Windson Hills vs. Windsor Palms vs. Emerald Island vs. Formosa Hills

[SweetieinVT]

Can anyone comment on these communities? We're looking at going offsite and renting a home/villa as we have four adults and four kids with our own transportation this time. Trying to figure out which have the best community features (pools etc) and location (particularly with respect to MK). TIA.

 

[Woodview]

All are within a 10 to 15 min drive to any Disney area . ( Depending on traffic )

All are a short drive to Hwy 192 .... which you cross over .. then on to

Osceola Parkway.


While I have never stayed in the communities mentioned .... we are further away on Hwy 27, they are all good and you will be surprised how

you will enjoy your family time in spacious surroundings.

 

[sympatico]

Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Emerald Island: all have a manned gate, community pool/clubhouse, sports stuff, fitness center. WH, WP have a free mini theatre. WH has the best community pool and playground. Emerald Island has the best tiki bar by their pool and nicest entrance. Formosa Gardens has a coded gate but no community pool or facilities. It just has pool homes: some of which are huge and they are not as close together as the other 3.
WH, WP have condos, townhouses and 4-6 br pool homes. EI has townhouses and 4-8 br pool homes. FG has 4-9 br pool homes.
All would be about the same distance from MK. FG and WH would perhaps be a minute or two closer. Allow 45 to MK for rope drop. It only takes 12 min to the parking lot but by the time you get to the monorail, the bag check etc it will take close to 45 min. You can be parked in the AK parking lot in about 7 min.
Here's a map to show location. WH is #1, WP #13, EI #15, FG #9 Disney markers are pink.
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=...1.608849&spn=0.068335,0.11055&z=13&dg=feature

 

[SweetieinVT]

Thanks, the map and resort descriptions are really helpful.

 

[crathy21]

We no longer even consider staying onsite because we love Windsor Hills so much! We have a group of 6 that typically travel together, 4 adults & 2 kids and rent Townhouses from vacationcentralflorida.com group who own properties in Windsor Hills. Amazing deals for spacious 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom townhouses that includes a splash pool. Windsor Hills is a great resort and I believe their resort/main pool is being refurbed this fall (they have been running specials for September due to that). VERY close to Disney, getting to Animal Kingdom is ridiculously easy but all the parks are close by. Its also nice to have some grocery stores nearby (Super Target!) as well as restaurants that don't charge Disney level prices! We love Disney and don't feel that staying off site affects the magic at all.

Cathy
returning to WH in 05/2015

 

[sueliz]

We stayed in a 4 bedroom town home last dec in Emerald Island. It was located right next to the pool and little playground with an outside grill so was perfect because we didn't have to pay extra for pool heat as we would have in the pool homes I looked at in windsor hills and didn't have to pay to rent a grill. Despite being right by pool the quiet hours were honored and the noise was never a problem. I have never stayed at WH but I think the pics of the pool look more fun for kids- although mine had a blast in the EI pool and didn't know what they were missing. Loved the location- close to animal kingdom and the super target. MK, epcot, and HS also easy to get to. we went home in middle of MK day for naps. Although I think all the places you listed are pretty much in the same general area.

 

[mousecrazy]

Just returned from a week stay at Windsor Hills which we really enjoyed. We stayed in a 3br condo and it was very nice and the price was amazing...by far the best deal I could find. I used magical vacation homes dot com and they were very good to deal with.

The one possibly critical thing I will say about Windsor Hills is that the pool depth is really shallow - 3 1/2 feet at it's deepest point. It has a nice zero entry and a slide (that is designed for kids only - very slow) though.

 

[ready2vacation]

Not sure when you are planning on going, but the main pool at WH will be closed for refurb 9/2 to 10/1.

We've stayed at WH twice in the past couple of years and love it! Super easy to get to the parks and tons of restaurants nearby. Always feel very safe and secure given the gate and security. Wish we'd used it earlier, but the castle playground with the moat entrance is so much fun for little ones. We've always rented through all star vacation homes. Sometimes higher priced, but fabulous customer service, pool heat included, etc.