For the past few years, my family and I have opted to stay at vacation rental homes when we travel down to Florida and visit Disney.  This last trip down south, (March 2009) we had hoped to stay in the usual house we have been using for the last three years,  but the price was too high for this quick trip.  So, I found what looked ideal and for a perfectly reasonable price.  The difference was that this was a condo, not a house.  This means that there were to be some things we needed to share with other guests, (the pool, the game room, parking spaces, etc.) , but we made do since this was such a quick trip of only about 4 days.  


The Amenities, Services and Fees

In this busy area of  Kissimmee, we were able to find our way to our condo with the help from our TomTom.  From the pictures posted on Hotels.com, I pictured a much larger check-in building.  We arrived  pretty late at night, around 9:30pm, and the check-in room, located in a shared building with stores like Dairy Queen and others like it, was already un-manned.  The building is located in the center of a large shopping plaza, and I located the instructions for late arrivals posted to the right of the entrance door.  I called the number and gave my information, and the male on the other end of the phone finally gave me the combination to the safebox located also to the right of the door.  It took some coaxing but he relented thankfully.  Inside there were a couple of envelopes; one had my name on it.  Inside this there was a key, and an address.  Oh I am so thankful that I brought the TomTom along, because there was no map on how to find this condo.  There was also a sheet of paper that had a couple of typed threats about how I'd better check in tomorrow before 9:30am or I forfeit my room and any money that they have of mine.  How nice. 

I did make it there on our way to breakfast, and it turns out that the emergency to check-in was to sign a paper of agreement that I agree to a list of monetary penalties that I'll incur in the event that I lose my room key, or if I check out late by a minute or later than 10am on the day of departure, there was about eight more available penalties.  This is all they wanted me for, foolishly I thought that they were waiting to welcome me, and tell me where the pool was, where the game room is, a map to find the gym, you know stuff that would enhance my relaxed vacation-mode attitude I so enjoy having.  No, they kinda stressed me out instead.  How nice.

I did find the pool on our third day, hidden behind a certain set of their condos in the area.  We didn't get to enjoy it, but that's ok - looking at the pool I don't think we would have opted to take a dip even on the first day. 

If you're like me, you like to sleep with extra pillows.  Despite the fact that this condo had three big bedrooms, there were six pillow in the whole place.  For our comfort, my family would have settled for two more pillows.  Again, it took some actual pleading for the staff to drop off pillows to us.  They kept on stating that this is not their policy, and we should have brougt pillows from home.  Now, despite the three bedrooms, there were only four bath towels in our condo.  One day of showers, and we're out of towels to dry ourselves.  I called the check-in building and asked for more towels, but their answer was no, it's not their policy.  They offered a solution that we go to the supermarket and buy some laundry detergent and wash the towels daily.  How nice.    

You may ask what kind of policies does Florida Magic Vacation have, well one is that during your stay, you may have to make arrangements with the staff for a showing just in case your condo is for sale.  Strangers in your condo, you had better maintain your dirty laundry, you never know who may show up to inspect it.  How nice. 

Although we did not make use of this, there is a small gym on the property with some treadmills, weight machines and such.  There were no vending machines on the property (but weren't needed), and we couldn't find the playground that the website had posted pictures of.   There is no restaurant associated with Florida Magic Vacation, but again it is not needed. 

 

The Condo

The condo appeared to be clean complete with sanitary strips across the tops of the toilet.  But we were finding that our socks were being blackened by walking on the floors and carpets of the condo.  It's a good thing we bought some laundry detergent earlier after all.  It turns out that it was pretty convenient having the washer and dryer inside our condo, we made use of it and went home with clean clothes.  There are two full bathrooms which was nice to have, the showers have a weak flow of water, but at least the shower heads were kind of tall.  In the master bathroom, there was a tub with jet massage as well.

When you walk in the condo, you find yourself immedietely in the living room area which has a large leather couch, a small 25" CRT television, and a DVD/VCR combination player.  Someone must have stolen the batteries to the remotes though, as I had to transfer the betteries out of one remote to work the TV, or the DVD player.  How nice.

The first bedroom you happen upon is to your right, it has two twins in there, a TV, a DVD player and a nice-sized closet.  There is the dining area with an attractive table which is already set with china and silverware.  There is a large kitchen with a full-sized refrigerator, a stove, the oven and lots of cabinets filled with glasses, plates, cups and cookware.  After the first bedroom there are the two last bedrooms in the back, one with a queen sized bed but no TV.  The master bedroom is last with a huge attractive and very comfortable king sized bed, TV, and master bathroom within the room.  Outside the back bedrooms is a screened in patio which also connected the rooms.  

We felt pretty comfortable in the condo,  we watched TV at night when we got home,  we slept well.  The air conditioner was awesome. At night it wasn't too warm, but it still felt a bit humid.  The AC was very effective and needed. 

 
Location

The greatest part of my stay was the area it was in. I had never stayed somewhere where so many places were in literal walking distance.  The supermarket I was advised to visit was within the plaza along with TGI Fridays, Cracker Barrell, Red Lobster, Dairy Queen, a pizza place, and much more.  When we weren't in Disney World, we were walking through the plaza to the different places for breakfast and dinner.  Not every Red Lobster has the same quality food despite being a national chain, and the same goes for all restaurants.  The locations that we tried in this immediete vicinity were excellent, delicious food,  attentive service with a smile and with nice protions.  Very nice.

When we drove to Walt Disney World, some parts of the property were under two miles away (Animal Kingdom), and as far as 5 ½ miles (Magic Kingdom) away.  This is convenient because any where you can save time is a good thing.  It takes so long to finally get into any of the parks when you deal with parking, taking the tram to the gates, going through security and the ticket turnstiles, it is all very time consuming.  The only thing that takes longer than entering a Disney park is exiting.  Try to time it right and you'll be fine. 



Overall

Obviously, the policy of the Florida Magic Vacation staff is to fine you for just about everything, and to try and do the least they can for you.  If and when you decide on staying here, be prepared to fend for yourself and for goodness sake follow the guidelines to the contract you sign.   Having said that, I would consider staying here at Florida Magic Vacation for the expedient location alone. 

The lousy policies and poor customer service in play at the Florida Magic Vacation are not unchangable.  If this condo rental company changed it's attitude and washed the floors more, it would be the ultimate ideal near-Disney site. 

I stayed in the three bedroom condo, and for an amazing price of $68 a night after I found an awesome Hotel.com coupon online.  The room usually went for somewhere over $200.  At the regular price, this is highway robbery, at the low price I paid, it's a steal.  I just looked on the Florida Magic Vacation website and it looks like the three-bedroom condos start as low as $99.  If this is true, the price is very fair. 




http://www.floridamagicvacation.com/
Check-in Policy Check in: 4pm Checkout: 10am
Gym / Community Pool
Handicap Accessible
Free local calls, long distance requires credit card
Front Desk hours: M-F 9am to 6pm, Sat & Sun 9am to 5pm
Hotel Address:
7796 W Irlo Bronson Hwy  Kissimmee, FL 34747
1-877-218-9555

Recommended: Yes