Kissimmee, Florida
We decided to go to Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom for a day to surprise our granddaughter, who was there with her parents. There’s no way that we would pay the outrageous prices for Disney on-site property, so I started doing my research for a nice but way less expensive hotel in the Kissimmee or Celebration area. I saw the prices for the Parkway International Resort, and it looked too good to be true, so I did some research and watched a few vlogs of the resort. And then I decided to book it.
When we got to the resort, which is situated on route 192 (Irlo Bronson Highway) near I-4, but back from the road, check in was easy. This resort has three floors in each lettered building, but no elevators. Just be aware that if you need an elevator, ask for a ground floor condo. We were on the third floor in room H137. There is parking right in front of your area.
When we walked into the room, we were pleasantly surprised. We had watched vlogs about it, but didn’t expect the condo to be so nice. I believe that these are partly timeshare apartments. We did get a call from the concierge desk telling us that we could get two more nights for free if we went to a timeshare presentation, which we declined.
The apartment that we had included two bedrooms, the master, with a queen bed, and a bedroom with two twin beds. The master had an ensuite bathroom with a water closet, plus a large soaker tub, a sink, and a separate shower. The smaller bedroom had a bathroom across the hallway with toilet, sink, and tub/shower combination. Each bedroom had a TV. Everything in this apartment is decorated with jungle themes, a bit different in each room. This apartment sleeps 6 between the beds and the sofa sleeper.
The apartment also had a living room with sofa bed, chair, tv stand, and TV. A full sized kitchen is furnished with the appliances you’ll need including a blender, toaster, microwave, and coffee maker. There is also a washer/dryer combo in the kitchen area. Silverware, glassware, plates, bowls, and pots & pans are included. Dishwasher soap and dish soap are provided. My favorite part was the screened in little porch area. We were lucky enough to have ours face the woods behind the apartment. Very peaceful.
This complex also has a pool, a kiddie pool, a small playground, a basketball court, a pickleball court, and a small bar near the pool. Our room was very quiet and seemed to be soundproofed. I could hear kids playing basketball while on the porch, but not inside. It never seemed overly crowded in the pool or anywhere.
Magic Kingdom is only 10 minutes away via Irlo Bronson Highway, and easy to get to. There is a small plaza and a frozen custard stand at the end of the road to the resort. This is across from Celebration, and not far from Old Town. IF you go left on 192 and then turn left on route 535, there is a Walmart not far away.
I would definitely stay here again. I never smelt smoke or marijuana anywhere, which is rare these days. It was very clean. Expedia got us a very good price, cheaper than regular hotel rooms in the area, and much cheaper than something similar on Disney property. We liked it so much that we actually decided to stay an extra day, booked it on Expedia, and they let us keep the same room. I can’t comment on the housekeeping while we were there. We opted to not have housekeeping.
So, that’s my review of Parkway International Resort. It’s probably the nicest place we’ve ever stayed, including Disney property. I definitely recommend it.
The Quiet Cruiser 