the price we'd pay for 2 small coffees at a Disney resort, I can get a box of K Cups and some travel cups from Dollar Tree. Next trip, I will be stopping at Publix to buy eggs, bacon, Uncrustables (DS fell in love with these on the last trip, but they are a major ripoff in the parks), and some more stuff to eat. I can spend money on so-so CS food or save by cooking a few meals and putting that money toward better meals in the parks.
4) Convenience. We have never been more than 20-25 minutes from the park gates to our hotel (maybe MK is an exception). It's easy to head back to your offsite resort for a midday break as long as you're not too far from WDW.
5) Value. If we didn't stay offsite, we couldn't go. Plain and simple. We are staying at WBC in a few weeks and we are paying less than $100/night for a 2 bedroom condo. That is unheard of on property. If we insisted on staying on site, we'd have to save for a few years. There is no way we could've afforded to buy APs or to visit more than once this year if we'd done that.
6) Some people get Disney'd out. My DH did not grow up drinking the Disney Kool-Aid and needs a break from all the fun. That may not apply to your family, but it makes him happy to go to a "normal" hotel and have a "normal" meal at the end of the day.

 

[BeerMe]

I'd just like to point out that the nastiest room I've ever stayed in was actually at a Disney Resort. That didn't stop me from going back. Part of the wall actually collapsed. Luckily we weren't in the room at the time. That excludes places I stayed in while I was in the Army though.

There are nasty places out there - if you do your homework though you'll avoid them. As for buying a timeshare - that's up to you. Don't go to the sales pitch and unplug your phone in the condo.

 

[nugov2]

Fyi- Florida law is that all doors that lead to a pool must be alarmed. It was the biggest PITA at our rental house, be wise we couldn't just hang out by the pool with the door open- after 10 seconds the alarm started beeping. But better safe than sorry!!

Turn it off, they have a switch on them Also our house had the alarm and had the fence that went around the pool. When we weren't swimming alarm was on and fence was locked...believe me no child is getting that open!! When we were outside sipping a cocktail relaxing while the kids were sleeping we had the door open and the alarm off. We also had a monitor in the 2yr olds room. The place we stayed also had a safety bar to put down on the sliding door, so really there were 3 things to keep the kids out of the pool once the house was going to bed for the night.

 

[nugov2]

You guys are so awesome! I think I'm going to go with a condo because I have two little escape artists that I don't trust around a pool.

There is no way they will get into that pool if you close it up right. Our house had great safety features. They are more likely to open the condo door and wander around the halls then they were to get into the pool area of the house we stayed at!

 

[My2Qtz0205]

We stayed at Windsor Hills last December. Very convenient to get to the parks. When we first rented a house in FL with a pool, DS was turning 7, and DD was 3. DH was extremely nervous about the pool. The pool had a fence, the door had an alarm, and we slid furniture in front of the back doors *just in case*. We are staying on-site this time, but I do not regret the trips we stayed off-site. We all needed our space after going all day in the parks.