Lodging Recommendation

[dhardawa]

I have a friend who has a trip planned July 11 - July 14. She had rooms booked through some place that sells time shares, but they kept cancelling her reservations and finally moved her somewhere she didn't want to be so she cancelled it. She asked me for help. They need something cheap. There are two adults and five kids in one party and two adults and four kids in the other. This is throwing me because each family will require two rooms or a big suite. They will be driving so they can stay off site.

Also, any recommendations for lower priced Disney tickets?

Thanks!!

Dana

 

[Hedy]

Undercover tourist for the tickets.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I was going to suggest that they consider renting a vacation home, but then I saw that they'll only be going for 3 nights (most vacation homes rent by the week). But just in case, check vrbo.com or a similar site for vacation homes in the Orlando area.

They could try Hotwire. Sometimes you can find good last-minute rates for offsite hotels that way. If you check sites like biddingfortravel, you can get an idea of which hotels are which based on their ammenities and locations.

On tripadvisor.com, you can do a search for Orlando hotels, get reviews and then check availability for specific hotels on multiple websites like expedia and travelocity.

Make sure that you (or your friends) investigate any possible discounts (corporate rates, military, teachers, nurses, AAA, AARP, Entertainment Book, etc.). You'd be surprised at the difference in rates between those discounts and rack rates.

Most suites hotels will accommodate up to 6 people. I don't know of any that will accept 7 in a room unless one of those 7 is an infant. Your friends probably will need at least 3 rooms and maybe even 4. The advantage of the suite hotels is that they will probably have a kitchenette.

For tickets, try some of the ticketbrokers below. The type of tickets that they want can determine which one will offer the best deal.

The Official Ticket Center
Dreams Unlimited Tickets
Ticketmania
Undercover Tourist
Discount Orlando Vacation
Maple Leaf Tickets

Compare their prices, including tax and shipping charges. And if you sign up for the MouseSavers.com Newsletter (which comes out on the 15th of every month), you'll find links in it for even lower ticket prices at one or more of the above ticketbrokers.

Good luck! I hope you can help them out!

 

[disneysteve]

I was going to suggest that they consider renting a vacation home, but then I saw that they'll only be going for 3 nights (most vacation homes rent by the week). But just in case, check vrbo.com or a similar site for vacation homes in the Orlando area.

I agree. Many owners will rent for less than a week if their property happens to be vacant. They may charge a cleaning fee that would be included if you rented for a week. We rented a home once for 5 or 6 days and paid, I believe, a $65 cleaning fee on top of the rental fee.

vrbo.com is good. Also, check http://www.windsor-palms-florida.net/.

 

[dameodie]

Also, check http://www.windsor-palms-florida.net/.

My parents own a condo in Windsor Palms, and they're very happy with it. However, it's just a two bedroom condo that sleeps six.

I haven't been there myself yet, and I won't be there before your friends go. But as property owners they're very happy! My aunt and uncle and two friends stayed there in January and loved it too.

I believe that the owners set their own rates and time minimums... for example, my folks have a three night minimum on theirs.

One cool thing that they told me they have is a free movie theater. It's all stuff that's already on DVD, but still! Free movie theater! A good way to spend an evening if you're not in the parks, or you have a crummy weather day for some reason.

 

[mrsklamc]

Another vacation home site I would check is windsorhillsrent.com One query will be sent to a bunch of homeowners, and you can take the lowest bidder! It's for Windsor Hills, which is VERY close to the parks and a wonderful place to stay.

www.5mins2disney.com is one of the homeowners, but they have chosen to go upscale with their townhouses, so they aren't the cheapest. A lot of great info on their site though!