How far in advance do you book?

[sazida]

How far in advance do you book your offsite accommodations? Since everything else Disney has to be planned so early, it's hard to consider waiting until a couple months beforehand to get a good deal.

 

[ParkHopperFan]

My suggestion would be to book around 1 year in advance or more. You will have a better selection of properties. I believe that visitors from the UK book that far out because airfare is released 1 year in advance there so they do scoop up the best properties by booking early.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I think it depends on your trip dates. If going over a holiday or during peak season, at least a year in advance if you want options. During off peak times, I'd say 6 months or so is enough time. But of course the sooner the better if you have a specific place in mind.

 

[writerguyfl]

Despite what some folks believe, you really don't need to plan months in advance to have a fun trip to Walt Disney World. There are lots of Florida Annual Passholders who make impromptu trips throughout the year. Outside of holidays, it's really not difficult to find a decent place to stay.

Certainly, you're not going to get the most sought after FastPasses and you might have to eat at slightly off hours. But, if your group/family is small (4 people or less), it's not as impossible as people believe.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Despite what some folks believe, you really don't need to plan months in advance to have a fun trip to Walt Disney World. There are lots of Florida Annual Passholders who make impromptu trips throughout the year. Outside of holidays, it's really not difficult to find a decent place to stay.

Certainly, you're not going to get the most sought after FastPasses and you might have to eat at slightly off hours. But, if your group/family is small (4 people or less), it's not as impossible as people believe.

That is true, but the OP asked about offsite accommodations, which you do need to book in advance if you want to stay at the nicer places.

 

[writerguyfl]

That is true, but the OP asked about offsite accommodations, which you do need to book in advance if you want to stay at the nicer places.

I actually disagree with that statement. According to Visit Orlando, there are 118,000 hotel rooms, 20,000 vacation home rentals, and 22,000 vacation ownership properties. If you subtract Disney Worlds approximately 30,000 rooms, that leaves 130,000 options. Many of those options would qualify as "nicer places".

If you're dead set on staying at a specific hotel, you need to plan ahead. If you're flexible (and not looking at a holiday), you don't need to plans many months in advance.

Additionally, sazida actually asked about discounts in the first post. Many off-site hotels only offer special promotional discounts a few months in advance. For example, the current best public rates for the seven Disney Springs Hotels run between today and November 14, 2016.

Caveats: If your group/family is more than 4 people, your choices will be much more limited. Also, the longer you stay, the fewer options you have because needs to have availability within the same room type for every night of your stay.

Sources:
Visit Orlando: http://media.visitorlando.com/press-kits/english-press-kit/accommodations/
WDW Room Count: https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/hotels/number-rooms
Disney Spring Hotels Current Special Offer: http://disneyspringshotels.com/special-offers/limited-offers/forever-fun-sale/

 

[disneysteve]

We typically book about 8 weeks out, sometimes less. We rent a house or condo and there are a jillion of those to choose from. We have never had a problem finding a nice place at a good price.

 

[2Gma]

We have booked off site condos anywhere from 2 months to 6 months out. We have always used vrbo.com although there are a number of sites to chose from. We usually go in fall or spring. Most places have set price rates based on season listed in their ad.

 

[sazida]

Thank you all for your input. I have been researching Windsor Hills villas for the past few months. I was looking at October 2016 prices since pricing wasn't available for October 2017. I was ready to book, so I called but the pricing was 2-3 times what it was for this year. I was told to wait until a couple months before my vacation date, and that what I was looking at was last minute deals.

I guess I will wait a while!

 

[HopperFan]

Depends on:
- dates
- type of lodging you are booking (a house or condo would need to be sooner than hotel)
- if you are committed to plan flights
- are you flexible

For us I never book anything I can't cancel so if something better comes up I can switch.

 

[Klayfish]

That is true, but the OP asked about offsite accommodations, which you do need to book in advance if you want to stay at the nicer places.

I disagree. We never stay on site, always off. While we have booked a year in advance simply for the convenience of doing it now and paying for it now, you don't need to. There are countless gated communities all around WDW, especially on the SW side and SE side, right off Rt. 192. You'll never have a hard time finding a place, even last second.

OP, Windsor Hills is a nice place, we've stayed there before and would definitely do it again. Where are you searching to find dates and rates? We almost exclusively use VRBO.com and have had fantastic success with it.

 

[Madivan]

You definitely don't have to book far in advance to get a nice room or rental in Orlando. There are so many hotel rooms that there is always something available in any price range and comfort level.

We're relatively local but still do longer trips throughout the year and if we're going for more than one day we stay, sometimes onsite and sometimes off. We find availability almost anywhere rather last minute, including Windsor Hills, which OP mentioned, and Bonnet Creek when we choose to do rentals.

 

[sazida]

I think I need to spend some time to figure out vrbo.com. The choices get to be overwhelming. My husband has only asked that I try to find a place with a private pool, so that is really my only criteria (aside from being near Disney). I was using the websites more directed to that one community (Windsor hills) because it was much easier to find a private pool, and I've seen it mentioned so frequently on here that it seemed like the best place to be.

 

[ParkHopperFan]

VRBO can be a helpful resource but I would suggest being careful with respect to how far the property is from Disney. Many listings will give the distance in miles but that can be deceiving with traffic. When you get out towards Davenport the drive with traffic can be 20+ minutes. You mentioned Windsor Hills which is the closest at around 5-10 minutes.

 

[Klayfish]

I think I need to spend some time to figure out vrbo.com. The choices get to be overwhelming. My husband has only asked that I try to find a place with a private pool, so that is really my only criteria (aside from being near Disney). I was using the websites more directed to that one community (Windsor hills) because it was much easier to find a private pool, and I've seen it mentioned so frequently on here that it seemed like the best place to be.

Yes, VRBO can be overwhelming. Lots of different places. Like I said, we always stay off property and have stayed at probably 7 or 8 different communities. None of them were "bad", they were all perfectly safe and nice enough. Some just nicer than others. Windsor Hills was certainly quite nice. When using vrbo, we like to find places that are privately owned, instead of owned by rental agencies. They tend to have nicer places and you get a more personal touch.

Our favorite places of all locations we've stayed at is The Villas At Seven Dwarfs Lane. They are 2 story townhouses. The end units are 4 bedroom 2.5 bath, the middle units are 3 bedroom 2.5 bath. Master bedroom on the main floor, the others are upstairs. It's a gated community with 24 hour "security" (there's a guard at the gate). Has a very nice pool with clubhouse. The location is also terrific. It's right off Rt. 192. The entrance to WDW is about 8-10 minutes away at most. Within a mile or two, there is: SuperTarget (much nicer than the local Wal-Mart), Publix grocery store, countless restaurants, shops, etc.. The rentals tend to cost a little more than some others, but it's well worth it. We've stayed there 3 times, including our most recent trip, where we stayed there for 17 days. Here's a link to the offerings for Seven Dwarfs on VRBO...

https://www.vrbo.com/vacation-renta...kissimmee/central/villas-at-seven-dwarfs-lane

 

[lisagyo]

We usually visit every August and stay on property and I start planning and putting down a deposit in Feb-March-ish when the Summer discounts roll out.