I need so much help...staying off site

[newfiegirl]

We have stayed onsite for the last 2 years and we are now planning another trip with another family. There will be 9 of us in all (4 adults). We want to do about 6 nights in a nice, but clean and somewhat inexpensive place. We will need 4 bedrooms. I keep reading about windsor hills, but there seems to be 100s of places to rent here. I need more direction and more specifics for a july 2012 vacation. Thanks

 

[Planogirl]

I would search through the threads here. There are many links even to specific addresses scattered all throughout the forum but you just have to keep on digging. I agree that it is confusing though!

 

[4forMe]

It sounds like your party would need a 4-5 bedroom home. We usually stay in a 4 BR home in Windsor Hills that we rent from www.floridasunvacationhomes.com. All Star Vacation Homes is another management company recommended on this board.

If you would prefer to rent a home directly by owner, check out vrbo.com and homeaway.com.

Other communities to consider that are less expensive than Windsor Hills would be Emerald Island and Windsor Palms (manned and gated), Sunset Lakes (coded gate) and Indian Creek and Rolling Hills (non-gated).

The following thread has a lot of helpful information regarding the different communities to rent a pool home:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2623627

Hope this helps!

 

[JimMIA]

Another option would be two 2-bedrooms. There are many, many 2-bedroom condos/timeshares very close by WDW to choose from and some of those resorts (Wyndham's Bonnet Creek, for example) are REALLY nice, with lots of activities for both adults and kids.

As nice as some of those resorts are, there are two other reasons to consider two 2-bedrooms that I think are more important:

• PRIVACY - togetherness is good, but nine people sharing accommodations for a week may be a little too much togetherness. Sometimes it's good to have a little bit of private time with just your family.
• CHANGES IN PLANS -- If you rent a 4/5 bedroom house and somebody's plans change, you still might be committed to the full rental of a big house. If you get two smaller units and somebody cancels, you can just cancel one reservation and go ahead with your vacation. Over on the DVC boards, there is about one sad thread a month about somebody canceling out of a joint vacation and the turmoil that causes. It's a common problem, and something to keep in mind...especially when you are booking far in advance. Lots of things can change in a year.

 

[HeatherC]

If you don't mind a bit of a drive, check out Regal Palms Resort on homeaway.com. You can rent a four bedroom townhouse for about $500 a week.

Emeral Island is another nice resort with private homes and closer to Disney. You could aslo do two suites At Buena Vista Suites which is very close.

Happy planning!

 

[rkandmjsmommy]

Hi
i was in your situaion about 2 weeks ago...we have outgrown a regular hotel room so I came here to research.
We choose Windsor Hills, for the reason that the webiste to request homes that are available for our dates seemed easiest and it was, the great reviews Helped

I like the idea of 2 2 bedroom houises...time apart might be nice, you might even be able to gt them next to each other!

Good luck

 

[shalom]

I second the 2 2BR recommendation.

[*]PRIVACY - togetherness is good, but nine people sharing accommodations for a week may be a little too much togetherness. Sometimes it's good to have a little bit of private time with just your family.

We haven't had anyone bail on a reservation, but for us it works a lot better if adults who don't live together don't share accommodations, either. We have stayed with our adopted Grandma in the same unit without any problems, but we're all more comfortable if we get a 2 BR and get her her own unit (2 BR or 1 BR, depending on how much we want to splurge) and let the kids fall where they may.

Vacations are generally positive stress, but they're still stressful, and for us staying in close quarters with someone different adds a stress on top of that. We all tend to be loners, though, with our own designated "space" at home; some families love being in such close contact with siblings or in laws or friends and consider that part of the charm. Vacationer, know thyself.

 

[newfiegirl]

Hi, I really like the 2-2 bedroom house idea, but i cannot find any with a communal or house pool. Maybe it's not possible. I also wouldn't mind having a place an hour or so away from disney, as the plan is now to stay on site for 1 week and do other florida things the next week (beach, sea world, shop...). Any suggestions???

 

[JimMIA]

Hi, I really like the 2-2 bedroom house idea, but i cannot find any with a communal or house pool. Maybe it's not possible. I also wouldn't mind having a place an hour or so away from disney, as the plan is now to stay on site for 1 week and do other florida things the next week (beach, sea world, shop...). Any suggestions???

I think you'll have a very hard time finding ONE 2-bedroom house. But there are a lot of condos and timeshares that have 2 bedrooms.

 

[dtum]

Was thinking of 2 2-bedrooms myself for the next trip...probably WBC, but when i figure the price the 4-bed always comes out cheaper so now we are looking at http://puffsvacationhome.com/ in Emerald Island. Seems like a great place and i know the families would love the game room!

 

[TnTWalter]

Bonnet Creek is basically in Downtown Disney and has multiple pools, activities, etc. It's a timeshare and so you do not get a certain unit.

Windsor Hills is a condo complex [they also have homes too]. Each unit is individually owned so you would know exactly where you are staying so you could try to get two units near each other.

 

[my3cinderellas]

Holiday inn Orange Lake has 2-3 bedroom villas. Looks nice and the price isnt too bad

 

[JimMIA]

Bonnet Creek is basically in Downtown Disney and has multiple pools, activities, etc. It's a timeshare and so you do not get a certain unit.

Bonnet Creek is not in the area most people think about when they think about DTD. The entry road to WBC is about a mile west of DTD, and WBC itself is a half-mile or so south of there. It's actually between Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort and the main entrance road that goes to Epcot and MK (which makes it VERY convenient). You can check Google Earth to get a better perspective, and also get a pretty darn good look at the resort itself.

As far as specific units, you may or may not know which unit you would have. If you rent from a VIP owner at WBC, you might be able to get the unit numbers when the units are booked.

If you don't get the unit numbers then, you can call the resort the week before you arrive and request that the two units be in the same building, same floor, etc. They can't guarantee anything, but they're pretty good about doing the best they can. For example, on our recent stay, we requested Building 4, upper floor, lake view. We were in Bldg 4, TOP floor, lake view and even a partial fireworks view because we were on the end of the building.

 

[torinsmom]

We're staying in a 5 bedroom pool home in Indian Creek, which is close to Windsor Hills. The one we are staying at is only $625/week.

http://www.vrbo.com/229838

 

[TnTWalter]

Bonnet Creek is not in the area most people think about when they think about DTD. The entry road to WBC is about a mile west of DTD, and WBC itself is a half-mile or so south of there. It's actually between Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort and the main entrance road that goes to Epcot and MK (which makes it VERY convenient). You can check Google Earth to get a better perspective, and also get a pretty darn good look at the resort itself.

I am so sorry didn't mean to be misleading...meant it was on disny property...in the DTD area....or how about ..... really really really close to 3/4 of the parks?

 

[lionking13]

We were hoping that someone could give us some suggestions on a 4 bedroom pool home that is very disney themed throughout the house. I would love to hear some of peoples suggestions for disney themed 4 bedroom pool homes! We would appreciate it

 

[4under4]

I would love the same info as previous post

 

[dtum]

Did you look here:

http://www.windsorhillsrent.com/

We stayed at Romancing the Mouse, but they aren't Disney Themed.