Where do we start RE renting home/townhouse

[aceys_h0ney]

Ok sorry if I have this in the wrong place but I was not sure where to put it.

We would like to find out our options regarding renting a home/townhouse/condo. I am clueless about where to start. We would like to stay in June so is it to late to get a great house at a decent price? We are just weighing our options about staying onsite at Disney or renting a house. There are 6 of us and I am thinking the extra space will be nice. We love the option of private pool and spa but I am seeing you have to pay to heat them so are there any that don't require you to pay?
So is there a good starting place?
What do you guys recomend?
What is a good price for a 7-10 day stay?
Are they really that close to Disney or will we be stuck in traffic for long amounts of time?
Sorry for the 20 questions I started looking by google and was getting overwhelmed. I want to make sure we rent from a reputable place. I did love some of the Disney themed ones.

 

[sympatico]

We usually rent directly from owners but here are a some companies that get good reviews: allstarvacationhomes.com floridasunvacationhomes.com
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Pool Heat: yes you do usually have to pay extra but since you're going in June you probably won't need pool heat.
I don't usually travel in June so don't know what prices would be considered good. It all depends on how close you want to be to Disney, whether you want to stay in a subdivision with just homes or a resort type subdivision that has a community pool, clubhouse etc.
Subdivisions in the Formosa Gardens area: Windsor Hills, Emerald Island, Formosa Gardens Estates, Windsor Palms, Indian Creek etc are about 5 - 7 minutes to the parking lot of Animal Kingdom. You can use Sherberth Rd and you only have to cross 192. You can get to the other parks this way also. MK would take 20 min to their parking lot, Epcot 15, DHS 10 -12.
I usually use vrbo.com or homeaway.com. These both have listings for homes.
Here's a map so that you can get the lay of the land.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...8.272032,-81.608849&spn=0.068335,0.11055&z=13

The Formosa Gardens area is from Windsor Hills #1 to the west.
Emerald Island is #15 etc. The way to Disney via Sherberth Rd is the 3 lines, depending which area you're staying in.

 

[loveysbydesign]

We love Windsor Hills and put in an inquiry here to get pricing www.windsorhillsrent.com

 

[davinakb]

You've already started:

• Dates. Know when you're going, to check availability. FYI Saturday to Saturday stays are sometimes cheaper.
• Space: You mentioned 6 people; are those all adults, kids? what ages? how much space does that mean? a 2BR or 3BR condo can easily hold 6 but do not have private pools. 3BR townhouses in WH have splash pools. Private pool homes are usually 4+BR.
• Where: how close do you want to be? There are places all over in LBV, Kissimmee, but most people opt for the Formosa Gardens-Windsor Hills area west of Animal Kingdom. Other places are Indian Creek, Emerald Island, Windsor Palms, etc.
• Price: you can look for deals. Summer is season, so doubt you will get killer deals but it's worth looking. Unless you want the hot tub heated, summer may not require pool heat.

Once you figure out the rest of these, you can start checking community specific sites, or places like VRBO or Homeaway. FWIW.

 

[aceys_h0ney]

Dates. Know when you're going, to check availability. FYI Saturday to Saturday stays are sometimes cheaper.
I think I am narrowing this down
Space: You mentioned 6 people; are those all adults, kids? what ages? how much space does that mean? a 2BR or 3BR condo can easily hold 6 but do not have private pools. 3BR townhouses in WH have splash pools. Private pool homes are usually 4+BR.
2 adults 4 kids. 13 yo boy, rest are girls 10, 8 and 2. I think we need a minimum of 3
Where: how close do you want to be?
My idea is no more then 20-30 min from the theme parks
Price: you can look for deals. Summer is season, so doubt you will get killer deals but it's worth looking. Unless you want the hot tub heated, summer may not require pool heat.
Hot tub is a huge bonus, hubs has a bad back and loves to relax in one after a long day of walking

Guys thanks so much for your help, I get overwhelmed easily when I step outside my comfort zone.

 

[scrapbookmom5174]

I will second the Windsor Hills website. We stayed there this past summer and it was wonderful. I am taking a large group in May and we are staying at Windsor Hills also.

 

[drag n' fly]

This is our first offsite stay for a week. We have always stayed onsite with a night here and there offsite. I just finished doing research for an upcoming trip. We settled on floridasunvacationhomes. We got a very reasonable deal. They have been very easy and prompt to deal with.

Here are some things to consider

-The cost of a vehicle rental flying if flying in
Even with the cost of the vehicle rental included, we were able to get a 6 bedroom house with a pool (with free pool heat), spa and games room at Windsor Hills for the same price as POR at the summer rate. We were also not limited to a SAT to SAT rental.

-Parking costs
Make sure you include that in your budget.

-Proximity to the parks
How close are you to the parks? The further away the tougher it is to go for a break during the heat/crowds in the middle of the day. Even though this is a non Disney trip we will have 5 kids with us 4 of them being teenagers. We chose Windsor Hills because having the complex pool and clubhouse brought added value to our rental.

-Food costs
We are really looking forward to not having to eat out on every meal this trip plus their is cost savings also.

-Private vs Management company
We chose management over private because their has been discussion on this board and other boards of families showing up to their private rental and finding out the house has been foreclosed on. Also your chances of something being repaired are higher if a management company is overseeing the home. Most homes have keyless entry but some still have keyed entry which can be annoying because the key may be 20 miles from where your house is. Now a management company can also go belly up so do your research and buyer beware.

We almost chose All Star but their prices were a bit too high for us. You can get a discount through All Ears website for All Star homes. Also comes recommended is vacationcentralflorida.com

 

[sympatico]

Just to clarify: every private owner has a management company that looks after their home. If you have a problem you call them. We've never had any problem getting the man. co. to come or just to ask questions etc. about something in the house.

 

[tnmom25]

We've stayed in Indian Creek and was in the Disney parking lots within 15-20 minutes. I'm sending you a PM

 

[loveysbydesign]

We've stayed in Indian Creek and was in the Disney parking lots within 15-20 minutes. I'm sending you a PM

That is so great to hear!
We are staying at Indian Creek for the 1st time this Nov.--in the past we've stayed at Windsor Hills!

 

[thesupermcclains]

http://www.windsor-palms-florida.net/

You can try here to look and see if some homes have availability for June. This is the official site for Windsor Palms and its owners. They have all been verified by the Homeowners association so you should be pretty safe it renting from them. I just booked the Sugarmouse 3/2 villa from this site and it went very smoothly. Sugarmouse does not have anymore availability for June, but some others do.

This one has June 14th-24th open. http://www.windsor-palms-florida.net/property/4_0_285/view.aspx

This one has June 21st - July 1st Open. http://www.windsor-palms-florida.net/property/4_0_27272964/view.aspx

Those are just the villas, I am sure there are some townhomes and condos that have availability too!

Hope this helps!

 

[Lrt4uk]

This is great info! I'm at the beginning of planning stages for next year and I am leaning towards house rental as apposed to multiple room rentals onsite.

I'll be traveling with my SIL, her mom, and her daughter as well as me and my three kids. There's also a possibility of my mom and my aunt traveling with us as well.

This site is so cool!

 

[softballmom3]

Hi,

We are staying at Windsor Hills this fall and I began my looking at windsorhillsrent.com and sent in an inquiry. The responses were overwhelming but it was very nice to see what was out there. We ended up renting through vacationcentralflorida.com. I liked their booking rates and reviews . Have fun!