home/condo rental experience Disney

[Rafiki31]

Anyone have any suggestions for a place to stay off property? We are trying to keep it budget!

Has anyone rented a home or condo in Orlando/Kissimee?

Anything you recommend that is affordable?

 

[Darcy03231]

We rented this home 2 years ago and I wouldn't hesitate to rent it again.

http://www.vacationrentals.com/vacation-rentals/32411.html

It was very clean, comfortable and affordable. It took us about 10-15 min to get to Disney's Main Gate, depending on the traffic (I thought it took much less time than getting the busses from the value resorts).

I really liked the location. It was convenient to restaurants and shopping, but the subdivision was very quite and this house backs up to conservation land.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Moving over to the Orlando Hotels & Attractions forum.

 

[Monkida]

We stayed here --> http://www.universalvacationvillas.com/

It was an extended family trip over Christmas week in 2007. They decorated the house for Christmas with a tree and other. It was a very nice stay for our family - 7 adults and 2 kids.

It was a great place to stay!

 

[TitanBrett]

renting a house/condo can definitely save you money especially for larger groups. check out Windsor Hills, it is very popular with locals, I have stayed there 5+ times.

Windsor Hills is VERY close to the main gate and takes mayb 5-8 minutes by car to reach the parking lot

 

[Rafiki31]

I cannot seem to find the rates for WIndsor Hills! I thought I was emailing different properties but keep getting the same canned response. I think this place could be the winner if someone gets back to me and it is affordable!

 

[TitanBrett]

this is the website i use

http://www.a1vacations.com/index.cf.../dd/yyyy&bedSelect=&refinements=&refinements=

 

[TitanBrett]

I cannot seem to find the rates for WIndsor Hills! I thought I was emailing different properties but keep getting the same canned response. I think this place could be the winner if someone gets back to me and it is affordable!

you may get autoresponder emails at first, but the owners of the properties will get back to you pretty quickly usually

 

[lawone]

Just returned and we stayed in Townhouse #4... it was great!

http://www.storytimeorlandorental.com/

 

[4forMe]

This company also manages properties in Windsor Hills:

http://www.floridasunvacationhomes.com/

 

[KayR]

There are lots of communities close to Walt Disney World.

Windsor Palms, Windsor Hills, Acadia Estates, Rolling Hills, Indian Creek, Emerald Island etc. are all in the same general area and are minutes from Walt Disney World.

You can look on sites such as www.vrbo.com where lots of homes are listed, or some communities have their own owner sites (www.windsor-palms-florida.net and www.StayAtEmeraldIsland.com are two of them.)

Decide if you want a home, townhome or condo to narrow down your choices and then decide what amenities you must have or would like.

good luck.

--Kay

 

[TrustedTraveler]

Just returned and we stayed in Townhouse #4... it was great!

http://www.storytimeorlandorental.com/

How cool was that! The kids must have loved it. Nice website too. I know there are those who would only stay onsite citing the "experience" but for us, offsite in a private pool home is the best possible vacation.

We're doing it again in Jan 2010

 

[englishteacha]

We've stayed twice at Grand Palms, a small condo complex in the Lindfields section of Kissimmee. It is close to the parks and much less expensive than a lot of other places because it's a little older and a bit farther away. I posted a review in the review section.

 

[melliemelo]

http://www.floridasunvacationhomes.com/ is where we made our windsor hills reservations

 

[CarolAnnB]

We used All Star Vacation homes and rented a 5BR house in Windsor Hills w/its own pool. It was great! Good service as well. Would definitely use again for a large group.

 

[jeast]

It seems like all star vacation homes charges a lot more for the same complex (vs. florida sun vacations). Anyone know why?

 

[longing2Batdisney]

We stayed here in May 2009 for the first three nites
we really enjoyed it; it was very clean, quiet and the location was not bad for the parks
http://www.choicevacationhomes.com/homes/homes-in-venetian-bay.html

we chose 'Cinderalla's royal retreat" king bed, queen bed, 2 twins, and sofa bed perfect for our party.

I also told them I had a magicard and received another discount!

 

[TrustedTraveler]

Renting a home or condo offsite can can prove to be a significant money saving move. If you have more than 2 people in your party I'd recommend it every time. In addition to the cost saving for a place to sleep, the savings on meals is a huge consideration for us.
I prefer to deal directly with the owner and I'm not afraid to ask for a great deal, especially in this economy. Now, keep in mind that we only go to WDW off-season, but the rates I get for a lovely 6 bedroom, 4 bath home are the equivalent of 1 mid range hotel room. This year there appears to be a larger percentage of owners who will discount rates to keep from having too many vacant weeks.
Having stayed at this property 4 times we can highly recommend you take a look at http://www.sjsvillas.com it's a great location and their local manager does a fantastic job at upkeep.
As you look for the best place for your vacation we suggest you make a list of the amenities you must have (for us a king size bed in the master, full size washer/dryer) and those you would like to have (nice view from the pool/lanai), then begin your search. We were looking for a 3 or 4 bedroom home when we found this 6 bedroom at the best price. It didn't have one feature we really wanted, a BBQ grill, but the owner arranged to bring one in for us.
There are so many properties available you should be able to find just what you want at a great price. Good luck in your search and let us know what you thought about your offsite choice.