What Is the best community for rental homes

[stevebeme]

Ok Grandpa & Grandma are taking the kids and grandkids to Disneyworld for the 1st time. There will be 8 of us in total.

What Is the best community for rental homes? I am kind of overwelmed with the choices of areas in which the rental homes are located.

Is a rental car a must?

Would a hotel with a couple of rooms be better because it would be easyer to get around?

Any advise, and I do mean any,would be greatly appreciated

 

[CoralCayTownhome]

Hi Stevebeme & welcome to the boards

Really the community you decide on will be personal preference depending on what you are looking for but I would recommend a car - just makes life a lot easier. The shuttle services are great but doesnt give you any flexibility with your plans.

For value for money I would definitely recommend a rental rather than 2 rooms - there is so much more space for your money plus you can save on food bills by having breakfast or an odd meal in the rental home. But this is just my opinion - mind you once you stay off site many don't go back to hotels again

Perhaps you should list the main requirements you are looking for and then we can give you recommendations

 

[sympatico]

Hi Steve,
We're the grandma and grandpa of our family that's taking the kids and grandkids to Disney in Nov. ( but there's 10 of us ). We're renting a 6 bedroom pool home in Windsor Hills. We've been there before and stayed in a townhouse and really like the resort. You can go to windsorhillsrent.com and see what it's like and look at some of the homes available. There's also some on vrbo.com and homeaway.com for the Kissimmee area. WH has a huge zero entry pool and club house with lots of amenities and a big castle playground.
WH is only 5 min from the Animal Kingdom via Sherberth Rd. And yes you do need a car to get around. I wouldn't dream of depending on the shuttle buses. You can get a shuttle bus from WH but it's from a separate company that makes stops at other places and it does cost to go on it.
Some other nice subdivisions in the same area are Emerald Island, Windsor Palms, Indian Creek, Formosa Gardens, Oak Island Cove, Sunset Lakes, Rolling Hills and the list goes on. There's also some that are further away in the Davenport area.
If you want to see some of the ones that were on our shortlist, send me a PM or post on here and I'll send you one.
Oh, by the way, we're from Nova Scotia.

 

[isla bonita]

If you plan on spending any quality time together in the rental or hotel I would recomend the a rental home because you have community ares in the home. A hotel is offers limited space for quality time together.

When renting as home it is all personal choices. How many beds some do not mind sleeping in the common ares such as living room on pull out sofas. Personally that is not a choice I enjoy. Location, amenities, price are all personal preferences.

I think you would enjoy your family holiday in a home. Some websites for rentals are VRBO, homesatemeraldisland.com,homeaway.com and so on...

Have a lovely vacation with your family.

 

[sympatico]

Here are a couple of maps so that you can see where the subdivisions are.

Some of the closest home rental communities to Disney are in the Formosa Gardens area and include: Windsor Hills and Palms, Emerald Island, Formosa Gardens, Indian Creek, Rolling Hills, Oak Island Cove, Sunset Lakes,Rolling Hills etc. Disney is huge so even though you're only 5 min. from AK, you would be 10 - 15 min from MK. ( via Sherberth Rd., a little longer from World Drive ).
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/villa/map.htm

http://www.orlando-maps.info/top_dow...e_top_down.htm
On this one click on the Formosa Gardens Subdivisions and the Lindfields Subd. for more details. ( around mile marker 4 and 5 on 192)

 

[brownhaired_girl]

Here is another vote for Windsor Hills. If you take the Sherbeth Road shortcut it is only 5-15 minutes to any of the parking lots. There is no question that we will stay there again You might want to check out VRBO (vacation rentals by owner). We got our WH house for many hundred less than it was listed through the rental company.

 

[Lisa BC]

Hi SteveBeme!

Boy I understand your frustration! I was in your mental state about 2 months ago. It can be overwhelming to select accommodations. We ended up renting a 7 bed/6bath home with a private pool. There's 9 of us - but all adults & no kids. I spent the better part of 3 days reading all the discussions, trying to get some ideas for our lodging.

We liked the idea of a home with its own pool for our crew. We wanted plenty of common meeting space since it is a family trip - but also some private space too. We really liked the idea of the pool & hot tub right out the back door. No walking several blocks to the community pool.... We actually liked the idea of no maid service, and also having a full kitchen and dining area. So it was easy to decide to rent a villa offsite. They really don't have comparable accommodations onsite right now.

So if you like the idea of home/villa. Then you should really decide what type of bedrooms configurations you want (what size beds) and number of bathrooms, and also the amenities that you want (hot tub, jacuzzi in master bath, TV's in all bedrooms, pool table, air hockey, video games etc). Then set a budget. From there you can start looking at homes. I am completely certain that you can find a very nice home and rent two cars for even less money that 2-3 rooms at a WDW moderate resort would cost you. There's all price ranges though, from as little as $550 per week to more than $3k per week.

