Looking for someone who has stayed Deluxe & @ WH

[mrsklamc]

We LOVE Windsor Hills. There are only a couple of deluxe level resorts that even tempt is. Can anyone compare the 2 experiences?

 

[mom2febgirls]

We LOVE Windsor Hills. There are only a couple of deluxe level resorts that even tempt is. Can anyone compare the 2 experiences?

We've stayed at the Boardwalk and Polynesian and just returned from a week at Windsor Hills.

We loved the space/private pool at WH. We'll probably go back to an onsite resort for our next trip (we'll try to rent at BWV and get 2 bdrms). I like the convenience of not having to drive anywhere...and with a teenager I can let her sleep in and meet us at the park when she's ready instead of having a grumpy, tired kid in the morning.

 

[eliza61]

We LOVE Windsor Hills. There are only a couple of deluxe level resorts that even tempt is. Can anyone compare the 2 experiences?

So the big thing of course is the space.

We have done both and had great vacations at both places. Now space is a big concern for my family. I have 2 teenage sons and a dh who are all over 6ft tall, trying to squeeze into a regular hotel room for 10 days can be not so nice.

I always have a car at disney so truthfully, it never takes me longer to get back there than it would to do disney transportation. so driving was extremely easy.

Now that we have a dvc, space is not an issue. but we loved WH the one time we stayed there.

 

[bridget]

I thought WH was okay. We stayed one time and I don't care to go back. It wasn't for us. We've stayed at everything from Pop Century to Deluxe.

The last 2 times we have gone we've stayed at Bonnett Creek in a 3 bedroom Presidential. We are planning to stay there in June.

My children love Animal Kingdom, Bonnett Creek & Pop Century My 4 year old begs to go back to the Pop Century

 

[mrsklamc]

Bonnet Creek is just condos, no houses right? Why do you like BC better than WH?

 

[Mom2m&k]

We stayed in a house to WH once. I will not do it again. Having a private pool was nice and so was the space. However, when the very loud group of people moved into the house behind us and were out on their patio (with the big screen they rolled out) there was nothing anyone would do about it! I called security, I called the police, I even tracked down the rental company for that house. No one would do anything! It was an awful two nights (luckily they only stayed the weekend.) I know this is an isolated event but the fact that it negatively effected my vacation and no one would do anything about it was a real problem. We now have DVC and love staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge!

 

[princessmorgan]

I haven't stayed at Windsor Hills, but I have stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek, the Polynesian, Boardwalk Villas, and Kidani Villas. I picked Bonnet Creek over Windsor Hills initially, because I didn't really want a house. My kids like the hotel feel and we stayed in a 3 BR condo last January. They don't have maid service everyday, but we enjoyed the different pools, the mini golf, the very close proximity to Disney (right next to Caribbean Beach), and they have a shuttle service to the parks. We really enjoyed the extra space the most, especially since a couple of us got the flu. And of course it was very budget friendly.

However it's the same arguments for on site vs. off site. I missed being on site and riding those silly Disney buses. I love the Polynesian! We just can't afford it every time. The Boardwalk was all right. The location is great, but I liked the Poly a lot better. It just felt more relaxing. I also enjoyed AKV a lot, too ad so did the kids. I would love it a million times more if it was closer to the parks, but it is relaxing, and the extra activities they have are great. The kids love the pool!

 

[Jenny-momof3]

I've stayed at quite a few resorts onsite from values to deluse, rented a condo and a 5 bedroom house at Windsor Hills and stayed in a 3 bedroom condo at Bonnet Creek.

First choice will ALWAYS be onsite for us! As a PP mentioned...having the ease of teenagers sleeping in, hopping on a bus and meeting us at the parks is such a wonderful perk! Or one of us taking the little kids back and one of us staying with the older kids later in the evenings. When we stay offsite it's come or go at the same time which is hard since my kids are so far apart in age...almost 17,13,6 and 1.

We really liked Bonnet Creek because it has that resort feel still. Having all the extra space was very nice and the multiple pools were fun!!

Windsor Hills just isn't for us unfortunately. I just feel like I'm staying in somebody elses house. No resort feel and my kids didn't like the main pool at all. The slide is rickety, pool isn't all that big for as many people that were in it,etc. Tried it again with a private pool house but kids were bored pretty quickly and I felt like I was at home having to clean,cook,etc.

