Villa or Suite Accommodations near WDW

[DannyDisneyFreak]

We frequently stay on WDW property, usually value and occasionally moderate resorts. I've been thinking that we could get a villa or suite with one or two separate bedrooms for the same or less money. I'd really like to rent DVC points becuase I don't really want to stay off property, BUT our next trip will be the first time we are driving down and will have our car. We usually just ME and stay on site the whole time. It will be my wife, myself, DS age 7, and DD age 12. We would love to have more space and separate sleeping space from the kids. So what I'm looking for is nice accommodations relatively close to WDW, something with at least one or two separate bedrooms, price range under around $150 a night, and something with a balcony or patio would be a plus. Nervous with staying off property, really love the Disney feel and magic but also have to take price into consideration. Recommendations?

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

I have stayed offsite plenty of times and stayed at Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Emerald Island and Sheraton Vistana. The first 3 I rented off private individuals and stayed in a Townhouse, condo or villa. At Sheraton we had a 2 br condo. We stayed at the villages although there is a closer Sheraton just past the crossroads at Disney Springs.

If you read Gina's current trip report you will see she stays there and highly recommends it. Another place to consider is Wyndham Bonnet Creek (which is located just past Carribean Beach Resort) so again is very close to the action. Again, there is a thread in this forum which has all the details, people have used Ken at vacation upgrades to book, I tried once for one of our vacations but there was no availability.

So there are plenty of places for you to look at and the extra space is great. With all the options I am sure you will find somewhere that is right for your family.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We've stayed in condos and townhouses at Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Wyndham Bonnet Creek, Sheraton Vistana, Cypress Pointe and Grand Beach over the years. Love all the space and having a full kitchen and washer and dryer. Our favorite, by far, is Wyndham Bonnet Creek. It is the closest to the parks (next to CBR as the PP stated) and blows onsite away by far. In fact, our oldest DD was doing the DCP and had a steep discount onsite but we still chose to stay offsite.

 

[disneysteve]

We've stayed many times at Windsor Palms. They have 2 and 3 bedroom condos, 3-bedroom townhomes, and 3-6 bedroom single homes. We've never paid more than $100/night. We just got back on Sunday from a week at Crestwynd Bay which is next to Windsor Hills. We had a 3-bedroom townhouse. We paid $85/nite for that total with tax. We've also used Skyauction.com numerous times to stay at Orbit One Vacation Villas. We were there for a week in November and paid under $50/night for a 2-bedroom timeshare unit. We've also stayed in Lindfields but that's a bit farther away and not really any reason to stay there when Windsor Palms and Windsor Hills are the same price and closer.

 

[violakat03]

Where did you find your condos? We are trying to find a 2 bedroom suite but there's some sort of doctors convention in town that weekend and all the hotels are either sold out or ridiculously priced. So I've been thinking a condo would be a better choice but I'm not sure how comfortable I am with the ones that come up on Travelocity and Hotels.com

 

[disneysteve]

Where did you find your condos?

We go to either vrbo.com or, if we're renting at Windsor Palms, we use http://www.windsor-palms-florida.net/.

 

[chekhovgirl]

I've stayed onsite at POFQ and offsite at Bonnet Creek. The reason we chose Bonnet Creek over a house or townhouse is that I still want that resort feeling. I like the atmosphere and feel like it is similar to staying onsite. I don't think you'd get the same feeling in a house. So, that leaves other condos/timeshares. In that case, the reason we chose Bonnet Creek was the layout (it's all around a nice lake and very walkable) the amenities (being swimmers from the north, we really take advantage of the pools, lazy rivers and hot tubs while we're there!), and the location. It's closer to some of the parks than some of the onsite hotels are. We've never had a problem with traffic, and you go through the Disney gates to get to the hotel, so right at the beginning of your trip you get that "we have arrived" feeling.

We love the resort activities. There is a lot for kids and adults to do together and separately, like games, trivia, water balloon tosses at the pool, free mini golf. I won two free drinks last time and my son won a sundae, so we had a great time You get to know the games staff, they're very nice. They do a movie night, bring in animals from Gatorland, you can roast s'mores. Most of the activities are free, except for some crafts. It's very similar to being at Disney resort, but with a lot more pools and hot tubs!

So, that's my Bonnet Creek endorsement. Good luck deciding!

 

[violakat03]

We go to either vrbo.com or, if we're renting at Windsor Palms, we use http://www.windsor-palms-florida.net/.

Thanks! Just used VRBO to book a condo in Paradise Cay, which is the same complex I used to live in and two of my friends still do. Woohoo!