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.

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