 

[edk35]

We are DVC members and have never stayed off site except for two times. We arrived late many years ago and stayed off site for one night. THEN...summer of 2010 we got in very late again and stayed off site that night. HOWEVER.... we are renting a 5 bedroom 5 bath home in WH over Easter break. The reason... we are driving, my parents are meeting us there and staying with us and we will have a friend of my older son's with us. SO... we want to have plenty of space and the pool will be a bonus. Since it is a holiday week, we decided that it might actually be nice to get OFF property during such a busy time. It might be a nice refuge. We have only been during a busy time when we go at Thanksgiving. We have heard Easter week will be BEYOND PACKED. Our dd will be there doing the Disney CP so we know she will be working long hours and we are going to see her when we can so we are working around her schedule too. We are also planning side trips so staying off site will be nice for that. This will be a first for us...so we shall see how that goes.

 

[Donnainnj]

We stayed at Windsor Hills in a 3br condo pretty recently, and our last trip was a split stay between AKV 1br and Bonnet Creek 2br. (in the past we have also stayed at Emerald Island Resort in a 4 br pool home) For offsite I liked the atmosphere at Bonnet Creek the best. I still prefer onsite in a villa, but for the price difference I thought Bonnet Creek was fantastic. My only issue was with the phone calls, that I never answered, sales calls, (it is a timeshare) an easy fix would have been to unplug the phone. the pools there are great and the location is fantastic. We always rent a car so the no Disney Bus thing doesn't bother us much. We usually only use the buses for MK when we do stay onsite. We are a family of 5 so the extra room is great.
Donna

 

[Mickeyluver37]

We just returned last week from our first off-site stay at Windsor Hills. The kids loved having a pool in our back yard and used it just about every evening of our 10 night stay. The space and price of the townhouse compared to on-site at a Deluxe goes to WH over Disney, hands down.

We also no longer have patience for Disney Transportation and would rent a car regardless.

There are really only two things I didn't like. 1- and this isn't that big of a deal- we were washing towels constantly, it seemed. I didn't mind making our own beds every day, but I sure did miss the towel service aspect of housekeeping. But 2- and this one is big- Disney food prices have really gotten out of hand for those not on the Dining Plan. For my family of 5 with an 18% tip, it was $220+ for Thanksgiving Dinner at the WCC (no alcohol), and it probably wasn't even worth HALF that. There wasn't a single sit down meal under $100 that we ate there, even burgers and cokes at Sci Fi.

The kids would pick Windsor Hills over Disney on property, but they aren't the ones paying.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I've stayed at Yacht Club, Beach Club, Polynesian, VAKL, BCV, OKW, and offsite at Windsor Hills. My gang has zero interest in staying on-site again (as a family--I could envision an on-sit couples-nly trip, someday).

You get twice the space for half the money, and our gang all really love it. DD16 loves having a private bedroom with a king bed, her own bathroom, TV, and wifi. We joke that, if the room had its own fridge, we'd never see her. DS14 gets his own room, private bathroom, and freevideogame and DVD rentals. DD8 and DS5 love sharing a room (they don't at home). Everyone loves, loves, LOVES the private pool.

We save a ton of money by cooking our own food. My gang doesn't like to eat out (sickos!), so we do easy-prep food. DD16 says it's not vacation without break-and-bake cookies. We only ate a few meals on property, and had a few snacks.

I will say, offsite makes it trickier to get to MK--that would be the only transportation "minus".

If I were staying onsite, I'd pick Beach Club or Polynesian. I do love those resorts. But, I'd likely do it only if it were DH and I, not with the gang. I did enjoy the DVC villas we stayed in, and, given an umlimited budget (time and money), would be interested in trying BLT. But, my gang would rather be offsite.

In the interest of full disclosure, they also like to visit Universal while we're down there. We also tend to do longer trips, less often. I mention this because we tend to relax and hang out a fair amount--the pluses of WH that I mention don't matter as much if you're planning a shorter or commando type vacation. My family doesn't do that--doesn't mean it's wrong, but I want you to understand where I'm coming from.