Overwhelmed and in need of advice

[Anya22]

I was also going to suggest putting in a request on windsorhillsrent.com. We loved staying the 3-BR townhouse with splash pool. In addition to the advice from this poster below, I'd suggest putting in the "comments" section of your enquiry that you are flexible with your May dates. That way, you may get some really good responses from a lot of owners who have a hole in their calendar that they want to fill and you will likely get a deal.

I know you feel overwhelmed with the planning, but the positive part is that you have the opportunity to score a really great deal!

Ok here's where I suggest starting...
email vacation strategies and vacation upgrades to see if they have any 3 bedroom condos left at WBC.

In the meantime, go to http://www.windsorhillsrent.com/ and on the left hand side you can pick what size condo or townhouse you want. I would suggest at least a 3 bedroom condo or townhouse (The main difference is the townhouses have a "splash" pool attached to them. It's only a 12x12 sized pool, but I have found the townhouses and condos are very close in pricing). There are also 4, 5 and 6 bedroom homes on the property as well. Below that area is places to put in your information...dates of travel, your info, etc. What this does is sends an email out to every Windsor Hills owner and you should get plenty of responses of availability. From there you can just weed through the different quotes and see if anything strikes your fancy. We stayed at Windsor Hills on our May vacation in 2011 and loved it. I found the owner of the Townhouse through the site above and it was a seamless transaction.

In addition to that site, if you go to www.vrbo.com and www.homeaway.com (they are virtually similar sites) you can check out other rental properties, read reviews and email the owners for quotes. Like others have mentioned, I too would check out Crestwynd Bay (it's right near windsor hills but generally cheaper pricing because it's not as well known yet), Windsor Palms, and also Emerald Island. There are other places as well that I am not familiar with that may be just as awesome!

I know it seems like A LOT but like I said just weed through all the quotes, check out reviews (there is also tons of reviews on this forum!) and keep asking questions if necessary!

GL!!!!

 

[Anya22]

Some other tips: Undercovertourist.com for tickets (usually get a bit of a discount and they are an authorized seller). Also, if you are renting a mini-van, check out the Transportation board on here and there should be a thread of posts talking about May trips which will include LOTS of discount codes for the various rental car companies that you can try. Book directly through the rental car company as soon as you know your dates and the reservation can be canceled easily without penalty (they don't even take your credit card info). Then, about a week before your trip, you can likely re-book at a much cheaper rate. We rented a minivan for a week last year through National (which gives you a free second driver if you join the free Emerald Club) for $200. Check out Mousesavers.com for great tips (and some coupon codes) on the various car rental options in Orlando. Good luck!

 

[LeahA]

Hello everyone. We are attempting to plan a last minute surprise trip for our children to Disney World in May. There will be 2 adults and 5 children. With the cost of staying on site for 7, we have decided to look off site. I would GREATLY appreciate any suggestions for accomodations, airfare, packages, dining, anything really.... As you can see, I need a lot of help, lol!
The ages of our children are 4,7,10,12, & 15. We are flexible with the time that we go in May. We rarely get away so we really want this to be special for our family.
Thank you in advance for your help!

We stayed at Windsor Hills and it was great! Look at this website www.windsorhillsbest.com
This website allows you to work with individual owners over a mangement company
We stayed at a 3 bedroom condo and it was great, clean, and decorated nice with tons of amenities
Good Luck to you and Have Fun!

 

[robinb]

We stayed at this 4-bedroom house over Christmas: http://www.vrbo.com/375088 . It was very nice and would work well for your family as it has 1 king bedroom, 1 queen bedroom and 2 bedrooms with 2 twin beds. It is located very close to Windsor Hills and less than 10 minutes to WDW. There appears to be availability in May and they may be willing to bargain with you on the price to fill a week. Speaking of which, don't let online asking prices scare you when you you are researching places. When I was looking in mid-November for a place for Christmas Week 2012 I contacted many places that had asking prices that were way out of my budget and many of them offered lower rates. You are 3-6 weeks out yourself and owners will be willing to take less to fill a week rather than to let it stay empty.

 

[daytondisney]

Hello everyone. We are attempting to plan a last minute surprise trip for our children to Disney World in May. There will be 2 adults and 5 children. With the cost of staying on site for 7, we have decided to look off site. I would GREATLY appreciate any suggestions for accomodations, airfare, packages, dining, anything really.... As you can see, I need a lot of help, lol!
The ages of our children are 4,7,10,12, & 15. We are flexible with the time that we go in May. We rarely get away so we really want this to be special for our family.
Thank you in advance for your help!

Windsor Hills is as close to perfect as you'll get. IMO, a 3BR Townhome will be too small, as most are configured King, Queen, 2 Twin...that leaves one kid short a bed.

