Just got back from Windsorhills Stroytime #2

[I_believe_in_pixies]

Let me say this was my sixth Disney World trip and the first time I have stayed off-site. If you had asked me two weeks ago I would have told you you were crazy to stay off-site. The only reason I was renting a house off-site was because my mother was joining us on this trip and economically we had to.

Well.....I'm sold! My family had the BEST vacation ever and we see no reason to ever stay at a Disney hotel again.

We rented from Storytime, stayed in their Storytime #2 townhouse and it was heaven! 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, a full kitchen, washer and dryer, our own splash pool and a wonderful resort pool we could walk to. We drove to the parks everyday and got there faster then riding the Disney buses. We loved having our own car so we could come and go as we pleased without ever having to wait on a crowded bus. The longest commute is to MK and we were house-to-turnstiles in 20 minutes.

With our kitchen, we had REAL COFFEE everymorning and didn't have to get dressed and walk to a food court to get it. We had snacks and made a couple of quick dinners a couple of nights. We had space to move around and separate from one another if we wanted to. The kids LOVED the Mickey themed room.

Elias was wonderfully fast in his correspondance and extremely easy to work with. He made the whole rental process easy.

All in all we had a wonderful vacation and cannot recommed Storytime rentals highly enough.

Nick

 

[TotoToo]

Nick - It sounds like you agree with my family. Many years ago we were on site bigots and looked down on anyone even thinking off site was a vacation to Disney. Not now. For over a decade we have exclusively stayed off site and found we enjoyed ourselves more, paid less and got much better accommodations. And Windsor Hills wasn't even in our top 5 places to stay, nice as it is. We prefer places closer to "things" that can be easily walked to & that have a more resort feel than WH. But in any case the better quality units, bigger size, real TV and lower cost mean onsite is a thing of the past for us. Welcome to the club!

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

I am so glad you had a great trip. We are going to the World next June and are staying offsite for the first time at WH. I was kind of worried we would lose some of the "magic," so I was glad to see your post. We are looking forward to having some breathing room though. Thanks for putting me at ease about staying offsite!!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Glad you gad a great trip - we have stayed at WH 3 times now and also love the convenience and space of the TH

 

[sympatico]

Another convert. Welcome to the dark side.

 

[neonurse]

Another convert. Welcome to the dark side.

I love staying off site. More bang for your buck. I love the space, breakfast in your jammies, coming home with clean clothes and the SPACE. Windsor Hills is great. You'll love it there!

Have a great trip!

 

[Kay1]

Yes, and we love having a nicely stocked kitchen for those nights when we're tired or it's raining or cold, and getting dressed and going out for dinner is just a chore.

Thanks for your report.

 

[mom2prettyprincess]

We are currently in Storytime castle.....This is our first trip to the world and we LOVE it!!!! Ours is a group of 7 females ranging from the ages or 2 - 70 we have room to spread out the kids can play upstairs and you wouldn't even know they are here...Love the private pool and just having the convience of not having to go to get coffee especially since we go through 2-3 pots a morning! Someday I might stay on property just for the exprience, but honestly this is the way to go!

 

[two*little*birds]

Couldn't agree more!

 

[sympatico]

Couldn't agree more!

Hey, Kathie, we overlap a couple of days at WH. We'll be coming in on the 26th. My husband is a Kevin also.

 

[two*little*birds]

Too funny Wanda... small world huh?

Where are you staying at WH?

 

[sympatico]

Too funny Wanda... small world huh?

Where are you staying at WH?

On Archfeld Blvd in a 6 br.

 

[isla bonita]

Sounds like all had a lovely time.

First time we went down and stayed in a rental home there were 14 of us and I thought it would be a nightmare!

It was the best holiday for all of us. We do it twice a year and have the most wonderful memories.

 

[oztraveller]

Wow this sounds good to me too. But how do I find the site to rent the appartment?
This little Ausie needs a bit of HELP!!!!
Cheers

 

[TrustedTraveler]

Another convert. Welcome to the dark side.

Yes, we're in the minority, but after enjoying a pool home, the terms vacation and hotel room just don't compute.

 

[sympatico]

Wow this sounds good to me too. But how do I find the site to rent the appartment?
This little Ausie needs a bit of HELP!!!!
Cheers

Welcome to the DIS. You can rent directly from owners or through a rental agency. For owner listings you can go to vrbo.com , homeaway.com and many other listing sites. You can narrow it down to the Kissimmee area which will be closest to Disney or Davenport which is just a little further out.
These two rental companies get good reviews: allstarvacationhomes.com and floridasunvacationhomes.com and there's also the dreamsunlimited sponsors at the top of the page.
Map to show you where all of the subdivisions are:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...8.272032,-81.608849&spn=0.068335,0.11055&z=13
We like the area from around Windsor Hills to Emerald Island but there's lots of other places also. That should get you started.

 

[neonurse]

Wow this sounds good to me too. But how do I find the site to rent the appartment?
This little Ausie needs a bit of HELP!!!!
Cheers

I recommend checking out www.vrbo.com (vacation rental by owner) and renting directly from the owner. I have great success. First enter your desired location-Kissimmee and then it breaks it down into neighbourhoods and there you would choose Windsor Hills. The list homes and condos on this site.
hth

 

[loveysbydesign]

We love Windsor Hills too and have rented through VRBO and windsorhillsrent.com I love getting all the quotes and comparing them! I'm doing that right now as we plan out Nov. 2010 trip....we're taking the in-laws for the 1st time. They've never been to WDW and I'm so excited for them...and us too!