Hi have you stayed on site before?
I've done onsite many times, and idrive many many times as a child to teen and then a few days as an adult and have not liked it as much as onsite,
However trips are getting ridiculous and so I was thinking of a villa,
I wanted to know what made it the best trip for you, and had you stayed onsite as then I can ask you how it compared.
Also how far was it to the parks? I found the site for these villas, a little hard to use, so I've emailed them, but any info you have would be great on how far away etc they are.
I'm sure my 3 boys would love the space.
Thanks and sorry for all the questions.
Hi, Jon84 is correct on location. The longest we were in the car from leaving the driveway to parking was 20 minutes. We had a SatNav with us, but even without it, it's like 3 minutes to World Centre Drive, so signs are easy to follow from there. There's a
Walmart a minute or two down the road, tons of restaurants within minutes, not far from the Outlet malls (Orlando Premium Outlets) and really close to the Disney Property.
Total honestly we've not stayed on property before. We are in the middle of planning our next trip for 2018 and that will likely be our only on property trip. Much as I love the idea of the Disney bubble I just can't justify the cost when a big 3 bedroom house can cost half of a two bedded room. We have previously stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tuscany Villas just off I-Drive, a similar distance, so we do have Villa experience, just not on property.
The things that made this trip for us, while it wasn't on the property it was close. We could hop into the car and be there quickly. We could hop between parks easily and quicker with the car than by sticking to transportation (even if we stay on property we will continue to rent a car). I struggle with mobility, so while I don't use a wheelchair or
scooter in every day life I need one at Disney. At the end of a long Disney day where I'm completely trashed driving home and pulling up into our own driveway and walking a few steps into the house was worth its weight in gold. Once we were 'home' we were right there. No 20 minutes standing in queues for transportation, no 20 minute walk through the complex from either their parking area/bus drop-off/monorail drop (depending on resort). Staying at any hotel (property or not) still can mean a long trek to the room even after you arrive.
Space! Even though there were only two of us (we did have a local friend come and stay for a couple of nights, so that was also a bonus), having the space to spread out was wonderful. While we are looking forward to Disney bubble, we are not looking forward to keeping all of our stuff in one room again. If you have kids, the fact everyone could have their own room (OK, two,wild need to share unless one used the pull-out) could be a big hit.
Our trip was 14 nights, so that did contribute to the 'perfectness' of the trip, we also included two Universal days and a Sea World day. Being off property made it a few minutes closer to both of those.
They really are central to a lot. I actually found them originally on Holidaylettings.co.uk. The email through his personal website wasn't working properly so eventually I contacted him through holiday lettings. His responses once he got the contact were very quick. If you don't hear from him soon let me know and I'll get his contact info for you.
Reading the reviews of his property on the holiday lettings site (through trip adviser) sold me on the properties and him as an owner. He also has them listed on a couple of other letting sites, and each one had a little bit of different information so I was able to piece together where it was specifically and look at the surrounding amenities. I worried until we arrived about whether we might have made a mistake, but the second we arrived we knew we did the right thing.
The management company is easy to contact and were helpful when a small need arose.
So,our next trip will be our 'dream' on property trip, and after that we'll be back to off-site and if he's still renting we would rent with him again.
If you want more info or have other specific questions please feel free to PM and I will answer them as best as I can
Edit to add:
Here's some other links where he has the properties listed which might give you some more info
https://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/accommodation/p8052261 - seasons property
https://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/accommodation/p8038426 -Harvest property
It looks like he's not longer advertising with Holiday Lettings/Trip Advisor, which means all,of those reviews are gone too
. I'll have to re-post my review with the other advertising site.
