Suggestions pls - offsite with shuttle

[MG3G]

I am looking for suggestions... I think we are going to stay off site. I need an extended stay or villa that sleeps 8 in beds, not on couches, for 21 nights. We aren't renting a car either at all, or for most of it, so I'd like it to include a shuttle service to resort. Any suggestions?

 

[Upatnoon]

What kind of budget do you have? Do you want a free shuttle or are you willing to pay?

Floridays Resort has 3 bedrooms and a shuttle included in the resort fee, but I think they charge around $250 a night.

Usually I would recommend you rent a house, but "no car" will mean racking up a lot of shuttle and transportation costs because I don't know of any subdivision with free shuttles.

 

[robinb]

I don't think I would not look for a place with a shuttle. They are expensive and not nearly as nice as a condo/house. I would look at a condo or house that will give you a 3 week deal and use the savings on getting around on uber and a car.

 

[Klayfish]

21 days at Disney and/or Universal without a car, offsite? I think you're making a massive mistake. You really, really want and need a car.

For that length of stay and that size group, you will want to rent a 3 or 4 bedroom condo/townhouse/home. Check VRBO or AirBnb, tons of really great choices for very little money.

 

[danielocha30]

none of the off site shuttles are convenient, most of them require you to sing up the day before, they are small buses and many times are shared between hotels they have lousy hours, they have one drop off and pick up hour, their pick ups are usually early, I've seen people waiting for a suttle to drop them off at the park at noon! , they tend to run late, check your numbers and get a rental

 

[Ambehnke]

Rent a house and then get a car with your savings. You will get to spend more time in the park not to mention being able to run for groceries, toiletries, etc.

 

[writerguyfl]

Another option would be two rooms at the DoubleTree Suites Lake Buena Vista.

http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/ho...rlando-disney-springs-area-MCOFHDT/index.html

All rooms are 540 square-foot suites. You can get two queens beds in each (plus the sleeper sofa in the separate living room). Although you can't guarantee connecting rooms, it's a compact hotel. Even if the rooms are at opposite ends of the floor, it's only a 3-4 minute walk, at most.

As part of the Disney Springs Hotels, the DoubleTree Suites has park transportation every 30 minutes and to Disney Springs in the evening. It is within walking distance to both Disney Springs and the Crossroads Shopping area that has a grocery store and lots of reasonably priced restaurants (including fast food).

More information about the Disney Springs Hotels: http://www.disneyspringshotels.com/

 

[robinb]

@MG3G, you mentioned that you might drive in an earlier post. What happened to that? It seems to me that you have unique considerations between the size of your family and the need for you to use a scooter to get around. I know it's a long way from BC (!) but it might be more comfortable for you to have your own car in Florida. Another thing that occured to me, I wonder even if you found a place that has a shuttle it may not be able to take your scooter.

If you book a condo/house, I like the area just south of Animal Kingdom. There are lots of restaurants in the area plus a Target and a Publix grocery store nearby. I would suggest that you look at VRBO for a house/condo or windsorhills.com and search for a minimum of 4 bedrooms and 10 people (to avoid couch surfing). I put in dummy dates (2/1/18-2/22/18) and found a 4-bedroom townhouse for 21 days out in Four Corners for $1102 all in at the Regal Palms Resort/Spa (about a 20 min drive to WDW). You can pay a bit more and get a house with a private pool in the backyard. Since you're looking to stay for 3 weeks I would pick a few places you like (even those that are too expensive) and negotiate with the owners. Many owners will take less to guarantee that they have their house rented to 3 weeks straight. Good luck!

 

[MG3G]

@MG3G, you mentioned that you might drive in an earlier post. What happened to that? It seems to me that you have unique considerations between the size of your family and the need for you to use a scooter to get around. I know it's a long way from BC (!) but it might be more comfortable for you to have your own car in Florida. Another thing that occured to me, I wonder even if you found a place that has a shuttle it may not be able to take your scooter.

If you book a condo/house, I like the area just south of Animal Kingdom. There are lots of restaurants in the area plus a Target and a Publix grocery store nearby. I would suggest that you look at VRBO for a house/condo or windsorhills.com and search for a minimum of 4 bedrooms and 10 people (to avoid couch surfing). I put in dummy dates (2/1/18-2/22/18) and found a 4-bedroom townhouse for 21 days out in Four Corners for $1102 all in at the Regal Palms Resort/Spa (about a 20 min drive to WDW). You can pay a bit more and get a house with a private pool in the backyard. Since you're looking to stay for 3 weeks I would pick a few places you like (even those that are too expensive) and negotiate with the owners. Many owners will take less to guarantee that they have their house rented to 3 weeks straight. Good luck!

Thank you! Our trip is evolving as we go... I think no car is scrapped - we realized we NEED one - lol. We are most likely flying now though not driving from BC. I am strongly leaning towards a house rental and we've added a week. Looking like the entire month of Feb/2018. (We ARE road tripping part of our trip still but are going to spend 6 weeks on the West Coast and Baja instead of trying to drive all the way to Florida and back in 10.) I hope with a 15 passenger van the scooter won't be an issue - I've found a few rental options around the $1600 mark for the month.


NOW then I need to find a villa to rent for a month. I am having trouble with things like VBRO because you never know 1)if it will still exist in a month 2) sometimes if there is more than one unit WHERE it actually is 3) they all have vastly different rules....

SO now I am looking for suggestions of specific villas that people have booked and liked and weren't too far without a whole bunch of crazy rules like 100% cash up front with 0 cancellation refund!

Our budget is about $4000 for the month plus or minus...

Thank you to anyone who helps with this! This trip is such a HUGE undertaking. We've funded it so that is one less stress (YAY) but just trying to sort it all out is SO daunting!

 

[janicept]

I would do a search for management companies that manage multiple condos - Windsor Hills is a nice area. If you need 8 separate beds you would likely need two condos and a large management company could get you two close together and maybe even give a deal if you're renting two. If you need more like 4 or 5 beds you can look for houses. The management company I use requires $250 non-refundable deposit and the balance is due 30 days from reservation date. I have seen them advertised on this board so I guess it's ok to talk about them. Jim, the owner of the management company is super nice. My condo would be too small for your group. You will pay more going through the management company compared to an individual but it's less likely to fall through. I rented a condo in Paris about two years ago through an online vacation rental site and about 2 months before our trip it was cancelled by the owner - I flipped out because everything was planned and now there were less options. If an emergency comes up a management company can put you in a different property instead of you just being left looking again.