Orlando in December...

[alibeau]

Hi guys,
Just joined your forum today and wondered if you could answer a couple of questions.....
We've been to WDW 4 times and stayed in a house that was owned by my Husband's employer. He no longer works for them and so we are looking for somewhere nice to stay. Formosa gardens looks good, I've found a few houses that we like the look of but my question is this: How do I know that these places actually exist? We could in theory send our money to someone who has just listed some pictures of any old house? Couldn't we??

Also we are hoping to visit 3rd-17th December, any clue on what the weather will be like? We visited at the same time many years ago and remember the mornings/evenings being a bit chilly but generally warm and sunny. Were we lucky or is this the norm??

Thanks in advance,

Ali.

 

[Goofysmate]

Just wanted to welcome you Ali

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi,

I think your weather observations are about right.

As far as villas are concerned I would always book off a website like the one's below, never direct off an owner's, you just never know if the photos and details are up to date.
We made a mistake such as this on our 1st rental. We will probably stay at the same one each year in future as we know the owners well and have stayed with them before.

I realise most owner's keep their information on their own sites up to date but there is always the odd one who doesn't - and trust me we know from experience how that can prove to be a nightmare.
Don't want to offend any villa owner's - the majority are well kept and have a good Management Company on hand to look after the home.

There are many dvelopments in the Formosa Gardens area such as Indian Creek and Windsor Palms.
The FG area is ideally located for all the parks, with restaurants and supermarkets closeby - it is a very popular location.

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

www.villas2000.com
www.vr360homes.co.uk
www.holiday-rentals.com

 

[wils]

I see Johnny "Mr Villas" has as usual been able to help out so I just wanted to say welcome

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I see Johnny "Mr Villas" has as usual been able to help out so I just wanted to say welcome

Nice one Joh - "Mr Villas" !

Ali - sorry just to add, the age of the property can also have an effect on the information being up to date.

Any questions please ask.

 

[alibeau]

Wow, thanks for your replies.

Will check out those websites and report back!!!

Thanks again, what an informative site you have!

Cheers,

Ali.

 

[alibeau]

PS. My hubby's boss's place was at Lake Nona (v posh!), could you tell me roughly where it is on the 'dibb' map?! I've lost my bearings!

Thanks.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

PS. My hubby's boss's place was at Lake Nona (v posh!), could you tell me roughly where it is on the 'dibb' map?! I've lost my bearings!

Thanks.

Hi,

I think Lake Nona is quite close to the Airport so fairly southerly of most of the developments on the map, and not quite as well located as for example any of the villas in Kissimmee.

 

[JANNYANS]

Having found one or more homes you like the look of you can verify the ownership on the appropriate county website .This will tell you who owns the home .Renting direct from an owner is a leap of faith but don't discount it entirely as the majority of owners who do their own bookings take great pride in their homes and keep them up to date and are always up grading.They have more control over their homes and can tell you what you need to know about it - what it has in it and whether they can add something in particular.
The info you see on a listing site is added by owners so the site relies on the info provided by the owner and in the majority of listing sites you deal with the owner direct.By looking at their own website -if they have one you may save few $$ (always welcome for a Disney trip) as the owners may have to pay a referral fee to the site if they get a booking .
Just do you research carefully -make a list of what you want in a home and go from there.And remember -ask questions .

 

[alibeau]

Hi guys and thanks once again.
I think we have narrowed it down to two lovely looking villas on Formosa Gardens. Both are advertised thru the VR360 site (as well as other sites) and one has a private website too.
I have been in touch with the owners dierctly and they have both offered me good prices along with all the baby equipment we will need etc...
So how do I go about checking these people out?? I've tried to search Google for the county website but didn't come up with much - could someone point me in the right direction please???

Also before we get carried away and book it, what else do I need to bear in mind?? How can I check we have the right passports etc and any thoughts on who we should hire a car/van thru?? We are planning to fly with Virgin from Manchester......

