Considering offsite for first time...

[Mykal Bent]

Delete

 

[katie111]

1) No. You should just drive directly to each park. The only exception is MK as your only option is to go to the TTC and take the monorail or the ferry to MK. It's really not bad, especially when the crowds are low as they should be in Sept.
2) sorry, I have no idea!
3). Vacation Strategy is very legit. Haven't used them personally but tons of people on this board have, and no one seems to have any issue with them. For a 10 day trip, you will save a ton on food by having your own kitchen.

 

[kokomos]

We stay offsite and have no trouble linking out tickets to our old magic bands but we are not Canadian. I bet they are the same tickets though. You will love bonnet creek resort. Vacation strategy is legit. We have used them a few times.

 

[Klayfish]

1. I agree with katie111 above. Drive to each park. You need to use the TTC for MK, but that's it. The only exception for us sometimes is Epcot. If we're going to park hop from MK to Epcot we'll park in MK and take the monorail to Epcot and back when we're ready. Beyond that, always take the car. I don't look at crowd calendars, because we frankly don't care, but we've parked at MK on July 4th, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. It's not that bad (though you'd have to get there early on those days).

2. Yes, you can link your ticket to a magic band. We always do.

3. I've never heard of Vacation Strategy, but maybe it's a Canadian site. The price you quoted sounds about right, maybe even a touch high. We always rent 3 bedroom (sometimes 4), 2.5 bath condos and pay roughly between $70-$85/night. I use VRBO.

 

[Mykal Bent]

You guys are amazing. Thanks so much for your time and suggestions.
We looked on VRBO and were surprised at how much the prices fluctuated. Maybe I'll look again!

 

[Klayfish]

VRBO has tens of thousands of places. Some are truly privately owned (often by snowbirds), some are rental agency owned. Prices will go all over the board, so search often. There are also often last minute deals, as places would rather take 50% of their asking price than let it go empty and get nothing at all.

 

[danielocha30]

look out for hotels with hidden fees, many offsite places charge at front desk a cash only fee, the infamous resort fee, make sure you call the front desk of the hotel to ask about this and also check on parking fees, this little charges can take away the value of the property

 

[Klayfish]

That may apply to hotels, but in all the off site places I've rented, I've never seen that. No resort fee, no parking fees, nothing. It's really just like staying at an condo or townhouse complex.

 

[BigredNole]

#3 VS is a good place to go for decent prices and no hassles. However, depending on your dates, you can get even better rates. Booking with an actual owner is far better than an Owner Brokerage Firm like VS. If you can find a PlatVIP owner that works for their client, you can wind up with a much better deal. The reason is 2-fold. First, they can book/rebook the room for 50% of the point. What happens is they take the room out of inventory, then cancel it, then rebook it for only 50% of the points inside 60 days. Second, PlatVIP owners get 1 free upgrade inside 60-days. It is only "next available upgrade from inventory". If they are booking a 1BR Dlx and a 2BR Dlx is the first available upgrade, they get the 2BR Dlx for 50% of the points of a 1BR. If a 4BR Pres is the only upgrade inventory available, they get that for 50% of the 1BR points. Good owners pass that savings on to you.

Typical rates from private owners is $7/1000 points. You can look the point charts up online. The only problem with a 10-day rental is that you have an additional $100 fee because it is more than 7-days. The owner/renter cannot avoid that fee.

The only additional fees you will have at WBC is by choice. There is a $100 cc hold. If you spend more than $100 in room charges, this gets consumed. If you spend less than $100, the difference is refunded at the end of the trip.

 

[Mykal Bent]

#3 VS is a good place to go for decent prices and no hassles. However, depending on your dates, you can get even better rates. Booking with an actual owner is far better than an Owner Brokerage Firm like VS. If you can find a PlatVIP owner that works for their client, you can wind up with a much better deal. The reason is 2-fold. First, they can book/rebook the room for 50% of the point. What happens is they take the room out of inventory, then cancel it, then rebook it for only 50% of the points inside 60 days. Second, PlatVIP owners get 1 free upgrade inside 60-days. It is only "next available upgrade from inventory". If they are booking a 1BR Dlx and a 2BR Dlx is the first available upgrade, they get the 2BR Dlx for 50% of the points of a 1BR. If a 4BR Pres is the only upgrade inventory available, they get that for 50% of the 1BR points. Good owners pass that savings on to you.

Typical rates from private owners is $7/1000 points. You can look the point charts up online. The only problem with a 10-day rental is that you have an additional $100 fee because it is more than 7-days. The owner/renter cannot avoid that fee.

The only additional fees you will have at WBC is by choice. There is a $100 cc hold. If you spend more than $100 in room charges, this gets consumed. If you spend less than $100, the difference is refunded at the end of the trip.

Are you a PlatVIP owner by any chance? You seem knowledgable!

 

[Woodview]

There are many , many villas ( with private pools ) from 3 bed to 5 bed for $ 150 per night.

Try IPG Florida Vacation Homes www.ipgflorida.com

 

[BigredNole]

Are you a PlatVIP owner by any chance? You seem knowledgable!

No, but I researched it extensively after my first stay at WBC. We rented a 2BR Dlx for $500 for a week. I was trying to see what it took to get deals like that. I was seriously looking into buying a timeshare. Better to do research before spending what a timeshare place charges. To get to Platinum level, you have to buy $125,000 worth of points directly from Wyndham. Those that have that level can then buy resales for pennies to drastically increase their point totals. In Value seasons, they get incredible deals especially when they can utilize the free upgrade. It is even great in Peak seasons too.

The guy I am going through booked a 3BR and 1BR. Inventory is extremely low when we are going. If there is no inventory or only higher level inventory, he will cancel the 1BR and rebook (@ 50% of the points) with the free upgrade. If it goes as he has planned, a 1BR is 166,000 points (83,000 inside 60-days) and the free upgrade to the 3BR or better. He charges $7/1000 points which is very typical. That means we could get the 3BR unit for $581 for 7 nights (worst case scenario is a 2BR unit for that price). Best case scenario would be a 4BR Pres for that price.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

delete