Villa info

[arieliwish]

Hi all, starting to think about our next trip and wondering whether to do BC again or a villa, or a mix of both. Having never done a villa before, I'd appreciate any views on locations / booking through travel agent (TC / Virgin etc) or villa sites / private owners.

We love Epcot and from BC can walk to there and HS, and last time we went didn't bother with a car and used Lyft/Uber for the times we went offsite. We're thinking of booking without DDP next time and eating more offsite so maybe a car would be a must, particularly with a villa too.

 

[tinkerbell1991]

We go this October and are doing 5 days in a disney hotel and 16 in a villa.
The best location I've found is Emerald Island Resort and I always book my villas through homeaway.com

 

[mackay_j]

Hi if you book a villa privately there are a few things you can do to check that its legit. check the tax records to check that the renter owns the house and that all taxes to do with it are paid up do date. You can also check that the house is licensed to be rented. You have to know where it is to know which tax office to check with. Always try and pay with a visa or equiv that is covered if you have issues. On saying all that I have always booked via homeway or owners abroad and only on one occasion did I have any issues (a very large property in Emerald Isle rented by a Shawn Huang (and Rebbecca). I believe they have several properties there- AVOID their villa needed a lot of work and a good clean )

 

[Woodview]

Here is another Co. to try

IPG Florida Vacation Homes www.ipgflorida.com

Try a villa at Hampton Lakes , Solana , Highlands Resort etc.

All are on Hwy 27 between I-4 & Hwy 192 West end )

Most will have private Pools , Near Shops & Plenty of Good Eating Places

Longhorn , Texas Road House , Mannys Chop House , Millers Ale House ....All within a few miles.

Hwy 27 is about 15 miles from Disney Springs

You Will need a car

 

[california37]

I second using homeaway.com to look for a villa of staying in private villas. We've never had any issues with any villa we have rented. There are a few new resorts opened up in the past few years with about 5 mins drive south from animal kingdom. I forget which road they are down... Encore resort is one of them. It has its own water park if you like that sort of thing. Along with the villa you rents own private pool...

We always hire a car with our children as we find it easier-even staying on property. When they are older we may reconsider this. We've had no problems with Alamo and buy before we get there... Love the fact you can pick up your own car from the parking lot rather than being 'given' the car you have... The one time we used dollar they gave us a poor car with electrical faults!! We didn't have a choice!

We love staying on site however which is why we've booked a 50/50 stay on and off site this summer.. Best of both worlds! You could then always hire a car for the portion you are off site?

Villa rental is cheaper (depending on the size of villa) and you can negotiate prices with the owners often!

Happy planning!!

 

[MinnieJem]

Another vote for Emerald Island, it's just off of the 192 and one of the closer resorts to Disney, about 15-20 minutes away. Have a think about how far away you're willing to be from Disney (and Universal if you'll be visiting those parks too as they are further away), particularly if you're used to being within walking distance of Epcot & HS! We've booked a villa through Virgin before and received Emerald Island by luck, and also chosen a specific villa through Kenwood Travel. Last year we booked our car through Virgin/Alamo and we were able to do online check in which meant we went straight to the garage and didn't have to wait in line at the desk.

 

[arieliwish]

Thanks guys, that's given me something to think about and to compare prices to Disney hotels.

 

[Tony Toon]

We started visiting WDW in 2002 and have now settled on Indian Creek as our favourite place to rent a villa. We have stayed various other places but this is our favourite. It's in the same sort of area as Emerald Island and is close to Animal Kingdom - you can be in the car park in under 10 minutes! Other parks are also not far away and the close proximity gives you the option of having a break from the parks at your pool or just even heading in to catch fireworks in the evening after dinner without having to drive too far and spend too long in the car. This can be especially important if you have impatient children in tow. The range of places to eat offset nearby has expanded considerably over the years and you are spoiled for choice. I know that there are lots of other lovely places down Highway 27 that are not too far away but just further than we want to drive. We now do a split visit - onsite, down the Gulf Coast and finally a villa. Perfect for us!

