Picking a vacation

[berncoad]

Really hope I put this in the right place. In the past when we visited Florida we always stayed at the Sheraton Vistana or the Fountains. This time we want to stay in a house. We do not want to be too far away from the shopping and Disney. I have looked at Emerald Island, Windsor Hills, Lake Berkley, etc but there are so many options. Thoughts anyone or words of wisdom. I do not want to find that I am in the middle of nowhere but it is so hard looknig at the maps and really knowing. Is there somewhere you would recommend or not recommend. The chhoices are so many. There are 3 adults and 2 kids. Please offer any words of wisdom to make this choice less difficult.

 

[Lynne M]

Welcome! I'm going to move your post over to the Orlando Hotels and Attractions board, where you'll find lots of discussion on house rentals.

There's also a Hotel & Accommodations Reviews board, where guests post their reviews of various offsite hotels, condos, homes, etc.

 

[Beemitchcowski]

I P'med you!

 

[berncoad]

Thanks I got your message and tried replying but it wouldn't let me as i needed 10 points and I only had 1. This is all new to me but figuring it out slowly. Thanks for your advice. Do you know anything about Emerald Island? Is it worth looking into? What about High Grove versus sandy Ridge

 

[Beemitchcowski]

I really don't know much about the other communities/rentals. I believe that Windsor Hills is the newest/closest community to the Walt Disney World Gates. Some where on this forum is a map where it shows the location of many resorts/communities. I have heard some talk about Emerald Island...but I don't know anything about it...Have you checked homeway.com or vrbo? There is tons of info on this boards about Windsor Hills and lots of fans! Good Luck!

 

[Bellamouse]

We stayed at Emerald Island last October. It was just OK. We didn't hate it, but we didn't love it either. It was a little further than I had thought (and would have liked), but I wouldn't say it was far by any means.

The unit we rented was a little worn down and the beds were dreadfully uncomfortable. That said, we paid a bargain price of $490 for the week for a 3BR/2.5BA unit. We split it with another couple and so paid $245 for 7 nights. Can't exactly expect the Taj Mahal for that price.

It was good for our purposes last year when we were on an extremely tight budget. It meant the difference between going and not going at all, so it was fine. This year we have the ability to spend a little more and so have chosen WBC.

I would stay at Emerald Island again if I were on a tight budget again, but I would likely go with a different unit.

But really, I would most likely look into other options like Windsor Hills or something else before I would go back to Emerald Island again. I think there is some middle ground between really cheap and kind of far and very expensive and really close.

We used to stay at Radisson Celebration and used to really like that a lot, but it's starting to get too run down for us there. We are a little spoiled now by all the room you get in a condo/townhouse so we'll probably continue that route.

 

[sympatico]

I'll refer you to this thread so I won't have to write it all out again. Any of the subdivisions in the Formosa Gardens area are as close to Disney as you're going to get with a pool home: Windsor Hills, Formosa Gardens Estates, Emerald Island, Windsor Palms, Indian Creek, Rolling Hills, Oak Island etc. Each home is individually owned so upkeep, decor etc depends on the owner. Just remember that you get what you pay for. We like both Emerald Island and Windsor Hills and there are "cheaply" done homes and "expensive" ones in both.
Here's the other thread with lots of info:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2623627