Windsor Hills

[avcchichester]

has anyone here stayed at Windsor Hills Resort?? This will be our second time to Disney. 3 Years ago we stayed at the Courtyard in downtown disney, and it was very exciting. We could see the fireworks and had bus service to the parks. This time we have decided to rent a home in Windsor Hills, and we are coming next Spring. We are wondering how far is it to the parks??? Can you see the fireworks from there??? and how easy is it to drive to the parks and find parking, and how far is it to DTD??? If anyone has stayed here could you please give us some advise????? I hope we have made the right choice.

 

[jennobrn01]

There is a Windsor Hills fan club over on the TGM website. They have great info and tips. We have booked there for Nov.!

For travel times; I have read about 10 minutes from the Windsor Hills parking lot to the MK parking lot. Then factor in the time to actually get inside the park.

AK is the closest at about 10 minutes from parking lot to inside park.

Windsor Hills is located at the Sherbeth Road entrance to WDW. That can make for less driving time especially in the off season.

The times mentioned above were from people who stayed in Feb/March of this year.

Here is an awesome map to give you a visual of where WH is in relation to WDW. We are number 71!

 

[zara]

Can you tell me what TGM stands for please?????

 

[djkeenan]

TGM = Tour Gide Mike, aka www.tourguidemike.com Want to get your money's worth on your next trip to WDW? Then spend $20 to join TGM's site.

PS: you can't go wrong staying at Windsor Hills. Fantastic facilities, very close to the parks, and being in a home rather than a hotel room will spoil you for life!

 

[tinkerbell6]

Windsor Hills is great...you won't regret staying there! So close to the parks, shopping, etc. As for fireworks, I don't think you can see them from WH, but I'm not entirely sure. It possibly depends on where in the community you're staying, but we couldn't see them from where we were (a townhouse).

We'd definitely stay in WH again, and next time we'd make better use of the great facilities!

 

[traciedee]

There is a great thread on tripadvisor about Windsor Hills by Cakelady. She has posted a lot of great WH info and says it is very close to the parks.

 

[famofsix]

just got back from WH last week and I wish I was still there! It was great and we found it to be clean, affordable, friendly with many kid friendly amenities. It seemed like a good place even if you did not have kids. It is very close to the parks and we had no trouble finding it or getting around!
The owner said you could see the fireworks but we don't know because we were at the parks or getting the kids to bed. I heard them once but when I went outside on the porch I did not see them but that's not to say one couldn't it just was not my reality.
We were skeptical at first because we never tried a condo before. With our big family we could not afford Disney but I highly recommend WH. You won't be disappointed. We got reasured here at the DIS and I want to do the same foryou. Our condo looked exactly like the pictures we rented from and was even nicer than we expected.
BTW, we even stayed at the condo our last day because it was so nice there!

 

[lilherm]

We will be staying at Windsor Hills in a condo in four weeks. I am glad to hear you had a great time. We are very excited and can't wait. How was the pool? Was the waterslide open?

 

[zara]

Can you tell me if there is a bus from Windsor Hills to the Parks??

 

[famofsix]

Hi everyone! I did not see a bus that went to the parks but I was not really looking either We rented a van from dollar rental which we picked up at the Tampa airport.
The pool was great and the water slide was open when the attendant was on duty. Once we had to wait about 30 minutes for the attendant but most of the time someone was there. Kids and adults were using the water slide. It was funny seeing grown men going up and down trying to see who could make the biggest splash. The hot tub was being repaired at the end of April so we did not use it. It was pretty small (hot tub) so that was OK with us.
Overall. it is a clean and well managed place. You do need a security card from the front office (the one advertising sales) to get into the pool area and game room/fitness center. It costs 6 dollars and you get your six dollars back when you return the security card.
Hope that helps, Have a great vacation!
FYI...the pool was not very deep (under 6 feet) and in most places around 4-5 ft deep. It was a graded pool so in some places it was shallow and in other places it was deeper. Nonetheless we had fun and it did not seem to bother anyone.

 

[robinb]

We came thisclose to booking at Windsor Hills for our summer vacation with my extended family. We dragged our feet about picking a date and then the free dining came out and we're at POP Century instead.

These people were my personal favorites because each room could be configured with a King bed or two twins:
http://www.romancingthemouse.com/index.html

 

[akfan]

We recently spent two weeks in Windsor Hills. It was my first time renting a house, and I was a bit nervous about the whole thing. When we agreed to rent the house, I specifically asked the owner if there was any construction in the area, and was told "no." Unfortunately, there was construction just beyond the backyard! On most days, it wasn't a bit deal since we were at WDW all day anyway, but there were a few days when the construction trucks were going at 7:15 am!! And the guys working on them were shouting at one another at the top of their lungs. I could have done without that. The house that we rented was on Comrow. The other areas in Windsor Hills didn't seem to have the same problem. I was surprised at the lack of cleanliness in the house, and the "quality" of the house itself, but I would probably stay in WH again - just not that house!

