Rental home - choosing a neighborhood?

[HunnyPots]

We are considering renting a vacation home for the first time next June. I have been looking on VRBO and like what I see for the most part, but there are soooo many areas to choose from!

There are four of us; two 40somethings, a 20 year old and a 17 year old. Three bedrooms are plenty. We like the idea of a private pool so it needs to be a house rather than a condo. Ideally, we'd like a short easy drive to the parks, a nice area, and a great deal on price! That's not too much to ask, is it?

So which areas should I consider? Also, is there a map somewhere that shows all the neighborhoods in relation to WDW? It seems like I've seen one before but I can't find it now.

Thanks for the help!

 

[sympatico]

The subdivisions in the Formosa Gardens / Windsor Hills area are the closest to the parks. Windsor Hills would be the newest of these. There's 2 and 3 bedroom condos, 3 bedroom 3 bathroom townhouses with private splash pools, and 4 - 6 bedroom pool homes. It is a resort and has a huge clubhouse pool, fittness room, mini theatre, pingpong and pool tables, tennis courts, putting green, sundry store etc. Everything is free to use for those that stay there. All of the units are privately owned so amenities and decoration depends on the owner. We've stayed there twice and headed down in Nov for another stay in a 6 br home.
Other subdivisions similar to this in that area are Windsor Palms and Emerald Island. Other subdivisions in the area which don't have the community clubhouse/pool are Formosa Gardens Estates, Rolling Hills, Indian Creek, Sunset Lakes, Oak Island etc. There's also a new resort with just townhouses/condos at Encantada which is a little further west of Formosa Gardens Blvd.
Windsor Hills and Formosa Gardens areas are about 5 min from AK in Disney and a little more to the rest of the Disney parks.
Couple of maps to show you where things are:
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/villa/map.htm

http://www.orlando-maps.info/top_down_maps/kissimmee_top_down.htm
On the second one you can click the hands to give you a more detailed map of that particular area. This is the detailed map for Formosa Gardens area:
http://www.orlando-maps.info/top_down_maps/formosa_gdns_sub_div.htm

Good luck and have fun looking! If you have any other questions I may be able to help or someone else will.

 

[HunnyPots]

Thanks for the quick reply and for the maps; those will be a big help!

 

[deejay-55]

Agree with Sympatico, the closest area to Disney is the Formosa Gardens area. If you want resort facilities check out Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms & Emerald Island.

 

[Lisa BC]

We are renting in Formosa Gardens Estates this November. I did quite a bit of research before selecting a home. Here's what I learned:
Houses that are a little further out are often quite a bit more affordable. So if you don't mind an extra 10-15 minute drive you'll get more space for the money.

If you'd like a home rather than a townhome but would like to stay in the $650 -$850 per week range, you may want to check on the following areas: Solana, Terre Verde, Acadia, Southern Dunes etc.

We ended up staying in Formosa Gardens, primarily because the house really suited our families' needs. We needed a house with at least 3 king beds (preferably 4 king beds) and additionally at least one full or queen bed. We like the fact that we're just a few minutes from WDW. But if I could have saved $700-$1000 by staying another 10-15 minutes out, I would have done it. That would have purchased MVMCP tickets and and Cirque Tickets for the whole crew plus a few really nice dinners.

It is hard to choose. I would stick to my guns about what I want in a house in terms of bed configurations & amenities, and budet. Then just keep searching until you find what you want. For us it was a hot tub, bed configurations, nice sized private pool, along with air hockey & pool table. We really didn't care if there was a resort pool or community center.

Lisa

 

[HunnyPots]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Really, all we want is a clean, comfortable house with at least 3 bedrooms, ac, private pool. No resort amenities are needed. No tennis courts, community pool, spa, whatever.

I guess what concerns me more than the drive time is the ease of the drive. My husband will nevre admit this but he gets lost very easily after dark! I just don't want to be driving around lost when we're all tired from a long day at the parks!

I've seen a couple of homes that look and sound good in the Indian Ridge Oaks addition. Any opinions on this area? What kind of a drive is that from WDW?

 

[irishgal]

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[sympatico]

Indian Ridge Oaks is just a little further out than WH off Old Lake Wilson Rd. It's very easy to get around in this part of Kissimme. You basically have 192 as the main road with lots of restaurants, hotels, shops etc. You can take Sherberth Rd to Disney or just go east a ways on 192 and the exits for Disney are very plain to see.
Here's some threads about IROaks that were posted in the winter.
http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?s=&search=Indian+Ridge+Oaks

 

[Ted and Holly]

I would pick 545/Old Lake Wilson over the US27 area any day. It is far easier to get to Disney from 545. Either way, you'll want to use the Sherberth Road "entrance".

 

[penlanspice]

We have stayed at quite a few places on the US 27 and loved everywhere, the drive is quite easy and theres a few short cuts if you don't want to drive all the way down the 192 to Disney. These villas are usually cheaper than villas at say formosa gardens, we usually rent a 4 bed for around $650 and im quite picky.
For our stay in January we are staying just off Old lake wilson just because the villa looks good and they gave us a great price. It even has a hot tub!!