Windsor Hills Question

[smorkovsky]

We are going with my parents next fall (low season) and are staying in a really nicely themed house in the Windsor Hills resort. We are doing this mainly because we want to stay with my parents (still hoping DHs parents will join us) and they won't be joining us at the parks. We need it to be more budget friendly than anything Disney can offer

We still want to be at rope drop everyday. What should I anticipate in terms of drive time factoring in traffic for that time of year?

 

[Saralew]

I will be following this question - we will be there in November. We decided to do the same because my parents will be joining us and we needed to save money.

 

[sympatico]

We only timed ourselves for the Magic Kingdom rope drop from WH and we allowed 45 min. We were at the bag check area when the train came in with the characters. It isn't the distance it's the waiting for trams and monorails that takes the time.
It took us 7 min to get to the parking lot of AK.

 

[toystorymom]

We are here at Windsor Hills now and it is working out great. Last night we were in our car at Epcot at 8:56 & pulled into our parking space at WH at 9:11. Also nice that when you park you are basically "home", not another long walk back to your room like after you get off the Disney bus! Today we were at Blizzard Beach and I would say about 15 minutes though I didn't time it. You could definitely come back during the day for a break and return at night. I think all the parks are about the same except MK which I would give a lot longer. Again, it's not the distance it's that you have to park and then take either the monorail or ferry from the TTC. Lots of walking and waiting.

If you have any other questions about WH I can try to answer them.

 

[Missy29]

It's been almost a year since our last vacation but if I remember right it took about 20 minute to get to the Magic Kingdom parking lot from WH, then we had to park and wait for the tram which was about 5 minutes, then once at the TTC we took the ferry and had to wait for that to load up, 5-10 minutes. Then ferry to Magic Kingdom, maybe 10 minutes(ish). So I would say at least 45 minutes. DHS and AK so much quicker.

 

[AnnaLJ]

We stayed at Windsor Hills last year and it would take us 10 minutes (or less) to get to the parking lots of the various theme parks, regardless of time of day. The traffic/drive from Windsor Hills to gates of Disneyworld were never an issue for us. In fact, two years ago, we stayed onsite and found it took us longer just to get on a shuttle bus then our drive from WH to DW. However, like previous posters said, getting from the parking lot to and taking the ferry over took us quite a bit of time. I would guess approx. 45 minutes.

 

[Lilliputian]

We left WH this morning at 8:35 and were in line at Epcot at 8:56. That includes all the time walking from the car to the front, bag check, etc. We didn't actually get in until a little after 9:00 because the line was so long. We meant to leave earlier, but things happen. The crowds are very low right now, so you'd need to allow a little more time for more crowded times of the year. And obviously, you have to leave really early for MK. I've never actually made it to a MK rope drop when were staying offsite, but I'm going to try again tomorrow.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

We stayed at Windsor Hills last year and it would take us 10 minutes (or less) to get to the parking lots of the various theme parks, regardless of time of day. The traffic/drive from Windsor Hills to gates of Disneyworld were never an issue for us. In fact, two years ago, we stayed onsite and found it took us longer just to get on a shuttle bus then our drive from WH to DW. However, like previous posters said, getting from the parking lot to and taking the ferry over took us quite a bit of time. I would guess approx. 45 minutes.

I agree. Time to parking lot is quick. I never dealt with traffic and we always used the main World Drive entrance (kids loved going through the gates). The ferry takes MUCH longer than the monoral, IMO. We tried that one day and it took forever. The monorail line moves pretty fast and if you are there early it's fine. If you get there around 9:30-10:00 then it's chaos.