Skip to main content

Disney World: Our Lodging

We have been home from Spring Break for a week now. We took several days just to sit and relax and sleep! I have been wanting to blog about our amazing trip to the happiest place on earth but I have just felt so overwhelmed by the experience. How could I possibly fit it all into one blog post?


Well, I am not even going to try. This week I am going to bring you reviews and post of our trip.

This post is about our choice to not stay on Disney property. Staying on property has so many advantages: free transportation, extended park hours, a variety of budget options, and a complete Disney experience.

But there are some disadvantages as well. The rooms that would fit into my budget would put all four of us sharing a hotel sized room. We would be limited to Disney property.




We opted to stay at The Fountains, a Bluegreen Property about 10 miles from the park. To stay off property meant that we had to rent a vehicle to get around and we had to pay parking each day we visited the park but we saved a ton of money on food, which absolutely offset the cost.


We stayed in a two bedroom condo that was approximately 1,350 square feet, two bedrooms, two batrhrooms. No, it did not have a view of Disney but it did have a beautiful view of a small lake. We also had a full kitchen and our own washer and dryer. On our way to the condo we stopped off at a Publix {local grocery store} and bought a weeks worth of groceries. Every day we ate breakfast and lunch with the food we purchased. We even ate dinner in our room half the time. 


There were so many pools at this resort. The kids loved it! To be honest I kinda wish we had more "relax at the condo" days so that we could have enjoyed the pools. I loved waking up early and enjoying coffee on our screened in patio. {My condo neighbors did too, and I learned quickly I needed to dress before I went out on the patio!}


The Fountains also sold Disney tickets. They were slightly cheaper than purchasing them at the park but what  we benefited from was not having to stand in line to purchase tickets. We were able just to walk straight to the security and check-in lines.


The Fountains also had a full service bar. How could we not enjoy something cold, creamy and tropical on our first night there. They even had a wide selection of non-alcoholic drinks for the kids.


They even had two restaurants on-sight that delivered. How fun are these Domino's Pizza delivery bikes.  We never utilized this service, we wanted to one night but we got home right after they closed. The Boy was so disappointed!


Overall, if you have access to a time-share they should be a viable option in your Disney World trip planning.  I am positive if I compared The Fountains and its amenities to a Disney property, I would compare it to the big ones: The Grand Floridan, The Polynesian, or The Contemporary. And those properties easily rent for $500 a night.

Stay tuned. Tomorrow's post is going to be about our first full day in Orlando and our visit to Universal Studio's.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My Weekend Project: A PVC Camping Lamp Post and Flag Holder

I have seen a few of these around campsites and I knew I would like to have one. The only problem that I had is The Husband. He already thinks we drag too much stuff with us when we go camping and if I had told him my desire to have a PVC Camping Light Pole he would have shut it down quickly! So, that leaves a girl with only one choice: Figure out how to do it by herself. I did some internet searching and found a few road maps on RV forums. They seemed easy enough! I visited the local hardware store for the supplies: An exterior post lantern light 2 inch PVC pipe (I used 5 feet but had to purchase a 10 foot piece) A 3 inch toilet flange A 3 inch to 2 inch Reducer PVC Glue A 12 foot electric cord kit 2 - 3/4 inch PVC Caps I also used a few supplies we already had on hand: White Spray Paint 3 1/2 foot - 3/4 inch PVC Pipe Drill Bits (1 inch and 1/2 inch) Tent Stakes The first step was preparing the lantern light. I could only find black i

Liver Cheese: A Family Tradition

Today is an anniversary date. One of those dates you wish you did not have to remember but there is no way you can forget.  Fifteen years ago today,two days after his birthday, my father died of lung cancer. He was a lifelong smoker and his cancer was aggressive. His battle was short. He fought for six short months after his diagnosis. He knew the chemo was not working and that his time was limited. When he came to this realization he became the best dad in the world.                                                In the days before my father's passing, my family shared some memorable moments. One of those moments centers around the deli meat: Liver Cheese.I would not be surprised if you have never heard of it, or even never tasted it. But I was raised on it as it was one of my Dad's favorite things.  What is it? Well, it is a German food that is actually called Leberkase. It is bacon, corned beef, pork, and onion that is ground together and baked. It comes with a

Tonsillectomy (Warning Photos!)

The Short Chic came down with a pretty nasty case of strep throat back in April. So, when The Boy started complaining about his throat hurting about 12 days later, I was pretty confident that he had inherited his sister's strep. Instead, The Boy was diagnosed with a peritonsillar abscess growing on his right tonsil.  We had to immediately see an ENT  Physician who took a needle and drained the abscess. He removed about 5.5 cc of puss from The Boys throat.and then told us that once you have a peritonsillar abscess you were high risk to keep getting them. The Boy's tonsils were now compromised and needed to be removed.  We were told to plan for a two week recovery so we worked a surgery into our summer plans. Between family vacations, summer sports, and the beginning of school The Boy had his second surgery. A tonsillectomy.  Pre-surgery prepping went well. It must be nice to be young and have healthy veins for an IV! The Boy had lots of pre-surgery visitors. My