Our family fits in a townhome, but we're opting for 4BR house. Most are configured with King, King/Queen, 2 Twin, 2 Twin. Some even have bunks. You also get bigger patio pool/spa, and game room (billiard, foosball, air hockey and such - varies by unit).

The pricing for 4BR house for my trip (Oct) is only about $200 more than townhome.

1. VRBO for "Windsor Hills" allows you to sort by date range and BRs.
2. www.windsorhillsrent.com allows you to search by BRs. Note: general queries will result in quotes trickling in over days/weeks. Each listing has the owner's website and availabilty calendar, so if it's available, go directly through their website.
3. homeaway lets you enter search parameters.

Because each unit is privately owned, they are spread across a lot of websites for rental. An hour on Google and a notepad and I had it narrowed down to a handful that I wanted. With open dates, you'll do fine.

 

[FreeThinker]

We are staying in a 3BR for $1000 for 6 nights at Bonnet Creek the last week in May. We also have 7 of us, but ourk ids are younger (oldest is 10). We are driving 17 hours, but we prefer having our own vehicle and plenty of room to pack everything we want/need. Food is a HUGE cost, so if you stay somewhere you can go back and forth, you can really save some $$. My current plan is crockpot the first day, so we come home to a nice dinner already made, then left overs a few times that week for either lunch or dinner. I can also do a roast or grill out there (free grill and all the utensils according to the woman I talked to). You could stay in a smaller room, but we preferred having 2 rooms, one for girls, one for boys, and then one for us, so we paid $300 more ( so $50/night) to get a 3BR.

 

[johnson7]

Just wanted to say thank you to each of you for your responses. We are staying at Bonnet Creek and we were able to get 10 nights for $700! We were also able to get a good deal on Southwest. All of your input was a HUGE HELP!!!!

We are now looking at a rental car. Any tricks to saving money there? We will need a minivan. I read on the Bonnet Creek website that they now charge $5.00 per person for the shuttle so it is cheaper for us to have a rental car.

Also, are there any fun themed restaurants not at Disney that we could check out?

Again, THANK YOU! We are SOOOOOOO excited!!!!!!!!!

 

[kokomos]

Glad you were able to find a deal at Bonnet Creek.we will be there May 4-11. Check the transportation section. They will be a lot of help with discount codes.

 

[loveysbydesign]

Just wanted to say thank you to each of you for your responses. We are staying at Bonnet Creek and we were able to get 10 nights for $700! We were also able to get a good deal on Southwest. All of your input was a HUGE HELP!!!!

We are now looking at a rental car. Any tricks to saving money there? We will need a minivan. I read on the Bonnet Creek website that they now charge $5.00 per person for the shuttle so it is cheaper for us to have a rental car.

Also, are there any fun themed restaurants not at Disney that we could check out?

Again, THANK YOU! We are SOOOOOOO excited!!!!!!!!!

 

[4forMe]

Just wanted to say thank you to each of you for your responses. We are staying at Bonnet Creek and we were able to get 10 nights for $700! We were also able to get a good deal on Southwest. All of your input was a HUGE HELP!!!!

We are now looking at a rental car. Any tricks to saving money there? We will need a minivan. I read on the Bonnet Creek website that they now charge $5.00 per person for the shuttle so it is cheaper for us to have a rental car.

Also, are there any fun themed restaurants not at Disney that we could check out?

Again, THANK YOU! We are SOOOOOOO excited!!!!!!!!!

The transportation sub-forum here is the place to look for good deals on rental cars. Here are current deals that I found:

Dollar rental car - code 5CO5E gets you a rate of $249.99 per week for a minivan. Additional 10% off if you use American Express card to reserve.

National - KLM code 8572130 with coupon code ND9334SND. These codes are bringing in rates of $300-350 per week for a minivan (our priced out at $302 for our June trip). To use the KLM code, you must register on the KLM website with their frequent flyer program (free program).

Budget code BCD D454300 with coupon code MUWZ020 (last code gives additional $30 off final rate) also appears to give good rates (under $350) for a minivan rental.

I would price each of the above. When you find the best deal, register with the site's loyalty program PRIOR to making the reservation (the loyalty programs are free):

Dollar's program is Dollar Express
Budget is called Fastbreak
National's is called Emerald

Put your loyalty number in when making your reservation. When you get to the terminal, you bypass the counter for all of the above loyalty programs and go straight to the garage. We prefer National as you go straight to the aisle and pick up whichever minivan you like that is in the minivan lane. Being able to bypass the counter inside the airport saves so much time!!!

Hope this helps!

 

[johnson7]

Wow, thank you for so much information! I am looking into it right now. I appreciate your time! : )

 

[Hasil72]

There's a thread in here about off site restaurants. I can't link in from my phone, sorry. Also, the Hess station near Boardwalk was .10/gal cheaper than all the gas stations on 192 when you need to refill. Don't forget about Super Target for groceries, beer/wine and souvenirs!

Have a great trip!