Windsor Island Resort vs Solara Resort: A Vacation Home Buyer's Showdown

Two resorts sit a few minutes apart off the same Disney-area highways, both built to turn a second home into a booked-solid rental. From the road, Windsor Island vs Solara can look like the same investment, and plenty of sharp buyers treat it that way. Once you own one, the gaps in price, fees, and rental appeal separate them in ways the highway view never shows.

Windsor Island Resort

Drive south off US-27 in Davenport and you reach the newest of the big Disney-area rental resorts. Pulte built Windsor Island between 2020 and 2023, and it sold out fast, so everything trading now is resale.

One of the largest resort pools in the corridor anchors Windsor Island, wrapped by a long lazy river that entertains the kids while parents claim a cabana. Beside it stands the Aloha Clubhouse, with a game room, fitness center, and a bar and grill.

Outside, dual water slides and a zero-entry pool with a children's splash pad handle the youngest guests, while nine-hole mini-golf, sand volleyball, and a basketball court cover everyone else. A fire pit set for the nightly Disney fireworks rounds out the deck.

Homes run big, from five-bedroom townhomes to ten-bedroom houses, each with a private pool. Everything on the market now is resale, with townhomes starting in the $350,000s.

Browse: Windsor Island Resort homes for sale

Solara Resort

A few miles east, off US-192 in Kissimmee, sits Solara, opened by Mattamy Homes in 2017 and built out through its later phases. The active market now leans to resale, though an occasional new or never-lived-in home still surfaces.

A working surf simulator sits inside Solara's 13,000-square-foot clubhouse, and almost no rival resort has a FlowRider of its own. On a listing photo, that wave is a genuine draw for renters.

Beyond the wave, Solara's amenities spread across 18 acres. The lineup runs from a heated grand pool and water slides to a soccer field and sports courts, plus the Solstice Bar and Grill and an on-site coffee bar. The US-192 address also puts guests closer to the strip's restaurants and supermarkets.

Browse: Solara Resort homes for sale

How Windsor Island and Solara Compare

Both resorts are short-term-rental plays first and vacation homes second, so the fundamentals of buying a short-term rental near Disney apply to either one. The differences that matter show up in price, fees, inventory, and amenities.

On cost and rules, the two land close together. Both HOAs cover amenities, grounds, roads, and security, and both fold CDD costs into the tax bill. Each community is zoned and active for short-term rentals, with Windsor Island capping any single guest stay at 30 days. Resort dues like these run higher than a standard neighborhood, so it pays to see how they compare statewide.

Read: Average HOA Fees in Florida (2026)

Returns ride less on the resort name than on the home itself. Before you commit, run three quick checks.

• Pull the exact HOA, CDD, and tax figure for that specific address

• Ask whether the home already rents, and what it nets after fees

• On resale, check the age of the roof, HVAC, and pool heater

It also pays to sanity-check the asking price on a resale. A quick property value estimate shows whether a listing is priced to sell or to sit.

A nine-bedroom home with a game room and themed bedrooms will out-earn a plain five-bedroom in either resort. If income is your focus, it pays to know what owning an Airbnb rental involves before you buy.

Read: What to Expect From an Airbnb Investment Property in Florida

Which Resort Is Right for You

There is no universal winner here, only the better match for your plan.

• Windsor Island Resort if you want the newest build, the biggest floor plans, a lower townhome entry price, or a lazy-river, family-reunion feel.

• Solara Resort if you want the marquee FlowRider, the largest amenity complex with on-site dining, or a central US-192 spot near the action.

Both are strong picks in one of the country's busiest vacation-rental markets, and the tie-breaker often comes down to one question. Which clubhouse photo makes you and your guests want to book?

The Right Agent Matters as Much as the Right Resort

Amenities compare easily enough, but the HOA fine print, the real rental numbers, and the homes that quietly outperform are where buyers get tripped up, and none of it shows in a listing photo.

Florida Realty Marketplace works only with seasoned Central Florida agents, never the inexperienced ones the industry is full of. Our team tracks resale inventory in both resorts, reads the deed restrictions line by line, and knows which floor plans stay booked. That is the difference between hoping a purchase works and knowing it will.

Compare Homes With a Florida Realty Marketplace Expert

Choosing between two Disney-corridor resorts is an experience-driven call. It rewards resort-level knowledge over listing-photo impressions, how each HOA's fine print reads, which floor plans stay booked, what a resale home nets after fees, and how short-term-rental demand is shifting across the corridor right now. That read comes from working inside these communities, not from a national portal.

That is the depth a Florida Realty Marketplace agent brings to a vacation-home purchase. If you are weighing a home in Windsor Island, Solara, or anywhere in the Disney corridor, contact us to talk through the numbers before you commit. You can also browse Kissimmee Vacation Homes For Sale and Davenport Vacation Homes For Sale to see what is on the market right now.

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