Mrs TT

 

[pinklotusflower]

We're now DVC members so just stay on site our favourite being BWV so we can walk to two parks which is loads easier than buses. Prior to joining DVC we always stayed in a villa offsite using clickstay https://www.clickstay.com/ we usually choose a villa just off the 192 like Indian Creek area so we were not too far from the parks. There are loads of places to eat on the 192 and it's easy to get to the parks. I'm an onsite convert now & love it, we find it so much more relaxing as it's not just the travel time to the parks, you've to park then get on the trams to the entrance & at magic kingdom the monorail or boat where the bus drops you outside. You also don't have the hassle of the mass queue to get the monorail/boat back and then queue out of the car park. For the first time ever we didn't hire a care last year & just used Lyft to go off site & got groceries delivered, we didn't miss the car and it was so easy & cheap to use.

 

[arieliwish]

We're now DVC members so just stay on site our favourite being BWV so we can walk to two parks which is loads easier than buses. Prior to joining DVC we always stayed in a villa offsite using clickstay https://www.clickstay.com/ we usually choose a villa just off the 192 like Indian Creek area so we were not too far from the parks. There are loads of places to eat on the 192 and it's easy to get to the parks. I'm an onsite convert now & love it, we find it so much more relaxing as it's not just the travel time to the parks, you've to park then get on the trams to the entrance & at magic kingdom the monorail or boat where the bus drops you outside. You also don't have the hassle of the mass queue to get the monorail/boat back and then queue out of the car park. For the first time ever we didn't hire a care last year & just used Lyft to go off site & got groceries delivered, we didn't miss the car and it was so easy & cheap to use.

That's what we loved last year, beach club was so handy to walk to epcot and we did the HS walk a few times there and back, we also did the boat there and it was very busy and we waited quite a while for it. We did use the buses for MK and AK and Disney Springs but they weren't very regular for the BC we found. Lyft was very good and although we only used them a dozen times or so, we could have got an awful lot of Lyft's for the price of a hire car/insurance/fuel.

 

[1andrea]

We are DVC members and I have had lots of amazing DVC trips on property.

Then we tried a condo and liked it and then we tried a villa and LOVED it. With a teenager the space was great and I love American supermarkets and Costco food so we like to eat in the villa ad get takeaways. We love having our own pool and we love the price!

We stay on Indian Creek and its 5- 10 mins to Disney property so its not too far to nip back home for a break from the parks.

We'ver also stayed off the US27 and it was too far for us as the traffice can be bad and visits to Universal and Mall at Millennia took an eternity. We felt like we spent too much time in the car xx

 

[pickers1982]

We do split, and always with beach club!

For the villa we used homeaway and had no issue. We stay on Windsor hills which is very nice and good location for parks

 

[minnieeaves]

I would recommend www.a1villa.com, owned by an English couple with two villas on Indian Wells. We have stayed in 'Lakeside' and are booked to stay in 'Elegant' in November. It is a great location, close to a Walmart, the Lake Buena Vista Factory Outlets and Publix. It is about a 10 Minute drive to Disney.

 

[disneyholic family]

i was considering a villa this year, but got nervous and instead booked the UK free dining package..
i was worried that we would have issues with the villa, and given that we're a group of 8, including two very young toddlers, the thought of arriving in orlando after traveling for 30 hours, and possibly encountering issues (like broken A/C etc) just was too much to consider..
so i decided it was safer to stay onsite..

if it were just DH and me, i wouldn't worry....but with the two toddlers, the thought of possibly having villa issues is too scary..

.

 

[pinklotusflower]

we always used to stay in villas and if we ever had a problem someone would be sent out the same day or next day if it was the evening to sort it out. We had a broken washer one time and the next day they brought a new one as it couldn't be repaired. I would look at reviews who have used the villas previously to see if they have had any problems and quick they were fixed.

 

[Emma Doughty]

I would recommend www.a1villa.com, owned by an English couple with two villas on Indian Wells. We have stayed in 'Lakeside' and are booked to stay in 'Elegant' in November. It is a great location, close to a Walmart, the Lake Buena Vista Factory Outlets and Publix. It is about a 10 Minute drive to Disney.

I have stayed in Lakeside too and have booked again. Would definitely recommend!