Anyone rented vacation homes??

[walls1999]

I'm not sure this is the right place to post this but, here goes. We are looking into renting a vacation home for our trip in December. I wanted to know if any of you have rented these and who from. Good or bad? I like the idea of the room and the private pool. Any suggestions?

 

[kfeuer]

Check out the Orlando Hotels & Attractions boards and you will find many threads on this topic.

To answer your question, we rented a pool house in Windsor Palms this past Feb. and we loved it. We were able to access Disney through a "back entrance" (Sherberth Rd.) and were on Disney property in about 7-8 minutes with very little traffic. Driving to the parks was actually as quick or quicker then using Disney transportation. It was awesome being able to put the kids to sleep in their own bedroom vs. trying to get a 2 and 4-year old asleep in one room and having no adult evening time. Also loved being able to eat a quick breakfast before going to the parks. We saved a ton of money and had a great time. The only downside to me is that there's no maid service during the week, so I did have to spend more time cleaning up then I like to do on vacation (that's where I lost a little of the onsite magic).

 

[SJSKJ]

We stayed in a vacation home last May (party of 8). It was great! We booked through www.loyaltyusa.com and had no trouble or gripes at all. The "name" of our house was Mushu's Dynasty. We were actually able to book one of their "last minute deals" about 4 weeks before our trip and paid about $650 for 7 nights. Last year was my first trip to WDW so I don't have the onsite experience to compare it to. (YET! POR in 7 days!)

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

We have rented everything from onsite properties to off site, Universal, etc., but we went twice with the entire family and decided to rent a 6-bedroom house at Windsor Palms also, WOW, it was wonderful! Fabulous! Got a good price too, we had 14 people total, 7 adults, 7 kids and honestly never felt crowded. The homes are gorgeous and you have your own pool, and the property also has a pool, a wonderful small movie theater, game room, etc., great place. You can get smaller homes too and small condos there, it was a couple years back but I think it was only 10 minutes to Disney, very close. Oh I see here someone posted about a back road there, I'll have to remember that.

 

[becky7953]

I also stayed at Windsor Palms! We loved it. It was nice having separate bedrooms, we could stay up after the kids went to bed. We are a family of 4 and fit nicely into a 3 bdrm townhouse. The townhouse has its own splasher pool. It was great for our needs. the web site is www.windsor-palms-resort.com

 

[winniedapooh]

We have rented the same home twice and will be renting again in December for the third time. I cannot say enough good things about the family we rent from. They have 5 homes now, 3 in Windsor Palms and 2 in Windsor Hills up the road. Please feel free to PM for further information. Have fun!

 

[elliemae1192]

I just asked the same question on the resort board. I was wondering if anyone has used Disney Premier Villas and how that went?

 

[don8life]

I rented off of ebay an 2 seperate occasions and was very happy. $700 (weekly)for a beautiful 5 bedroom house, that included taxes and pool heat, 5 minutes from the park. Closer than the all star hotels. I just made sure that the people I reneted from had square trade traveler(or something likethat) which meant you were guaranteed through square trade that this was ligit.

It was the best time we had.

 

[JerJan]

If you want the feel of a "HOME" but want to stay "on-site" try a "DVC HOME AWAY FROM HOME" resort. As a DVC owner I know that there are people on the DVC rent/trade boards that rent out (or rent points) to people. Good luck whatever you decide to do!

 

[snappy]

If you want the feel of a "HOME" but want to stay "on-site" try a "DVC HOME AWAY FROM HOME" resort. As a DVC owner I know that there are people on the DVC rent/trade boards that rent out (or rent points) to people. Good luck whatever you decide to do!

I second this. We stayed at OKW through renting points from an owner in February and are going to do the same in July. I like the DVC much better than the resorts. With DVC you do have to pay extra for housekeeping, one thing to consider. Also, Friday and Saturday nights cost double the points.


We have also rented 3 different homes in the area and are going to rent a fourth in a few weeks. Also like this experience, especially when other family members can join us. I really liked having the private, heated pool.

The vacations seem very different staying in DVC vs a villa rental but I liked both. It is refreshing to change things up a little.