Hakuna Ma'Cottage is a beautiful vacation rental home 5 minutes from Walt Disney World in Kissimmee, Florida. It has 4 bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms, including 2 master suites. This spacious villa sleeps 8 people in total comfort. The functional floorplan boasts a bright, open living area with a separate dining area and kitchen. The huge, southern facing swimming pool sits on an oversized pool deck surrounded by a screen enclosure and privacy fence. No vacation home is complete without a game room and this one is no exception, featuring both a pool table and air hockey table. Let’s explore all the amenities in more detail!
For many park goers, location is one of the most important factors, and you can’t beat this location! Hakuna M’Cottage is located in the beautiful community of Indian Creek, which is under 3 miles from the Walt Disney World property, or about a 5-minute drive. Many properties claim this, but map it for yourself and see! Indian Creek is one of the closest communities to Disney World. Indian Creek is about a 20-minute drive to both Universal Studios and Sea World. Below are the driving times to other destinations:
Distances to Common Attractions and Amenities (plotted on Google Maps)
• Disney World - 5 minutes
• Universal Studios - 20 minutes
• SeaWorld Orlando - 20 minutes
• Gatorland - 22 minutes
• LEGOLAND - 45 minutes
• Busch Gardens Tampa - 1 hour 5 minutes
• Kennedy Space Center - 1 hour 10 minutes
• Cocoa Beach - 1 hour 20 minutes
• Clearwater Beach - 1 hour 45 minutes
• Closest Grocery Store - 4 minutes
• Closest Restaurant - 4 minutes
• Dozens of other restaurants within 5 minutes
• Closest Walmart (open 24 hours) - 15 minutes
In addition to a great location, Indian Creek contains 2 playgrounds, a basketball court, a tennis court, a putting green, a soccer field and a jogging trail. All are free for residents to use.
After location, one of the most commonly prized amenities is the pool, and Hakuna Ma’Cottage has a great one! This truly oversized pool deck offers plenty of room to relax around this huge southern facing pool. No walking out of the house and falling into the pool here! Don’t take our word for it, check it out on Google Earth and see the size and orientation compared to other houses. A southern facing pool is desirable for the most sunshine on the pool throughout the day, but if it gets too hot, sip on a drink at the table and chairs located in the covered lanai. Of the 3 exits from the house into the lanai, one is directly across the hall from the shared bathroom, so no need to walk through the house with wet feet when nature calls. Make use of our ample wall-mounted bathing suit and towel hangers located in the covered lanai, so your wet swimwear and towels can stay outside even if it rains. The screen enclosure covering the pool deck keeps out the bugs and lizards, while the privacy fence keeps out the prying eyes of neighbors. If you have little ones, the pool alarms on all doors and the removable toddler fence provide a safer and more relaxing experience for all. If you are visiting in the cooler months, pool heat is available for an additional charge.
The inside of this villa is just as spectacular as the outside. The thoughtful floor plan gives a bright, open airy space to the living area while offering convenient separation of the dining and kitchen areas. The living room has vaulted ceilings for that spacious feel and the French doors to the pool deck and large window above provide plenty of light. The movie which conjured the Hakuna Ma’Cottage name also provided the spark for the “African inspired” décor in the living area. No worries though, all the modern conveniences are here! There is 50-inch wall mounted flat screen TV with free cable as well as a wall-mounted entertainment shelf housing the Microsoft Xbox One along with a collection of movies and games to enjoy. Of course there is also complimentary high speed wireless internet and free calling throughout the US and Canada. The entry space of the house also has a wireless printer which works with NFC and WiFi, so you can print those boarding passes or maps right from your smart phone or tablet!
Off the living area to the left is the king bedroom suite. Stretch out in comfort on the king sized bed and relax with your own flat screen TV and Blu-ray player or step out to the lanai through your own French doors. The king bathroom features a huge garden tub as well as a 6-foot shower stall. The walk-in closet provides plenty of space for clothes. Know your valuables are secure in the hotel-style safe located in the king suite closet. On the right side of the house is the queen bedroom suite and the hallway leading to the two shared bath bedrooms. The queen bedroom suite features a queen-sized bed and has its own flat screen TV and a private full bathroom with a tub shower. There is a bunkbed room and twin bedroom which share a full bathroom with a tub shower. The bunkbed room has a twin over full bunkbed and a pull-out trundle under the bunkbed with a second twin mattress. The bunk bed room could sleep 4 persons. The twin bedroom has two twin beds and is decorated with a Minecraft theme. I know, Minecraft has nothing to do with Disney, but our kids love Minecraft!
