Looking for a good place to stay with kitchen and a good price!

[ncsocombabe]

I'm trying to plan a trip for my boyfriend and I and this is the first trip I've ever planned except for a simple trip to the beach here. We are looking for a hotel or a condo that has a kitchen not just a mini fridge and a microwave- and thats at a reasonably good price which I think isn't looking too good for me now. I've searched and searched online.

If we stayed at the hotels in WDW would it be cheaper in a way or what does it include that hotels that are outside of WDW don't include?

I'm just trying to find the best way for my money because I really want this trip to work out.

 

[Sandra22]

There is so much to choose from when it comes to accomodations.
Just have to narrow it down to what works for you.

For us, we really like Cypress Pointe. There is a phase I and phase II (known as Cypress Pointe Grande Villas). You can get a great price through Hotelkingdom. Our two bedroom condo is $99 a night. Depending on which suite you book, but the two bedroom units come with a complete kitchen, washer/dryer and are very spacious.

We stayed at this resort a couple of years ago and were very pleased with our stay. The location is just minutes away from Downtown Disney and we loved having tons of restaurnants close by or the option of eating in.
We liked having breakfast in our condo.


Here is their website: http://www.cypresspointe2.com/

Also, to help us decide on where we are staying/eating or other travel decisions, we found tripadisor.com very helpful for offering a variety of feedback from people.

Good Luck on your decision making. . . .you definately have come to the right place!



Sandra

 

[5mins2disney]

Check into the 2-3 bedroom condos at Windsor Hills, some are very reasonably priced, and it's a 5* resort, all brand new, just opened in 2005, and it's only 2.1 miles / 5 minutes from Disney.

You can look at the various places at:
www.windsorhillsrent.com

I have seen some condos rent for $75/night depending on the season, directly from the owners, and they are very nice! They're also right next to the resort pool / clubhouse, which is just incredible!

The website will allow you to put out a 2-bedroom inquiry or a 3-bedroom inquiry which goes out to all of the owners for your dates, then you will start getting back responses to look through!

You didn't say when you're looking to visit..hopefully it's not end of March beginning of April....this has been the busiest season for bookings in years and those are the most popular dates. If you come earlier or later, say May/June you'll have better availability and options.

- George

 

[ncsocombabe]

We were looking to go in October- and I have a few questions-

Is it really cheaper to have a kitchen and stay outside of WDW or is it cheaper to stay in WDW w/o a kitchen?

What kind of extras come with booking a WDW resort?

 

[5mins2disney]

Well, you're asking in the offsite housing boards...so I think we're all biased towards staying offsite here, but honestly, it's usually a lot cheaper in my opinion, especially if you eat some of your meals at home.

If you book a WDW Resort the big "extra" would be use of their transportation I guess. You can use the Disney Magical Express bus to get to the hotel, then the Disney bus system to get around WDW. Of course, now you're locked into eating every single meal somewhere on the WDW properties. Personally, I hate taking buses when I'm home, and I'm not about to go on vacation and wait for buses and stuff... I'm renting a car! (priceline.com...under $25/day in October). Oh...one thing if you have a car though... you have to pay $10 to park at the parks each day.

Now, to be fair, there are other perks like Extra Magic Park hours, the Disney Dining plan, etc, but you're not going to end up in a place that even comes close to being as nice as you can get a vacation rental home for way less than staying in a value resort typically, and then you don't have a kitchen.

Personally, I think October is one of the VERY best months to visit WDW...weather is just perfect, hurricane season is basically over, not too hot, crowds are relatively lower than normal, prices are not at their highest (so you should be able to get a great deal on housing still, but need to start looking now to get the best place and best deals!).

You sound very budget conscious or oriented, so I would imagine you would be looking at a POP type value resort, but for less $$ per night you could be in a beautiful 2-3 bedroom condo in a 5 star resort setting that would blow away almost ANY WDW hotel room, but then you have to have a car, if you were going to be driving down or getting a car anyways then the decision is easier.

Personally I love Windsor Hills Resort, there are also other very nice resorts in the area, someone mentioned Cypress Point, other popular options amongst helpful advice you will get here on the DIS include buying someone else's DVC club points, or other area resorts directly from the owner, or services like skyauction.com.

Here's a map of the area resorts I've found to be excellent!

http://www.thedibb.co.uk/villa/map.htm

 

[loveysbydesign]

We stayed at Windsor Hills and Cypress Pointe this past May and liked WH much better. It's cleaner, newer and it's a gated community so it's a little safer. Plus you only had to go through 2 lights to get to the parks...not a busy blvd. with a ton of lights!

 

[spiceycat]

when are you going?

if is spring break - then the parks will be crowded.

if palm or easter week - then I would only suggest being onsite (4/1 to 4/16). expecting several days for the parks to close to offsiters (the parking lots get full) - but until the park really closes (too many people) they allow WDW guests to enter.

 

[ncsocombabe]

We are going in October... We had planned a 7 night trip and go to disney for 3 or 4 days and universal the rest. We wanted to stay onsite while at Disney and then move somewhere else when at universal but then we thought if we cold fnd somewhere cheaper off site with a kitchen we would stay there all 7 nights- we really have no idea lol

 

[dgaston]

If $76 is in your budget I would really look at Cypress Pointe Phase II. That is a queen size bed with a mini kitchen, but includes a small stove and oven with the microwave and refrigerator. We stayed there last October and will definitely do that again! to you