BOTL76
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2009
Hello Disney Fans,
Just returned from a great stay at Windsor Hills Resort.
This was our first time off-site, after 3 previous stays on-site. The biggest reason for going off-site was we now have our daughter who is 16 months old, and my sister and Brother-in-law (no kids) joined us as well.
Also my son is 17 so he was with us as well.
We were a little nervous about going off-site, but chose Dukeroos from Florida Sun Vacation homes that have quite a number of windsor Hills properties. It is a 3 bedroom condo with no private pool.
I will try and classify my thoughts in some order of different items.
1) Condo
- as per the pictures, came as advertised and we were impressed with the space and all the amenities inside. We asked how far from the Resort Pool/main area and was advertised as 75 yards. I was disappointed when I measured that it was 76 yards
2) Pool/main area/playground
- since our 16 month old daughter was directing the ship on our trip, the pool was a nice layout with shallow entry and a partial splash pad attached. The playground is just a bit further around the corner. THe games room seemed good but at our daughters age we didn't need to use it. It does advertise as heated, but I would only say partially or not enough for young kids. My daughter was quite cold even though she loves to swim and be in the water. We pulled her out after only 20 minutes of swimming. the weather that day was around 72F and sunny. For us Canadians, this is great weather
However for some reason on the Friday the pool was warmer (would anyone who has stayed at WH before be able to comment on this?) It was too bad we weren't swimming as we were just getting a family picture in front of the Christmas tree on the pool deck.
Overall I would say the resort has sufficient amenities for young kids and to have a down day at the resort if you are not going to the parks.
3) Security/checkin/out
- Ours went quite well, they give you a detailed outline at the security counter of information to take with you for the duration of your stay. For parking and going in and out we never had any problems and my family was treated quite well by the security guards. Windsor Hills also has a welcome centre in the main building and the ladies working there were quite helpful as well.
4) Location/Driving Times
- I was quite impressed with the location of Windsor Hills. For me I have over 45 minutes of driving one way back home here for work on a daily basis. Here were our driving times to various locations:
Airport to WH- 28 minutes (advertised 30-40 minutes, whoops was I doing KM/HR)
WH- Downtown Disney- 16 minutes
WH- Hollywood Studios- 11 minutes
WH- Magic Kingdom Parking lot- 17 minutes
WH- Super Target- 8 minutes
WH- premium outlets- 11 minutes
WH- Universal 20 minutes
From our end nothing was too far and enjoyed the proximity to the parks
5) Overall experience
I would rate our experience as 8 out of 10 for the price and what our family got out of our trip. Again the focus of our trip was around our 16 month old daughters schedule and we subscribe to the go to the park early, come home for a mid-day nap and go back to the park later in the day. Windsor Hills was close enough for us to do this. Also on our down days, other than the pool being a bit cool for her on 2 of the days, we made full use of the playground which she loved and just taking a walk with her in the stroller around the grounds was great.
Just wanted to share this now that the fun is over but we would definitely go back to windsor Hills!
Just returned from a great stay at Windsor Hills Resort.
This was our first time off-site, after 3 previous stays on-site. The biggest reason for going off-site was we now have our daughter who is 16 months old, and my sister and Brother-in-law (no kids) joined us as well.
Also my son is 17 so he was with us as well.
We were a little nervous about going off-site, but chose Dukeroos from Florida Sun Vacation homes that have quite a number of windsor Hills properties. It is a 3 bedroom condo with no private pool.
I will try and classify my thoughts in some order of different items.
1) Condo
- as per the pictures, came as advertised and we were impressed with the space and all the amenities inside. We asked how far from the Resort Pool/main area and was advertised as 75 yards. I was disappointed when I measured that it was 76 yards
2) Pool/main area/playground
- since our 16 month old daughter was directing the ship on our trip, the pool was a nice layout with shallow entry and a partial splash pad attached. The playground is just a bit further around the corner. THe games room seemed good but at our daughters age we didn't need to use it. It does advertise as heated, but I would only say partially or not enough for young kids. My daughter was quite cold even though she loves to swim and be in the water. We pulled her out after only 20 minutes of swimming. the weather that day was around 72F and sunny. For us Canadians, this is great weather
However for some reason on the Friday the pool was warmer (would anyone who has stayed at WH before be able to comment on this?) It was too bad we weren't swimming as we were just getting a family picture in front of the Christmas tree on the pool deck.
Overall I would say the resort has sufficient amenities for young kids and to have a down day at the resort if you are not going to the parks.
3) Security/checkin/out
- Ours went quite well, they give you a detailed outline at the security counter of information to take with you for the duration of your stay. For parking and going in and out we never had any problems and my family was treated quite well by the security guards. Windsor Hills also has a welcome centre in the main building and the ladies working there were quite helpful as well.
4) Location/Driving Times
- I was quite impressed with the location of Windsor Hills. For me I have over 45 minutes of driving one way back home here for work on a daily basis. Here were our driving times to various locations:
Airport to WH- 28 minutes (advertised 30-40 minutes, whoops was I doing KM/HR)
WH- Downtown Disney- 16 minutes
WH- Hollywood Studios- 11 minutes
WH- Magic Kingdom Parking lot- 17 minutes
WH- Super Target- 8 minutes
WH- premium outlets- 11 minutes
WH- Universal 20 minutes
From our end nothing was too far and enjoyed the proximity to the parks
5) Overall experience
I would rate our experience as 8 out of 10 for the price and what our family got out of our trip. Again the focus of our trip was around our 16 month old daughters schedule and we subscribe to the go to the park early, come home for a mid-day nap and go back to the park later in the day. Windsor Hills was close enough for us to do this. Also on our down days, other than the pool being a bit cool for her on 2 of the days, we made full use of the playground which she loved and just taking a walk with her in the stroller around the grounds was great.
Just wanted to share this now that the fun is over but we would definitely go back to windsor Hills!
