I'm back!! FABULOUS TWO WEEK VACATION...

[TnTWalter]

Let me say I LOVED LOVED LOVED Windsor Hills. And for $450 total for the week, how could I not? The location was truly incredible. A short short drive to the parks and great dining offsite options. The pool was great. The condo was wonderful.

The parks were crowded but not terrible until mid-day which of course is when we took breaks. I liked tourguidemike better than touringplans this time and didn't care for ridemax personally. We never waited more than 20 minutes, except to see the UP characters...LOL. My autograph hound really wanted these autographs and it was air conditioned, so why not! DH and other 2 kids played at the kiosks while we waited patiently.

I'm still working up the final budget so I can post it here cause I know you'll all enjoy that!

We only did one character meal. Crystal Palace breakfast. It was $120 after tip. I tell you I wish the touring plan sites told you how to work the character lines because that was the hard part this trip. The rides...no problem...trying to see the fairies, forget about it! LOL. So the $120 was worth it because we didn't have to wait in line. Although we didn't get Eyore because he took a break and he's really slow getting around the room...at 8:55 we decided we'd catch him at Animal Kingdom the next day.

We enjoyed Giordinnis although service was SLOW. Our favorite offsite meal was Logan's . 2 adults $13.99 plus kids $2.99. Fast and good service and good and cheap food. Happy girl.

We also did Olive Garden carry-out....I boiled pasta and made salads. Hubby brought home alfredo and meat sauce and bread sticks. It was free because I had received a gift card but would have cost $14. Woo Hoo.

I'll add the restaurants to the blog once I look at the receipts and figure out where we ate...I was really bad at recording this time around. And then we went to the beach for a week after and I barely remember Disney. LOL.

Here's a blog of WDW...
http://tntwalterdisneyworld.blogspot.com/2009/06/windsor-hills.html

Here's Anna Maria Island...
http://waltersvisitami.blogspot.com/

And if you're considering a beach visit....AMI is FABULOUS!

My goal for both weeks was $4000 total..including condo at WDW, tix for 5 WDW 7 day base through UT, house at AMI, gas, parking at WDW, food along way, all dining, souveniers, etc. etc. I think we went $200 over budget....but I'll put real number in when I know.

 

[bunny]

Who did you rent from at WH? That place looks awesome. I am a DVC member but I am thinking of staying offsite next time, since it is a Universal/Sea World trip.

 

[dougsmom98]

So glad you had a nice trip! Thanks for sharing this information with us.

 

[disneystacy]

We loved our stay in Windsor Hill. We rented a 5 bedroom house last Dec. It was great. Location can't be beat and the price is great.

 

[nd5056]

But it will take some time to adjust back to reality after 2 weeks like that…

How was the weather, was it stormy? Midwest weather is weird this year and seems like Florida is getting their bigger share of rain/thunderstorms this year as well…

 

[englishteacha]

Nice! I'm envious!

 

[TnTWalter]

the condo we rented was here. I originally found them on homeaway but they are in UK. It was no problem. Florida Sun Vacation is the management company.

http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/Fl...e-Area/holiday-condo-Windsor-Hills/p53273.htm

The weather was a little sprinkles on one day and the last 2 days heavy downpour mid afternoon [we had just gotten back to condo on the first bad storm day. lucky. and it cleared by the time we headed back to see Fantasmic. the second day we left for AMI so don't know.]

The weather at AMI was PERFECT. High 80s low 90s ocean breeze. Ahhhh. Sunshine. Wonderful.

My mom asked me today 'Did you have as much fun as we did?' LOL. She was so happy with our trip. I told her we would gladly go anytime they want to treat us. LOL.

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

Thanks for the report about WH. We have decided to stay there next June - first time offsite since we had our dds. They will be 14 and 10 when we go next and CANNOT sleep together. None of us get any sleep!! How long did it take you to get to the WDW parks?

 

[TnTWalter]

There are a ton of threads on the 'Orlando Hotel's about the short cut road [Sherberth]. It is awesome!

I reported that when we went back to Studios after a nice break in the day we left our condo at 7pm and were parked, through security, gate, and in line for Fantasmic at 7:30 with 3 kids...!

The longest is Magic Kingdom because you have to park at TTC and then get across the water by monorail or boat.

We left at 7:15 and were taking a picture in front of the castle on our way to Crystal Palace at 8am. I don't know when we actually arrived because I forgot to look at my watch until then.

Animal Kingdom is closest!

Epcot is farther than Studios or AK but not much and you can park right there unlike MK!

We tried to leave to be at parks 30 minutes before closing and except for the MK day we usually left between 8:10 and 8:15 and were easily in the crowd by 8:30-8:35. Fabulous!

When you go that early you can park pretty close too! Another plus!