If staying offsite which company do you go through for a nice house with a pool close to disney?

[mom2my3kids]

Just looking around...

 

[jkelly86]

We rented a few times in Windsor Hills over the years and loved it. In 2010, we stayed at a "Romancing the Mouse" home and would highly recommend the owners, but they are in the process of selling their homes. They do have some great advice on their website, though, about renting a vacation home:
http://www.romancingthemouse.com/advice.html
Also, we just leaned that VRBO was purchased by Expedia and has tacked on significant fees to vacation rentals (to the dismay of the rental owners...) They also plan to phase out the ability for prospective renters to contact the owners directly, so if there are any rentals that you like for the future, save the owner contact information so that you can contact them directly.
This article explains how to search for owners vs managers (at the bottom):
http://www.annamariaislandhomerenta...a-Maria-Island/c19hy/560ac3780cf2a7bb74bd83ce

 

[kniquy]

You could look into homeaway or VRBO those are both sister sites where you can rent a house from the owner. We have done that numerous times when we rented a house on the cape and Ct shore.

 

[QueenIsabella]

We had no trouble going through vrbo. I've never gone through a company, although you can choose to do that. Windsor Hills is less than a mile from Disney property, gated, and most homes have pools. The community has amenities, as well (game room, gym, playground, etc.). Typical costs might be $100/week for a 4BR home (it depends on the specifics).

Windsor Palms is also close, as are a few other communities.

 

[mernin]

We rented through vrbo 3 times, twice at encantada resort. We had a 4bd townhouse that had a backyard pool, and the resort had 2 pools & 2 hot tubs. Not far from Disney either, about 20 minutes from the condo to MK. We paid less than $100 per night.

 

[Judique]

We had no trouble going through vrbo. I've never gone through a company, although you can choose to do that. Windsor Hills is less than a mile from Disney property, gated, and most homes have pools. The community has amenities, as well (game room, gym, playground, etc.). Typical costs might be $100/week for a 4BR home (it depends on the specifics).

Windsor Palms is also close, as are a few other communities.

I need to see that house!

 

[NJtoATL]

I used VRBO. The house was about $1200 in the summer. Four bedroom/ three bathroom, pool, game in the garage. There were 7 people and it was plenty of room. My family from Europe was too excited.

 

[powellrj]

We have used flipkey for the last few rentals and have been happy.

 

[keepswimming76]

VBRO worked great for us. There are lots of options with pools and plenty of bedrooms about 15 minutes from the parks.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

We've used VBRO and have always been happy with the homes. I'm not sure if there are any changes if Expedia has taken them over.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I'm sorry, I meant to say about $1000 a week for a 4BR house. I don't know if I'd trust a house for $100/week!

But, you can find things for different price points. For our family, space is important, so a house was worth it. For a family that's planning on tons of park time, you could save by going smaller--renting a condo or townhome.

Some features which may (or may not) interest you are:

Themed bedrooms
Garage used as a game room
Game systems
Private pool
Multiple bedrooms with private baths
Full kitchens with "extra" appliances such as blenders, crockpots, etc.
Availability of baby equipment (stroller, highchair, crib)
Outdoor grill

 

[ForeverAlice]

I have heard some people say they used All Star Vacation Homes. I haven't heard anything bad but I am sure someone on here has used them and could give their opinion...

 

[Darcy03231]

I've used VRBO, Homeaway, and Vacation Rentals and never had a problem with any of the homes we've rented.

 

[Livvie]

We've used VBRO and have always been happy with the homes. I'm not sure if there are any changes if Expedia has taken them over.

VRBO/Homeaway have both implemented service fees, anywhere from 4-9% of what your rental fee is. That fee goes directly to VRBO for the privilege of using their website. We rented a house for Spring Break, not knowing anything about the service fee until it showed up after the credit card information was input. Our service fee was $75 for a $1000 rental.

Owners are very unhappy and so are renters. I made sure I let VRBO know how sneaky and underhanded the service fee was and I got the typical "thanks for your comment, we'll take it into consideration" BS.

We won't ever use VRBO again.

https://help.vrbo.com/articles/What-is-the-service-fee-and-how-does-it-work
https://www.homeaway.com/info/service-fee-update

 

[aquabone1109]

We used Airbnb and have had great results. We recently stayed in the Wyndham for 3 nights which is technically on disney property for $350. We also used All star vacations to rent a home for a week at $700 (home was about 1 mile from the entrance.