Planning advice sought

[eaustin]

I am planning a family trip to Forida next year for 11 persons. We want to stay in a (luxury) villa with swimming pool (essential) and plenty of space. We want share our time between visiting some of the theme parks but also having some 'chill-out' time.
None of us have ever been to Florida before so we have next to no knowledge. I have just been reading some of these threads and have been totally over-whelmed with the amount of information that is around. There seem to be countless areas to stay. I would therefore welcome some advice on how to locate a place to stay that will meet our requirements and especially the pros and cons between these areas (e.g. Formosa gardens) in terms of facilities and location.
Here's hoping someone can sign post me!
Thanks in advance
[Apologies if this is not the board to ask this question - if not, please re-direct me]

 

[penlanspice]

I'm currently looking for a villa for next years holiday and there's going to be 9 of us, it's a little harder when your looking for a villa for so many people, trying to find something that fits everyone's category rather than just when 4 of us travel.

There are tons of villa sites around and can be a little overwhelming, i'm sure someone will be along with the usually sites.
I'm not to bothered on location but if your wanting to be extremely close to the action then Formosa gardens and surrounding areas are a good fit. Don't rule out areas further away most places are a short car journey away and from experience usually better value for money as your not paying for prime location.

Some community's have club house that have a bar, restaurant etc. So if you like a drink then a short stroll home then that might suit you.

Another thing I do before I start looking is make a short list of the things I'm looking for in a villa, this can make the elimination process much quicker.
My list consists of 5 or 6 bedrooms, large pool with spacious sun area, Jacuzzi is a plus, 2 living areas is pretty much an essential for us with so many people and at least 2 nice master suites. No green carpets or floral settees (pet hates. LOL).. OK my list is pretty big but it makes my short list easier.

A few places I use -

http://www.villas2000.com
http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/florida/central-disney-orlando/kissimmee

 

[eaustin]

Thanks penlanspice. I agree two living spaces would be ideal but with a dining area big enough to seat everybody if needed. The first few villas I've looked at seem to have dining tables for 6 (with 7 bedrooms!).
I only used Formosa Gardens as an example. I would be more than happy with the place being a (short) drive away from the main parks especially as much of the holiday we want to be able to find time to relax as well. I would be very interested in knowing how to find out more information about these different communities and what they each have to offer. I had no idea how vast it all is!

 

[Cinderella]

Hi - I am also looking for an offsite villa - it will be our first time staying in a villa offsite, but we've been to Florida a lot of times.

I found this map on the DIS boards - it contains many of the popular villa locations: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...d=110562778588256174172.000453baef0290954cc04

If you click on an area, you can type in the name of one of the theme park and it will give you your travelling time.

Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms etc seem popular but we are leaning towards Terra Verde, or Lake Berkley as they seem to be nearer to more restaurants and Universal and Sea World. Also it seem like there's some huge houses on both those resorts, so they may suit your party size.

 

[tezza_init]

Just returned (today !) from Terra Verde, second year running we've stayed there. No problem getting to the parks (approx 20 minutes to Disney/Universal). TV is a very nice gated resort with clubhouse and some big villas (we had a party of 9 last year, just 4 this Easter).

We've also stayed ad Windward Cay (nice but not gated) and Indian Wells (more residential rather than tourist but closer to the parks).

Theres loads of excellent others to choose from and I'm folk here can comment on individual locations..

Terra Verde Easter 2009 ...

Cheers

 

[MorningGlory]

Hi eaustin, welcome to the Dis!

I was in your shoes 2 years ago, having never been to the place and having no idea of the scale. Basically, tho a car is an absolute must. You can get away without one if you are onsite, you can do it in an offsite hotel as well but with a bit more hassle. From a villa tho, it's an absolute necessity.

The theme park area of Orlando is all situated to the southwest of the city of Orlando itself (I spent yonks looking around Orlando's suburbs on Google Earth for the Magic Kingdom ). The 4 Disney parks and the 2 Universal parks are situated a fair bit away from each other, probably around 8 miles from Downtown Disney to Universal. Within the Disney property, the parks are pretty spread out as well. Basically, the Disney property itself is the size of a small city and as well as the 4 parks, you have many resorts, hotels, waterparks, etc as well as an excellent road system. The 2 Universal parks are right beside each other, separated by Universals version of Downtown Disney, which is called Citywalk. Slightly further away (but between Disney and the main Universal parks) is Universals sister 'animal' park, Seaworld.

Disney and Universal are loosely connected by a main drag called International Drive (runs North to South), which is basically a road several miles long and is home to everything from hotels, to restaurants,, to shopping malls, to small funfairs, to a quirky upside-down house even! Outside of the parks, there is a ton of stuff to do. As well as International Drive, another main area is Kissimmee, which I believe is home to several Villa sites. This lies to the south end of International Drive. I think most of the Villa communities lie mainly to the South and West of Kissimmee.

Hope that helps you get a little idea of the geography of the place. For me, that always helps to straighten out my thoughts. Any questions you have, don't be slow to ask. There are a ton of people on here who just love to help, especially those going out for the first time.

Most of all, I hope you have a fantastic trip when the time comes