Fantasy Island Resort II

My wife & I stayed at Fantasy Island Resort II just before Christmas 2011. The desk people were very helpful and other guests quite friendly. Met some real personable people while at the pool and hot tub. The full kitchen worked great in saving money on meals and there are several reasonably priced restaurants close by. The ocean is beautiful and the roaring surf was very relaxing to listen to in the evening, whether on the deck or lying in bed. People wanting all the amenities & trimmings of an expensive resort or the might be disappointed, but we loved it and hope to return soon.

I was there September, 2011. I made a big mistake by booking through RCI with my BlueGreen points. I visited before I booked (I live elsewhere in Florida) and was shown a very nice 2/2 Oceanfront room that would have been ideal for we 4 senior citizens. Instead, I wound up with a 2/1 'Oceanview' (read 'skinny' balcony on the side). I tried to get satisfaction through BlueGreen, RCI, and Jeanne the manager, but was repeatedly told "tough", in a barely civil manner. They only guarantee the 2 bedrooms, not the 2 baths. If 2 of our party had not had medical issues it might not have been a problem. But it was, and the stay for two of us was cut short 6 days. What a waste of our time and points. On my previous visit I was given a long list of units for sale by the very competent young man on the front desk. When I spoke to Jeanne on the phone she denied having ANY units for sale. I never saw her in person. The Good: a maintenance man responded within an hour to replace the broken remote. The new girl on the front desk was excellent. One of the most personable people you could ever hope to meet. The unit was very clean and large. The Bad: towels were fraying. and you had to go through multiple steps to get to the beach. My brother-in-law recovering from back surgery could not go there for a walk. The Ugly: RCI and Jeanne's bad attitude. She is solely responsible for the one star rating.

MY wife and I just spent two and 1/2 days there. We were suppose to spend 7 days there, but we couldn't stand the heat and humidity. When we were checking in the check-in clerk told me that the air conditioning was not working, but the air conditioning company was there and it would be fixed immediately. We never saw anyone come into fix the air conditioning that day on Saturday.

Then on Sunday night that same clerk told my wife and I that the air conditioning company was going to come to our unit on Monday and fix it. So we decided to leave and go to the mall so that we wouldn't be in the way. I informed the clerk that we were leaving and the service man could just go in and fix the air conditioning while we were gone. We came back on Monday afternoon and saw that the closet with air conditioner door had been closed it was open when we left. We thought that the serviceman must have been there since the door was closed. We couldn't feel any cold air coming out of the vents. It was so hot and humid that you broke into sweat just sitting watching television. We couldn't sleep it was so hot so we decided to move out on Tuesday morning. I lost 4 and 1/2 days of vacation because it was unbearable.

I have been a member here for several years and own several timeshares throughout Florida with my family. I've stayed at many levels of time shares and found this resort to have a home-like atmosphere. The resort is kept neat and clean and up to date, leaving out the unnecessaries found in the higher end resorts. The resort attracts a friendly crowd of guests who will converse with each other and not claim grounds to "their" poolside location. All in all a great place to stay if you plan on getting out during the day to see the sights and attractions, then surrender to comfort at night.

While this is not a gold grown resort it is clean comfortable and spacious. The oceanfront two bedroom units are unusually nice, because they run parallel to the beach so your great room and the master bedroom both have large sliding glass doors with fabulous right- on-the-beach views. Most places make 'skinny' balconies so that most rooms can be called beachside. These beachside units are fabulous. You'll sit on the balcony and marvel at the view and the salt air and you'll ask your wife to pinch you to make sure you're not dreaming.

Facility has updated pool & deck and hot tub, with several gas grills for burgers and dogs. You're right on the beach although this area of Daytona has a seawall with steps to get down to the beach. Beach is very long and expansive, with white sand and nice shallow surf for kids to play in. Note that this is where you can drive on the beach so be aware of that. (One benefit: Ice cream man goes up and down, plus there are chair, umbrella and dune buggy and golf cart rental vendors about) The bech speed limit is strongly enforced at 5MPH so it's not really a problem. (I've seen them giving out tickets! You can't drive all over also, it's just a skinny road that all traffic has to stay within.

Daytona has lots of stuff to do with the speedway and typical beach stuff like mini golf, amusements, etc. My 17 year old tried these race cars that go 0-60mph in 3 seconds. A thrill of a lifetime. Daytona also just made this cool band shell and they have free concerts and events there. Restaurants abound (check out "Bubba Gump Shrimp Compay" -- Great fun)

Greatest benefit for us (as we have 5&6 year old "Disney Princeses") is that this is in my opinion the best way to do the disney scene. Stay a week at the beach, for the fun, sun and relaxation, and head into the orlando madness for a day, then take a relaxing beach day the day afterwords to regroup. Two days in a row at disney can be harmful to your family sanity. We stay a week and get like a 3- 4 day park hopper pass and alternate beach and disney days. Orlando is like 45 miles via interstate. It makes for a great vacation. We've done this two years in a row now, and we'll probably do it until they 'graduate' from Mickey and Cinderella.

This place can be the center point of a wonderful family vacation. Enjoy