FantasyWorld Resort — Hotel in Kissimmee

Long time owners/guests- no longer will support this resort.

Our family has had not one, not two, but three timeshare units at fantasy world in our family for the better part of two decades, and sadly we may now be coming to an end of our ownership and patronage at Fantasy World due to our most recent experience.

Over the years, we've certainly had our blips and mishaps- not being able to check in until 10pm, etc- but they have mostly been fewer and farther between and handled with kindness from all employees.

However, on our most recent family trip, we found it nearly impossible to relax at the pool due to the incessant and absurd nagging from the fantasy world staff. The poolside staff truly spent the entire day correcting and bothering the guests about things they were doing "wrong." Guests were constantly corrected if their WATER drinks were too close to the pool, let alone other drinks. Yes, everyone knows that drinks should not go IN the pool and glass should never be permitted on a pool deck, but I'm having a really hard time understanding why I could not drink from a closed top, clear, straw WATER cup while sitting near the pool.

What really infuriated us most of all was that they wouldn't allow the children to play with WATER toys near the pool. I'm not talking about big, giant, inflatable toys. I can appreciate that you don't want everyone to have those in the pool due to space and capacity. I'm talking about an actual bath/pool toy (about the size of a rubber ducky) that my TWO year old was playing with in the pool. They made us take it away which led to a very sad two year old and us having to leave the pool. The real kicker to this part was that they claimed there is a "Florida law" which prevents POOL toys in the POOL. Listen- if you're going to make up and try to enforce such a ridiculous rule at your resort, just call it what it is. Don't lie to your guests about a nonsensical law that does not exist (because if it did- no one in Florida would sell pool toys).

They also made it a point to constantly badger guests when their wristbands fell off (which was inevitable given the low quality wrist bands they provided). I get it- wristbands are how you ensure all guests at the pool are paying guests- but invest in a reasonable and comfortable wristband for your guests to wear. I'd like to see them go back to the silicone bands we had years ago that made it much easier to remove and take off when going to visit the Disney parks.

Now, to be clear, these employees were clearly doing a job they were asked to do, so the problem lies with whoever asked them to do it.

And all of this is on top of the fact that the resort is charging astronomical nightly prices, even to owners, and sky high resort fees. Just the price jump from 2022 to 2023 for the same exact week was hundreds and hundreds of dollars more- so much so that part of our family went and stayed at nearby Calypso Cay for a fraction of the price. So not only are they harassing their guests and owners, but they are ripping them off, too.

So, instead of returning to fantasy world like we normally would for our second trip this year, we just visited another local resort and wouldn't you know- children were allowed to play with toys, adults were permitted to drink water and other drinks near the pool- and the mysterious "Florida law" about having toys in the pool didn't seem to exist there. It was incredibly peaceful and fun for all parties, AND we paid a fraction of the price for a bigger, three bedroom unit with a much more beautiful pool area and a restaurant on site (and yes- when I say a fraction of the price, I mean that's a fraction of what we would pay under the OWNER'S rate at fantasy world).

I'm sad that my children won't grow up visiting the same resort I loved to visit during my childhood years, but I refuse to pay double or triple the price for a smaller unit, a much less serene pool area, and constant and incessant nagging from the fantasy...

