Where should I stay in Orlando

[SidB]

OK guys, I've booked the flights and car hire. We're leaving in 11 months so I'm a little late with the planning !!

We're going to Orlando for 2 weeks followed by a week at the beach, probably on the Gulf Coast. I need some help with finding a villa in the Orlando area.

There are 3 adults and 2 kids, who'll be 7 and 11, and I'd prefer a villa with pool. Here are my other criteria;

I need easy access to WDW, Universal and Seaworld.
I need a good choice of places to eat.
I don't want to drive too much.
I don't need a golf course.
I'd like a supermarket not too far away.

Can anybody suggest a good location to search for a villa that meets my criteria ?

Thanks for your help.

 

[lisag1]

Hi Sid,

You'll probably get loads of recommendations here!!

For what it's worth we've stayed at a few villa locations : Hampton Lakes, Chatham Park, Rolling Hills, Formosa Gardens Estate and Windsor Palms. Our current fave is Windsor Palms and we're going to be there on Friday We were also there last November, it's in a perfect location off the 192, about a mile away from Formosa Boulevard which has lots of restaurants (TGI's, Outback, Carrabas, Giodanni's, chinese take out, Supermarket (used to be Goodings), Eckerd Pharmacy, Taco Bell - you get the picture!!). It's also one of nearest to WDW which is only 4 miles away (as is Rolling Hills, Formosa GArdens, Indian Creek, Oak Island Cove & Emerald Isle). Windsor Palms also has a clubhouse with a 62 seater cinema, small grocery shop and a fully equiped gym. We were really impressed!!

We booked last years through www.statesideuk.com and you can pick your own villa and they have pictures of the actual villas, other websites to try are....


www.vrbo.com
http://www.florida-villas-select.com/search.taf?function=quicksearch
http://www.florida-dream-villas.com/three.htm
http://www.greatrentals.com/FL/FLCentral.html
http://www.statesideuk.com
http://www.villas2000.com/new.html
http://www.florida-villa.com/
http://www.privatevillas.co.uk/usa-intro.htm
http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/
http://www.florida-thevilla.com/
http://rentingvillas.com/cgi-bin/renting/classifieds/classifieds.cgi?session_key=
http://www.disney-daze.co.uk/
http://www.championvillas.co.uk/page3.html
http://www.vr360homes.co.uk/villas/indian_creek/index.htm
http://www.jmfloridavillas.com

Happy hunting!!

Lisa

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

This website is helpful as it provides maps showing the locations of the developments that most villas can be found in.

A couple of years ago we stayed in Indian Ridge Oaks. We found this a great venue: it was very near Animal Kingdom (about a 5 minute drive using Disney's "back door" entrance), close to the 192 for restaurants and shops and was very easy to get onto the I4 for the journey to Universal (about 30 minutes). From what I understand most of the villas are no more than 30 minutes from the major attractions, so any of the usual developments will put you reasonably close to the action.

Regards

Rob

 

[vernon]

With children of that age it isn't absolutely necessary that you stay VERY close to WDW as it's unlikely that you'll need to go back during the day to take rests etc that you may have needed with younger kids. I would still however say that it's probably worth the slightly higher rental charges to be on that stretch of the 192 that is west of the Disney exits going down to I27. I would suggest the compounds around Indian Ridge, Indian Ridge Oaks, Formosa Gardens, Indian Creek and Lindfields, there are a lot more in that area. As has already been said this area is very quick into Disney, particularly with the back road into the AK area, there are a lot of good restaurants, a couple of supermarkets and you're very near to I4 for either Tampa or the I-Drive attractions

 

[SidB]

Thanks guys, I think I'll check out Indian Ridge Oaks.

 

[BevS97]

we have opted for Windsor Palms - I did a search for it and couldn't find a bad thing mentioned, and I like the fact that it is very close to Disney, not so sure about the 192, we normally try and avoid it, but it seems that all the closest villa's are in that area.

Bev

 

[fester]

Another vote here for Indian Ridge Oaks, We stayed there a couple of years ago and have just booked another villa there for our holiday in September.

 

[sandshal]

First time I visited this site - I found a thread under Attractions and Accommodation called "Best and Worst Hotels" - if you take a look I think you'll find it helpful.

Luckily we had already booked the Sheraton Vistana Villages which seemed to get rave results - but I know I'd try and find this thread again if I needed another place to stay.

Good luck!