Trying to find a rental home near Disney

[simonmunro]

I'm bumping this up because I was learning so much and over the weekend it fizzled out! Anyone else have any info on some of these vacation home developments? Are any of them preferable to others? I'm esecially curious about the Indian Point/Eagle Point area. Are there any particular reasons to stay in one over the other?

 

[FLeisure]

Simon,
My web site has pictures of both developments and where they are situated. Go to the locations section on link mentioned above.
The main reasons are ease of getting to Disney, ease of getting to other places of interests, whether you want to be on a gated community, what type of house you want - standard or a little bit better, etc.
There are quite a few developments within 15 mins of Disney not to metion a whole lot more further out. If you have specific questions ask them all here and I'll do my best to answer them so everyone can read them.
Nigel

 

[leebee]

...who originally posted this topic? We stayed in a three bedroom home thru Holiday Villas (try holidayvillas.com) in Oct. 1999 and were very pleased. The two main bedrooms had their own tv's, (one queen bed, one king bed) as well as the living area. (The third br had 2 twin beds) The living area had two queen sofa beds and a tv, with plenty of floor space, which might sove the "kids sleeping on the floor" request- I think there'd be enough room, and the adults could have the bedrooms! We liked it, and I think we paid $89/nt, plus tax, of course. Check them out!

 

[leebee]

...who originally posted this topic? We stayed in a three bedroom home thru Holiday Villas (try holidayvillas.com) in Oct. 1999 and were very pleased. The two main bedrooms had their own tv's, (one queen bed, one king bed) as well as the living area. (The third br had 2 twin beds) The living area had two queen sofa beds and a tv, with plenty of floor space, which might solve the "kids sleeping on the floor" request- I think there'd be enough room, and the adults could have the bedrooms! We liked it, and I think we paid $89/nt, plus tax, of course. Check them out!

 

[FLeisure]

Bump for Simon !

 

[Gillian]

Robinrs, which subdivision is your favorite? I'm always planning the next trip

 

[Robinrs]

Gillian, I will be doing a "tour" of the subdivisions in April and will report back! So far it's Wyndham Palms but I need to check out a few more before I can claim one to be my favorite.

 

[FLeisure]

Robinrs,
Interesting choice ? Explainez-vous ?

 

[Robinrs]

FL:The reason I mentioned them is because they offer so many conveniences in the resort and my Mom will not be leaving the subdivision much when we go down. It gives her a chance to feel like she's at a resort. The amenities aren't that necessary for me, I just like nice and quiet, but my Mom loves the idea of the convenience store and the cinema.

Are you guys go to offer Wyndham homes in the future??

 

[FLeisure]

Robinrs,
It is a possibility in the future but we simply haven't been asked by any homeowners on there if we want to manage their property as yet. Once that happens we will consider the situation and it really depends on the house whether we take it on.

I have to say Wyndham Palms looks a nice development but it isn't the traditional type of short term rental zone (STR). The development does feel like a resort and everything does look nice. I do have my reservations about the condos that are built there and the actual amount of people that stay there could make it feel cramped.

My experience is that people rent homes to get away from the crowds and to enjoy their own space. Certain homes on WP are not going to get this feeling but others will. It is a very interesting development and the feedback I get from most people I talk to who have stayed there is mixed. Some love it and some hate it with very few in the middle ground.

I have to say the cinema ( does it ever show movies ?) , the large pool and the fitness center all go together well and I can see the attraction in staying there. Personally, I still prefer Sunset Lakes as the best STR in the area. Anyone else got any opinions on which development they prefer and why ?

 

[Elle]

Hi,
I have to disagree about Sunset Lakes, it is an OLD!! development and is fairly well run down,
I was told that they have recently had problems, as the housing association had not been doing their jobs correctly and the place became a bit of a shambles, so beware make sure that is all sorted before you go!! As for Wyndham Palms (soon to be Windsor Palms) it is Fab, brand new and luxurious highly recommended, another you should consider is the new Emerald Island Resort, which will be opened in May it will be Very Nice!!!
Good Luck!

 

[Gillian]

Robin, I'm looking forward to your report!

I keep thinking about buying a rental place, but it seems like sale prices have increase while rents have not. Oh well! It's fun to dream

 

[FLeisure]

Elle,
Sunset Lakes - A new HOA board was put into place in October. The previous board did underfund the development to a degree and problems occurred because of that.

I would totally dispute your comment on Sunset Lakes being "OLD". Sunset Lakes was started in 1996 and completed towards the end of 2000. Most homes are not even 3 years old yet and virtually all of them have either a lakeview or conservation view.