Let me start by saying I am an extreme introvert and I really don't enjoy social interactions. I do, however, read the reviews and opinions of others when it comes to travel and I find that most of the time a large majority of the reviews are spot on. ||I myself, don't write reviews but I felt so strongly about my Fantasy World Resort experience that I felt compelled to warn others. Here goes...||As I said, most of the review trends here on Tripadvisor are very accurate from my perspective but... ever so often I come across a review trend where more than 75% of the people give the location 5 stars where my experience with the same place was not even close and I walk away wondering what did others see that I did not. Fantasy World is such a place. Here are my bullet points||Positives: ||1. The staff is very friendly and helpful. They're really nice people that do their best to help. ||2. The resort (not the room) amenities: The pool area has a small waterpark feel but the kids activities were the real icing on the cake. ||3. One review noted the hard beds. They added mattress toppers so it made a difference.|||Negatives:||1. The rooms!!!! Just like many have stated the rooms are outdated but I say it is more than that. They are in need of complete renovation and remodeling!! I had an "updated" room and it was just terrible. New counter tops and thermostats are not an update. || a. saw 4 total roaches during my time there.|| b. the downstairs bath was in bad shape. Toilet seat was loose and was not | cleaned on one side (looked like dried orange drink). Shower was too small to | function. I could tell there was water damage in the unit due to the swelling | of the wood at the base of the bathroom and closet doors.|| c. termites in the bathroom sink where the caulking met the new granite counter | top. || d. carpet was worn and needed replacing| | e. the corner of every door in the house that did have carpet was dingy and dirty|| f. Air vents were dirty and worn|| g. Dryer struggled to dry clothes|| h. door hinges were rusty and painted over | | i. condo smelled old and musty || j. You could tell the bedrooms were from 1984 as small as they were||I kept thinking that I can't be the only one seeing this. The dinginess was enough to make my skin crawl. Worry about more bugs invading the condo made me quickly remove every crumb that was dropped on the floor.||2. The property grounds was also in bad shape. Grass was mainly a bunch of weeds and the mulch had not been refreshed for years. ||In summary, the small waterpark style amenities were the big draw and the staff were great people but the rooms .... for what they charged I expected the rooms to be in better shape. It was as if they had such a small budget for room remodels that they had to be real picky in what was done. I did not see a 5 star review resort. ||So if you do not plan to stay in your room AT ALL then you may have a good time. Other wise the amenities are not worth the terrible rooms and you are better off staying at a location less than 30 years old like the...

We are a seasoned travel group. We always stay at resorts with individual/separate bedrooms, never at resorts or hotels with the open concept-one room style).

ROOM- For a group of 6 (5 adults & one 12 year old child), the villa is small for an upstairs & downstairs but served the purpose. The villa is quite dated compared to others we have stayed at. The downstairs bathroom is super tiny, I've never been in a bathroom that tiny (where the front of the toilet is almost in the shower) so I would say it's more of a childs bathroom under 10 yrs old or so. Wished the bathrooms had vents to air out the humidity. The bathroom downstairs smelled like mold which seemed to pour out into the kitchen & living room area.

STAFF- The staff were friendly & helpful. And were helpful when we reached out for help (which was a total of 3 times during our stay).

GENERAL- They do not provide fresh towels, we were told we have to wash the towels and linens ourselves with the washer & dryer in the unit. We were not given laundry soap so we had to buy some ourselves at Walmart. We never had that experience at any resorts we stayed at before so that was different. Then the washer breaks (water would not drain out). Called front desk and they had maintenance at our door within the hour. We appreciated the fast service but they could not fix it.

TOILET TISSUE-We were not provided a lot of toilet tissue so we had to request more from front desk (only 2 rolls were given to us for 6 people, for a 6 day stay. No extra rolls in the bathroom cabinets) We asked for extra toilet tissue and were thankfully given 2 rolls. We were prepared to go back to the store to purchase toilet tissue.

AIR CONDITIONING Things just kept getting worse. So the AC goes out, we were extremely hot (keep in mind its Summer & over 90+ degrees) and in the evenings its still warm and hot. We called front desk & were told maintenance is gone for the night (they did offer to change the unit, but moving 6 people in the midddle of the night would be a battle. Plus we were leaving the next morning). So we slept in the sweltering heat. (The room fan did not spin fast either). Thank God the AC situation happened on our last night. We could not wait to get out of there.

POOL & AMENITIES- We had a good experience at the pool however we did see staff constantly talking to kids playing & splashing who were having fun. I was a little confused because the kids were not doing anything that could hurt themselves or anyone else. Just swimming, chasing each in the water, and splashing. They had no toys in the water either. It almost thst they wanted no kids swimming in the pool kinda. The DJ by the pool was good.

GYM- The gym was good. Basic equipment nothing fancy but it served the purpose. They had a vending machine in the gym which was good.

GAME ROOM- Kids has fun in there no complaints or issues.

OVERALL- The resort was fair overall. Most staff were very curtious. Great location & accessible to dining & shopping. My family & I will not be...