Villa disadvantages? Comments please

[Dimplenose]

I'm starting to think about our trip to WDW next year. I've just about persuaded DH that we can go for 3 weeks this time. We've been twice before and stayed at All Star Sports each time. I absolutely loved it there but now the children are bigger we think the space a villa provides would be useful.

Has anyone stayed in a villa and not liked it? I'm just a bit worried that some of the magic would be missing.

I've read lots of positive comments about villa life so I'd like to hear the negatives if there are any.

Libby

 

[BONZO]

Hi Libby,

We had three weeks over Easter and stayed the middle week in a villa as we managed to get a fantastic deal.

As background we are died-in-the-wool hotel and on-site people because it suits our family and there's nothing better IMHO.

The villa made a nice change but it didn't change our preferences although when DDs get older this may well change our opinion.

The main disadvantages to us were: -

Small pool

Longer driving to parks / attractions

No early entry or other on-site "perks"

No food courts / shops close by for food or drink

Felt too much like "being at home" rather than on holiday


Don't get me wrong, the villa was absolutely fine and I'd highly recommend it but it made us appreciate the benefits of staying on-site even more.

 

[peter r]

We've had a villa for the last 2 trips and you are right there are lots of advantages & the only disadvantages that we felt were that,

1. you can feel a bit cut off & isolated from the main areas of attraction & 'the buzz'

2. Our children did miss out on playing with other children around the pool etc - they ended up bickering between themselves at times (like at home)

Of course some people will say that these points are advantages but, hey ho - each to their own

Peter

 

[SimonV]

There's no-one to make the bed every day while you're out!

(but there is guaranteed Marmite toast for breakfast )

 

[Scottish_Maleficent]

We've stayed in a villa for tha last two trips, previous trips were oniste at All Star Movies and off site hotel.
We have our villa booked for our next trip April 05.
Personally a villa really suits us as we always travel with other families, so it spreads the cost, and it means we can all be together. It's nice in the evening once the kids are in bed, to relax and be able to have a beer together, or have a swim.

Although we don't tend to do much cooking in the villa - we do have breakfast most days in the villa, and with small children like ours, they like their breakfast as soon as they get out of bed!
It's great having all the laundry facilities in the house too.
We didn't feel cut off or isolated, and if you pick the right villa location hopefully there will be a supermarket only a short distance away.

The downside was the housework - even on holiday!

Cath

 

[BevS97]

i have very mixed feelings - I loved the space, the kitchen and the laundry facilities. Didn't really mind the drive, but there is something sort of ordinary about it - like coming back to your own house every night rather than staying within the magic. For larger families, or older children who can't really share a bed, then I think villa's are perfect - but I am torn for next year - I really fancy staying onsite ,but I know we will miss the kitchen and the washing machine like crazy

Bev

 

[profdsny]

Well, look into the DVC villas. They are located at Boardwalk, Beach Club, and Wilderness lodge. Also, seperate ones at Old Key West and the new one by Downtown Disney. Staying on site give you all the rights and privelages including a nice pool at the first mentioned hotels. OKW, while great, has a mostly a quite pool, with no big attraction. I don't know about Saratoga.
Down side is that they can be more than staying in a villa or condo off site. At least worth looking into. They have one, two and three bedroom villas. It was great for us when all four kids used to go.

 

[Hilary]

This is exactly how I got DH to think about DVC!

We have stayed in villas on the Florida coast, but not in Orlando. DH likes the convenience of villa facilities (he doesn't have to do the laundry ), but we both agree that the benefits of staying on-site at WDW are unbeatable for us and we wouldn't 'do Disney' any other way now. He said "Aren't there any villas on-site?" DVC was the answer.

I do appreciate that joining DVC just isn't an option for everyone, but renting DVC points might be within a similar budget as some of the private villas. It might be worth looking into.

 

[T16GEM]

We always stay in a villa when we got to orlando. We absolutley Love them! Probably because we want to go and live there so we can pretend that awe live there! ha ha Sad I know!

I can see the disadvantages for the kids not having others to play with but on the other hand the increased driving to the parks isn't a problem IMO. Most of the rental villas are at the most 20 minutes away. It's also nice to have the freedom of choosing when and where you eat.
Maybe I am biased but I really do thing villas are great!!

 

[shellbell]

I agree with Simon I have to have my marmite on toast everyday

 

[Dimplenose]

Thanks for all your replies. It's nice to have a balanced view while we're making our choice. Most of the disadvantages I'd thought about already, but there are some that hadn't even crossed my mind.

Libby

 

[UKDEB]

Why not split the stay? We often book a villa for the duration of our trip and then spend a few nights onsite (either at Universal or Disney). Obviously it's more expensive as you're paying twice for accommodation on those days, but you only have to pack an overnight bag. If you can't bring yourself to pay out twice, I would advise doing the hotel(s) first followed by the villa to catch up with the washing!

 

[T16GEM]

wow UKDEB I never even thought about that! We are going for three weeks to a villa and I would like to stay at AKL for a couple of nights.

What a great idea!

 

[Dimplenose]

I like that idea too. Do the villa owners mind if you leave their property empty for a couple of nights during your stay?

Libby

 

[JANNYANS]

I can't think of a reason why owners should mind you leaving their home empty for a couple of nights as long as it 's locked up and they know in advance that you are planning to do so in case the managment company calls and you are not there -that can cause panic stations!

 

[UKDEB]

I must admit, it hasn't occurred to us to let the owner or Management Company know that we won't be there. There's a good chance that you'd be out if they called during the daytime or evening anyway and I'd be less than impressed if they just dropped in during the night! We always leave the villas fully locked and alarmed whenever we go out and obviously we do the same when we leave them for a couple of days.

This time, for reasons far too boring to go into here, our owners do know that we plan to spend a few nights away and they haven't charged us for those nights! We <i>are</i> paying an arm and a leg (and several other body parts!) for it, but it's still very generous of them.

 

[kazd]

How does anyone afford the Disney Hotels, I would love to stay onsite, however, not keen on sharing a room with three kids. Checked out the price and even the cheaper ones seemed to be running at about £4k for a week. Maybe I am looking in the wrong places, any tips for cheaper sites for onsite diney hotels will be gratefully received.

As for us, we have a villa booked in Kissimee and a villa on Marco Island. Has anyone been to Marco Island, getting slightly concerned that the shopping there is going to be out of our league, personally I like enormous air conditioned malls.

 

[UKDEB]

kazd,

The best online resource for checking out all the discounts in one place is www.mousesavers.com. Until I discovered the internet ( and the DIS in particular) I, too, always wondered how on earth people afforded to stay onsite based on brochure prices.

 

[JANNYANS]

UK Deb I didn't mean that the man co would just drop in on you there's no reason to do that -its just that some owners -if you rent direct -like to give a courtesy call just to see if you have settled in and if there were any problems .If you aren't there for a few days and they don't know -they can't get hold of you and might begin to wonder what had happened to you -so would ask their man co to check you were ok .If they know you are going a way then it stops this happening and no one worries .

 

[coppertop]

The only downside I can think of is doing your own housework.

To overcome that problem, and to have the resort feel which you mention, we have this year booked in to a condominium, which gives us more space than a hotel room, but not quite as large as a villa. We have all the facilities of a villa with a fully equipped kitchen - which for me means a washing machine when we are going for 3 weeks - full sized cooker and fridge freezer. We also will have daily housekeeping, and 3 pools, all of which are heated. We will, hopefully, have the community feel which you mention round by the pools.