Recommendations for a close vacation home/condo

[dani blaski]

Hey there DISers!

My DH, DS (2.5 yo at vacation time) and I will do a 6 day, 5 night vacation next April. Of course, this is dependent on my year end bonus we receive in March!

I want to stay in a condo/villa because we want a kitchen, extra bathroom, and washer & dryer. We do plan to do some cooking while on vacation. I really want the W&D so I can pack less and throw laundry in when we go to sleep and finish when we wake up or swim.

We will have a rental car but we don't want to be really far from the parks. No more than a 15 minute drive.

IYHO, what are your recommendations? Would I be able to get a decent rate if I rented from a DVC owner? I have no idea how that even works...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Freaky]

We like Coral Cay Resort which is about a 10 min drive to Disney's main gate. It is quite a small resort with just townhomes but they have a private hot-tub out back which is great when the kids go to bed

For websites try homeaway.com under Kissimmee or another we came across recently which specialises in condos & towhomes - thebigcondolist.com

You will have a lot to choose from so I would recommend you make a list of your 'must haves' and 'would be nice' items and go from there

 

[Canadamom]

Anywhere in the Formosa Gardens area seems nice and close. Some of the subdivisions are Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Acadia Estates, Indian Creek, Oak Island Cove, Formosa Gardens Estates, Rolling Hills...to name a few if I remember correctly. Some are gated with amenities, some are gated, and others are not. Within minutes of Disney property using the Sherbeth Road entrance. Many homes can be rented directly from the owner through websites like vrbo.com, etc. Have fun planning!

 

[KayR]

Some of the communities in the Formosa Area have their own community websites run by owners for the community's benefit.

Windsor Palms: www.windsor-palms-florida.net
Windsor Hills: www.windsorhillsrent.com
Emerald Island: www.StayAtEmeraldIsland.com

Hope that helps,

--Kay

 

[dani blaski]

thanks for everyone's posts!

 

[Freyja]

We stayed in Indian Creek last year and loved it. In fact we´re staying in the same villa again this year. It took us 7-8 min. to drive to the maingate.

 

[Frothy]

You can stay on either the west side of Disney or the east side and still be within 15 minutes drive of WDW.

We have stayed at Sunset Lakes on the west side and we now stay on Cumbrian Lakes on the east side. Sunset is marginally quicker to WDW but Cumbrian is faster to Universal, Sea World, Sand Lake Rd (restaurants) and Florida Mall. We've heard good things about the Loop and Pointe Orlando... and being in the east will be quicker to those as well.

 

[spiceycat]

We will have a rental car but we don't want to be really far from the parks. No more than a 15 minute drive.

15 minutes from where - one of the main gates - or an actual park. the parks are very, very spread out.

it is longer from AK to MK than 15 minutes.

so which park - Epcot, Studios and AK can do. MK no way.

would go with Cypress Pointe, Sheraton Vistana Resort - on the DTD side

silver lakes on the AK side.

a little futher out - Vacationa Villa at Parkway

those are all timeshares - but don't worry you don't need to listen.

this is not
http://www.lbvorlandoresort.com/

yes you can rent from a DVC member for a good price - but that is comparing DVC to DVC - not offsite.

offsite is still cheaper. although it doesn't have the wdw transportation system. - but if you have a car you don't need it.