searching for a villa

[sovietsong]

hi all ,total newbie here ,weve booked our flights for next april (4 of us) and are looking at renting a villa ,i filled in a form with orlandovillas.com and have had dozens of lovely looking villas at terrific prices sent to me ,to try and narrow them down a bit ,is there a particular area thats best or some i should maybe avoid ? my main concern is probably safety then ease to get to the major attractions etc,on a related question does gated community mean its got a gate to get in or is there additional security on site ? thanks in advance d

 

[wayneg]

Sorry can't help with villas, we don't enjoy villa holidays, just wanted to say welcome to DISboards

 

[Beep]

hi all ,total newbie here ,weve booked our flights for next april (4 of us) and are looking at renting a villa ,i filled in a form with orlandovillas.com and have had dozens of lovely looking villas at terrific prices sent to me ,to try and narrow them down a bit ,is there a particular area thats best or some i should maybe avoid ? my main concern is probably safety then ease to get to the major attractions etc,on a related question does gated community mean its got a gate to get in or is there additional security on site ? thanks in advance d

Hi, welcome and congrats on booking!

We stay at Rolling Hills and love it there. It isn't gated but is very quiet and is less than 10 minutes from Disney gates, and a good shopping area called Formosa a mile away.

There are others villa and condo complexes around ther like Formosa Gardens and Windsor both of which are gated.

You also have the 192 just up the road which gives you loads of eateries too.

Hope that helps, have fun

 

[sovietsong]

Thanks for your quick replies , my eyes are square after reading most of the forum yesterday , I can see me taking weeks to decide where to stay because there all so lovely !!

 

[dixonsontour]

Welcome to the DIS

We also don't tend to stay in villas so i'm not the best person to help.

All reports of windsor hills i've seen on forums have been positive.

Before you book do check where it is on the map - alot say only minutes to disney but only some actually are.

Happy planning.

 

[juliebro]

We have always rented a house (or a condo) to stay in - for every trip.

We stay in hotels on other holidays, but prefer the freedom and space that a rental home gives us. For the past 4 years we have rented the same property too, so we know excatly what we are getting.

Having stayed at a few locations, we really like Emerald Island. It's beautifully maintained, secure and very close to WDW as well as all the restaurants on 192.

Although only 2 of us go now (DS is grown up) the townhouses on Emerald Island would be plenty big enough for us to 6 people.

 

[PJB71]

Hi

We always stay in villas as that's just what we prefer

We have probably stayed on most estates over the years, but we now like to stay in the villas on Highyway 27 which is classed as Davenport area, it's about 20mins to Disney but to us feels more residential than toristy

These villas are a lot newer than some of the villas in other areas and the villa we have stayed in for the last couple of years is in a gated community but is reasuring.

Don't hesitate to ask if there's anymore help I can give

 

[kieras nana]

we like windsor hills,it is a gated community & is close to disney.
you are really close to the 192,where you will find plenty of places to eat.
you will probably end up more confused than ever,because we all like different communities,for different reasons & will get a variety of recommendations.
it really is a difficult choice,for your first time,
tracy x

 

[london75]

Hi, welcome and congrats on booking!

We stay at Rolling Hills and love it there. It isn't gated but is very quiet and is less than 10 minutes from Disney gates, and a good shopping area called Formosa a mile away.

There are others villa and condo complexes around ther like Formosa Gardens and Windsor both of which are gated.

You also have the 192 just up the road which gives you loads of eateries too.

Hope that helps, have fun

I'll second Rolling Hills, very very good value considering it's next door to communities 3 times the price. We got a whole month in August for £1400 last year!

 

[Mummycat]

Hi we love Highlands reserve and are going back to the same villa for the 3rd time next year for a week then trying 2 weeks at OKW for the first time- best of both worlds. Highlands reserve is a bit further out then some (on the US27, about a 20 minute drive) but its really peaceful and well maintained. Not sure if I'm allowed to mention names but it's called Tiggerwood villa. Happy planning x

 

[Tony Toon]

I would second the poster who said it was important to look at the location of the estate as some are much closer than others who suggest they are only minutes away. We ourselves stay regularly at Indian Creek off Formosa Gardens where there are restaurants etc. to suit everyone. Although not gated we have never had any concerns regarding safety, and it takes 8-10 minutes to Animal Kingdom using Sherberth Road. There are a number of communities in this area and all worth considering.

