I booked our first trip to Disney in January. I did hours of research-reading reviews and scouring the internet for the best bargain. I wanted more room than just a hotel room, but less cost than the rates of the Disney resorts. We have a party of 5-myself, husband, teen, 7yr old and my Mom. After reading all of the reviews I decided on a Windsor resort and found a great deal-a 3 bd condo for $550/7 nights. Couldnt beat that! We'd be traveling in the "down" time-before summer vacations kicked the prices , so that really helped.(Gotta love home schooling!)
We arrived and checked in-Head the advice and remember that the check in is not at the resort and that 129 is Irlo Bronson Hwy. Great staff-very friendly and very helpful. We finished all of our paperwork and went grocery shopping until it was 4. We drove out of the check-in, turned left and went a few miles to the Super Target. I just prefer that store, but you will pass a grocery store just outside of the resort/subdivision. Consider buying your refillible water bottles and fan/squirt bottles outside the park. We bought one at Target for about $7-at the park it was over $15.
We went back and to pick up our key. We were about an hour early, but she said it would be okay- the maid service had finished. We drove over to the resort and found our building. It was on the backside of pool-very close to the clubhouse. Unfortunately (just because we brought so much stuff) we were on the 3rd floor. There is no elevator-they are outside access condos. We hauled all of our stuff up(we'd just been to the grocery and intended on eating at the condo quite a bit, so we had quite a bit) I punched in the code to the lockbox- lo and behold. No key. I thought I was either in the wrong building or maybe I was doing something wrong with the lockbox. My husband checked it out . No key. I called the emergency number. She said she'd call the management and call me back. I waited for a bit, then called back. She was still waiting for word from the management company. After waiting 30 minutes, I called back to see if management was somewhere I could walk to, but it was offsite. She assured me she was working on it- very apologetic. A few minutes later, an Australian chap came with a key. He went in and found that there was still luggage in the condo. I guess the owner hadnt left yet and they couldnt contact him, so they wanted to accomodate us elsewhere. A little bit put off, after we'd carried all of our "stuff" up three flights of stairs, I kept in mind we were trying to check in an hour before actual check in time, so I couldnt put all sorts of blame on them. I was more than delighted to accept an offer to stay in a 3bd condo with a small pool on the back porch. We gathered our stuff and drove 2 streets away to our new little condo. Im so grateful for the management company and the check in folks for taking care of the problem so quickly.
The condo was AWESOME! Immaculate and roomy. There was a bedroom and bath downstairs with a huge pantry, kitchen, dining area, breakfast bar and living room(with dvd/vcr and playstation2) The little pool out back was just big enough to get in, cool off and have some fun) Upstairs is a washer/dryer (bring your own detergent-also paper towlels/tp, etc) A bedroom with 2 twin beds/a bath, adorably decorated with Nemo And a master bd with a king sized bed, huge dresser, big closet and big bath. Did I mention that there were folded towel animals in nearly every room-swans, elephants, etc. Very nice touch. It's just a really comfortable, pretty place. There are dressers in every bedroom.
The resort is just about 10 minutes to the parks- once you get down the route-it's no problem getting around. You are super close to all of the stores/restaurants.
I will definitely recommend this resort to everyone visiting Orlando without a doubt, and we'll be back.
