Totally overwhelmed by the offsite options!

[Lewisc]

Decide if you want/need to pay the lowest possible price. Are you just looking for a good price? Spend the money and look at BCR and Vistana. Both have great locations. Price renting BCR. Are you happy with the price? Then spend the extra money.

Consider travel insurance. The best deals usually require pre-payment and have very heavy cancellation terms. Probably lose your entire payment if you need to cancel at least within 30 days but frequently if you cancel any time after paying.

 

[Ed J]

Bit rude Ed. This certainly is not a "scam". I was just offering an option of somewhere I personally have stayed and found to be lovely. I think you can see for my post count that I am not a scammer or advertiser.

To the OP, here is the link.They work with an agency and have two villas advertised across a few websites I believe.

http://www.disneyvilla2rent.com/1/index.php

Sorry if I offended you, but anything that can't be posted for public view screams scam to me. Post count is irrelevant.

 

[mikkiwikki]

WINDSOR HILLS!
See my trippie report in my "2011 Other Side" siggie link for more.
We are going back next Christmas and CANNOT wait.!

 

[loriandmatt]

we also loved our stay at windsor hills. they have condos, townhouses and pool homes. the townhouses have a private small pool and considering the age of your kids would be more than great. you can always visit the main pool with slides and zero entry too, but the spash pool (as they call it) was more than enough for our group of 6. pool homes have a great pool but are for parties much larger than 5. you would be overpayhing for the space and not really using it other than the larger pool. (IMHO)

check out vbro and search kissimmi and then windor hills. they have tons of homes. some are blah and some are decorated very nice. some even have themed rooms for the kids. we did one with a princess room since two of the kids in our group were girls. the boy didn't much care but there are some that have pooh, mickey or other themed rooms.

the price can be much cheaper than two rooms at a value or even one of the on property family suites - and you have an entire house.

we timed it and there is a back way to disney property from Windsor hills. it was no more than 5 min and DH even got to pass a dunkin donuts for his coffee on the way there.

of course the savings of staying off property can be negated by the cost of a car rental, but depending on your circumstances and your bargin digging skills, you still may come out ahead. particularly if you are going to eat meals/pack snacks from the house. i dont cook on vaca, but we certainly saved $ by eating light breakfasts and snacks from what we bought at publics and then either did prepackaged stuff for dinner or dinner at shoneys or something cheap.

 

[Madzac]

We are gearing up for our first offsite trip as well this October. We have always stayed onsite. I have always touted the convenience, the magic, etc. Our last trip, we stayed at WL for a week and while it was just beautiful, by the end of the week we were so tired of tripping over each other! The idea of more space, a washer/dryer, a kitchen... it appealed! So we shall see how we feel! We are also now a family of 6 so our options are limited at disney without spending a fortune onsite.

I started by looking here for recs, the windsor hills owners site, vrbo site and just trying to make a list of places that looked nice. I wanted something with a couple themed rooms for the kids... if we cant stay onsite, I want them to still feel like they are at disney! That narrowed it down a bit. We went with storytime homes.

We were going to go with a townhouse, but couldnt find one with two themed kids rooms and our kids our all young enough they would all want that so we ended up with a larger house than we need but the price was still much less than onsite ( just a little more than we would have paid for one room at a moderate!) and I think it will be a great first offsite trip!!! I am quite anxious to see if this will sell me to offsite from here on out, or if we will be back to the resorts next time!

 

[Detailor]

For what it's worth, The Commute to Universal from Bonnet Creek isn't that bad, and if you are planning on doing a majority of your trip at Disney, It's definitely more convenient that someplace between the 2 resort areas or doing a split stay.
There are 2 really easy ways to get to Universal from BC (and the Disney Area in general).
1. Exit Bonnet Creek and hit EPCOT Center Drive towards I-4. Take I-4 Towards Orlando. It's a short trip up I-4 to Universal's Exit.
2. (If you prefer avoiding I-4). Exit Bonnet Creek and head towards Downtown Disney and the 535 Exit (the one by the Crossroads). Turn Left at the light onto 535. Turn Right at the Next Light. (Palm Parkway.). Just follow Palm Parkway past SandLake. (It changes into Turkey Lake Rd along the way). There will be a sign letting you know where to turn Right to head into the Universal Orlando resort area. (Hollywood Way if I remember the street name correctly).
Now admittedly, LEAVING can be a bit more confusing since you never really know which way they will have you exit the parking garages. (It depends in some ways on which of the 2 garages they direct you into). The Easiest ways would be to follow the signs that will be posted towards I-4 West (towards Tampa) which will send you back towards Disney.