Thanks so much,

Ali.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi,

I am not familiar with the county website, I am not sure why you would need to check this to be honest.
Are the owners based in the UK? I have rented off the vr360 website a few times and never had any problems.

Provided you book off a website such as this you will be fine, the site holds mail addresses plus phone numbers of all the owners.

As for car rental, are you booking a fly-drive? if you are you will get a car through Dollar and would not need to book one seperatley.

 

[natalielongstaff]

can't offer any advice but i wanted to say...

welcome

 

[castanea1985]

PS. My hubby's boss's place was at Lake Nona (v posh!), could you tell me roughly where it is on the 'dibb' map?! I've lost my bearings!

Thanks.

Hi, and welcome!
FYI, Lake Nona, is just east of MCO, just off Narcoossee Rd! (see google map)

http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&rls=en&q=lake+nona&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wl


Hope this helps!
Tracy
ps. Wow, fancy staying there... don't suppose you got to see Mr Leadbetter??
The nearest I got to him was at a British Open, some years ago!

 

[alibeau]

Hi Johnny and thanks again.

The only reason I mentioned the 'county website' was that Jan mentioned I could check out some information on there, unless I have the wrong end of the stick.

Anyhow, both the houses we are looking at are advertised on the VR360 site so I guess we just need to decide which one. Just looking at the virgin atlantic site and they dont' seem to offer fly drive?!? will have another look at that.

Thanks again,

Ali.

 

[alibeau]

Hi Tracy and thanks for that map, great help!
As for Mr Leadbetter, didn't see him I'm afraid but apparently Nick Faldo lived next door at the time........
I lady in a chauffeurs (sp?) uniform and a stretch limo in tow knocked on our door and asked if Mr Faldo was ready for his trip to the airport!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wasn't hubby a mutt leaving a job with those perks!!!!!!!!!

Never mind, we made the most of it while it lasted

Ali.

 

[disneyholic family]

Also we are hoping to visit 3rd-17th December, any clue on what the weather will be like? We visited at the same time many years ago and remember the mornings/evenings being a bit chilly but generally warm and sunny. Were we lucky or is this the norm??

you need to be prepared for colder weather as well...
over the years, we've visited WDW several times in early december...

most years it was warm the entire time....warm enough to swim every day...

but one year it was soooooooooooooo cold, i remember my kids had to be bundled in their snowsuits, mittens and hats to visit the parks...
from what i understand, that's unusual, but you have to be prepared....layering works well in situations like that....

 

[alibeau]

Thanks Beth.

Yep, one year when my Hubby visited when he was a nipper, the whole family had to go out a buy a winter wardrobe each as it was snowing!!!!!

Sounds like a good excuse for some retail therapy!!!

I guess we'll be packing fleeces and jeans for the evenings anyway, so hopefully they will be adequate?!?!?

Cheers,

Ali.

PS We're making some good progress now, got 2 villas in mind and now discovered virgin fly drive (thanks Johnny!) as opposed to just flying with them so looks like we've got the car covered - hurrah!

Thanks everyone

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi Johnny and thanks again.

The only reason I mentioned the 'county website' was that Jan mentioned I could check out some information on there, unless I have the wrong end of the stick.

Anyhow, both the houses we are looking at are advertised on the VR360 site so I guess we just need to decide which one. Just looking at the virgin atlantic site and they dont' seem to offer fly drive?!? will have another look at that.

Thanks again,

Ali.

No I think you understood Jan right - I guess we can only go off our own experiences and personally have found the likes of the vr360 site a trustworthy place to look at a rental.

It is a minority case but we fell foul of booking off an owner's own website on our first rental, unfortunatley the website was years out of date, the home was frankly a disgrace , hence I spend a lot of time driving around different villa developments to see what they are like.

The majority of home owners update their details regularly, they have to as there are so many villas out there now and hence plenty to choose from.

It would be Virgin Holidays website for fly-drives.