Sunset Lakes only has 161 homes and it is a gated community just 5 minutes from Disney if you go along Funie Steed and then cross over US 192 to get into Disney via the Animal Kingdom entrance. The community has a large community pool, kids tot lot and a general feeling of being upmarket compared to most other sub-divisions.

Emerald Island is a new resort built by Park Sq. Homes and is in it's infancy. Located near to Sunset Lakes it has a good location but building work will be going on there for 3 years at least. Frankly both this subdivision and Wyndham Palms may have nice fancy entrances but they are both trying to create a resort feel with homes. Something that may or may not work.

My main objection to these sub-divisions is the amount of people who will be staying there.....peace will be at a premium and for most folks that's why they pick a home over a hotel. Both of these communities have large townhouses either built or under construction and I seriously wonder if the club houses and communal pools will be able to cope with the number of people who will eventually use them. When you add the noise factor to this (and who wants their neighbours shouting and screaming in the pool after midnight) I just have a gut feeling that it will become it's own worst enemy.

Gillian - have you considered the resale market ? There are some great deals to be had at the moment.

 

[lorilori]

FLeisure: Hi. I've been emailing with Tracey and she's been absolutely wonderful as this whole idea of renting a house is so new to me. And your comments here are very helpful. Re the differences in developments, does this mean Sunset Lakes has more 'space' between houses or less people than Wyndham Palms?

 

[cenicienta]

Can someone help me understand what is the plus/minus of a pool home in one of the gated communities versus all the great deals people are getting on skyauction? I'm going nuts trying to understand! The auction properties would hold say 2 groups of 4 and a nice 4 bedroom home would also accomodate same. Skyauction is becomming very popular here so I feel like it's not an enormous gamble?

 

[FLeisure]

Lorilori - Sunset Lakes is a very peaceful development. It will certainly have less people around than Wyndham Palms. Space between homes will be the same - all developments are pretty much built to the same buidling standards/codes these days. Glad Tracey is able to answer most of your questions...feel free to ask as many as you like.

cenicienta - I really don't know anything about skyauction....do you have a web address ? I'll try and answer your point. With an auction you will never know what you are going to get......yes, there are bound to be some good deals but do you relly want to gamble with your vacation and take a chance on it being less than you wanted ? In my opinion a vacation is a special time....you've worked hard for it so why take the chance on having it ruined by trying to save a few dollers ?

A pool home whether it is in a gated community or not will be a good experience for 99% of people who choose to vacation this way. You get your own space, your own pool and none of the problems associated with staying in a hotel, ie., too many people, noise, small rooms etc.

 

[FLeisure]

cenicienta - I found the skyauction web site.
I didn't see any vacation homes on the site rather just a load of resorts trying to attract customers to them by auctioning their rooms / package.

The thing about an auction is that you never get to see what you are paying for before you go. Frankly, one hotel room is like another and it is the hotel's facilities that make the difference. I've nothing against hotels and often stay in them when getting away for a night or two.

A home is a different experience and is generally cheaper than a hotel when staying in the Disney area. It all depends on what you like. Most MC's don't show you the house you are going to get so it can be likened to the auction site you menitioned. We operate slightly differently in that we show you in both pictorial and video format the home you can rent before you make that decision.

 

[cenicienta]

The website is www.skyauction.com I think. If you're able to search you'll see all the posts from customers here. It looks like it's mostly timeshare resorts? Nice ones and people say they don't have to do a presentation on a rental.

At www.floridaleisure.com can I tell from the 3 and 4 digit numbers in the picture area what development the house is in? There are some beautiful houses on that page. Privacy would be a big factor in resort v home I think.

 

[FLeisure]

Meant to add that the closest thing to vacation homes on skyauction was holiday villas. These are basically condo's.....and people are bidding $ 123 per night plus $ 32 tax and service charge = $ 155 per night for a 3 bedroom villa/condo/townhouse.

You can get a 5 bedroom home with your own pool , not communial, for the same money !
Might even consider getting us on that site now

 

[FLeisure]

cenicienta
Unfortunately we don't give out the full addresses on our web site for security reasons. What normally happens is that people see the homes they like and email us.....at that point we inform them which development the home is in.

You are right about timeshares on that web site......there are a lot of them, thing about a house is, you're not even taking the risk of a presentation !

Privacy...you've hit the nail on the head ! You get far more privacy in a home than in a hotel, condo or townhouse.