Of course this is all true but I'd suggest that the drive between WBC and Universal is actually quite easy. It's about 12 miles from point to point regardless of which of those routes you take - around 18 minutes via I-4 and no more than 25 minutes if you go by way of Palm Parkway/Turkey Lake Road.

You might be concerned for the first time but after you've driven it once you won't find it to be difficult (except for the drive back - DCTooTall is spot-on about that, there are prominent I-4 signs you just have to be sure to look for them).

Dick Taylor

 

[mikkiwikki]

We are gearing up for our first offsite trip as well this October. We have always stayed onsite. I have always touted the convenience, the magic, etc. Our last trip, we stayed at WL for a week and while it was just beautiful, by the end of the week we were so tired of tripping over each other! The idea of more space, a washer/dryer, a kitchen... it appealed! So we shall see how we feel! We are also now a family of 6 so our options are limited at disney without spending a fortune onsite.

I started by looking here for recs, the windsor hills owners site, vrbo site and just trying to make a list of places that looked nice. I wanted something with a couple themed rooms for the kids... if we cant stay onsite, I want them to still feel like they are at disney! That narrowed it down a bit. We went with storytime homes.

We were going to go with a townhouse, but couldnt find one with two themed kids rooms and our kids our all young enough they would all want that so we ended up with a larger house than we need but the price was still much less than onsite ( just a little more than we would have paid for one room at a moderate!) and I think it will be a great first offsite trip!!! I am quite anxious to see if this will sell me to offsite from here on out, or if we will be back to the resorts next time!

We have been very happy with vacationcentralflorida.com
Dave is awesome...most units have themed rooms
We stayed in 304 last time from SueEllen and loved it.

 

[Ninja Mom]

Do most of you drive down from home and have your car with you when staying at places like Windsor Hills, BC, Vistana and the other options for off property sites?

We've always driven when we've stayed off site. I've been running some numbers and I think this trip we will wind up flying down which will necessitate the rental of a car, IF we stay off site. Since we will only be doing Disney this trip I am torn between staying in a rental and staying on property.

I too am overwhelmed with choices and decisions. It's really turning out to be an "if this, then that" proposition and I'm wondering if the car rental and parking fees are going to tip us toward staying at an on site Disney property since we will be flying down.

Thanks to everybody for all the feedback and answers to the previous posters query. I'm getting some good information about off site places. Then I go and run the numbers and I just don't know where we'll end up!

 

[Detailor]

Do most of you drive down from home and have your car with you when staying at places like Windsor Hills, BC, Vistana and the other options for off property sites?

We've always driven when we've stayed off site. I've been running some numbers and I think this trip we will wind up flying down which will necessitate the rental of a car, IF we stay off site. Since we will only be doing Disney this trip I am torn between staying in a rental and staying on property.

I too am overwhelmed with choices and decisions. It's really turning out to be an "if this, then that" proposition and I'm wondering if the car rental and parking fees are going to tip us toward staying at an on site Disney property since we will be flying down.

Thanks to everybody for all the feedback and answers to the previous posters query. I'm getting some good information about off site places. Then I go and run the numbers and I just don't know where we'll end up!

We always fly and rent a car.

While rental car cost depends on the size of vehicle that you need for your family, it's not particularly difficult to find what I think of as "affordable" car rental pricing - as long as you're patient and willing to work at it the same way that you work to find a good airfare or lodging price.

We paid $107.16 for a seven-day full-size car rental in December 2011 through National ($97.42 base rate, $44.74 tax and fees, -$35.00 on a coupon offer). We generally use National, Dollar or Budget and have very good success with them but other rental agencies can produce similar pricing. Best pricing usually appears within the month before a trip and it's not uncommon to find the best offer at two to three weeks before you fly.

I'd suggest that you join the rental companies' customer loyalty programs - you give the company your license and credit card information so they can process things more quickly and they give you express check-in as you get to skip the regular lines at the airport, often just going across to the garage to pick up your vehicle. Most of these programs are free but a few, like National, charge a fee. You can avoid the National fee by going to the car rental section at Mousesavers.com and use their free link.

Also, if you haven't already used the Transportation Board here at DIS you should check that at as there are usually ongoing discussions about car rental pricing, discounts and coupons.

Dick Taylor

 

[Ninja Mom]

We always fly and rent a car.

While rental car cost depends on the size of vehicle that you need for your family, it's not particularly difficult to find what I think of as "affordable" car rental pricing - as long as you're patient and willing to work at it the same way that you work to find a good airfare or lodging price.

