Renting a pool home

[kthshh]

Lots of good info. Subscribing so that I can look back when I'm ready to plan for next summer.

 

[mill4023]

can i ask what your spreadsheet had in it to compare? we just started looking and its very overwhelming and i dont even know what to look for.
Thank you heather

We spent 2 weeks in Indian Creek in June.

I know it's been awhile since this post, but here is the sheet I put together when I was researching. The prices listed are based on quotes I got from the owners(or listed prices if I didn't get a quote) for a 2 week stay this past June.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spr...JA7LNdFFNRDZCcjdONVlTWXVmVjRkWElodFE&hl=en_US

We ended up staying at a 5 bedroom in Indian Creek.
We had a great time and the kids absolutely loved having a pool in the backyard. For a two week trip, it was great to have a house because we did a lot of non-park days, where we slept in, swam, relaxed, and did whatever we felt like doing.

We tried the Sherbeth road shortcut, but depending on which park we went to, it seemed like taking 192 to World Drive was just as fast. It took us no more than 10 minutes to get to WDW property.

All the neighborhoods near Indian Creek are very conveniently located, with lots of restaurants and a nice (but very overpriced) Winn Dixie about 3 minutes away at the corner of Formosa Gardens Blvd and 192. For grocery shopping, it's probably worth driving the 10 minutes to the Super Target on 192. A 24 pack of Dasani was $8 at Winn Dixie and $5 at Target. In fact, everything at Winn Dixie seemed to be at least 30% more expensive than at the Target.

The only negative about Indian Creek is that it feels like a regular average residential neighborhood and there is a lot of variation in the houses. Some are very nice and well maintained. Others are not.

I drove by Emerald Island and Windsor Hills and they definitely have a more upscale, resort type feel to them. Not a big deal, but something to think about if that's important to you.

On the on-site vs off-site debate, there are pros and cons to both. DW and the kids definitely preferred having a house instead of a hotel room. I missed the on-site atmosphere a little and I wasn't crazy about driving past all the tacky touristy stuff each day going to and from the parks. Again, not a big deal. Just something that took away from the resort/vacation feeling a little bit.

 

[4forMe]

Here is a link to my favorite map of the different communities near Disney. Click on the magnifying glass on the bottom left to enlarge - you can get an idea of the proximity of each community to WDW.

The Formosa Garden communities (Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Emerald Island, Sunset Lakes, Indian Creek, Rolling Hills, etc.) will be west of I-4.

Davenport communities/Champions Gate area (Sandy Ridge, Aviana, Solana, etc.) will be south of the Formosa Gardens area.

Some people prefer the communities East of I-4 (Hamilton's Reserve, Terra Verde, Cumbrian Lakes) if they are doing a split stay between Disney and Universal.

Here is the link:

http://www.thedibb.co.uk/villa-map.php

 

[Paula25]

We found a 5bd/4ba home in Indian Creek for about $135 a night in January, including tax and pool heat. The home has good reviews and the owner has been extremely responsive so far.

The owners and reviewers both comment that you can see the Epcot fireworks from the pool area. It backs up to the side of another house and it's on a corner, so it appears that we'll have just one other pool really visible.

Mill4023, your spreadsheet is great. I had a few more columns on mine like number of seats in the living area, number of seats in the dining area, and a place we could use as an office. There's 8 of us going and I wanted us to be able to sit down together to relax and also for meals.

I found that some owners and even management companies don't have all the information you might want on their site. Some of the things I asked about and then discovered were actually offered at the homes were TVs in the bedrooms, cable TV (at least one said they do NOT have cable), and wifi. So if you like a home but it doesn't have one particular thing you want, it may be worth it to ask.

I tried to think of the way we'd actually use the house to help me make my choice. We'll see how close I've come in January!

Nana & Pop's Magical Villa

 

[lionking13]

We were hoping that someone could give us some suggestions on a 4 bedroom pool home that is very disney themed throughout the house. I would love to hear some of peoples suggestions for disney themed 4 bedroom pool homes! We would appreciate it

 

[bcinohio]

We rented a 4 bed/3 bath house with a pool and gameroom in Sunset Lakes last summer and it was great. It wasn't Disney themed. One room had disney comforters. It was a very nice house that didn't have a lot of stuff on the tables to get knocked off and broken. A lot of space and very close to the parks. We had never rented a house before and it was great. We are looking to rent it again next summer. The owner, Cathy, was very easy to work with and returned my e-mails quickly.