 

[jennobrn01]

robinb,

we really liked that rental too! we are staying at WH in Nov.... I am excited!

Thanks everyone for your reviews!

 

[mcrockett1220]

We just got back Saturday after staying in WH for 8 days. We had a 4 bedroom house on Basnett Circle. It was great. Very clean, spacious (we had 10 people), its own pool (also very clean) and almost everything you could want. Also very good security measures. We booked through Global and got a good deal. The kids loved the playground and with our own pool, we never used the community pool. There is also a little shop at the entrance to the community with most things you would run to the convenience store for. Cooking in most evenings saved a lot of money, several grocery stores nearby (I recommend Publix or Superwalmart), we bought a grill at walmart for $10. Only about 10 minutes to the parks, and about 15 to downtown disney. Heard the fireworks one night but never looked to see them. Would most definitely stay again.

 

[jennobrn01]

avcchichester,

thanks for your encouraging review! reading all these positive experiences has me so excited to go!

so there is a superwalmart nearby? great! do you remember approx. how long it took you to get there? (anal me)

 

[mcrockett1220]

To get to the Superwalmart it took about 15 minutes, and when we went it was pretty heavy traffic. Not as busy as the Superwalmart near my hometown. Be careful though about your chicken, we got chicken dated for over 1 week after our purchase date, and when we opened it, it smelled horrible. Of course that could happen anywhere. Other than that everything was fine.

 

[jennobrn01]

thanks for your reply! 15 minutes is great! and bleh about that chicken!

 

[mumzie2three]

We just got back on Tues form Windsor Hills and overall it was good. I originally tried to book through owners but they didn't have my dates available. They just happened to be agents for Palm Tree Vacation Homes (AKA Picket Fence Realty) and assured me I could get a unit in the same building and the same floor as their unit. WRONG! I thought we were getting a 3br/2ba condo in building 8, 1st floor to be near the pool, (otherwise I would've gone with a pool home since it's way to hot this time of year to walk to their pool). We were given building 5, 3rd floor and had to be told over the phone by someone at Palm Tree how to get to the pool. (There are only 2 buildings that can be considered poolside there; 7 and 8.) So I complained and we were moved to building 7, 2nd floor but I would stay there again (in a pool home) if I booked through an owner.
The main pool is shallow and it gets very warm, think bath water. Plus you need a key card from the management/sales office to access the pool and fitness center. The store onsite didn't carry salsa, so my DH was bummed about that. If you buy a newspaper, buy it from the machines and not in a store because they charge you tax. We didn't encounter any traffic problems except some of the red lights seem really long, but maybe we were just impatient. Lots of places to eat up and down 192. We thought Perkins had the best breakfast and good pie too. The Publix took a while to find and was PACKED went we went. Bring trashbags!!! They are strict about putting out the trash, especially in the homes because they only pick up on certain days. At the condos they did every day but Sun and holidays.
The second unit we were moved to had more ammenities than the first. Glad we were moved. We did hear some construction for a couple of days towards the end of our stay, but couldn't see where it was coming from. Of course this was our first foray from a hotel and we have nothing else to compare it to. As accomodations go, it was worth what we paid ($85 a night).

 

[horseshowmom]

We came thisclose to booking at Windsor Hills for our summer vacation with my extended family. We dragged our feet about picking a date and then the free dining came out and we're at POP Century instead.

These people were my personal favorites because each room could be configured with a King bed or two twins:
http://www.romancingthemouse.com/index.html

I just looked at this site, and the 6 BR house looks like it might be a good choice for our December trip. I particularly like that the rate they show you is all inclusive.

My main question is about the difference in Windsor Hills and Windsor Palms. The 6 BR house is in Windsor Palms, but it seems like most of the good reviews I've read were about Windsor Hills.

Has anybody looked at both of them, and are they really comparable?

 

[robinb]

My main question is about the difference in Windsor Hills and Windsor Palms. The 6 BR house is in Windsor Palms, but it seems like most of the good reviews I've read were about Windsor Hills.

Has anybody looked at both of them, and are they really comparable?

I only know about the research that I did when I was looking at pool homes. I've heard that Windsor Palms is very, very nice and just up the road from Windsor Hills. The main difference that I saw was that Windsor Hills has a water slide in the main pool and Windsor Palms does not. Windsor Hills is also a bit newer. I believe they are still building there while Widsor Palms has been around for a couple of years.