Windsor Hills or Emerald Island?
Windsor Hills or Emerald Island? That is a really tough question to answer if you’re only basing it on pictures you see on websites. I realized today that many times when potential guests are comparing vacation rental communities in the various vacation areas surrounding Disney and the Orlando/Kissimmee area, they are assuming that the communities are very similar. If you’ve never been to the communities, I think it’s a really easy assumption to make.
In our case, when were looking for a house to buy close to Disney we were definitlely assuming the communities would be pretty similar. After visiting all the communities located close to Disney, we were really surprised to find that there are very clear differences between all of them.
I’m writing these articles in an effort to show the differences that we found between the different resorts – in this case between Windsor Hills Resort and Emerald Island Resort.
Although my opinion will probably be a bit biased, I’m going to do my best to make a fair a comparison of what each resort offers and lacks.
When comparing the types of houses found in both resorts, Windsor Hills houses are newer and go up to 6 bedrooms. If you need to have 7 bedrooms, then Emerald Island would be the community that would fit your needs. Although, houses like ours do also offer you the option of using a pull out couch, sleeping up to a total of 14 people in our 6 bedroom house.
Full disclosure: We have a home that we ended up purchasing in Windsor Hills after looking at all the resorts in the area. We also rent out our vacation home for others to enjoy, so this article will be biased toward Windsor Hills. Please also keep in mind that when we were looking for a vacation house to buy we were making the same evaluations that you’re making for a vacation, and likely using the same criteria, so the fact we chose Windsor Hills should tell you something.
The Windsor Hills And Emerald Island Similarities
Both Communities are well established, Emerald Island has been around a little longer than Windsor Hills but both communities are very clean and well maintained.
Which Resort Has More Amenities? Windsor Hills or Emerald Island?
Here’s an item by item comparison of what the two resorts offer, with Windsor Hills Amenities listed on the left and Emerald Island Amenities listed on the right.
Which Resort Has The Better Amenities? Windsor Hills Or Emerald Island?
Windsor Hills And Emerald Island Pool – The Comparison
Compare Pools – Windsor Hills & Emerald Island
The Best Pool For Toddlers and Small Children
Out of the two Windsor Hills offers the best experience for little children and toddlers. The pool is a zero entry lagoon style pool so toddlers can play in the shallow park of the pool without worries. There is also a dancing waters area that little kids love to go back and forth in the warm Florida sun.
The Best Pool For Older Kids
Not only is Windsor Hills a better pool for the little ones it’s also a better experience for the older kids. In fact I’d say it’s probably even a better experience for them. Windsor Hills has a two story spiral water slide which Kids and adults a like love to slide down from.
Which Pool Is Better?
In my mind there is no question that Windsor Hills has the better pool for every member of the family young and old. Between the shallow areas and dancing waters for the littlest members of the family, the water slide for the older kids and the kids at heart and just the shear size of Windsor Hills’ double Olympic sized pool there really is no comparison.
The Emerald Island pool to me didn’t feel much bigger than the pool at our house, I think they have the pool for the guests that are in the condos. I don’t think there are many guests with private pools spending time at the community pool because it’s not that much larger then the private pools.
Amenities That Aren’t Offered
For example, one thing that Emerald Island does have which Windsor Hills is missing is a nature trail.
Emerald Island doesn’t have a themed castle playground, a movie theater or a putting green.
Which Is Better? Windsor Hills or Emerald Island?
If you are looking for a resort that is cheaper and don’t care about the amenities that the resort offers then Emerald Island is probably the resort you are looking for.
Since Emerald Island is a little older the houses are more dated and the resort itself has more wear and tear. Not to mention I think Windsor Hills does a better job of maintaining the resort.
However, if you are looking for the best value or bang for the buck, I’d say hands down Windsor Hills gives you the most for the price.
If you’re looking for a resort that makes you feel like you are in a resort and not a residential development then Windsor Hills would be the right choice.
If you want to be as close as possible to Disney then again Windsor Hills would be the choice for you.
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