Emerald Island holiday villa: Kissimmee, Orlando

Very close to Disney, property was clean, well-maintained and owners were easy to communicate with.

You really do need to bring everything to the Villa! We pre-ordered groceries, cleaning supplies, etc. from the online grocery store, Garden Grocer, about 1 1/2 weeks before we arrived and the groceries were delivered (no charge for orders of $200 or more) the night we arrived. It was already dark and nice not to have to go out looking for supplies when we were unfamiliar with the area and very tired after a long day. As we flew from Canada, we packed smaller containers of things that could be transported easily and that we didn't need large containers of, and ordered the larger products such as tp, paper towels and food.

I printed out Google maps for the directions to the spots we were to visit. If you're using printed maps, you need to print them for both directions as the entrance and exit points from the Disney parks are different and we were turned around several times trying to figure out how to get back to the Villa. We also had GPS which I highly recommend, (it wasn't working properly for the first few days) but we got it fixed and it was extemely useful. After you've been here a few days, it's not difficult to find your way, it's just the first while when you're learning the routes and all the streets are named, if you take a wrong exit, you can have a tough time getting back to an area you're familiar with.

Towels are provided, but I couldn't find washcloths so bring your own, and it would have been nice to have some cleaning cloths in the bathrooms to keep them tidy during our 9 day stay. There was a small charcoal briquet barbeque, we were expecting a propane one, so we didn't end up barbequing after all.

Overall we are having a wonderful time, and I would highly recommend this villa to anyone who wants a vacation that your family can have lots of room to spread out (we had six people) and be very close to the Orlando attractions. It is so much nicer than a hotel! Our kids are in their upper teens and 20's and it was nice to drop them off at the theme parks for a good portion of the day, (it really is very close) and come back to the Villa and relax and then meet them for the afternoon/evening.

I'm looking forward to coming back to Orlando for another vacation!

The overall appearance of the property was beautiful and well-maintained. The pool was wonderful! Definitely recommend paying extra for pool heating during the off season. The home is conveniently located close to Disney, major highways, shopping, restaurants, etc. Only major complaint we had, and might have been oversight on our part, was we didn't realize we had to supply everything, beside linens. There wasn't a paper towel or kleenex in the whole house. We had to make a run to Target for cleaning supplies, TP, laundry soap, dish soap, etc. Only to use for the week we were there and leave them. Not going to transport all that on the airplane! All mattresses and carpet could use an update.