Tips & Advice for Sept 2011. Help Please :)

[stba2006]

Hi All,
We have decided that we are going to go back to Orlando in Sept next year and in my usual fashion I am doing all of my planning early

So far we have decided that we are going for 3 weeks and that we are going to hire a car, but I just don't know if we should go for a villa or a hotel.

Is there a better time of year for September holidays when more or better offers come up???

Also, If we decide to go for a villa, is it better to go through a travel agent or book flights and villas independantly??

Any help or advice would be gratefully recieved

 

[Kath2003]

If you have a car, DEFINITELY stay in a villa for all, or at least some, of your stay. You get SO much space for your money!

 

[wayneg]

Villa v Hotel is something you won't know until you have tried them both.
We have been to a friends villa and stayed in a very spacious 2 bed condo, didn't enjoy either as much as a hotel. We don't feel as though we are on holiday.
On holiday I want to throw the towels on the floor, leave the bed as we get out of it and not think about using the vac or being tidy. Villa/condo is like being home from home keeping tidy, make the bed etc.
One of reasons we have never bought property out there.
Others by far prefer Villas so both need to be tried.

 

[jtlover]

We have never tried a villa all the time that we have been there.

This year we are staying at Saratoga Springs which is between both IMHO and we are excited about. Also with you looking at September if you stay on site you could be looking at the free dining plan with Disney. (assuming they carry it on in 2011)

Our holiday has cost us £2,800 for 4 adults plus flights for this year with free dining and that includes tickets to disney for our stay. This is for a 10 day stay at Saratoga in September.

Have fun planning.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi,

We always rent a villa for part or all of the holiday.
Just find it suits us, we love the space, having a full kitchen, our own pool and just that knowledge that we can relax a little too.
Also suits Joshua perfectly, he doesn't like hotels or dining out.

Car is a must as you have to drive everywhere.

We always rent our villa independantly, you can book as part of a package but you don't get to choose where you stay, I want more control over it and want to pick our own villa.
There are several good websites you can use, a couple are below, if you do decide to rent a villa it would be good to have an idea of whereabouts you would like to stay, how many bedroooms etc

www.vr360homes.co.uk
www.villas2000.com

 

[Dimplenose]

Villa v Hotel is something you won't know until you have tried them both.
We have been to a friends villa and stayed in a very spacious 2 bed condo, didn't enjoy either as much as a hotel. We don't feel as though we are on holiday.
On holiday I want to throw the towels on the floor, leave the bed as we get out of it and not think about using the vac or being tidy. Villa/condo is like being home from home keeping tidy, make the bed etc.
One of reasons we have never bought property out there.
Others by far prefer Villas so both need to be tried.

I agree - we did 2 weeks in a villa because we'd been told by so many people (and posts) how wonderful it is to have all that space ... but we didn't like it for all of Wayne's reasons.

But other people love villas - perhaps you can split your stay so that you can find out without spoiling the whole of your 3 week stay.

P.S. With 2 teenagers we found that having 2 connecting rooms last year suited us best.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

As Libby & Wayne say it is all down to personal choice. You just have to find 'your way' as we have all found ours.
I don't quite get the tidy aspect as we tend to be a bit fussy that way wherever we stay, not sure why I would feel obliged to be less so in a hotel? Though as it's over 3 years since we stayed in one that view could probably change next time we do

It can depend on your own circumstances, Joshua gets up before 5am every day of the year so it's not really ideal having someone in a room next door to you.
The private pool is a massive plus for us also, and with the extra room it means we get chance to relax which we wouldn't necessarily get in a hotel.

To be honest I no longer want to stay in a villa for the whole holiday, as I like to be able to pop out for a drink or do other things in the evening preferably without having to drive. So a split stay appeals more these days, it's just getting that balance right. We know Joshua feels so much happier in a private home and at the end of the day if he is happy we have an enjoyable holiday.

Seeing him so happy playing in the pool, knowing we have a fridge full of food, DVD/VCRs for him and have a car meaning we can go where we want & when we want, does that feel like holiday to us? you betcha ...but for a few nights we would like to be on-site with facilities, bars, restaurants, theme parks on our doorstep.

The one big downside of a villa is the isolation factor, many of the developments we have stayed on have seemed almost deserted at times. I am sure I can recall one week where I didn't see a single person until we left the complex itself. So you can feel a bit away from it all.

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

I'm like Wayne, we only did a villa once, for a week - just didn't feel like we were on holiday! I like being in a hotel, with all excited people around me, knowing I'm going to be looked after at any hour of the day or night!

 

[disneyholic family]

i've never stayed in a house - which is what i guess people are referring to as a villa....
we have stayed in suite hotels, where you have 1 or more bedrooms, a living room/dining room and full kitchen....but we still had housekeeping services and we were part of a hotel/resort complex...
sort of the best of both worlds: lots of space but also the amenities of a hotel...

when the kids were very little and our budget was limited, we stayed in the really inexpensive suite hotels....usually with just one bedroom, a living and a full kitchen....it was great....we could eat most of the meals in - the kids much preferred eating in than in restaurants when they were young....but there were still housekeeping services, so i still felt like we were on vacation...

as the years passed and our budget grew, we moved to the much more expensive onsite villa accomadations...usually opting for a 2 BR at the OKW, where the rooms are enormous.....(the 2 BR is 1350 square feet...plenty of room for a family of 4)...

but it's possible that i might also enjoy staying in a private house with a private pool....i probably should try it once.....my sister just did that recently (not at WDW, but at some beach in south carolina somewhere...or maybe north carolina...)....it was a palatial mansion with 10 bedrooms and tons of living space...and while she was cursing the idea before she went (her sister in law had made all the arrangements), it turned out she really enjoyed the seclusion and privacy of the private villa...

so i suppose i should never say never....