Windsor Hills – A Lesson Learned

[Minnie]

We just returned from a week stay at a 3bed/3bath townhouse with a splash pool in Windsor Hills. There were only three of us (my mom, my son (13), and myself). If anyone wants the website direct to the townhouse in which we stayed please feel free to send me a PM or an email

For the positives….

1 – The owners couldn’t have been nicer. Very easy to work with and they made phone calls and emails to follow up with a variety of questions that I had. The entire transaction went very smoothly

2 – The space to spread out was wonderful. I had to work while we were on vacation and the extra room allowed me to concentrate and my mom and son to enjoy the pool. Oh and the 50” plasma tv and top of the line furniture & bedding were tops too.

3 – The splash pool was a ton of fun. There were several pool toys there and we bought a few more at Wal-Mart and had a blast. The jets were sooooo relaxing after a long day. It was also nice to easily answer “yes” to my son when we wanted to hit the pool.

4 – Location is very close to AKL and AK so it was easy to stop by for a pack of zebra domes or a quick service meal with an animal view. Also it was close to the clubhouse.

For the negatives….

1 – Location. It was definitely a drive to all parks other than AK. In most cases it probably wasn’t any longer than walking to and waiting for a bus and in fact with the tram service it was probably a shorter walk in many cases. The problem for my family was that with only 1 car it made it difficult when one wanted to stay in the parks and the other was ready to go back and rest or wanted to rest in the morning and join us later. One day I made 3 trips back and forth from WH to WDW because of the different plans we had that day. BTW - I did the Segway Backyard Adventure at Fort Wilderness and it was a ton of fun! I would highly recommend it!

2 – Lack of maid service. Okay this is a no brainer that it won’t be available, but you don’t realize how much you miss something until you don’t have it available.

3 – Lack of theme/landscaping. Now WH is gorgeous and the townhouse we had was definitely deluxe in every way but it just wasn’t Disney…. If you’ve ever been to the WL or AKL then you know the feeling you get when you walk in the doors and it just doesn’t happen anywhere else.

Wrap Up…..

I guess my lesson learned was that with nearly everything in life you can’t have everything. You’ve got to give on some things in order to get others.

When I read or hear mixed reviews like this I always wonder… would they do it again? So I’ll answer that here with a maybe. I won’t ever rule it out and if someone was set on staying on site I would HIGHLY recommend the townhouse we stayed in.

However, I do know my eyes will be pealed for AP discounts for our stay in December and we may consider renting DVC points again as the OKW 2-bedroom we stayed in last Oct was just about perfect

Anyways had a fabulous vacation and a great time. 5 months and counting until our next adventure!!!

 

[cacgac]

Hi Minnie! I have a question... What is the Segway Backyard Adventure at Fort Wildnerness? We will be in Disney in August withmyself, DH, DD(15) and
DS(10).
Thanks!

 

[mikymouse]

Thanks Minnie for the balanced review. We are going to try off site in February at WH. I am a bit worried about the "Lack of Magic" my friends have reported on a off site vacation but the price/space is necessary for this trip as there will be 7 of us and that is just too much money for on-site this year. I am concerned about the only one car issue... did you ever consider the shuttle service for WH to and from the parks... I was hoping it was pretty good service to get my folks to the parks later than the rest of us.

 

[deejay-55]

It's a matter of 'horses for courses'. If you want the full on-site experience, then you will only get it on-site. For our part, when we used to stay on-site we found ourselves Disneyed-out after a few days. So we prefer off-site, and nearby, to experience not only Disney but also the other things on offer. Plus, we get our own private pool and spa!

 

[MYDISNEYHOUSES]

I can see your point. We own vacation homes and still like to stay onsite sometimes. Usually just a night or 2. It is a different type of vacation.
Although it is usually just my husband and I, so a hotel room is fine for us for a couple of days. Plus as owners when we are at the homes we are usually busy touching things up and doing improvments, more work that having fun.

I would think for families the extra room and the private pool would outweigh the loss of magic. Maybe an option for some would be to do a night or two onsite and the rest of the time off-site in a pool home. Then you get the best of both worlds.

 

[kilee]

Thanks for the great review. I've never minded the commute to the parks, but I know it's not for everyone.

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

A great and honest review A few years back we stayed in a villa at WIndosr Palms. As nice as the house was, and we enjoyed the private pool at night, it just wasn't the same feel as a resort. We are not hardcore on siters but we love to stay at nice resorts. If not onsite than somewhere like Gaylord, or Ritz Carlton. With that being said, I just booked a week at Ginn Reunion Resort. I am hoping there is more of a resort feel with all the amenities offered. I even ordered the maid service daily. I understand they have spa services, 5 restaurants, a waterpark, bike rentals, golf and more. I hope we made the right decision. I agree that villa rentals are not for everyone. I also agree that OKW is the way to go. That is one of my favorites.

 

[dfarner]

With that being said, I just booked a week at Ginn Reunion Resort

Are you going soon?

Please post a review when you return, Ginn looks fabulous!

