Which villa would you chose for $250 a week?

[strawberryblonde]

I have been planning our Dec. vacation for nearly a year now. Thanks to SOG being ren. I have been looking forward to staying at the CR for the great rate of $89 (plus tax brings it to right around $100 a night). All of our PS's have been made and our schedules planned around EE and the fact we will be so close to the MK (with DS5 and DD2).

Yesterday I stumble onto a website for military rates of a flate $250 for a week at various hotels/villas. I check out for the FL area and am quite impressed with the floor plans and pictures I see of Westgate Vacation Villas. It is a 2 bedroom/6 person villa on offer for our dates. I nearly lock in the ressie with our credit card but decide to do a search on the DIS first. Well....
Westgate looks to be the worst in alot of people's opinions. Oh the sorrow people have endured at the place I nearly decided on I'm not really fully trusting my own judgment now. There is a part of me that wants to just stay at the CR and enjoy myself. But if we could stay at a plush place and save $450 doing it, how could I justify CR? We will be driving our own car down so car rental costs are not to be factored in. I already planned on taking our cooler that plugs into the car and hotel sockets for our snacks/breakfast foods/sandwich fixings so the kitchen won't realize us too much more savings although hot food is a nice option.

Here are our choices for our dates. Each is the same flat rate of $250 for the week:

Med Resorts at Florida Vacation Villa 3bedrooms/8people
Club Sevilla 2bed/8per
Vacation Village at Parkway 2bed/8per or
1bed/4per (our choice, so which is nicer?)
Summer Bay Resort 1bed/4per
Fairfield Orlando at Cypress Palms 1bed/4per
Villas at Fortune Place 2bed/6per or 2bed/8per (Our choice again)
High Point World Resort 2bed/6per
Florida Vacation Villas 2bed/6per or 1bed/6per (our choice)
Westgate Vacation Villas 2 bed/ 6per or 2bed/8per (our choice)
Orbit one vacation Villas 2bed/6per

Does any one of these stand out as a really good deal? Will any of them knock my socks off and make the drive worth it? Yes, it would be nice to save $450 but I don't want to kick myself and be dissapointed. Thanks for any advice you can give. I've been using the search function the best I can and tried to look on TUG. I don't want to get a membership there because I'm not looking into timeshares but for this once. Thanks again.

 

[baileybrad]

When in December is your trip? How many in your party? Do you visit Disney often? How will your little ones handle going to bed in a large hotel room at night and not in a seperate room? I assume that you will breaking for naps at some point so staying at the CR would be great for this.

I am not very familar with many of the properites that you mentioned. Certain Westgate sections have gotten bad reports on the boards as you mentioned. If your choices were Vistana Villages, Vistana Resort, or one of the upscale Marriot properties, then maybe your choice would be more difficult but if you could provide a bit more information to the questions that I asked in the first section of my post then I, and others might be able to offer a more educated response.

 

[kidzmom3]

we have stayed in 2 places for rental homes; sunset lakes through floridaleisure.com and wyndham palms I can't remember the company name. Wyndham Palms was great, but we also enjoyed Sunset lakes. The homes were very nice and very close to Disney. But I would much rather stay onsite. It is better for getting back and forth, taking naps, spur of the moment changes of plans. Taking a swim etc.. But there are some nice homes out there.

 

[DianeV]

We go to Orlando alot and trade into alot of the timeshares. I wouldnt advise Westgate just because of the inconsistencies lately and the hard sell there...We stayed in a 2 bedroom at Fairfield Cypress Palms which was actually 2 1 bedrooms with a door between them and really liked the place.

It was very clean, everyone who worked there was nice, very child friendly and they give free popcorn! LOL, but the pool is just an average pool, its not a huge resort and its not located on the main road..which is good, its off 192..

I have heard good about Summer Bay too although a friend of ours had a bad experience in a 2 bedroom there..overall its supposed to be nice and they probably have more activities etc. than Fairfield as its a larger resort.

If it were me I would take Fairfield but if you are looking for more "action" at a place then maybe Summer Bay..i dont really think you could go wrong with either..you will have a kitchen and laundry with these too I believe so that is a consideration and money saver especially for breakfasts at least..

 

[chrissy41678]

strawberryblonde -

Can I ask what website you were at (or what you searched for) when you found these rates? My MIL was just talking about these and I would like to look into some of them. Thanks.

Chrissy

 

[strawberryblonde]

Good question I actually found the link on one of these boards (don't remember which one). I wrote down the link though....

www.afvclub.com

It is good to be informed but in this case I almost wish I didn't know about these villas Now I have to chose and I'm leaning towards sticking with CR. I've been looking forward to staying at the CR since spring. This sounds as though I'm complaining and I'm really not. I actually feel so lucky to have all of these wonderful choices before me. When it rains it pours, lol

Thanks to DianeV, kidzmom3 and baileybrad for your advice. I do appreciate you taking the time to post. Our trip if for early Dec. so crowds and traffic should be lower but park hours are short. Kids sleep with us on our schedule so a seperate room is not necessary. 4 total in our party and we have been to WDW only twice. Honeymoon in '94 and then for a week in March in '99. Because DD2 naps and DS5 doesn't, I wasn't sure if we would just try napping her in the stroller since the hours are short. Anyway, if I am reading your post correctly, that the plush properties are Marriott and Vistana (?), those are not being offered at the moment. It needs to be plush for me to switch from the convenience of CR.

I still welcome any thoughts on any of the above properties. My mind is not made up. Wish I could see these villas for myself in person, would make my job so much easier.

 

[Local_Girl]

Hi strawberryblonde!

Just wanted to add my (very recent) experience regarding AFVC. I recently found out about this here on the boards and checked out what was available for my dates (also early Dec.). When I first looked, my dates were available, but I couldn't get DH to commit to booking . By the time he warmed up to the idea, my dates were booked at the places I was most interested in, the Hilton Grand Vacation Club (HGVC) and Silver Lake. Both of these properties have good reports on this board. I kept looking daily, and our dates opened up again at the HGVC for a 2 bdrm and I was able to snag the reservation!!

I haven't stayed at HGVC or any of the other properties yet, so I can't offer any advice to that end, but if you are still considering AFVC and are willing to give up that CR ressie...you could end up with a very nice place for a great price! Check the AFVC website often because availability DOES change and you could get lucky!!

 

[chrissy41678]

Thanks for the link. I hope where ever you decide to stay, you have a wonderful time

 

[Melynny]

Vacation Village at Parkway 2bed/8per or
1bed/4per (our choice, so which is nicer?)

This would be my first choice... the 2 Bedroom is awesome.. the one bedroom would be too small to warrant the cost savings.

Second I'd choose Summer bay... but I have heard the 1 bedrooms are smallish...

 

[baileybrad]

Because your children are so young and the fact that you do not visit WDW 2 and 3 times a year, I would keep just what you have at the CR. If it were us, we would breakup the party and try and get the 2 year old down for a few naps during the trip. Have a great time, whereever you decide to stay.

 

[strawberryblonde]

I appreciate the feedback and I have learned alot in the last few days about villas and the $250 offer. I think I will stay with CR for this trip and save all of my info on villas for when the kids are older. The Hilton does look like a good option for seeing more than just the "world" during a vacation, perhaps I will get lucky and stay there someday. Thanks again

 

[montessori]

I'm happy for you that you decided to stay with your CR reservation. You'll have a great vacation!
For future reference, you may want to consider renting points from a Disney Vacation Club member. You can get some great deals, especially for Sunday thru Thursday nights.

Have a magical Disney vacation!