How to search for an offsite suite / 1-2 bedroom?

First time posting a new thread!

Here's the basic question: What's the best way to find a good off-site suite / 1-2 bedroom at a good price?

Here's the background:

We were planning a trip for early February 2016, with four of us - my wife, two sons, and I. We were originally planning to stay onsite, but now it sounds like my wife's sister will be joining us, by herself. It will be really fun to have her join us, but it throws a wrench in the plan to stay onsite, since we will have 3 adults and 2 kids. Also, my wife's sister really needs her own space (she sleeps a lot more than we do, and she gets migraines when she's out in the sun too much).

We have never stayed offsite before, but on non-Disney trips, we usually use priceline or hotwire. Those don't seem to work well with trying to find a 1-2 bedroom unit. I just started checking, using Orbitz for the first week of February, and I am surprised to see rates around $180/night for 1-2 bedrooms in places that look nice. Adding taxes, resort fees, and parking at both the hotel and Disney, it would be cheaper to just get two rooms at Pop Century, for example. I was expecting off-site in February to be in the low $100s/night, even for a 2-bedroom in a nice place, but I have been surprised not to find that easily.

How do we find discounts? Any specific, recommended places?

Thanks!

Renting a timeshare will probably be your most cost effective way of getting a good deal at a nice resort that offers one or two bedroom villas.

Skyauction can be a good resource. My boss was able to get 7 nights in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath villa at Sheraton Vistana Resort via Skyauction for this past May for $470 all in. No resort fees, no parking fees, no internet fees. That was his total price.

Ebay, Redweek, TUG, myresortnetwork are all places where you could rent a timeshare week from an owner. That will be cheaper than renting directly from the property itself.

Thank you! We will look into all of those, it sounds like exactly what we are looking for.

Suggestions from others are appreciated! The more info we have, the better.

With your sister-in-law needing her own space, I would recommend looking for a 3-bedroom. She could have her own room, plus one for you and your wife and one for the kids. You might want to look into condos and townhomes at Windsor Hills. They are individually owned so you will be dealing directly with the homeowner. The only drawback is that if something is wrong with your unit, you can't just go to the front desk and ask for a new one. You have to deal with your owner or their management company to get it fixed. Good sites for finding rentals are www.vbro.com and www.homeaway.com. I recommend reading the reviews of each unit. You'll get a good idea whether the unit is in good repair and if the owner is responsive to issues.

I think your desired price of the low-100s might be a little low for the larger hotel suites. They tend to be in the high-100s. You should be able to find a condo or townhouse rental closer to your price range. Or, as another poster pointed out, look for a timeshare deal on a bidding site. Good luck!

Check out the Bonnet Creek thread. There are suggestions for folks who handle bookings, very similar to the points rental style of DVC rental agencies. Their price is very good, much cheaper than booking directly with Bonnet Creek. The come highly recommended, have shuttles available (for a fee), and are technically within the Disney property, between DTD and Caribbean Beach resorts. They are at the end of Bonnet Creek Parkway lol.

If your sister-in-law has to go back to the room to get out of the sun, you'll need something with a shuttle so the whole family doesn't have to adhere to her schedule.

Check out Mousesavers.com. They have great deals/suggestions on local suites, Vistana (which is also close) and other properties.

the beginning of Feb is offseason but starting on President's week and later it is consider spring break and the prices are high.

would also consider staying offsite - if you have someone who gets migraines she will need to be back to the hotel quicker than offsite will allow - failing that take her to a nursing station all the parks have them. some are harder to find that others.

the problem with them is - they can't go dark (for me being in a dark room is necessary) - although the new prescription and non prescription med works pretty well.

she should get enough warning to go to one of the nursing station if she can't get back to her room.

We rented a 3 bdrm 2 ba house this summer for $400 for 5 nights. Your best bet is the VRBO website, which has many of the same homes/condos for rent as Homeaway, which someone mentioned above. Be willing to spend some time hunting. There are some great properties out there!

Unless you are paying for the sister in law, I would stick with your original plans to stay onsite. Only because like spiceycat said, getting back to your room when you are offsite can be more complicated. If she gets a migraine and needs to leave the park, what happens? Do you all go back? Is she driving separately? If you are onsite, she could take the bus back to the resort on her own while the rest of the group stays and enjoys the day. Another option is staying somewhere like Bonnet Creek where there are shuttles to and from WDW. I understand they don't run as regularly as the Disney buses though so she could be stuck waiting a while.