Anyone ever stay at Grand Reserve in Davenport? And has anyone rented from vrbo?

[allysmom1218]

I have rented a villa at Grand Reserve in Davenport for our trip in June, I was just wondering if anyone has ever stayed ther before? I looked for about 2 months to find a villa that had all of our or should I say my DH requirements (pool, gameroom, gas grill, theme bedroom for our DD, extra nice) well I finally found it in Davenport which I hope isn't too far from WDW. I think I got a very good price for it, it's costing $1190 for 8 days and considering that it seems to be alittle upgraded compared to the others I looked at , I think it is well worth it. My DH was being alittle picky about the villa, he said he wanted it to be a place that we wouldn't ever want to leave, and that he just wants to spend around 2 days just relaxing in the pool.

I rented this villa from vrbo and it is number 40175. Has anyone ever rented this one before? If you have did you enjoy it and was it worth the money?

Any info I can get about vrbo or the Davenport area would be appreciatted!!!!

 

[sympatico]

We stayed in a villa at Grand Reserve last Feb-Mar. It was vrbo #31141 - The Willows. Grand Reserve is a gated community with some of the homes bordering a lake.You have a code that you punch in for the gate to open. It's very quiet and nice and only about 3 or 4 years old. It's located at the southern end of Old Lake Wilson Rd. and then about a few hundred yards to the left. From Grand Res. to 192 is about 10 min. using Old Lake Wilson Rd. then about 5 min to Disney. This road is just a country type 2 lane road and not very busy. You can also go out through Champions Gate Exit on I- 4 and go up I -4 to the Disney exits, about the same amount of time.
At the Champions gate exit which is less than 5 min from GR there's fast food, Publix grocery store and some other small stores. There's also a CVS pharmacy on OLWRoad about 3 min from GR.
We liked staying in this area of Davenport because it was away from the crowds but not too far. It's also about in the middle of what you would do on 192. We found that we could take the back roads ( a lot less traffic than on 192 ) and get to Poincianna then up to 192 for things we wanted to do in that area: Walmart, Target, Outlet Stores etc. or go over toward 27 and up to things in that area.
If you golf there's Champions Gate, Reunion, and Mystic Dunes. We aren't golfers so can comment much on that.
I looked at the home on vrbo it and looks beautiful. I'm sure you'll be very pleased. I've used VRBO about 4 times and have not had any problems so far. I'll check this post later if you have any other questions that I can answer.

 

[allysmom1218]

It made me feel alot better about the villa that we have chosen. I was just kinda worried that it was realy far from WDW. I think we will go to WDW for about 2 days and maybe go to Sea World or Universal. We haven't quite figured out which park (Universal or Sea World) would be the best for taking our 3 yr old DD. I guess we have just gotten use to her being able to go on alot of rides at WDW, and since we are traveling by ourselves it's really kind of hard to go on rides by yourself.

I am also glad to hear that there is an Outlet Mall close and also a Wal Mart. I don't think I've ever gone on a vacation without going to the local Wal Mart As a matter of fact, when I had our DD, on the way home from the hospital..... Guess What???? Had to stop at Wal Mart!!!!! But atleast on this trip I will have a good reason to go to Wal Mart... need to get supplies for our rental villa (FOOD).

Thanks Alot for the help, I'm a compulsive planner, and I really feel overwhelmed with not having any experience with renting a villa or driving in Orlando. Everytime we've gone to WDW before, we've always used a town car service and ME to get to and from the parks. I just worried about getting lost in Orlando, but I will MAPQUEST myself to death before I leave.

Oh, I do have one other question... What kind of supplies did you need for your villa? (cleaning supplies, toilet paper, etc.) And what was the one thing that you were surprised that you needed? I just don't really know what to expect. THANKS ALOT!!!!!!!!

 

[sympatico]

Don't worry about the driving, we're from a very rural area and have no problems. You're not really in Orlando just Kissimmee and Lake Buena Vista. It does help if you have a good map. When you leave your villa and go up OldLWRoad turn left at the intersection by CVS and follow that to 17 and you'll intersect with Poincianna Blvd, turn left onto Poinc. and follow it up to 192 and if you cross 192 and keep going you'll come to a Walmart on your right. If you don't turn into Walmart and keep going to where you intersect 535 and turn left you'll find LBVista Outlet Mall about half a mile on your right. You can also follow 535 and get to Disney. Anyway a good map will show you. I know what you mean about being a complusive planner, I am too. I have the whole Kissimmee/Disney area memorized.
You'll need to buy dishwasher detg, washing powder and dryer sheets ( I take a few from home) TOILET PAPER, paper towels, I usually take soap with me, food, water, maybe garbage bags and plastic wrap. Sometimes there's salt and pepper and sugar packets and even coffee and sometimes there's not, all according to the owners and management companies. There's always an initial supply of everything, except food, but it doesn't last long. Check the cabinets before you go shopping to see what they have on hand.
I can't think of anything that I was surprised about but we've rented like this quite a few times so by now we know the drill. I did have to buy a bunch of facecloths at one place we stayed because there was only two but they're cheap at Walmart. We didn't buy any other kind of cleaning stuff, there's usually some there in the laundry area, and besides that I don't do any house cleaning. lol

 

[sympatico]

Sorry, Just need to edit the last post. You turn right at the intersection where the CVS pharmacy is to get to 17 and then Poincianna. If you turn left at that intersection it will take you to the Champions Gate area and exit for I -4.

 

[Mainebound]

I was nervous the first time renting a car too, but it is easy as pie to get the car at MCO and drive to your villa in Kissimmee or Davenport.

We got the free Emerald Club membership at National and so we just get our bags and walk straight to the cars, get in one and drive away. It is awesome.

We usually go to the villa first (takes maybe 20-30 minutes, same as time to WDW), unload our bags, run around picking our bedrooms and oohing and ahhing. Then we go grocery shopping (unless it is too late, in which case we go the next morning.) There are grocery stores everywhere.

If you are only going to WDW twice, distance to it should not be a big factor.

As far as Sea World v. Universal, our kids like both a lot. We took the boys to Universal when they were 2 and 4, and every year since. I don't think you could go wrong with either. Just think about what experiences your daughter enjoys most and them look at the websites and see what has the most for her. they are both wonderful parks.