five adults--where to stay

[srwarden1928]

My next Disney trip will be for my neice's college graduation. There will be 5 adults, a 22 yo, a 40s couple, and a 50s couple. I like a good price for the room that I wont spend a lot of time in and a short drive to the parks. We drive to Florida. I dont particularly want a Disney resort, but dont object to that except for the price. Last time we stayed at the Regal Sun. My question is twofold? Where should we stay? and should we get two rooms or a suite? I know suites are expensive, but maybe less than two rooms? Five adults in a suite, does that work?

 

[sympatico]

Why don't you try a 3 bedroom condo or townhouse at Windsor Hills. It's only about 5 min from Animal Kingdom and the resort is beautiful. With the townhouses you have a king master bedroom upstairs with bathroom, a twin bedroom with bathroom , washer/dryer and downstairs you have a queen bedroom with bathroom plus a full kitchen, living/dining area and splash pool. Go to www.windsorhillsrent.com and check them out. You can rent directly from the owners.
The condos are similar but no splash pool and they're all on one level with 2 bathrooms instead of 3.
Here's a few that get good reviews: http://www.5mins2disney.com/
http://www.vrbo.com/53573
We've stayed there 3 times and love it. This is the townhouse we stayed in:
http://www.vrbo.com/69056 but you might not want the kids decor.
Here's a map to show you where Windsor Hills is located:
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/villa-map.php
Just go to the bottom right and scroll through to Windsor Hills and it will zoom in to it on the map.

 

[spiceycat]

cypress pointe

sometimes you can find them here
www.hotelkingdom.com

sometimes this site has deals on the downtown disney hotels.

www.travelzoo.com

the downtown disney hotels - for information
www.downtowndisneyhotels.com

www.hotelmartusa.com - sometimes has some nice deals

www.orlandoinfo.com - orlando visitor bureau - sometimes has some nice deals

www.floridakiss.com - kissimmee/st cloud visitor bureau - it too sometimes has great deals

 

[Lisa P.]

You may want to look into a 3BR condo at Cypress Pointe (several sections with different names but all are basically the same). This resort is located less than a mile from the Hotel Plaza Blvd hotels next to Downtown Disney. It's under 5 minutes to drive to DD and 10-15 minutes to the parks, very convenient! The resort is very nice, if you decide to take advantage of the 3 pools, fitness center, games room, mini-golf, etc. It's a half block back from a main road, so convenient but quiet as well.

They have 2BR condos with a king MBR, a 2nd BR w/twin beds and a sleeper sofa in the LR. But a 3BR has TWO MBR suites plus a tiny 3rd BR w/twin beds. This set-up would be ideal, leaving the LR (and its bigscreen TV) open all the time. You'd save a little money on easy breakfast and coffee in your kitchen too. Winn-Dixie grocery and several restaurants are around the block.

Weekly rentals are sometimes out there by timeshare owners. This is a timeshare resort but NO sales tour is required for owners or their guests or exchangers, which are all weekly stays. It's not required for nightly rental guests either, unless it's stipulated as part of a special night rental promo offer.

I'm sending you a PM - please look for it. Thanks!!!

 

[jen54321]

I second the townhouse/villa idea. Everyone will have lots of space. We rented a villa at Emerald Island and loved it! It was close to Disney and we could have a cup of coffee in front of the pool before we headed out. Winding down in the pool after all day was even better!

 

[davinakb]

Chiming in on the condo or townhouse idea. We find we actually spend more time together as a group/family, sitting around the breakfast table yet all still having our own space. If not that, you may want to try one of the timeshare/vacation club places like Horizons or Vistana, sort of the middle between hotel and private condo. FWIW.

 

[jondis]

why not rent a vacation home with your own pool, we did it and loved it
this company were great, house was exactly as the web site showed, even better actually

 

[Chrisinroch]

Check to see how much more it would be to upgrade to a 4 bedroom house. You get more common area and a much larger pool. At terra verde you can get a 4 bedroom in the neighborhood of $800 week. Not sure about windsor or cyprus but its probably close.

 

[TheresaNY]

Grand Cypress Villas. They are 5-10 minutes from Magic Kingdom. Full access to all ammenities of Hyatt Grand Cypress (sailing, paddleboats, gorgeous pool, bikes, golf, and horses - extra I think for horses). Prices are great for the area and great value for your dollar. Daily housekeeping AND turndown, shuttles to all parks, etc. Check out the website. Grandcypress.com

 

[Gillian]

We have stayed in 3 bedrooms at Windsor Palms (condo & townhouse, similar to Windsor Hills) and Cypress pointe grand villas (not the hyatt one). Any of those would work for 2 couples and a single, with WH you just need to check the bed arrangements because they are individually owned. Most will have 2 king/queen rooms and one twin room.

The townhouse layout is nice, with 2 bedrooms upstairs and one on the main floor (usually a queen).

I think the condos at windsor hills are different than the ones we had at windsor palms, but the community is nice.

Cypress point GV (phase 2 I guess) has a living room/kitchen area with a king bedroom and twin bedroom off of it, plus a queen bedroom/bath slightly away. The first phase is similar but slightly different. Either should work for your group. My extended family really liked it there.

 

[Rpsemont]

IMO - Best bang for your buck - Buena vista Suites. PROVIDING You can cope with 5 people and one Bathroom! You will get a 2 room suite, with 2 double beds in the BR, and sofa bed in the LR area, mini fridge, microwave, full buffet breakfast included. It's a quick 5 minute straight shot drive onto disney property. They frequently run specials for under $100/night.
If you need the two baths, consider renting a house or condo.

 

[Southernswthrt1]

Grand Cypress Villas. Prices are great for the area and great value for your dollar. Grandcypress.com

I'd like to know where you're getting the great prices. I checked their website and they're outrageous. I'm looking into Feb 19-26, 2009. Any tips on where to find the deals would be appreciated.

It looks like the units have been recently remodeled...is that right? Are they done with all renovations?