There's a management company that has a really good website for research - www.AllStarVacationHomes.com It will give you a good idea of different neighborhoods and homes. You do pay a premium to rent from them, so consider using one of the websites already listed by previous posters here.

We are renting St. Andrew's Villa in Formosa
Gardens, from owners Franco & Audrey at www. OV4U.com They also have other homes as well.

Once you've decided on # and config's of bedrooms and basic desired amenities, you can post back to get specific suggestions.

Good luck!

Lisa

 

[PlutoPup]

Another vote for windsor hills. They have shuttles but I would reccomend renting a car.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I think staying at either Formosa Gardens or Poinciana Boulevard areas are the best options.
Slight preference for FG.

We find Indian Creek ideal for our needs, mainly as we have stayed in the same 5 bedroomed home on more than one occasion and get a decent discount from the owners.
Windsor Palms, Windsor Hills and Emerald Island are also very nice.

We always try and get a south facing fully fenced pool, as you get the sun all day long plus total privacy also.

These days we go for 3 weeks and try and combine a private villa stay with week or so at a DVC resort, or timeshare type of resort.
That way we get on-site facilities for part of our stay, and then can enjoy the privacy and extra room of a private villa also later on in the holiday.

 

[4eyedbuzzard]

Hi,

A car/van is a MUST (I even think its a must on-site as well, but I HATE relying on and waiting for those buses) as the area shuttles are crowded, slow(they stop at multiple resorts), have lousy schedules, and are more expensive overall especially for large parties.

There is no way I could recommend a hotel for a party that size, and once you experience having your own private pool right on the lanai outside your living room you'll never even consider hotels again for family vacations. I'll also recommend Windsor Hills as it is very close and very nice, but there are many other nice communities with pool villas as well. WH is a bit more expensive than other communities, but remember that you tend to get what you pay for in the way of location and ammenities. Here's my recent review of the 4 bdr/4bth http://www.vrbo.com/122340 we stayed in from our June 6 - 13 trip http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1487625
I can personally recommend this home.

http://www.vrbo.com is a good place to find rental homes but it can be overwhelming at times. The MC that mananged our rental also manages other homes of various sizes in the area - website at http://www.floridavilla-uk.com

 

[deejay-55]

A great choice for the whole family is a villa with 2 ensuite masters plus rooms for the kids - that way everyone gets to have there own space when they want it. Also, a resort community is good to keep the kids entertained when the granparents want a rest. We like Windsor Hills.

 

[Mainebound]

Ok Grandpa & Grandma are taking the kids and grandkids to Disneyworld for the 1st time. There will be 8 of us in total.

What Is the best community for rental homes? I am kind of overwelmed with the choices of areas in which the rental homes are located.

Is a rental car a must?

Would a hotel with a couple of rooms be better because it would be easyer to get around?

Any advise, and I do mean any,would be greatly appreciated

There is no "best", there is only "best" for your own family's needs and wants.

you have a lot of wonderful choices.

Our own desire is to be as close as possible to the WDW parks, in a nice area with lots of convenient restaurants and food shopping, in a new community, and in a community with a lot of public facilities so that it feels like we are in a resort rather than a strange neighborhood.

We don't have certian needs others may have, like a golf course onsite, huge house lots for privacy, worries about cost, handicapped access, lazy river, etc.

For our needs, Windsor Hills fits the bill best right now, although EI is great, too. There are likely many other communities which we would like just as well given our needs, but we haven't had time to try them!

 

[mom2mek]

A little late to the conversation, but last year we stayed at a wonderful villa in Formosa Gardens. The name was the Majestic Palace and I believe the owners have another home called King Triton's Palace. They are great for kids! The owners have really taken the time to think of everything you might need beyond the standard items - there were bed rails and play pens, nice, installed (retractable) baby gates on the stairs, baby monitors, full size cribs, pool toys, double dryers for clothes and towels, strollers, high chairs, etc. It was really wonderful to not have to lug as much stuff with us on the plane.

In addition to the game room that was loaded with toys for all ages (video games, pool table, air hockey, etc), it also had train tables, books, and lots of Disney videos, etc. They also had very nicely done themed rooms - more than just a mickey comforter on the bed. They went all out with their kids rooms and it made us feel like we were staying right on Disney property. Beautiful carraige bed in the Cinderella room, Buzz spaceship bed in the Buzz room, etc. The kids absolutely loved it!

Formosa Gardens was a WONDERFUL location. Quiet, close to grocery stores, drug stores, and it took us about 5 minutes to get to the parks, give or take. We loved it and will be returning.