If you are reading this from a hotel room, the chances are you are an amateur vacationer. I want to teach you how to vacation like a pro here in the Kissimmee area and it starts with this: Stop Sharing a room with your children. I don’t know about you, but crowding your kids inside a hotel room with one bathroom and two beds for any number of days makes me want to stay home…or need a vacation from my vacation.

No. Thank. You.

Last week Charlotte and I were guests at Windsor Hill. Having been there twice before, I felt like an old pro coming home. And that is what it felt like…coming home. With condos and full homes available for rent, you will no longer think twice after experiencing the ultimate in family luxurious vacationing but without the premium price. Starting at only $122 per night for a 2 bedroom condo, or$138 per night for the 3 bedroom condo we stayed in, you can position yourself only 1.5 miles from Disney Main gate with your own personal pool (with or without heat), private rooms, private bathrooms, flat screen TVs, movie rentals, and a public pool with a water slide, Global Resorts made it pretty hard to even want to head out to the theme parks.

(we had enough room to have some of our friends that were local to come and stay and play with us)

As an added benefit, I was able to wash all my clothes before I went home saving me the dreaded “after vacation” laundry pile. We also picked up some food to put in the food storage at Target down the street (we got so much we had emergency food storage and long term food storage !) and kept milk, cereal, snacks and sandwiches in our fridge instead of resorting to the fried foods of every meal that seem to accompany our vacations.

House Vs Condo

I have stayed in large Vacation Homes (Global Provides those as well) and while the pools in those homes accommodate more people and there are more bedrooms if your party is larger, there really is no reason to forgo a vacation condo. I couldn’t hear the neighbors, the privacy in the back was the same, and the condos had our every need met. Plus, as a bonus, Charlotte didn’t need me in the pool to swim back and forth (just supervision). Since she is a water baby by heart, her pool hours could easily turn into a 4 hour affair so this was a good thing. You also still get all the amenities like the neighborhood pools, games, rec rooms, and parks regardless of renting a condo or a home.

With all of this, why, just WHY would you put yourself in a cubical they call a hotel room? Same four walled box, beds next to each other, zero privacy, and in the Orlando area, upwards of $200+ a night for your ” 1 bedroom, 2 bed, home away from home”. I personally dont want to be confined to going to bed at 8pm so my children can get some sleep…kwim?

Blech.

For the Kids

Vacations are for kids too. For Charlotte, aside from the personal access to a backyard pool (and temperatures warm enough to swim), she felt like a little diva with a flat screen and a bathroom in her room. I think it was the first time she ASKED me if she could take a bath. I was like..what? You want to take a bath? The novelty of having her own space was very apparent.  And for a kid without a TV in her at home bedroom, she easily turned on Nick Jr and let me sleep in.

But don’t take my word for it, check out our gorgeous vacation condo:

(I didnt get a picture before Tornado Charlotte moved in on the bottom left there…lol)

Safety with Global Resort Homes

When you check into Windsor Hills you will find locked gates with guards that check the passes prior to opening the gates, whether you are going in or out, fully key locked homes, access codes needed for the pool, game room, and parks. Our individual pool at our condo had safety gates and alarms on the back door.

I would like to tell you that heading out to the attractions was our favorite part of our mom/daughter trip…and Universal’s Islands of Adventure was spectacular, but in all honesty, if I had let her, Charlotte would have done this ALL DAY LONG. Which she did a good portion of one day which is why the clouds are moving in on these pictures…it was nearly 5pm:

(Your rental comes with a code to access the community pool and Club House up front where you can rent movies, enjoy a game room, and even order sandwiches and drinks at a small store )

To book this condo or check out homes that can accommodate entire households and to find current discounts and specials going on during the times you plan on vacationing,  you can contact Global Resort Homes on Facebook, Twitter, or call 1-800-426-0472.  You can also find more properties located throughout the Orlando area next to Seaworld and more!

Questions? Please leave them and Ill be glad to answer.

Have you ever stayed at a condo or vacation home over a hotel?

~Trisha

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media stay provided to facilitate the article. Opinions are 100% Charlotte and I’s. To read more about our Mother/Daughter trip, check out Thanksgiving at Disney World, Universal’s Islands of Adventure, and Legoland.