 

[sovietsong]

Great thanks for all your suggestions , I've had a lot for southern dunes and emerald isle which seem very close to Disney , I need to take next week off to go through all these suggestions lol

 

[Tink78]

We looked into Villas and it took me ages to go through what I liked/didn't like etc. but in the end we decided that we don't want to hire a car, so we have compromised and have booked a 3 bedroom Condo at Vista Cay.
So we are still self catering, but still have the holiday feel with club house, large communal pool etc.
Close to lots of good bus routes, but also the option to hire a car is there if we change our minds.

Good luck with your search.

Make a list of definate things you want and don't even look at anything that doesn't meet your requirements otherwise you will get side tracked and forget what you were looking for! LOL!

 

[dixonsontour]

Great thanks for all your suggestions , I've had a lot for southern dunes and emerald isle which seem very close to Disney , I need to take next week off to go through all these suggestions lol

Southern dunes is quite far out down hwy 27 at haines city - it does tend to be cheaper for that reason. I know some love it but personally for me it would be too far out if i was doing parks everyday.

 

[aaronandterri]

I would second the suggestion for Famosa gardens area, including, famosa gardens, acadia estates, windsor hills, rolling hills, emerald isle.....all are gated communities and theres a few others and very close to disney and reasturants etc....

Southern dunes is a long way away and would be quite a drive in every day and tends to be a bit cheaper.....as a first timer i def go with one of the above.

 

[Bridgey]

We always stop at southern dunes, found it to be ideal for us. Not far away at all from the parks. Driving anywhere over there is easy.

 

[laluna]

We have stayed in:-

Westridge - just off Highway 27
Westhaven - very Near I4 junction of Champions Gate
Sunridge Woods - as above
Ashley Manor - as above
Venetian Bay Village - East of Disney in Kissimmee - just south of the Osceola Peark Way.

Of all of them, Westridge was probably the least accessible for the parks in being further away. Venetian Bay and Westhaven were the only two which were gated with a passcode entry.

We have booked to return to a villa in Sunridge Woods next year.

It is a minefield - there are so many to choose from. Some other factors that we use in drawing up a shortlist include:

- south/west aspect
- secluded unoverlooked pool area
- adequate pool furniture (sounds silly but we have stayed in some where there are only two pool loungers and no facility for eating outside.
- wifi
- we tend to book a 3 bedded villa - this reduces the cost
- pool heating option - may be something you think of at Easter?
- near to Publix/Walmart supermarket (not essential but high on my list!)

 

[Steve and Sarah]

We have stayed in so many villa's on so many sub divisions that we've lost count.

We prefer the US27 based villa's - however each to their own.

Just go with whatever takes your fancy. Sarah really enjoyed ploughing through them all.

We have found there is often very little difference between the reasonably priced ones and the crazy high priced ones' (apart for the owners mortgage that they are trying to get you to pay for them...).

Have fun sifting through them.

 

[sovietsong]

more or less settled on emerald isle seems quite close to disney and the reviews ive seen are positive ,thanks for all your help

 

[laura_<3]

We've stayed in Indian Ridge, which is just off the 192. We loved it and was around a 10 or 15 minute drive to WDW (depending on 192 traffic). Last year we were further away from the 192 in Royal Palms villas, which is just off the US 27. Again, we loved this villa and the community it was in. It wasn't as pleasing on the eye as Indian Ridge, but was quiet and seemed pretty secure. It was closer to the I4 than the 192. My dad was quite intimidated by the I4 at first so we stuck to what we knew and travelled up the US 27 to the 192 on our first day. After travelling from one end of the 192 to the other to get to WDW he couldn't stand it, too much stopping and starting at the traffic lights The I4 was much quicker!!