One of the best features of this floorplan is that it is open, but the kitchen and dining room both have a feeling of separation from the living area. That means no navigating around crowded furniture that isn’t quite in the living area and not quite in the dining area. The dining area features a roomy table with seating for six. The “African themed” place settings are complimented by a full set of Disney dishes and finished off with the “Be Our Guest” wine glasses. The kitchen has a breakfast nook with seating for three in front of a large bay window, so you can enjoy the beautiful Florida morning sun. The kitchen is fully equipped with a dishwasher, microwave, coffee maker and side-by-side fridge with filtered water and an ice maker. All the cookware, dishes and utensils you need are there including plastic dishes and glasses if you want to eat or enjoy a drink on the lanai. See how many Disney cooking utensils and accessories you can count! Take a look in the freezer and you’ll find our frozen plastic beer mugs, which are perfect for the pool on a hot day.
No vacation home would be complete without a game room. Hakuna Ma’Cottage has a garage converted to a game room featuring a pool table and air hockey table. The laundry units are also located in the game room as well as other items for your convenience, such as an ironing board, a Graco DuoGlider stroller, a smaller umbrella stroller and a high chair. There is also a pack and play located in the house. We love families and children, so if there is something missing that you need for your baby, toddler, children or family, let us know and chances are we will purchase it for the house. We recently added the DuoGlider at the request of a guest.
The final amenity of the Hakuna Ma’Cottage villa that you should consider, is the dedicated new owners! We purchased this lovely home in January of 2015. It was in need of a bit of TLC, but we are dedicated to making it great again! The values we prize are cleanliness, a well maintained house, a bright and cheery feeling and of course, fun! Below is a list of some of the upgrades we have done in the last year or so.
Spring of 2015
• Brand new A/C unit and furnace installed
• Entire exterior of house patched and painted
• Toddler fence installed on lanai
• New 50 inch wall mounted flat screen TV installed
• New wall mounted entertainment center installed
Summer of 2015
• New decorations, area rugs and pictures added
• Movie and game library added
• All new carpet in all bedrooms (the rest of the house is ceramic tile)
• Table tennis (ping pong) table added to game room
• Refrigerator replaced with brand new side-by-side fridge with filtered water and an ice maker
• Pottery Barn bedding added to one of the twin bedrooms
• Full set of Disney dishes and wine glasses added
• New coffee maker, silverware, cookware, utensils and outdoor plastic dishes and glasses added
Fall of 2015
• New privacy fence installed around entire back yard and pool deck area
• New sod (grass) laid around entire back yard
Spring of 2016
• Tropical landscaping added to back yard
• Two new pool loungers added and new matching cushions for all outdoor furniture
• Upgraded the full bedroom to a queen bed with a premium pillow top mattress and a new quilt from The Company Store
• Upgraded one twin bedroom to a twin over full bunkbed with a pullout trundle under the bed with another twin mattress and a new matching dresser and new quilts for all beds from Pottery Barn
• Painted the queen bedroom, bunkbed room and twin bedroom with neutral colors and an accent wall using premium Sherwin Williams paints
• Added a hotel style safe in the master bedroom closet
Summer of 2016
• Decorated the twin bedroom with a Minecraft theme
• Added wall-mounted swimwear and pool towel hanging racks in the lanai
• Added a set of 8 frozen plastic beer mugs (in the freezer)
• Added ceiling fans to all bedrooms (except the bunk room)
• Added the beautiful light-up nighttime tiki garden
• Recovered the pool table
Fall of 2016
• Added Minecraft murals in twin bedroom
• Replaced ping pong table with air hockey
• Added a new light over pool table
• Added a Graco DuoGlider stroller
• Upgraded our gaming system to an Xbox One
We hope you like our house and enjoy a wonderful stay there! We also hope you see that we are dedicated owners who want to create and maintain a beautiful vacation home, not just for our family but for our guests as well. Remember, there are no worries when you stay at Hakuna Ma’Cottage!
Hakuna Matata!!!