We paid $107.16 for a seven-day full-size car rental in December 2011 through National ($97.42 base rate, $44.74 tax and fees, -$35.00 on a coupon offer). We generally use National, Dollar or Budget and have very good success with them but other rental agencies can produce similar pricing. Best pricing usually appears within the month before a trip and it's not uncommon to find the best offer at two to three weeks before you fly.

I'd suggest that you join the rental companies' customer loyalty programs - you give the company your license and credit card information so they can process things more quickly and they give you express check-in as you get to skip the regular lines at the airport, often just going across to the garage to pick up your vehicle. Most of these programs are free but a few, like National, charge a fee. You can avoid the National fee by going to the car rental section at Mousesavers.com and use their free link.

Also, if you haven't already used the Transportation Board here at DIS you should check that at as there are usually ongoing discussions about car rental pricing, discounts and coupons.

Dick Taylor

WOW! That was an awesome answer. Thank you so much!! I will definitely check out the Transportation board. I think you may have just solved all my car rental concerns!

 

[kkayluvsdis]

We always fly and rent a car.

While rental car cost depends on the size of vehicle that you need for your family, it's not particularly difficult to find what I think of as "affordable" car rental pricing - as long as you're patient and willing to work at it the same way that you work to find a good airfare or lodging price.

We paid $107.16 for a seven-day full-size car rental in December 2011 through National ($97.42 base rate, $44.74 tax and fees, -$35.00 on a coupon offer). We generally use National, Dollar or Budget and have very good success with them but other rental agencies can produce similar pricing. Best pricing usually appears within the month before a trip and it's not uncommon to find the best offer at two to three weeks before you fly.

I'd suggest that you join the rental companies' customer loyalty programs - you give the company your license and credit card information so they can process things more quickly and they give you express check-in as you get to skip the regular lines at the airport, often just going across to the garage to pick up your vehicle. Most of these programs are free but a few, like National, charge a fee. You can avoid the National fee by going to the car rental section at Mousesavers.com and use their free link.

Also, if you haven't already used the Transportation Board here at DIS you should check that at as there are usually ongoing discussions about car rental pricing, discounts and coupons.

Dick Taylor

Wow! That seems like an amazing price for a week car rental! Granted, I was looking at renting a minivan, but the cheapest price I could find was around $500! I will have to follow your suggestions. Maybe, since I was looking so far in advanced the prices were higher? I was getting quotes for November 2012.

 

[kkayluvsdis]

So....I'm trying to figure these properties out..Both seem to be highly recommended by DISers. Is the main difference that Windsor Hills offers actual homes to rent while Bonnet Creek is all villas? Also, the homes to rent at Windsor Hills seem to be a bit higher priced that other Orlando area vacation homes. Is that due to the proximity to the parks? Thanks again everyone for all your help!!!!!!!!
-Kelly

 

[Detailor]

Wow! That seems like an amazing price for a week car rental! Granted, I was looking at renting a minivan, but the cheapest price I could find was around $500! I will have to follow your suggestions. Maybe, since I was looking so far in advanced the prices were higher? I was getting quotes for November 2012.

If your week in November is Thanksgiving week then you should expect to pay a higher rate than you would for the weeks around that week (just like airfare, car rental prices tend to be higher during holiday weeks).

Otherwise, I think that you're correct that the $500 price is just a number that's put out very early. Some people actually end up paying a price like that to be sure that they have the vehicle that they want. But I'd suggest that frequent checking of various rental company rates is a good idea until you see something that's more affordable.

One strategy that I've used when I want a specific type of vehicle (like a minivan) was to keep checking pricing until I found one that worked for me and made the reservation. After that I'd keep checking periodically and make reservation modifications if pricing went down but really focus on the six to eight weeks before my rental date. Oftentimes when it gets close to a rental date (not always as in the case of a holiday week) pricing starts to come down, "specials" begin to appear at the rental companies' websites. And, in the case of a company like Dollar, sometimes a "City Special" will come up on some vehicles sizes. Changing rental companies and cancelling older, higher priced reservations to follow the best price seems to work most of the time.

Dick Taylor

 

[Detailor]

So....I'm trying to figure these properties out..Both seem to be highly recommended by DISers. Is the main difference that Windsor Hills offers actual homes to rent while Bonnet Creek is all villas? Also, the homes to rent at Windsor Hills seem to be a bit higher priced that other Orlando area vacation homes. Is that due to the proximity to the parks? Thanks again everyone for all your help!!!!!!!!
-Kelly

Yes, the two are very different. Wyndham Bonnet Creek resort is a timeshare resort with high-rise buildings that house the villas and, as typical for the better timeshare resorts, has lots of on-site amenities and activities for guests. Windsor Hills is a vacation home rental community that features homes and townhouses/condos.