 

[dougsmom98]

Thanks so much for the review. I think you made a lot of good points. If there is only one vehicle and people have different agendas for park time, I think the best bet would be to stay on site or take a taxi from villa. We often go to the parks, come back mid-day and then head back to the parks later, but all of us do that together and we stay together. Anyone traveling with more than one family should definitely get more than one rental car.

 

[curlyjbs]

Thanks so much for the review. I think you made a lot of good points. If there is only one vehicle and people have different agendas for park time, I think the best bet would be to stay on site or take a taxi from villa. We often go to the parks, come back mid-day and then head back to the parks later, but all of us do that together and we stay together. Anyone traveling with more than one family should definitely get more than one rental car.

If everyone has different park plans would it be possible to make AK the pickup/dropoff park since it's the most convenient to WH?? I would think it would be easy to take disney transp to/from AK...right? Would that work?

Just a thought.
~Connie

 

[mikymouse]

If everyone has different park plans would it be possible to make AK the pickup/dropoff park since it's the most convenient to WH?? I would think it would be easy to take disney transp to/from AK...right? Would that work?

I was thinking we might to this on our next trip. Does anyone know how much it is to take a taxi from AK to WH? That might work if there are conflicting schedules on some days.

 

[Minnie]

I would suggest AKL rather than AK as I could be wrong but I don't remember a bus to any of the other parks just to the resots. You'd have to take a bus to one of the resorts and the another bus or other transportation to the park. We tried this once as we wanted to check out a resort and waited a long time for the next bus to the park. Personally, I wouldn't try it.

You could always drop off at one park and then plan a pick up time. Personally, if I had that type of situation I'd just rent a 2nd car. I think it would be money well spent

For us the problem was not different parks but different schedules. For example last Friday it went like this:

1st trip - I drove from WH to Fort Wilderness for the Segway Backyard Tour.

2nd trip - Drove back to WH picked up my son and then we went to the Wilderness Lodge to rent Sea Racers.

3rd trip - Drove back to WH for a rest. Then all of us went to the Poly for dinner.

If we'd stayed at a Disney resort it would have been a much shorter trip and I could have taken Disney transportation instead of driving.

Don't forget the gas you'll need to pay to stick in the car. We had a Toyota Rav4 and I put about $60 in gas in the car for the week and that is with only 1 trip to Wal-mart the rest driving between WH and WDW.

Also, normally I'd have been fine with going to the park at night alone with my son or just a quick trip over while my mom and son went to the pool. But with the drive rather than hopping on a Disney bus I didn't feel comfortable doing so.

All that said.... I'm definitely not putting down Windsor Hills. If you stay at AKL and drive instead of use Disney transporation your drive time won't be much more. It is a very nice vacation area.

Who knows maybe we'll give it another try some other time. If you are trying to get the best bang for the buck you can't beat a townhouse. There are just some things that are important to us on vacation that we missed so I'm not sure what we'll do on our next trip.

 

[ruby33]

You made some great points. When my son was young, Disney was our only focus, so staying on property was the way to go. Now that he is 14, and my mother moved to Florida, we do more than just Disney. The last 2 years we have rented at Windsor Hills. It gives us the freedom to do Disney at least two times and we can travel to visit family the other days. We also take a day just to enjoy the resort. 2 years ago, I bought 10 day-non-expiration tickets for Disney. We have 6 days left and will use 2 more days this February. We also have Universal and Busch Gardens on our list too. We see Windsor Hills as a central location. It has worked out great for us as transportation wasn't an issue. My sister and I will be doing the EPCOT Food and Wine fest this fall and staying on Disney property will be the only way to go! Thanks for your review!

 

[mx3man123]

Wow, thanks for the review, you had me scared there as we are staying there this december for 10 days. The Cons weren't bad though, I know it doesn't feel like Disney, we stayed at BWV last year but it is alot cheaper to stay off site. Were getting the 3 bed 3 bath townhouse for $900 for 10 days so you can beat that.

 

[novdisneydreams]

Can you tell me how long it took you to get to each park from your villa ? The ads all say it is two miles, but it sound like it took you awhile. Thanks !

 

[Minnie]

Can you tell me how long it took you to get to each park from your villa ? The ads all say it is two miles, but it sound like it took you awhile. Thanks !

I'd say the 5 minute time is accurate to ONLY the Animal Kingdom. And that would be to just the entrance not to actually into the park.

For the others I'd say 10 minutes is closer to accurate for Epcot and MGM and for the MK a bit more closer to 15.

WDW is a huge area and nothing is really close to each other unless you are staying at a resort that has a park next to it.

I don't really think that the time would have been less (other than the MK which is a pain to get into unless you are on a Disney bus) had we stayed in WDW. The bus stops are I think a further walk than driving your car and using the trams. And waiting for a bus can take anywhere from 2-20 minutes depending on the schedule.

We are still debating what to do for our December trip. It really depends on whether or not the AP rates come out for our choice of resorts.

 

[allyphoe]

We've stayed in WH a couple times (and will be there again in December), and have always had two vehicles (for 4 adults and 2 preschoolers), even though we're almost always at the same location at the same time. If everyone goes to MK and could fit in one car, two cars go to MK. That way, if even one person wants to stay longer, no one is stranded.