I found it on vrbo.com #256608.

 

[mjmartin01]

We just booked a 4 bedroom home in Indian Creek for next June. I found it on Homeaway.com #144765. The owner quoted me a price of $722 for the week!

Good luck finding a home.

 

[andylcq]

The location is perfect,Thanks for all the info.

 

[Cepbush106]

just a quick question,

for those homes that have pools, how are the doors to the pools secured? I think I would be freaking out all week long with little ones and an unfenced pool right out the back door.

 

[torinsmom]

just a quick question,

for those homes that have pools, how are the doors to the pools secured? I think I would be freaking out all week long with little ones and an unfenced pool right out the back door.

Don't know about other places, but our pool had a "fence" with a gate between the pool and the patio door, along with an alarm.

 

[dtum]

just a quick question,

for those homes that have pools, how are the doors to the pools secured? I think I would be freaking out all week long with little ones and an unfenced pool right out the back door.

The house we had had a fence around the whole pool with locks on it. I think, from the pictures I've seen, most of the pool homes have the same type of thing.

 

[bcinohio]

The one we rented had sliding glass doors from the dinning room, a set in the living room and one set in the master bedroom. I don't think there were any alarms. We didn't have small kids just teens.

 

[JANNYANS]

just a quick question,

for those homes that have pools, how are the doors to the pools secured? I think I would be freaking out all week long with little ones and an unfenced pool right out the back door.

Any home being rented out as a str must have either pool alarms on all the pool exits or a fence around the pool -it depends on the age of the house and the owners .
Fences really aren't as effective if there are not the alarms on the doors as this is the first warning parents get that someone has opened the door and gone outside .The alarms should also be hard wired in so there are no battereis to remove and make the alarm totally useless.

 

[torinsmom]

Now that I think about it, there was more protection. The door to the patio was a french door. It had the regular lock and deadbolt and then a lock at the very top of the door, which I could barely reach on tip-toe. With the house alarm on, there were also beeps every time a door or window was open. I think it was pretty safe,as long as the parents weren't passed out for hours at a time.

 

[Finnishwife]

Subscribing

 

[Cepbush106]

thanks guys! We're headed down tomorrow to Bonnet Creek but I'm hoping we can come back every couple years and a house rental would be a very good option I think! I would definitely be very picky about the security around the pool though

 

[eeyorepixie]

I am bumping this thread, because this is info I am looking for

I want a 4 bedroom, disney themed and a game room!

Has anyone rented one like this?

 

[loveysbydesign]

I am bumping this thread, because this is info I am looking for

I want a 4 bedroom, disney themed and a game room!

Has anyone rented one like this?

We love to stay in Happiness house. it had 2 themed disney bedrooms and a great gameroom...the owner also has a few other homes he rents out as well. http://www.houseforrentflorida.net/en/houses.php

 

[BiGGy]

Hi All

Wonder if anyone can help??

2 of us are heading out Feb 12 and I've been looking for a small house which seems to go against everything most people look for

• Small - only 2 of us
• dont have to be close to disney - got a car and love driving
• own pool or pool/spa
• gated community
• quite private

grateful for any help/advice

Rgds

Chas

 

[bizziemom]

We just got back from a house in Sunset Lakes. It was incredibly close to Animal Kingdom (we went to Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast at Boma one morning) using the Sherbeth Road shortcut.

The owner was excellent to deal with and kept in communication. We paid $100 per night total during Christmas week (didn't get pool heat because I knew we wouldn't use it). He advised me that he could make a better deal during times that weren't considered high time.

The house had 5BR/4BA and was backed up to a lake. It had a private screended pool, a pool table, air hockey, and foosball. It also came with strollers, etc. if anybody needed them.

The house had two master suites and 3 other bedrooms (with either two twins or a twin and a bunkbed - some were Disney themed).

WOW! That's an awesome deal! I'm currently looking into vacation homes to rent for our trip next December, and I will definitely look into this one.
We already have res. for a week @ POR, but... if for whatever reason Disney does not offer free dining during our stay (Dec. 8-15), a vacation home would be a much better deal.
Thanks for sharing.