I think that Windsor Hills pricing is higher for a couple of reasons - the community is one of the newer such rental communities in the area and, from what I've seen in pictures, the furnishings in the homes are much nicer and more expensive than in most other communities. It's not that much closer to the Disney parks than some of the others. Formosa Gardens, Emerald Island, Windsor Palms and Indian Ridge are all in that same area of Kissimmee.

Dick Taylor

 

[Brian Noble]

The way to choose between Bonnet and Windsor is to think about what sort of vibe you want. Windsor (or another development like it) is like staying in your uncle's very nice second home that just happens to be located a stone's throw to WDW. Very private, quiet, and relaxing, but you have to be pretty self-sufficient. Staying at Bonnet (or another timeshare like it) you trade some of the quiet/privacy for a more "resort-like" experience---more central amenities, and a little more "in the action".

When our kids were younger, we preferred the more private/secluded vacation home style. As the kids have gotten older, we've found timeshare resorts to be a slightly better fit for what we want.

 

[saysay]

We love staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. You get so many amenities and space for your money. The location can not be beat either as its inside the WDW property!

I think if you stay there you should have a car though since the dining choices are limited and pricey. There are close byu grocery stores. Also its a timeshare so no daily maid service - which according to reviews surprises some people. We tend to go off season and they run the buses les frequent - mainly during middle of day service can stop - is our experience. They were on schedule though. We just decided we liked driving ourselves to the parks which adds to the budget, but still way cheaper than Disney resort. its nice that you have the bus option though.

I rented through Sun or Snow vacation Rentals, found on VBRO. For our upcoming trip renting through Vacatoin Strategy LLC, also on VBRO. They have been the cheapest for me. Lots of people on Disboards use Ken with Vacationsupgrades.com.

Our first trip we were leary of renting a timeshare, but we researched the company best we could through reviews, BBB and Disboards. Worked out great!

good luck and have a great trip.

 

[Portugal1000]

I would definitely vote for Bonnet Creek. We are from the UK and this August will be our 9th trip in 7 years. We have stayed at a number of places. We have progressed from staying at Homewood Suites, which is great if you want to hit the parks non stop to Saratoga Springs 3 times, Fort Wilderness and this will be our 4th trip to Bonnet Creek, although the first time in the summer as we usually go for Christmas. We have 21 nights there this year so super excited. We always stay in the main building so whilst we have a huge condo like room, we also have the feel of a hotel. I like being able to wander downstairs to get a coffee or sit by the pool and know that I will probably end up chatting to someone. We have an 11 year old boy who always makes friends in the pool. We have never considered a house as I think we would feel isolated. Bonnet Creek offers the best of both worlds. We do love SSR and have had 3 summers there on free dining and 42% off (UK Deal) However this year we decided to go back to BC and try it in the summer. Hope this helps.

 

[jjjmranch]

I have stayed at Windsor Palms twice and loved it. This time, we're trying out Windsor Hills because the pool is larger. Saved my points to rent a car and the privacy and room of a condo is much more wonderful than staying in a tiny hotel room!

 

[maganda]

Have stayed off-site twice in the last 3 years and loved it both times. We've stayed in a 3 br condo at Formosa Gardens and also in a 7 br house with pool at Emerald Island to accommodate a family party of 10. Both were fantastic rentals from very great owners I found on Homeaway.com. Big advantages of off-site IMO include in-unit washer/dryer, multiple bathrooms, ability to cook...
Depending on when in Nov you're traveling, if it's off peak, I would think that some homeowners might be willing to negotiate their rates so don't be afraid to haggle a bit. It doesn't hurt to ask.
PM me and I would be happy to chat about where I stayed.

 

[wahoostampingirl]

We've stayed at Windsor Palms once and Windsor Hills 3 times. I'm just getting ready to book a condo in Windsor Hills for the first week of Nov. this year. On our first trip, we decided to stay off-site because we were going with another family and we both had young children. We wanted to stay somewhere that we could put the kids to bed and the adults could hang out by the pool or in the living room watching TV. We got a house in Windsor Palms and i will second the pp who said get the house with a private pool. It is really so nice to come home from the parks and just get the kids into the pool without schlepping them and their gear somewhere else.

I went through AllStarVacationHomes for most of my rentals. They are a little higher priced than going through a private owner, but we've always been super happy with the service that we've gotten. Any little problems have been taken care of right away. The condos and houses that they manage are very nicely decorated and comfortable.

I think once you stay offsite, in a vacation home or villa, you'll have trouble going back to on-site stays at Disney. We still stay on property for a few nights here and there, but those hotel rooms seem awfully small for 2 adults and 2 tweens.